CHICAGO

London. Barcelona. Zurich. Jerusalem. Cairo. Sydney. New Delhi. Bangkok. To name a few. I have been around the world and visited amazing cities with rich history and culture. Funny thing is I have not been to most of the great cities in the United States. In September I had the opportunity to visit Chicago. My work took me to the burbs, but I had a couple hours one morning to visit the city.

I missed the train. Being entirely unfamiliar with the area and the way things are done, I missed the express train into the city. I had to wait about an hour for the "slow" train. This cut into my precious Chicago-time in a big way. Luckily, I had conversation with a nice local man who taught me how to ride the train, how to get a cab, and how to get back to the train station where I had parked my rental.

I arrived in Chicago and was immediately overcome by the buildings and excitement of being in a city. However, I was on a mission. My boat tour was leaving in T minus 5 minutes. I grabbed a cab, and he promised we could make it to the Pier on time. Well, my driver was dutiful in getting there no matter the cost (to me or others around us). I jumped out of the cab, and they held the boat for me while they looked up my reservation. PHEW!

The boat tour was AWESOME! A few people had suggested that was the one thing I should do while in the city. They were right (even though it was cold and overcast). The tour took us through the rivers and around the buildings to teach us history and architecture of this great city. I knew nothing about Chicago but left enriched and educated. It was well worth the cost and time.

After the tour I only had one more hour. Since the dock was next to Navy Pier, I decided to walk around there and have some lunch. I bought a few souvenirs for my kids and ate at Bubba Gumps. I ate shrimp, of course! My server was friendly and flirty and addressed me as "baby" and "mama" the whole time. He sat down with me and quizzed me on Forrest Gump trivia and kept my Pepsi full :) I grabbed another cab and headed back to Union Station. My cab driver from Djibouti took me on the underground roads, which was super cool. He also was mumbling to himself the whole time (...unless he had a bluetooth in, and I couldn't see it).

Do you know what happened next? I missed my train. Again. I quickly walked up to it, but the doors has just shut. I swear like 3 seconds before that moment. The guy inside was looking at me through the door window, shrugged, and was like, "sorry." WTFreak! I swear it left 4 minutes early. I was so mad. I had a plane to catch, and the next train didn't leave for another hour. So, I cried in a corner.

Just kidding. I enjoyed the little extra time I was given. I left the station and walked around a bit. I discovered I was a block from the Sears Tower (oh sorry, Willis Tower). I walked into the lobby, sat on a bench for about two minutes, and walked back to the station. I wasn't going to miss another train.

I came back to a parking ticket on my rental. Are you kidding me! The parking instructions were awful, and I didn't understand how I was supposed to pre-pay for my parking...not pay when I left. Whatever. Turns out I would have made my plane by only about 7 minutes. Luck was a little on my side though, and my flight was delayed an hour.

Overall, it was a crazy and whirlwind of a day I spent in Chicago, but I loved every minute. I love cities. I love them! I am convinced I would have a flat somewhere in some great city if I weren't a mom. Maybe someday when I get older and my kids are on their own, I will buy myself a one. I can't wait to go back to Chicago and really get to explore and see more things, because 3-4 hours was not enough.

I had a "view" from my hotel room














CHICAGO!














I'm pretty sure this is the Trump Tower


















Some building I though was cool














Navy Pier














This is one of the only pics on me in Chicago (I took it myself!)














Heck Ya! My meal at Bubba's. Delish!














Random shot in the river (one of my favorites, for some reason)


















The Willis Tower


















I like this photo because of the shapes and space the buildings make next to each other


















I had to add this video for fun! Holy cow! These are awesome! I love that I don't have to touch a thing, and I know my butt is sitting on something clean. These were in the train station and at the airport in Chicago! I need one at home :)

I did it. I joined Twitter.

Yes. It's true. I am now a tweep. I have resisted for quite some time now. It seems like I am on a 5-year delay in social media. Facebook launched February of 2004. I joined in 2009. Twitter was launched for public use in July 2006. I just joined. My only exception is Google+. I actually beat the public launch in September of this year. (However, at this point, it is the social media tool I use the least, and it might die anyway.)

So what made me cave and join yet another social media network?

Peer Pressure. I have always been able to stand strong under immense peer pressure throughout my life. So, why would I cave? I don't know. Partly because of my industry. It's pretty expected for a designer/writer/marketing "expert" to belong to almost every social network. I would get all the time, "You're not on Twitter?!" Followed by strange and unnerving looks. I guess I care about my image and don't want to be considered a weird-o. Now I can say, "Yeah, I'm on Twitter. Follow me, dude." That makes me super cool.

Help Clients. How can I teach businesses and clients how to use Twitter if I didn't even know how the heck to use it. Yeah, that's been a problem. However, it is like other social media networks - if you're not going to use it and maintain it, then don't bother. Be cool and update your tweets.

I'm Getting More Informed. Turns out Twitter is much more than a massive whine session, like I thought it would be. Unlike Facebook, people generally share valuable information. People are mostly posting and sharing links to articles and sites. And the great thing is you only have to follow what you want. I'm getting my news headlines tweeted to me, getting updates on my favorite brands, design blogs, and I'm following my friends (oh, sorry...tweeps). Pretty freakin cool.

Sure. It's a game. But at least this one is a little fun!
So, follow me on Twitter, because now I'm cool. Like Travis.