This past weekend, Zman, Bean and I made our way to Chicago so I could attend the Verizon Wireless Midwest Savvy Moms kickoff event along with the 2012 Brands & Bloggers Summit.

Let me start by saying I was absolutely, 100% terrified to drive not just to Chicago with 2 kids by myself but to downtown Chicago at that. You see, I hate to drive in big cities that play host to lots and lots of traffic. I prefer to be able to hope in my car and make it from one side of town to the other in less than 15 minutes, not 2 hours. However, this trip seemed to go off better than I had planned. Thanks to the beautiful 2012 GMC Yukon with a sweet navigation system, I was always prepared for what was ahead. I knew when we would hit construction, when there was a delay and just how much longer we would be until we arrived. It was also really nice that little Miss Bean slept for all but the first 20 minutes of the ride.

When we arrived in Chicago, Zman couldn’t believe the amount of people everywhere. (The only time he had ever seen the city was from the highway on a trip to Indiana). We sat on the off ramp for over 45 minutes, spent the next 45 making our way too & finding the parking garage and then unloaded and lugged everything over to the hotel.

We stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel on the 29th floor. Once we were settled in, I made my way to the Prudential Building for the Verizon Wireless Midwest Savvy Moms Kickoff! Unfortunately, I was late to the party because of traffic but I arrived just in time to receive my shiny and new Samsung Galaxy S3 from Verizon. As you may know, a few weeks ago I upgraded my current cell phone to a Samsung Galaxy S3 (on a different network) so I already had some experience with the phone. Now that I have 2 Samsung Galaxy S3 phones on two different networks I have been comparing both the phone and the service, so be sure to watch for posts from me all about my comparisons and thoughts! After spending the last 4 days with both of these phones in my hands I have already conducted a lot of research, so be on the lookout!

After the Verizon meeting, I met Zman and Bean back at the hotel and we made our plans for dinner and placed an order for a World Famous Chicago Stuffed Pizza from Giordano’s. This was also Zman’s first Chicago pizza experience!
Of course, he loved every.last.bite. We were even lucky enough to bring some leftovers home with us for the rest of the family to try.

After we stuffed our bellies with pizza, we sat around for a bit while Zman showed me the awesome trick he learned while I was away at my meeting. Let’s just say the trick involves a window sill, a big fluffy bed and a somersault in the air.

Before we settled in for the night, we made a quick trip out to the neighboring Walgreens for a few supplies before crawling into our big comfy beds for the night.

Even Miss Bean approved of the bed!

Watch for more about our exciting weekend in Chicago and the Brands & Bloggers Summit tomorrow!
Disclosure: I am participating in the Verizon Wireless Midwest Savvy Moms program and have been provided with a wireless device and six months of service in exchange for my honest opinions about the product. Verizon also covered my hotel, expenses and conference pass as part of the Verizon Wireless Midwest Savvy Moms program.  Also, thank you again to GM for providing us with transportation to Chicago.