Continuing Our Love of World Travel in Chicago

On July 11, Collective Bias came to Chicago to present SoFabUOTR to a group of bloggers in their network, but I had a little more of a VIP experience with the help of a Mitsubishi Outlander that I was able to test drive for a week. Social Fabric also provided a great hotel stay at the Wyndham Grand Chicago Riverfront, where I could reflect on what was presented, as well as get a restful night’s sleep since no children were present. 

In the middle of the week, before the conference, this beauty was dropped off at my front door. It was ORANGE, because my children kept calling it red, and I’m the adult, so I’m right. Although it may be a bit red, but I’m also over 30, so I’m right for that too. 

One thing that I love to do in my city is eat, and learn, but food is at the very top of the list. Chicago has so many cultural neighborhoods smashed into its 234 square miles that it’s nearly impossible to visit them all in one week. But you better believe I tried. My waistline and new-found restaurants are a testimony to it. I will say that the BEST area that we “found” in Chicago was Korea Town. GAH! Korean BBQ? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I’m not sure why it took so long for Mr. Houseful and I to travel up north to take part in this culinary awesomeness, but it did. We also traveled to Little Saigon, and Devon where we took part in Indian food as well. Edgewater brought us to Ethiopia, and Injera bread. But we’re going to focus on this Korean BBQ for a moment. Korea Town is now on our list of top places to go for date night, and when we have guests over. The particular restaurant that we visited was Chicago Kalbi, voted one of the BEST places for Korean BBQ in Chicago, and I can understand why. 

 

#ad This is SO GOOD! #DriveMitsubishi #KoreaTown #koreanbbq #chicagokalbi

A video posted by Natasha Nicholes (@natashanicholes) on Jul 13, 2015 at 7:52pm PDT

This may not look like much at first, but after WE grilled it up, it as delicious! It also came with like fifteen thousand sides as well! Hello pickled horseradish! The food was SO good, and we didn’t have a hard time finding the restaurant thanks to the inboard navigation system of the Outlander. This way, we didn’t  have to overheat our phones with Waze, like we often do. The ride is smooth too! You hear NOTHING while you’re on the road, just the conversations that married folks have when no children are in the car. You know, conversations ABOUT the children. 

While driving the Outlander, I also helped my bestie and her husband move apartments. They rented a large truck, but I was there to help with the smaller or more fragile items. I was pretty impressed with what we fit into the back area of the car, especially since the second row doesn’t fold completely flat like the third row does. I mean, what would happen for those individuals that wanted to do IKEA runs all of the time?! The sacrifice of flat space did make this car hard to love COMPLETELY, but that was one of the few issues that I took with it. 

I’m not sure I remember what was in here, but I know that we were able to fit a TON of AV equipment in here, as well as a bike when we unloaded this first batch. The bike came home with me – THANKS BESTIE – but all this other stuff I dropped off at their new apartment. The automated trunk really helped when we were loading up because I was able to press a button on the FOB and have it open, instead of fumbling for the lock while my hands were full. 

While my children really love to eat as much as I do, they love visiting libraries just as much, so we did have to take the Outlander for a spin to see one of our favorite youth librarians and their auntie Regina. We played with dollhouses, and Shelly the turtle, and then went on our way later that evening for PHO and Banh Mi at Pho Lily. 

 

Umm, there are no pictures, because we kind of inhaled all of the food that was given to us, which reminds me that I want to try my hand at a good Banh Mi sandwich for the house. I know that I can make it! You want me to make it! 

Overall, I was appreciative of being able to have a family sized car that was city friendly. The third row option did allow for me to fit the twins in the back seat while Nathaniel and the ladybug took seats in the passenger side seat and the second row. While this car wouldn’t be ideal for road trips for us, but running errands and general festivities in Chicago, YES! 

Thanks so much to DriveShop  and SoFabUOTR for the collaboration on the one week vehicle loan. I’m not sure who was more excited, the kids or the adults. We were able to travel to culinary neighborhoods in our city that we haven’t been to before, and it’s opened up an entire new world for us! We can’t wait to go back!