Chicago!

We're back from Chicago and it was an amazing trip. My sister is the best. She completely spoiled us. I could tell it meant a lot to her that we came and she wanted to make sure we didn't regret it by spending too much money. So we got to do all the fun touristy stuff without worrying about how much it costs. On our first day, we went on a lunch cruise on Michigan Ave. off of Navy Pier. Half the boat was taken up with all the interns at Allstate. We got to meet some of Nicole's friends and got a great view of the city. It was incredibly hot and humid that day, so we didn't want to be outside too much. Then we went to Millennium Park and shopping on Michigan Ave. It rained really hard, so we took cover for dinner at the Grand Luxe Cafe right on Michigan Ave. Then we walked to Buckingham Fountain. On every hour, music plays and it lights up with all different colors. Since the sun set, it was much cooler and nice to be outside.

Saturday we went to the Field Museum, more shopping on Michigan Ave., and dinner at Rosebud. That was an incredible dinner. Every food was absolutely delicious. At the Field Museum there was an exhibit on DNA and these big glass windows where you could "watch real scientists working." There was a guy in there and I recognized what he was doing because I do it in my lab all the time. We use the same exact kit. It was cool to be able to explain exactly what was happening. After dinner we went back to Millennium Park for a free concert with the Grant Park Orchestra and Choir. It was a very emotional and powerful piece written about Jews during WWII. That night the weather was so beautiful too.

On Sunday, we had our Chicago style pizza lunch at Giordano's. It was crazy busy, so we put in our names and then did some more shopping for about 45 minutes until we got a table. That was really good pizza! One piece and I was full! We went to the contemporary art museum which would have been really boring except that Nicole knows how to make anything fun (mostly by making fun of the boring tour guide whose answer to just about every question was "I don't know"). Then we took the train North to the Second City show. We got there early enough that we got seats right in the front. And what was really crazy is that sitting at the table with us was a girl who also grew up in Scottsdale. And graduated from Horizon High School. And played the clarinet in marching band! She graduated just before we started there, but we had lots of mutual friends and we had actually heard of her since she was drum major. On Monday, Nicole had to work so we were on our own. We went to Lincoln Park zoo before heading to the airport to come home.

The best part of the weekend was hanging out with my sister. We have so much fun when we're together. I was quite surprised that we still think on the same wavelength. I can still predict what she's going to say, and I still know a lot of her likes and dislikes. We haven't lived in the same city for 3 years, so that's kind of strange, but it makes me happy too. We're still as identical as always :-) I was really sad on Monday. It sucks that we only see each other every few months. We absolutely have to move closer to each other in the next few years.