I was in Chicago last weekend visiting LD. The main focus of the trip was to shop for things for her new apartment. This is the first time I experienced shopping for someone else. It helped that I wasn't in the mood to buy anything, but also I couldn't even if I wanted to because I flew down instead of driving. Most things I could buy at Ikea don't fit in my suitcase. It was kind of nice knowing that I wasn't going to spend anything at all, but still got a lot of satisfaction out of watching someone else buy a lot. Maybe I should be a personal shopper?

Back to my weekend - the flight in was good. The view out the plane was beautiful. Thanks to some alleged coyotes on the runway, I got to see it twice. I also managed to fish out my cell phone and snap a few pictures the second time around.



The Chicago airport (O'Hare) is always super busy. I didn't have to wait in line too long to use the bathroom, thankfully. I don't think I've ever used the bathroom in that airport. They have these neat revolving toilet seats that give you a clean plastic cover with a push of a button:



The idea of this is pretty great. It's better than sitting on those paper seats, but it's still unpleasant to sit on a crinkly plastic toilet seat.

I also made sure I had a Chicago style hot dog. LD is a vegan now (check out her blog, the link is above) so I knew I needed to get my meat etc when I could. My version of a Chicago style dog is ketchup, mustard and a pickle. The rest was just too much for me.



Boy was it tasty!

I like Chicago very much. For visiting. There's something about arriving at O'Hare and getting on the train to go downtown that is so fun and urban. But the novelty of it wears off once I've been on it for more than 30 minutes. Especially on Friday afternoon. The driver of my train... or engineer I guess, was a crazy driver! I mean engineer. I was nervous a few times that we'd jump the tracks from going to fast. Also, I love my car. I know it's environmentally friendly to use public transportation and all, but I was raised in Fargo where it didn't exist. My mom drove me to and from school each day. I got rides everywhere until I could drive, and then I drove everywhere. I like driving. I even like rush hour. It gives me more time to listen to 89.3. I take our cute light rail train when I can, but again it's for the novelty of being able to take a train to save on parking at the airport. Or when you’re on a light rail pub crawl. The light rail is much more drinking-friendly than driving. :) (Don't drink and drive!)

I also love being on Michigan Ave and State St shopping. The hustle and bustle of a busy downtown is very exciting to me. Again, though, the novelty of it wears off when I realize I can't escape into the skyways when I'm cold or sick of the relentless wind. It's also sobering when I remember the outrageous sales tax in Chicago which I think is close to 9% now. Minnesota has no sales tax on clothes. I take this for granted a lot. The sales tax on other items is only 6.5% or 7% if you're in Minneapolis or St. Paul. I used to need to go to Chicago for certain stores. Now that people are realizing Minneapolis is a decent sized city, we're getting all the great stores that Chicago has. H&M and Ikea for example. We still don't have American Apperal, but I've never bought anything there so I can live without that for the time being. Ikea moved in over a year ago which might be more of a bad thing than good, since my apartment is now almost entirely furnished with Ikea items. I love it!

There are a few things Minneapolis could learn from Chicago. Taxi's for one. Chicago cabs are very well regulated. Or maybe they aren't regulated, but there's a specific system that they all follow. If the light on the top of the cab is on, the cab is available. If it's off, it's not. Or maybe it's the other way around. See, I don't know because Minneapolis cabs are all different. Sometimes the light being on means it's available, sometimes not.

I do love the architecture in Chicago too. I've always wanted to be a volunteer tour guide downtown. How great would that be? To walk around and explain the signifigance of all the buildings to people eager to learn about it. I'd pompously list off a few right now, but it's been 4 years now since I graduated school and my architecture history knowledge has escaped me. Sad.

Hopefully I'll go back to Chicago in August to watch LD in her triathlon. Maybe I'll take in some more culture next time like a show or a museum. Until then I'll be enjoying myself in my lovely little town.