Chi Town Baby

This past weekend was spent in the Windy City. It felt good to land there on Friday night, after lazily orbiting the cloud puffs above Midway until we were cleared for landing. My friend met me at the airport, umbrella in hand, looking ever the City Girl. We were loud on the train back to the city, our laughter echoing throughout the train car. There was me, tired and goofy from the long flight; she, patiently responding to my questions: Do you wear long underwear to work? Do you use an umbrella in the snow? What do you do about heels in the cold? Are you safe on the train at night?

I viewed Chicago with new eyes this trip. It's one of my favorite cities, that I know, but this trip I scrutinized and analyzed: Could I live in Chicago? I absorbed more details than I would have two years ago when my Arizona friend and I had an excellent weekend there; too much food, too much wine...all the details, lost in the wind and the blur of moments passing by.

A few Chicago observations:
1) The weather changes, fast. (Lots of layering, ladies!)
2) Everyone and their brother wears North Face jackets, sweat shirts, hoodies, yadda yadda.
3) Women don't wear nearly the amount of make up as they do in Arizona and Los Angeles. It's all toned down. Natural. It's ok to go out and about in sweats.
4) For the midwest, I noticed an awful lot of Mexican restaurants.
5) Chicago people are FRIENDLY.
6) There are these new-fangled modes of transportation they're using out there: Feet! It's a walking city.
7) Although smaller than Los Angeles, Chicago has plenty more neighborhoods. And unlike Los Angeles, those Chicagoans are sneaky about it. There aren't clues like changed street signs and fire hydrants and flags to let you know when you're in one neighborhood or the next.
8) Not really an observation but a Jo Feeling. It was strange walking the lake front and not hearing the roaring of the ocean, the lapping of the waves.
9) Chicago architecture allows me to marvel and wonder; I loved the old buildings and ivy and brick.

That's about it. I've got thinking to do. I probably won't even have time to think until I return from Croatia.

I met some people coming back from Chicago and for whatever reason, they've left me thinking, about my life and theirs. A girl on the plane, a lonely dancer, who moved to Los Angeles from Philly to pursue her dreams. She told me to make a list, to weigh pros and cons, about moving and big decisions. Although a complete stranger, she seemed tuned in to my reflective nature. I regret not giving her my phone number so that she might feel a bit less lonely out in this new city. Also, a comically awkward and straight forward man on my shuttle back to the parking lot. He nearly shouted his questions at the bus driver, and then stepped on to the bus, wearing this awful black and white track suit and cracking corny jokes that only I laughed at. He wanted to know where I was from, where I was going, what I did for a living. He's a writer, and it was nice to meet a writer out in Los Angeles that is successful and not in "the industry." I could have learned from him, and I should have given him my business card.