Chicago Trip: Part 2

So, yesterday I shared with you what my family and I did on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday while in Chicago a few weeks ago.  Today, I'm going to tell you about what we did on Saturday and Sunday.  Warning: lots of photos incoming.



Day 4 -- morning: My sister and did some shopping on State Street, including at Marshall Field's Macy's (I'll never get used to that).

Lots of people wearing green -- more on that later.

Macy's was having their One-Day sale, and my sister and I found some amazing jewelry steals.  My favorite find was this necklace and earrings set.

Originally $76 for the set, I paid $16.  Score!

Day 4 -- daytime: We went to the Chicago Flower and Garden Show at Navy Pier!  You all know I'm a garden nut, so I took a million photos at this event.  Seriously.  I tried to pick some of the best and put them in collages.

Navy Pier

Cool "graffiti-style" sign

Flowers!  Glorious flowers!

flowers clockwise from top left: orange tulips and blue hydrangeas, Guus Papendrecht tulips, Pussy Willow catkins, hyacinths

There was a room that was reserved for artsy flower arrangements.  The one on the left is a silver mannequin wearing a bridal gown made out of flowers and branches.  The middle arrangement used a bunch of found objects along with flowers.  The one on the right used stumps as pedestals.

Faerie gardens seemed to be a theme.  There were lots.  More than what I'm showing you.(Click on the collage to enlarge it so you can see the little buildings better.)

There was a room design competition.  Each entry had a different theme.  I'm only including pics of four of the rooms.

far left: I'm not totally sure what the theme was for the first one, but the flying bicycle immediately brought to mind the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz.  I actually started humming the music.
second from left: A Japanese dinner party set up, I believe.
third from left: A romantic bedroom
on the right: A beer bottle decorated outdoor setting.

There were a few (!) orchids at the show.

I believe they also held a cake decorating competition (not live).

Yes, that is a cake in the far right photo.  It went well with the Faerie Garden theme.

Some of the more interesting sights: a (taxidermy) fox catching a pheasant -- this was part of the Ireland inspired garden display; a mobile of yellow umbrellas; a window box featuring Kermit; fishies.

Here is an explosion of purple flowers!

Cineraria

I think the huge tulip garden was our favorite thing.

I don't know if you noticed, but in the above photos we're all wearing green beads.  That's because it was the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day, and Chicago was celebrating the holiday.  My dad managed to find some bead necklaces in a Walgreens so we could join in the fun.

The St. Patty's Day parade was on Saturday, but we were unable to attend because we went to the flower show.  We did, however, see lots of people wearing green!  It was pretty much impossible to walk around downtown because of the crush of people in green.  We also missed out on seeing the Chicago River dyed green.  We crossed the river too far down from where they dye it, so the color had all dissipated.

Some people really got into the St. Pat's Day spirit.  See: the dude in the above photo!
The water fountain next to the untitled Picasso sculpture (the "Picasso horse") was dyed green.

Day 4 -- evening: In the evening, we attended a production of Giacomo Puccini's "Tosca", which was quite fun.  Puccini's operas are well-known and hummable, so they are always enjoyable.  I will admit, I liked "The Passenger" better.  I thought the Tosca production was a little... lackluster.

My dad let me take a selfie with him.
The scrim was spattered with blood.
Isn't my sister as cute as Betty Boop?!

Here's a great photo of me, my mom, and my sister.  My dad was off wandering around somewhere.

I didn't have time to take photos of my makeup looks, except for this one before the opera.  It was taken in the hotel bathroom, so excuse the lighting.  I used ColourPop eyeshadows in I Heart This (all over the lid), and Cricket (lightly in the crease).  I also used Tarina Tarantino, Hyperliner eyeliner in Spark of Envy on the lower waterline.  Some winged liner was definitely called for.  And on my lips, I wore YSL Rouge Volupte in Opera Rose, of course.

After the opera was over, we exited through some doors with harps over them.  Not real harps.  Just stylized adornments.

Some other instrument-inspired adornments in the Civic Opera House are shaped like the bells of brass instruments.

Day 5: On Sunday our trip was over and it was time to go home.  So we said goodbye to our hotel room and it's cool wallpaper.

I rode the train back to Detroit, and, again, it took about an extra 1 1/2 hours.  I didn't really care that it was a long ride, because I was pretty tuckered out, and I didn't have to drive.

We had an action-packed extra-long weekend.  It was wonderful.  I'm so fortunate to have a family that I really enjoy spending time with.  I'm really hoping my husband can come next time!

Thanks for reading about our Chicago visit and adventures!