Chicago at Christmas

If the past six months had a theme, it would definitely be travel--I feel like I've almost turned this space into a travel blog unintentionally. Judging by my schedule, the next six months aren't going to be much different, and honestly that's heaven to me. I love traveling, although I often find myself pulled between exploring new places and going back to the cities I love the most. A little over a week ago, my good friend and coworker Leeann and I hopped on a train to Chicago, one of my favorite cities. I had never done a train trip, apart from once in England (which was much shorter!), and I'm honestly kind of a huge fan. It's like Amtrak looked at everything people hate about flying--TSA, zero leg room, tiny windows, minimal or non-existence power outlets, strict baggage allowances, long lines--and said, "nah." (Seriously, I know I'm kinda short, but my feet didn't even reach the footrests!) I'm already dreaming about a train trip out west....but back to our actual trip:

We hopped on our train around 7am and were in Chicago by 3:00pm. There was a point in time where I knew Chicago pretty darn well, and was even trying to go to grad school there. My college boyfriend moved to the city midway through our relationship, so I spent a lot of time wandering the streets around that time while visiting him, and even though it had been nearly 10 years since I'd been there last, I was surprised (and a little proud) at how well I could still navigate downtown. I was a little bummed to find out that my favorite Italian restaurant had closed a couple years ago, but we definitely didn't have any trouble finding great places to eat, drink, or play.

Leeann had never been to Chicago before, so one of our first stops was, predictably, Millennium Park--I mean, you have to see the Bean! No matter how many times I visit, I never get tired of this area and downtown in general. Kansas City is a decent-sized place, but there's just something awe-inspiring about miles of skyscrapers. At Christmastime, it's a little extra magical--buildings lit up in red and green, the Christkindlmarkt, people ice-skating, and Christmas trees lit up on nearly every block. And, seemingly just for us, we woke up on Saturday morning to a fresh blanket of snow. Pretty darn perfect if you ask me.

Saturday night we were headed to a concert (more from that later!) at Thalia Hall; we had been downtown all day and ended up near where we started by Millennium Park. We popped into a coffee shop to warm up (because holy smokes was it cold that day) and it began to get dark; Leeann asked if I would be okay with going back across the street to see the Bean and Christmas tree before we left for the show and.......duh. Big cities at night are somewhere in my top 10 favorite things in life, so add a giant mirror and Christmas lights to that and just watch me melt into a puddle of awe. It's a good thing we had somewhere to be, or otherwise I might still be there, just staring and snapping a thousand pictures. 

I can't wait to share more from the concert we went to and one of the amazing brunch spots we tried. I wish we had more time in the city, but that's just a good excuse to come back again, right?  Chicago will always hold such a special place in my heart, and it's extra wonderful at Christmas.