Happy 238th Birthday U.S.A!

To celebrate our nation's birthday, I decided to head to one of my favorite cities in the great US of A: Chicago.  I love visiting this city; it's home to some of my favorite people on the planet: Katherine, Paul & Matt and just happens to be choc-o-block full of fun things to do in the summer.  I feel like we were able to work in a lion's share of them:

Day 1: 

1. Sleep in a bit, dropped Amos off at doggie school, brunch at the delicious Little Goat Diner.
2. Pedicures in the West Loop, followed by some window shopping (and a little actual shopping).
3. Beer & snack run (for the evening pre-trolley party soiree we were hosting).
4. Blowouts at Drybar  followed by a mini-car breakdown in downtown Chicago (quickly resolved by AAA) - that membership just paid for itself).

all blown out with Katherine

5. Prep and serve at the pre-trolley party soiree

6. TROLLEY PARTY all over town.

7. Stopped at: Maria's Packaged Goods & Community Bar (for mystery shots and shitty beers) and a number of other bars that honesty, after the mystery shots, I have no idea what they were...

8. More trolley-ing and more bar stops:

9. Suddenly feeling very gangsta (and always representing Westside):

10. And because it was July 4th weekend, obviously SPARKLERS were involved:

Day 2:

1. Woke up and devoured the delicious Stratta (Gregg family recipe) that Katherine whipped up the night before for exactly this purpose.

2. Headed to the North Side to watch some World Cup & the Coney Island Hotdog Eating Contest. Attempted not to barf at the reinactment of what happens to the human stomach when people compete in said hotdog eating contest.

3. Walked to Oak Street Beach for a lovely stroll along the water and some time in the sand (the lake is seriously JUST like the ocean)...

4. Completed a solid 4 mile walk before heading back the West Loop for some brats and Cards Against Humanity with some pretty awesome friends.

Day 3:

1. Awoke at a reasonable time and cruised down Lake Shore Drive with 2 adorable pups:

Katherine, Rachael & Amos

2. Enjoyed a few hours at Doggie Beach with Katherine, Amos, Julie and Emma:

3. Got Potbelly's. YUM.

4. Took the train to the far North Side to the Windy City Uptown Ribfest where we volunteered in a beer tent for a few hours (while partaking in said beer) and supporting OneTail - the animal rescue center that Katherine & Paul adopted Amos from (check out www.onetail.org for more info on how to support to find a wonderful new pet in the Chicago area!)

Katherine (wo)manning the beer taps

5. Matt joined the fun and we ate lots of ribs and mac 'n cheese & drank more beers.

6. Took a ridiculous photo of me as a wild-west, mustache-wearing, gun-toting, baddie:

7. Headed even FURTHER north for an evening of KARAOKE.  Shenanigans ensued.  No photos.

Day 4: 

1. Woke up to find Paul had gone and picked up fresh donuts for breakfast (man, I love him).

2. Braved the heat for a walk to Millennium Park to check out The Bean and dip our toes in the freshwater "creek"

3. Packed my bags and headed to a final lunch @ Kaiser Tiger with Matt before heading to the airport.  Never saw a prettier dog in my life - they were pretty tasty too.

Beer & Bacon and Happy Gaucho dogs

Another amazingly fun weekend in Chicago.  Can't wait to get back!!

Landing in NYC = Home Sweet Home #prettycity