Having last left Chicagoland with a few things still on our to-do list, Ali and I took off on Friday afternoon with an aim to cross them off.

And we did.

And then some.

We stayed at the beautiful Hyatt Regency Chicago for a pretty good rate via Hotwire, and had a great view from our room on the 27th floor. Parking kills ya, but it's not like it's a surprise; I like to mosey my way out of town, so this works best for me/us.

I never made it over to The Palmer House where Vogue Knitting Live was happening. I'd just been to Stitches Midwest in August... had almost a half-dozen projects in various stages of finishing with me, as well as one on the needles, and plenty of yarn at home. Someday, maybe.

We bundled up on Saturday morning and took a walk to Navy Pier. Had we been looking for something to do all day, SOFA would have been fun -- the only other time I visited Navy Pier was years ago for Art Chicago -- but we just enjoyed the walk and the scenery and that was that.

It's changed a lot since I was there, by the way; and is very family-oriented in terms of shops and attractions.

From our hotel room, the Navy Pier ferris wheel was visible to the naked eye there between those buildings. Oh, I do love those tall buildings. Having never lived in the big city, someday -- in this life or one of the next -- I'd love to, even if just for a while.

On a whim, having never done it before, Ali and I walked through American Girl Place (and what a place!) on our way out of Water Tower Place. I nearly plotzed when I spotted JULIE ALBRIGHT - 1974! That's me... us... a mash-up of all of us -- me, my sisters, my friends. Crrraazy! I had a lot of those outfits. Heh. Ali was looking for some of her faves... Felicity, Samantha, Kirsten are all "in the archives" now, and another (Molly?) will soon be joining them.

We closed out Saturday by going to the movies! We saw Ender's Game. I enjoyed the movie more than Ali, but she read the book about a thousand times in middle school and I had no expectation since I haven't read it even once! It was entertaining enough; I was quite captivated by the young lead actor/character and how much he reminded me of my nephew Mack!

To be continued...