For my Mom's birthday she had to go to Chicago for work, so I flew up there to celebrate and spend a long weekend in Chicago. It was my first time there!
Thursday, December 10th:
When I got in my mom was working so I spent some time walking around our hotel area.
After walking around for a bit, I decided to stop for some spaghetti and meatballs at Pizano's Pizza.
We stayed at the Palmer House and it was beautiful!
Grabbed a glass of wine at the hotel bar while waiting on my mom to finish up work.
Once my mom arrived back at the hotel we headed straight for the John Hancock Observatory to go up onto the 94th floor to get a 360 degree view of Chicago - 1,000 feet above the ground. It was such an amazing view!
While up there we did the Tilt. Tilt is a 30 degree glass wall that tilts out 1,000 feet over street level. It was such a thrill!
After getting a beautiful view of the city, it was time to put our feet back on the ground!
My mom and I walked around a bit and checked out the area around John Hancock Center.
We walked all around the Riverwalk
After walking for a bit, we headed over to the Macy's on State Street
Inside the Macy's
We stopped by the Walnut Room on the 7th floor to cheers to my mom's birthday!
The Walnut Room has hosted many a tea service since its opening in 1907. The Room evolved from the team room, which has made famous by Mrs. Hering's Chicken Pot Pie in the late 1890's, becoming the very first restaurant in a department store. The restaurant adorned with Circassian wood imported from Russia and Austrian chandeliers has become a tradition of dining, especially around the holidays for generations of families.
The Great Tree stands 45 feet tall and is adorned with 42 LED star ornaments ranging from 18-30 inches across, along with other more traditional holiday ornaments and twinkle lights.
After taking a break at The Walnut Room, we walked back to our hotel to get ready for the night.
Tonight for my mom's birthday, we celebrated at Fig & Olive. It was amazing!
Celebratory drinks...Happy Birthday Mom! We love you so much!
Friday, December 11th:
Our first stop - Willis Tower Observatory to the SkyDeck. The SkyDeck is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. We stepped outside, 1,353 feet in the air to the Ledge's glass box that extends 4.3 feet from the SkyDeck, and had the best view of Chicago!
After being 1,353 feet above street level, we decided to put our feet back on the ground. Our next stop - Christkindlmarket, inspired by the Christkindlesmarkt in Nuremberg, Germany, which began in 1545, the Christkindlmarket Chicago brings a cherished German and European tradition with international flair and local charm to Chicago. Chicago's largest open-air Christmas festival was first held on Pioneer Court in 1996. By special invitation of Mayor Richard M. Daley, Christkindlmarket Chicago moved to Daley plaza in 1997 and has become a staple event on the plaza ever since.
We had a great time and kept warm by sipping on hot apple cider.
After buying some glass blown beautiful Christmas Ornaments, we headed over to Portillos for hhot dogs!
After lunch we headed over to Navy Pier.
Navy Pier is a 3,300 foot long pier on Lake Michigan built in 1916.
Next stop - Millennium Park.
This public park located in the Loop community area of Chicago, and originally intended to celebrate the second millennium. It is a prominent civic center near the city's Lake Michigan shoreline that covers a 24.5 acre section of northwestern Grant Park.
Next Stop - The Art Institute of Chicago.
AIC is an encyclopedic art museum located in Chicago's Grant Park. It features a collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art in its permanent collection. Its holdings also include American art, Old Masters, European, American decorative arts, Asian art, Islamic art, Ancient classical, Egyptian art, modern art, contemporary art, architecture, industrial and graphic design. In addition, it houses the Ryerson & Burnham Libraries.
Sunday afternoon on the island of La Grande-Jatte by George Seurat
Water Lilies (1906) by Claude Monet
Stack of Wheat (Thaw, Sunset) by Claude Monet
Sandviken Village in the Snow by Claude Monet
American Gothic by Grant Wood
The Old Guitarist by Pablo Picasso
Thorne Miniature Rooms
The 68 miniature rooms enable one to glimpse elements of European interiors from the late 13th century to the 1930's and American furnishings from the 17th century to the 1930's. Painstakingly constructed on a scale of one inch to one foot, these fascinating models were conceived by Mrs. James Ward Thorns of Chicago and constructed between 1932 and 1940 by master craftsman according to her specifications.
Paperweight Collection
The Asian collection comprises works spanning nearly five millennia from China, Korea, Japan, India, southeast Asia, and the Near and Middle East. It includes 35,000 objects of great archeaological and artistic significance, including Chinese bronzes, ceramics, and archaic jades; Chines and Japanese textiles; Japanese screens and paintings; Indian and Persian miniature paintings; and Indian and Southeast Asian sculpture. The collection of Japanese woodblock prints is one of the finest in the world.
The American collection primarily focuses upon Mesoamerican and Andean ceramics, sculptures, textiles, and metalwork. Native North American Indian works, particularly from the Plains Indians, the Southwest, and California, are also on view.
The Africa collection includes over 400 works that highlight the diversity of tradition-based arts on the continent, with emphasis on the sculptural traditions of West and Central Africa. Included are masks and figural sculpture, beadwork, furniture, regalia, and textiles from countries including Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivorie, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Ethiopia, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, and South Africa. The AIC's collection of over 80 African ceramics is the largest in any American art museum.
The Flamingo by Alexander Calder
America Windows by Marc Chagall
Grand Staircase
Our walk back to the hotel
Back in the hotel they had this cute gingerbread house sitting out that a few kids had worked on
That night for dinner we went to RPM Italian and it was so good!
After dinner we walked back towards Millennium Park to hear the carolers
From here, we walked to the Theater to see The Nutcracker Ballet by Robert Joffrey.
This was the last year the performance would run before a major reinvention by esteemed choreographer Christopher Wheeldon (Swan Lake, An American In Paris), which is set to receive its world premier in December 2016.
Saturday, December 12th:
We started off our day by heading to 3 Arts Club which is a restaurant in a Restoration Hardware showroom. The food was really good and the decor was to die for!
We bought really cute mercury glass ornaments!
While there a couple got engaged! This is right when the guy stood back up and the girls was crying and said "Yes!"
After lunch we walked all around Magnificent Mile and did a ton of shopping!
We had to stop by and see Guiliana and Bill Rancic's house as well!
And last stop was Garrett's Popcorn, yum! Definitely worth the wait in the line down the block.
When we got back to the hotel, we took a bunch of pictures, because it's just so stunning!
Off to dinner! Tonight we ate at RPM Steak, and it was amazing!
After dinner we headed over to the Theater to see Beautiful.
It was so incredibly good, you have to go see it!
The theater was stunning!
Sunday, December 13th:
For breakfast we went to this cute little French bistro called Cochon Valant Brasserie. We had THE BEST banana waffle
After breakfast we headed over to the Field Museum of Natural History
Sue the T-Rex
After lunch we headed over to Lou Malnati's for Chicago style pizza!
After lunch it was time to head back to the airport so we could come back to DFW.
We had such a good time in Chicago, and I hope my Mom had an amazing birthday. Love you so much Mom!
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