Honestly, a little less than that. But this last month, I went to Illinois for a family reunion with my dad and my boyfriend. We didn’t get to spend a ton of time in the city, because we were actually staying in the burbs about an hour or so from downtown, but I thought I’d post a little recap anyways.

First of all, THE PIZZA. We didn’t actually make it to Giordiano’s (despite my insta post lol). But we tried, TWICE. The first time we went there, it was 11 AM and the place was closed. The second time we tried to get pizza there, Reggie and I thought it would be sort of a buy-by-the-slice kind of deal; but it wasn’t. And for a whole pie, it was an hour wait. So we decided to skip it and go to the heavily-recommended Lou Malnati’s, which was another.. hour wait lol.

Lou Malnati’s deep dish was pretty good, but tbh anything probably would’ve been good to us at that time. Either way, we weren’t disappointed, and it was definitely a cute space to grab a bite at. The place was baseball themed with tons of jerseys and signed autographs on the wall. It definitely had a homey Chicago vibe, which we appreciated. And, I’m really glad I brought my polaroid for the memories!

Lou Malnati’s in Downtown Chicago

To be honest, this is my favorite film camera to shoot with. I use Fujifilm’s Wide 300 camera for these and am obsessed with how they turn out. I’ve had a couple of film cameras before, including the mini instax, but I just like the sizing and aesthetic of this one so much better. The vibrancy of the photos is a little nicer and I like that they’re a bit wider. My bf got this one for me for my bday a couple of years ago, but you can find it at Target or Urban Outfitters for under $100 (but keep in mind, it’s the film that costs lol, I recommend buying in bulk at Amazon).

The Bean in Millenium Park

When we weren’t in the city, we were still eating pizza (yes, I cheated on my keto diet because in Chicago you just have to) and dying in the summer heat. We both actually liked the thin crust pizza better than deep dish, but I’m not sure if that’s just because we’re from Cali haha. AND IDK if you guys have been there before but the humidity is real. So are the mosquitos. I pretty much had bug spray on me at all times. That being said, we tried this cool little local beer, that the locals didn’t like lol. But I did. And look how cute the can is!

And we had to visit The Bean, pretty much because I dragged my dad and Reggie there. Raise your hand if you’re the extra one in your family. (hi) But it was a pretty cool experience honestly. Luckily we came at the time the graffiti had just been cleaned off, and it was a nice little day out for strolling in Millennium Park.

Honestly though despite the heat, I still had a blast. I loved seeing all my cousins and family, and can’t wait to go back.

Until next time!

xx

s.