ByAshley
A few months ago, when Dave mentioned he had a business trip to Chicago coming up, I knew I wanted to tag along, and I’m so glad I did. I’ve always wanted to visit Chicago, and I came away with some serious fondness for the city — although, let me tell you: it was super cold for this California-living, Florida-raised girl. Brrrrr!
For four nights and five days, we soaked up the city and packed a lot in, while also having plenty of down-time, as well as a great surprise. Let’s get right into highlights from our time there …
Chicago by A Lady Goes West
Fitness, healthy food and blogging buddies
My first full day in Chicago, I was on my own while Dave worked, so I fit in a workout at Lagree Studio and had two dates with blog friends. Because our hotel (we stayed at the Loews) was centrally located, I was able to walk to all my activities, which was super nice. I started out with a 50-minute reformer Pilates class at Lagree Studio on East Erie Street in the River North area. The class was tough from the very first minute and had a huge focus on core, legs, arms and balance. We each had our own reformer to work on and all of the exercises were done on there — no cardio, just strength — with some cool tunes and a good instructor to guide us along. I loved the burn and the shake and would really enjoy incorporating more reformer Pilates into my current fitness routine. Thanks to the folks at Lagree Studio for welcoming me in for a complimentary class. Come open a studio in Walnut Creek, please!
Ashley at Studio Lagree in Chicago by A Lady Goes West
From there, I went to Sweetgreen to have lunch with Erin. Erin and I met at BlogFest in LA two years ago and have stayed in touch via the blog world since that time. She’s a fitness gal and a foodie, and we enjoyed catching up on life and what we’re working on. Oh and Sweetgreen? So healthy and SO good! I wanted everything on the menu.
