Chicago

I stayed at my friend’s apartment in East Lakewood/Boystown which was a super cute old building with a ton of character…refer to the elevator picture! We went to sushi at Union Sushi downtown and had some amazing sushi and sake bombs. They did the sake bombs a little differently than what I’m used to…they give them to you in a single serving and you do them after your meal. Afterwards, we went out to American Junkie first, and then took a pit stop to see Giuliana at RPM (we missed her by an hour!). They had the best drinks and apps…I got a Monterosso Mule, which was basically a blueberry Moscow Mule. It was so good! Then we went to Club Paris for the rest of the night. It was a fun night!

On the second day, we got brunch at Kanela Cafe. It was soooooo yummy. The orange juice was fresh squeezed and the breakfast potatoes were definitely in my top 3 all-time best breakfast potatoes. I got the chorizo and eggs which was amazing but not for the person who can’t handle some serious spicy! We took the train into downtown and went shopping on Michigan Avenue.We grabbed some lunch at this new place called Eataly. It’s a huge two-floor Italian market and eatery. The first floor was the grocery store with produce and packaged goods, as well as these little dessert restaurants that included gelato, chocolate, pastry and Nutella stations. The second floor was all the fresh meats, cheeses, seafood, breads and alcohol that you can either buy just like at a grocery store, or enjoy in a meal right there. There were tons of mini-restaurants-one for every type of Italian food…sandwiches, pasta, seafood, pizza, salads, meats and cheeses, and a HUGE bar! They even had their own brewery. You can seriously go to this place every day and have a completely different experience every single time…it’s amazing!As if I wasn’t already stuffed with Italian food, we went to a great authentic Italian restaurant called Mia Francesca. I usually don’t eat pasta, but these were too tasty and authentic to pass up. Ryann and I split two pastas…a Tortellacci stuffed with mushrooms in a creamy parmesan sauce, and a Orecchiette pasta with artichokes and goat cheese in a creamy tomato sauce. This was the best meal of this trip by far. Afterwards, we went to a few bars in Wrigleyville and walked past Wrigley Field! I took the Amtrak early the next morning to Kalamazoo, Michigan to watch one of my boyfriend’s baseball games. Stay tuned for my next travel blog about Michigan!