I'm back from Chicago -- actually, I've been back since Monday, but I'm just now finding some time to write something down. (And I'm still not entirely unpacked... in fact, have I unpacked ANYTHING?? Wait, yes -- yes, I'm fairly certain I've unpacked a couple pairs of shoes, because I wore them this week...)
Chicago was great, as usual... our plane leaving Austin was a bit late Thursday night, so by the time we landed, took a cab to the hotel, and (in my case, at least) changed out of wrinkly, tired travel clothes and into something more presentable, it was way past my usual bedtime. But Eric had his heart set on some cajun ribeye at Morton's, so we walked over to the restaurant at around 10 o'clock and ate to our heart's content, until we were the only table our waiter had to worry about. In fact, by the time we left, there was only one other party in the entire restaurant...
Friday began with breakfast at the Pancake House, where I debated whether to finally try something new, or to stick with my "usual" (well, it IS my usual when I happen to be at the Pancake House) -- the vegetarian skillet. After considering several different types of pancakes, waffles and crepes, I went with the "completely devoid of creativity" choice and got my usual...
Our friends Eric and Debbie joined us (after a much-too-long travel day that included an unscheduled pit stop in the middle of nowhere to refuel their unable-to-land-in-the-midst-of-thunderstorms plane), and we once again headed out to a very late dinner at Wildfire. I love their big skillet chocolate chip cookie for dessert... I'd fly all the way to Chicago just to get a big ol' Wildfire skillet chocolate chip cookie... (And all of a sudden I'm realizing that both the first AND last things I ate on Friday were cooked in skillets... weird...)
And in the interest of time, here's some more super quick recapping:
It POURED on Friday night as we were leaving Wildfire, and I somehow ended up being the last person to have the chance to get in our cab. Rick, mom and dad all managed to find shelter inside before I was finally able to get my soaked self into the car. (If you ask me, mom and dad really took their time scooting over the back seat to give me room... in fact, "slowly inching sideways" describes it more properly than "scooting"... ;))
Eric painted his whole condo and it looks really good! He also had some of Kiko's long hair shaved off and she looks... uh... like a partially shaved cat! (Awww... poor Kiko... :))
We found out a really cool fact about Chicago when we went to Stanley's (Home of Life-Changing Fried Chicken) one night -- they had Texas Longhorn flags hanging at the front door, and all kinds of Longhorn stuff inside. As Longhorn fans, we found it really cool... but as Longhorn fans in Chicago, we were confused. And then Eric explained that the bars in Chicago all choose college teams to support -- apparently they realize that people from all over the country end up in Chicago, and they try to avoid sports-induced bar fights by providing a designated bar/restaurant for various schools. And Stanley's is the Longhorn bar! We thought that was awesome, since we not only love Stanley's, but we love the Longhorns...
On our way to Eric's place after dinner one night, me, Rick, Eric, Eric and Debbie all wound up in a single cab, which, from the outside, looked like a roomy SUV of some sort... but inside was no bigger than a regular car. Eric (my bro) sat up front, and the rest of us squished into the back, which meant I was draped over laps and had a great view of the windshield I would be thrown through in the event of a sudden stop. But we were all laughing so hard about it that the poor cab driver probably thought we were drunk... (we weren't... :))
Eric and Rachel are awesome and I can't wait for the wedding!
And I forgot to buy tea at Argo, which was one thing I REALLY wanted to do while I was in Chicago. Oh well. Next time. I mean it. (I think I said the same thing LAST time... :))
Okay, I'm off to get dinner started... Have a great weekend, everyone!!
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