Chicago in 36 Hours

Last Friday was the 2nd day of Rosh Hashanah and since I work at a synagogue I got the day off. This worked out brilliantly because last weekend was the Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago. Friday morning after my class Doug and I packed the car and started the longest-drive-in-history (9 hours plus stops) to Chicago. We got there around 7ish, checked into our hotel, freshened up and went to Ikea. Neither one of us had ever been to Ikea so it was super overwhelming, the one in Schaumburg was huge. I don't know if they're all that big but wow. We didn't buy anything, just browsed. I did find some lamps I would have liked to buy but the lines for checkout were so long that we skipped it. They had a lot of storage ideas that I really liked. After the Ikea trip we had pizza at Giordano's and then called it a night. 

Saturday morning we had breakfast in Rosemont before taking the L into the city. Obviously we didn't have a lot of time but we were able to go to The Art Institute of Chicago and take in some masterpieces. The details of the Thorne Miniature Rooms left me breathless. 

These were some of my favorites, Egyptian and Asian pieces, sculpture, American classics from Edward Hopper, Grant Wood and Georgia O'Keefe and then Monet pieces.

There was also Van Gogh, look at the brush strokes.

After a far too brief stop at the museum we hopped back aboard the Blue Line and went to the craft fair. It seemed far more packed with people than the previous two years I've been. I bought items from Red Prairie Press, Tartella, Spincycle Yarns, Kitty Jones, Medium Control Goods, Cakespy and a print that I can't remember the seller of. I also popped into Nina, the yarn store just down from the fair, and bought a skein of Madelinetosh (yes, I realize I have a problem), some buttons for a baby sweater I'm working on and a shawl pin.

 

After we left the fair Doug got in touch with an old friend from Memphis who now lives in Chicago and we were able to meet him, his wife and friends for sushi at Tampopo.

Sunday morning we made a quick stop at Floriole for baked goods and coffee. Floriole is a beautiful space, exposed brick, sidewalk tables, wooden beams and one of those garage front doors so the whole front space can be opened.

The baked good were delicious, I had an almond filled croissant which was one of the best things I ever eaten and we bought lemon-lavender, blackberry and chocolate-earl grey macarons for the road, as well as a milk chocolate-caramel-hazelnut tart that was practically perfect. Plus they brew Intelligentsia coffee, so good.

On the way home we stopped in Champaign, Illinois for lunch in a little area filled with restaurants. It looked like a great town, I wish we had more time to explore. Alas, we had to get back to the Bluff City ASAP since I had a Monday morning class at 6:55AM. We have to go back to Chicago when we have more time because there are so many things we want to see.