Last week, we spent a big stretch of time smack-bang in the middle of America: Chicago, baby! We were there to teach The Blogcademy, but we had four days to kill beforehand. ‘Fine!’, we thought. ‘We’ll explore the city, do some shopping, be tourists… It’ll be excellent!’

Unfortunately, when we arrived, our plane was stuck on the runway for two hours while a torrential thunderstorm raged around us… And the weather never really improved. It was freezing! We went out for a day of sight-seeing and had to stop into American Apparel to buy fleece-lined hoodies!

It doesn’t matter how cool the city is: when it’s bone-chilling outside, it’s not that enticing to wander around. Ultimately, we spent most of our time hanging out in our beautiful apartment in Lakeview, making brief jaunts to local coffeeshops and eating at a local restaurant called Frasca too many times. (In fact, on our last night there, they comped us our dessert — the infamous cookie skillet — to thank us for our patronage. OOPS!)

But of course, we did take a day to venture out to see the Bean (Cloud Gate) and gawk at the famous Chicago Theatre sign. How could we not?! All bundled up, we hopped on the train and made our way into the city…

Kat and Shauna had never visited Chicago before, and were amazed to see how big it is. It’s an enormous city! Even I was surprised — I had kind of forgotten what a gigantic metropolis it is. Surrounded by towering buildings, with trains thundering past, it felt like being in New York… Except in the middle of the country.

We immediately headed to Cloud Gate, known colloquially as “the Bean”. I had visited it last time I was in Chicago, and was excited to see it again. I knew Kat and Shauna would love it, too. Talk about #selfie gold!

As we approached it, my companions cried out with surprise. It was much larger than they had anticipated. It’s such a big, hulking sculpture!

Needless to say, we took advantage of the self-portrait opportunities!

I love this photo: Shauna looks like she’s floating in space!

Awwwwww. My babes! It was so hard to leave them on Monday morning. Thankfully, it’s only 3 short weeks until we’re reunited in Canada! (We’re teaching in Vancouver on June 7-8, and Calgary on June 14-15.)

Oh Chicago, why must you be so cold?! On my way to the airport, my Uber driver was telling me how it was supposed to get warm this week. Fingers crossed that it warms up for those of you in the Midwest soon!

So, maybe our trip to Chicago wasn’t quite everything we’d hoped for… But we managed to have a good time anyway. How can you be sad when there are cookie skillets on offer, and you’re with your best friends?!

Until next time, Chicago… And when we come back, you better be warm!

Photos by Soda Fountain Photography.