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Gwen's State Tour part 2

CHICAGO!!!

We flew into Chicago last Thursday for Cile's birthday. Fun drunk times is all I can say. Good food + lots of drinks + fun people = great time in Chicago.

First impression of downtown Chicago, it's clean, mellow and cool. There are restaurants on every corner and bars, lounges and clubs galore. Everything was pretty much within walking distance of our condo, which by the way was supercool. We were on the 55th floor of 30 Huron and had an equally cool doorman, Herbie. The condo offered breathtaking views of Lake Michigan, the Magnificent Mile and the whole city. The place came with binoculars. Awesome.

Day 1

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Arrival into O'Hare International airport in the evening and taxi to our condo in downtown on the 55th floor of 30 Huron.

Late dinner at Jake Melnick's for Happy Hour appetizers and beer.

Day 2

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Gino's East for Chicago's famous deep dish pizza. It's a tagger's paradise in there. You're allowed to tag anywhere in the restaurant except the bathroom.


We walked over to Navy Pier where Larnie got a massage on a dog paw chair.


Cottonelle was doing some promo stuff. While Larnie was waiting for her massage, the rest of us checked out the dog bus and "butt bar." Their slogan- Be kind to your behind.


Having fun with funhouse mirrors. Look at Randy's gumby head.


James with Lake Michigan behind him. Hey James, I read that Lake Michigan is a freshwater lake. Doesn't the water look caribbean blue?


Jumpshot with the Chicago skyline in the background.


Here's the birthday girl and her boyfriend, Lester. Cile found this awesome sushi place in downtown. We began her birthday celebration at Oysy.


Here's the gang sober. We had a few sake shots here and continued celebrating Cile's birthday at JBar around the corner.


Me, James and Randy


Larnie, Lester, Cile and Junior


Bring on the rounds. The yellow drink in the martini glass is called "the James." The brown drinnk was Junior's "Applejuice."


Some lady asked Lester to get "jiggy with it" when we first got into the lounge. Lester got "jiggy with it."


The JBar was like a modern Saints and Sinners, small, cozy, dangerous and fun drunk times.


Here's James' drunk tell. His hair slowly starts getting higher and higher throughout the evening.


By this time, we were all drunkos. There are more pics, but I won't be showing them to you here. All I remember is trying to inflate the air mattress and getting tackled to the ground by Lester. WWE followed. We've got bruises to prove the battle. Cile has her own story. She was big winner that night. Ask Larnie about it. Sorry, I wasn't able to help. I was knockout out in a drunken slumber.

Day 3

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Potbelly's for lunch.


Millennium Park's Cloud Gate or "the Bean."


Here's Larnie's water trick.

Dinner at Roy's- I had the Butterfish.


Reyna was Cile, Terry and Anna's roommate in college. She's now living, working and going to school in Chicago. Her boyfriend is a resident DJ at a club I can't remember the name to. (Sorry, I'll update this when I find out.) Anyway, she totally hooked us up VIP style. Thanks, Reyna and thanks to your boyfriend for hooking up the hiphop set. Again, we were the only ones singing to BBD's "Poison."


Junior, Cile and Lester


When and where else could you get unlimited bar drinks whenever you want? That's all for Cile. Haha.


Olivia, another UC Irvine alum is also living and working in Chicago. She met up with us at the club. Congrats on your engagement, Olivia!


You know how you're always hungry after clubbing or drinking? We headed over to the Flagship McDonald's. You have never been to McDonald's if you have never been to this McDonald's. Two floors, executive chairs, gelato station, large screen TVs, two drive thurs. I wish we had one of these in LA.

Day 4

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What up, Harold and Kumar? We had our own little journey to find and eat at White Castle. Little did we know there was no place to eat. So, we kicked it curbside. In Chicago, beggers don't ask for a dollar. They ask for 50cent. Ask Lester.


One of the greatest players of the game, Michael Jordan.


We rode the "El" and rode the bus, but we did alot of walking. Here's the Chicago Theatre. Playing that night, Margaret Cho- SOLD OUT.


While the others took naps, Randy and I went shopping on the Magnificent Mile. We found the Hershey's store and scored free hats to go along with our hot chocolate. We also scored free Full Throttle drinks. Random, right?


Dinner at a Spanish Tapas place. What a great way to end the trip, tapas, sangria, gaspacho and paella. Muy bien!


10pin bowling is kinda like Lucky Strike lanes. That night their video jukebox was out of service. Unfortunately all they played on the screens were Country videos.


Our last outing before heading home. I won. Thanks for the fun times, guys!

posted by Gwen @ 11:08 PM