So my mom and I took Rootie into Chicago fo’ real. We went on my fave tour ever: the architectural boat tour that leaves from Navy Pier. We bought our tix and than had some cheeky nooner G&T’s. There was no Hendricks, so we had to slum with the Bombay Sapphire. As my mom scorned eating my leftover goat with me (Hi, Dakota!), she had a lunch of fried calamari…

Then we did the tour. For those of you who haven’t been to Chicago, it’s such a great city. Rootie had no idea it was going to be so big, and I think she was really impressed by it. And the best way to see it is definitely by water…

Cause you get to wear cool hats….

Isn’t she sweet? And, as usual, our intrepid camerawoman got some amazing shots of the city. I don’t know what to choose! So many! So nice! Here’s a wee selection…

After the boat tour, we needed to cool down. Chicago had a heat advisory, that day, and we BAKED sitting in the sun waiting for the tour to start. So we went into Navy Pier to wander around in the air conditioning. I bought some silly magnets (the one sort of collecty thing I do), and then we got ice cream. YUM!

And yes that is a HUGE PIMPLE emblazoned on my cheek. I may adore NOLA, but my skin FREAKING HATES IT. 😉

Ruth and I also saw a sign that represented us perfectly:

This is my own notes from a great American road trip. 😉

After Navy Pier we went to the Top of the ‘Cock (the Hancock building) for some drinkiepoos. And because I just like saying that I’m going to the Top of the ‘Cock over and over again, to anyone who will listen. And some that won’t. Posh cocktail alert!

Don’t ask me WHAT I’m doing in the background. A little dance? Miming eating a sausage? Who knows.

My favorite pic from the Top of the ‘Cock (hehe) is this one, where it looks fake, like I superimposed Ruth onto a backdrop of Chicago. But it is totally legit…

Ruth is really, truly at the Top of the ‘Cock!

After drinkiepoos we crossed the street to Water Tower Place and did a little shoppies. I’m on the hunt for a new purse to replace my beloved big bertha, but finding a good purse is like finding a good man… ya just gotta hold out till the right one comes along. And then you should check to make sure they’re big enough, can carry enough stuff, and have an excellent return policy. In my case, I also require lots of hardware (silver, natch) and preferably something a little crazy. There was a great bag at Betsey Johnson that matched my one eyed willie belt, but it wasn’t quite it… the straps were off. So I’m still on the hunt. Le sigh.

The one thing I do have a plethora of is AWESOME friends. And one of my besties, Loren, met us at our favorite dinner spot, Coco Pazzo, for a phenomenal meal…

We stayed way too late at the restaurant, laughing and talking and horrifying my mother. 😉

Finally, we drove home to pack and hit the hay for an early rise to get to O’Hare for our flight to NYC! In NYC I will do some biznass, we will have a mini-University of Edinburgh reunion with our brilliant friends Sam, Kristin, and Mariah, and we will see many other peeps and have many other adventures! NYC HERE WE COME!