One of my girlfriends invited me to drive up to Chicago with her for a day last week while we both had time off from work. Compared to the way I usually plan vacations (weeks and months in advance), this was pretty spontaneous for me (less than two weeks ahead of departure). I know, I know, this is truly living on the edge.
Anyways, it didn't take me long to say, "Yes, absolutely!" and we started planning. We drove up on Tuesday morning and met up with another of her girlfriends (a new friend for me -- and a fellow Etsy seller!), who lives in the Edgewater/Andersonville area north of downtown.
We spent Tuesday afternoon and evening walking all around Edgewater, Andersonville, Lincoln Park and the shops at North and Clybourn.
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After logging more than 13,000 steps on my pedometer that day (about 6.5 miles!), I have to say that my nerdy favorite new shop was The Container Store.
Oh my.
For a person who simply adores getting new storage bins, plastic tubs, and organizational Post-its, this place was heaven. And word on the street is that Indianapolis is getting one later this year! I may not have bought anything -- I didn't want to carry my haul around with me all day -- but I came away with tons of ideas and inspiration. Also inspiring was West Elm, another store we don't have in Indy. I got a couple kinds of lotion -- both creamy and solid -- at Lush, which has proven to be a weak spot for me in the past.
We capped off a fantastic Tuesday at a wonderful new restaurant: m.henrietta. It's an offshoot of m.henry, which only serves through lunch. I had one of their specials of the day, a stuffed acorn squash with sides of swiss chard and root vegetables, and it was absolutely delicious. I'm itching to try to replicate the squash myself. I was also incredibly brave and tried a mussel after my dinner mates couldn't stop raving about how they were the best mussels they'd ever had. For a seafood-squeamish person like myself, this was a big feat!
We slept in on Wednesday, had waffles, then made the trek back to Indianapolis. It was a brief but excellent trip that surprisingly didn't include any ventures into downtown Chicago. I'm planning on heading back with Mom when the weather warms up, though, and I know I'll be bringing home more goodies then!
Camera: Canon 40D with 60mm macro lens and 430EX Speedlite, 1/100s, f/4 at ISO 640
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