Chicago. Bridesmaid. Beatles.

Blaaah! Summer craziness. These two weeks in August are going to make me simply insane.

i.e. Last Wednesday, I left for a five-day stint to Chicago. All the normal things applied -- bribing friends to drive me to the airport, cramming bridesmaid dresses and wedding gifts into carry-on luggage, and bearing five whole days in a city that has NO Tully's or Fidalgo Bay Coffee.

But. It was great. Simply great. I got to don a beautiful peridot green dress and 4-inch silver heels, and I got to stand up in front of a bunch of strangers and proclaim with my presence, "I affirm that the marriage of Hannah to Jon is a great idea. And, I'm going to be here to support them in this marriage."

We partied hearty, there was lots of laughing and a few teary moments, and we waved goodbye. If you remember--Jon flew me to Chicago in April as a surprise for Hannah, so the bridesmaids all knew each other already, and we just had a great, fun time.

After the wedding, I hitched a ride to the Hyatt O'Hare, where I greeted Mom, Dad, and Sean. They had just arrived (conveniently) for 3 days in Chicago for "The Fest for Beatle Fans," (formerly known as Beatlefest, but forced to change to a much dumber name by Sony).

Anyways--it was three days of catching up and hanging out and listening to lots of old rockers and friends of the Beatles jam in tribute to the best band of all time.

And--Mom, Sean, and I even squeezed in an afternoon at The Art Institute of Chicago, where we enjoyed much exciting art... Among other things, I saw my favorite painting by Marc Chagall, Picasso's The Old Guitarist, and A Sunday on La Grande Jatte by Seurat. I have been very much inspired that when Corrie moves out next week, since I have no roommate as of yet, I will transform the extra bedroom into an art/writing studio. This will hopefully help me move forward in my goal to make writing and artistry more of a disciplined priority in my life.

Now, this trip to Chicago is amplified and made all-the-more interesting by the fact that next Thursday, eight days from now, I get back on an airplane and go back to Chicago for the wedding of Suzanne Page to Barrett Thomas. Ack!

And in between now and then, I will caddy one-hundred holes of golf for our Annual YD Fundraiser--Golf Marathon! Blah! What a crazy week.