I hope you started singing the TikTok song out loud because it’s been stuck in my head all weekend.
ANYWAY.
I just got back from a quick weekend trip to Chicago, where I had the chance to see some of my best friends, visit some of my old hang outs and relive my 20s.
Kind of. I can never eat Cheesie’s again. It’s too much grease for my delicate 30-something digestive system.
I’d originally booked a semi-last-minute flight to Chicago to visit my Peace Corps Language and Cultural Facilitator (LCF) Yuliya, who is doing some extended travel in the states this summer.
But, sadly, her plans changed and her trip got canceled. Because I’d booked a nonrefundable flight, I decided to go ahead with the trip anyway.
I left Flagstaff Thursday after work. I made the 2.5-hour drive down to Phoenix Sky Harbor, then boarded my 11:40 p.m. flight. I arrived in Chicago at about 5 a.m. Friday morning, and my friend Jake graciously picked me up at O’Hare.
I got back to his place and crashed — hard — for a few hours, and then I got myself together enough to take the bus over to Farm Bar for lunch with Kasondra, one of my Tribune besties.
After that, I decided to walk back to Jake’s. I took a little detour, and walked along Broadway Street and doing some window shopping at some of my favorite stores, like Inkling and Foursided.
After that, I decided to walk down to Diversey Harbor to admire the lake and the skyline for a bit.
It was a little bit of a gloomy day, but the rain had mostly cleared up at that point so it was just cloudy.
After my walk, I went back to Jake’s place to change into my yoga clothes, and then I was on the bus north to Uptown!
I lived in Uptown during my time in Chicago, and I completed my 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training (YTT) at the CorePower Yoga location on Broadway.
I was lucky enough to time my visit so I could take a C2 class with one of my old instructors, Josh! Josh was one of the lead teachers for my 200-hour training, and he remains one of my good friends today.
It was so nice — and slightly surreal — to be back in the studio after five years away.
I really can’t believe it’s been five years since I left this studio.
After class, Josh and I picked up tacos at Mix Mex, and then Paco, another one of our friends from the Uptown studio, met up with us, where we had our tacos on Josh’s condo’s roof deck.
I called it a night after that- I was exhausted. The three-or-so hours of sleep I got at Jake’s that morning had been carrying me through the day, so a 10 p.m. bedtime was calling my name.
Plus, I had brunch plans on Saturday!
I was up the next morning and headed straight back to Uptown for brunch at Tweet.
I met up with Laura and Taylor (if you’re not familiar with the back story as to how I know these two, buckle up — it’s a doozy!) for corn pancakes and Micheladas.
Afterward, we walked around Argyle for a bit and then grabbed iced Vietnamese coffee at Fat Miilk, a new coffee shop that just opened up.
It’s a little funny. I spent most of my tenure in Chicago trying to downplay the fact that I lived in Uptown because it wasn’t trendy or cool. I definitely spent a lot of time high-tailing it to Lakeview, Lincoln Park and Old Town, or out west to Logan Square, West Loop and Wicker Park because I was a little embarrassed to live in Uptown.
Now when I go back, I spend so much of my time in Uptown, because all my favorites are there. It’s also crazy to see how much of Uptown is being built up and developed. FLATS Chicago was making a huge initiative to gut and rehab historic neighborhood buildings and create new high(ish) rises, and so much work has been done since I left. It’s crazy.
After coffee, I took the red line back down to Belmont and decided to go for a run along the Lakefront Trail.
It was super humid, but also a very gorgeous day compared to the rainy, murky Friday.
I got back home, took a shower, got changed and hopped in an Uber to head to Wicker Park with Jake.
The two of us got dinner at Antique Taco, and then walked across the street to The Den Theatre to see another one of my YTT friends, Anthony, perform a comedy set.
Anthony was opening for a British comic named Red Richardson, who was finishing up a tour in the U.S.
I’ve seen Anthony perform a few times before. It’s been a while, but he’s just as funny as I remember.
Red’s act was pretty great, too.
After that, Jake and I hopped back into an Uber and made it back to Lakeview.
Unlike when I lived in Chicago, I’m incapable of staying out past 10 p.m.
Plus… I had a yoga class the next morning!
I started my Sunday with a YogaSix Hot class at the studio’s Southport location.
(If you didn’t know, I teach yoga at the YogaSix studio here in Flagstaff.)
After class, I grabbed a nitro cold brew at Osmium and walked back to Jake’s apartment.
Then, the two of us walked down Broadway to get brunch at Cafe Korzo.
I had veggie crepes and a chai latte (so good) and then after brunch, we stopped to watch the Pride Parade as it kicked off.
I was never able to celebrate Pride properly when I lived in Chicago since I always had to work on Sundays, so it was really exciting to be able to experience it for the first time!
After Pride, I hopped on a bus to head downtown. I walked around for a bit to take in the architecture and to say hello to Tribune Tower (no longer home of the Chicago Tribune, btw) before getting on the green line and heading west.
I went to my friend Mickey’s place in East Garfield Park.
Mickey was always my “errand friend” back when I lived in Chicago. The number of grocery store runs and post office visits we made together was astounding.
Things are, thankfully, no different now.
Mickey found stray kittens near her apartment the day before, so I went with her to drop the strays off at the humane society.
After that, Mickey took me on a tour of her new studio at Mana Contemporary, and we hung out and talked for a bit until my friend Greg picked me up for dinner.
Greg is another one of my friends from the Tribune.
We drove over to Paradise Park in Wicker Park for dinner.
I had an elotes pizza (incredible) and caught up with alllllll the old work drama, since Greg still works at the Trib.
It’s been awesome to watch Greg’s career flourish. When I started at the Trib, Greg worked for one of our daily suburban publications out of Tinley Park. Greg spent the past five or so years covering the Lightfoot administration, and wrote and published a book about the experience.
When we were carded at the door, the bouncer looked at his ID and said, “Greg Pratt? WRITER Greg Pratt?”
So Greg’s basically famous in Chicago, it’s cool!
After that, Greg dropped me off at the brown line, and I aimlessly road around the Loop for a bit, taking in that beautiful architecture again for sunset, before heading back up to Belmont.
At this point, I’d completely forgotten about Pride earlier in the day.
I stepped off the L at Belmont and was completely overwhelmed by the number of people. Jake and I had talked about getting a drink at Cheesie’s, but the streets were still barricaded off and lined up with Chicago Police Department vehicles, bumper-to-bumper, and the sidewalks were packed body-to-body.
After an extensive detour around the mess, Jake and I met up and decided to walk to Brothers Creamery for ice cream.
And, that was it! It was back home and to sleep.
I woke up at about 5 a.m. Monday to pack everything up, and then Jake graciously (once again) drove me out to O’Hare for my flight out of Chicago and back to Phoenix.
I missed Chicago terribly! While I can’t imagine living there in my 30s — I’ve truly come to adore my home in the Southwest U.S., and I don’t think I can leave the mountains any time soon — this city defined my 20s, and I’m forever grateful for the time I spent living here!
I really do need to come back and visit more often, and for longer. A three-day weekend is not enough time to see all the people I miss, experience all the things I love, and eat all the food I crave.
Until next time, Chicago!
