Meredith: Wow! The American Girl Doll Store in Chicago was Insane! Wow again! Can we got back next week? Speaking of, Hannah has already planned out an entire trip for me, her and our future girls (apparently Tommy and I should have twin girls) for a 10th birthday party for them there. I'm game! I love Molly and Hannah loves Felicity, Kit and Addy. She said it would be cool to do lunch with them here for their birthday and then splurge on them for whatever they want; dolls, clothes, pictures, a birthday cake... whatever they want! I can just see it now, SPOILED! Hannah even mentioned how great it will be to spoil MY kids and send them back to mom and dad (me and t) to parent! Lol. She's talking like a grandma! Boy did we act like little girls the whole time we were there. We were both so overwhelmed. I have to admit I wanted to take home a doll. Jill, you've got to get the girls there someday! We had a late lunch at the American Girl Doll Cafe. We made our reservations weeks ago! I have to say that was my favorite part and worth every penny!!! It's $21 for lunch; we had four courses, amazing service, pink and playful atmosphere and had a great time talking at a table to ourselves. There were also 5 birthday girls in the cafe so we got to sing Happy Birthday 5 times! So many of the little ones matched their dolls in clothing and or had a doll that looked just like them; a little mini me! I truly had such a good time. I really want to go back sooner than later!
Hannah: This place is like ridiculous. I'm talking BIG! I totally wanted to buy a doll and the the cute stuff that went with her. The only problem with that is American Girl is over priced to the Max! I did a photo shoot and got my picture printed on an American Girl Magazine cover! They printed it for me so I could take it home! Then we had lunch there. It was a totally cute atmosphere. They even gave you little high chairs for your dolls and rented them if you did not have one. I brought my Ostrich Beanie Babies named Bob and Marvin (No Joke)! They sat in the high chair next to me!
Meredith: I had so much fun shopping. Our rule for Michigan/Magnificent Mile was that we could not go into a store that we had at home. No limited brands, no Holister etc. Although we did go to Disney but it was huge store!! We found a lot of cool shops. Most of them were out of our price ranges but I did so happen to find something anyway! Jill has been sending me her Vogue Mags when she's done with them and I have seen Betsy Johnson ads. I have loved everything of hers that I have ever seen! I looked at her site a couple of times and thought to myself, “Oh, you shouldn't!” There was one in Chicago and we went into the store soooo fast, the second after I saw the sign. I was so excited to see some of the items in person and try stuff on. “Well I'm On Vacation and Have Vacation Money Now” went through my mind rather quickly when I saw a “Picnic Themed” bracelet. Still, knowing me and trying to teach Hannah we walked around for a couple of more hours. I told her I was still thinking about the bracelet and was fairly sure that I “couldn't live without it”. Hello to my splurge of the trip. I love it! I can't wait to put something together to wear it with, maybe on date night on the 30th?
Hannah: Shopping was so much fun. We walked around the inside mall and shopped till we dropped. The elevator was supper cool and clear. I took it to the top and took pictures looking down. Meredith bought me an adorable green stripped skirt at a store that they only have in Chicago (Thanks Meredith).
The Dress I got at Akira! It was a fun store to go though and shop at. I also bought Hannah a skirt there. Little did I know that Tommy shopped there, for me, over the weekend too. Too funny. You'll see later what he surprised me with, once we were home. I also had another surprise waiting for me. It will all be at the end of the third and final Chicago Blog!
Meredith:We went to a restaurant that Tommy found. A place that we could sit for a little while and relax. It was called the Purple Pig. We sat outside and enjoyed the nice weather. I was also so proud of Hannah for trying new things.
Hannah: Loved the name The Purple Pig, the bistro that we went to. I was sad that they did not have pasta. I ordered grilled cheese but it was just OK (Meredith: a 12!!!! cheese spread on rye bread) but I stole Meredith's Shoulder Steak so it was all good!
Our reflection in "The Bean"
Meredith: When we were planning the trip we didn't know that there was a beach. Tommy took us to “The Bean”, Millennium Park and the beach Wednesday night. So glad he had the idea. By the time we got to the beach it was after 9:30 and mostly dark. We kicked off our shoes and ran to the water while Tommy took some more pix with the camera and pod. I can't wait to see what they look like after he edits one or two. It was truly amazing to have this big city trip and get to to walk the beach too. The water is so clear and it wasn't too cold.
Hannah: The Beach was so fun. I waited in the water, trying to avoid getting my shorts wet, but that didn't turn out exactly the way I planned. So I'm standing out in the water (just about knee length) when Meredith yells, “Hannah Hurry Up! Come On!”. Of course I doddle and a huge wave comes. As I'm running for shore it catches up to me and I get my shorts soaked! At least we got cute pix!
Meredith: As we were walking to the car there was this couple with their dog. We of course had to say, “Hi!”. We got to talking and asked them where to get the best scoop in Chicago. The sent us 17 miles out to a little place called Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream. Yeah, worth the 25 min drive to get there. I got their Oreo in a chocolate coated cone with colored sprinkles. Yum. There was another couple, there, and they had a Huge Dog! Oh my goodness!
Hannah: OMG! So, we went for Ice Cream and there was this dog. He was the size of a horse, Great Dane! His name was Harley and I gave him kisses and I think he loves me! :) I got cotton candy ice cream and the place was decorated with dinosaurs and kind of like a prehistoric rain forest.
Meredith: Sent a couple of emails and crashed. See the night before I was up til 11:30, back up at 4 for the day and they had been working on the roof while we were there. NOT HAPPY ABOUT THAT! I finally got the front desks attention and we got a new room (bigger too) in a different building. Thank God!
Anyway, enough about the room... I will not go on about it! Since Wednesday night we had a new room with better beds and the comfort of knowing that Thursday morning we would not be woken up at 6:45 to an earth quake we all decided to sleep in. Ahhh! Yeah!!!
Hannah: Get to the hotel, shower, SLEEP!
Day 2 looked soooo fun! Did you rent a doll for your lunch? LOL. What was that billboard with the big face? wowsers. That ice cream did look yummy. Makes me want to visit the windy city
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