What better way to reunite with friends than in Chicago celebrating the Schletz wedding!??
When I was a freshman in college, I signed up to take the basketball P.E class having no idea what to expect. Well, besides getting to shoot around the gym and get that 1 unit P.E credit I needed, I also happened to befriend a very tall, bubbly girl from the mid-west named Anneke. We hit it off instantly and spent the next four years of college studying together, doing leadership events together, and eventually rooming together senior year. A few years post college, when she called me to tell me about meeting this guy named Jeremy, I could tell she was smitten by his intelligence, intentionality, and golden heart! I could not be happier for her, and flying from Tokyo to Chicago to witness her become a Schletz was the easiest decision to make :)
Our house senior year was called The Nest...so what better book to read on the plane on my way to see all my nesters!!
Also, in the spirit of summer vacation and weddings, I treated myself to a ridiculous over-the-top Japanese manicure because...why not!?? It is a bit excessive, but it's fun and I figure, when else in my life can I do something this weird and get away with it?!
So I flew out of Narita on a Thursday night and landed in Chicago on that same Thursday night! Luckily for me, my dear friend Anna had already landed at Ohare, got our rental car, and picked me up so we could eat dinner and wait for the others!
We started our Chicago food weekend with Portillos...which was funny because as I was biting into my hotdog my dad called me and said, "oh did you order the famous roast beef sandwich?" REGRETS!! haha. But it was good and I would definitely go there again to try everything else on the menu! While waiting for Liana and Zach to fly in, Anna and I grabbed some good ol'fashion icecream from Oberweis that was soooo creamy and so good!!
So we picked Zach and Liana up late Thursday night and all headed to our cozy Airbnb in Wheaton. It was an amazing place!!! So glad we did that instead of a hotel. We woke up Friday morning (day of the wedding) and first thing we knew we had to do...BRUNCH.
We drove 3min to downtown Wheaton where we ate brunch at Egg Harbor cafe...GOD BLESS AMERICA!!! It was a bit of reverse culture shock for me..the breakfast plates, endless coffee, chatty waiters (love small talk), and buzz in the atmosphere from all the conversations happening. I was in brunch heaven!!
We had all day to explore (before the wedding at 5:30) so we decided to check out the #1 most popular place in Wheaton...Cantigny Park!
The park was beautiful! So peaceful, full of beautiful flowers and a cool history (family who created the Chicago Tribune).
My hosuemates for the weekend, Anna, Liana and Zach. Love these people!
For snack we hit up TRADER JOES!!!!!
We had to get the corn salsa, regular salsa, chips, and some trendy healthy drinks aka CHIA juice and KOMBUCHA! haha.
Also, we knew we had time before going to the wedding and eating dinner so we decided to live it up and order our first deep dish pizza of the weekend! Our Airbnb host recommended Lou Malnatis (which we all kept calling "illuminatis" HAHA) so I ordered it online and it came in 40 minutes. I just ordered the OG pizza which came with literally a layer of sausage! HAHA... the sausage part was not my fav, but it still tasted amazing. Really good pizzza right here.
OK....so after a fun day it was time to PARTYYYYYY at the SCHLETZ WEDDING!!! EEK!!!!!! The venue was this beautiful victorian style house with a banquet room next to it.
OK how STUNNING does Anneke look?? When I saw her after the ceremony she literally picked me up off the ground and swung me around! We were both so happy to see eachother that we kind of just screamed! And I also was reunited with my bestie Natijane and her (almost one year old) baby girl Judah!!!! My heart...so full!!
The nesters :) Liana, Natty sue, Anneke, me, Anna, Natijane...what a gift it is to be friends with these women!!! We danced the night away and took plenty of photos for memories sake. We all headed home tired, but excited to wake up Saturday and spend the day together in the city!!