I went back to the conference to learn a little bit more, and after the last session, Erica, Sarah, Kelly, Tammy, and I went to Giordano's for some Chicago-style deep dish pizza. It was great! Cheesy beyond belief, but great! Then, we went to a jazz piano bar, wandered around Rush Street a bit, and headed home again.
Sunday morning Kelly, Tammy, Sarah, and I got brunch at a place called Orange. The food was creative and fresh - we tried "frushi" a fruit-flavored rice rolled with fresh fruit on top, and each got a unique breakfast dish. Tammy had pan-seared oatmeal (yum!), Kelly had Chai french toast (double yum!), and Sarah had a mushroom and oregano omlet with balsamic vinegar and almonds. The fresh juices squeezed on site were also delicious!
After breakfast, we headed to the park for a quick game of Scrabble. There's nothing better than playing Scrabble in the park on a beautiful day.
After Sarah beat me at Scrabble (by 1 point), I headed over to the last poster session of the conference. There were a few interesting projects, but there wasn't enough time to see everything I wanted to see. After the poster session, I said goodbye to my sister and Tammy - it was so great to have them join us for the weekend!
Sarah, Erica, and I went to the Miracle Mile - not to shop neccesarily, but we were headed for a used bookstore prominent enough to be on Sarah's little map. We got caught in an absolute downpour on our way around town!
So to stay dry, we stopped by a cute champaign bar called Pops. We ordered a relatively inexpensive half-bottle of bubbly and enjoyed our little splurge. It was easily the most I've ever spent on alcohol, but it definitely tasted expensive.
After our happy hour, Erica had to make a quick trip back to the hotel, and Sarah and I decided to walk through Grant Park on our way back. The park was packed with Taste of Chicago vendors and eaters, so we mostly stuck to the outer edges. I was really excited as we walked past the music stage, because one of my favorite artists, Josh Kelley, was performing! I have liked him for a few years, and got to see him once at a UCLA Book Festival Concert, and it was great that at the time we were wandering through the park he was performing! They were even pumping the music through the whole park, so I got to listen to most of his show. After we took a few pictures in front of Buckingham Fountain, it was time for us to meet up with the rest of the group, and as we were walking out of the park, Josh played my favorite song of his! Talk about perfect timing!
We met up with the rest of our group and headed to see a Second City show. We saw No Country for Old White Men, which was hilarious! It was far less structured than I anticipated and there were some great laughs. My personal favorite was a brief scene where a girl was bringing her boyfriend home to meet her dad for the first time... He tells the dad it is an honor to meet a war hero who served our country overseas. The dad gets a dazed, far-off look, and the boyfriend whispers to the girl, "Is he having a flashback?" "No," says the girlfriend, "he's having a flashdance" - and the spotlight closes in on the dad who proceeds to do a little number from the movie Flashdance. Hilarious! The cast even did a round of improv games after the show, just for our entertainment. Instead of taking random suggestions from the audience, they asked if anyone had a novel with them. The book they ended up with was "Moose: Stories from fat camp" and they would randomly open it up, read a selection, and do a scene based on whatever they read. It was a great way to spend our last night in Chicago!
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