2x2x2x2

It was a girls getaway. More specific, an adult girls getaway. My BFF Molly, Heather and Mala headed East to Chicago on Sunday morning. Heather and Mala are here to visit (they live in San Diego). We left town with some directions on how to get there well sort of. We arrived in Cordova and decided to fill up the tank and eat breakfast. While fueling, I decided to ask some "locals" for directions, because the way we were headed seemed a bit "off". The were in fact a lot "off". After receiving some new directions, we asked about the local eating establishment and the answer we received was, "well I ain't got the diarrhea yet." Hmmm that sounds a bit shady, nasty, disgusting, too much information if I ever heard it. But, we decided we were hungry enough to check it out for ourselves. Breakfast was FANTASTIC! We all ordered pretty much the same thing...2x2x2x2 everyone differing a little bit. Cute really. We hit the highway after we finished and made great time. We only got lost once or twice. Strangely, we didn't see any hospitals either. Which concerned Mala a great deal! "Can you tell me where the f$#@ we are? And by the way, do you have any grey poupon?" When we figured out the location of Navy Pier, which was right under our noses the entire time we were looking for it, we parked and then I lost the car keys. Seriously. We found them after a mild panic attack on the back seat, right where I set them. In my defense, the parking garage was really dark. We walked Navy Pier all afternoon. Drinking Mojitos and Pina Coladas (they were strong and yummy), riding the 150 foot Ferris wheel. Laughing and basking in great conversation. We ate lunch at a Mexican cafe and headed back to the car. We began the search for a hotel room for the night. We decided to call some hotels in the informational brochures we had picked up from the Pier. We checked about 6 different places before the sillies set in. As I talked with guest services at one of the last places I called, I asked about rates. They asked the number in the party. I stretched the truth a teeny bit saying 2. Guest services then asked if we would prefer a king bed or 2 beds. I said whatever was cheaper. The rest of the car began chuckling. The king was cheaper, so I asked about a roll-away bed. They said they could do this for $10.00 extra. This for some reason made all of us laugh uncontrollably. In the pursuit of trying to get a good rate on the room we attempted to use Molly's Federal Employee ID and the guest services kept asking if we were in town on business or pleasure? After the 3rd time being asked that, the answer came out "our business is pleasure". It was so funny to us in fact I almost wet my pants and I was forced to end the conversation because he could not understand me I was laughing so hard! I do not think the gentleman on the other end thought it was that funny. That was the end of the calling for moi. Molly called a few more places and finally we found a room for a fantastic rate in downtown Chicago. The service there was great and we only saw a few freakish things and the bathroom was a bit moldy. But hey, it worked and was in walking distance to the Magnificent Mile. Split four ways it was just over $50.00! Heather had to pretend she was 17, but what a great rate! We decided to have Chicago style pizza for dinner after getting settled into the room. We headed to Gino's East. It was a cute little pizzeria with graffiti covering EVERYTHING. Our server was friendly. Maybe a bit too friendly, offering us way more information about his sex life than any of us cared to know. Seriously. We had rather disturbing images of him. The food was fab and the drinks were yummy too. After dinner we took Heather captive and made her go with us on the horse carriage. We took a thirty minute tour around the downtown area. Yes...we looked like tourists, oh well it was fun and relaxing. Our horse's name was Oprah. We fondled some wooden statues and laughed some more. After that we headed to the hotel to rest up for the big shopping excursion the following day. We slept in until 8:30. (Yes, that is sleeping in for some of us.) First stop, Disney Store. Chloe and Olivia made out quite well! I almost got in a fight with a rude man in a suit. We ate brunch at a restaurant called Eat the World Cafe. Such a cool place! Many different choices for food, all in one place. You can mix and match, pick and choose. Really great food! Ate too much, way too much. We walked off all the extra calories shopping the day away. Running in and out of the rain. It rained all day. We still had a great time. We ate dinner at the Hard Rock. Well we ate appetizers and had a drink. Hot Asian buns...mmmm. We walked back to the hotel to retrieve the car and start Iowa bound. We left the city right at 5:00...hmmm maybe not the best time to leave, in the middle of rush hour traffic. Molly and I were introduced to the Nintendo DS...yeah another thing to occupy time we don't have. So much fun to exercise the brain though. I think Molly and I may be finding the funds to invest in one. Thanks Mala for turning us into addicts. I drove the last stretch home, as Heather started to see horses! We arrived in town around 10:30 said goodbyes and gave hugs. What a great trip. Full of laughs, conversation, food, drink and best of all memories. Sorry we didn't find a hot dog vendor with sourcrotch, Mala. Next time.