Our last day in Chicago was a blustery 14 degrees. We woke up at 9:00am and checked the weather…feels like 0 degrees. So we went back to sleep for an hour.

When we finally did step outside, the wind caught my breath. Merc uttered his now famous line, “It’s not that bad.” But before we had gone 1 block, we were searching for a warm place to duck into for a break from the arctic climate. While waiting for a light to change, we heard a little girl crying behind us. “Mommy, I’m cooooold!” Now that was truly sad. Poor kid. Not surprisingly, they ducked into the restaurant behind us and we chatted for a bit.

Merc and I hit the streets, ducking into buildings for warmth about every 2 blocks and finally made it to Michigan Ave. We headed to Ethel’s for my favorite hot chocolate in the whole world. After that we hopped a cab to the Threadless store (our yearly homage) and then headed next door to Pastoral, a cute little wine and cheese shop. We grabbed provisions for the night and headed back to the hotel.

Cold, yes cold for sure, but it was still fun. Love that place.