view from the top

last weekend i went downtown for a couple things.  it was a nice day, so i felt as if i could overlook the summer tourists that flooded the streets of chicago.  i met andrea, who decided to come along, at the train station and we made our way downtown.

i'll be honest, the biggest excuse for going was lunch.  at the newly opened chick-fil-a.  i know they hate the gays, but i love their chicken too much to boycott.  we walked in and the place was packed, naturally.  thankfully there weren't too many people in line, but the tables were scarce.  i spotted an empty table so i instructed andrea to dive over and claim it as ours while i ordered the food.  my debit card had barely been swiped before the bag of food was in front of me....no joke.  lunch was delicious, as expected.  side note: i'm in love with their dip & squeeze ketchup packets.  


after lunch we made our way to the hancock tower to pop into the aveda store where i needed to pick up a few things.  i walked out purchasing face toner, after shave lotion, lip saver, and peppermint oil (it's amazing).  it was a bit more than i had planned on getting.

next door to the aveda store is the cheesecake factory.  andrea is mildly obsessed with their strawberry martinis.  even though the place was swarming with tourists (seriously, you come to chicago and you go to eat at the cheesecake factory?!?!) we decided to go in and attempt to belly up to the bar.  there was no way we were making it past the front door.  now what?  so we said, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em (tourists).  we made our way up to the 96th floor of the hancock tower and enjoyed a great view with a glass of champagne in the signature lounge.  after living in chicago for 7 years, this was my first visit to the famed signature room.  i must say it is quite a nice view while sipping on your favorite cocktail!