After my case got stayed my next thought was "must get away and see familiar faces but new places,"  which led to me booking a ticket to chicago. I've decided I love love love the city, except for its fickle and cruel weather.  A friend of mine said that it reminded her of a better cleaner new york.  I gotta say she's right cuz it was really lovely and very much a foodie city.  Every block had a tasty looking coffee shop, chocolate cafe, restaurant or other wonderful treats.  It's probably a good thing that I don't live there, I'd probably kill myself through caffeine and chocolate.

Unfortunately,  I got so excited I didn't get to take as many pics as I wanted :T.

Reasons why I loved Chicago:

• Wonderful hosts:

They put me up, gave me tons of food, and sacrificed their sleep since I was there.  Plus they had me laughing and thinking and having fun. And kept me well fed.  Thems good people. 

• Delicious Food.

(picture from lou malnati's website)

(used under CC license, photo by Josh Bancroft)

The brilliant hosts ordered two small pizzas one from each traditional house and we compared the two.  I found the one that was tasty to be slightly poorly constructed. but both were really good. 

Other food highlights:  Philly Cheese Steaks (apparently ingredients delivered from Philadelphia.  Made me happy because it was delicious and I missed out on Philly cheese steaks when I was in Philadelphia which I've been grieving ever since), Coffee (home made and cafes, tasty tasty coffees),  Tapas, and a restaurant of a chef featured on this season's Top Chef Chicago. Frontera Grill? Tasty (for upscale mexican)! Crowded!
Sadly no pics of other foods, my tummy apparently couldn't wait.

• Flowers!

Spring was in the air (kind of.  Chicago is kind of a mean weather place.  One day sunny, one day ridiculously windy and cold and gray, and one day rainy.  Or all in one day. 

• Public art

There were tons of public art everywhere we went, which I loved.  But, my favorite was definitely the "bean".  A pretty reflective metal thing that reflects the stuff around it.  I'm sure it's meant to be more than a giant funhouse mirror, but that's primarily why I loved it.  So fun to people watch.

. .

• Architecture!

I miss walking around a city, just to walk around and to just experience life a little bit more connected to where you're at instead of in the middle of a traffic jam on the 405. 
 

This next set of pics were taken from the back of a moving Korean taxi cab.

   

Chicago is really pretty.  The thing though is that the Korean taxi driver (who may or may not be licensed) got really really excited when he learned it was my first time.  He saw me taking the pictures and found out I had never been there before.  Despite my best efforts to not have a conversation (because in cabs usually I like to veg out) he started driving slower and slower as he described the history of Chicago, its best sites, the history of Al Capone, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Chicago's food festivals and famous eats.  I think I understood about 40%.  Mostly I was focusing on the speedometer and as he got more excited the speed dropped from 65 to 55 to 40.  At one point both it was a no hands on steering wheel drive.   I was tired afterwards.  I don't do well with small talk.

• Lake Michigan! tis like an ocean!

Crazy! 

• The view and drinks from the Hancock tower.  It's so flat!  Tis like an ocean of lights!

• all in all I say the weekend was a VICTORY.

Oh Chicago, your siren song calls out to me.  If not for the winds
of bitter cold and spite that seem to blow through your streets I
could be happy there.  Sigh.

But I do like how when you walk through the city it smells like coffee and chocolate.

• this is quite possibly the best thing to come out of american idol since kelly clarkson's second album.  (that's right, i went there.  i like kelly clarkson.)  I now have an unrelenting desire to find a man named ken lee, marry him and sing "tulibo dibu douchoo" to him.  I love it.  I've watched this about 4 times.  mad props to gkwon for sharing the love. because, ken lee, tulibo dibu douchoo.

• I have been burping like CRAZY today.

victories:

• learned how simple it is to set up some cold brewed coffee. got a batch set up tonight, it should be ready in the morning, could be a defeat in the morning but i am thrilled as my first cup of cold brewed iced coffee had me hearing angels singing and i have been obsessed with it all day.

• only thought about rock band once.

• took a nap at work (shhhhh, don't tell)

• shared lunch with dyn328 and used up all my green beans before my scheduled trip out of town. yay.

defeats:

• didn't finish as much work today as i should have

• overslept (AGAIN)

• did not go running as i originally intended

• drank a can of diet coke (i'm trying to work my way free of all sodas)

net result:

• a wash (:T)

1. Went to go see I'm from Barcelona (a swedish indie pop band), after work.  SO FUN.  They're a relentlessly happy band with a poppy sound.  About 17 members just having a ton of fun on stage.
2. I loved it all, from the guy in the banana suit wandering around, to the kazoo solo, to the confetti, to the eurotrance song at the end where all the band members jumped down and did random dances in the audience,  and the whole polyphonic spree meets the flaming lips live show schtick. 
3. Overall, though I love that fun indie look and crowd, I think I'm getting too old for this because:

• Instead of trying to get up front, I went back to the not crowded part.
• I tried to find the spot where it wouldn't be too loud.
• I got irritated by some of the more "indie" poseurs.
• I wanted earplugs.
• And I hate the whole end of set but not really because we do an encore thing.

    4.  But then again, I loved being able to leave work early to catch a concert.  I might as well do it while I can since clearly my curmudgeonly ways will encroach upon my enjoyment soon.

---

Unrelated to the above, I've been getting a lot of encouragement to join this century and sign up on facebook.  To that I give you this:

www.xkcd.com

Please replace "myspace" with facebook and you have my position.

(watch, now that I wrote this, I'll probably end up signing up just because the fates are aligned against me.)

i think my apartment neighbor got rock band.  my love of rock band has come back to haunt me as it is very loud.  very, very loud.  (but in my heart of hearts, i kinda wanna knock on his door and ask if i can play too).

So i kinda have time now that the trial i was working on got stayed, woot!  so here are some thoughts:

• how did ashlee simpson get into my itunes library?

• i should listen to jazz more. 

• must stop myself from going downstairs and making a taco

• ugh, at 27 my body should not be trying to kill me with shoulder pain

• have you ever heard of the standard creepiness rule?  I first learned of it in NY and really believe it's true.  I learned it was codified on the web too!

from the fabulous www.xkcd.com (a grown up comic about romance, sarcasm, life, and math).  it's awesome. 

• made lunch again! wooooo!  (brocolli stalk, zucchini and beef with improvised marinade.  go, me! again!)

• and a photo of cuteness.

victories:

• Remembered to floss!!! WOO!!!!

• Made lunch for tomorrow!  (a side of steamed broccoli with a sprinkling of romano cheese and black pepper and fusili with a tomato and basil sauce with onions, garlic, italian sausage, and zucchini. go, me!)

• Had sweet potato fries.

defeats:

• Lost my remote control and I can't find it in the black hole that is my room.

• Had a few too many sweet potato fries. 

net result:

• Victory!

in honor of earth day and my mother's recent birthday, here are some reduced, reused, and recycled stories:

1.  When I was a little girl I would try to help my mother out by imparting knowledge on my younger brother.  I used to tell him that he had to be careful when drinking milk because if he swallowed the bubbles they would inflate every time he took a breath until he either floated or exploded.  Just trying to help out the family.

2.  My mother used to tell me that if I ate bean sprouts I'd be able to play music better because they were shaped like musical notes.  I must've picked up something from her, see story 1.

3.   On this day 5 years ago I told a story about myself and what I thought about balloons.

man.  i gotta get out of my head.  when did i become so neurotic?????