Let’s face it. I needed to get away…Off to Chicago & Vegas for a 10-day whirlwind vacation…Our trip to Chicago was to visit Jen, who had recently moved home while she attended nursing school and celebrate St Patrick’s Day. And our trip to Vegas was to celebrate Crispin’s birthday and, well, to go to Vegas…here’s how it went down…
Christie and I had originally slated a Saturday afternoon arrival to Chicago, however once we learned that the St Patrick’s Day celebrations were underway for Saturday and not Thursday, March 17th, we promptly changed our flights Friday afternoon and paid an additional fee to fly the red eye and arrive by 5am Saturday morning.
After a very long and VERY freezing cold flight, we were greeted by Jen and her adorable mother, Susan, at the airport. We immediately set the tone of the trip by stopping at Dunkin Donuts, shoveling our faces full of tiny little mounds of delicious deep fried dough. We headed back to their palatial home in the Chicago suburb of Kenilworth and napped in prep for the big day ahead.
While we accidentally slept through the St Patrick’s Day parade at noon, we still managed to make it to Wrigleyville, where we partied for the entire day…and night.
Around 4pm we lost Christie to Chris, but Jen and I powered through. We met up with Kellan’s brother, Patrick, and concluded our evening with a couple slices of pizza as big as my head. The details of the events in between are hazy to say the least. There was a lot of Jameson, new friends, green beer, dancing, gingers, and best of all Malort aka Chicago’s Fernet.
Flash forward to Sunday morning where we awoke dazed and confused in Patrick’s guest bedroom. Luckily his sweet ass apartment was only a short walk to the L where we met Christie around 10am, so we could get back to Jen’s parents place. About 30 minutes into our train ride, I had a sudden urge for the restroom, which required us to immediately exit in a not so great neighborhood. However, what started out as a bad idea, turned into a great idea, when we landed ourselves at Act One, for several hours. And yes, we were still in the same clothes.
Sunday night through Tuesday evening we rested up at Jen’s parent’s home in preparation for our week downtown and our weekend in Las Vegas. We lunched at The Bagel, shopped at the mall, learned at the Museum of Science & Industry and enjoyed the company of Susan, Randy, Jake and Luke. (Those are Jen’s parents and her golden retrievers and they’re all adorable.)
On Tuesday evening we finally headed downtown to the Michigan Avenue Westin to stay for the duration of the week. Tuesday night we ended up back in Wrigleyville and stayed out until around 4am. After a round of strip pool, we finally called it a night and headed to The Golden Apple Diner for some deliciousness.
Around 8am Wednesday morning, our hotel room door came flying open and entered Miss Lauren, who had just arrived from San Fran. After a long power nap, the four of us, Christie, Jen, Lauren and I, hit downtown for some brunch and Chicago-themed good times. After chowing down some b-fast at Yolk, we headed to Pippins Tavern for a couple cocktails.
SIDE NOTE: One of my most favorite parts of the bars in Chicago? That you can pay to play whatever music you want to hear! We owned every bar’s jams to say the least.
At Pippin’s we met a group of men, the founders of Vitamin Water, who we ended up partying with all afternoon. We sang, danced, played games, took shots of Jameson, played more games…The guys also happened to also be staying at our hotel and one of them claimed to have an extra room next to his suite. He provided us a key and offered it as a place to stay in case we needed the extra space. Sort of creepy, but a kind gesture nevertheless.
After a $600+ tab (the drinks weren’t even $5 a piece), we closed down the house around 5pm in prep for our All You Can Eat Sushi feast planned for the evening. On our way back to the hotel, things got a bit out of hand. It was commuter hour and while the professionals of the world exited the high rises of Michigan Avenue, we ran like maniacs through the streets. Lo event proceeded to slam her body up against the window of Giorgio Armani, until security came after her. Whoops.
By some miracle of the lord, I’m proud (possibly ashamed) to say we made it out until 3am in Lincoln Park. On our way back to the hotel we stopped at the 17th floor to check out “Vitamin Water’s” extra room, but heard voices when we opened the door and chickened out of saying hello…but made note to try again the next night.
SIDE NOTE: Jen did end up being sick all night. Shockingly I don’t think it was from the mass amount of liquor, but instead the terrible sushi we ate…Karma’s a biatch Jen!
Thursday, the actual St Patrick’s Day, was sort of a bust. At this point we weren’t getting out of bed until after 1pm, so breakfast turned out to be some appetizers and a drink at the top of the Hancock Tower. That night we got all spiffed up and headed to the Viagra Triangle, which is just like the Marina triangle, but instead of cougars, it’s old men! There we dined at an amazing steakhouse, Gibson’s, and met the VERY Italian manager and owner. Food? Fabulous. Service? Amazing. Cocktails? Strong.
After 50+ ounces of beef combined, we hit up the local bar and ended up partying with, what we thought were cubs players, but turned out to be cops (slight misunderstanding between us and the waitress). Aside, at the end of the night one of the officers, Rick, gave us his business card to K.I.T. Apparently not only is Rick an officer of the law, but he is also skilled in computer repair, tatooing and masonry. Yes, his card actually stated this information. WTF CPD? (That’s Jen and Rick.)
Oh and around 3am, on the way back to the hotel room, Christie and Jen stopped by “Vitamin Water’s” suite for a second look…Turns out it was not a spare room, but instead his actual hotel room! As they opened the door, he popped his head out of the bathroom, saying “Hold on a sec. I’m just brushing my teeth.” Before he could even spit out the toothpaste, the girls ran, hopped in the elevator and we never saw him again. So gross!
Friday, we yet again slept in past 1pm and finally awoke to have lunch with Lo’s old co-worker Jen in Wicker Park. Surprise, surprise…only a couple hours later, as we were departing Northside Cafe, Lo’s co-worker tripped and fell, knocking over several fake trees, tables and chairs. We received several dirty looks on our way out. Whoopsie…We made a scene.
That night we attempted a show at Second City, however, we didn’t exactly receive the warmest welcome (Thanks Lo) and decided it probably wasn’t the best idea to stay…Instead I left the girls and met up with Nugget at a hole in the wall dive bar in the heart of the Ukrainian Village. I got home around 3am, only to get up at 5am to catch our flight to Vegas.
Yes. Vegas. On Saturday morning we arrived at 9:30am to begin our Vegas extravaganza! Annie and Crispin greeted us at the airport, but we had sadly left Jen behind in Chi Town. The first day was filled with rest and relaxation at the spa. The single day of detox. We dined at Postrio, one of Wolfgang Puck’s restaurants at the Venetian for lunch and Johnny Smalls at the Hard Rock for dinner.
We ended up getting a table with some San Diego friends at Vanity, which was perfect for us. Easy access to seating, cocktails and most importantly, the dance floor. My one horrific memory of the night? One of the girls (not a friend) at our table was wearing this teeny-tiny white dress, so short, you could literally see her tampon string. Abso-frickin-lutely disgusting. (And yes, of course we captured this in pictures.)
Sunday was again a lazy day, mostly because we were saving ourselves for the greatest experience ever aka Thunder From Down Under! We had front row seats, plenty of jell-o shots and screams to deafen a small child. My favorite part? When the 91 year old woman (not kidding), hobbled onto the stage and aggressively put her hands down the strippers boxer briefs. She is my idol.
Later that night, after an uneventful evening at The Bank, the Armenian Duo, aka Lo and Annie, and myself ended up lost inside the Bellagio. The next morning I found the below photo on my camera. Lauren had body slammed herself up against the same Giorgio Armani window display in Vegas as she had in Chicago. Weird, right? (Note to self: Apparently window displays are effective.)
Monday, 90% of our day was spent at the Lago Buffet in Caesar’s. Since we had to check out of our hotel, but weren’t leaving until 9pm, we stayed for both lunch and dinner. Class. Class. Class.
Although I was absolutely exhausted coming back from my vacation it was most definitely worth it. Chicago & Vegas, I’m sorry…but not really.
Oh and in case you’re lazy. Here this story is in film…
PS This is my 100th post. Yay me!