(insert song about chicago here)

ahh, travel. is there anything i love more than airports and buses and new places to have cocktails? in a word, no. before pop passed away, D and i were planning on going to chicago; him for a big food conference and show, and me just to tag along and get some quality hotel make-out time logged. we had been looking at tickets and hotels, but you know, stuff happened. for a while i thought i shouldn't go, that the expense was too much, and that given what's going on with my family i should stick to home. the more i thought about it, though, the more i realized a little trip might do me good. D got a scholarship to the show through his college, meaning his hotel and flight are paid for. he's splitting the cost of my ticket and hotel with me, which helps me out a lot. the show is about a month away, and so of course ticket and hotel prices were higher than the last time we looked, but overall, not by much. not enough to keep me home! we got my ticket and hotel booked last night, and i am now officially going to chicago for five days and four nights.

i'm pretty excited. more than that, really. it was hard for me to sleep last night, thinking about the stuff i want to see and do, the food i want to eat, the parks and museums and bars i want to visit. i have some cousins in town as well, and a good friend that lives in milwaukie, so i'll get to do some catching up as well. does anyone have any suggestions for things to do and see? bars you love? i'm all about doing typical tourist-y things, but i'm also all for doing more random stuff, seeing other parts of the city. i hear the weather there this time of year is spotty; it can be warm one day and cold and rainy the next, but i'm hoping we get a little more sun than not, and that part of my trip can spent lazing outside a coffeeshop, reading and drinking and watching people. i'm also excited for cable tv and hotel living. i'm telling you, if i could, i would totally live in a hotel. nothing pleases me more than tiny bath towels that someone else washes, random comforters, views of parking lots and miniature coffee pots with single serving packets of coffee to go along with them. plastic wrapped water glasses, remote controls velcroed to tvs, bibles in bedside tables. i can practically smell the disinfectant! like i said before, ahh, travel.