Chicago - Day Three

April 16th, Saturday:

Bimpsy's 25th birthday! Hooray! She would remark a few times throughout the day that it just didn't feel like her birthday. I wonder, as we get increasingly older, does it ever feel like our birthday?

We started the day at Bimpsy's three-hour improv class at Second City. Her instructor was nice enough to let me sit in and watch, and honestly, this was my favorite part of my whole vacation. Just watching Bimps so in her element, and so ridiculously good at what she does, was such a thrill. The class warmed up, and then the instructor basically gave them some scenarios or ideas to start off with, and then everyone took it from there. What was really interesting is that, although most of the people in the class actually are actors, there were other reasons why people were there, too. Like for instance, there was a woman taking the class because she is a teacher and she thought the class would be a good idea to help her in communicating and just overall projection with her students. It was just really very cool, and made me want to do something like that. However, any one of the poor souls subjected to my half of a tear-jerking scene from "Beaches" with my best friend Tawny in high school could tell you that my participation in an improv class is TRULY not necessary. Acting is purely Bimpsy's biz, and she does it so well. We have enough of an age difference between us that by the time she was starting to do theater in high school, I had already left home and was busy doing whatever the hell it was I was doing (dropping out of college, racking up credit card bills, getting kicked out of the Army - you know, the usual stuff). So, I never got a chance to see any of her performances except for one. I heard about them all, and wished like heck I could have been there for them, but it just never happened. Sitting in on the improv class was my very own backstage pass, and I'm so glad I was there.

After that, we headed over to the Lincoln Park Zoo, which was pretty much like any other zoo, but free, which made it awesome. It was fun to just hang out and people watch, and it was really the first time we weren't running around like chickens with our heads cut off. We sat on the grass while Bimps received all of her Happy Birthday calls from our family, during which time we were treated to an impromptu "Debbie Does Chicago," as some skinny '80's time-warp Lita Ford look-alike slobbered all over her boyfriend. "Um, hi, Trampy Whitesnake Groupie? FYI: crimped hair is out, sweetheart. And there are children out here - for the love of all that is decent and holy, tuck your tits back in! Oh, and tell your boyfriend that his acid-washed parachute pants really coordinate with his mullet." It was a little disarming, mostly because I guess I thought that most of the wild animals were actually kept in the zoo...

We went to TJ Maxx and bought a few, fun Springy things (like pink shoes - love 'em!), then met up with Bimpsy's best friend Amy for dinner at La Creperie, a cute little French restaurant Bimpsy picked for her birthday dinner. Nope, still wasn't feeling like it was her birthday. The food was excellent: crepes with all kinds of different fillings, like chicken and mushrooms, etc. Leave it to me to Americanize it as much as possible and get the ham and cheese one. It was like the Where's Waldo Challenge to see if I could locate a grilled cheese sandwich, against all odds, and yes, I did it. I kind of felt like a jackass, really, because I never try anything new. And of course, we all tasted each other's and Bimpsy and Amy's were SO much better than mine. It just goes to show you that when you try to teach an old dog a new trick, she's gonna put ham and cheese on it every time. Nice. Amy was a doll, and I am so happy that Bimps has such a cool friend in Chicago. She picked up our check, the little sneak, and she gave Bimps a goodie bag filled with all kinds of cool stuff. She and Bimps are training for the half-marathon my half-crazy sister wants to do, so she is definitely a great friend in my book!

We all saddled up and rode the bus over to the theater and watched "Amityville Horror" which I had been looking forward to like crazy, and was highly disappointed in. I just thought they took a pretty classic scary movie (okay, the original was '70's cheesy, but I still liked it) and tried way too hard and lost a lot of the effect of the plot, supposed true story or not. It was fun listening to Bimps and Amy giggle, giggle, GIGGLE over the shirtlessness of Ryan Reynolds, and I have to say, it ALMOST made it worth paying full price. I don't know; I like scary movies, so I thought it was going to be great, and it just wasn't. Oh well! The girls did introduce me to the miraculous combination of cheese and caramel popcorn! HO-LEE A-COW! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?? I cannot believe that in all the Christmases Past, when the inevitable tin can full of plain, caramel, and cheese popcorn would show up, that this ridiculously delicious combo managed to elude me! And what's crazy is, it's everywhere in Chicago. Popcorn stores with all kinds of flavors, all over the place! Is it just me or is that a little nutty? I mean, popcorn stores, for the love!! It's not like Denver is a small town where the likes of a popcorn store is as amazing as, say, a five-story aluminum foil ball might be to some people (okay, me again), but seriously. It was just weird.

Cheesy, carmelly goodness. Who knew?