Till We Meet Again, Chicago

We started our last day in Chicago at a breakfast place called Hot Chocolate. We knew from the dark, chocolaty, trendy decor that it was a hip place. Of course we had to sample the beverage the place was named after. OMG! (and I don't use that acronym lightly) This hot cocoa was fantastic. Creamy, silky, chocolaty but not too chocolaty, sweet but not too sweet and perfect. I consider myself quite the connoisseur and this is without a doubt the best hot cocoa I have ever tasted. It was served with a homemade marshmallow which sweet and powdery and light. It was like tasting a cloud.



After breakfast we made our way to the Brown Elephant, a big thrift store. Kind of pricey, but JS and I both made small purchases. The most unusual thing about the store was the "porn and leather corner". I've never seen that in a thrift store before! They also offered free condoms from a big bowl on the checkout counter. Good to know they are promoting safety with their used leather items!

Through these subtle clues we discovered we were in the "Gay District". I don't know what else to call it. It was a very colorful and bright area. Since I was now accustomed to bobbing around the big city my eyes didn't pop out quite as much as yesterday but there was certainly a lot to see. We shopped a little in a store called Gay Mart. I bought two adorable plates in there. You might see a pic of them on my wall very soon.



Lots of cool stuff to photograph:


On the way out of town, we stopped at Ikea. There were babies everywhere in there causing me to have a mini panic attack. In trying to flee from all of them (impossible) I got seperated from my friends. Now, I like shopping just as much as the next gal but I wouldn't call it my life's forte. However ...ummm...something strange came over me in this store. I just wanted to buy EVERYTHING and could not stop putting stuff in my cart. I told JS and MB that I was NOT to be allowed inside that store unsupervised again.

I experienced so much this weekend, more than I could ever write about here and I truly cannot remember the last time I smiled and laughed so much. I was glad to be home before a bad storm blew in but so sorry to end our trip and leave my dear friends.