The Illinois Institute of Art - Chicago

Wow....I LOVE CHICAGO! Lauren and I flew to Chicago for the weekend to visit The Illinois Institute of Art. They have a great fashion program which is said to be one of the best in the country. Chicago was nothing like I thought. The city was really clean and we felt safe the entire time which I didn't expect at all. I pictured it like New York City but it wasn't like it at all. The weather couldn't have been any better...it was cold yet warm enough to walk around and see the city and of course SHOP. Our plane landed around noon on Friday and we decided to take the El rather than a cab to the hotel. Wasn't sure how that would work but I wanted to see if Lauren could actually get to and from the airport if she was on her own. It seemed to be the choice of transportation for everyone so we gave it a try. It took about 45 minutes to get to the hotel which was located in downtown Chicago. The ride was fine and gave us an opportunity to see some of the surrounding city. The El stops ever so often to let people on/off. Pretty cool. After we checked in the hotel we walked a couple of blocks to eat lunch at this awesome Thai restaurant before heading to the art institute to meet Linda our Admissions Rep. She gave us a tour of the school and we filled out the rest of our admissions material.

Downtown Chicago just outside the front door at AI

Lauren in front of AI

By the time we finished at AI it was 5:00. We had made arrangements to visit some friends, Roy and Jennifer, for supper which worked out great. They took us to the best pizza place. They say there is no pizza like Chicago pizza and they are right. That was the best deep dish pizza I have ever put in my mouth. YUMMY! After we ate, we walked back to Jennifer's office to get the car and they then took us by the apartments Lauren would be staying at. It actually was only about 6-7 blocks from the hotel and then they dropped us off. Thank Goodnesss. We were so tired of walking by then I'm not sure we would have made it back without getting a cab.

We "FELL" into bed exhausted the minute we hit our room. What a day! The next morning we woke to another beautiful sunny day. Lots of exitement downtown as there was a Saint Patrick's Day Parade going on and people were EVERYWHERE dressed in green. Families and kids were walking everywhere. They even turned the river GREEN! Lauren looked at me and said "This is SO my city. I've got to move here" and I must add I agreed. I could see her all over this city. There is so much to do and the shopping is unbelievable. I think I want her to move there just so I can go up and shop!

Here's Lauren after they turned the river GREEN with downtown Chicago behind her.

We grabbed a quick bit to eat in the hotel lobby at Starbucks and headed to the El. Saturday morning was the actual Open House at AI. By lunch we were finished and had the entire rest of the day to SHOP and eat!!! All the great shopping in Chicago is on Michigan Avenue so off we went. First stop....Urban Outfitters. We hit shop after shop until we couldn't walk anymore. We decided to give our feet a rest and headed to eat at The Cheesecake Factory. Then more shopping. OMG...by 9:00 we decided we hadn't even touched the surface of this city but we were so tired Lauren said she couldn't walk anymore. Did I mention she had on high heeled boots. Who does that! I knew we would be walking non-stop so I wore comfortable shoes but Lauren would rather "look good" than be comfortable. Oh well, she'll have to figure that one out on her own! No way is she listening to her MOTHER!

We finally headed back to the hotel where we BOTH changed into more comfortable clothes and decided to walk down the block to McDonalds for a quick late night snack. Little did we know that there was MORE great stores just around the block from our hotel. We had totally missed them because we were always heading to the El and never turned the block to see what was down there...so we HAD to hit a few more stores before they closed. There was even another Urban Outfitters STEPS from our hotel that we never knew was there. Lauren just about freaked out!

Sunday we woke up and had to pack up everything before heading for our tour of student housing. Our appointment was at 11:00 and we had a late check-out at 12:30. Cutting it close I know! The day was beautiful so we headed out walking again to the apartments about 6-7 blocks from the hotel. Couldn't believe the security it had. I was so impressed and really feel safe if Lauren ends up living there. There's a grocery store in the bottom of the building along with a McDonalds. There wasw also an indoor pool and workout room and the nicest laundry facility I've seen. It even had lounges to wait in while you did laundry. Also there's an outdoor track on the roof next the the pool which is awesome. I can't imagine living somewhere this nice in college. Lauren loved everything about it. The studio apartment was adorable (but small) but what do you expect in Chicago. It will work though. Now Lauren just has to figure out how to pay for all this. Everyone we talked to says she needs to leave her car in Nashville and not even bring it to Chicago. I see now what they mean. You either walk or take the EL EVERYWHERE YOU GO. It works out just fine.

Presidential Towers in downtown Chicago

We made it back to the hotel by 12:30 just in time to check-out and grab our luggage. Back to the EL and our 45 minute ride to the airport. Can't beleive everything went so smoothly for us. So unusal for the BADGERS. Even Lauren said we don't normally have such good luck...I've been saying 2009 is our year! Finally....it's about time!