Jen’s Birthday Bonanza

For Jen’s 50th birthday, we wanted to do something fun, but with Covid we couldn’t really travel. We thought about quick road trips, but ended up renting a few hotel rooms downtown. It was like being tourists, since no one was working downtown any more. I hadn’t been downtown or in a hotel for so long!

Chad surprised us by treating us all to three rooms for two nights for the seven of us: Jen, Jill, Kristin, Catie, Diana, Wendie and me at The Langham. This was one of the nicest hotels I’ve ever stayed in! Two of the rooms were adjoining and one was just down the hall. I stayed in the room down the hall and Kristin was my roomie.

Wendie knocked it out of park with cookies, flowers and decorations for Jen’s room.

I hadn’t been downtown for so long, I was taking photos of buildings I used to walk by every single day!

Our Uber seemed to have a dress code!

We took a cooking class at Naveen’s Cuisine. We learned to prepare an Indian meal and then ate it for dinner. It was so fun. We got Jen birthday cupcakes for dessert!


Kristin arranged for us to get breakfast at Hendrickx Belgian bakery. We had so many delicious pastries! I enjoyed my chocolate croissant and coffee in our room overlooking Trump Tower and my old office (444 N Michigan)!

We spent the day in different indulgent ways. Some went to the Chuan Spa in The Langham. I hung out at the pool most of the day!

I also walked over to Michigan Avenue for an eyebrow waxing appointment at the Benefit bar at Ulta. It was surreal to pass by my old office and walk on a street I’d been away from for so long! The stores on Michigan Avenue were in such weird states. A lot of them had restrictions on how many people could be inside and had long lines outside! I grabbed lunch at Chick-fil-A and got back to the hotel before a downpour!

For dinner, we headed to Beatrix in River North. We ate outside. One thing I’d heard of during Covid, but hadn’t seen, was that Clark Street was totally blocked off to car traffic so that restaurants could provide a ton of outdoor seating for guests.

Hadn’t seen Marina Towers / Marina City for so long!

Our last celebration was Sunday brunch at RPM Seafood, which was AMAZING. The food was sooo good, the view was amazing and the service was impeccable. Perfect way to end a super fun weekend.