Chicago!

Wow. It sure takes time to get back into routine after a long weekend spent traveling! In case you missed it in my previous posts, I traveled to Chicago this past weekend for the National Bridal Market held at the Merchandise Mart in downtown Chicago. I went with my boss, Roxi, and together, we purchased all of our new Spring 2016 merchandise, including gowns for brides, prom, mother’s, and bridesmaids, as well as jewelry, headpieces, veils, and shoes. Even though this was my fifth year going, each year only gets better than the last!

I flew out Friday afternoon from Omaha by myself for the first time ever. My mom was supposed to travel alongside with me, but due to a recent illness, she had to stay back for the trip. She and I were both extremely disappointed, but as I preach on this very blog, health comes first!

Anyway, I landed in Chicago, hopped on the train to downtown (again, by myself!!!) and my aunt Lisa (who lives downtown Chicago) picked me up at the nearby train stop. After dropping my bags off at her apartment, we walked to Lyfe Kitchen for a casual supper. This restaurant was amazing and gluten-free friendly, which I appreciated!

Saturday was meant to be a shopping day for mom, Lisa, and I, but it turned into just a quick shopping morning for Lisa and myself. We stopped at a few stores before grabbing Chipotle to go and headed back to her apartment to watch the Husker football game. We took a long walk with my uncle at halftime, walking around the river nearby. It was a gorgeous late September day! When we got back to the apartment, we watched the remainder of the football game (yay we got a win!) and got ready for 5:15pm Mass at the Cathedral.

Mass at the Cathedral was amazing. The music from the large organ was so pronounced and loud; you couldn’t help but sing along! The gorgeous interior really made the Mass come alive.

After Mass, we walked to Beatrix for supper (again, a great place for gluten-free diners!) before going back to the apartment for the evening. My boss, Roxi, arrived at the train station around 8:30, and Lisa went to go get her and walk her back to the apartment.

Sunday morning began with a 6:30 am wake-up time. I got ready for a long day, ate breakfast, and Roxi and I were out the door before 7:45. We headed to Jasmine Bridals first because they were at an outside location, before taking a cab to the Merchandise Mart. We spent our entire day at the mart, from 9am-6pm. We walked back to Lisa’s (only getting lost once!) to relax a bit before our 7 pm catered supper at Hugo’s Frog Bar. This supper was put on by Savvi Formals, a tux company we rent our tuxes from each week. They treated us like royalty here, with a three-course meal, complete with free drinks (too bad neither Roxi nor I drink much or at all!). We had four options for our main entre, and everyone at our table chose the filet mignon. It was to die for, so tender!! It was served with asparagus and a stuffed potato, which I replaced with extra asparagus. Amazing!

Dessert was another story. Two monstrous plates of dessert arrived at the table (a table which we shared with five other people from bridals stores in Iowa and Minnesota). A server cut the desserts and distributed them, but we had to take photographs first! I politely declined the dessert, and they were kind enough to bring me a fruit plate as a replacement! They were so accommodating.

I pretty much collapsed into bed after a long day. Sunday, we spent 9am-1pm at the Mart before heading back to Lisa’s to kill time before we had to be at the airport. We finished all of our buying super early this year, which shocked both Roxi and I! We took the train to the airport, waited patiently for our plane, and landed in Omaha around 8:30 pm. My wonderful roommate Jaylen picked me up right outside the doors at the airport and took me back to my dorm, where I threw my stuff on the floor and got in bed. I was so tired, and I knew I had a busy Tuesday ahead of me, with class and events from 9am-8pm. However, even though the trip was long and took up my whole weekend, it was totally worth it. The food was amazing, and the dresses at market were even more beautiful than ever! I can’t wait to see them arrive in the store!

Now, it’s time to get back to normal – classes and other college things. After surrounding myself in bridal heaven, it’s kind of a letdown. Oh, well, the Huskers play this weekend and the volleyball team plays Penn State on Friday, both of which will make my week complete!