January vacation in Chicago…?

Yes, we started our vacation in January in Chicago. Strange time to go to this cold city? Yes. But it was 50 degrees, and I walked up and down Michigan Avenue with no coat. Actually, pretty great weather for Chicago in January!

This part of the trip wasn’t all vacation. Hubby Doc had meetings Thursday evening and all day Friday. So I was left on my own. At the Intercontinental Hotel. In downtown Chicago. Right on Michigan Ave. Hubby Doc worried that he was going to end up spending more money with me shopping than if he had registered me for the conference!

Really, when left all alone all day long on Michigan Ave, what’s a girl to do?

Never fear, I kept my wallet inside my purse, but I did do some pretty fantastic window shopping!
(After all, we had a week-long trip to Hawaii coming right up!)

Here are a few of the stores I did not go into…

Yep, that was Tiffany & Co that I just cruised right by…
I totally went in here.

After, I’m going to have a new house to decorate! And there’s four stories of Crate & Barrel! Awesome!

Add in some sapphire, and these are the colors I want to decorate my master bedroom. However, I was not about to pay $40 for this small little decorative throw pillow. Sorry, C&B. I just don’t love you that much.

I walked by the waterworks. Can you believe this is the waterworks? It’s this great little castle right in the middle of downtown. I wonder what it looks like inside?

Then I found this tandem bike leaning against an iron fence. This would have made a great photo in the fall, when the leaves on the tree matched the color of the bike.

I also found the neatest church, nestled in the middle of all the city buildings. The outside was still all decorated for Christmas, and it was just beautiful.

There was this pretty little courtyard, and when you stepped through those arches almost all of the city noise disappeared. I bet this would be a really neat place to hang out on some warm spring or fall days.

Finally, a city sunset as I was walking back to the hotel to get ready for my dinner “meeting.” A trip to downtown Chicago just isn’t complete without a trip to Lawry’s The Prime Rib! (Yes, you could say that is what they are known for. Order the prime rib if you go. Trust me.)