My Guide to Chicago

*the illustration above is by Evelyn Henson.

The city of Chicago is an incredibly beautiful place and I am so happy to say that I have grown up in the Chicagoland area for my entire life. There is so much to see and explore in the "Windy City", so I thought that I would share some of my personal favorite places with you all. I have a mix of the quintessential tourist attractions, along with some little finds that are a bit more obscure. I have broken things down by the area they are located in, since Chicago is rather large. Whether you are visiting Chicago soon or you're a resident looking for new places to visit, I hope you enjoy!

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Cloud Gate, also known as "The Bean", is a huge tourist attraction located in Millennium Park. The stainless steel sculpture that debuted in 2006 is a great photo opportunity. 

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Speaking of amazing photo opportunities, Buckingham Fountain is the perfect backdrop. Constructed in 1927, it remains one the largest fountains in the world. It is located in Grant Park and is the most beautiful at night.

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Located on the shoreline of Lake Michigan, Navy Pier is host to some really fun things. While spending a day here you can ride on a boat (my favorite is the speed boat), take a boat tour of Chicago, eat (my favorite is Bubba Gump's), and go on rides (the infamous ferris wheel is currently under construction). If you are visiting Chicago during the warmer months, this is a must see!

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While I am personally not a huge beach person, I know many would enjoy spending a day lakeside in the city. Even if you aren't a beach fan like myself, it is still fun to soak up the sun and take some pictures on a hot summer's day. I would recommend Oak Street Beach or North Avenue Beach.

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Chicago is home to several well known museums. My personal favorite is the Art Institute which is home to paintings like The Old Guitarist by Picasso and American Gothic by Grant Wood. The Museum of Science and Industry is another favorite of mine. Some other Chicago museums include The Field Museum, The Adler Planetarium, and The Shedd Aquarium. 

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Chicago is obviously home to many famous skyscrapers, offering a unique opportunity to explore the city from high above the ground. Pictured above is the"skydeck" in the (Sears) Willis Tower, which allows visitors to step onto a platform that is suspended 103 floors up, offering incredible views extending to four states. If you are a baby about heights (like me), but still want to experience a breathtaking view I would recommend visiting the 360 Chicago Observatory at the John Hancock building. While their you can have a different view of the city and also grab a bite to eat!

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Maybe I'm biased because I have grown up eating it, but deep dish Chicago pizza is simply the best kind of pizza. My favorite is Giordano's, which has many locations downtown and in the suburbs. Other pizzerias that have mastered deep dish are Lou Malnati's and Gino's East. 

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The caramel and cheese popcorn mix is referred to as the "Chicago Mix" for a reason. If you visit Garrett Popcorn, your taste buds will thank you. 

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If you've grown up in the Chicagoland area this is a staple in your life, if you're from out of town this is a must visit. Portillo's is a Chicago based fast food chain offering incredible beef sandwiches, hot dogs, burgers, and more. While Portillo's has been expanding to other states in the past few years, it is known as a Chicago classic.

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Michigan Avenue and The Gold Coast neighborhood are premier shopping destinations in Chicago. Just walking up and down Michigan Avenue is an outing since it is lined with stores from Topshop and Zara, to Chanel and Cartier. 

Grand Lux Cafe is a great place to eat if you want to take a break from shopping on Michigan and enjoy a nice view of street. Grand Lux is owned by The Cheesecake Factory and has other locations, but the location in Chicago has such a great atmosphere. The portions are big and delicious and the creme brulee is to die for. If you go, try to sit in the room in the front with the window. This is one of my favorite places and where I typically eat lunch on my birthday!

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Water Tower Place is a great indoor shopping mall that is located right on the "Magnificent Mile". Although this is pretty much your average mall, it is a great place to spend some time shopping if you are in the area. The mall has glass elevators that are stationed in the middle of each floor, which is a very cool touch. The food options at this mall are also amazing. I am obsessed with Food Life, which is a restaurant that has several different stations featuring a bunch of different types of foods.

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The 900 North Michigan Shops are another indoor shopping center located along Michigan Avenue. The shops here are a bit less run of the mill and include Bloomingdale's, Kate Spade, Kendra Scott, and J. Crew!

Located right around the corner from the 900 North Michigan Shops, Sprinkles is the perfect place to go for a sweet treat, because everyone likes cupcakes, right?! Stop inside to see all that they have to offer, or just use the convenient cupcake ATM located just outside and available 24 hours a day. My favorite cupcakes are the banana, red velvet, vanilla, and s'mores. 

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Lincoln Park is hands down my very favorite area in Chicago. I love it because it feels smaller than other areas of the city, yet it still has an urban feel that you cannot get in the suburbs. Everywhere you turn there seems to be something that would make a great photo for Instagram. Lincoln Park is so amazing that the famous OPI nail "Lincoln Park After Dark" is named after it. If it is  Saturday afternoon, you can most likely find me here!

                  

The Lincoln Park Zoo is my absolute favorite way to spend a summer day in the city (I am slightly obsessed with looking at animals). Founded in 1868, it is one of the oldest zoos in the country, and one of very few zoos with free admission. The thing I love so much about the zoo is the fact that you feel like you are in an exotic place looking at giraffes, but when you walk out of that area you can look up and see the skyline. The zoo is very clean and offers visitors a wide variety of animals to see. My favorite house at the zoo is the one with the Apes, because you can get so close to them, while at other zoos they are harder to see. I also have an obsession with farm animals, so the petting zoo area is hard to get me out of. In addition to the beauty of the animals, there is one of the best photo-op areas in the zoo. In the middle of the zoo there is a walkway that has the most perfect view of the skyline...perfect for photos!

 

The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum is such a unique place to explore. It is located right across the street from Lincoln Park Zoo, making it easy to find. The coolest thing about this nature museum is the butterfly garden, which offers guests a chance to wander a room filled with thousands of  beautiful butterflies. They also have an elevated rooftop walk way that is incredibly picturesque. 

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If you need a blowout, Drybar is the place to go. My whole last post was about Drybar, so go check it out for more info!

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The Urban Outfitters Outlet is a somewhat hidden gem right on Clark Street. I found out about this outlet store about 4 years ago while browsing the internet. Soon enough, word spread around my high school about this place and then everyone starting going here. This store is basically filled with Urban Outfitters clearance and surplus items and everything is at a pretty fair price. They also run a lot of sales where the store is an additional half off. Not everything in the store is my style, but I have found some absolutely amazing pieces for such a steal!

 

A Day at Drybar

Recently I was given the opportunity to try out Drybar for free thanks to Freeform and Pretty Little Liars! I had been dying to visit the Drybar, but never got around to it so I am glad that I finally did! I had the pleasure of visiting the Lincoln Park location in Chicago and could not be more pleased with the service I received!

If you have never heard of Drybar, there are some basic things you should know. Unlike a typical full service salon, Drybar's whole business is "no cuts, no color, just blowouts". This means that Drybar only provides dry styling to the client's hair, which is known as a blowout. Blowouts are incredible because they can last days before you need to wash or restyle your hair. Since blowouts are just dry styling, they are considered more of a luxury than an everyday necessity. I can manage perfectly fine doing my own hair from day to day, however if I had a special event to attend I would most definitely pay the $40 for a perfectly coiffed style. A trip to Drybar is also a quick fix if you are having repeated bad hair days.

After checking in at the front desk my stylist came and greeted me and took me back to a chair where she would be doing my hair. She took my hair out of the pony tail I had it in and had me look at the menu. She asked me what hairstyles I liked (straight, beachy, curly...) and I told her that I liked a lot of volume and curls. She suggested that I do the "Cosmo" since I wanted curls. Below is a list of the styles that Drybar offers on their menu.

After picking my style I was lead into the prettiest room to get my hair freshly washed. Sticking your head in a sink at a salon can get somewhat uncomfortable, however Drybar really has it tailored so that you are comfortable the entire time. The chair you sit in while getting your wash is so cozy and my neck didn't even hurt while my hair was being washed. My stylist deep cleaned my hair, leaving it feeling so fresh. After the washing was over, my hair was twisted up on to the top of my head and wrapped in a towel to being the drying process. 

Now comes the best part, the blowout! I got to sit back and relax for about 40 minutes while my stylist styled my hair to perfection. Drybar offers you a beverage to sip on while you relax and there are also TVs on the wall so you can be entertained. For the "Cosmo" style, a blow dryer, curling iron, and volumizing products were used to create the look. My stylist blew my hair dry while clipping up sections to set the curls she made with the round brush. At the end, she went over everything with the curling iron and then used the "Southern Belle" volumizing product in my roots for some added lift.

My hair looked absolutely perfect when I left Drybar! I have fine hair that can be stingy when it comes to holding a curl, which is why I chose a style with tighter curls verses one with looser curls, because I knew my hair would eventually fall and end up looser. Since my hair is so long it s hard for me to get volume, so I also asked for extra volume. I can honestly say that the volume in my hair lasted all of the five days following my blowout, which left me incredibly impressed! As I stated before, curls in my hair tend to fall very quickly, but mine lasted two days before I went in with an iron of my own and touched up a few pieces that lost their shape. Typically I wash my hair every night, or every other night, but this blowout lasted me five whole days and not once did my hair look dirty or limp. 

Overall, I would definitely recommend Drybar to anyone. 10/10! I loved how my hair turned out and I absolutely loved the products they used in my hair. I will most definitely be picking up some of their products in the near future! You can check out the products at your local Sephora store.

                                                                               

                              

Hello February

Happy New Year and Happy February! As I am sure you noticed, I have not posted since December and I have honestly missed blogging so much. I took the month of January to work on some things in my life that needed to get done and I am now so happy to be back! 

I have decided that I will be posting three times a week and my goal is Monday, Wednesday, and Friday as of right now. During my hiatus I brainstormed and made a list of posts ideas that I am ecstatic to get working on. I have decided that I will officially be integrating YouTube videos into some blog posts, so that means some makeup tutorials and haul videos are coming your way. 

If you look around my site, you may also notice that I have done some revamping. I have changed my banner, signature, and sidebar to a new look and color scheme. If you look above this post, I have also made tabs that you can click on to learn about me, about my blog, and how to contact me.

Since this post is rather boring, I thought I would include some pictures I have snapped recently!