Gourmet Heaven

After coming home from the states, my mom put together a welcome home gourmet dinner. We drank my favorite kind of wine Pinot Noir & ate some of my favorite gourmet foods avocado, salmon with cream cheese & capers, crackers, ham, imported cheeses from France, salad, & some fried gyuniku with carrots & snow peas. It was so heavenly. 

Candy Colored Treats

Taking a little break from the Chicago travel posts! Here are some of my recent candy colored purchases. Hello Kitty lipbalms & glosses from Target, floral dress brush from Daiso, OPI nail lacquers from a hair professionals store, heart & moustache necklaces from the Skydeck in Chicago, gun earrings from Hot Topic, & skull bracelet from Hot Topic as well. As you can see I love colors that pop. :-)

METRA

My first METRA ride with my girl Nicole. If you don't know the Metra is the train in Chicago! It's a lot bigger then the subways & has an upstairs as well as a downstairs. There was a ticket man just like in the movies. Since there is nothing like this where I am from it was a neat experience for me. 

Lincoln Park Zoo

Here are some pictures of the famous Lincoln Park Zoo. It was huge so I didn't get around the whole entire place. It was a nice day but most of "the cool animals" were not in sight. It was still a great experience & the awesome part is entry is free & there is a lot to see if you go at the right time! The last picture is an art piece at the zoo. I've noticed all over the city that this type of modern art is very popular in the city. :-)

UNO's

Before I went to Chicago many people recommended Uno's Chicago Bar & Grill to me because it is well known for awesome deep dish pizza. My friend & I were looking for a place to eat dinner & we came across it, so we decided to dine there. Well those people who told me about it were correct, their deep dish pizza was delicious!!! I enjoyed it even more then Lou Malnati's. If you're in Chicago I definitely recommend this chain restaurant! I got the sausage pizza which is my usual choice of topping. The top was delightfully gooey with cheese & even had a layer of sausage inside as well! Pizza heaven!!!

First Party Night in Chicago

On my first weekend in Chicago I went to a Victoria's Secret party for members. I'm not a member (If I didn't live in Japan I would be!), but I went with someone who was. We got there about 30 minutes before the party was ending so it wasn't particularly interesting or different other then the music was louder & there was a cool DJ playing awesome mixes. I bought way too many pairs of yoga pants to wear to work. Then I met up with my friend Nikki & her sister Yvonne & they showed me where the real party was at. It was a Sunday at a bar called Blue Light & it was poppin' all night long! I only paid $20 for a wristband to drink for I don't even remember how long it felt like forever haha. Great night, plus I ended up switching from a sketchy situation to staying with Nikki for the rest of my trip so I was very blessed. 

LOLLAPALOOZA - Saturday Storm

Around 3-4 P.M. they put a pause to Lollapalooza due to a heavy storm. I was super worried that they would not re-open because I had not yet seen any artists I went for. I mainly only went to see one person in particular.. The Weeknd! Thankfully around 6 P.M. (which was when The Weeknd was supposed to play) the festival re-opened & they scheduled all the bands to play an hour later then the original time! Cheee!

As soon as I got inside I rushed to the stage The Weeknd was performing at. It was extremely muddy but at that point I had endured a lot of rain, a little mud wasn't going to matter to me. I met some cool girls from California while waiting for him to start. They were really nice & helped the wait time pass quicker.  :-) The Weeknd was better live then on record which is saying something considering he sounds amazing on record too. Abel Tesfaye you are so talented & I ♥ you. :3 One of my top favorite artists, ya'll should definitely check him out!

LOLLAPALOOZA - Before the Storm!

While in Chicago I went to the famous music festival Lollapalooza in Grant Park! I was mostly by myself the entire time which was a tad lonely when everyone was partying their ass off, but oh well. I still enjoyed the live music & people watching. I got to see the famous Buckingham Fountain, talk to the dude at the Rock The Vote tent, drink some boxed water (because Lolla is eco-friendly like that), eat my first Chicago style hot dog, chill out & see live music (Chief Keef known for I Don't Like pictured above), & see a bunch of artists at work. After all of these shenanigans a crazy storm hit around 4P.M. & the whole park was evacuated!!!