Weekend in Chicago

I'm writing this morning as a light lake-effect snow is falling outside Patsy's apartment in Old Town. I arrived on Friday afternoon and have had a wonderful time with my girlfriends: dining and drinking wine; hitting the January sales at Neiman Marcus, Banana Republic, Filene's Basement, and Anthropologie; watching football, and just catching up overall with Pats, Jennifer, and Zibby.

I also got sick, of course, a head cold primarily with a sore throat. Patsy braved the cold yesterday to get chicken soup and Nyquil, God bless her, and I slept for 12 hours last night. I'm feeling better today, but must not overdo it. I'm slated to do live chats at 9 am, and I'm not sure my voice is up for it. If I get through them I'll certainly not have a voice after 2 hours. I'm probably just going to go for it and get them done though. So what if I sound like gravelly Kathleen Turner at the end of it.

So it's good to be back here for the weekend, to dash in and out of cabs and spend money and freeze my a$$ off in single digit temperatures and -20 degree wind chills. Believe it or not :) I was sorry to see that the Packers lost last night (I fell asleep in the chair halfway through the 3rd quarter, and woke up to put myself to bed as the game went into overtime. Pats stayed up to watch it and I hear the announcer when the game was over.) Quite an upset, but it was a tough night out there. And the Giants gave New England one of their toughest runs for it during their most recent match up, so the Super Bowl should be interesting.

And tonight, I head back to RI. Aaron and I will just miss each other at O'Hare this afternoon. He'll be passing through on his way to Los Angeles for a quick round of meetings before returning on the red eye tomorrow night and arriving home on Wednesday. My flight departs a little after 7, so unless he's delayed at O'Hare I won't see him until we're both back in Providence. His mom arrives on Wednesday about an hour after he does, and I'm so looking forward to meeting her. Another reason to get better: I'd rather not be sick when I meet her for the first time.

Of course, there is the temptation to hit the Museum of Contemporary Photography, out in 10 degree weather and snow. Not a good idea. But then again, it's right here, and who knows when I'll get to come back . . . .