The Long and Winding Road

Alas, again I'm on the road. You know it's bad when with each location update I post on Facebook, I get comments of "Again?" and "Are you ever home?". This week I'm in Chicago for work. I've never been to Chicago. Tonight is night #2 of 5. So far I love it and I'm just super impressed with how the trip has run so far. Minus the scary driving. I wish I didn't have a car here, but since I'm doing client visits all over Chicago-land, I must drive my trusty rented red Jetta.

So here I am tonight- in my apple green Juicy Couture pants, my Tory Burch sandals that are not nearly casual enough for the pants, and a pale blue tshirt that says "Dick Brewers Surf Boards- Hawaii" that I distinctly remember purchasing at Marshall's in 7th grade. It is my favorite, softest tshirt. My point is, I'm quite the site...sitting here in the lobby of the Millenium Knickerbocker (boo no wifi in the rooms), drinking my split of Chandon on an old couch. Side note- I'm a champagne snob. Not for it's pretentious or elitist reputation, but because it's good, doesn't give me a headache, and averages around 60 calories a glass.

Traveling alone is interesting and I'm really finding myself interested to see how I do in this scenario. Having been in a relationship and living with someone for 11 years now (not the same someones, but I was never single for long), I haven't done this before. Been in a big city all alone. Left to travel alone, sightsee alone, shop alone, eat alone...I am intrigued with the choices I'm making. Like last night for dinner, I ate at a Thai restaurant. I NEVER eat Thai food. I can't say I've been to a Thai restaurant since high school. But I did last night because I could. Another example- Today I took a tour of the Frank Lloyd Wright house here in Oak Park. That would never have happened on a girls trip...and the hubby says he would have been interested to go if he was here, but I wonder how true that would be if we were cramming everything into a weekend. I find myself going outside the realm of "normal" for me, which is exciting. This is an interesting experiment.

I also find myself craving companionship, even though I'm having at least 3 client meetings a day. My hotel is next to Bloomingdale's on Michigan Avenue and I stopped in to the Benefit Brow Bar to get a much neglected touchup. I really liked the girl and she and I gabbed for an hour and played with makeup and she made me up. Fun! She suggested I come back tomorrow to play with another look and I'm actually considering it. I wonder though, is it because I am a makeup dunce and someone showing me how to update my look excites me? Or do I want to go hang with my new makeup buddy again for another hour so I don't have to spend it alone?

Tonight I did the Hancock Observatory, tomorrow night is the Museum of Contemporary Art (free on Tuesdays!), and Wednesday night is a bike tour around the city that ends with the fireworks at Navy Pier. I'll try to update again on how the Lonely Girl trip is going.

Signing off from the bar...