Chicago Diary

Hello loves!  Sorry for being silent on the blog over the last few days.  As you probably already saw from my social media channels I was in Chicago for the last two days working on a beauty campaign with #THEeyeSOLUTION and two other amazing influencers Beth & Ty.  By the way, I loved them both, so inspiring!  The campaign will be coming out in a few months so I can’t wait to share more on that later, but I did give a few sneak peeks of the behind-the-scenes on my snapchat! [natymichele] Since it was such a quick trip with not much free time to explore, I didn’t get to do as much as I would have liked to in good ole Chi-Town.  I did however get to do and see a few things that were on my bucket list so I wanted to share a little recap of the last two days. This was my second time visiting Chicago.  The first time was back in 2013 when I went with my sister and best friend.  It rained so much the last time and was freezing so I didn’t get to do much outdoor stuff during the day, so I was determined to fit as much into my schedule this time as I possibly could.

   

 

As soon as I landed and checked into my hotel, PUBLIC, I walked around and stumbled upon this super cute outdoor spot for lunch called Tavern On The Rush.  I indulged and got the grilled cheese with avocado and tomato. So yum!  After that I went over to Milinium Park to see The Bean!  I didn’t get to see it the last time that I was there, so I was so excited to check it out in person. It’s seriously one of the coolest things.  Thankfully it was a beautiful day on Monday so I got to enjoy it even more.  I asked about 5 different people to take my photo in front of it in order to get one good one lol.  When traveling solo, that is the secret to getting photos. 😉 After my trip to The Bean I had welcome cocktails with the team and then had a solo dinner and tried deep dish pizza for the first time!  So freaking good. I went to Lou Malnati’s on State St. Definitely recommend!

 Most of the day yesterday was spent doing a photo and video shoot for the campaign. I’m still not very used to doing indoor studio shoots as they are so different from the street style shooting that I do outside, but I always enjoy taking myself out of my comfort zone so that I can turn my weaknesses into strengths.  I used to be really nervous to be on video, especially for interviews, but I’ve learned to open up more and more so that I can let my personality shine through.  I can be so animated and expressive and I think that definitely showed. 🙂

After the shoot I went to a late lunch with the girls and did a little more exploring with Beth. I came across some cool graffiti walls and Oak Street Beach.  It was so beautiful I had to take a bunch of pics. I totally felt like I was walking on water. Definitely was in my element there.  So many cool backdrops in Chi-Town!

 One of the things on my bucket list was to go to the SkyDeck.  It’s located on the 103rd floor (sooo high up) in the former Sears Tower and shows incredible views of Chicago.  It has these clear glass ledges/balconies that you can walk out on to and take photos. They’re only 1.5 inches thick! I have to admit it was a little scary, especially at night time, but I did it.  The glass of wine I had prior to this definitely helped calm my nerves. Ha! I literally sat down and asked someone to snap my pic since I went by myself. It feels like you are literally on top of Chicago.  It’s seriously the coolest feeling. Definitely suggest doing this if you ever visit. This was the perfect way to end my last night in the windy city.

 

I hope you guys enjoyed this travel post!  Too bad I couldn’t get it up for #TravelTuesday.  My timing is the worst.  I really enjoyed sharing this mini adventure with you guys on my snapchat.  Some of you have requested that I start doing travel vlogs and I have to say this is definitely something I have been wanting to do.  I think since I sort of do that on snapchat, I forget to film with my camera too!

I had such an amazing trip and am so thankful for this incredible opportunity to partner with #THEeyeSOLUTION.  Thank you for a great stay in Chi-Town! <3