Chicago in c.p.p (cell phone photos)

I was in Chicago last week at a conference for work. I was there with over 10,000 of my best physical therapy friends. It was a great, overwhelming, exhausting week. I had wanted to do some fun, touristy things in Chicago like the museums, or the aquarium, or anything, but in reality, by the end of the day, I was too worn out to do anything other than find something to eat and crash in my hotel.

I also forgot to take a camera along, so as I went from place to place in Chicago for the week (which included gray days, sunny days, and snowy days--gotta love the Midwest in February) I snapped photos with my phone.

So in no particular order, here is my week in Chicago in cell phone photos



Metra train

  The "El"





 



The Renaissance Blackstone (my hotel)

a very lovely, old hotel...





 



The view from my window. Loved the fire escapes (seriously)

 "Eleven"--a great diner close to my hotel





 

and some random pictures of a sunny day in Chicago

and some nighttime shots

and my room service one evening

and a very snowy couple days...

and that, friends, was my week in Chicago

in cell phone photos

except I forgot to take any pictures of the conference center

or anything productive I did

like sit in courses all day

or go to meetings several evenings...

I am very glad I have now been home about a week.

I think my family is glad too!

(If you made it through to the end of this post, good for you!)



Processing...

I wrote this post back in December, and had planned to finish it after I "processed" some more...but I didn't come up with anything else. With the Grammy's coming up this weekend, this seemed the ideal time to finally publish this post...

My dear husband and I went to a concert tonight. It was great to get out without the kids. We had a quick dinner at a favorite restaurant and then walked across the footbridge to the "arena" at my alma mater...the university in our town. It was also the alma mater of the lead singer of the concert we went to. And this is his hometown. He was just nominated for 4 Grammy's (yes, the real Grammy's!) along with little names you might have heard of like Adele, Katy Perry, and Mumford and Sons. Yep, he is going head-to-head with those "giants" in the current music scene.

The concert tonight was great, in a very overwhelming, stimulating, can't quite take-it-all-in kind of way. Justin (the lead singer) must have a passion for sound, and combinations of sound, and crazy rolling combinations of sound, and...well, I don't know how to describe it really. I am processing...

The band included 9 people including the lead singer: 2 violinist/guitarists, 2 drummers with full drum sets, a guy who played clarinet/saxophone/and who knows what else, a couple brass players, and a big guy that I'm not sure exactly what all he did (keyboard, percussion, maybe brass too...).

The musical combinations were the result of genius. Truly...it wasn't something that is just written down and handed over to someone to play. It had to be "felt", and understood, and believed before it could be played by any of the musicians. And this "kid" from my hometown was the genius orchestrating the combined genius. Crazy!

There were moments where my body was literally vibrating with all the sound and it wasn't just because it was loud, it was because the sound was so BIG. So deep. So engulfing. Sometimes in perfect harmony, and sometimes in very well orchestrated discord.

I hadn't listened to more than a couple snippets of Bon Iver's music prior to the concert tonight, but now...I need to listen to more. Not because it was my favorite...it wasn't. But because I need to figure it out a bit more. I need to listen, and I need to process...

I Won!

So...remember a little while ago I shared about how he won?

Guess what?? Now I WON!

I won this

  

from Deb who writes this great blog:

 McCormick Madness-Confessions Of A Triplet Mom

I haven't had the time to play around with it yet, but I am excited to!

Thanks so much Deb!

It is so much fun to win something!!

I highly suggest going to your closest carnival and playing the "pick a duck" game

(or something else that has a winner every time)

The feeling is great, no matter what your age ;)

Black Friday impulse shopping...

I am not a true Black Friday shopper. I don't get up at the crack of dawn, or in more recent years, stay up all night, but I do enjoy going out at some point on Black Friday. There are still good deals even in the afternoon! I also love to just browse and people-watch. There are many different styles of Black Friday shoppers, even by the time that I get out (today around noon). There are the cart pilers (their carts are bulging with everything imaginable), the deal finders (frantically scanning the store flyer to see what they NEED to find), the random shoppers (seriously, the lady behind me in line at one store had a few cans of cat food, and some other random groceries and seemed a bit perturbed at the lines...SHOP ON A DIFFERENT DAY!), the tired moms (I saw a lady with a young child who was whining for another mint. She sighed and commented that he would have very fresh breath today), and me (out partly because my husband and kids are out of town so I could actually leisurely shop without worrying about the amount of time I was spending, partly to watch the people, partly to find some deals, and then there were the impulse buys...)

Creme Brulee Almonds!

Yummy nut clusters

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake Cheesecake (should this even be legal??)

Cheesecake Trio (Godiva double chocolate, Raspberry White Chocolate and Dulce de Leche)
Again...seriously?!?

and "House"...6 seasons...

Oh, there were some other purchases: some gifts, some groceries, some other necessities, but these purchases are what make me smile today. I know what I am doing the rest of the day! Who wants to join me. I'll even share some cheesecake! (maybe)