Weekend Get Away - Chicago Style

We are lucky enough to live just three hours away from Chicago. Chicago has to be one of my favoritest (yep, that's a word) cities. I just love the vibe of the whole city. We typically travel there at least once a year.

We realized on our drive up this past weekend that we hadn't been in a few years. What?

Well, our dear friends, the S's, moved there almost a year ago. We finally made it up to visit them and what a wonderful time we had. They are actually in Evanston, Illinois which also happens to be the home of Northwestern University. Which happens to be where my husband went to graduate school.

Evanston is just a short and scenic drive from Chicago. We prefer to take Lakeshore Drive when we go.

Anywhoo the day started out great as we were able to see there beautiful, huge apartment and enjoy some wonderfully prepared chicken salad, croissants and Michigan cherries. Oh, and a glass of chilled Moscato.

Once we finished our lunch, it was time to head to The Chicago Prime Outlet Mall in Aurora. It was about a 45 minute drive that went quickly as we all caught up.

On the way there, we passed by the new Fashion Outlets of Chicago Mall which is actually closer to them, but doesn't open until August 1st, 2013. This one will have a Tory Burch and a Gucci outlet!

We shopped a bit - they had some GREAT deals this weekend. Check out some of my purchases from the Kate Spade Outlet:

Kate Spade Outlet - Wessley bag and iPad cover

After a few hours, we headed back to their place to prepare for dinner at Roy's Restaurant. This weekend was particularly chilly. So glad we packed for it.

Roy's is a Hawaiian Fusion restaurant known for it's seafood dishes. They are also known for having extremely slow service. What should have been an hour and a half meal turned into much longer. Thankfully, the company was wonderful and the atmosphere was nice. The food was very good, but the wait was not. Ken had sushi which was DELICIOUS! I opted for the Thai Lemongrass Chicken. Which was a chicken breast with a leek and creamy lemon jasmine rice. It was out of this world. Our friends had a pork dish with egg and the shellfish entree. Each meal begins with a complimentary plate of edamame for each customer. We also ordered lobster pot stickers and the calamari. Both were quite tasty. Would I go back? I'm not sure - the food was good enough, but they were just too slow. There have been quite a few reviews on Yelp! referring to the slowness. The waitress who just moved here from Ireland was delightful.

The next morning, we were treated to a fabulous breakfast of quiche, fresh fruits and chocolate croissants. Oh, and a latte from the machine below:

I can not even tell you how cool this machine is. I love my Keurig, but this machine was out of this world. I think I had two or three lattes.

After breakfast, we headed out to take a drive around Evanston before heading home.
Again, it was a bit chilly but we dressed for it. Lots of great scenery - runners, families out for walks, etc.  I LOVE CHICAGO.

We had such a great time with our friends. They were the PERFECT hosts.