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Christmas time (Dec 4)

“It the most wonderful time of the year”... said Andy Williams in his song. And you know, he was RIGH!!! Besides, Christmas in Chicago is MAGICAL!! 

Michigan Avenue never looks so bright and colorful as during the Christmas time. People gather on the main street every year for a lights parade where city decorate Michigan Avenue with thousands of lights. It is complicated to describe it with words - all you need is just to see it even a one time with your own eyes. 

The other place Chicago guests HAS to visit during the Christmas time is Christmas Market. The event take place every year in DownTown from the end of November till the end of December. Originally, those Christmas Markets came from Europe. This is a place with a small wood houses where people sell food, drinks and Christmas gifts.There is no better holiday gift as handmade ornament. 

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Blue Door Kitchen & Garden (Nov 30)

One more hidden garden in my collection. The place looks imperceptibly from outside, but once one enters it - the lovely atmosphere of soft and bright colors makes you feel warm. Flowers and  curtains on the windows gives the feeling of country house somewhere in Europe. With addition of soft chairs and sofas the restaurant gives its clients maximum comfort and welcomness.

However, the real magic begins when you step outside on the Blue Door Kitchen and Garden patio. White and cozy backyard brings you all the way to Italy with its small balconies and outside flowers. Small tables with a wicker furniture represents European countryside style. 

The other that one might pointer out is tableware.  Blue & White plates make a perfect combination with furniture’s cushions. The place brings the guests far away from the city noises and urban traffic. The restaurant is a good salvation for people who want to find”their own remote” spot in Chicago Downtown. 

Menu: Restaurant offers its guests opportunity to have a half of any meal from the menu. Customers find it a very nice deal to get to try more meals without overeat feelings. The menu separates breakfast, lunch and dinner meals. However, it does not mean guests can not enjoy pancakes at 3 pm on Wednesday. 

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Hidden Garden in the Heart of Chicago (Nov 29)

Could never believe the place like this was even existed. It attracts visitors with its magical and romantic atmosphere. Once one enters it - he/she will never forget it. 

This place takes you to some other reality where people believe in princess and magical gardens. Romeo and Juliet would definitely make it “their spot” in Chicago City. This restaurant makes you think you are in fairytale or some romantic movie from other century. 

This place is THREE ARTS CLUB CAFE in RH Chicago 

The main decor element  in this restaurant in the fountain. It is not ordinary thing - to see the water fountain inside of the building, especially  in the middle of a restaurant. The water sounds brings romantic and peace into the guests’ evening time. 

Menu: The place is considered more as a lounge cafe than a restaurant. That is why, the menu is not so diverse. It is a good place to have a glass of vine with the cheese tea with girlfriends Friday night, or to get an tasty salad on the first romantic date with a gentlemen/lady. 

#chicagorestaurant # threeartsclubcafe

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The Hampton Social (Nov 26)

It’s time for a dinner!! Seafood lovers this is the best place for you in Chicago!

The Hampton Social  is a seafood oriented restaurant in DownTown Chicago. The place was officially opened last year (2015). From the very first month it gain its’ audience. It is almost impossible to get there without reservation on weekends. 

The restaurant is known by its sea food and incredible design. White color of the rooms brings an elegant and stylish atmosphere into the restaurant. During weekends brunches it makes visitors feel comfortable without heavy accents. 

However, this place is even more beautiful during the night!! Live music and lights bring romantic into the guests night. That is why people chose this lace for any kind of dates or friend meetings. 

Menu: The Hampton Social restaurant specializes on seafood. Almost every dish in the menu is made from seafood. However, there is a big veriaty of desserts (including French macaroons and gelato ) in the restaurant. The avarage check per person could be around $30-$40 with drinks that also has their own way to be served.   

#hamptonsocial #chicagorestaurants 

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Thanksgiving Post (Nov 24)

This is the day of the year when people reveal all things they are thankful for and speak up. I do not want to be an exaction. 

Since this year has become life-changing for me and my family my thankful list will be longer than previous year. 

I want to say THANK YOU to God for all big and small things I have in my life. I am thankful for the most amazing man in the world, who makes me happy and beloved every day of our family life. I am thankful for his love and his care, for his kindness and manliness, for patience and faith in me. 

I am thankful to God for my parents and family who are so far from me right  with their support and love. I am thankful to my parents for giving me this huge opportunity to study abroad and live in the best city in the world. I am thankful for this chance to build my own life, to be myself and still be the little girl. 

Thank you God for all my friend and people around, who teach and support me, people who are with me in good and bad times, who love me the way I am and never try to change me. 

And, of course, I could not be more thankful for the love I care inside of me. This is a miracle that God gave us, the miracle that I am going to be THANKFUL for all my life!!!

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Chicago Skydeck (Nov 21th)

Willis Tower known also as Sears Tower is the 12th tallest building in the world: 2nd tallest building in United States and THE TALLEST building in Chicago City. The building has 416,000 square meters of space, with its foundation and the first 50 floors taking up an entire city block before the building begins to narrow.

However, being the tallest building in the city is not the only significant fact about Willis Tower. On 103rd flood city guests can visit Chicago Skyjack observation deck. More than 1,5 million tourists visit Chicago Sky deck every year. From the 1,353 feet above the streets people can admire breathtaking panoramic view of the city. 

Later on in 2009 Chicago Skedeck introduced the other attraction to the public - Ledge. The Ledge is four glass boxes(balconies)  that extend 4.3 feet outside the Tower. Every day people stay in a huge line to get a picture staying on those balconies with the whole Chicago city under their feet. This is the one big experience that tourists can get from the Ledge. It is exited and scared at the same time. Where else in United State people can lose the ground under their legs?;)  

Sources: 

Willis Tower - The Skyscraper Center. (n.d.). Retrieved November 21, 2016, from https://skyscrapercenter.com/building/willis-tower/169

Past & Future. (n.d.). Retrieved November 21, 2016, from http://theskydeck.com/the-tower/past-future/ 

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Millennium Park (November 19th)

The first thing people who come to visit Chicago want to see is Millennium Park. It is the heart of Chicago City and the part of the Grand Park. 

Millennium Park has proven to be a “visionary work that has changed the way the world sees Chicago.” 

The park was introduced to the public July 16th, 2004. With its 24.5 acres, it is considered to be “rooftop garden built over an underground parking garage.”Not everyone, who comes to see the park, knows that fact. However, there is a huge parking underneath the park, where downtown office workers usually leave there vehicles. 

Millennium Park has its’ own beauty during the different seasons of the year. 

It is the favorite spot for kids and their parents during hot summer days. People will barely find an empty spot on those benches. There is nothing funnier than water jets that come out of  gigantic wall faces. 

During the winter Millennium park become the most visitable place for ice skates lovers. From early morning familes take kids to the rink in a heart of the city. Hot cacao and colorful scarfs will keep you warm during the winter activities. 

And finally,  Millennium Park would not be more beautiful than at night. The best place for romantic dates and places to take a walk before the bad. 

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Michigan Lake (Nov 16th)

One of the most beautiful fact about Chicago - is Lake! Cannot imagine the city without this significant sight. Michigan Lake is the thing that makes Chi city so dynamic and graceful at the same time. 

It is like a perfect solvation for those who is looking for life inspiration, for those who wants so stay with his thoughts all along, for those who needs some time for himself, for those who are happy and for those who are sad. The list is endless. Everyone can find him/herself in it!

However, there is a history behind every city sight, and Lake is not an exception. According to Kim Ann Zimmermann, Live Science Contributor, the formation of Michigan Lake began 1.2 billions years ago. French explorer Samuel de Champlain sent his crew to find the “Northwest Passage”. Later on in 1643 he discover Lake Michigan. In 1679, crew also explored the southernmost part of the lake where now Chicago is. 

Like all of the Great Lakes, Lake Michigan has its share of shipwrecks. One of the most famous maritime disasters was the sinking of the Westmoreland, a steamer that sank on Dec. 7, 1854. The wreck was discovered by a diver on July 7, 2010, 155 years after the accident, in excellent condition.

Source: 

Lake Michigan Facts: History, Depth & Temperature. (n.d.). Retrieved November 16, 2016, from http://www.livescience.com/32011-lake-michigan.html  

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From the bottom of the heart (Nov 10th)

Have you ever felt in love with an objective? I am pretty sure each of us at list once in his/her life had feeling to a toy, skirt, car, house etc. But what about something bigger?... How about a whole city? :)

Today I send my strongest feelings to the big city - CHICAGO!

What people usually feel when they are in love? Those butterflies fly allover the stomach and eyes blink with the brightest sparkles. This is exactly what I feel about Chicago. Every time I walk those streets I feel like its the first time. I feel energy and grace in a one place. Look left and you see the massive maze of skyscrapers. Look right you see the clear blue and blustery Michigan Lake. 

I could never imagine the place like this. The perfect combination of industries  and nature, people and streets. It looks so completed that It is hard to believe that it is not a miracle.

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Cloud Gate

Welcome to the heart of Chicago City - the Cloud Gage. 

This is the most popular place among city visitors and tourists. Since 2004, the year when the Gate was announced to the world, it became the most photographed sight of the city. 

Before the official name - “Cloud Gate “ was announced to the public, people came up with their own names for this place. Some called it liquid mercury,sky mirror, giant bean or just a Bean. However, name Cloud Gate represents the whole idea of it - the gate to the city.

Anish Kapoor, the sculptor of the Chicago Bean said: ‘“What I wanted to do in Millennium Park is make something that would engage the Chicago skyline, so that one will see the clouds kind of floating in, with those very tall buildings reflected in the work. And then, since it is in the form of a gate, the participant, the viewer, will be able to enter into this very deep chamber that does, in a way, the same thing to one's reflection as the exterior of the piece is doing to the reflection of the city around.”’

No matter what time of the year or the weather outside is, Cloud Gate poses to hundreds of people on their pictures every day. Visitors take pictures laying on the ground under the gate, or capture their reflections in the mirror bean. There is always a lot of fun and amazing shots about the sculpture. 

Chicago Cloud Gate is the number one city sight that any visitor has to see.

9 Reflective Facts About Chicago's 'Cloud Gate' | Mental Floss. (n.d.). Retrieved October 22, 2016, from http://mentalfloss.com/article/79961/9-reflective-facts-about-chicagos-cloud-gate

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Once I landed in Chicago - all fear went away. The first inhale I made brought me back from my fifteen hours depression during the flight. I stepped outside from O’Hare International Airport and realized that a new chapter of my life had just began. 

The first thing that can amaze visitors or new people in the city is architecture. Chicago is an excellent combination of old cozy buildings with massive glass skyscrapers. Those bright and neat streets force people to fall in love with the city from the first sight and forever.

I know, people who live in Chicago for the whole life, probably, do not feel the same way about it. However, this is the feeling I wish everyone could have in his/her life - that first “WOW” while standing on the Michigan Bridge, right in the middle of the city maze. For a moment it feels like you are a part of a Hollywood movie and the next second Transformer Robots are suppose to crash the building right behind you. 

But for me, Chicago has become a second home. This is the place where my heart lives. The place where are all my dreams and expectations. Chicago is my soul. 

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I made a wish...No matter how and when came back to this beautiful city- Chicago. 

I came back to my native city and was living my previous ordinary student’s life. Classes and friend were all I was thinking about, but the dream about America had never let me go.I had my whole universe spinning around me: senior year at university, Master Degree, friends, parents, boyfriend... I had everything I needed at that time and I was happy. 

You know, there is one of the challenges, life puts you in, when you think you have everything and your life seems perfect. But suddenly one phonecall, email, letter in a mailbox completely changes this “perfect world” of yours. The hardest part of a mature life is a part where you HAVE to make a decision...decision to choose your major, to move from parents’ house, to date a right guy, to move in together, to attend an interview, to choose a workplace, city or even a country. The hardest decision I have made was about my beloved “Windy City”.

One might think I was crazy to even think about moving out from all that comfort that my parents provided, even I thought so too sitting in an airplane on my way to America. I should’ve had everything: good job, my lovely parents and friend next to me and whole life that would be built for me by someone else.But I decided to jump into my biggest dream and just follow my heart. 

I will never forget that day, that moment when I got a phone call and a woman on the line telling me I was accepted by Roosevelt University in CHICAGO!!! From that moment my life has changed completely. 

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Being an alien in a foreign country isn’t as difficult and scary as it might be in our imagination...especially if we are talking about United States and Chicago City in particular. 

Once you see it - you will never forget it. 

This is my favorite story of my life. I hope I will be able to convince people that dreams are meant to come true! If you want something with all your heart, believe me, its gonna find you, and catch you, and change your life from one moment till ... i don't know, probably, forever.

Year 2012. Me and one of my best friend came to US to participate in a students program in Ohio State. After three month in a peaceful country side we decided to see the real America with its skyscapers and noise streets. At of nowhere, Chicago came to our minds. Next week, United Airlines landed us on a windy city land. 

I was amazed! This was a love from the first sight! People, streets, lights, buildings...I couldn't stop smiling. Of course, as any tourists coming in Chicago, we visited Willis Tower. This is where miracle has happened. On the 103 floor, above all those skyscrapers, running people, green streets..I made a wish...

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