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The Final touches to the Corn Queen
8 years ago
Showing posts with label chicago. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chicago. Show all posts
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Chicago!
Chi-Town. The Windy City. Chicago.
Whatever you wanna call it. It is a beautiful city. I so loved it there. Well except for the wind!
I didn't really know a whole lot about the city prior to going. I knew some of the main points that I wanted to see/do. The Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower), Millenium Park, The Bean, Pizza, Wrigley Field, Michigan Ave, etc. What I really wanted to do was to just walk the city. I love exploring new cities. Especially by foot and subway. I guess I'm just a wanderer.
I have a friend that lives there that emailed me a lovely list of specific places to go. Restaurants, pubs and sites. We ended up at a bunch of the places she suggested.
My friend Jenn and I met up at Chicago O'Hare (which is a huge place to meet up with someone. just saying.). We both flew from California but we flew from separate airports. We each wanted to earn points on different airlines. We're nerds like that. So I flew out of LAX and her from Orange County. We got to Chicago within 10 minutes of each other. Perfect!
Taxi'd it to the hotel and then it was off to explore.
Ok. So let's talk about the deep dish pizza. The first night, we went to Pizzeria Due. We ordered our deep dish pizzas (which take about 40min to bake. Just fyi). I had no idea that the crust would actually be kind of like pie crust. And I hate pie crust! So ew. I didn't love it. However, the middle was good. Our concierge gave us her suggestion for pizza which was Pizano's. Pizano's was actually on my list from my friend. It also showed up in some of the magazines in the hotel. Apparently it's Oprah's favorite thin crust pizza. Pizano's was sooooo good. I loved it. I did have the thin crust though. I wasn't ready to try deep dish again. :-)
Overall, the city was great. I found it to be clean. Or maybe it was the rain. I noticed that trash is not piled up in front of stores along the street like in NYC. Chicago must use their alleys. :-) I loved the contrast between the city architechture and the river running between. Our weather kept changing so we got to experience all of that. It even hailed at one point which threw me off. I thought the wind was throwing dirt in my face. I was really grossed out. Then I looked at my jacket and noticed it was actually baby hail! You know I'm from Orange County when I'm thinking hail is dirt! Sorry, never have experienced hail before. haha.
I LOVED the pubs and restaurants there. Very old fashioned. Laid back but very nice. Not dive bar like. I think I would definitely drink more if I lived there. I really enjoyed the atmosphere.
Well, enough of my babble. Here are the pics from the trip. This was the first time I've used my new SLR camera on a trip. The pictures came out nice. I'm happy!
Self explanatory but this is the Chicago Riverwalk.
City scape
See what I mean about the city and water contrast? I love it!
I thought this looked like one of those Christmas villages. :-)
This was a church with an open courtyard. It was kind of creepy but cool! A nice find.
The Bean in Millenium Park. Way too much fun.
Accidental extreme close up self portrait in the Bean.
The EL. (Elevated Subway)
Me. My face was freezing. haha.
I loved these subway entrances along the street.
Whatever you wanna call it. It is a beautiful city. I so loved it there. Well except for the wind!
I didn't really know a whole lot about the city prior to going. I knew some of the main points that I wanted to see/do. The Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower), Millenium Park, The Bean, Pizza, Wrigley Field, Michigan Ave, etc. What I really wanted to do was to just walk the city. I love exploring new cities. Especially by foot and subway. I guess I'm just a wanderer.
I have a friend that lives there that emailed me a lovely list of specific places to go. Restaurants, pubs and sites. We ended up at a bunch of the places she suggested.
My friend Jenn and I met up at Chicago O'Hare (which is a huge place to meet up with someone. just saying.). We both flew from California but we flew from separate airports. We each wanted to earn points on different airlines. We're nerds like that. So I flew out of LAX and her from Orange County. We got to Chicago within 10 minutes of each other. Perfect!
Taxi'd it to the hotel and then it was off to explore.
Ok. So let's talk about the deep dish pizza. The first night, we went to Pizzeria Due. We ordered our deep dish pizzas (which take about 40min to bake. Just fyi). I had no idea that the crust would actually be kind of like pie crust. And I hate pie crust! So ew. I didn't love it. However, the middle was good. Our concierge gave us her suggestion for pizza which was Pizano's. Pizano's was actually on my list from my friend. It also showed up in some of the magazines in the hotel. Apparently it's Oprah's favorite thin crust pizza. Pizano's was sooooo good. I loved it. I did have the thin crust though. I wasn't ready to try deep dish again. :-)
Overall, the city was great. I found it to be clean. Or maybe it was the rain. I noticed that trash is not piled up in front of stores along the street like in NYC. Chicago must use their alleys. :-) I loved the contrast between the city architechture and the river running between. Our weather kept changing so we got to experience all of that. It even hailed at one point which threw me off. I thought the wind was throwing dirt in my face. I was really grossed out. Then I looked at my jacket and noticed it was actually baby hail! You know I'm from Orange County when I'm thinking hail is dirt! Sorry, never have experienced hail before. haha.
I LOVED the pubs and restaurants there. Very old fashioned. Laid back but very nice. Not dive bar like. I think I would definitely drink more if I lived there. I really enjoyed the atmosphere.
Well, enough of my babble. Here are the pics from the trip. This was the first time I've used my new SLR camera on a trip. The pictures came out nice. I'm happy!
Self explanatory but this is the Chicago Riverwalk.
City scape
See what I mean about the city and water contrast? I love it!
I thought this looked like one of those Christmas villages. :-)
This was a church with an open courtyard. It was kind of creepy but cool! A nice find.
The courtyard
Millenium Park. Look at the colors!
Millenium Park. Look at the colors!
The Bean in Millenium Park. Way too much fun.
Accidental extreme close up self portrait in the Bean.
Us in the Bean
I love the fall colors!
The EL. (Elevated Subway)
Jenn
Me. My face was freezing. haha.
103rd Floor of the Willis Tower on 'The Ledge' which is basically like a plexiglass box that jets out so it looks down on the city. Scary. But so cool. Willis Tower is the 2nd tallest building in the world!
The ChristkindleMarket. A German Christmas market we found. They served hot cocoa, spiced wine and hot cider. They sold traditional German products/ornaments and food. We were also there for the official lighting of the Christmas Tree by the Mayor that night.
The ChristkindleMarket. A German Christmas market we found. They served hot cocoa, spiced wine and hot cider. They sold traditional German products/ornaments and food. We were also there for the official lighting of the Christmas Tree by the Mayor that night.
I loved these subway entrances along the street.
The tree lighting ceremony at the ChristkindleMarket. Fireworks included! Nice, free Christmassy event.
It was seriously like a Fa la la la Lifetime movie. I loved it!
TRAVEL TIP: When I check in at the hotel, I usually grab some of the magazines and maps that the concierge have. They are city specific and usually have subway and street maps that you can tear out and take with you. Some of them also have calendars of what is going on during your stay. They're free. Grab them and use them!!
Travel Girl's Chicago read:
Deception Point by Dan Brown (It was really good by the way. Read it.)
Travel Girl's Chicago playlist:
The XX's
Maroon 5 (a few of their new songs.)
Taylor Swift's new album (did you hear the song about John Mayer? omg. Awesome. Google it!)
Thanks for reading travel peeps!
Until next time...
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Fly Me to The Moon...
Well, I'm not going to the moon. I AM however, going to Chicago! The week of Thanksgiving. Finally purchased the plane tickets for my highly anticipated 4 night/5 day vacation away from work. YES! So. Excited.
I decided to go to Chicago. I've been trying to go for about a year now and it just hasn't worked out. I've been so busy at work that I haven't really been able to think about even purchasing the tickets until now. Now that I have purchased the tickets, I know it's official. :-) Now I just need to figure out what I can't miss while in Chicago.
Any thoughts?
I decided to go to Chicago. I've been trying to go for about a year now and it just hasn't worked out. I've been so busy at work that I haven't really been able to think about even purchasing the tickets until now. Now that I have purchased the tickets, I know it's official. :-) Now I just need to figure out what I can't miss while in Chicago.
Any thoughts?
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Workaholic's Don't Travel!
So, I would not really consider myself a career girl. I am not aiming to become some top Executive. I don't have awesome girl power career goals. HOWEVER.....I do take my job very seriously. When I'm there, I'm 100%. I try very hard to do a really great job. I take pride in my work. I try to be organized. I want to learn new things. I research if I don't know how to do something. I want to fully understand what my job is. I want my bosses and colleagues to think of me as a key player. I stay late and work weekends if need be to make sure my work is taken care of. All of those good things. But like I said. No grand career aspirations.
I do enjoy my hectic job. This new job is an extension of what I was doing at my previous job. Adding to that, a whole new accounting side. Plus a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Throw in many meetings and there you have it. I also have the whole commute thing which adds about 3 hours to my day.
My main boss (who we call 'Mom') just reassigned all of our upcoming groups. Long story short, we got assigned to specific managers and we will now take on their specific groups. Well, my 2 assigned managers just happen to be VERY busy in the next few months and the beginning of next year. So, their groups will now be my groups. Plus I have my own groups. Also will still have a few groups I have kept from other managers that I was already involved in. Starting in the next few days, I will be slammed until November 19!! I will have one week of freedom and then more groups until December 14. I have not had a day off (minus the weekends) since my New York trip in January! Not even one day. Boo hoo!
So, what is my point??!! My point is....I need to ask Mom Boss for a few days off during that week so I can for sure take a little trip! I need to ask her NOW before she assigns another group to me during that week. So that's the plan. Mom Boss is crazy busy right now, but I think the sooner I ask her, the better. I may sneak my request on her desk tomorrow. Wish me luck!!!!
By the way. I'm thinking this may be a good time for that Chicago trip I've been wanting to do. Thoughts?
Sincerely,
LA Working Girl
I do enjoy my hectic job. This new job is an extension of what I was doing at my previous job. Adding to that, a whole new accounting side. Plus a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Throw in many meetings and there you have it. I also have the whole commute thing which adds about 3 hours to my day.
My main boss (who we call 'Mom') just reassigned all of our upcoming groups. Long story short, we got assigned to specific managers and we will now take on their specific groups. Well, my 2 assigned managers just happen to be VERY busy in the next few months and the beginning of next year. So, their groups will now be my groups. Plus I have my own groups. Also will still have a few groups I have kept from other managers that I was already involved in. Starting in the next few days, I will be slammed until November 19!! I will have one week of freedom and then more groups until December 14. I have not had a day off (minus the weekends) since my New York trip in January! Not even one day. Boo hoo!
So, what is my point??!! My point is....I need to ask Mom Boss for a few days off during that week so I can for sure take a little trip! I need to ask her NOW before she assigns another group to me during that week. So that's the plan. Mom Boss is crazy busy right now, but I think the sooner I ask her, the better. I may sneak my request on her desk tomorrow. Wish me luck!!!!
By the way. I'm thinking this may be a good time for that Chicago trip I've been wanting to do. Thoughts?
Sincerely,
LA Working Girl
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Windy City??
Was at Borders Books & Music yesterday and I bought a book and a map of Chicago. I guess that means I should probably make that my next trip! I'm thinking a long weekend trip. Sometime before baseball season ends. I definitely want to catch a Cubs game at Wrigley Field. :)
Never been to Chicago before. Suggestions my little travel peeps??
Never been to Chicago before. Suggestions my little travel peeps??
Monday, May 11, 2009
Where I'm NOT Going...
In my last post, I told you I might be going on a trip soon. Well, I have good news and bad news. The trip I was talking about did not work out. This was the trip:
3 Nights, 4 Days in CHICAGO!!!!!
$230 airfare
Sweet discount at a Marriott in Downtown
and a Cubs game at Wrigley Field!!!!!
All on my 30th birthday weekend.
Sounds amazing, right??
**sigh**
The problem was not me but my friends!! :-) Either they had another trip planned and couldn't spend the extra money, just got an internship and couldn't get off work, can't take a vacation the same time as me since we have to cover each other's vacations, used all of their time off for other reasons or have another trip too close to this one, etc. So I am very bummed and totally in denial that it's not happening. I can't seem to cancel my room reservations. It was such a good deal.
Now for the good news. There may be a bigger trip coming up to take the place of this one! I can't give you more details yet because I don't have them. I'm still in the research stage. Checking out costs of flights, hotels, etc. I don't even have a set destination yet. Just researching to see the best deal.
Speaking of deals....where are the deals?? I thought since we were having a budget/economic crisis, there were supposed to be better deals on flights? Where are they? I don't see them. Very disappointed.
To hold you over until I get actual travel plans......I have some updated garden pics. Especially for my cousin Nina In Freiburg. http://ninainfreiburg.blogspot.com/ Who also loves to garden and randomly we like the same types of vegetable plants. :-)
Tomato Plant #1. This is the smaller plant but has huge tomatos on it. Can't wait to start seeing it turn red.
Bell Peppers are getting big!
New bell peppers are starting to grow.
Tomato plant #2- The big one. Had tons of flowers and now they are turning into tons of tomatos! Finally!!
Up close you can see some of the tomatos. Not quite sure how big these ones are supposed to get though.
My Cypress Tree. He's kinda puny but I still love him.
My kitchen basil plant. He's cute too.
Ciao for now World Travelers....
3 Nights, 4 Days in CHICAGO!!!!!
$230 airfare
Sweet discount at a Marriott in Downtown
and a Cubs game at Wrigley Field!!!!!
All on my 30th birthday weekend.
Sounds amazing, right??
**sigh**
The problem was not me but my friends!! :-) Either they had another trip planned and couldn't spend the extra money, just got an internship and couldn't get off work, can't take a vacation the same time as me since we have to cover each other's vacations, used all of their time off for other reasons or have another trip too close to this one, etc. So I am very bummed and totally in denial that it's not happening. I can't seem to cancel my room reservations. It was such a good deal.
Now for the good news. There may be a bigger trip coming up to take the place of this one! I can't give you more details yet because I don't have them. I'm still in the research stage. Checking out costs of flights, hotels, etc. I don't even have a set destination yet. Just researching to see the best deal.
Speaking of deals....where are the deals?? I thought since we were having a budget/economic crisis, there were supposed to be better deals on flights? Where are they? I don't see them. Very disappointed.
To hold you over until I get actual travel plans......I have some updated garden pics. Especially for my cousin Nina In Freiburg. http://ninainfreiburg.blogspot.com/ Who also loves to garden and randomly we like the same types of vegetable plants. :-)
Tomato Plant #1. This is the smaller plant but has huge tomatos on it. Can't wait to start seeing it turn red.
Bell Peppers are getting big!
New bell peppers are starting to grow.
Tomato plant #2- The big one. Had tons of flowers and now they are turning into tons of tomatos! Finally!!
Up close you can see some of the tomatos. Not quite sure how big these ones are supposed to get though.
My Cypress Tree. He's kinda puny but I still love him.
My kitchen basil plant. He's cute too.
Ciao for now World Travelers....
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