Two weekends ago, I flew to Chicago for 24 hours. A quick trip to visit my best friend before her birthday. I also went to see her boyfriend and my dear friend, Greg, crush it. He is an incredibly talented lighting designer that was asked to do lights for Sound Tribe when there LD couldn’t make the shows due to a family emergency. This was my first winter trip to Chicago so I wanted to make the most of it with Kristina.

So what do to with 24 hours in Chicago? Shop and eat! Duh.

Sleep @ Hotel Monaco – Kimpton Hotels are simply the best. The Hotel Monaco’s central location was perfect for shopping and site seeing. Plus you can’t say no to free wine happy hour.

Lunch @ Latinicity – This Richard Sandoval food hall has delicious Latin-inspired food. Think tacos, cocoa, tortas and soups, plus a little Asian flare with sushi and bowls.

Photoshoot @ Cloud Gate aka The Bean

Shopping @ Miracle Mile and Wiker Park – The Zara next to Latinicity was closed for renovation so we went up Miracle Mile and hit the Zara there. Next week uber’ed over Wiker Park for some great boutique shopping.

Dinner @ Eataly aka CHEESE HEAVEN!! I wish I had had more time to walk around this place but we were in a crunch. We ordered the cheese board and burrata, a bottle of wine and some yummy Arancini. There are a few restaurants in this food hall but we went the casual route and just got seats at a bar. I would live at a place like this if we had one in Denver. AMAZING

After dinner, we headed to The Aragon Ballroom in Uptown. Originally, built in 1926 the venue has a Spanish design that makes you feel like you’re inside the palace walls. Sound Tribe, as always put on an incredible show. Greg’s lights were phenomenal and you could tell the crowd was loving his take on STS9. I loved hearing the crowd cheer for him when he did something new.

After the show, it was back to the hotel so I could make my early morning flight! All in all, a successful and fun 24 hours in the windy city! If not for my Patagonia Downtown Jacket I might not have survived the cold. Shop my weekend looks bellow