mid-west, my way

The other week, I had time off and since my good friend Hadassah was on Spring Break, we decided to meet up in Chicago. And it was one of the best times I have ever had in a very long time.

I took the Megabus from Milwaukee to Chicago, which is this bus people in the Mid-West take to get from cornfield to city. It's like a regular bus, except the Mexicans and Black people try to sell you bootleg DVD's. Which isn't so bad, especially since I really haven't had time to go see Coraline.

We stayed at The Avenue Hotel, off of Magnificent Mile, which is a really beautiful avenue with great shopping and amazing restaurants like The Ralph Lauren Bar & Grill Restaurant, which is designed to look like a classic English library.We actually spent the first night sleeping in the hotel room. The pillows were so soft and the beds were so inviting, a quick catnap turned into an all night snooze fest. So much for painting the town red.

But we awoke the next morning, refreshed and rejuvinated and set out to explore the city. We ate at the world famous Lou Mitchell's, visited the Shedd Aquarium, rode the Red Line to Chinatown and pub crawled in Wrigleyville. And before we knew it, the weekend was over and it was time for Hadassah to visit Milwaukee, my new home.

Showning my new home and the way I live was very exciting for me. I got to show and share with my friend where I shopped for food, how I spent my evenings, and basically how I lived my new life. I've never been able to do that before, mostly because I've always lived in the same city. I felt like such a grown up, like a citizen of the world. And since Gwen knew Hadassah from back home, it was like having a small Tucson reunion in our small apartment. And it was made even better when Hadassah cooked us an authentic Mexican dinner, a la Tucson style. God, how much I miss food cooked with real butter.

Gwen and I decided to spend Hadassah's last night in the Mid-West in Chicago for St. Patrick's, more specifically, Wrigleyville. So, we met up with Gwen's cousin Gabriella and her boyfriend John. We started off at Harry Caray's Tavern

and ended up at Houndstooth Bar, making sure to hit every bar and pub on the way for Irish Car Bombs. By mid-afternoon, we were so wasted and so gone and so was my iPhone. Gwen lost her cell phone too and her jacket and by the looks of things, I doubt either one of us will ever see those things again. I also ended up with the strangest bruises I don't remember getting, which led to painful swelling and a cankle. Gross.Yet? I wouldn't change any part of my weekend for anything!