Chicago - 'Pres Style (Alternate Title: "Ode to Sudafed")

As SoundGuy mentioned, I spent the better part of last week in Chicago doing all sorts of fun things. The legitimate premise for my visit was to participate in (and give a lecture at!) the national conference for my professional association. When I arrived Wednesday night I was knee-deep in headcold - definitely NOT the gameface you like to put on for the big wigs. Thankfully, you can actually buy real honest-to-goodness Sudafed in Illinois and I bought the biggest box the gal at Walgreen's would sell me. I'm sure she thought I was a lunatic - nobody in their right mind is that excited about the 48-count salvation-in-a-box also known as pseudoephedrine. That stuff really does wonders for my public speaking, though! I gave my lecture Friday morning, full enveloped in that glorious balloon-headed "I just gobbled up cold medicine" feeling, and thought things went great! (Although, what would I know? I'd just mixed Starbucks and Sudafed...). Anyway, I was lucky to have great support from two of my favorite colleagues and friends, Brett and Karen:
So, work responsibilities and Sudafed-procurement aside, the REAL purpose of my trip to Chicago was BFF3. BFF is the official name for gatherings of my girlfriends from grad school (this was our third annual gathering...hence the 3). Ironically, we aren't really "best friends forever" in the classic middle-school-note-passing sense, but are good friends with a shared love of vacation planning and cocktails. Let me introduce you to the girls:
(L to R): Jill from Alaska, Nikki from Minnesota, Tracy from Virginia, and the Sudafed junkie from Oregon (now mixing cold meds with alcohol...what a tragic downward spiral). We started our weekend with this enormous cocktail while waiting for SoundGuy to arrive. Then we proceeded to Giardano's for a must-have Chicago delicacy: Deep Dish!
The five of us (including SoundGuy and his voracious appetite) shared this pizza and we didn't even finish it!

Saturday was filled with sight-seeing in the Windy City (which apparently earned this name NOT because of the frigid winds whipping in off Lake Michigan, but for the reputation of Chicagoans for being long-winded and full of hot air! Did I mention that my step-dad, Fred, is from Chicago? Do you see where I'm going with this?)
In a fit of genius, Tracy booked us for a bicycle tour of Chicago on Saturday afternoon. We started at Navy Pier where we were fitted with helmets (safety first, ya know!) and old-school Schwinn cruisers. I have been desperately wanting a Vespa for years now, but may have found a mode of two-wheeled transportation to rival those adorable scooters. I could ride that cruiser right off into the sunset - it was awesome! I hope Santa can figure out how to cram one of those things in my stocking this year...
Our tour included all the important landmarks in Chicago: Oprah's apartment, the only buildings to survive the big Chicago fire, Lincoln Park Zoo, and the original PlayBoy Mansion! Here's Jill contemplating how to become the fourth "Girl Nextdoor":
Eventually we wound up on the shore of Lake Michigan:
Now, seriously - don't you want one of those cruisers? With the chain-guard, and the white walls, and the big springy seat...did I mention that they each came equipped with a bell? Love it!

We did lots of other fun things over the weekend too. Fun things like admiring Nikki's engagement ring (!), and going to a comedy show at Second City, and wrapping Tracy in a big group hug at the announcement that she's pregnant (!), and shopping, and wearing our matching t-shirts around town and acting like people go around in matching t-shirts all the time. Ya know - the usual.
I snuck away from the BFFers on Sunday morning to head to church at the big Episcopal cathedral with SoundGuy. Yay for holding hands during the sermon! And yay for being the kind of people that hang around after church NOT to talk to the priest, but to chat up the organist and the choir director! Yay for having the kind of fairy-tale boyfriend who drives seven hours to go to deep dish and church with me! Yay for BFF and Schwinn cruisers and fun girlfriends who always guarantee a good time! And yay for Sudafed!