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. :)
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.