Sunday Fun Day in ChiTown USA...

I momentarily forgot where I was again this morning when I opened my eyes, but was immediately reminded that the city awaited us on the other side of the window, 31 stories below:

sunday in the chicago atmosphere

Departure mornings are always a test of initiative, memory, checklisting, communication and the ability to play travel tetris with your luggage, pillows, etc. so you can haul it all in one trip without the bellboy's help. At least that's how it was for us this morning, trying to drag ourselves out of bed, put ourselves together to look mildly human, pack all of our things in a makeshift sense of semblence and then leave the hotel room without leaving anything... behind.

It's a miracle we remembered where the car was parked.

As challenging as the check out process can be, the drive up to Southport Ave. was the complete opposite:

blue skies cruise, a marina and miles of happy people enjoying the day! 

Speaking of happy people, I think we were ALL happy when Britta descended from her apartment a few blocks away to join us for brunch at Southport & Irving! I'd told her I'd love to see her while we were in the city, but I really didn't expect her to come dressed just like Ali.. haha. 

No seriously, I can confidently say that Britta and I hold the record for the shortest amount of time taken for two strangers to become instant friends, but Ali and Britta just came in a close 2nd. I mean the two of them practically dressed like twins, without even a chance to plan it.  

instafriends! 

french toast, ya'll..
southport & irving | chicago, il 

We ate, we laughed, and we snapchatted. Ali & Damanji are officially SC Assassins in my book; they both managed to get some fantastically troll-esque captures of me. Damanji took the liberties of drafting a side-by-side comparison, and I've gotta say, he's not wrong...

grampy troll... and cori. :0|

more snappy fun.. these are reactions to some of the questions our table
received in the span of the hour we were there.. 

After Southport, we traveled just around the riverbend! CORNER.. to GingerSnap; it's a place Ali found online and committed us to because it says Ginger, and because she is the lens behind GingerSnap Photography. So it makes sense. Right? Right.

it's like the place was made for her! 

reunited!! 

In case you missed what I said about Britta & Ali dressing up like twins, there's this nicely posed sorority picture as proof: 

twinsies! 

Damanji & I have been pretending all weekend that we're as hipster as we feel, so we seized this opportunity to do something hipsterish, in the doorways [to the soul] on this street, illuminated by the light of a thousand serenading high-efficiency lightbulbs. Or something. 

you look so.... pensive

Q: How many hipsters does it even take to change a lightbulb?
A: It's a number you probably haven't heard of yet...

deep in thought about life, the universe, and probably donuts.... 

Q: How many kale smoothies did I drink before this picture? 

A: I'll build you the answer out of upcycled pallets. Stay tuned.

yayyy for friends! ♥♥

We finally said our see-ya-later's to Britta, and loaded up for the trip back to Naperville. From there, it was quick hello's and farewell's to the family,l and then Damanji and I were back in our separate cars, bound respectively for STL & Cinci. 

At least it was as beautiful day for a drive! 

don't skip these, kids... don't skip these. 

almost there :) 

they're much prettier in the daytime! 

Happy birthday, Ali... I hope you had the best birthday yet, and I miss the fun already! It was such a fun weekend meeting some new faces and reuniting with the familiar ones! 

See you on the flipside, blogbots..

xo | cmd

ALI TURNS TWENTY FIVE, FINALLY!

I've been trying to turn Ali 25 for 3 years now.
[this entry is post dated.... ]
I don't know why it always seemed fitting to wish her a Happy 25th, on her 22nd, 23rd and 24th, but this year I can say it legitimately. Twenty-five for the win!

The birthday weekend started yesterday, when Damanji and I arrived in from the STL & Cinci Metros, respectively. Today was the real start of our Chicagoland weekend to celebrate one of our best friends.

1 | BREAKFAST! 
.: Eggs. We went to Eggs. No, seriously, the place is called [just] Eggs. It sounds like a broken sentence, but that's the name and that's the place and it was fun. I don't, however, recommend that you order the Georgia Peach Crepe, unless you like the combination of sourdough, cottage cheese and canned peaches... warm... together. Otherwise, it was definitely a fresh little vibe and I'd go back and try something else on the rather extensive menu.

metiiiculously unfolding the carry out bag
#militarybagfolding ;) 

2| NAPERVILLE
.: Ali's job as a live-in nanny has her living here, so she's become acquainted with several of the local shopping spots, etc. etc.

on our way! 

The highlights of this outing include but are most definitely not limited to:
DAVIDsTEA. Who do I talk to about getting one - or more - of these in Cincinnati, like.. yesterday?! Sorry, but.. Teavana, who? Cincinnati, you need a DAVIDsTEA, and that is that.

davids tea | naperville, il
so. much. yesssss. 

yesssssss! 

We hit the NVille outlets, as well; the birthday girl was loaded down with giftcards to use, and the plunder was bountiful: Sephora, Kate Spade and Pac Sun on the top hit list. We even managed to spot an interesting story parked in the lot outside: 

shark attack?

3 | NANNY LIFE
.: We stopped at Ali's "house" after our downtown Naperville tour, where she lives as a nanny. It should come as no surprise that it's practically a castle in a neighborhood of other castles, that has heated floors, awesome decor, a retractable cover and a fluffy dog named Lola:

oh ya know... 

if this was my house, i'd live in this room alone. 

ya'll already know.. where there's a dog, there's cori.
#sheissofluffffyyyyyyy

4 | BUBBLE TEA
.: This makes the list because I haven't had bubble tea since I lived in Illinois, which, if you've been counting, was over 3 years ago. I think the universe was savvy to this fact as I ordered [and paid for] one "taro with lychee," but received a taro and a lychee. Was I mad about this? No. Was I probably over-hydrated? Yes.

twofer.. and asian for the win! 

5 | CHICAGO! 
.: After our adventures in Naperville, we made our weekend ascent into Chicago, where the city lay waiting for 3 more tourists to take advantage of all is has to offer within a 3-day span. We checked into the hotel, and within half an hour, Ali's friend Lindsay rendezvoused with us to start the city celebration.

'ello, chi!! 

Our first stop: Happy hour at Howells & Hood!

quick stop before dinner! 

calamari.. yes please... 

The meat of the evening was dinner at Bar Siena, where our reservation awaited us. We changed, put on our evening faces and made our way out to an incredible dinner to thank Ali's parents for her existence :).

happy 25th birthday, beautiful friend! 

damanji! 

Things on the menu that we ordered:
Kale & cranberry salad
Roasted peppers
Corn ravioli
BAKED POTATO SOUP + MAC&CHEESE: 

leave me alone i need a moment....... *drool. 

cori. ali. lindsay. shawn.
♥♥♥♥

6 | CHICAGO AFTER HOURS :)
.: Ali only turns 25 once, at least legitimately... so naturally it was off in search of some spirited fun. We're in Chicago, so it wasn't hard. Thanks to Lindsay's guidance, Uber and a stellar tender at HVAC, we made the evening shine in special honor of Ali!

stop #1

stop #2

stop #3, with candid faces.. kinda ♥

A lot more of the pictures I have from tonight are blurry... but I suppose that's bound to happen when standing still is less fun than dancing until your feet want to remove themselves from your body entirely [current mood]. 

Good night, Chicago. You're beautiful. See you tomorrow! 

xo | cmd