Best Day Ever with Axios Chicago's new reporter Carrie Shepherd

• We're celebrating by asking Carrie to share her Best Day Ever in Chicago:

🥐 Breakfast: "I'm starting with a workout at West Loop Athletic Club, then stopping at West Town Bakery for some pastries to bring home. Their cinnamon roll is crazy good.

• "One of the things I missed most during the early days of the pandemic was my gym community."

🏙️ Midday: "I'm heading to Bridgeport to check out one of my new favorite parks, Palmisano Park, which has this cool, repurposed quarry. Then over to Ping Tom Park, which has the best view of the skyline and is a beautiful gateway to Chinatown.

• "Obviously, I'm stopping for a bite to eat at the plaza. For dumplings, I’ll go to Qing Xiang Yuan (or really wherever Monica tells me to go, which is a good rule for any neighborhood)."

⛱️ Late afternoon: "Since it's one of those perfect Chicago days when the sun is out but there's a slight breeze, I need to see the lake. I'm going to 31st Street Beach.

• "Depending how I feel, I'm either sipping an iced coffee or a beer, sitting on the rocks, and marveling at our city's beauty."

🍷Evening: "Since I'm already east, I'm gonna shoot up DuSable Lake Shore to Hopleaf in Andersonville. I'm sitting in a booth with my nearest and dearest with a carafe of wine, mussels, frites, a cheese plate, and whatever else we feel like.

• "I'm tired and probably feelin' no pain (as my dad used to say) at this point, so I'm hopping in a cab (yes a cab, not an Uber) and heading home."