Bloggers Take Chicago.

Happy Monday!  I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!  As many of you know (and were probably SO SICK of the updates on Twitter, ha!), this weekend marked a major blogging milestone for me, as Ashley of "Ashley's Carnival Ride" and Neely of "A Complete Waste of Makeup" came to visit!  I have to admit that I was SO NERVOUS to not only meet these two ladies, but also show them around town for four days.  It was like an extended blind date - yet, as soon as I picked these two up from the airport after a majorly delayed flight, all of my nerves disappeared and we geared up for a wonderful weekend.


Since I was the one playing tour guide, I am sure you will have to check out Ashley and Neely's re-caps for better pictures.  I swear, I am a disgrace to bloggers everywhere, as I do not use my super nice camera, nor do I take cutesy pictures.  Ugh.  Anyway, I'll do my best!


Wednesday Night:


Wednesday consisted of WAITING and WAITING, as these ladies took the flight from hell to get to Chicago.  After we finally made it to their hotel, I took them to my favorite restaurant in the city, West Town Tavern, for dinner!


Thursday:


I am so glad that I've met someone who is as crazy about working out as I am.  Neely and I took a 7:00 a.m. Bar Method class to start the day.  We then stopped for coffee and an AMAZING brunch and then took Ashley to check out Oprah's old home, Harpo Studios.


From there, we did some shopping on Michigan Avenue, stopped for Chicago-style pizza (THE BEST IN THE WORLD, in my opinion), and headed to the Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower) to check out the SkyDeck.

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The view from 1,300 feet up!

I love my city.

We originally had plans for my husband to cook a lovely dinner for us, but after stuffing our faces with pizza, we decided that all we could stomach was an episode of "Toddlers and Tiaras".

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Umm.  I AM HOOKED on these crazy little beyotches.


Thursday evening ended early after several failed celebrity stalking opportunities.  It seemed that everyone was in town this weekend (like Paris Hilton and Ramona Singer), yet, we just weren't destined to find them.  Sads.


Friday:


Friday consisted of some breakfast and shopping before heading to Milennium Park to check out the Bean!

From there, we bought tickets to the Chicago Movie Tour, where we toured the city by bus for two hours, checking out where movies and television shows had been filmed.  I would highly recommend this tour to everyone - I had NO IDEA that Chicago was so rich in movie history.


And then, of course, the piece de resistance of the evening: NKOTBSB at the United Center.


It was seriously the best.concert.ever.  And our seats were incredible!

We were at the end of the very phallic-shaped stage, approximately ten rows back.  Due to our proximity to the front, and the fact that we were the first row on an aisle, we had access to HIM:

Yes.  We touched Jonathan Knight!!!  It was incredible!  Personally, I would have preferred Jordan or Donnie, but hey, I'm not complaining.  (And at least it wasn't Danny, right???)


Saturday:


Saturday was filled with a cupcake crawl, cheeseburgers at the world-famous Billy Goat Tavern, and wandering around Wrigley Field before the Cubs-Yankees game.  

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Saturday night was the best!  We had a lovely dinner outdoors at Enoteca Roma Wine Bar before heading to a hole-in-the-wall called The Shambles for dancing until 2:30 a.m.  Unfortunately, I do not have pictures of this madness, but I know Ashley and Neely do, so I hope they will be kind in their selections:)


Sunday:


Since we were out so late singing and dancing our hearts out, Sunday morning really only consisted of Chicago-style hot dogs and falling asleep on my couch until it was time to take these lovely ladies to the airport.  It was really sad to see them go!


Y'all, I seriously had the BEST TIME EVER.  Neely and Ashley are both so incredibly sweet and I am truly blessed to now call them "IRL" friends:)  I also loved the fact that I was able to play "tourist" in my own city, and it just made me fall in love with Chicago all over again. I just cannot get over how much fun I had with these two lovely ladies, and you better believe I will be making my way to the Dallas/OK area to see the soon!  "Bloggers Take Chicago" was a true success!