Hi y'all.

I'm back from a fabaluss weekend in Chicago.

Highlights:
Dinner at Alinea.
Dinner at Cafe Bernard.
Sid's birthday lunch at Tiffin.
Brunch at Ann Sather's.
Brunch at Angelina's.(Bloody Mary with a beer back for breakfast, you say? Genius, I say, particularly because beverage numero uno was garnished with a flower-shaped slice of saucisson and two olives, and it was served in the heart of boy's town amid the fabulousness that neighborhood has to offer in terms of humanity.)
Drankin' at all hours at Johnny O'Hagan's.

Notice a pattern in the highlights? Good things down the gullet+good company=good times. Always.

Of course, we (and by we, I mean: Sid, Shasta, Carlos, CG and I) almost got ourselves booted out of Alinea for having such a raucous good time. With 12 impeccable courses paired with 12 different wines, we never hit a lull or a point in which we didn't laugh our heads off at something. And of course the more wine they brought, the louder we became. In fact, I'm pretty sure we got our sommelier in trouble (he was encouraging us). Sometimes our kind of fun doesn't mesh with other folks' version of fancy. Although in my book, we're fancy and fun damn near all the time. And a great, big, loving thank you to the ever-astoundingly-generous Carlos for treating us all to Sid's swankfest of a birthday dinner!

I also scored three pairs of earrings, a red leather wallet and a black, scoopneck, rhinestone-buttoned, Sophia Loren style top for a grand total of $45 at Lord and Taylor. God bless them and their email coupons and second take winter clearances.

Sid booked into the Hard Rock Hotel and managed to sweet talk her way into a corner room overlooking the river and I got to stay there, too! More good times, despite the sad excuse for a bartender in the downstairs bar. Lemon drop, you say? What's in that?

It's great to reconnect with delightful friends you just don't see often enough. And sometimes it's really important to surround yourself with like-minded people, just to remember who you are.

I heart Chicago and I heart my friends in Chicago.

'Course I didn't see all my friends in Chicago--this was Sid's trip, so I didn't manage to meet up with Woog and Oog. Oh dear, guess I'll have to start planning another trip!

Until then, I must return to the seriousness of my life. Meaning: I'm presenting new work at a faculty reading tonight and it scares the living life out of me. Yikes! Hard enough putting myself on the page, but then reading it aloud to a big group of family, friends, colleagues, students, professors? Jeebus. I might have to have a glass of wine ahead of time. . . .

The thing is, as a writer--or artist of damn near any sort--you toil away alone, quietly in your room and come out with . . . who knows? You don't know--the puzzle isn't complete until the audience enters the picture. So, we'll see. The piece I'm going to read is brand new--it comes from some of the stuff I've been working on for the book. It's still a little raw.

Wish me luck and courage!