Dear Chicago, Sorry For Partying.

Well, I survived the bachelorette party in Chicago.....just barely. I sincerely apologize to the residents of Chi-town for being 'those girls on a bachelorette weekend.' And yet, it was insanely fun and filled with classic memories and blackmail galore. Yes, I take that apology back, Chicago. You loved having us there, didn't you?

To summarize: it rained so hard that we were sprinting around the city like madwomen. Then it snowed so much that I seriously thought I'd been transported back to January in a horrendous nightmare. But other than the fabulous weather Mother Nature bestowed on us fine ladies, the weekend was a total success. I miss my girls to infinity and yet, I do not miss our college days and secretly I'm pretty happy that my days attending b.parties are numbered. I mean, seriously...almost all of us are married off and old hags. We can't keep pretending we are 21 anymore, you know. You have to surrender to being nearly 28 at some point and I think I'm there after this weekend. Of course there is always Lindsey's b.party this summer....I think I'll be recovered by then.

Let's look at pictures and relive the drama, shall we?

First of all our hotel was freaking adorable, girlie, and beach-themed. Of course, I took this photographic opportunity because I'm sure you will love this room as much as me:



Each room had these adorable giant prints on a wall. Our room had this flower, but the two other rooms had either blueberries or a blue cable-knit sweater pattern. Oh, and the hotel was called Hotel Indigo in the Gold Coast area and I loved it. Because I was a part of this group I will likely be banned from the hotel for the rest of my life but maybe someone else can enjoy it as much as we did:)


Remember how I said we were 'those girls' for the weekend? Well, of course, numerous phallic paraphernalia came with the label and this included weiner cookies.


Oh yes, and a five foot tall friend.....kind of like my own b.party. I know, it's completely obscene, corny, and disgusting but it's a rite of passage so please don't be offended. And remember, these are the PG rated pictures. I've chosen to with hold much of the R-rated evidence from the public internet because let's get real...even I have boundaries:)

Here I am with the girl of the hour, Kristen, and her friend 'Captain Pecker.' Enough said.


Lindsey and I at dinner. She's next and I'm sure she's a tad bit nervous for her own bachelorette party, right Linds?


The entire crew out for dinner on Friday night. Pretty good turn out for an out of town event, right?


So after dinner we went over to Barleycorn and of course, when you are in Wrigelyville you have to put up with this type of thing:

Like we even care about baseball that much, but we figured we should represent the Lou [and I suppose I should hold it down for the Brewers, too?]

Upstairs they had a rocking 80's band. Please observe this awesomeness:


They loved Kristen and loved her mom even more. Again, disregard the phallic symbols adorning the bride:)


We ended up at another place called McFaddens which was literally packed with people. I had to sharpen my elbows to fight my way through the crowd but we somehow managed to enjoy ourselves on the dance floor...until 3 a.m. I cannot tell you the last time I was awake at 3 a.m. I do not plan on doing it again for a while, either:)



So all day Saturday I enjoyed the confines of the hotel. I mean, it was raining sideways and I didn't want to tempt myself on Michigan avenue. Hannah arrived during the day and we watched chick flicks all day long before we got ready for 'the big night out.' I had to dig deep for this one, I'm not going to lie.

Please notice the pimped out gigantic chairs in the lobby of this hotel. We were obsessed:


And the whole gang for night two: dress code was strictly enforced as we all wore black [I sneaked in a touch of gray] and the bride wore white. What a group, right?


And those are all the PG rated pictures you get from Saturday night. But I can attest to the fact that a party bus is always a fabulous idea when the weather is less than cooperative. And I have some priceless blackmail shots of my friends. I hope they are nice to me for their own sakes:)

Sunday morning came and I was ready to get back home, but awoke to this:


Yep, that's snow. I'm not even sure how much because I was in denial but I'm pretty sure Chicago had at least 3 inches when I left and Milwaukee has about that much, too. But the good news is the Amtrak train is the bomb and got me to and from Chicago in record speeds without traffic and without costing a fortune. I will be using this transportation system again.

As I walked to my train station I decided to snap a few pics of this glorious city. It's not an easy thing to pull a rolling suitcase, hold a hot Starbucks, an expensive camera, and fight the elements all at the same time. But I was determined to get some pretty shots anyway even though I'm sure I looked like a crazy tourist [I kind of was, I guess].








Oh what? A sign of Spring? How ironic.


Great day for a bike ride, no?





Chicago is one of my favorite cities and someday I could definitely see us living there. But it's still nice to come home to my boys and settle back into routine. Not to mention that I'm about halfway done with New Moon thanks to my two train rides and I'm becoming enthralled yet again.

Sigh. Girl time spent with old friends will always rank high in my life. Always.