A Weekend in Chicago with my Sister!

Since moving to Chicago, I have to admit, I’ve been pretty lame. Aside from checking out Chicago’s great restaurants, I really haven’t done much else in terms of nightlife. This all changed when my arguably much cooler, younger sister, Melissa, decided to visit me a few weeks ago.

For those of you who know Melissa, you know that she’s the life of the party wherever she goes. I knew that my social life consisting of Pilates at East Bank Club, walks through Ohio Street Dog Park and early dinners at some of the best restaurants in town weren’t going to cut it with her (the operative word is early in that last activity).

So, when Melissa decided to make this last minute trip to see me, I had to figure out what to do. Within minutes of picking her up from the airport, our impromptu sisters weekend began and she was ready to go and see all Chicago has to offer.

I ended up planning a pretty successful weekend, so I figured I’d share with you what I did so that if you find yourself in a situation where a much cooler, younger family member decides to come to town, you will know what to do!

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Friday Late Afternoon: Since I live at Parc Huron in River North, I thought I’d take her over to a rooftop bar near me called Citizen. I figured it was a relaxing place to catch up over drinks and grab a quick bite to eat.  This place is pretty great if you’re looking for a fun atmosphere with a great view. The food isn’t bad either! I love their hand breaded chicken fingers and corn soup!

Citizen is also a great place to spot huge celebs. Last month I caught Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis hanging out with some friends.

Friday Night:  We headed over to Paris Club. From the moment I moved here, I made a promise to myself that I would never go to this place because I think I am too old and this place is way too hyped up. Turns out, I was wrong! 

Paris Club is everything everyone talks about. It’s fun, lively and honestly the place to be seen if you’re in Chicago. The crowd is actually mid 20’s to early 30’s and a lot smaller than I imagined it to be. It felt much more intimate than large Vegas style club I assumed it was.

Saturday Morning: There is nothing I love more than heading over to East Bank in the morning for one of their amazing classes. Melissa decided to join me and after we were finished we grabbed a quick smoothie upstairs and headed back to shower for our day of shopping.

Saturday Afternoon: Obviously headed down to Michigan Avenue to shop! We ended up finding this really great store, Akira. The stylist there spent an entire hour with us shopping and finding outfits that looked great on us. I’ve wanted to try the high-waisted skirt trend, and I am proud to say I think the stylist at Akira totally helped me pull it off (see photo and tell me what you think)!

We ended up stopping in at RL for lunch, which as you know from my previous blog post is one of my favorites! I enjoyed the chopped salad and Melissa loved her tuna nicoise!

Saturday Night: When I moved to Chicago, the first thing I did was make reservations at Girl and the Goat. The reservation happened to fall on the same night my sister was in town, so we headed over there.

The dinner was amazing! I brought a huge group with me, so we ended up ordering almost everything on the entire menu. Do me a favor, if you go there…please try the ham fries and the broccoli. I could eat both of those every single day. Wow.

After dinner we headed over to a friends apartment to cap off the night. They live in Aqua on the 47^th floor. Talk about Luxury! This view was one of the most incredible things I’ve seen. Their apartment had unreal views of Millennium Park, the Lake and lots of Chicago’s skyline.

Sunday Morning: I have one word for you…BRUNCH! I pass this tiny breakfast spot (yes, it is called Brunch) in River North all the time, but I hadn’t made the trip to eat there. My sister had been there a couple times and swore it was one of her favorite places in the city.

There is a little bit of a wait, but totally worth it (it was only like 20 minutes). If you find yourself there, make sure you order one of their omelets or their breakfast burritos. The burritos are huge, so plan to share!

And that was really the end of my whirlwind sisters weekend.  Sunday afternoon, Melissa took off and headed back to Florida (her life is so hard, right).  I can’t wait till she heads back up here and I can write all about what our next adventure will be…

Love always,
Erica