Chicago Pen Show 2018 Write-Up

A pen show is always a wonderful thing to go to, the pens, the people, the city!  I hadn’t been to Chicago in over 10 years, and have to say the Magnificent Mile did not disappoint.  But first the show…well and some food!

Since I decided to go to the Chicago Pen Show super late, the show hotel was sold out, but @allthehobbies on IG graciously agreed to let me room with her.  We did a bunch of pre-gaming in the city…meaning food!  Don’t forget to get a Le Stan from Stan’s Donuts when in Chicago!

No trip to the city would be complete without some fountain pen wars at “The Bean”.

Or a trip to Gibsons for steak!  It was probably someone’s birthday right?

I also got to visit my first “real” pen shop!  Andersons in Chicago!

Now on to the show!….but wait…there was a Krispy Kreme on the way to the show and being a Hawaii girl who doesn’t get to see the hot donut sign like EVER, had to stop for supplies.

Seems like a lot donuts, but they came in handy at like midnight when pen show hunger hits.

Show pic dump!

The after hours of course were where it was at!  A dear friend did me the honor of drawing me the coolest dragon on the planet.  It’s a bit exotic, but the #lore is real.

Then the BYOB Podcast did him the honor of a 28lbs gummy snake lol.

And then of course there was more food…

I even extended my trip a day so I could see more of the city and of course go to the Original Morton’s Steakhouse…where @allthehobbies and Daryl of @ateliermusubi enjoyed what we like to call #meatnagetrois.

We said goodbye at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, where unfortunately one of us died of dysentery in front of this Oregon Trail Wagon.

This pen show was quite different from the other 3 that I have been to, this was the most time I’ve ever spent away from the show/hotel.  It was with pen people though, and there can never be any regrets about spending time with other likeminded people, even without pens on the table.  Don’t get me wrong, we spent a LOT of time at the show, but we weren’t afraid to venture out either.  This definitely explains why there are more food pics in this post than pen pics lol.  I usually come in the day before and a show and leave the day after, but in the future I think I may take the opportunity to explore the beautiful cities around the shows.

One last shot, my small but loved pen show haul ❤

But now that I am back to Hawaii, life starts again!  Shipping Hippos of course, and working on some other exciting things.  One of which is our next exclusive ink:

Very excited about this, streaks of purple with a magenta base and #sheen.  More info to come ^_^.

Need some ink to hold you over?  Check out our Colorverse Sale!  Colorverse is upgrading their packaging and we have marked down all existing stock.  CLICK HERE FOR SALE!

I leave you now with a sign I’ve only ever seen in Chicago.