Mi Amor, Chicago

This past weekend was the wild bachelorette party for my friend, G. Her sister planned the greatest day ever of cooking, wine, and dancing. And no, no strippers were involved. Phew!

We ventured down to Chicago Friday night and went to dinner at a great Mexican restaurant, Mixteco Grill. So very, very tasty. Then we became lame old ladies and went to bed. No wild night for us since we had to save our energy for the next day!

Though we all went to bed stuffed beyond belief we woke up and, after a few cups of (very strong) coffee to get us going for the day, walked across the street to Angel Food Bakery for breakfast. Such a cute place! They have a collection of Easy Bake Ovens that wraps around the ceiling and the bakery treats have cute, retro names like the Airstream and the R.V.

(Image via angelfoodltd.com) 

After stuffing our bellies yet again (seems to be the theme of the weekend) we had an impromptu fashion show at the apartment before heading out to our cooking party at The Chopping Block. I think the chefs were slightly overwhelmed by our group of 15 ladies! But alas, Sarge and Dave kept us in control even after the wine started flowing. No fingers were damaged during my mini chopping lesson, no fires were started on the grill, and no food was thrown in anger. We successfully prepared our risotto-stuffed mushrooms, Indian samosas with cilantro chutney, and our chicken satay with peanut sauce like we were Martha Stewart's star students.

 

 

There was more fun to be had after this! And where else but the Drake Hotel would you want to go? We made our way up to our suite which, by the way, was larger than my 2-bedroom apartment! Whoa. For the record this is not a normal weekend in my life. We did decide, though, that we should try to splurge like this once a year! We deserve it, right??

Thank goodness it was so spacious because later in the night we had our very own salsa lessons in the room. I had never tried salsa dancing before and was surprised at how much my bum was tingling after doing it! Pretty sweet work out if you ask me. Alas, that was all the salsa dancing I did for the night. Once we got to Nacional 27, our final destination in our lil' adventure, I lost all nerve to get out on the dance floor! But wow, there were some amazing dancers out there. Next time I'll get out there. Next time. And after a few more of these tasty Passion Colado Mojitos!