traveling woman

Well, my mission to avoid being at home as much as possible during the month that I am home with my parents is working quite well. This trip to Chicago for the weekend was quite a blast. I got into the city at about 11 pm on Friday night, and what a night it was. One of my friends from law school had flown in for the weekend from DC for a wedding and he wanted to go clubbin’. The thing about Navid is that he doesn’t drink, but boy really can dance. We didn’t even head out until 12:30 and then we headed down to the Rush street area. The bars aren’t really my scene. They are the kind of places that make me feel old, but I suppose that can’t be helped. We hung out at a table at one bar until about 2, when our friend Scott finally showed up (he had a prior karaoke engagement, apparently). Only problem was that Scott had gym shoes on – the bar was not going to let him in, even after Laura tried to use her feminine whiles on the bouncer. So then we had to leave, and find a new bar – at 2 a.m. We ended up at another bar that in the past has really really not been my scene. I had a blast that night, but it wasn’t cause of the bar, it was cause of my friends. Navid is a great guy to dance with – he knows how to dance but he also keeps an appropriate distance so that I don’t feel at all uncomfortable. The bar was one of those places that constantly amaze me. People were making out every where, couples were grinding on the floor – craziness. What did I expect from a bar after 2 a.m. on a Friday night? We finally got back to Laura’s place at about 4, and sadly, I only managed to sleep until sunrise. I stayed in bed until 9, but I have gotten to the point where I can’t sleep well after the sun comes up. Its really sad.

Saturday involved a trip to Target, where I encountered my first (English as a native language) person who had no idea what a cooler was. She just looked at us with a completely blank stare when we asked her where they were in the store. The sad thing was I was so shocked by her complete lack of understanding that I couldn’t think of a description of a cooler. The best I could come up with was “you know, one of those things that people sometimes put ice in.” Somehow my magnificent description allowed her to tell us that they were in fact downstairs (actually the ones we wanted were upstairs, but we later discovered that they were also downstairs so perhaps she wasn’t a complete moron). The morning was rounded out with a trip to the grocery store, and then there was an afternoon of eating. We got back to Laura’s around 1:00 and she had invited people over for a BBQ. The BBQ ended up lasting all day long, and she wouldn’t start grilling till other people got there. Now Cheerios are all well and good, but at bowl of Cheerios at 9 a.m. will not see me through until 3 p.m. so I started snacking, and snacking, and snacking. I think I consumed about 1000 calories worth of pretzels. It was a perfect Saturday in Chicago to be sitting out on a roof deck, sunny and about 80-85. But, by the time the BBQ ended, I was exhausted and very very full of pretzel and fruit salad. We had planned to meet the law school crowd out again after a nap, but when I woke from my nap at 11 (there’s more of a story there) no one wanted to go out anymore.

Today was kinda dreary and bleak. We got a nice brunch out – mmmm eggs benedict. Then we sat around watching the Cubs/Sox game and then Indiana Jones. I had forgotten how much those snakes creep me out. I think that movie (Lost Arc) is what inspired my fear of snakes. When I was really little I used to not be scared of snakes at all and would even catch them in my creek. Now, I freak out even when I see a completely harmless one on the path when I’m riding my bike.

So, my one disappointment of the weekend was that I didn’t get to see Sean (train boy) at all. He invited me to a party on Friday night, but none of my friends wanted to go (I don’t blame them). I called him on Saturday to invite him to the BBQ, but I didn’t hear from him until 11 (that’s what woke me from my “nap.”). We made plans to get together this afternoon, but then he told me where to meet him. Then I got a call from him after I had gotten back on the train to go home. I sort of feel like it was intentional, but who knows? I certainly didn’t make too much of an extra effort to see him, and so I didn’t really expect him to go out of his way to see me. Still, if he didn’t intend to hang out today, he shouldn’t have told me last night that we would hang out at a bar this afternoon. I don’t really care, but I must care more than I think I do because I’m writing about it here. Oh well…

As far as athletic stuff goes, I actually did sign up for that bike trip the first weekend in June. I’m a little nervous about the 70 miles in 2 days. That’s the longest I’ve ever ridden in two days together. Also, I hope the Tunnel Hill Trail is just as flat as easy as the Katy trail and doesn’t have an incline like Grant’s trail.