Southern Belle NOT in ATL

A work trip to Milwaukee was the final destination for the “fabulous foursome” from Atlanta, but if you know us girls, then you know we don’t do anything half way. So, first we made a quick 24-hour pitt stop in the Windy City!

We hopped off the plane around 9:30 CST and headed straight to our hotel, spotting some great scenes along the way.

 

 

And on our way to lunch, more beautiful sights!

 

I wonder if Vince Vaughn is on that boat…”Taking Chicago tourism by land, air, and sea.” (for all fans of “The Break Up”)

We fueled up for a long day of sight-seeing at Hub 51, enjoying Chicago’s own Goose Island Matilda and for lunch, I sampled the open-face BLT.

 

 

With Whitney leading the way, we made our way to Willis Tower (formerly known as Sears Tower). A short elevator ride to the 103^rd floor put us high above the beauty of Chicago. We even ventured out on the “ledge,” although it was extremely scary to take that first step onto the glass platform.

 

Next stop was Millennium Park and “the bean,” which is actually a sculpture named Cloud Gate. Looks more like a bean to me! J

With late dinner reservations, we decided we needed an afternoon snack. When you’re in Chicago, I think it would be illegal not to try out some deep-dish pizza, so we headed to Giordano’s and waited an hour for our thick, cheesy, delicious pizzas to arrive. They were well worth the wait!

 

Perhaps the event I was most excited about was dinner at RPM Italian. For those of you who watch E! News (like me), and for those obsessed with Guiliana Rancic (like me), you’ll understand my excitement. G & Bill opened the restaurant recently, and I knew that if I made it to Chicago, this would be on my list. We made reservations months in advance and were only able to get a 10 p.m. table!

 

Eating dinner fashionably late is “in” these days I’ve heard… ;)

Besides a great atmosphere, the food at RPM was to die for, or “amazeballs” as Guiliana would say! We started off with zucchini fritti and then we all enjoyed some authentic Italian pastas. Three of us ordered the Maine Lobster Ravioli, and Whitney went with Mama Depandi's Bucatini Pomodoro.

Of course one of us had to order dessert…and it was me! Well worth it, y’all! Bill's Chocolate Budino--an Italian pudding with salted caramel and cocoa nibs. Mmmmm!

After a LONG day in Chicago, we all headed back to our "swanky" hotel for a good night’s sleep.

Up next—4 days in Milwaukee...and if you think that sounds boring, think again!