ah, chicago

my flight on monday was delayed, and i was met in chicago by rain, but that would not put a damper on my couple of days in chicago.

i've been here a few times before, but always for work. this trip was entirely different. it's been two years since nick and i have seen eachother, and we've been trying to find a suitable half-way point for months.

when his business trip to chicago got scheduled, and it conveniently coincided with the lack of work events, it was a no brainer for me.

so here i am, and on my last full day here, i can say that it has been a smashing success.

the hotel is in greek town, so when i arrived, we headed out for some dinner at a local greek place. we decided to bring it back to the hotel, so night one was incredibly low-key. food and relaxing.

nick was up early for his conference, and i just couldn't seem to fall back asleep, so i dragged myself out of bed and decided to get a start on the day. there was only one site on the 'to see' list for the day, that being the art institute.

with good directions from the concierge, i was on a bus to my destination. by and large buses intimidate the heck out of me. metros/subways generally don't, but i've never really been a bus rider. the routes don't seem to be as clearly posted, and i'm always parannoid i am going to end up exactly where i don't want to be. so it was a small but special triumph when i arrived safely at my destination.

before hitting the institute, i wandered through millenium park. there are a couple of fascinating sculptures there--my favorite of which is the giant bean. the ladies who love little blue boxes might be amused to know that my first thought when i saw the sculpture was 'is elsa peretti doing sculptures??' for those not in the know, there is a jewelry designer named elsa peretti who has done a line of jewelry for tiffany's based on a 'bean' shape.

after i got over my initial reaction and did a little exporing, it was into the museum for me. i do love a good art museum, but typically like taking my time, and feel bad about making other people do the same. so it was the perfect opportunity to go wander at leisure.

the art institute can't quite compare to the national gallery, or some other incredible art museums i've had the opportunity to visit. but there were a few pieces that made the visit absolutely worthwhile.

i didn't realize that a couple of my favorite monets are housed there. and i was thrilled to see another thomas cole (my favorite four are in the national gallery). i also found a picasso that i actually loved! normally, i am anti-picasso, but something about this one grabbed me. most interesting of all though was 'american gothic'--perhaps the most parodied painting of all time. and it was indeed as strange as i suspected it would be.

i decided to walk the mile and a half or so back to the hotel and see what i could see. i did a little window shopping, and a little actual shopping, and eventually made my way back to the hotel where i did a bit more relaxing and started working on the christmas playlist. much thanks to anne and corey in that regard--this playlist was a truly collaborative effort.

they finally let nick out of his conference, and after a work out and shower, we were off to dinner at gino's east. the last time i was in chiago, i had the most incredible pizza i've ever head, and since that was a couple of years ago, i was not about to miss the opportunity for more.

gino's was slightly out of the way for us, but it stopped raining and we made our way there. the decor amuses me (and i had actually forgotten this!) but every available surface is covered with grafitti. walls, pictures, tables, you name it.

abut fortunately, the pizza surpasses the novelty, and we stuffed ourselves before heading back to millenium park.

at night the bean sculpture becomes even more fascinating--reflecting with clarity the city skyline. while there, we ran into a group of 1st day missionaries who were equally amused by the oddity of the piece. one of the elders quickly offered to take a photo of us, and after doing so, we wished them luck and meandered over to the ice skating rink, where we passed some time people watching.

it was extremely entertaining to note the typical skate sterotypes; the show-off, the couple,the novice. they were all there in full force. the one skater throwing off my sterotype was tie guy. in a dress shirt and tie, he was struggling to make his way with his ?girlfriend? i can only imagine that she dragged him there after work, despite all of his protestations. but he was a trooper. i missed all the good spills, but i think nick saw a couple.

eventually, it was time to head back and call it a night.

this morning, nick was off again to work. i had nothing on the schedule, but the sun was out and the weather beautiful, so i decided to head back, once again, to millenium park. i stopped for hot chocolate and did some people watching. i also took a couple of great videos, but it appears that the 'london, day 3' curse is back, as they no longer existed by the time i attempted to transfer them to my computer-- about a half hour later.

no idea what is on the schedule for tonight. isn't that glorious?! so far the trip has been everything i hoped for. my horoscope predicted i would be in for some 'serious snuggling' on the 11th and 12th of this week, and i do love it when my horoscope is right;)