Chicago Part Dux

Day 2: 1st day of Lolla

Gordon and I woke up early and headed into the city to hang out with our friends at Lollapalooza. While we were waiting for Tommy, Gordon's old boss, to show up with our tickets we had lunch at Panera. I miss Panera. Their bagels and soups and sandwiches are sooooo good.

We spent most of our time in the Lolla Lounge. Its the VIP lounge. You can see 2 of the stages from the tables in the lounge. The is an open bar, catered lunch, dinner and you could get a free massage if you're too worn out from sitting around drinking and watching the bands.

I met up with Aaron Ball. He's still the same old Aaron. We ended the night at bar watching a friend's band instead of watching Radio Head.

Day 3: Lolla day 2 and Chicago Fire Game

We started the day at Lolla. But it was a short day for us because we were going to the Fire game later that evening. Gordon and I started drinking as soon as we got to Lolla. I started to get sunburned and I also got one of those free massages. Kate and Nick picked us up and we tailgated before the game. So there was more drinking in the parking lot. Then there was the drinking during the game. It was a great game and the Fire won! After the game Kate and Nick dropped us off back at Lolla were we met up with our friends that we had left behind earlier. We all went to this little bar on the north side of the city. Where we drank some more. By now my sun burn was starting to set in and a day of beer and sun was taking its toll on me. The night finally ended and we went home.

Sweet Home Chicago

Chicago: Day 1

We arrived yesterday a little after 10am. What a wonderful feeling to land in Chicago! I haven't been this excited about going some where since I went to the World Cup 2 years ago. As we walked out of the airport to wait for our ride I noticed the air was better. Mind you, we are still at the airport but the air quality was so much better. It felt easier to breath. Maybe it just seemed that way because I miss Chicago air, as silly as that sounds.

Gordon's mom picked us up and took us back to her house. She got a new puppy 2 weeks ago. His name is Riley and he's a 5 month old half black lab half border colly. He's super cute and very lovey. (a picture will follow later) After playing with Riley and checking out the vegetable garden we headed out for lunch, something I had been looking forward to since we decided to come out here.

El Faro #3 Elgin, IL

This location of El Faro opened when I was in elementary school. A kid in my class, Edgar Soto, had some family that was opening a Mexican restaurant on the west side of town. They already had 2 locations and now have 7 or 8... they are all named El Faro #__. Soon after opening it became a very much loved place by everyone that lived on this side of the river. Always busy and ALWAYS open. In high school kids use to skip class to get lunch there. The flower shop I use to work at ordered lunch from there at least once a week. My favorite is the Chicken Burrito. It has the perfect combination of seasoned chicken, rice, beans, lettuce, and cheese. I add sliced avocado to mine. Its huge! I normally only eat half, but not this time. I tried my best to eat the whole thing. Towards the end it got difficult but man, was it delicious. We have yet to find a good Mexican place in Philly. Its just not as large of a culture in Philly as it is in Chicago and its surrounding areas. Philadelphia is definitely missing out.

Later I went shopping with my sister. While we were out it started to rain. Serious rain too, with wind, lightning and thunder. This bummed me out cuz I was planning to lay in the pool for most of the afternoon. After shopping I went back to the Mays house where I found Gordon napping. The poor guy never went to bed the night before. I too took a nap for a little bit. Then my mom, sister and brother came over. We had a little bbq with burgers, dogs, potato salad, taffy apple salad, and beers. It was good and nice to see everyone. Later our friends Kathryn & Sean, and Rob came by. We sat out in the screened porch drank beer and talked till midnight. It was so nice to see and talk to them. Hopefully we will get to see them again this weekend.

Today is the first day of Lollapalooza. The forecast says its gonna rain. I sure hope not but I'll bring ponchos just in case. It's good to be back. There is a calming feeling in knowing where everything is and who is around you. It's true, you never know what you had till it's gone.