This past weekend was mid-winter break as many of you know and it couldn’t have come at a better time. The previous week was extremely stressful, so having a weekend to not think about homework was really nice. Most of the people I talked to said they went home for this break, but I went to Illinois with some of my friends to celebrate my friend Lauren’s 21st birthday. Here’s the run-down of what went on:
First we drove to her house in Illinois on Saturday afternoon and listened to the longest music playlist ever made. Everybody was singing and having a good time, but once we got to her house, we were all exhausted from sitting in a car for three hours, so we pretty much just crashed. We played a game called Wits & Wagers, which was surprisingly fun and entertaining and ate some pizza. The night was pretty uneventful, but we were all just tired from the travel.
Sunday morning we all woke up and took the train into Chicago. This is where all the fun started! My brother’s birthday was the day before, so all of my friends and I took the train to surprise him at his apartment and we all went to a super random, but shockingly good Mexican restaurant. Although I only got to see my brother for an hour or so, it was definitely a good time and his face was priceless when I showed up at his doorstep, which made it all worth it. Following that, we checked into a fancy hotel in Chicago and got settled in before we headed down to Water Tower for some shopping. All I have to say is that when you bring five girls into a large mall, you better plan on being there for quite a while!
Once the mall was closing, we went to Potbelly’s for some chicken sandwiches and cake shakes. I’ve never had a cake shake before, but it was delicious and I somewhat regret having the entire thing. I felt like I was going to explode, so there was absolutely zero motivation to walk back to the hotel. Luckily, another friend of Lauren’s showed up and had a car, so she drove us back. Talk about convenient! Anyways, once we got back to the hotel we lounged around and played some fun games until everybody nearly passed out from exhaustion. It was such a great day, but one of the most draining days I’ve had in a while.
Monday morning we had to catch the train back to Lauren’s house and guess what? We missed it, so we had to frantically figure out how we were going to get back to her house. Regardless, it all worked out and we didn’t have to wait long for another train, so it wasn’t as bad as we thought it would be trying to figure out a Plan B. Once we got back to her house, everybody took a nice long nap considering there was limited sleep the past few days because we all had to share beds. Once everybody got rejuvenated, we showered and headed to Lauren’s local mall and walked around for a while until we had to get ready for her family dinner. Her family took us all out to a Habachi grill called “Tsukasa.” If you’ve never heard of this place, it’s one of those Japanese restaurants where the cook prepares the food right in front of you. It was my first time at a place like that, so it was definitely exciting and entertaining to watch. It was also delicious! We had to quickly finish our meal, because then we headed to Dave & Busters for some games and for the birthday girl to get a legal drink at the bar. Since it was a Monday night, not many people were out at Dave & Busters really late, which was nice because then we got to have access to any games we wanted to play without any lines. Once we left, we just fell asleep and attempted to get some sleep, but we all knew we would be lucky if we got a solid four hours of sleep with everyone pushing and shaking the beds.
When Tuesday morning arrived, it was bitter-sweet. It was a huge bummer that break was over, but I was honestly excited to sleep in my own bed for the first time in about five days, so that was a huge bonus. The car ride back was pretty uneventful as you can imagine. Driving to Illinois consisted of upbeat music and loud singing, whereas the ride back to school consisted of mellow music with limited participation. My bet is that everybody was dreading going back to the routine of school so nobody was in the best of moods. Anyway, we all got back safely and unpacked and did whatever homework was left that needed to be completed before school started. All in all, this weekend provided for some great memories and a ton of laughs that really made the trip unforgettable. The only thing that would have made it better was if it was longer, but I guess all good things come to an end, right? Welp, it may be pathetic of me to say this already, but I’m definitely ready for Spring Break!
I hope everyone had a relaxing break if you had one and that everyone enjoys their Valentine’s Day weekend! Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @hopeleslie15.