Weekend in Chicago

As you know, if you've read this post, our company Christmas party this year was a 4 day trip to Chicago.

Here's a little re-cap of this past weekend:

We left the office at Noon on Thursday, and made our way via Tourbus to Chicago. We played cards, watched movies, chatted with friends and, if we were lucky, caught some shut-eye. 9 1/2 hours later, we arrived at our hotel: the Hyatt McCormick Place.

The view of the city from our room was spectacular! And it's so big, it touched the horizon!

When we arrived Thursday night, the Bears were playing in Soldier field, and we could see the game on the JumboTron

Friday morning, we left the hotel at 8am to head to Burns Harbor for our Steel Mill Tour. Arcelor Mittal is one of the mills our company buys steel from. Although they weren't running at full capacity on this particular day, and a bar of steel got jammed in the machine that stretches it into coil form, it was a very informative tour, and very interesting.

Abbey and I striking our hot model poses in our HOTT Mill Tour GetUp

Molten hot steel about to be poured from the ladle

The steel was poured into bars, and left to cool. These particular bars are still red hot.

These "StarWars" looking vehicles were used to transport the bars to a different facility to be stretched into thin coils.

After the tour, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for our big night. We all met in Steve and Anne's suite to "mingle" and play a game. My team won the game, and the prize was $100 cash!

One HOTT buncha gals! (L-R: Sue, Jeannie, Mandy, Abbey, and myself)

And our husbands (plus Bob, who's wife couldn't make the trip to Chicago). L-R: Aaron (Jeannie's), Bob, Joe (Sue's), Brooks (Mandy's), Ben (Abbey's), and Seth (Mine)We ate a delicious supper at Carnivale Chicago, then bussed over to the Ford Theatre for a Wicked experience!

Aaron and Jeannie at Carnivale

Seth and I
Steve and Anne (the ones we all have to thank for such an amazing experience!)

Saturday morning, we met again in Steve and Anne's suite to break into teams for a scavenger hunt. A portfolio of clues led us all over the McCormick center campus. And, once again, my team were the winners! This time, the prize was a T-Shirt and a DVD. Oh, and $100 dollars was given to everyone who didn't win the game the night before. So we were all winners!

After the hunt, a bunch of us left for shopping on the Magnificent Mile, Michigan Ave. Abbey and Ben, Aaron and Jeannie and Seth and I ate lunch (and dessert) at The Cheesecake Factory.

Saturday Lunch at The Cheesecake Factory!

Sunday morning, we checked out of our hotel, and left for home, but not without an amazing church service at Willow Creek Community Church. I've never been to a "Mega Church" before, but I have to say, it was a good experience. We spent the first 25 minutes of the service singing Christmas Carols, and then, instead of a message by Bill Hybels, Gary Haugen, of International Justice Mission, spoke. He gave a moving message of hope-of men and women in foreign countries who, for most of their lives, have been exploited and abused, until attorneys and officials partnering with IJM are able to bring them to justice.

After the service, we hopped back on the bus for the trek home. We were worried about blizzard rumors in Minnesota and wanted to make it back in one piece. As it turned out, we pulled into the office parking lot around 8pm.

I have to say, I'm really glad to be home with my kids again, but this past weekend was a nice vacation with my husband and some friends...and I can't wait for the next one! (hint, hint) :D