Week in Chicago - Last Biz Trip for a Good Long While

I've already gone on ad nauseum about my travels getting here, so I'll keep this entry free of those grumblings! :) Got in late on Monday to freakishly temperate weather. But of course, being January in Chicago, that kind of weather was NOT destined to stick around for long! :P Tuesday I had to get up early to attend a rather irrelevant day long meeting. The cool thing was the meeting was held on the 39th floor (Penthouse) of Hotel 71. That just so happens to be the same space as what they used for Batman/Bruce Wayne's bedroom in the new Batman!! It'll be neat to see it again in the movie and check out how different it looks. :)

Tuesday night was our after party in the most random of all places. They rented out a recording studio in the West Loop. This studio is in Chicago's old meat packing district and located in an old warehouse that was once used for meat storage. There was no clear marking identifying what is was short of a small little sign on the nondescript building. You then step in and walk into a stainless steel old fashioned freight elevator (the kind where you open the doors yourself and have to hold the button down to move up or down). The studio space itself reminded me of a frat house. Lots of rooms, tons of instruments, and a very nice big ol' room full of recording equipment, sound boards, monitors, etc. Now, there is another significant point about this studio. See, Brian used to intern at a recording studio back in his DePaul days (or shortly thereafter). When I found out we were partying at some recording studio in the West Loop, of course I asked Brian where HE had interned at. I figured it was HIGHLY unlikely it could possibly be the same place. But after some detective work around the internet, wouldn't you know the studio was one and the same - Paragon Studios. I mean, seriously, what are the odds?! Then again, given my knack for coincidental experiences, it wasn't too huge of a surprise. :P I did think it was particularly cool hanging out in a place where B spent a bunch of hours before the time we'd ever even met. Heck - even some of the same people were still there!!


The event itself was a lot of fun. It was 80s themed and there was live band karaoke. I even got up and did American Girl with one of my co-workers!! Man, that song is HARD to sing. They didn't have the nice little monitor up front keeping you on the beat. Instead, all you had was a sheet with lyrics printed on it - no sheet music or anything. Oh well - I still rocked out hard with the tambourine. :)

One of my other co-workers totally blew me away with his rendition of Danzig's "Mother". If you don't know the song, it's a metal tune from the 80s. Hard & heavy deep-voiced, tattooed, biker-looking type singer belting out the lyrics. Well, my co-worker is the total opposite of who you would imagine singing this song. He's what I'd call "very Pacific Northwest." Tall, skinny, redhead w/ kind of a retro look style-wise. Definitely not the type you'd imagine rocking out to this song. Total props to him for pulling off an excellent performance!! :D



Wednesday I was very excited to meet Carrie for dinner at one of my favorite restaurants - Mia Francesca. This time we went to the Clark Street location. It's quite a bit noisier there but the place has a lot of energy. I had a lot of fun catching up with her and finding out what's new in her life. :) I miss her living in Seattle!!!

That pretty much sums up the week. Boring work stuff during the day, fun stuff in the evenings. I'm spending the weekend with my family before headed back to WA on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately I'll be missing out on Rob's Superbowl party and the inauguration of his new fancy TV since I'll be flying back while the Superbowl is on. Doh!!