7 Years and still TICKING

For our 7-year-anniversary, we had a perfect weekend. My mom took the kids on Friday afternoon, and I headed downtown for an afternoon by myself while Jamie was at work. Jamie reserved a room at the Palmer House, which has a beautiful story behind it. It was a wedding gift from Potter Palmer to his wife, and it's the oldest running hotel in the country. I love that we were able to see the artistic beauty of this hotel (which was inspired by French artists, including the incredible and breathtaking ceiling fresco in the middle of it all.  It was the complete opposite of the Wit, which is where we stayed two years ago. There was nothing contemporary about it. That's one of the great things about Chicago- You get the best of both worlds.

So, after a wonderful evening of dinner (with complimentary champagne for our anniversary) by the river at Smith and Wolensky, we went for a few cocktails downtown. 

How crazy is this?!-- I found out that one of my oldest friends (and my sister's best friend) Renee and her husband Rich happened to be spending the night at the Palmer House too for their anniversary! They were even on the same floor! In all of Chicago, what are the chances, right?! We met up after dinner and had the best time together. At about 12:45am a HUGE rainstorm came in, and we were sitting in a bar by the windows watching the rain. Renee and I used to play in the rain on our block as kids, and we just couldn't resist. So we danced out in the rain and eventually got a whole group of people to run down the block in it. (This is the best picture you'll get of the rain dancing-Jamie took it from inside the bar)

This banner made me laugh, but it was oh so true that night...

Is this really something Benjamin Franklin said?! Awesome.

Back at the hotel, the four of us played in the lobby and took ridiculous pictures (She's known for this). Unfortunately, most of them are on Renee's camera. This is a mirror-table that we were looking into, which shows a cool shot of the ceiling-Too bad our faces were too dark and I didn't think to move the camera down!

The Peacock doors (valued at more than 1 million dolllars and designed by Tiffany)....Renee pretending to be a peacock. Love her.

By Saturday morning, the rain was gone and Jamie and I strolled the streets of downtown Chicago. The week before our anniversary, he suggested we buy each other a watch and choose something to engrave.  I loved the idea. It was really exciting to be able to focus on finding that perfect watch. And we did.

As for the engravings, you'll have to wait for me to post them when we pick them up this weekend! =)