My mom went to watch the condo, dog and cat of her best friend in Chicago while he went to India and Sri Lanka for a month in January. He has a great place north of Uptown in this awesome, ethnic neighborhood. I took the long MLK, Jr. Day weekend to go up and visit for a fun mother-daughter weekend in the Windy City.

The highs the entire I was there was in the single digits to the mid-teens – beyond frigid. I arrived to snow flurries and we immediately went for lunch at Immm Thai, a neighborhood spot I’d marked due to its authentic Thai dishes like those Sean and I had in Bangkok. We shared Khao Man Gai, crispy tofu, crisped pork belly and a wonderful coconut soup. Perfectly warm and comforting on a cold day.

My mom treated me to combo foot and body massages in the afternoon and the woman I had really worked the tension my neck and shoulders. Ahhhhh. 

We stopped by the grocery store for some provisions on the way back and a rep from Koval, a local distillery, was giving out samples. The gin was outstanding – so crisp and very floral. We grabbed a bottle and made yummy gin and tonics back at the condo.

Dinner that night was late and at Giant – the Chicago hot spot that Sean and I had visited and LOVED back in October 2017. Read more about our incredible Giant experience.

We started with the onion rings and Jonah crab salad with waffle fries and cocktail sauce. So delicious. The onion rings had a heavy but flavorful breading, and the crispy waffle fries went perfectly with the cool and tangy crab salad.

The stars of the show were the pasta dishes – the infamous King crab tagliatelle with chili butter and saffron (below), and the carrot ravioli with mushrooms and garlic. House-made, fresh, unique, rich and memorable. Happy to say my mom loved it and I loved being able to share such a fantastic place with her. This restaurant offers its employees health insurance! Support them!

The next morning was absolutely icy but we made our way downtown for our Chicago Architecture Tour, beginning at the Chicago Architecture Foundation, which is in a beautiful building and contains a cool model of the city.

Frank Lloyd Wright building near the University of Chicago.

Skyline views and icy water.

For dinner, we met up with Sean’s Aunt Mary Jane and cousin Andrew and his wife Jessalyn (we were at their wedding back in October). We went to their favorite sushi spot, Blowfish, and had some great shrimp tempura, salmon and yellowtail nigiri and rolls. 

Sunday morning it was off to see the Bean! I’ve been to Chicago 4 or 5 times before but never gotten to play around in front of this awesome monument. It was cold again but we had a lot of fun taking pictures in the sunshine.

We had lunch a spot near the Cadillac Theatre and it was delicious – we both had steak with a blue cheese sauce and vegetables. Then we headed to see “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” and it was fabulous. What a prolific songwriter – so many songs I didn’t know she’s written/worked on. My mom and I both love her music so this was a perfect thing to do together.

We rested back at the condo and walked to a nearby Mexican restaurant for dinner later that evening.

It snowed a lot overnight and everything was clean and white in the morning. We walked to Tweet Cafe for breakfast and I had a lovely tea in this fancy teacup.

A quick stop at the local Asian bakery for some baked goods for Sean and then we were off to the airport and I was on my way home.

Grateful for this trip, the quality time with my mom, getting to visit with Sean’s family, and exploring more of this fun city. <3