I'm Dreaming of a White New Year

2007 ended and 2008 began for me in the midst of a Chicago winter wonderland. Saturday morning in the wee hours (meaning I left my apartment at 4:30), I embarked on a 12 hour road trip to Chi-town as part of a three vehicle caravan.It was by far the best New Year's adventure I have ever had. There were so many highlights but I won't try to name them all. Some of the tourist sites we hit were the Sears Tower, Wrigley Field, and the Field Museum. Unfortunately, we didn't make it to Harpo studios. I know Oprah is upset she missed us. On Sunday night as we left the Field Museum, we were greeted with gorgeous snowflakes falling on our heads. It was so light and fluffy and pretty. The whole way back to the hotel we kept stopping to take pictures and play in the snow. It was so much fun. The next day, New Year's Eve, we spent most of the day trying to figure out where we were going to celebrate the incoming year. Our sight seeing got cut a little short this day though because it started snowing very wet snow about 1:00 and never let up. By 4:00 we were all soaked and had to get back to the hotel and warm up and rest up for the big night ahead.

We finally figured out where we would spend our New Year's Eve and after a welcome nap we were ready to start the celebrating. We had so much fun at the Liar's Club in Lincoln Park which is super close to DePaul University. So if you are ever in Chicago looking for a good place to celebrate, much fun can be had there. We brought the New Year in dancing and having a blast and even stayed around well after midnight just to make sure 2008 was appropriately recognized and welcomed.

The only negative of the night was the extremely long hike in blowing snow with the most painful shoes I have ever had on to the train station only to have to wait forever for the next train and then to be completely jammed into the tiniest of spaces with many belligerent drunk people. Not the most pleasant experience but we survived. You know those stories old people like to tell that begin with..."I remember when I had to walk 2 miles in the snow...." I feel like I can honestly say I have one of those stories now. So if you are around me in 40 or 50 years and I bring this one up, believe me, it's true. We finally made it back to our hotel around 2:45 that morning and had to leave the next day. We woke up to another day of snowing which ordinarily would be very exciting but when you have no idea how to drive in snow and it has been snowing for almost 24 hours straight, it loses its appeal somewhat. But we were up for the challenge and began to load our stuff for the long trip home. As we were getting ready to leave, I got to experience something that for me made my trip even more memorable. If you know me at all, you know that I love college basketball. And my favorite team of all time is the Tennessee Lady Vols. They are the defending national champions and have the best player in the nation, Candace Parker, on their team. Well guess what? They were staying in our hotel. I know this doesn't seem that thrilling to most people but just trust me that it equates to extreme excitement for me. My friend Amy had seen their coach coming down the elevator and I was determined to see either her or the players before we left in the next 10 minutes. And though Bill the bellboy (who loved us by the way) couldn't tell me which floor they were staying on, he did cue me when he saw them come to the second floor for breakfast. At that point, I became a stupid little girl who could hardly contain herself. But I made it up there to get autographs and pictures just in time to not get left behind in Chicago. At that point, my New Year's couldn't get any better and I was ready for the long trip ahead.

Or so I thought. The snow that I had been so thrilled about just a day before now became an enemy as we were literally driving 30-40 mph for the first 2 1/2 hours of our trip and then could only drive a little faster for the next 2 1/2 hours. Yep, that's right. We drove the first 5 hours in a snowstorm. Seriously. We looked like we were in a movie. It was very surreal.This is what it looked like through our car window.
But after many many hours of riding, we finally made it home last night about midnight only to be greeted by the harsh truth that the real world would pause no longer and routine would once again be on the menu for '08. Oh well, I had a fabulous time and many memorable stories and experiences to help me make it through the year. I couldn't think of a better way to start.