End of Week Two: Chicago

Wow! My time in Chicago is half-way done. I am still extremely confused as to what I will do with myself (work-wise) when I get back from the Ice in April/May next spring. Hopefully it'll just come to me. Until then, I am fully enjoying my time here in the Windy City. My friend Nora came to visit for the weekend, and we had a GREAT time. We had great seats for Wicked on Friday night in the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, an incredibly beautiful theater. Saturday we slept in after being woken up by the roommates throwing a dance party in the sanctuary of the church (our house) after their first live performance in a couple of months. We spent Saturday walking from the beach near North Ave all the way down to Millennium Park, stopping to watch the Air and Water Show along the way. A couple of little girls were selling cups of lemonade and bags of baked goods, so I had to help the little entrepreneurs out with their sales! And I wanted to get some Garrett's Popcorn, so we spent a good 20-30 minutes in line for that. As we crossed back over to visit the face fountains in Millennium Park, a guy was standing on the corner holding a sign that read "FREE HUGS". Of course, I had to stop and get one. I made Nora get one too. One guy was walking past and apparently stopped for his third free hug of the day. Luckily, there was no minimum! We ended the day with a quick visit to Chicago's Chinatown and then a fantastic dinner of fresh veggies at home. Today we did a little shopping at IKEA before Nora dropped me at the train station to catch a ride home and she continued on to Wisconsin. What a great weekend! But it's back to work tomorrow!!