A California Girl's Guide to Chicago

If you had asked me five years ago, I would never have guessed I would live in the Midwest - nor that I would have a great experience there and meet so many wonderful people.  From the lovely, long summers, the beautiful lakefront, the stunning architecture, to the generous and genuine people, Chicago is an amazing city and it's not hard to admit that I truly miss it.  It's been almost nine months now since I moved away, but people still frequently ask me what to do there and where to go.  So I've put together this little guide to hopefully inspire you to visit this great city.

Fellow fair-weather friends, I do caution you: winter in Chicago is no joke!  If you're like me, you won't have the right winter clothes to be comfortable if you're visiting from Southern California or similar climate.  Either borrow some clothes or don't go from late November-March - just Google "polar vortex" if you're having second thoughts.

A lot changes in just a few months, so please feel free to add your own Chi-town tips in the comments!   Enjoy!

SEE
Art Institute - It isn't quite the Met or the Louvre, but it is a must-do if you love art. My favorite exhibit is actually the sort of oddball Thorne Miniature Rooms, which are tons of period rooms in miniature, like one-room dollhouses. What a lot of guidebooks don't tell you is that the Art Institute is almost equally lovely outside and you can save your admission fee and instead wander the gardens, outdoor sculptures, and the fountain with the weird faces (which turns into a kids' wading pool basically on hot summer days).
Millennium Park and the Lakefront - From the Art Institute you can stroll down the beautiful BP Bridge to Millennium Park, which has the gorgeous Gehry-designed Pritzker Pavilion and Cloud Gate aka the Bean, among other lovelies. If you're feeling up for more walking, strolling down to Grant Park and by the Buckingham Fountain is a nice walk and the heading right over to the Lakefront is also nice and there is a path along the lake just past Lakeshore Drive.
Hyde Park/Museum of Science and Industry - I probably wouldn't have spent as much time down here if I didn't work there, but Hyde Park is a neat neighborhood and the University of Chicago campus is beautiful. Plus, the Museum of Science and Industry is my favorite Chicago museum!
Architecture River Cruise - We did this so many times I can practically recite it, but this cruise by the Chicago Architecture Foundation is well worth it and a great way to get acquainted to the city. Even if you aren't into architecture, you will learn so many fascinating details about the history of the city.
Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio - Again, I really wasn't that into architecture but a visit to Lloyd Wright's Oak Park home is well worth it for the history and I love this neighborhood.
Wrigley Field (game or tour) - Even if you aren't much of a baseball fan, this is one of the oldest ballparks in the country and steeped in fabulous traditions and history. If you can't make a game, the tour is great and you even get to go into the dugout.
Observation Deck?- I suppose if you've never been to a big city and up in a tall building, the Willis Tower (Sears Tower) is the tallest, but we usually would take people up in the Hancock Tower instead to the Signature Lounge where you can get an amazing view for just an overpriced drink rather than $30+ fee (tip - best view is from the women's bathroom, not kidding!)

 
EAT
This list was the hardest to put together and I tried to edit it down to the truly unique for Chicago. The trouble is there are tons of amazing places to eat and new places always opening. As you can see, I hate deep dish (although if you must, Lou Malnati's is my pick) and I also tended to really stick close to the River North neighborhood I used to live in.

GT Fish and Oyster - The oysters are off the chain (hello, Oyster Po'Boys), but the Lobster "Mac and Cheese" and Berkshire Pork Belly are also delicious. 531 N. Wells
Grahamwich - This Graham Elliott lunch-only place has the most amazing sandwiches and popcorn, plus yummy fries and gourmet sodas. 615 N. State.
Portillo's - While I don't like how it's become a chain, this is still the classic place to get a Chicago Italian beef (with hot and sweet peppers, dipped). 100 W. Ontario St.
Big and Little's - Did I mention you might leave with a heart attack? That old SNL skit was no joke! This place has the most delicious truffle fries and all kinds of yum fried foods. 860 N. Orleans
Citizen Bar - One of my favorites for brunch and also love the rooftop bar. 364 W. Erie
Piccolo Sogno - Delicious Italian, the best is the romantic patio out back. 464 N. Halsted
Medici Hyde Park - Okay, so the bakery part has amazing bagels, cookies, and other baked goods. Their burgers, sandwiches, and thin pizzas (Garbage Pizza, yum!) are crazy good, but their milkshakes and on tap Diet Dr. Pepper is the real reason I frequented this place. 1327 E. 57th St.
Beat Kitchen - For awhile we lived in walking distance of this place, but even after we moved I loved going over here and ordering off their unique record sleeve menus. 2100 W. Belmont Ave.
Taco Burrito King - This California girl needs her Mexican food fix, which is not easy in Chicago, but TBK is cheap and cheerful. Multiple locations but only been to one on 114 W. Chicago Ave.
Crisp - I hope my husband isn't mad I'm giving this away, because this is his all-time Chicago favorite. I think he might have starved when I went out of town if not for their Korean fried chicken wings. 2940 N. Broadway
Twin Anchors - We are a house divided when it comes to best ribs in Chicago (which also means maybe the world) but it's my list so my pick wins. The sauce is to die for. 1655 N. Sedgwick St.


DRINK
Drumbar - Rooftop bar at the Hotel Raffello, 201 E. Delaware Place
Pops for Champagne - I have yet to meet a glass of champagne I'd turn down...
Goose Island Brewery - sample some of the local brew, like 312 and Matilda (312 is an area code in Chicago), of course I have to mention it because they host USC Game Days too,
Cubby Bear - Despite its frat-boy vibe, Wrigleyville can be a fun experience and this classic bar often has live music 
The Bedford - Love the atmosphere of this lounge where my favorite room looks like an old bank vault, complete with deposit boxes. 1612 W. Division


BE MERRY
The Hangge Uppe - A dive bar of a dance club, it's almost like a house party at this little gem. My favorite is watching on closed caption TV people dancing to different music who have no idea they are being broadcast in another room. Hilarious! 14 W. Elm
Old Town Art Fair- So Chicago's not a big club scene - the best things to do are just hanging out and drinking, preferably outside in the summer. There's a festival almost every week, and we've done a lot of them, but this is one of the biggest and best. Lots of drinking and food, galleries, gardens, music - in June each year. North Ave. area, Old Town Triangle
Castaways - I will probably get made fun of for this because it's really touristy and also kind of fratty at times, but I have spent some great afternoons sipping a beer and lounging by the railing on this fake beached "boat" right on Lake Michigan. So there! North Avenue Beach.
Lake Michigan - I had never been on such a big lake before I moved to Chicago - I actually thought you could see across it. Some annoying frat boys try to hype up the scene here at places like the Playpen to get girls to act like it's Lake Havasu or something (it's not), but when it's a hot and humid summer day, nothing beats going out on the Lake on a boat, any boat. Rent one from Montrose Harbor.
Second City - Even if you aren't a huge improv fan, you have to give props to the talented casts at this theater, who are often plucked and put on SNL. 1616 N. Wells.


SHOP
The Fudge Pot - My former boss acquainted me with this place, and oh boy, is it amazing and they can make anything out of chocolate. I love that it's family owned and my favorite is to pick out a custom box as a gift for someone, and one for myself to eat back in my hotel room. 1532 N. Wells
Veruca Salt - Maybe it's the name (loved that band!) but this is a cute, very edited selection of very wearable clothes and was near my old stomping grounds
Seminary Co-Op Bookstore - I've only been to the original one, which just moved to a new building on 5751 S. Woodlawn, but it's beautiful and I love to support independent bookstores.
Michigan Avenue - This is one of the things I miss the most. Shopping in NYC is amazing, but it's so spread out. I love how many great shops are all along Michigan Avenue (they have a Topshop!) and it's so easy to walk. I'd recommend starting at the bottom by the river and then working my way up, capped off by a drink at either the Drake Hotel or the Hancock Tower's Signature Lounge.


LOCAL TIPS
Neighborhoods - Chicago is one place where the neighborhood is everything, and each one has such a different feel and flavor.  Choose a couple to just walk around for a few hours!  Old Town is lovely, and I also love Bucktown, Lincoln Square, Roscoe Village, and Gold Coast.
Urban Oasis and Spa O - All the walking around you'll be doing will certainly leave you ready for a massage or a lovely manicure/pedicure (add a shoulder massage for $15).  My fave massage place is Urban Oasis on 12 W. Maple Street.  Spa O has a very convenient spot near Millennium/Grant Park at 1212 S. Michigan Ave.
High Tea at Intercontinental or Drake Hotel - I adore tea and we had a great experience at the Drake, a super gorgeous, classic Chicago hotel.  They even gave us free seconds on our favorite tea sandwiches! The Intercontinental has an adorable service for grade school age kids where they bring a bear and some mini glasses full of desserts like gummy bears.
Getting around - unless you're going on a day trip, you can pretty much go anywhere via the El or taxi.  I wouldn't recommend renting a car unless you want to leave town. 

Wisconsin Apple Farm

Ever since I saw the movie "Baby Boom" (great 80s movie, by the way if you haven't seen it) I totally wanted to live on an Apple Farm.  Well, maybe not live on one, but at least go apple picking and drink hot cider at one.  On a recent trip to Lake Geneva, we detoured for a tour of this gorgeous apple farm as well as an apple cider doughnut.  Yum!  And who wouldn't want to purchase a peck of apples?  It's not like you can do that every day.

It was on this trip that I really had to embrace fall.  You see, I don't like fall very much because it just means winter is around the corner.  I know there are so many people that love the four seasons, but I'm just not one of them.  The thing is, however, that fall can be really beautiful and it's going to happen no matter what.  So I am learning to enjoy it as best I can and the scenery was truly beautiful.

How do you like them apples?!

Indiana Summer

Exploring just outside of Chicago, we took a roadtrip recently and looked at Indiana Dunes State Park and New Buffalo, Michigan.


Enjoy!

Friday was happy to run into this Goldendoodle.

Up in the Air

It seems I've been spending a lot of time in airports and on planes lately.  When I was home a couple weeks ago, however, I went on a very different plane ride.  My dad has been working on his pilot's license and took me over the the Oxnard Airport to show me around.  While we were there, his good friend Ron was kind enough to take us up for a short flight.  I didn't have my camera with me, so I captured a few shots of our adventure on my dad's camera.  This is not some flimsy point-and-shoot - my dad has many hobbies, and photography is a big one.  He is the one who got me into photography in the first place and bought me my first "nice" film camera. 

Soaring above the Ventura foothills, Oxnard, and even glimpsing Santa Paula I was amazed at how the places I had walked and driven thousands of times looked so much more amazing from the air.  I was reminded again of one of my favorite Bible verses - Psalm 121.  I lift my eyes up to the mountains - where does my help come from?  My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.  Being so high up sure puts everything in perspective.


Enjoy!

Graham and Emily: Just Because

Graham and Emily are two of the most fun people I've ever met.  I've known Graham since middle school and I'd never met anyone who lived with his exuberance and love of life (or who could tear it up on a dance floor quite like him)... until I met Emily.  Together, these two are quite a pair.

On our recent camping trip, we went out for a walk (I would say "hike" but Scott informed me if I'm doing it in flip flops or Uggs it doesn't count as a hike) and I saw this rock formation with a tree.  I was like, I have to climb this thing and take goofy pictures.  When Graham and Emily happened to come along, they were like, "We wanna take goofy pictures too!"  I'm always looking for willing subjects to pose!

You can read Emily's more complete post on our whole camping trip here.

The result, I hope, captures just a small piece of what fun and fantastic people they truly are.

Couldn't have asked for better subjects.  Statues?  No problem!




Look at that air!

Into the Wild

Earlier this year, a couple we are friends with posed a great idea: why not get a group of friends from childhood along with their significant others and children together for a camping trip? We're all so busy and spread out now, it would be a chance to catch up and spend time together. A wonderful idea, except if you know me. You see, I do not camp. As in, I do not go places that do not have electrical plugs, working toliets and showers, and non-dirt floors. I consider a quaint cabin at say, the Awahnee in Yosemite camping.

This is not to say that I have not camped before. Oh, I've car-camped. I've backpacked. I've stayed in a tent just outside Tijuana, Mexico and bathed out of a bucket. So when people say, "You don't camp AT ALL?" in disbelief this is not because I have not tried it before. I just don't see the point. A good friend told me that she thinks camping is like pretending to be homeless, and I kind of agree.

To make things even more complicated, Scott and I had no idea when we started planning this we would be negotiating a cross-country move. He had to already be out in Chicago to start work and I, fresh off the plane from Australia, was wrapping up things in California. We ended up flying in from different states and meeting in Denver, both thrown off from jetlag and the haze of being in an airport constantly for the last month.

However, for this dear group of friends and the promise of an actual bathroom with working toliets (so it wasn't totally rustic camping, I guess), I decided to make an exception. Armed with toliet seat covers from the LAX bathrooms and my trusty Eddie Bauer lantern, I set out into the wilderness of Rocky Mountain National Park to reconnect with a fantastic group of people. And I can honestly say I did not regret agreeing to go camping for one minute.

But next year, I vote for a hotel with showers. :)

Enjoy!

The lighting was low, so it came out a little blurry. But this is the very elusive "whistle pig."








You may recognize this lovely couple on the right from an earlier post where I shot their wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.

A Bloody Long Way To Go

They have a saying in Australia that it's "a bloody long way to go" in part referring to its distance from the mother country of England and of course in general to it being a separate continent so far away from everything else. After a 15 hour flight and coping with a mind-boggling 17 hour time difference, I'd have to agree! But when we touched down in Sydney, Australia somehow it all became worthwhile.

Whether taking tea in the little shops near the Circular Quay, grabbing a beer in an old pub with a secret passage underneath it, or traveling down the winding roads in a tiny taxi (or huge bus) on the left hand side and then going through a roundabout with white knuckles - Sydney was both quaint and metropolitan. The people were incredibly kind and very curious to know you. After traveling in Europe and practically having to apologize for being American, Sydneysiders feel a very common bond with America (our histories are remarkably parallel).

I had the privilege of traveling to Australia for my job - the one that doesn't involve photography - and had a great time because (or some would say despite the fact) I was part of a four-person faculty/staff team chaperoning 50 freshman business students to Sydney for 9 days. My traveling companions had great senses of humor and we just rolled with the punches that come with large group traveling. I could not have asked for a better trip, except it should have been longer and I want to see more of Australia. Regrettably, my suitcases were jammed with items for the trip and I wasn't able to take anything but a point-and-shoot. But I had to include just a few fun photos, especially of our visit to a wildlife park.

Enjoy!