Chicago Marathon: Prerace

I must start off by saying that Chicago never disappoints.  It is a great city, that puts on a great marathon.

I had to take a Microbiology test the morning before we left.  Gah.  At least I got it out of the way.

I also told Kya that she had to pose for a picture with me.

I think we can all agree that Kya looks less than thrilled here.

Michelle and I flew to Chicago on Friday afternoon.  It was a great weekend for a little outing for us girls.  Our last trip with just the two of us was to the Bahamas for my 30th birthday.  Needless to say, this trip was destined to be less eventful than our shindig in the Bahamas.

Michelle and me on the train

We decided to go by the expo on Friday to get it out of the way.  Can I just say I am not a fan of expos?  They are just too crowded for me.  

My obligatory photo in front of the course map.

A view of all of the craziness

Michelle was such a trooper all weekend!

On the bus, which was a school bus, leaving the expo to go to dinner.

I introduced Michelle to my favorite Chicago pizza, Lou Malnati's.  It is safe to say that she is in love with it as well.  

Walking around Michigan Avenue

One our way back to our apartment, we came into contact with a few bums.  Michelle figured out a way to get them to leave us alone right away.  If they are looking for $2, tell them you are trying to get $10 for yourself.  It worked and they left us alone.

We woke up on Saturday and made our way out to go shopping.

Wandering around State

We ended up walking about six miles.  Oops, I am not sure that is what you are supposed to do the day before a marathon.

We stopped at Ghiradelli and I had this little slice of heaven.  

We found this little guy on our walk back to the apartment.

After we hung out for awhile, we decided to go to a local bar and grill for dinner and to watch the Cardinal game.  Then, we made our way to a little bakery that I found that is in Chicago and NYC.  It is called Magnolia Bakery.  It was fabulous!

I know what you are thinking, I already had a brownie, hot fudge sundae and I should not have another dessert.

What is a girl to do when there is all of this yumminess in one place?

Cream cheese brownie?  Well I do not mind if I do!

100% pure happiness.

Michelle found her happiness, a peanut butter toffee bar.  She said she was not going to eat the whole thing at the table.  But, we all know that would have been impossible.  It was too yummy!

There may or may not have been a pumpkin cheesecake purchased for an after marathon treat.

Back on State again and happier than ever after visiting Magnolia Bakery!

After our treats, we stopped at Macy's to use the ladies room.  Little did we know that they had already started putting up their Christmas decor!

This Christmas tree may or may not have made my day.  

Well, that is until a store associate told us that the 6th floor had several trees set up and was basically Heaven.  

So, off we went to the 6th floor!

This is when I learned that Michelle has a fear of escalators and would not ride them all they way to the 6th floor.

Here she is scared to death and forced to ride the elevator.

You exit the elevator and come upon this:

A little Holiday Lane.  My day was made.

Actually, my week was made.

 Ice cream, brownies, and Christmas trees, all in one day?  Yes please!

Michelle was less than thrilled about Christmas trees in October, but did find a dog friend.

She also admitted that she liked this pink tree.  I knew that she had a little Keri in her somewhere.

So much holiday cheer, all in one place.

And yes, this happened.

Michelle told me that I was taking too many pictures.  I could not help it.  It was so pretty!

I know she will never admit it, but I think she liked the Christmas trees too.  You know you did Michelle.

Michelle could have left me in Macy's for the rest of the trip and I would have been happy!

After Michelle drug me off of the 6th floor of Macy's we made our way back to our apartment for an early bedtime.  I got several good luck texts from Ken, since he was starting to realize that for the first time ever, he would not be at the finish line of the marathon waiting on me.  Cue a little tear.

Don't worry, Michelle made an excellent Marathon Mom!