Hey guys! I’ve finally gotten over the fact that the Olympics are over: now, every day that goes by brings us closer to Tokyo 2020! But besides that, many things have kept me busy enough not to think about it. First of all, I’ve started a new job working in fundraising for a hospital group! On top of that, I’ve been busy with school and work events. So that leaves me with little free time that I use to cook, go out, write blog posts, watch sports and go to the movies!

But anyway, we’re not here to discuss my hobbies. We are here so that I can describe to you guys my second staycation here in Chicago, which happened a couple of weeks ago for my friend Maria’s birthday!

The Celebration

Now, my friend Maria is one of those people who need a birthday week, not a birthday, so we actually started celebrating her the day before. We went out to Joy District, a pretty well-known spot in River North where we always have a ton of fun. The music is always good and the drinks usually are, too. If you want to go out and dance but you don’t feel like dressing up, standing in line or paying crazy cover fees, then Joy District is the right place for you.

After Joy, we also checked out a relatively new bar in town, called LIQRBOX.

Now, I don’t go out often, or at least not out-out, you know what I mean? Like, I’ll have a beer or a drink at a bar, but I’m past the whole clubbing every day of the weekend. Maybe it’s because it’s winter, maybe it’s because I’ve done that already. In any case, I’m not one that’s very interested in the whole going out/clubbing thing, so I wouldn’t be able to judge the coolness or the “litness” of this place. All I can say is, they serve drinks in cute little colorful juice boxes. And to me, that’s pretty cool. It makes for great photo ops.

Anyway, the reason why I’m also describing our experience at these two locations is that, if you wanted to go out downtown during your staycation, these are two great options to consider. However, there are so many more activities to choose from, too!

The Staycation

I’ll now get into the specifics of our staycation. First of all, this time we stayed at the at the Renaissance Chicago Downtown Hotel. If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know that our first staycation was at the JW Marriott; well, both of these hotels are part of Marriott, but they have two completely different vibes! The Renaissance, despite its name, is way more modern and contemporary in its look.

Photo from their website homepage.

When we booked the hotel, we got a room with a view and two queen beds at the Renaissance. We soon figured out that when they say “a room with a view”, they really mean a room with A VIEW.

Staying right on top of the Chicago River and in front of Marina City was awesome; then, when the sun went down, we could see all of the city lights from our window! It was magical.

Other than an incredible view, the room also had a beautiful bathroom equipped with Aveda products.

Overall, the room was spacious, and the beds were comfortable.

Lizett arrived after Maria and I settled in, and she – of course – brought food. Mexican seafood. It was so good!
After that, Jessica joined us: we put on our robes and went to the pool.

Photo from Jetsetter.com

Though we sure liked it, we ended up deciding that we liked the JW Marriott pool area better, because they had a Jacuzzi! Nevertheless, it’s a beautiful space.

After the pool, we went back to the room, showered (in their majestic shower), watched a couple of episodes of Grace and Frankie (hilarious. Why did I wait so long before starting it?), and ordered Lou Malnati’s. When the pizza arrived, we watched When We First Met on Netflix, ate our slices of awesomeness and put on face masks. It was so much fun!

I didn’t actually spend the night in the room like the rest of the girls, because the following day was going to be my first day of work! I needed to be ready for that!

As you may have noticed, I don’t have as much free time as I used to, now that I work full time. That has impacted how often I can come out with new blog posts quite a bit! However, there are lots of exciting things and articles coming out soon, so get ready! You won’t want to miss those!