My Tourist Style

You know what’s so freeing? Saying eff it and staying in your workout gear for the rest of (or most of) the day after a gym class. I do this a lot at work after a fitness class if I don’t have client meetings. I just sit in my sweat all day and for my mini vacation, I did the same thing.

Chicago Morning Fun

I convinced Merl to do a fitness class with me earlier this week in Chicago and she reminded me her sis Kate teaches classes and so we headed out early for a very humbling cardio class at an athletic club where I fumbled with my arms and legs for 45 minutes. I was like a newborn fawn struggling to use its appendages out of the womb.

After class, we headed to Tweet for breakfast/brunch and once we got back to her place, I had to haul ass back downtown for a lunch date with Hannah. I just peeled off my tank and tossed on this wrap top and traded in my stinky sneakers for these mules I’m newly obsessed with. I’m pretty sure I had a sweat smell attached to me the rest of the day, but I was comfortable and could easily walk around, try on clothes and most importantly, eat and drink without feeling any restriction from clothes! Yay for stretchy layers.

Chicago Afternoon Fun

I met up with Hannah at Goddess and the Baker, a place with delicious pastries and coffee and lunch options! We sat outside and I took all the city sights in and didn’t hate it. If you recall from earlier posts, Chicago usually isn’t my favorite place to spend time. I have no patience for traffic and lines at restaurants, but I must be becoming more patient and less of an asshole with age since I was unbothered and just had so much fun.

An Evening in the West Loop

After lunch, I shopped on State Street, met up with a friend for coffee at Magnolia (AND didn’t get a cupcake, the ultimate self- restraint) and then headed back to Pilsen to do some shopping at Merl’s shop the SHUDIO. I usually spend more time at her store, but since I had the brilliant idea of coming to visit Sunday through Tuesday, Merl usually has this time out of the shop and we had more time to head out to other Chicago neighborhoods.

We ended the night at Chicken and Farm Shop, a cozy restaurant inside the Soho House where I felt hip. Merl’s boyfriend liked to remind me we were eating at 6:30 with the other tourists, but I reminded him that it was actually 7:30 my time which made me hip since I usually prefer an early bird dinner and to be in my pajamas by 7:30. I was so hip.

Top c/o Sparrow Boutique | leggings by Lululemon | bag by Louis Vuitton | Quay sunglasses from Retail Therapy

Photography by Hannah Leibinger