Weekend in the Windy City

So there you are, a casual Thursday morning. You may have the day off work, or possibly just not paying attention at work at all *No judgement* and you're just aching to do something productive with your life. So what do you do-- 

Oh holy, Instagram. Thank you for distracting me and making me believe that by scrolling up and down the screen that I'm doing something meaningful for my life. (Like, c'mon how boring has our so-called technology savvy generation become… and yet I fall into the trap 9/10 times a day) But to my surprise I actually found a quote within my feed that had some depth and inspiration and made my Instagram scroll of the hour valuable

"When was the last time you did something for the first time?" 

Usually quotes like that make me panic, "Oh my, I need to get off instragram and GO DO SOMETHING!" but this time I simply just smiled. Because in fact, I was just about to something for the "first time" within hours.

Going to visit the city of deep dish pizza and fresh water lakes...

I was going to Chicago

For the first time. 

Andddd with my best friend. 

How much better can it get?! Let me tell ya, not much. 

It was a weekend a firsts, full of adventures, shopping bags, achy feet, and way too many (but definitely worth while) calories. 

So here's to three marvelous days of falling in love with the Windy City, taking more selfies than socially appropriate, and spending quality time with one of my favorite girls on planet earth.

CHICAGO 

What's a trip to Chicago without taking a cliche mirror picture at The Bean? 

First night on the town walking Michigan Avenue Bridge. We couldn't get over how pretty it was. Literally looked like we were in Venice. 

So let's just get something straight.. Han and I.. Ya, we eat. And Chicago's food… WOW.

 No judgement zone peeps, get ready for some girls doing damage in the eating department and/or not fitting into our jeans after? 

SO WORTH IT 

*Caution: Mouth watering may occur in the following pictures* 

Chicago Deep Dish Pizza

I can assure you that it deserves its famous title. A pizza pie stuffed with peppers, cheese,  sausage, pepperoni, and baked with love. 

Am exaggerating a bit? No, not even a little. This was pure heaven. 

Dessert at the Ghirardelli chocolate shop.

 Chocolate+Caramel Sea Salt Sundae

This is what bliss takes like, fyi

On Saturday morning, we set on an expedition to find this so-called hybrid creation that was to rock our world. 

The "Wonut"

Waffle+Donut

So maybe we got lost for a solid hour and possibly passed the shop three times without seeing the sign?

Once again, WORTH IT. 

Waffles Cafe, you da bomb and totally made our "hangry" moods justifiable

~red velvet, cranbury cinnamon sugar, chocolate turtle~

Mixed egg scramble+Hash Brown baked waffle

Classic Chicago Dog

Did this one to please my Illinois-raised Papa

What can I say, Dad's are never wrong

So so good. And I'm not even a hot dog fan?

anddd of course a LaLa+Hannie adventure wouldn't be complete without a Sev Run. 

Even the city life can't keep us Holladay girls from our DC and DP

Addicted? Ya, I'm far beyond the point of caring. 

Besides eating, we did what did best

Shoppinggg

Two broke girls+One of the best shopping districts in the world=

problem. 

Obviously it didn't stop us from blowing our minimal paychecks from the past month of working.

Priorities, right? 

When I was a little girl I literally was obsessed with American Girl dolls. They were my absolute favorite and are still some of my most prized childhood possessions. Every time my mom+dad went on business trips to Chicago they would make sure to bring me something back from the original American Girl Place superstore. It made so happy to see this that I couldn't help but take a picture for the memory.

Not only were we able to spend time in the city, but we were able to visit Hannah's dad's hometown Lake Forest which is just an hour out of the city. 

I can honestly say that I loved it just as much as the city. It was absolutely beautiful! Big trees, charming houses, walks on the lake-shore beaches, a casual Northwestern University drive by…

SO amazing.

DeerPath Inn 

Charming+Historic

The inn even had an old elevator...Let's just say we had a few mishaps operating that thing. Advice for future self: just take the stairs, man. 

 Lake Bluff 

Perfect Sunday Afternoon

And that sums up our event-packed, extreme food consuming, empty wallet weekend of adventure. 

Could it have been spoiled by a five hour flight delay coming home that included mechanical problems, arresting stories, and thunder storms? Nahhh nothing could ruin such a trip with one my best friends.  

 To my travel buddy, my multiple stops in J-crew partner in crime, my "Ga-Nochi" eater, My LARRY! shouter, my fashionista helper, my sista that I couldn't live without- THANK YOU Hannie Claire for inviting me on an unforgettable trip. 

Looks like I'm going to have to come up with a new "first time" adventure

But until then, I'm proud to say that my first time experience to Chicago was pretty incredible.

 What can I say?

The Windy City blew me away.

Till next time Chicago 

Love Always, 

Lauren 

Tasting the Stars

You know those moments where you're so incredibly happy that it feels like your chest is radiating some sort of light that nothing in the world could destroy? That's how the business scholars trip made me feel or at least that's how I felt periodically throughout our trip. Looking back on pictures reminds me of those little moments that I've forgotten about where, for a second, nothing mattered in the world. Where my problems felt microscopic. Where I felt unnaturally grateful to be living in such a remarkable world. I love these moments because they make all the hard times in life worth the pain.

For the past year I have been involved in a program at the University of Utah called Business Scholars. I can honestly say that applying for this program has been one of the best decisions I've ever made. It has brought nothing, but good things this past year. Yes, the actual course was hard and overwhelming at some points, but I loved every moment. It brought new people into my life that I am forever grateful for. I got to live in the Honors Dorms and I learned so much through our business visits and lectures that it's hard to imagine how anyone could pass this course up. I could go on and on about how much I love Business Scholars, but I will spare you all.

One of the best perks of the program is that we get to go on an end of the year trip to visit international businesses. In the past they have gone to China and Paris, but this year we had the opportunity to go to London AND Paris. 

What people don't realize is that we had A LOT of time to do stuff on our own. We landed in London and had the entire day to venture the city. For various reasons it took us three hours to get to our hotel that day, but it was probably the funniest three hours ever. London is so different from Utah that we made a comment about every strange thing that we saw. It doesn't help that most of us were jet lag and slap happy and hot, but it was the best way to start our trip. 

We spent three days in London consisting of:

a trip to the study abroad school location, a business visit to Rio Tinto, 

a showing of Wicked, 

a Blue Badge tour of the Financial District and plenty more.

Our last day in London we went to the London Bridge and the London Tower and then wanted to visit Chelsea. Chelsea is a higher end area where we ventured into a book store and tried to blend in with the locals.

I'm sorry for all the pictures, it was just too much fun.

That Wednesday morning, we took a two hour ride to Paris. Paris was scary at first because 50 of us had to navigate the subway with all our luggage during rush hour in a place where we couldn't read a single sign. Then again, it was also fun.

Our first night in Paris was planned by our director so we had dinner all together and then went on a boat tour on the Siene River. I remember staring at the sunset that night on the boat feeling so satisfied with my life.  My favorite thing was floating down the river with the Eiffel Tower sparkling on our right as someone on the riverside played the accordion and parisian sirens echoed in the distance. I could not imagine being in a more wonderful place with better people. Not to mention the views on our boat tour were breathtaking.

The second day we visited Versailles, site saw, had dinner in a big group and met at night to sit by the edge of the Siene River.

Day three in Paris we ventured to the Rue Cler street market, took pictures at the Arc Du Triomphe and met our crew at the Eiffel Tower so we could climb to the top.

 We ventured to Belgium on our last day for a rainy adventure looking for chocolate and Belgium waffles.

I enjoyed the trip so much because every single one of us got so close. We all loved hanging out with each other so by the end we were like family. I can wholeheartedly say that I fell in love with Paris during our trip. The entire city has a romantic aura about itself. There are little cobblestone streets winding everywhere and cafes on every corner. There is a constant aroma of cigarette smoke and at night time the city is simply magical.

 I am so grateful that I got to go on this trip with such wonderful human beings. It was the trip of a lifetime that I will never forget. I wish every day that I could go back to relive those laughter filled days. Until next time, here's to tasting the stars around the world. 

Amour, Annika

Photo cred: Kate Moss