Mah Gurlz

So, after spending a whirlwind weekend together at the wedding, my girls and I decided that we should do it again...in Chicago. The first weekend of October, Amy hopped a train, Mish and I booked flights and Jen drove the SeX-T to the Windy City. We just needed a reminder of how much fun we have when we're all together. And once a year just isn't enough girl-time!

Jen arranged some lovely accomodations for us in China Town. It was just like our college apartment...only without the sparkly unicorn curtains.

I did a little google research and decided that we should try out the Won Kow restaurant for dinner, which was conveniently located right across from the hotel. We had the family meal, which was more like food for an army, and this fantastic fruity beverage that was on fire when they brought it to the table. We left with full bellies and called it an early night...after a rousing "The Sound of Music" sing-along and a lullabye from Mish.

The next morning, after packing our Chinese-leftovers lunch, we set off for the Art Institute. Those clever parking authority folks made it really easy for us to remember where the car was.

That crafty Jen heard that most museums will give you a discount if you are an educator. So she made us some awesome fake Teacher ID's. We tried to use them at the art museum, but they only offered discounts to Illinois teachers. Lucky for me, it was Bank of America customer appreciation weekend, so I got in free anyway!

We spent a lovely afternoon imitating art.

Then it was off to Millenium Park to enjoy a late lunch. There's nothing like eating cold fried rice out of a Zip-Loc with a plastic fork and washing it down with some Ben & Jerry's...especially with the girls.

From the park, we walked to Howl at the Moon, a dueling piano bar. We enjoyed (literally) buckets of libations and sang along with crowd favorites like Friends in Low Places and Baby Got Back.

I even found Bono on the way there!

Jen took us to Burger King before tucking us into bed. Sunday morning we packed our bags and checked out of our China Town suite. We had Chinese brunch before dropping Amy off (almost too late!) at the train station. Jen, Mish and I headed to the Shedd Aquarium since we had a few hours to kill before our flights home. We flashed our fake Teacher ID's and they let us in for free! Then I got in trouble for taking this picture...with the flash.

But even the poor sports at the Aquarium couldn't rain on our parade. There's nothing like being with the girls!