Purple is the new black: 2009-11-22

As previously mentioned, Mike had planned a trip to Chi-town for the my big 'dirty thirty.' I just have to preface by saying "WE HAD A BLAST!!!!"

We left on Sat (21st) at approx. 12noon from our house to arrive at the local Amtrak station. I have to say, this is the flippin cutest train station in the nation! Its located in Columbus WI, which is conveiniently located 15mins from our house. ... anyways, we get there and it looks EXACTLY what you would see in a movie. Small, quaint and literally straight out of the 40's. It was love at first sight and had such a 'romantic feel.'

We boarded this bad boy at 12:45pm, and departed at 1pm. I am telling you... the Amtrak is the BEST way to go to Chicago! We were sneaky and took the GPS along to cheat and see where we were and how fast we were going. This thing goes 80mph, can you beleive it??? So, 3 hours later, and only one stop on the way (Milwaukee for 10mins) we arrived. Best money ever spent!

Then it was 'game on.' Mike and I found a taxi as soon as we stepped out of the station. Arrived at the Wyndham Hotel (which is not even a block from my fave.... Crate and Barrel) and unloaded our luggage and we were off! As we were walking out of the hotel, I was convinced my internal GPS was leading us the right way... WRONG! After a "few said words" to each other for who was right and wrong about directions we stumbled upon a Panera Bread! ( Are you kidding me???? This is my other fave!) I knew I was going the wrong direction for a reason, ha ha! After our fancy meal out (im a cheap date) we found Michigan Ave. and the it was packed full of people in the street. They had their annual Holiday Festival of Lights/Parade in full swing, but this didnt cause a problem and I b-lined it for C&B! A total of about 2 hours was spent in my 'little heaven on earth' and I must say... I got a TON of stuff! Serious damage was also done at Williams Sonoma, the other heavenly store.

Now, instead of writing down every detail of the rest of the trip, I am going to let the pics do the talking... and p.s. I had the point and shoot and Mike had the SLR. ENJOY!