Weekend in CHI town

What a fun weekend! Great time with great friends!

The Nike Run Hit Remix was a blast...5 Miles of pure running bliss. The start time for the race was 9PM...key learning... Chicago is very humid in late August. Also, another key lesson learned...don't eat Chicago deep dish pizza, prior to running. Any way, as we ran through the streets of Chicago we were rewarded with the tunes of some fantastic 90's bands...Digital Underground "Humpty Dance" and Young MC "Bust a Move". The feature band was De La Soul. As always, Nike put on a fantastic run. Can't wait to do it again next year.

Great dinners....Sushi Samba and Blackbird -Sushi Samba was the best...when I was in NYC earlier this year, I went to Sushi Samba in SoHo and thought it was my best meal of the year...

Bonus...the Chicago Water and Air show happened to be taking place the same weekend. There is no other "rush" like the Blue Angels flying over your head. However, one of our friends is still trying to figure out how planes flying over her head are supposed to make her "feel". Humm...here's an idea, envision a fighter pilot in a flight suit...that might help you "feel" something. Hah!

As for the CHI "scene" and nightlife...A special thanks to Dr and Mrs Miller for the wonderful conversation and nightlife suggestions....oh, and fertility wisdom. Good news...I still have a few good reproductive years left. Back to the nightlife... my favorite spot was Jilly's on Rush. Rush street is the place to be in CHI...other locations of interest Gibson's, Lux Bar and the Tavern on Rush.

Favorite/Memorable moments...

Great conversation and Sangria with my close friend ...no matter how many states separate us, or the span of time between visits, our friendship bond remains strong. Thank you for making the trek into the city!

H getting "educated" on the advantages of tounge accessories...

Crazy cab rides...

H's pearls of wisdom...I think the quote went something like this "I can't remember the past, but I can definitely see the future".

Avis does try harder

For those of you who heard about my Boston travel adventure, the story has a happy ending...

For those of you who don't know, last Friday TK and I missed our flight home to Seattle. We "thought" we knew how to get from the Westin Copley Place to Logan Airport...we thought wrong. Tunnel closure and Friday traffic...we missed our flight by minutes. When we realized we were completely lost, we called Avis to see if we could drop the car at the airport. They suggested something that 'sounded' like a better option. The suggestion was for us to pull into Avis and they would have a driver waiting to drive us (in our car) to the terminal. Bottomline, nobody was waiting for us, so we were forced to travel to the terminal via rental car shuttle...Clearly, not the 'fastest' route to the terminal...we missed out flight. Any way, I have been extremley impressed with how Avis has handled this situation. Everyone has been very responsive and genuinely concerned about our misfortune. To make it up to us, they credited us for our rental charge. Very nice gesture. I may never rent a car in Boston, but I will continue to rent cars from Avis.

Tina and Denise Fenway 2006

Tina and Denise Fenway 2006
Originally uploaded by denisebue.

Denise and TIna having fun at the Sox game

Boston...Love and hate

Just returned from an exhausting week in Boston...SIGGRAPH 06 was a success...and we "managed" to have some fun along the way.

The fun times...

Last Monday we went to Fenway to watch Sox's vs Indians...Apparently, we left before the most exciting play of the game -- "Monday night, down two runs with two on and one out in the bottom of the ninth. Did anyone at Fenway actually think the Indians were going to survive this mess?"...JJ, JP, TK and I must have, because we LEFT the ballpark seconds before this happened. NICE!

Another fun moment...we made some new friends at the Boston Fire Dept Station in the North End.

Biking around Martha's Vineyard was very memorable. I will vacation there some day...it is all I have thought about since returning to Seattle.

Completing two long runs along the Charles River.

Great restaurants...

We had a fantastic dinner at Sage. Sage is a Italian restaurant located in the North End...small and intimate...great place for a date...with your co-workers .

Stephanie's on Newbury -- this resturarant was recommended by a friend. KUDOS! Amazing food! Great lunch spot. I highly recommend the lobster quesadilla. Yummy food and excellent service.

Uni Sashimi Bar at the Eliot Hotel...yes, I had to go back! AMAZING food.

The Upper Crust on Newbury -- Great Pizza, fantastic service!

The "not-so" fun times...

As the week wore on, my team and I had the running joke about the "ten things we hate about Boston"... not sure if we ever finalized the list, but here are a few of the outtakes.

It was HOT and very humid. Apparently, last Wednesday was the hottest day of the summer... I think the heat index on Wednesday was 110 degrees

Rude people...favorite quote of the week: "go back to LA!" Yes, that's right; someone shouted this at us on Saturday night. Funny...we aren't FROM LA!

People cannot drive...there is a reason why roads have designated lanes.

Pedestrians...they cross the street anytime, anywhere...

Soccer Mom gave us the finger at a stop light...what!! Why??? We still don't know... was it the Ford Taurus rental car?

The tunnel closure, which in turn resulted in TK and I getting lost on our way back to the airport...oh, and it was rush hour! Yes, we ended up missing our flight. I will save that "story" for some other time....