Chicago!

I finally got around to uploading all of the pictures from my trip to Chicago, so here we go:


I flew out on a Friday to spend time with my friend, Anne, and her daughter, Ave, before my conference began. Anne and I had a mommy's night out on Friday and shared a lot of appetizers and wine and had a great time out without the babies.

Pic taken by Anne's iPhone


Saturday we spent the morning playing with Ave and watching trash TV, my favorite, and then left for the Cubs game. Anne wanted me to have the Wrigley experience, so we had tickets for the bleachers which is first come, first serve for seats. We got there 30 minutes late and our first priority was getting ball park food, so by the time we started looking for seats there were none left. We finally found the last 2 open seats in the last row behind the scoreboard. Lucky for us, the scoreboard only blocked a tiny part of our view and we were more interested in judging the people around us than watching the game. After the 7th inning a ton of people started leaving so we ended up with better seats and a much better view of the field. I think we spent a grand total of 20 minutes in our seats before we got our picture in front of the field and left.


On our way out, we noticed a TON of bike taxis and decided to hop in one for a few blocks. I thought it was blast and Anne was hunkered down, undercover-style so no one would recognize her. We thought we timed everything perfectly to catch the 3:40 train and got to the station about 15 minutes before only to find out that there is no 3:40 train. There's a 12:40, 1:40, 2:40, 4:40, 5:40 and 6:40, but no 3:40. After a lecture from Sean, Anne's husband, we decided to hang out in the food court at the train station for an hour. The type of people that frequent the train station food court are not the most normal. This, of course, provided endless entertain for us.


There was the "dance" group, all dressed in 1980's tie-dyed shirts, the mullet family with the mom who picked her nose for 5 minutes straight, the "blood of Jesus" woman, who scribbled ferociously over a laminated paper that read "I cover myself in the blood of Jesus. I cover my chest in the blood of Jesus. I cover my arms in the blood of Jesus." (you get the point), the 17 year old girl wrapped in a Cubs blanket that appeared to be missing her pants and the trio of teenagers next to us: girlfriend yelling and sobbing at her boyfriend while her friend calmly clipped her fingernails and applied her makeup next to them. All in all, a worthwhile time at the train station food court. Once we were home, Sean made us dinner and then we passed out in front of the TV, watching Janet Jackson music videos.


We woke up Sunday and played with Ave in her playroom and then headed out to the park to spend some time at the playground. Ave is just like Stasa, Miss Independent, but she did let me swing with her for a bit.



Pic taken by Anne's iPhone


After the park we headed home for lunch and then Anne and I went out for pedicures and more girl time. We should have been concerned when we walked in and saw this:

Pic taken by Anne's iPhone


Instead we laughed and made fun of all of the wigs and heads - there were many many more, all around the "salon" and "spa". After waiting about 45 minutes, we were finally taken back to the "spa" part of the salon. I use the term spa loosely since I was left sitting in a recliner with my feet in a fancy rubbermaid bath. Our nail "technician" was not the best and Anne and I spent the entire time texting back and forth about the whole experience.


Anne: This lady has no idea what she's doing
Me: This lady is judging you
A: I'm judging her everything so it's ok
Me: She's like ripping your skin off
A: Sean gives better pedicures than this lady
A: I'm going to get an infection a la Paula Abdul from this place aren't I?
Me: Most definitely
Me: Ummmmmmmm, she's stupid.
A: She's filing my skin
A: I smell food
Me: Did the big blonde find this lady on the street? Or is this the for real regular "technician"
Me: I bet she's a master technician
Me: Now I wish I didn't shave
A: She didn't even get all my polish off. Master technician fail.
Me: I'm going to be a bitchy client
Me: Tell her she owes you $2 for opening that
Me: She stared at the polish for like half a minute
A: No wonder they had same day openings
A: She is worse than the crackhead with the kaboodle
Me: I bet she's painting your skin
A: Look at them, they look horrible
A: Worst pedicure ever.
Me: And it's $40+
A: ????What?
A: And it's like a 3 hour process. I'm pissed
Me: Pedi on their price list
A: Host fail
Me: Serious host fail
Me: What is she doing?
Me: Um, is her hand bumping into your big toe's wet polish?
A: I used to feel bad for her. Now I hate her.
Me: She's awful. I want a refund and I haven't even paid.
A: She doesn't even know the products. She's all "oh what is this, I think I'll put that on next"
A: And why is the water orange?
Me: I could have done a better job drunk
Me: LOL I know!
A: You should not get one
Me: What did she just spray????
A: Avery could've done a better job drunk
A: Bug spray


Needless to say, I did not get a pedicure. We went home to another Sean-made meal and ended the evening watching the Miss USA pageant and an episode of Celebrity Apprentice and then Anne drove me to my hotel in the city.


That weekend was leaps and bounds more fun than the rest of my trip. I spent the rest of my time in Chicago at the ASTD ICE conference, which wasn't all that great. My friend, Patrick, and I did take a drive up the Gold Coast, one of the richest neighborhoods in the US and gawked at the ridiculous mansions on the lake.


Here are the rest of the pictures from my time in Chicago: