The Bean in The Bean - Chicago Trip

One of my ultimate life goals was always to visit Chicago (the Bean) aka Windy City aka Chi-town. Whatever you call it, its a fabulous place! More specifically, I've always wanted to get the famous Tiffany Bean by Elsa Peretti in Chicago and visit The Bean in Millenium Park.

We were invited to a wedding in Indiana to see some of Patrick's family, it just happen to fall on the Canada long weekend and just before his birthday (June 29th). Why not make a long weekend trip of it? That's exactly what happened. After we got back from Montreal we looked at flights to Chicago and the best price was with Porter Airlines. We had never flown with them but it was super cheap compared to other airlines and timing was perfect. Patrick found a great little hotel in The Loop, which was near everything!

Since we would be in Chicago on his birthday, I researched some great restaurants to celebrate and followed by a great bar for after dinner drinks that was all close enough to where would be staying. We decided on Devon Seafood Grill and followed by The Gage. We also found a Groupon for a Pizza and Crime Tour (a perfect pair while in Chicago!) and made plans to visit the Magnificent Mile - to visit Tiffany's, of course - then to Navy Pier and down to Millenium Park to finish off the only full day we had there before heading out to Indiana.

Devon Seafood Grill was delicious! We started with wine (of course) and Patrick had their famous Crab cakes which smelled delicious (but i'm not a seafood lover). I ordered the Blackened Hen with mashed potatoes and veggies. Patrick had a seafood pasta. The service was amazing from start to finish - definitely a good one to check out if you visit.

After dinner we walked back to our hotel, stopping along the river for some great shots of us and to take in the entire city. Its beautiful! We changed from our dinner clothes and headed down the street to The Gage - another great spot, where we started with Champagne to toast Patrick's birthday. Along with some drinks we ordered a charcuterie board to munch on which included some great cheeses and smokey meats. The Gage had great service and great music - located across from Millennium Park, which we realized the next day *sip sip*
We walked the streets of Chicago around our neighbourhood (The Loop) and had no issues of crime or felt unsafe. Granted, we both are street smart so if something didn't feel right we changed direction or dipped into a store along the way.

The next day was our first FULL day and it was jam packed with spots. We grabbed Starbucks from downstairs (it was beside out hotel..how convenient!) and walked to meet our walking tour guy for the Pizza and Crime tour. We started outside Pizzeria Uno (my favourite) and walked through the streets with a history lesson, stopping a few times to dip into restaurants - one in particular was a small museum of crime history within Chicago (so cool!). We visit the famous McDonald's Rock N' Roll location and then continued to a small park where we sat and shared another pizza from Giodano Pizza. I still preferred Pizzeria Uno's pizza.

When the tour was done, Patrick and I walked up the street to the Magnificent Mile. One of my bucket list checks was to visit Tiffany's and buy The Bean by Elsa Peretti while in The Bean (aka Chicago). This would be my first Tiffany's jewelry and I wanted it to be special. Its a beautiful location spread out on 2 floors. We browsed the first floor which seem to be their newest collection along with a wide spread selection of watches, sunglasses, and scarves. Heading upstairs to the second floor - I knew exactly what I was going for - scanning the glass boxes full of classic collections. BAM! found it. As the lady takes it out for me, I don't even glance over at Patrick with his smirk. She boxes it beautifully with a crisp white bow over top the blue box and places it in the bag. I pull out my wallet to get the cash I had specifically put aside for this trip's expense, when Patrick says "Stop. Put that away!" I didn't catch it at first, so he repeated it. Paid for it and we left....
I was speechless - my boyfriend just bought me my first Tiffany's...The Bean in The Bean! I carried that little blue bag the rest of the day because when we made our rounds and got to Millennium Park, that's where he would put the necklace on me. We made it to the bean, in the bean, with the bean and took our picture at the bean. Life Goal...Check!

Dinner was a quiet place nearby called Trattoria No. 10. Another great service, great food, great wine. We were bagged so took our time at dinner, followed by a walk through the streets at night. It was different to see the same thing during the day and at night. Our last night in Chicago - the next day we were off to Indiana for the wedding, only coming back to fly out on the following day.

I can honestly say that Chicago is at the top of my list of favourite cities I've visited. It has so much character, culture, and food! I'm already planning our next visit.

Loved this window decal!

Navy Pier

Does this fountain look familiar? Its from "Married with Children" show

At the Bean, in The Bean, wearing The Bean

Happy Mother's Day

I can say that I am truly blessed to be Adriana's Mommy. Today she actually surprised me for the first time ever! I cried and all I could do was stare at her all day...she's all mine <3

On Thursday she brought home a gift bag and asked me not to look instead (Fine!). She placed the bag on her nightstand and it sat there until Sunday. I had no idea that beside it was another gift wrapped in tissue paper too. She was VERY excited to have me open these gifts that she had clearly made for me.

First was this lovely "All About my Mommy" art she created. Although most of the answers are incorrect (I do not weigh 200lbs lol) I love her answers anyways. My favourite is "I love my Mommy because...She loves me" Yup how true little girl!

The gift bag had this beautiful mug inside with a picture she drew of me (with snails for some reason). On the back it says Love Adriana in her writing. The wrapped tissue paper was the picture of her blowing me kisses attached with the card.

Nothing would be complete without flowers on Mother's Day - these were from Patrick along with a card. We spent the afternoon dining at the Old Mill Toronto with my parents and my older sister. The food was delicious and service was quick. It was a buffet style lunch and the trays were replenished repeatedly (no food left in the bottom). It included breakfast items (bacon, eggs, sausage, waffles, etc) as well as a carving table with roasted ham. Adriana's favourite was the chocolate fountain for dessert - she picked strawberries and marshmallows. Like most buffets it also had a salad bar, bread table, veggies and a seafood table.

Thank you darlings for making my day very special!