MLM 2015! — Patti Part Two

This is the 10 year anniversary of our MLM High School Girls trip - and as always it was so much fun! And also as usual we laughed until we cried, were loud by other people's standards, and shared our personal events of the past year. Even though we don't usually see each other outside of this trip we pick up right where we left off - much to the chagrin of those around us sometimes.

We decided to reunite back in Chicago again - as we did last year - because it's a great central place to meet since we come from one end of the country to another - and also because we could do it at Trump Tower again. How could we pass up those luxurious accomodations!

The majority of us met up in Wilmette at Julie's by Thursday so we could be the cheering section as Julie was a model in the University of Chicago fashion show at Bloomies in Old Orchard that night. She did a fantastic job and then we got to shop at Bloomies with a 25% discount. They served wine and appetizers which were great! After we shopped we headed back to Julie's for a late dinner of grilled chicken and kale salad with quinoa which I have become addicted to! We talked till midnight and then headed to bed. Next morning Friday we got organized and headed down to Trump to meet up with Christie and Mary Ann who had arrived that morning and went straight to Trump. Thanks to the concierge at Trump I became aware of a great AP called Park Whiz that gets you discounted parking in downtown Chicago. I made a reservation at a garage a few blocks from Trump and saved at least $100 - more money to spend at Bloomies! We got settled into the suites at Trump and headed out to lunch. We finally agreed on a restaurant and ended up right across the street at Smith and Wollensky. We stayed there for about 2 and a half hours just talking and catching up. We also celebrated Julie's birthday with the biggest piece of chocolate cake I have ever seen! One piece satisfied us all with some left over.

I swear she didn't eat it all! We totally helped! Happy Birthday Julie!!

We finally left there and walked down Michigan Ave and managed to do a little more shopping at the downtown Bloomies. We were still getting the 25% discount and raising money for a great cause!! We ended up cancelling our dinner reservation because we had such a late lunch and just went back to our wonderful suite and talked and snacked till 2 AM!!

The next day Saturday Liz had to leave and head home for a special event so we said goodbye to her earlier then we would have liked. We decided to get some exercise and walk over to the West Side Art Walk. It is an area that is really turning around. It's quite a distance west of the expressway on Chicago Ave. There are some interesting art galleries, restaurants, cool shops and some of the remnants left from 40 years ago. We wandered into a restaurant called Mexique for a snack/lunch and loved it! We looked it up on Yelp and it got 5 stars. It is described as a revolution of Mexican gastronomy and it was!! We shared a bunch of small plates and would highly recommend it - plus they put up with our noise and hysterical attempts to use a selfie stick!

Mary Ann has perfected the selfie stick! This was by far the best shot.

After lunch we wandered into a shop that I can't begin to describe but a picture is worth a thousand words.

How could we not buy these matching pants???

And then model them in the lobby of Trump! I wish I had captured the expressions of the people getting off the elevator - priceless!

We had dinner reservations at Volare but since we were so comfy in our suite and pants we ordered food from them to be delivered and it was fantastic! Meatballs and Chicken Parmigiana, salads and garlic bread and more. I wasn't in charge of ordering but the girls who were did a great job. More staying up late and talking and maybe some drinking too. Sunday I had to get up early and drive home. I was glad everyone was still asleep - I hate saying goodbye to these dear friends. Until next year - when we gather again - hopefully this time for a week to celebrate our year of 60!!