Monday, December 15, 2008

Burr Ridge, day 5

Today is day 5 in Illinois (yes, Ernest, Illinois (c:). I am back in my new favorite starbucks, where they have the ever elusive maple scone (it's a Christmas miracle!!), so I have been happily munching that and sipping my Christmas blend. The "town" of Burr Ridge is an interesting place. On the way in my lost cab driver drove us through developments with gigantic houses, so it is clearly a rich area. The hotel and my office are across the street from each other in this business park, which is also where the starbucks is. There is a "village" also in the business park, which is the cookie-cutter suburban deal where you have a yankee candle, a banana republic, and of course a starbucks. And of course there is Christmas music pumping from hidden speakers in the well-planned landscaping. Not that I'm judging...

Yesterday I went to the city of Chicago, which was great! I met Melissa and Becca there--two of my friends from Ithaca. I was so happy that Melissa contacted me because I had not realized how close she is to Chicago. It was great to see familiar faces so far from home. We went to see the Bean in Millenium park, and then went to Giordano's for pizza. The famous Chicago style pizza was so delicious! It lived up to all my expectations. I wish I could have more time to spend in the city itself, because I really liked what I saw. There is so much interesting architecture there! Melissa and I also stumbled across a mini German festival where amazing smells wafted from the booths, and there were tiny hand-crafted wooden ornaments everywhere. I had a really good time, and hopefully someday I'll get to come back in the summer time for a real vacation.

Work has been really tiring mentally, but I have been able to have excessively slow, lazy mornings, which I have been drinking up, needless to say. Today there is a layer of ice covering every surface, and the wind is brutal. But at least the sun is shining, and there is an ever-familiar Starbucks in which to take refuge.

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