ADVENTURE UPDATE!!!!

hi friends!!!

i haven't updated in a few days, and i can just imagine you, sitting there, on the edge of your seat waiting for another update.

what's that you say? you've been sitting at the computer for two days pressing the refresh button on the blog website?!?!?! aww. you shouldn't have.

anyways!

i MADE IT TO CHICAGO!!!! i'm here right now! not like i left yesterday, or secretly never left new hampshire - NO! - I'M IN CHICAGO RIGHT NOW!!!!!

i left Cleveland right at 8am on thursday. i was very prompt. got some gas. got some Dunkin Donuts.

i also got a blueberry bagel. yum! and i got in the car and said,

JULIE: Okay, I don't want to get any cream cheese on this sweater, so I'll take the sweater off.

so, i took my sweater off and placed it on the seat next to me. and then i pick up my bagel. what happens next?

almost immediately i drop the bagel, cream-cheese side down, directly onto the sweater.

THEN! the bagel bounces off the sweater, off the box of food and lands directly on the floor of the car, also cream-cheese side down.

i couldn't believe it while it was happening.

but, i laughed about it for about 20 miles. so, it was alright in the end.

i was SUPER tired during the first part of the drive. i couldn't even believe how tired i was. i had to stop and walk around for a bit to try and wake up.

finally, i did. and then i got more coffee, which helped.

and i belted along to every song that came on. but, there was one event which got me really excited, and i couldn't wait to tell you about it!!!!!

remember how on wednesday night the song, 'Mexico' came on RIGHT as i was entering Buffalo? and i switched out the words and it totally made my night? YEAH.

WELL.

i'm driving along. in the midwest. and i see a sign for a rest area and it says, "last rest area in Ohio." and i got excited because i was about to enter a new state!!! i had never been to Indiana before!!!

AND THEN, what song came on my shuffle?????

'California' by Phantom Planet!!!!!!! and what fits perfectly instead of 'California?' UM, 'INDIANA!!!!!!!!!'

it was probably the most exciting part of the entire drive. it TOTALLY got me excited for Chicago!!!!! and woke me up.

so, Indiana was great. i thought about Elizabeth the whole time, which was lovely. i saw two deer, which was horrible, as deer are the thing i am most afraid of.

it's something about deer. because, i didn't freak out when i saw that loose donkey. and i passed tons of horses and cows. i'm fine. it's just deer. they are so scary.

the landscape was so interesting to me. it was EXACTLY how i imagined the midwest! flat. lots of water towers. lots of radio towers. lots of farms. crazy!

i was excited to pass through Gary, Indiana. pretty much every time i saw a sign for Gary i would sing the famous line from The Music Man. yeah. that happened a lot.

and so finally - i got there!!! and WHO KNEW - Gary, Indiana is probably the ugliest city i've ever seen. it's a machine! the whole city is made out of a machine! one of the things i thought almost immediately was,

JULIE: The robot city from 'Robots' is prettier than Gary, Indiana.

yep. when i wasn't thinking about The Music Man, i was thinking about Robots.

and once i passed Gary, i was only 20 miles from Chicago!!!!!! awesome!!!!!

and then i saw it!!!! CHICAGO SKYLINE!!!! i paid the toll and was on my way!!!

AND THEN I SAW IT - rush hour traffic. bummer. yeah, it took almost two hours to go maybe....6 miles?

and i was sitting in traffic when my playlist started to repeat. the playlist was like, 15.5 hours long. and it repeated just as i was entering chicago.

the end was LONG.

BUT I MADE IT!!!! once i got off the exit, i found my way with not one problem!!!! i got a parking space right outside of Kerianne and Noel's house!!!

both Kerianne and Noel were at work, but Aliya was there! so, i called Aliya and she came down to meet me.

SO NICE. friends!

we hung out and relaxed a bit at Kerianne's house - which is super cute and awesome! i met Molly, their dog, who reminds me SO MUCH of Ruby Tuesday, it's crazy.

after a little while, we walked to the El station and took the train into the city!!!! about a half hour ride?

one thing i learned = CHICAGO IS HUGE. such a big city.

we got off at Merchandise Mart and found our way to the restaurant we were meeting Kerianne, Noel and Aliya's brother Sam at.

Kerianne! Noel! Sam! it was so exciting to see everyone. i hadn't seen Kerianne and Noel since we left Ireland almost a year ago!!!! crazy!

and then we ate delicious Thai food. then Aliya and Sam went off to a fancy show they had tickets for. Kerianne, Noel and I walked Kerianne back to work. she was working a 2pm thursday until 7am friday shift! crazy! she took us on a tour of her office, which was awesome.

then, we said goodbye. Noel and I walked back to the El station and took the train back to their house. we hung out, watched some tv and then went to bed. Noel was tired from working all day and i was tired from driving across half the country.

i slept a lot.

woke up on friday and Kerianne and i made brunch!! it was so great to hang out and catch up.

in the afternoon, Kerianne had to run back into work and drop off some paperwork - SO - instead of taking the El and having it take forever - we decided to drive. i convinced her it would be fine to pull up to the building, put on her hazard lights, i would stay in the car and protect it, and she would run up to work.

so we did that! and it was fine! great idea, me. i own this city.

then we drove back North and into Lincoln Square, which is this super hip, cute area right near her house. we walked around, got some German food to bring home, poked into a few stores, and then drove back home. what a great area!

then Aliya came back!!!!! we hung around for a bit and then started making dinner!!! we were making coconut curry! we added mushrooms, chickpeas, normal peas and onions to the curry and it was delish!

we also had wine.

then, sadly, Aliya had to leave again. she was attending a fancy conference where she was a team leader!!!!! because she's a fancy business lady who takes charge and makes important decisions!!!!!

but, we'll see Aliya again tomorrow! (sunday!)

THEN, one of Kerianne's friends, who i had met in Ireland, Audrey, came over! she is a 5th grade teacher and it was her last day of school! so she came over for dinner!

then we all went out to this neighborhood bar, Time Out, and drank beer and watched the Blackhawks game.

i had never been to an event like this. where people sit around and cheer on a sports team, but aren't actually at a sports game. it was really fun to see how excited and upset people get.

i kept relating it to a Crash Kings concert. where i stand and jump around and cheer on a band. these people were doing basically the same thing, only for a sports team. and, being a person who passionately loves being a fan, i could appreciate that.

(although secretly i was cheering for both teams because i don't really believe in competition.)
(but don't tell anyone in Chicago that, because they all really hated Philadelphia.)
(but, i've always wanted to live in Philadelphia! and i've really been embracing the color orange lately! and i was just there seeing Crash Kings, so HOW could i hate that city??)
(and i just kept thinking about how excited the Flyers fans were, even when the Blackhawks fans were bumming.)
(Philadelphia Flyers won, and so that was a whole bunch of people that were super excited - and i support general excitement :) )

and then we drank more beer. went home around 1am.

woke up at 11:30! had breakfast!!! GOT READY FOR THE CRASH KINGS CONCERT TODAY!!!!!

um, YEAH. because in the middle of this already awesome, 'friend-fantastic' trip to chicago - was a Crash Kings show!

everything worked out perfect.

AND THAT'S WHERE I'LL STOP for right now. :)

i'll just say that YES, i attended a Crash Kings show today.

YES i got a hug from Jason.
YES i initiated another Mike hug.
and as soon as Tony saw me he started smiling and laughing and said,

TONY: Heeyy!! Oh my God - what are you doing here?!!?

it was super exciting. we got to chat with them for a bit. it was Kerianne's first Crash Kings show and also the first time meeting rockstars after the show! awesome!!! she was super impressed that Tony not only knew who i was, but also knew where i was from, and that i didn't belong in Chicago. it was great. i love those guys.

SO NOW - it's only 12:20am. my computer says, 1:20am because it's still on east coast time.

OH! i forgot to tell you about when i drove across the time zone!!!! i'll do it another time, promise. because i'm sure you're interested.

anyways! i think today (sunday) we're going to this Chicago hot-dog place for lunch. and then Aliya comes back and then we're all going out for Ethiopian food!!!! i've never had it before, so i'm excited to try!!!!

i hope you are having a great time and had a great week and are enjoying life as much as i am right now.

today was a great day. full of awesome friends and awesome rockstars. wow.

Kerianne said at the concert,

KERIANNE: It's so weird to see them in person after seeing their pictures in your blog so much!!

AAAHHHHH we had so much fun.

OKAY! i'm going to reheat my leftover pad thai and probably watch more Friday Night Lights. yay! what a great day!!!

love you, friends!!!! thanks for reading!!! i'll talk to you soon!!!!


lovelovelove,
Julie