Concrete comfort

I admit it.  I'm kinda crushing on Chicago right now.

I just spent the last week attending a Digestive Diseases conference (ah..the fun of the job!) in town which, due to the ridiculously early start times of 6.30am and 5.45am each morning, meant that I got to stay in a downtown hotel for the week.  And- although I didn't have any time off to look around the city and see the sights, I have to confess that I really enjoyed being back in a big city, surrounded by all the hubbub and energy and restaurants and bars.  I'm wondering whether Chicago will turn out to be that fun middle ground, not quite as intense as Manhattan, not quite so laid-back as San Francisco - I know I'm only just getting started exploring the city, but I have a good feeling about it.  And people weren't fibbing when they say that Chicago is beautiful in the summer - Spring has finally arrived and the trees are virtually exploding in a cascade of blossoms and buds!  After such a brutal winter, the simple joy of watching the earth come back to life again is deeply satisfying - and, frankly, reassuring.

Site of a breakfast meeting at 5.30am!!  Was too knackered
 to fully appreciate the grandiosity

So I stayed at the Westin downtown, on the Magnificent Mile - so-named (i believe) for the truly spectacular number of ways in which you can part with your hard-earned dosh in the vast array of high-end designer stores and shopping malls.  I think there are some other things to look at (and don't worry, I'll get round to them in time) but alas I was pretty busy at my meeting all week so didn't get a chance to poke round this time.  But, the bus drive from the hotel to the congress center was very interesting, firstly going along Lake Shore Drive right..um.. by the lake, then snaking underground into bus-only traffic lanes directly linking downtown to the Convention Center.   One of the positives of having to get up at the arse-crack of dawn is that I discovered the city looks especially beautiful in the early morning light, whether it be the sunrise over the lake or the way the river reflects off the ultra-modern shiny skyscrapers.  I have no idea why, but I found myself already feeling very fond of the city.  Must be sappiness brought on by extended sleep deprivation.

The meeting itself was very good - was there to increase my knowledge about the disease area i'm now working in and indulge myself a little in the science (although I did go to one scientific session and realized I was completely out of my depth after the first 5 mins - guess you can't leave science for 20yrs and expect to stay with the times!  I slunk out….).  I met an old Pfizer colleague of mine for lunch who I hadn't seen in about 10 years - she hadn't aged a day or changed a bit (which I thought was a tad unfair!) but it was great to see her and to catch up.  (it was a bit of a PFE week - I also ran into another ex-PFE colleague in the hotel gym the previous morning AND I also found out that a good friend who I've known since my young and tender 18yr old Bristol days has also just started working at my company!  its such a small world!)  I also indulged myself in a giggle-worthy picture - puerile, I know, but I just couldn't resist...

Umm…  I think I'll pass, thanks.

Anyway, on one evening during the conference, me and one of my work colleagues did manage to get out and explore the dining scene that Chicago is so famous for.  By sheer luck and being in the right place at the right time, I'd managed to score a last minute reservation at one the hottest restaurants in Chicago, a place called the Girl and the Goat.  The chef owner is none other than Stephanie Izard, winner of Top Chef Season 4 and, rumor has it, also a distant cousin of Eddie.  People wait months for a ressie - and I managed to bag one just 3hrs in advance! Score!!

And it was most definitely worth the hype!  We had an absolutely fantastic time and - in another Jammy Bugger Sarah Moment - we also got the best seats in the house, and were seated at the counter with a direct view into the kitchen.  Dinner AND a show!!  Double score!!  I love watching line cooks in a kitchen - if ever you wanted to show what good teamwork looks like, there it is, right there.  We were sat in front of the vegetable and sides station, and watched the guys turn out plate after plate of spectacular looking food.   Of course, we had to order the braised cauliflower that he'd been making non-stop, if nothing else but for the simple pleasure of being able to point and say "look!  that one's ours!". We also enjoyed goat empanadas, a beet salad with some divine soft cheese sprinkled throughout, an insanely tasty brioche-type bread roll thing plus some other stuff that was so good, the details have blended into a stuporific haze.

Here's the menu in case you are curious and want to virtually dine with me:
http://www.girlandthegoat.com/menu.html

And, if you really want to dine with me, I took a quick vid of the kitchen at work - we were so close to the action, I half expected to have to help with the washing up!

So all in all, an excellent feast - not 10-day Detox compliant, but an opportunity I simply couldn't pass up!!  (btw, I'm now 16lbs down and still going!!).

Still not quite believing my luck - best seat in the house,
a glass of rose champagne in hand. - bliss, pure bliss.

My most excellent dining companion, picking up
 the check with a smile!

Another fun activity that I managed to squeeze in at the end of my Chicago lovefest week was to go and see Henry V at the Chicago Shakespeare theatre.  I'm not sure if I've told you this before but, as a way of making the daily commute into a pleasure rather than something to be endured, I've started listening to audio books in the car.  I first worked my way through anything I could get my hands on that was narrated by David Tennant or Benedict Cumberbatch (swoon) and, after I'd listened to the very last episode of How To Train Your Dragon (highly recommended, btw), I figured I'd intersperse the Viking and Dragon tales with a little light culchah!  So, I'm about three quarters of the way through a 50 hr lecture series on Great Classics of British Literature.  I started at Beowolf, made my way through Chaucer, Shakespeare, Spencer, Byron and Keats and am now up to my neck in Dickens!  Its been fascinating (not at all dull!) and was the inspiration to go check out Shakespeare in town.  

Drama and the skyline

Simple but dramatically effective staging.  

It was fantastic.  The acting was brilliant, the staging impressive (especially the slow-mo battle scenes - very cool) and Henry V himself was a hottie.  (Ashley - he totally reminded me of you!).  There was a fair degree of projectile spittalage (you really didn't want to stand in a 3ft radius of dear old Harry) but that was easily forgiven given how good he looked in leather pants.  My new chum Lauren joined me for the show (one of her old acting alum was in it - she played the French princess) and so it was a fun end-of-week adventure.  Apparently the company roams around in the Summer doing a number of outdoor shows, so I'll definitely be looking to check those out - wine, cheese, sunshine and Shakespeare.  A perfect summer combination!

My and my half time ice cream!

The location for the Shakespeare theater is in this touristy bit of town called Navy Piers - like Times Square or Pier 41 in SF, a bit of a tourist trap and not somewhere the locals go!  It was actually less tacky and in-your-face than SF (no stinky sea lions either!) but, other than the theatre and also a ferris wheel, really not much to see.  One unexpected attraction was the exhibition of stained glass windows (apparently the largest in America - who knew!).

The grim reaper on his day off, doing a light
spot of gardening

After my conference in Chicago, I squeezed in a quick trip to NYC for a 1 day work trip.  The trip was pretty uneventful (albeit productive) and I broke my clean eating detox diet yet again to meet the lovely Jason for dinner at a Spanish tapas place the one night I was in town for.  Dinner was great and the company was even nicer, so it was good to see him and catch up.  Before I knew it, i was back at La Guardia (still hate that airport - miss my SFO) and, on the flight on the way home, the pilot announced that the temperature in Chicago was "84 degrees"!!!  WHAT??  Are you sure you're not taking us to Miami by mistake?   But, yes, the day I fly out of town is the day it turns into a mini-heatwave with temperatures into the 90s!!!  Fortunately the weather co-operated after I got back and the warm weather has held - but its turned muggy and sticky, so i reckon we're in for a hellava thunderstorm soon!!

Meanwhile, Operation Elephant Escape continues to gather pace as the day of my impending move draws ever closer!!  I will be so damn happy when I don't have to listen to the thud thud THUD CLUNK of the Satanic Toddler upstairs and his incubus sibling, Screaming Devil Infant.  As per my first move, there lots to sort out - the chap from the Container Store is due to come and un-install, then re-install my closets tomorrow in my new place, the AT&T guys are booked to move my Game of Thrones service and the movers are coming in on Weds to move the heavy items of furniture I can't move on my own.   I can't wait.

Finally, a post script.  Thought I'd share this rather amusing scene I came across in Home Depot this morning, as I shopped for moving boxes.

It wasn't me.