Hello!
We are in LOVE with Chicago!
What a wonderful, beautiful, historic, lively, and fun city.There is so much to do here! We are going to have a lot of fun, I can tell already.
First things first, we almost missed our flight out of Buffalo because there was a long wait at the border crossing.
We were still IN our car driving at 11:25am and our flight left at 12:05!
We crunched on green pepper slices to beat the stress. ;)
It should also be noted that the border officer was highly amused when I told him that I was going to a food blogger conference. He was just tickled pink, he was.
Luckily, we sped through check-in and security check and got there with 5 minutes to spare. Normally we are 2 hours early for flights out of Toronto, so this was a pleasant surprise to get through so quickly.
I packed us a lunch for the flight.
Mine is below (and we shared the veggies):
My lunch contained: A hummus + tomato paste sandwich on Ezekiel bread, chopped veggies, peanut butter, and peanuts.
Mmmm.
CUPCAKE FAIL.
Eric shed a single tear. No, he bawled.
We arrived at our hotel around 1:30pm. It is situated in downtown Chicago right near lakeshore. You couldn’t have a better location. The hotel is very beautiful and historic.
We ate Glo Bars for fuel upon arrival!
Then we met up with Eric’s Irish uncle Charlie! He is the BEST. So nice, so funny, and gosh I can’t get enough of Irish accents. I wish I had one myself.
He has a very exciting career- he does catering for tons of huge events like the OLYMPICS! He is flown all over the world for the events that he caters. I tried to convince him that he needed a vegan planner on his team after he told me what a pain in his butt it is for him to find good vegan recipes. I told him about my blog and he is really excited to check out some recipes.
Eric and I spent the day walking around the city! We always say the best way to get to know a city is to just travel by foot.
Best. carrot. juice. ever.
I surprised Eric by taking him to Epic Burger!
They are an all organic burger shop.
I got the Portobello mushroom burger (without sauce or cheese) and it was delicious.
Eric had the Epic burger and he loved it.
The restaurant has a big flatscreen with Tweetdeck on it, and I saw ‘ohsheglows’ mentioned twice on the screen (middle secton if you look closely) when we walked in. It was so random and funny.
Of course I had to Tweet something.
At the end of the night a bunch of us went to a restaurant bar called the Artist’s Cafe. Eric and I got a beer.
We had a great time getting to know one another.
It was a great day! I’ve got a 7am run planned tomorrow morning so I best get myself to bed. :)
{ 61 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow…you really know how to prepare for a flight. I’m going to Seattle, WA in a few weeks and need to take notes!
So weird…. I was at a running store in a suburb of Chicago and a girl came in that looked like you. That is SO strange you happen to be in Chicago!
Hi lovely lady!!!! Wish I was there!!!! xo Looks like so much fun so far!!
Eric’s Epic Burger looked nothing less than…epic. Currently googling to see if they have other restaurants…fingers crossed.
Woww! Amazed that you made the flight!! and that you packed so well…okay, not amazed at that…but it does look delicious! Glad you are having such a great time in Chicago!
oooh what a great day! Have fun!
Southwest still serves peanuts on their flights? That surprises me.
I stayed at the exact SAME hotel when I visited Chicago this year! It’s such a great location for walking around the city!!
Hope you have a great time! :D
So many beautiful bloggies!! I so wish I could be there to meet you all. I think I would just die of awesomeness overload.
A huge tweetdeck?!?! That’s probably the greatest thing I’ve ever seen!! You’re so famous. ;)
That tweeting thing is EPIC! And the burgers are epic too. :D I’m glad you got there safely!
Wei-Wei
if you have the time visit ootra in naperville, amazing store. the owner is the sweetest most inspirational person i know, tell her stevie sent you. worth it. xo
LOL! That’s me on the Twitter Tweetdeck below you! Epic Burger started following me and I asked if that was a hint that they wanted me to come visit them! So funny! Looks like you’re having a blast and hope to meet you and eat at least one Glo Bar this weekend!
Walking around cities definitely is the best way to explore them. One of my favorite things to do while traveling. And how funny that the restaurant has a TweetDeck! Very up and coming of them. Haha!
Epic Burger looks pretty epic! I wonder if they have any northern locations I could try. Great pics of Chicago – have fun!
So great to “attend” HLS through your blog! Enjoy Chicago!
My husband would be in absolute heaven at Epic Burger.
I absolutely love Chicago! Enjoy the city, you are going to have so much fun!
How fun, glad you made your flight. Going to the airport and things running smoothly always makes me nervous.
The tweet dock is cool, i’ve never seen something like that!
Gosh, that Tweetdeck is such a good idea. And Chicago is one of the best walking cities I’ve been to! Enjoy it. I miss being able to hop in the car and take weekend trips there.
Mmmm, mushroom burger! :-)
Any vegans here, I have a question: How comfortable are you eating out at restaurants? This might sound really wacky, but I’m so curious! I’m just vegetarian right now… Things like fried onions, etc, knowing that they’ve used oil instead of butter, or ensuring there’s no dairy put into things. I feel like I’d always be concerned, and that’s no fun. Any thoughts?
How the heck did you get all that food past security?? lol
note to self: when flying, follow angela’s cues and pack a lunch.
I am so glad you love Chicago – were you not sweltering walking around all afternoon? It was HOT here yesterday. I barely stepped foot outside. Too humid for my liking! I’ve never been to Epic Burger – guess I should get on that!
Have so much fun here my dear!
That burger looks good. I’d definitely have to take my husband there if we were in Chicago. He’s like a burger connoisseur.
Whoa that’s cool that Epic Burger has a tweetdeck screen!
I love Chicago. So beautiful!
I was in Chicago for Lolla last week and we went here: http://www.vegguide.org/entry/10280 . It’s awesome, and worth a visit. It’s in a gym, but you just walk right into the cafe, and it’s full of vegan food with some delicious gluten-fee options as well. I had a waffle and some dehydrated crackers with nut cheese…and the best soy latte.
Living vicariously through you. Keep those pics coming!!
Also, and I can’t believe that I forgot to mention this, you HAVE to take a small subway ride out to the Chicago Diner for the best vegan diner food of all time, I think your husband will love it too. I had a vegan reuben with flash greens (ginger+kale=the best thing ever) and my boyfriend had a vegan gyro with sweet potato fries, and we both had cookie dough milkshakes made with Temptation frozen dessert. It was one of the best meals I’ve ever had. It’s within walking distance of Wrigley Field too, and we did the tour there which was excellent.
I love how it is all women and then Eric :)
I agree with the Chicago Diner comment above. Not exactly “whole foods” but great vegan fare. I wrote a blog entry about it several weeks ago:
http://tanyakummerow.blogspot.com/2010/06/chicago-diner.html
Hi Ange!
I hope you have an amazing time in Chicago!!! I wish I were able to come to the HLS, but I can’t! I’m actually MOVING TO CHICAGO at the end of this month to finish art school and I cannot wait!!! It’s a brilliant city! Can’t wait to see your updates!
~Nicole~
Great lunch for the plane. It’s always a good idea to think and plan ahead because airplane food tends to suck! LOL
I am sure you guys are going to have such a great time…enjoy!!
Epic burger, lol. That is a cool name!
That burger place looks awesome — what makes them “epic”? Just that they are organic?
Have a great time in Chicago! I can’t wait to attend next year!
Whew! I’m glad you made your life. I would be a nervous wreck!
Chicago looks like a wonderful place! I always wanted to check out the Windy City. Have tons of fun! If I ever go, I MUST check out Epic Burger. That is a very clever name for a burger joint :P
Gosh it’s been almost 7 years since I’ve flown anywhere and I’ll be flying to Chicago in a couple of weeks for a convention so it’s good to know you can pack your own lunch and carry it on the plane. Not sure what the do’s and donts are these days:) Have a fun time!
It sounds like you’re already having such a blast, and it’s barely begun!
And PS, a smooshed cupcake is still a delicious cupcake, I’m sure. :)
So happy to hear and see that you are having a Blast in the Windy city! I can tell by the smile on Eric’s face that he really, really likes his Uncle Charlie. How interesting that Uncle Charlie is a big time caterer who needs a Vegan connection ;) Loved that as you walked in to Epic Burger you saw yourself mentioned on the tweetdeck! Looking forward to seeing more photos of this beautiful city. Chicago is on your Mama’s Bucketlist as places to visit — ha ha!
Have a great time at HLS! If you are ever down in Buffalo for a longer time (not stuck in you car, hopefully!) I would love to meet you.