I started off the morning with some coffee and a waffle (duh) at the Hampton Inn. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw all of the cute signs they had created for our Valentine’s Day breakfast! A couple of them made me laugh out loud!
We left the hotel a couple of hours later and began our journey to Chicago. We had a brief stop at the local Starbucks, and they had a V-Day picture box, which made us giggle. The snow was coming down like crazy, so traffic wasn’t the best. We had originally planned on driving all the way to the O’Hare airport area, but we ended up in a HUGE traffic jam, and ended up parking by our downtown hotel instead.
The hotel was SO COOL. It’s called The Freehand Chicago, and it is a hipster haven. The rooms can be shared with strangers, or you can get a private one. We chose a private one, but I loved that we still got to have bunk-beds. You better believe I slept on the top one! I have always loved bunk beds. I even had one for a bit when I was a kid, even though I was the only child in the home and had my own room. Some things just never change. 😉
After settling into our room, I decided to brave the wind and snow and make the walk to Millennium Park. Nobody else joined me, but I figured it’d be worth it—I’ve always wanted to go, and I haven’t gotten to see it yet—somehow I was always busy doing something else during my previous Chicago trips. It was cold and wet, but I had a blast. I had my selfie-stick out and ready to go! I also got to stop at the downtown Ross store on the way back—It’s my absolute favorite store in the world. While perusing the clearance rack, I found a cute shirt that says “California Dreamer.” How fitting is that!? I had to grab it.
On our way to Dinner, we stopped at a dive bar called Snicker’s for some affordable drinks. The place was awesome—a cute little quiet pub in the middle of the city! Btw—the dinner was amazing. Eric had reserved us a spot at India House, and it was excellent. It was fancy, but we decided it was okay to splurge a bit since it was a holiday. I got the paneer tikka, and I ate my entire plate very quickly. Mmmm!
For dessert, we walked to Eataly, a local Italian market with 9 restaurants, a market, and lots of snack bars. I chose a Nutella croissant from the Nutella bar, and also took some bites of Chelsie and Stephen’s banana Nutella crepe. YUM! I wish we had an Eataly closer to home! I also bought some Italian chocolates and boy were they good. I should’ve gotten more!
For a night-cap, we headed back to The Freehand and stopped into the cute vintage-styled bar to check out the Valentine’s party. It sounded kinda scary—the event was literally called the “Bone and Moan!” Sorry for the awkwardness…I felt weird even typing those words! Luckily, everything was very calm and g-rated, and we had a couple of drinks with some smooth music playing in the background. The punch was fantastic, btw. I wish I could steal their recipe!
Chelsie, Stephen and I went to our room and went to bed almost immediately. We woke to a CHILLY room. So cold you could see your breath! We called the repairman at the front desk, and he was able to provide us with a heater after he was unable to fix the heater. I couldn’t even leave my bunk until the heater had been blowing for several minutes. I knew my feel would be cold on the floor and I’m a big ol’ baby. Sadly, Stephen had to leave for the airport really early, so we said goodbye to him in the lobby before heading downstairs for breakfast.
Breakfast was pretty cool—it was in the basement of the hotel, and it was a community kitchen situation. They had lots of pots and pans and cooking utensils, but we chose to keep things easy and just eat the toast and peanut butter. We sat with a man who looked identical to Snoop Dogg (or is it Snoop Lion? I dunno) and he told us all about the sewer in the town. Not sure how that happened, but it was somehow enjoyable nonetheless.
All-in-all, Chicago day was a pretty awesome success! I had a blast!
On another note–this was the first really good Valentine’s Day I’ve had in awhile. And by “awhile,” I mean several years. I’m so thankful that I’ve found an amazing man who loves me for me–quirks and all. Even though we weren’t together face-to-face on V-Day, we still managed to share the day with each other. I’m a lucky lady. I’ve included some mushy pictures, just because. And I know he’s probably blushing and wishing I hadn’t written all of this, but he’ll get over it. 😉