Chicago

This time next Tuesday I will be on a quick, solo trip to Chicago. I have never been, and I am very excited. It’s supposed to be very cold (well colder than the east coast has been so far) so I have to pack accordingly.

Here’s how it came about. My best friend (who is a bit older than me) has a daughter who’s about 10 years younger than me. Her daughter and her and very close, more like friends, and has always been involved and around. When we do things, it’s always the 3 of us, and it’s pretty awesome. Her daughter moved to Chicago 3.5 years ago for a job on a very popular TV show that films there. She’s behind the scenes, not on camera. I’ll call her Tori.

Recently Tori has been having a harder time...just with the loneliness that comes from being in a different city than your family. When she moved out there she was living with a friend who has since gotten married and moved. It’s also the last year of the show, so with a potential loss of income amidst just general life stuff, she’s having a tough go of it. Of course, I’ve offered all I can (Netflix passwords, access to an online grocery delivery account) to help her if she gets in a jam or just needs anything. She also took a second job, and has realized between the two she couldn’t travel home for Thanksgiving, instead opting for the Christmas-New Years dark week at her main job.

I suggested to my friend that we should try and take a girls trip to visit Tori. Anyway, it turned into this whole thing (on her part) and between that and her new job she opted not to go. There’s a lot more to it, but as it’s not my thing and I don’t totally understand enough, I’m not going to delve into all that. But I had already figured out it was super inexpensive to fly there, had it all worked out on my end with my family to go, so when the ticket dropped to $72 round trip I booked it without thinking twice.

I love traveling on my own. I have a place to stay and things to do while Tori is at work. I get to go with her to the set and check out all the exciting things there, and then I’ll go off and do my own thing in between. A co-worker recently went, so he has money left on his mass transit pass he’s giving me to use. I booked the early flight Tuesday and the latest flight Wednesday, so I have 2 full days basically. I’m going to drive myself and utilize short-term parking with shuttle service at the airport, and I have an under the seat rolling bag that’s free. Since I don’t need to worry about taking shampoo and stuff  like that it should be plenty of space for me. My oldest arranged to be off during the day so she can hang out with my Baby boy (4 on Saturday...!!!) while my husband is at work and she can get my Kindergartener off the bus, which stops right in front of our house.

I’m super excited to visit this new city and to spend time with Tori and see this new life she’s built. I’m kinda bummed her mom isn’t coming to, more for Tori than for me. But I can’t control that situation. So I’m just going to be there for her daughter, the same way I know my friend would be there for mine.