{chicago}

Back from Chicago! (after perhaps the worst string of flight delays EVER occurring in a two day time period). But my actual time there was great. We only had one day, so we jam packed it. Our big plan was to hit up the East 57th Street bookstores near the University of Chicago in the morning (My friend's an English major and I'm a nerd, so that would have actually been super fun for us). 

However, what we didn't know was that there is no public transportation that drops you off at U of C. You would think the several thousand undergrads would warrant a Metra stop. Oh no. We wander out into the middle of South Chicago, which even at ten in the morning is probably the sketchiest place I've ever been. Six blocks in we chickened out and, fearful for our wallets and safety, hightailed it back to the mag mile. When we checked the map at the El station, we realized we were about eighteen blocks of gang-infested back alleys (okay, that might be a slight exaggeration, but it was bad) away from anywhere we wanted to be. 

We decided to just focus on our other fun plans. Mainly, the Taste of Chicago festival. 

Hundreds of booths from great city restaurants spread out over Grant Park; you buy some of these little guys:

and go to town. Kate & I decided to split everything so we could try more. And did we try more.

ravioli, deep dish, potstickers, tamales & sweet potatoes galore.
After which we hung around Chicago (very carefully NOT taking the El this time), shopped in nearby Naperville, got dinner (although HOW we possibly ate again astounds me), went to Bridesmaids (even better the second time), crashed a dinner party, went to church and brunch the next morning and then it was time to head back. All in all, a very short but very worth it weekend.

Listening to: "Chicago", by Sufjan Stevens (it seemed appropriate).