Weekend Rewind: Mini Staycation, Dinner at Katana, New Fave Bagel Sandwich

Jacket by Samantha Sipos, c/o Rent the Runway / MAC Brick-O-La Lipstick

Hello hi!! I have finally emerged to the outdoors and experienced the world again after the great Chicago Polar Vortex last week. I decided to just sit out the historic moment, (heard it was a total blast though!!), and seal myself inside the house. Yes, seal; my mom spent the entire day before the temperature started plummeting by taping up our doors and fireplaces and sealing us inside the house for the next few days. Just normal things. It actually really did help keep the house warm though, so 100p would do again haha.

Ironically enough, just a couple days after, we were treated to a weekend of 40 plus degree temps. Let’s remember 1) It’s literally the beginning of February 2) Just last Wednesday we were experiencing -50 degree wind chills. Negative!!! This city is so crazy.

The good weather couldn’t have come at a better time because the weekend ended up being jammed pack. Friday night I arranged to do a mini staycation with two of my girlfriends at the Fairmont Millennium Park, including a fun dinner at Katana, which is a Japanese fusion restaurant in River North. 

We were set up in an incredibly spacious suite with a nice view of the lake! Our suite had a sitting room with a pull out couch and flat screen, and a separate a space for eating with a round table, mini fridge, and Nespresso maker (which did NOT work, heartbreaking to discover waking up hung and tired on Saturday morning). The bed was comfy and cozy and fluffy, the bathroom was modern and had great lighting, overall huge fan!

My friend Sophie lives around the corner from me in the suburbs, so after I finished work Friday, we hopped into an Uber together and met our friend Rachel at the hotel. We checked in, fired up the speakers (I love that hotels always seem to have bluetooth enabled speakers nowadays), and I even managed to get downstairs to the lobby bar to take a few shots in this gorgeous floral lace dress from Rent the Runway.

I’ve actually been partnering with RTR and trying out their Unlimited program over the last few months! Basically, for $139 a month, you get to “check out” any 4 items from the online shop at a time. Then you put them in a prepaid package to return them and exchange the pieces for something new, as much as you want! Just like old school Netflix, eh? I had the cutest shipment in for my trip to San Diego and LA over Thanksgiving; lots of pretty dresses and fabulous prints. Obviously RTR is best known for their selection of dresses, but they have everything from sweaters to jeans as well. So far, I’ve really enjoyed the service and would definitely consider extending my own membership. I’m someone who loves basic, mix and match pieces, and this allows me to have fun with trendy items that I probably wound’t get too much wear from, like this amazing, over the top, navy leather jacket with the faux fur pink trim.

Dinner at Katana was SO. FUN. It was small plates style, which is my fave, with a killer menu. Highlights included the hanabi (spicy tuna on crispy rice), the diced hamachi (yellowtail sashimi with jalapeno), the nigiri rolls, and the dessert!! Very sadly, they had run out of the first two desserts we ordered, but the sesame and fruity twist on a cheesecake was delicious. We all loved our cocktails (I got the matcha moscow mule), and we ended up ordering a bottle of sake, which I normally don’t drink a ton of but I loved it. So smooth and complimented our meal perfectly. We also had the best waiter; he was super knowledgable about the menu and just made it a really fun experience. Big thanks to the Katana media team for having us in!

And then after dinner, we picked up a pack of White Claws from CVS, hopped in an Uber and went back to the suite, then proceeded to sit on the floor hanging out until like 3 in the morning having mad chats and listening to music and bein silly. Girlfriend time is the best!!

Saturday I woke up feeling like I once again drank too many White Claws (ugh I love them and forget that they ain’t La Croix), but got a great sleep in, so I’ll take it. I made my way home to the burbs to relax, watch some Netflix, and take a nap before heading back downtown for dinner. I hit up my old stomping grounds in Old Town and went to Topo Gigo— one of my fave Italian spots in the city, it has very much a hole-in-the-wall feel to it, with amazing, home cooked style food. The Conchiglie Mediterranea (seashell pasta with scallops, shrimp, pea pods in tomato basil sauce) is my FAVE. Order it every single time. Stopped for Jeni’s ice cream afterwards (when you know you know), and then picked up a bottle of wine for the rest of the evening, so you could say I was living my best life.

Sunday morning I woke up aggressively craving a bagel breakfast sandwich and headed strait to Chicago Bagel Authority; I hadn’t been in a hot minute, clearly a mistake on my part, because oh man it was goooood. I ordered the “Western Bagel,” which comes with scrambled egg, green peppers, tomato and colby cheese on an steamed egg bagel. Proceeded to cry happy tears of joy.

After breakfast I finally made it to the Museum of Science and Industry— I say finally, I actually have been a bunch of times as a kid but have been wanting to go back for the longest time. So, finally revisited a staple place of my childhood; I remember when my family first moved to Chicago it was one of our fave spots! We ended up doing the Coal Mine exhibit and the Submarine tour; highly recommend doing both (these aren’t included in the general admission ticket so you’ll have to get a separate pass), you learn a ton of cool information and it’s very interactive and experiential.

Another highlight was the maze of mirrors (which was low key hard to get out of), and the baby chicks!!!! Sorry for the terrible quality of photo, I screenshotted it from a boomerang video lol. Had to add it in though— they were sooo cute. One side had a bunch of chicks that had just hatched out of their shells, the other side had all the fluffy, crazy guys who had figured out the whole walking thing. They kept piling up and walking all over each other and then would get these little bursts of energy and sprint to the other side. So funny. The chicks alone were probably worth the trip. They also had cloned rodents, if that’s more your thing.

And then I did not watch the Superbowl, because what are sports? And that was my weekend.

Thanks for reading friends!