More Chicago

After we ran into Wentworth Miller at lunch we went over to Marshall Field's to shop. We didn't go through the whole store...just the first two floors (about 20% of the store). We didn't find anything we wanted and it was a little too busy. The St Patrick's Day Parade was that day and the Loop was all aflutter with chipper people dressed in green. After we left Field's, we headed down to Aldo cause I wanted to do some shoe shopping. I found a couple shoes that I liked, but I wasn't willing to pay $90 for a pair of sneakers that I would rarely get the chance to wear. We went to H&M and Robyn found a bunch of awesome stuff and only spent a couple hundred dollars.

When we left H&M, I realized that we were right next to Nordstrom Rack. (I could do some serious shoe shopping there, lol.) I did find a couple pairs that I wanted, but only bought one. Imagine the picture on the left as a loafer instead of a lace-up...that's my new shoe. AND! They were only $40. I have not spent less than $80 (usually more than $100) on a pair of shoes since my last unfortunate Skechers purchase. It was refreshing to walk into a store and have more than 40 pairs of shoes to choose from. There were 2 cute Diesel shoes and a cute Steve Madden sneaker that I wanted, but I refrained.

It was getting a little late in the afternoon when we got back outside and we wanted to see the river before it got too dark. For the past 45 years or so the city has dyed the Chicago River green. I have never been in the city the day of the parade, so I have always missed seeing it. In the old days, the used enough dye to color the river for a week or more. Now they use just enough food coloring to color the river for a few hours. It really is startling how bright the green is, lol. I am going to include a couple pictures here so you can get an idea of the brightness. The first pic is some people I don't know - or know why they are wearing red Sox shirts. I just include it because it really illustrates how crazy bright the river gets. The second picture shows them dying the river. (They basically just throw food coloring out the back of a boat.)

We went to Portillo's for dinner and then trekked back to Downer's Grove to get ready to go out. We didn't get on the train back into the city until 11:50 and it took us FOREVER to make it. It was mostly my fault because I had never had to change from the Blue Line to the Red Line in the Loop. We got to see the Picasso sculpture in Daly Plaza which excited me. By the time we got up to Lakeview, Robyn's feet were killing her and we had to find a Walgreen's so she could buy some pantyhose. (There's a good tip - If your shoes are killing you, try putting on stockings...they compress your feet just a little so your shoes fit a little bigger. OK, that tip is only for women, I think.)

All day long my sinuses were acting up and by the time we got to Sidetrack, i was so congested and stuffed up that my eyes were watering. But, I hadn't been in Chicago in over 6 months and I wasn't going to let it stop me. We stayed at Sidetrack till it closed and then were going to head to Hydrate. I hadn't thought about how late it was, though, and they had just upped the cover to $10. I wasn't really interested in paying $30 for a bar that I wasn't even sure Robyn would like. As we were walking to Charlies, we began to realize that I felt like absolute shit and Robyn feet were starting to hurt again. Unfortunately, Charlie's has no seating. It is literally a dance floor, a bar (2, actually), and a line for the bathroom. We were right at Addison and (gasp) went home. :( sad day. It was kinda nice to get home at 3:30 instead of 7:00...but I wish we could have stayed out.

On Sunday we went to IHOP for breakfast and then to the new IKEA in Bolingbrook. I bought a cute new day bag and some old-school popsicle molds. We all picked up some other random crap, but nothing too exciting. By the time we got back to Robyn's apartment, it was almost 6:30 and we needed to get heading back. We were almost back to Lafayette at 9:45 (1 hour time change) when Jeff called and said they were having a party...oh dear.

Turns out that almost all of our friend had Monday off...which has never happened...so we were obligated to party. And we did. I am getting tired so I will just give you a brief rundown of the action. Lots of vodka. Great music. Hot tub. Naked. LOTS of naked. Police. Police talking rather nonchalantly with naked people. Quieter music. MORE naked. blurry. blurry. fuzzy. don't remember. May or may not have broken my finger. Woke up for breakfast on Monday morning (afternoon). Home. Phone call. Sure I'll go out for a drink. Knickerbocker. 3 drinks. BW3. 1 beer. Where Else? Several 25 cent beers. Dancing our asses off till 3:00. Work this morning at 9:45. Damn, I am tired.