chicago. part one.

the only thing that could prompt these ultra excited grins after a 5:45 wake up call on a friday (besides the thought of coffee) was knowing we were 2 short hours from our visit to chicago!! i couldnt wait to catch up with old friends and finally check out this city thats been on my 'must-do' list ever since jenna went to law school (so almost 4 years?!). annnnd we'd pretty much memorized the menu to girl and the goat weeks before we got there

 apparently skulking around your friend's apartment in the dark to drop off your bags while shes at work is tricky business with a guard cat. chico was NOT having it (look at those fangs!). i dont think he ever quite got over the trauma *i repeatedly woke up to find him poised to sucker punch my face in the middle of the night

we met up with ilan at his future alma mater, art institute of chicago, for a bit of art & culture. after absorbing as much art as humanly possible for an afternoon (american gothic! monets! seurats! a room full of miniature rooms throughout history!!), we jumped on the metro (correction - "the el") over to wicker park to get a taste of the chicago hipster scene.

in desperate need of some midday pick me up (read: caffeine) we stopped at the wormhole, a BACK TO THE FUTURE themed coffee spot. as an unofficial member of the michael j fox fan club, i was in heaven

we pretty much spent the entire weekend in a cloud. i think it added a certain je ne sais quoi (and made for some awesome photog opportunities).

 we fiiiiinally got a bit of sunshine on our last day, so we hit lake michigan to max out our vitamin d quota for the weekend. naturally i was bathed in sunscreen, but man alive! did it feel good to feel that warm midwestern sun on my skin instead of the thick pea soup fog wed been having all weekend!