![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.relishments.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/IMG_2872.jpg\" "\\"operation")
<\/a><\/p>\nAfter much debate over cost, ease and economic impact, I took a cab from O’Hare to the Congress Plaza Hotel. \u00a0After about half an hour of sitting in traffic and watching the meter go up, I concluded that I probably should’ve taken the “L”. \u00a0Oh well, you live and learn. \u00a0It took a while, but I made it to the hotel without a hitch.<\/p>\n
A couple hours later, Kirstin arrived. \u00a0We wandered around the city for a little while and settled on Qdoba<\/a> for lunch, because we’re cheap and they offer vegetarian options. \u00a0After dinner we headed to The Back Room<\/a>, a tiny live music club of the sort I’d never go to by myself. \u00a0But that’s what friends like Kirstin are for. \u00a0The music was great and we had a lovely time.<\/p>\n Thursday morning was spent eating breakfast at the Artist’s Cafe<\/a> (delicious!)\u00a0and \u00a0shopping (Chicago had surprisingly good stores, though I managed to save my money). \u00a0After lunch we headed to Oak Park to tour\u00a0Frank Lloyd Wright’s home and studio<\/a>. \u00a0I was beyond excited about this trip; I’ve been borderline obsessed with Frank Lloyd Wright since I saw an exhibit of his furniture<\/a> in 2007. \u00a0It made my day when Kirstin asked if I wanted to go-I’d initially thought it was too far out of town. \u00a0The house was fabulous-everything (windows, furniture, molding, ceilings, art) was intentional and well designed. \u00a0Highly recommended.<\/p>\n Thursday night, Kirstin earned more major friend points by accompanying 14 of the HLS attendees and myself to Raw<\/a>, a raw food restaurant in the French Market. \u00a0It was the first time I’d gotten to meet any of the girls, including my roommate and it was really fun. \u00a0Organic, raw food isn’t usually my thing, but the owners provided us with a whole bunch of samples of amazing food. I’m so glad that Diana<\/a> organized it and invited us along!<\/p>\n From Raw, we crammed more people than probably safe or legal into a cab and\u00a0headed to the YumUniverse<\/a> website launch party. \u00a0The party was hot and crowded, but there was free food and beverages (organic wine, acai spririts) and, best of all, free massages. \u00a0I wasn’t super impressed with the party (the lines for samples were so long!) but I just took a peak at the website and the recipes look delicious. \u00a0Check it out!<\/p>\n We headed home relatively early from the party and headed to bed. \u00a0The Healthy Living Summit hadn’t even started yet and I was having so much fun. \u00a0Stay tuned for my post about the Frito-Lay plant tour and the rest of my weekend in Chicago!<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>Kirstin and I ended up sharing a bunch of food with Freya<\/a>, including collard burritos, spaghetti and meatball, ravioli, and a garden burger. \u00a0Who knew raw vegan food could be so good? \u00a0Kind of mind blowing.<\/p>\n