Chicago - Day Two

April 15th, Friday: (this is long, but hey, we did lotsa stuff!)

We vowed to be at the Sears Tower by 9:00 a.m, but of course didn't get there until after 11:00. We got there, went through security, and watched an eight-minute movie that they played before everyone loaded up onto the high-speed elevators that take you to the top. Once you get up to the top, of course you have all the view of Chicago that you could possibly want, but they also have some really cool information on the walls, kind of like exhibits you'd find in a museum or something. Just little excerpts on the history of the city, some of the buildings and districts, etc. There was one picture of a once-popular politician on the wall that was kind of like he was facing sideways, so I took a picture of Bimpsy posing as if she were kissing him. Some ladies were laughing like we were the funniest people ever for doing it (don't know why), but we always do crap like that. I very rarely like to have a serious picture taken. Actually, I don't like to have my picture taken at all, so if an opportunity arises to throw in a ridiculous pose, then I'm all over it. It was $10 for the Sears Tower thing, but it was really worth it. Once you get to the top, you can stay as long as you want, reading the exhibits and looking out the windows. My only complaint was that the windows were absolutely filthy, so a lot of potentially great photos were less than quality, but that's okay. Sears Tower is totally touristy, but I recommend it. Bimps took me around and showed me some other amazing buildings, including the Rookery and the Roosevelt Building. Some of those places had the most ornate interiors, of metal or carved wood or whatever, and they were just gorgeous. Bimps had recently gone on an architectural tour, so she knew all kinds of great trivia about the places she showed me. I swear she was meant to be there; Chicago is already in her blood.

Afterwards, we went to a place called Edwardo's for some authentic Chicago-style pizza. Oh. My. Lord. Seriously. That pizza was so insanely good. The sauce is on top of the cheese instead of under it, and the crust was amazing. We each got mini-pizzas, which were the perfect size with salad. It was the first pizza I've had where I truly savored each and every bite rather than inhaling it like I'm in some sort of county fair competition. Truly the best pizza I've ever had. We left the restaurant and made our way over to South Michigan Avenue and mostly meandered around. We went into one store where they had all kinds of crazy hats, so natch, we tried some on and took pictures. There is a great one of Bimpsy in a ten-gallon sheriff's hat, and I've got on a red, yellow, and green knit hat with fake dreads sewn on, so we captured a couple of pretty goofy shots. Bimps said, "You know we're going to have to buy something now," which just cracked me up. I was like, "Dude, we are not buying something just because we tried on hats!" Nobody noticed, anyway. I seriously don't even remember seeing a store clerk in there, so bah - who cares?

We went across the street to Buckingham Fountain to see when they were going to be turning it on since there were some maintenance guys puttering around it. Bimps says it is a beautiful sight to see, especially at night, and it was one of the features that Daddy liked about Chicago. One maintenance guy told us that, of course, they weren't turning it on until a day or two after my vacation ended. Isn't that just always the way? He was telling us he'd take us on a tour under the fountain, though, through all of the control rooms and stuff, but just then his boss pulled up, so he couldn't do it. We were highly disappointed. I think he was too, 'cause I'm thinkin' he kinda dug my little sis. She's a hottie, plus what man could resist a big glob of pizza sauce splattered across her, um, ample chest? She claimed it was an accident, but I'm onto her little game. She was probably planning to seduce the fountain maintenance guys the whole time. Yep.

We went to Sephora and Virgin, both places where I got sucked into spending money because my sister is a terrible, awful influence on me. I got some lip glosses, and the new Beck and Gwen Stefani CDs. We stopped at a place called Vosges (pronounces "vozh," like "vote" but with a "zh") Haute Chocolate, where we had very fancy hot chocolate made with ingredients like cayene pepper, curry, lavender, and pretty much any other crazy thing you could think of. They served it in tall glasses that look almost like bud vases and it was very shi-shi poo-poo. It was all awesome, and we topped it off with one chocolate truffle apiece, also exotically made. We sat and made conversation with the very hip, very stylish older lady behind the counter (whom we later ran into again on the street). Vosges is another place I definitely recommend if you find yourself in Chicago.

We then went to H&M, which I had been looking forward to for months because it is this very trendy, very inexpensive European store, and they have plus sizes. Bimps had been there before and said their selection was incredible (note: she doesn't wear plus-sizes, but saw them all), and I had checked on their website to make sure, so I was really looking forward to it because I desperately need new clothes, and I never have money to spend on myself. We got there. Three beautiful floors jam-packed with amazing clothes. "Um, yeah, we just dropped our plus-size division in this store, so no, we don't have any bigger-size clothes anymore." It was like a big punch to the gut. Sorry that sounds dramatic, but A: if you're a woman, you know what I'm talking about, and B: if you're an overweight woman, you definitely know what I'm talking about. I could do a whole rant about this, but for right now, I'll just say: BIG PEOPLE NEED TO LOOK STYLISH, TOO. I seriously wanted to cry. We took the bus over to an Old Navy in a last desperate attempt to find something, even though I have Old Navy here (and Lane Bryant, but whatever), but like I said, I never have money to shop. This was like a one-time event. Old Navy was a bust, too. Oh, we both tried on a zillion different things, but needless to say, the shopping desires were gone. I bought a belt and some socks. Yippee.

We trudged over to Whole Foods, grabbed some dinner, and took a taxi home, totally exhausted from the day. Bimpsy got falafel, which I tasted and quickly decided it tastes like a dirt clod with weeds chopped up in it. Good. Eliminated something from the List Of Exotic Foods I Need To Try But Don't Really Care To. We watched the rest of "Sideways." I thought it was okay, but I was kind of disappointed that I didn't LOVE it like I thought I would, considering all of the Oscar bruhaha. After that, we called it a day and hit the sack. Trip so far: AWESOME.