Adventures of a Conference Wife

Obviously 21 posts in October wore me out and I needed a break... Ha! 

Not really, I just assumed my role as 'Conference Wife' to my bestest pal and was busy livin' and not blogging.  But if you missed me, I wasn't absent from Instgram.  That would just be crazy!

Allis told me about two weeks ago that she was going to talk with her boss about flying in from CO to attend a conference in Chicago the first week of November and if it all panned out could I come up and hangout? 

Uh, let me check me calendar.  Yes, duh!  I'll be there!

Sunday morning I headed up to Chi-town to collect Al from the airport and then we went to check into our hotel.  We stayed in a swanky hotel a block off the Magnificent Mile, which was perfect!  After we got settled and drank a bottle of wine (priorities!), we ventured out.  We ended up at a small, hole in the wall bar called Pippin's Tavern for a snack and some brews.  When we left Pippin's we did some more wandering and stumbled (not literally) on Jake Melnicks.  Allis and I always split a couple different items on the menu and here we tried the hand-cut BBQ chips, cobb salad and the special macaroni and cheese... BLT!  Freaking yum!  The macaroni and the Vander Mill Totally Roasted cider were a toss up for me, loved them both! 

 

Monday we got up and went for a run down the lake front, which was good to offset the booze and mac n cheese!  For brunch we ended up at Sunny Side Up and again split a few of the daily specials.  After we finished, the rest of the day was spent traipsing all up and down Michigan Avenue.  So much shopping!  And the people watching, second to none.  Around 3 o'clock we both couldn't stand it any longer... we needed nourishment and libations. 

Enter The Purple Pig. 

We had high hopes for this little place and it didn't disappoint!  I mean when your slogan is 'Cheese, Swine and Wine', can you go wrong?!  Embracing the Mediterranean cuisine and extensive wine list, we dug in for the long haul.  I highly recommend the Brussels sprouts salad and sheep Gorgonzola paired with the Reserve de Sours Rose'.  Simply put... It was epic!

After tearing ourselves away from The Purple Pig, we headed to Trader Joe's.  One of our traveling traditions is to hit up a market or some cases Walgreens, and spend one night at the hotel in our PJ's just chillaxing.  It's always one of my favorite things we do, no matter where we are! 

Tuesday morning we got in a workout in the hotel fitness center and then Allis and I went our separate ways.  She headed to her conference and I was off to tackle the city on my own.  I ended up checking out Millennium Park and doing some shopping on State Street. 

I was a little early to see any of the Christmas windows at Macy's... Maybe Matt and I'll head back up a little later this year? 

Around lunch, I headed back to the hotel and busted out the work I brought with me.  See, it's not all fun and games.  I did some work too!  When Allis got back from the conference, I insisted we head to the Signature Lounge that's on the 95th floor of the John Hancock building.  While the drinks and waitstaff are a bit over-priced and pretentious, you can't beat the view! 

From the Hancock Building, we excitedly made our way to Eataly!  Matt's family and countless bloggers have been raving about this place and I was dying to go for myself!  Paige put together a fantastic post about the experience that is Eataly, I was too busy stuffing my face and gawking to get too many pictures...  #sorrynotsorry  We ordered the meat and cheese platter, the shitake mushrooms and a bottle of champs! 

Matt's cousin, Flannery and her roomie, showed up as Al and I were just deciding to head over to the wine counter.  Broke, post-college kids have great timing.  Several glasses of wine later it was time for gelato!  More yums. 

Not ready to head back to the hotel... We went back to The Purple Pig.  It. Is. That. Great.  And why order anything different than what we already knew was awesome?!?

You won't be surprised to read this, but Wednesday morning we didn't work out.  Shocker.  We slept in and then went back to Sunny Side Up for brunch.  Really, why mess with a good thing? 

After brunch, Allis and I said our 'See ya laters!' on a street corner on The Mag Mile.  Nothing too long or drawn out., just two pals knowing that we'll see each other again soon!