Valentine's Weekend Away

For a "weekend away," Travis and I went to Chicago the weekend after Valentine's Day to spend the day relaxing and enjoying the windy city.

We arrived in Chicago around noon-ish, checked into our hotel, then went to Ed Debevic's for lunch. It was Travis' first time there. My parents had taken me there when I was a kid, so it was great to share that experience with someone else.

After lunch, we walked up and down the Magnificent Mile and did some shopping. I found my next big purchase: this purse. Travis tried to convince me to buy it that day, but I set some goals at work and will get it when I reach them. I've never owned one, so it's good motivation.

We made our way back to the hotel and then headed to dinner at Keefer's and had a nice dinner. After dinner, we headed to the Ford Oriental Theatre where we had tickets to watch the Broadway production, Wicked. We get to the front door, looked through my purse for the tickets, and they were no where to be found. Travis ran back to the restaurant to check with our waiter to see if I had left them on the table since that was the last place I remember having them (ironically, to make sure they were in my purse). I followed behind him, running the best I could in 3 inch heels. When I caught up to him at the restaurant, I searched my purse once again and found them stuck to an inner envelope.

It was now 7:50 and the show started at 8. We ran (as fast as I could in the aforementioned 3 inch heels) back to the theatre, tickets in hand, and made it into our seats with 2 minutes to spare. Unfortunately, the act of running in those heels left a blood blister the size of a half dollar on the ball of my left foot. It hurt so bad I could barely walk back to our hotel, which was just 6 blocks away.

Wicked was absolutely amazing! The sets, the songs, the actors and actresses were all simply phenomenal! The only down side to it is that somewhere along the line (in between dinner and the close of the first act), I scratched my left cornea. No, I'm not kidding. I had to watch a good majority of the second act through one eye, or with both eyes closed because the lights were so bright onstage. Pathetic, huh?

We made it back to our hotel after the show and I immediately went to relieve the pressure from the blood blister. It felt so much better, but I still couldn't walk properly. I also washed out my eyes with some drops, but that didn't help. My left eye ended up swelling up (I looked like someone had punched me in the eye!) and Travis had to get us back home on Sunday morning (he HATES driving in Chicago traffic).

After a quick trip to the Marion ER, we finally made it home. Thank you, Lord, for getting us home safely! :)