Most of you know that I’m a planner. I plan trips, workouts, to-do lists, study schedules. Planning is what I do. So, what I’m about to say could come as a shock for some; Val and I went to Chicago for New Years Eve sans plan.
We knew we were going to stay at our friend, Brenda’s condo, but that’s all we had. Where would we party? Would we go out for dinner first? How about shopping during the day? Drive, public transportation? Should we worry about getting tickets to a hip bar or party? None of these things really concerned us as we started out on our adventure, and an adventure is what we had.
The drive down was typical girl-talk. Sorry, Everybody, what is said in the car on girl-trip stays in the car on girl-trip. We managed to hug it out with Brenda before she headed to Florida to ring in the New Year. Then to Michigan Ave we went to spend hard earned cash on some much needed New Year’s necessities. I was in search for a head piece. Val was looking for the perfect purse. Lessons learned while shopping:
• You pay the parking fee on your way out of the mall, not on the way in, contrary to the sense of emergency the signs bestow.
• Eating is important; you need sustenance to shop.
• The perfect head piece can be made out of anything from Swarovsky crystals to Claire’s accessories.
Val and I decided to take advantage of order-in sushi while we dolled up. In a rush to get on with the festivities, we each took a bathroom and got to it. We managed to blow every fuse in the entire condo at once, with the exception of the flipping Christmas tree. We called everybody we knew to help us find the fuse box, and eventually had to beg a neighbor to help us scavenge for it. Game on!
Ok, so now we’re ready to hit the town. Where would we go? No idea… we got on the train and headed to a popular intersection in downtown Chitown. It’s 11pm. When we got off the train, within in five minutes, while enduring 5 degree weather, the decision was made to go into whatever place we came to next in order to feel our fingers and toes for the rest of the evening.
Luck be a lady! The Red Head Piano Bar was the next place we came to! The line wasn’t too bad and after about 10 minutes, a guy came out, took one look at us and said, “Get the ladies inside! Warm ‘em up!” Now mind you, we were ready to pay upwards of $150 cover in Chicago on New Years. From what we saw online, it would cost as much for a ticket. When we entered the bar, wouldn’t you know…NO COVER! Surely the drinks must be astronomical…$8 for a glass of champagne! Needless to say, Val and I drank the bubbly all night.
We met some extraordinary people along the way. The honorable mentions go to:
• The Bartender: you’d think he was paid to serve us all night.
• Anthony: who told me he would kill me if I put his pic on facebook…and he was serious.
• Brian: believed I studied Radio Science in school and was the up and coming Delilah…how can I help it if he misheard “Actuarial Science”
• James: all 4.5 feet of him
• Mr. Piano Man!: who played If I Had a Million Dollars, let Val and I sing at the top of our lungs and only ever chuckled kindly
• The bathroom attendant: $5 tip, hooah.
Arriving back at Brenda’s around 4, Val and I did everything in our power to find a pizza place to deliver; we settled for English muffins and peanut butter.
At an amazing diner, eating some stellar omelets on New Years Day, Val and I surveyed the wallet damage and wouldn’t you know, we managed to only spend $100 between the two of us on NYE, in downtown Chitown. Some of our events of the evening would have been worth much, much more.
