Trip to Chicago!

Wesley was asked to be on a special steering committee for the YUSA. This year’s face-to-face meeting was set for March 9 in Chicago! I casually mentioned that would make a great birthday get away, and Wesley agreed.

The boys went to North Carolina for the week to be with Shannon, Lynne and Macey and Wesley and I flew out on my birthday. I was so excited! Wesley had work meetings Wednesday afternoon, all day Thursday, and half day on Friday. He was worried about what I was going to do all day. I told him not to worry. I was planning on working out, eating, sleeping, and watching some TV! Whoo Hoo!

Our hotel was located close to Merchandise Mart, which is a very neat/artsy area. It seemed very safe, but I got a little nervous walking the streets of Chicago. It was weird being in a different city all by myself. I decided to just grab lunch and head back to the hotel.

I grabbed a pizza and enjoyed it followed by a nap. After the nap, I went to the fitness center until Dinnertime. I was able to join Wesley’s group for dinner at an interesting restaurant in Chinatown.

yummy!

Thursday, it was pretty much the same. I stayed in until lunch. I grabbed a quick bite at the food court by the hotel, and then another nap and workout.

Sweet Potato Tater Tots - Oh My!

Thursday night, I joined the group for a nice dinner.

Friday morning, I walked to a little café and people watched most of the morning. Then it was off to the gym and to the room to wait on Wesley. Once his meeting ended after lunch, we headed out to see the town.

First, we took a tour of the YUSA offices. They were so nice. Then, after a quick stop in Garrett's Popcorn, we walked to Millennium Park to see “The Bean.” It was really quite interesting!

Here we are in the reflection of "The Bean"

Another picture of us in "The Bean"

We are to the left of the middle in the back (very small)

Then we ventured up Michigan Avenue to see all the shopping. Neither Wesley nor I are shoppers but we enjoyed seeing all the people.

On our walk on Michigan Avenue we saw this boat. Turns out the next day, the river was going to be dyed green in honor of St. Patrick's day. We couldn't wait to see this.

We walked to the John Hancock Building and took the elevator to the Signature Room. We got an insiders tip to enjoy the sights and tastes of the restaurant instead of paying for the tour to the top (which we were only one floor below!) It was a great decision.

The views were breathtaking – especially the view from the women’s restroom (go figure!). We waited for a seat by the window and enjoyed a little snack.

It just so happened that Best Buy occupies the lower level of the Hancock building and we were there the day the Ipad came out. Wesley really wanted to get his hands on one of these and since the line was much shorter than the Apple line we had seen earlier in the day, we hoped in line.

Of course it makes sense to wait an hour in line for an electronic device while you are on vacation, doesn’t it? It does if you are married to Wesley Bender.

It ended up being a lot of fun and quite an adventure. Best Buy handed out tickets for all the Ipads they had available and they ran out of tickets on the customer directly in front of us. We were the next in line. We questioned the staff and found out if anyone forfeited their ticket, then the next customer (us) would get the opportunity to purchase the devise.

So again, of course it made sense to wait another hour in line for the possibility of the Ipad!

We ended up having the best time with the people in line, especially the three people behind us who also hoped for an available one. We were laughing and enjoying the time since we had nothing to lose.

And as the third to last person went to pay for their Ipad, their credit card was denied and we secured the available model. (Don’t feel bad for the guy. After he was denied, he said “Good. I didn’t really know if I wanted it anyways!”)

Wesley left so happy!

After paying, we hoped a cab back to the hotel to get ready for my birthday dinner. I had made reservations at Shaw’s Crab House (Jack’s recommendation) and it was so nice and extremely yummy!

I would love to show or tell you what we had, but it was so good and we ate it way too fast!

I remembered part way through dessert to snap a picture!

We walked back to the hotel and crashed. Saturday was going to be a long day. We had a lot to get in!

We took Ryan’s recommendation to try a place called Ann Sather. He had never been there but heard about it on the Food Network. We thought it was worth the try but on the 30-minute trip out to the restaurant, I was second-guessing our decision.

By the time we sat down and looked at the menu, we realized we had made the right choice! It was such a cute place and the food was amazing. I can say it was the best breakfast I have ever eaten! We did have to walk A LOT that afternoon to work off the insane amount of calories we ate but it was worth it!

Leanne and Wesley

We are holding ONE of the two cinnamon rolls they give you as a SIDE dish for your meal!

French Toast Fantasy

Marscarpone filled Cinnamon Rolls, battered, grilled and topped with granola and fresh seasonal berries.

How did I decide what to get? This was labeled "Yes, this is the one recommended by Rachael Ray!"

PS - See the "real" Coke in the picture? I decided I didn't need to fool myself and go "Diet Coke" with this meal!

Wesley had to help me finish - it was so good!

After breakfast, we jumped on the Subway and headed to the Field Museum. We really enjoyed our tour and I loved seeing “Sue” the largest TRex dinosaur fossil. It was amazing!

In addition to "Sue," we saw several other exhibits:

This is "Sue's" actual head. It weighs too much to be attached to the model on the floor below so they have it displayed upstairs. It was huge!

This man finds a computer game where ever he goes!!

After our tour of the Museum, we again walked Michigan Avenue. We were able to see the green river, which was so neat.

We did some shopping at the Disney store, and then settled into a delicious dinner at Gino's East.

We rolled out of the restaurant and took a beautiful stroll back to our hotel. I had an early flight to catch so we turned in early.

The next morning, I was off to the airport and to pick up the boys and Wesley stayed in Chicago for another round of meetings with a different YUSA group.

It was such a relaxing trip and a great way to celebrate turning 31!