Weiners

A good weiner is hard to find.  I'm referring to a hot dog, those of you who have your minds in the gutter. My friend Paula has been visiting from Seattle, and being the Good Foodie that she is (I think she has a bronzed Foodie Membership Card!) we have been in search of the best Hot Dog that Chicago has to offer - considering the city is noted for it (I was not aware of this prior to moving here).  Everywhere we go, regardless if it's a nightclub, riding the elevator, talking to the sales girl at a funky clothing store) Paula inquires, "Who do you think has the best Hot Dog in Chicago?" -- her big brown eyes all a glitter, hanging on the person's every word, getting out her handy dandy iPhone so she can record the list of establishments that are about to pour from said person's mouth.

Today we went to Weiner Circle. It was recommended by more than a couple people. So, being the good techie people from Seattle that we are, we Googled it before setting off on foot (I'm doing a LOT of walking here) and found this most interesting You Tube video about Chicago's beloved Weiner Circle http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo1LPf9mnyU

Very interesting. We went. We ordered (did not have obscenities yelled at us, although I was sort of cowering like a kindergartner who has to go to the bathroom during class but is afraid to raise his/her hand). We ate. It was...................okay.  Just okay. Char broiled with two dill pickle spears on it, tomatoes, really really dark green relish. So.....we are still in search of the best, the yummiest Hot Dog in Chicago. We will try Hot Dougs www.hotdougs.com which I'm told has "to die for" french fries (ONLY on Friday and Saturday) that are fried in Duck Fat. Being the non-Foodie that I am; I didn't know Duck Fat was such a delicacy....so that's where you'll find us this Friday.

Treasure Island

My neighborhood grocery store is called Treasure Island. How fun is that? I expected to see the cashiers dressed as Pirates (no go, bummer! The only Halloween costume I ever liked was the Sexy Pirate costume - remember Jen and Staci?  Oh, and who could forget the Fly, Fly Swatter and Fly Paper (that was me) Halloween costumes that year in Boston?) anyway, back to Treasure Island. It is a combination trashy, smelly ol' grocery store and this high end European market. It sells bulk extra virgin olive oil and yesterday, they had samples of stuffed grape leaves (those are on of my weaknesses) and I bought a can of them!  Yes, I'd never heard of, seen, imagined that stuffed grape leaves would come in a can. So that's what I mean, it's sort of dingy and kitschy and yet really expensive with all these Euro brands. Weird, but I like it. Except......being the good Seattleite that I am now, they do not recycle much here, and people are not using reusable grocery bags!  Argghhhhhhh. The horrors. I will have to make that my new mission.

Off to go to a pool (ick....so not ready for pool attire) with my new Chicago BFF (K, she's a realtor here who found me my sublet.....who I met through this uber connected guy here who Erin introduced me to who said, you should talk to C about finding a sublet (he owns RE) who then connected me to K.  I find out later that C met K via Match. Yes, all roads lead back to Match.com. Match.com will rule the world!!! Or at least connections made via said website.

Oh...and I walked 5 miles yesterday (have no car cuz some dumb ass in Seattle ran into me and totaled it as most of you know), which actually is a good thing, I don't need one here in the city and it will make me get off my butt and exercise. I went to Best Buy to buy a new lap top yesterday (I've had my lap top since 2000 (the last time I was hit by a car btw, when I was struck down in a crosswalk while catching the bus in Seattle and all of my friends were too busy to come pick me up at the ER, except for Laura Murray (angel) who finally did....that's a long and sobering story that of course grows more elaborate as the years roll along and my memory fades. Suffice it to say, I just simply blame it all on Alan...... anyway, I bought a new laptop at Best Buy (HP, since I've had mine for 9 years and it is basically still going strong), I was chatting up the (cute, young, male) sales man (meaning, I was doing too many things at once and when you're being flirty it's hard to remember other important things) and I called Brian to ask him about Vista (ugh..hate Vista, but it's on all new laptops now - who knew? yes I'm a technophobe) and the likelihood of me being able to upgrade for free to Windows 7 (correct?) when it comes out; I left my NEW Blackberry and my eyeglasses on the table in front of the laptop I was buying (as I was chatting up said young, cute male sales person). I walk all the way home (15-20 min), I get home and look for my glasses and (shudder) they are not there. Neither is my new Blackberry. I run out to the street to flag a cab (which is very easy to do here in Chicago, thank God....so unlike Seattle where I'd have to call for one and then it might come or it might not, but not before 20 more minutes ticked by) to escort me back to Best Buy...where I'm hoping against hope (we're in the BIG City for God sakes) that my phone is still there, and......IT IS! The cute, young male sales person is not, but my phone and eye glasses are; which is much better anyway. So, now I have renewed faith in humanity. Especially Chicago humanity.

But I still don't want to get in a bathing suit now.

Love & Peace

Cheerio

What the hell am I doing?

What the hell am I doing? "The girls" have left; our Chicago girl's weekend was FUN (aka, lots of drinking, socializing and walking in uncomfortable high heels to/from bars). It was a nice welcome to Chicago and a way for me to ease into my transition to this city; albeit, I didn't get a lot of sleep those 3 nights (especially Sunday night, when "the girls" both had the epiphany that since they had to leave at 5am to get to the airport for their flights home Monday morning, "Let's pull an all-nighter" -- which we did, and fabulously I might add. I think my head hit the pillow at 3:30/4:00am after closing down Stanley's (one of my new favorite hangouts, which I think will be replaced next week by a new favorite hangout) where they were doing Rockaroke (for those not familiar (gasp!!!) with the term, it's Karaoke (you all know how I loooooove me some karaoke) with a.....wait for it.....LIVE BAND!) After 2 Red Bulls and Vodka (which I never drink, but, keep in mind, I had to stay up until 4am so I needed the Red Bull....really? I think it's all make believe, it doesn't give you energy, it just makes you think you're energetic, like Wonder Woman's golden lasso or Superman's cape) I was ready to get my groove on and sing....of course....Sweet Child O' Mine, but when I approached to ask the drummer in the band if he'd help me out with the high parts, he said, "We don't have it"....so no karaoke for Tracy. 

Instead, it was just talking/hanging out with/repeatedly telling some (I found out later) 28 yr old guy (who was uber drunk, uber uber drunk -- it was Pride that day and lots of partying was to be had in ChiTown, who had a lil pony tail in his hair and his shirt on inside out) that NO I will not go home and "snuggle" with him. And NO, I will not go home and "watch a movie" with him (having dated online for as many years as some of my bestest friends' kids have been on the face of this earth, I know what "let's go home to watch a movie" really means). While "the girls" found temporary "soul mates" who will probably text/call/visit them incessantly; I was spending time talking (if his slurring could be considered talking)/half dancing with Snuggle Bunny who I knew I'd never see again (I did tell him to take my card and he said, "I'm never going to see you again" -- can't blame a guy for being honest, right?) Anyway, we catch a cab home together, as "the girls" have abandoned me for brighter horizons. 

We pull up to his street and he tries one more time to convince me of how my life would be ever changed for the better were I to spend a few hours snuggling with him; which I again said NO to, and he pulls out his wallet and he has $1.  I mean, really?  (those are the exact words I said)... $1 when the fare is like $8 and then we have to backtrack to get me back to my hotel....I'm pissed, so I tell him to give me his grimey, wadded up $1, and then he does something (like in a Dr. Seuss novel, like when the Grinch's heart grew 3 sizes that day....remember the light and aura that came out of the Grinch, well I think I saw that from Snuggle Bunny. He slurred, "Pull up to the next block" - went to the ATM machine, then came back to the cab and threw in a $20 bill. Literally. There was no, "Here you go Tracy, it was nice meeting you/talking to you/staring at your bloodshot eyes for the last 3 hours" - then he slammed the door and staggered (zig zagged) off down the street. The cab fare ended up being like $23. Shazam!  Snuggle Bunny paid for me to get home that night. 

Anyway, back to my lead in, "what the hell am I doing?" --- I am in Chicago!  I am no longer living in my lovely apartment with the view of Lake Union and Seattle that I love so much. I'm in a great, spacious sublet for 3 months in Old Town (Google it, Cute! lots of shops and restaurants and.....BARS. Chicago is certainly not at a loss for bars; but then, why the heck don't they have any liquor stores? "The girls" and I had to trek it like 30 blocks before we finally found a liquor store (after stumbling into a group of senior citizens who had just been robbed or accosted or some similar shenanigans, and there were like 6 of Chicago's finest trying to figure out what went down); anyway, I digress.

What the hell am I doing?  I'm excited, and scared as hell; and then I open up www.huffingtonpost.com this morning (my homepage) and it's all doom and gloom about the environment and joblessness and I look at myself, well...I really just thought to myself, as there was not a mirror in the room at the moment that I could look at myself in, and thought, "what the hell am I doing?"  Yes, I'm here to promote and build my business; but REALLY? in one of the worst recessions our country has seen since THE Depression? 

I could go out every morning, afternoon and night and sample the goods of the plentiful number of restaurants, cafes, bars, etc. that Chicago has to offer (and don't worry, I'll be doing plenty of that), but that costs money my friends, and now I'm worried...what the hell am I doing? I know I had to do "this" with "this" being an adventure to hopefully gain some really cool new clients for Epiphany and ChickChat; and also to discover and rediscover myself, and although (no Richard - lol), it is not my #1 priority -- but maybe if I were to meet a nice man (or 2 or 3 LOL) along the way that would be icing on the cake. An adventure in and of itself.

But it's scary and unfamiliar and although I have my friends all over the place whom I can call (and several of whom I'm betting will be gracing the floor of my new sublet) I am alone here in Chicago; in the Windy City, the City with Big Shoulders? (Bryan told me that one) - where the weather is more resembling Seattle than hot, humid, sticky, hot, humid Chicago (I can't count the # of times people told me, "You're going to Chicago in the summer!???  Whew...hot. Bring it on already :)

And as I sit and wonder, "what the hell am I doing?" I am looking at the lovely little picture that Paige gave me before I left that reads, "Faith is believing that one of two things will happen; that there will be something solid for you to stand on - or that you will be taught to fly." (Yes, it brought a little moisture to my tear ducts....love you girl) and Karen's lil Buddha she gave to watch over me; and the tattered and torn page that I ripped from one of my O Magazines that reads, "Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness" and.......I inhale..........and exhale. And I close my eyes; and know that I am loved by so many, and I have been so blessed in my life so far, which has brought me to this point in my life, this new Journey...

And I know that I will be okay.

I'm going to go walk in the rain and get acquainted with my new neighborhood now. 

Till next time, 

Tracy xoxoxo