Chicago, Illinois

My parents and I's second summer adventure took place in the Windy City! For the Fourth of July weekend, she arranged plans to visit my sister Lauren who is working in Chicago for a summer internship at Leo Burnett. It was a very lovely weekend, especially because Chicago is one of my favorite cities in the world. I was not very thrilled about leaving California, but Independence Day Weekend made me not regret one bit!

We left early from San Diego on Friday and arrived in Chicago in mid-afternoon. The flight was a bit long due to the three hour time difference, but watching The Breakfast Club (which ironically took place in Chicago!) made it go by faster. Once we met my sister at her apartment, we got freshened up and went to Millennium Park for our first stop. I have never seen the Chicago Bean in person before, so I was very excited to finally check it out for the first time (and take reflective selfies). We also saw the Crown Fountain which is a video sculpture that spits out water into a kiddie pool. My, how technology has progressed!

We met up with one of my sister's friends and took an Uber to Wicker Park which our favorite restaurant in the city, Café Bavaria, was located. If you live or are going to Chicago sometime ever, my family and I highly recommend this restaurant. It's your usual order one meal only and pay, it's more of a pick a variety of appetizers and try them out and pay. It may not sound very filling, but I promise you it is. My favorite food plates are the prosciutto and calamari, so damn good.

The next day was pretty much a tourist kind of day. We stopped first at our favorite breakfast meal at Yolk, the best brunch you will ever experience! 

After Lauren showed us her office in Leo Burnett, we drove to the city's local zoo in Lincoln Park. We saw a Siberian tiger, seals, monkeys, zebras, kangaroos, gorillas, and many more. Of course, being in Chicago, we had to pick up some amazing cheddar and caramel popcorn from Garret's.

After a long day of touring, we topped off the night with a delicious dinner at Parlor Pizza Bar, including an amazing dessert dish of a chocolate chip cookie with a topping of soft serve vanilla ice cream! Unfortunately, the only dish picture I have is of a margherita pizza ... 

Our third day we took the Architectural Boat Tour for the first time. It's the number one attraction in the city and one of the most popular tours in the country. It was really cool to see and learn the history of the buildings and areas of Chicago, and I also find big boat rides very relaxing! 

For the most patriotic day of the year, we got four tickets to a super awesome Cubs vs. Cincinnati Reds game in Wrigley Field. Despite being from Ohio, we wanted the Cubs to win! If they were playing against the Cleveland Indians, however, that would be a bit of a complicated decision. 

The temperature was not very balmy to sit in for two hours, but we managed to luck out with some great seats behind home plate! Hopefully we brought luck to the team, because they WON! 

The coolest part about the game was my dad pointed out famous comedian Jeff Garlin sitting two rows in front of us! My mom, sister, and I at first had no idea who he was. My dad recognized him from sitcoms like Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Golbergs, and even as the voice of some characters from Pixar movies. Unfortunately, we didn't get to take a picture with him. But it was cool to exist two rows behind him!

After the game, we took a subway back to downtown and got freshened up for our Fourth of July and last night meal. Lauren and I got to wear our new outfits that we recently bought from Anthropologie and had a very nice steak dinner at Harry Caray's Italian Steakhouse. We topped off the night by watching the Navy Pier fireworks from our hotel room, and even from afar it was still magical. 

I wouldn't have wished to spent one of my favorite holidays in a different place! Not only happy that I got to explore one of my favorite cities, but I got to explore it with the three most important people in my life. Thank you to my familia for an amazing weekend, and I can't wait for our next adventure!