Del had a couple of meetings with all of his Chicago reps last week, and his manager out of Georgia, Rullie, also flew in to be in the office to talk shop.
Noelle, Rullie's wife came in for a fun weekend in the city, and so Del and I got a room downtown to hang out, and go to the Taste of Chicago with them.
Everything worked out so smoothly because for one, we had some great sitters to leave our kids with. There is a newly married couple in our ward living with her parents for the Summer. So we have taken advantage. As have all my friends in the ward. Janice and Jonathan are great with the kids.
The second thing that went in our favor was that we got to stay at a cool hotel, with a view of Grant park and Michigan Ave because Noelle has the hook-ups.
We stayed at the historic Blackstone hotel, built in 1910 by the same architects that built The Drake hotel.
It is on the Chicago Historical Building Registry.
The one with the green roof.
I do have to say however, that although the rest of the hotel was aesthetically pleasing to me, I hated, with a capital H the furniture and rugs in the lobby. So sad, the building and rooms were great. And I noticed on the web site, they have all of those particular rugs and furniture cropped out of the photos. Hmmmm. Poor Del had to listen to me get on my soap box on how I would design that space. I know, I am such a snob.
Our view. Very cool.
We walked over to the Taste from our hotel. It was so fun that it was just down the street.
We met up with an old friend from high school that we have not seen in almost a decade. He was passing through town, and was there for the day on a stop over.
We caught up with Ben, and ate. Mostly Del and Rullie, as Ben and I both have our issues with food. Yeah, every party has a pooper, that's why the Taste invited us.
This is Ben. He looks just like I remember him. He said the same of us, but he was probably just being nice.
The eating.
Us in front of the Taste entrance.
Rullie and Noel.
Noelle and I were tired of the carni atmosphere after not too long. So we took a little break at the hotel before we headed to a late dinner, and met up with one of the wheelchair manufacturer reps and his date. We ate Tapas, (not topless) for dinner, at the noisiest restaurant I have ever been to. But I found a lovely chicken salad that I could eat after sweating it out that the waiter didn't understand how severe my allergy to nuts is.
Story of my life. And a story that I am sure Noelle and Rullie are sick of since we eat together a lot, and they have to listen to me explain it to the waiters every. where. we. go. I am sure they want to scream when they have to go out with me.
The next day we hit the street for some walking, shopping, eating, and as it turned out, frying. It was beyond hot, scorching. Even Noelle, who is used to the heat and humidity in Atlanta couldn't believe it.
A picture of us in the street in front of the hotel. It was a wind tunnel between the tall buildings, so my hair is a little unappealing.
We walked past the Bean, so we stopped for pictures. There are girls in the background of this pic with signs that said "Free Hugs." In that heat, the LAST thing in the world that sounded fun was hugging a sweaty stranger. Ew. Okay that is the last thing that sounds fun most of the time, even when it is not hot.
Then we were done with the heat, so we grabbed a taxi. We shopped and ate.
Rullie took these next two shots.
It was fun to get away, and fun to see our Hotlanta friends. It was also nice to get home from the city. I love the busy streets, interesting people, cool vibe... but sometimes I am happy with the slow, steady pace of the suburban corn fields I live in.
I heart Chicago.
