Morning Pen,

How goes it? Did you watch the fox movie? The yard sale? Success or tragic commentary on mans inability to buy things when you need them to?

I am wrapping up my time in Chi. Where did I last leave you in the saga? i went to lay down i think. I had to consult my schedule, as such the days are blending together. We were last in the low 80's. And then by Saturday in true Chicago form the weather had reversed itself by at least 30 degrees. I had a leisurely morning of painting the trim in caths dining room then i went to oakpark to visit misty. ANd i forget with mothers, and she is a new one that it takes them a fairly long time to leave the house, naps, bags and whatnot. I often wonder if i could improve on the efficiency or if i would be the prime offender. Regardless she has sweet apt digs. Her fireplace has cornstalks on it, and her courtyard has gargoyles. It rocks. More on misty and her coolness later.

After a breakfast of eggs my mind was a blank for what I might want. But would you guess where we went? Back to FIVE GUYS. Why? I don't know. I had a burning desire to find out if it was the same everywhere. I made a change, no cheese, add bacon. It was delicous. ANd their fries even better and more cajontastic than the last! So good. Seasoning orangestained fingers deliciousness. We capped it off with icecream, which really i should not have done. But uh, obviously I did. (stop hurting your gut!) We then langourously spent some time in the park where buds were bursting purple, pink and white- and resumed our interesting conversation about faith. And she wondered about why with the beliefs that I had, why i was so 'tolerant'. I love that it was so out of the blue- And new.. Finally after some wondering around my head, I did leave us with the final statement of- especially in friendship- i'd rather not focus on what divides us. If i was with likeminded friends none of us would seem especially tolerant if we talked candidly. It doesn't make me a hypocrite though that i'm not beligerant and obnoxious about peoples need for jesus...though they do. :) but i digress. such a good convo really. Must discuss more later.

Anyway, cath came to pick me up and we refused (wrongly) the mudslide drinks they offered us, skipped the arboretum as we are always way too ambitious and capped the night off with savory melt in your mouth skirt steak, broccoli and salad at CHARLIES. Then began the henna experiment that we repeated *sigh, the next night.

Of course you care so i have to tell you about the next day- where we began ambitiously with BANANA FOSTER CAFE- where cath had thier frenchtoast and I had the classic eggs and bacon- so clean and not greasy. Just like if we made them at home. Perfectly crisp, fluffy scramble. AFter this we went downtown for shopping at nordrack and old navy. I only, thankgod, found a white skirt to "replace" the one i lost. So you know, i had to. ANd then we went to the Walnut Room in Marshall Fields and had a glimpse of our future. ANd i had a pretty decent manderin salad with fresh and crisp watercress and snappeas. Must load pics tomorrow. Where then Cath left me to go to work and I went to get a massage. It was a student one. ANd it rocked. I got to tell this woman all about my eating issues, allergies, proclivities, injuries, thoughts and musings. It couldve been the tea i'd had but i was a chatty massage miss. ANd i scoped out the school for cath and her possible additional skill... SHe said i got points for pressing info while naked. Me thinks this is true also. And my energy is all balanced and what not to boot. I did say something lame about being a taurus later, but it was already too late and the massuse generally amused with how much i talked and how now i know her whole story about breast cancer, and chaos, and healing arts, and her 3 kids, and her sarge cop in NY. It was great. I capped this off with a latte but then i got a liter of water and tried to make up for it. Balance right. After,

I went on a marathon walk up to wacker, michigan ave, crossed over to river east where i saw, oh yes, arriving fortuitously just-in-time, for- hot tub time machine. The end was total time machine shenanigans but man, it was hi-larious. ANd rob corrdry? was really good. But anyway after that, navy pier, more tulip viewing, carmel apples as big as my face, a walk along the river- BACK to cath, at borders, where i was subjected to more blooming things, vast plots of tulips and daffodils, grass, tourists, angsty art students- and then a walk back up state, to grand where we went to RockBottom for mahi mahi tacos... um, yes, really good. It is also curious to note every day has been a cilantro day. i then got home, once again collapsed and spent the remainder of the night doodling on my leg.

And now i've vacuumed up the bits of henna, badly packed my suitcase, and am minutes from joining cath for hotdogs or some other staple chicagoen food on her lunch break then back on the train i go, where i will read my not so trashy elizabethan novel, and watch the trees already accelerating in bloom, and hopefully have a not-so-nauseous return home? Hmm. ANyway, i know these descrips could be better, as they are just flungwords of bits of memory. Not that i will ever forget how good that skirt steak was or the bits of spice on my fingers and the bright blue of the lake and sky... but anyway, my penelope. Back home soon where i will resume complaints about necklace deadlines, ramped up exercise, woes about dairy and who knows what- until something changes, just a bit- and then becomes normal like the weather and what not.

m.

feels so good.

I'm totally compelled to get the rest of these SF posts in because after turkeyday i'll be posting about my quasi-impromptu trip to the southernedge of the sequoias. more tree hugging. hurray! also i'm painting my nails and then i have to study for french. if i get out of work early for sure i'll be trying to get my car serviced too. bcs somehow as a new car owner i'm obsessed with the fact that i've now driven 5,400 miles and not gotten the car to its first service appointment. and how it must explain how little i love it and not busy working or being stuck in traffic. and how if i don't do it now it'll be up to 6000 in no time with no love.

2 other highlights of my trip were my massage and the free bourbon. though i suspect by now no one is listening or cares. but again, totally compelled to relate you the entirety of my experiences here on earth. i mean the minutiae i want to tell you about is like infinite. anyway, bourbon. okay i don't get it. never had it. i had a shot of Courvoisier (a cognac) once and i melted into the couch and never got back up so when i found myself at a quasi-speakeasy called Bourbon&Branch for which you need a password to get in I of course, wussed out and got a pomegranate and ginger martini. on my 2nd drink i was ready to at least consider the heavy tongue burning elixir. so I chatted up the bartender, bcs if you're going to be at a place that boasts a mile long list of bourbon and scotch they should know their stuff. and he did. he gave me 2 different samples of bourbon, told me how they're made, what is added to each, what influences the taste and how even a spoonful of water changes the make-up of the drink. i sampled both along with my friend isaacs 120proof stuff. and was able to describe the taste as: this one is like a small forest fire, this one is a blaze, nuclear explosion etc. why is my tongue numbing? okay well i guess i'll try this one here- and as i nursed each tiny sip i no longer felt anything along the lines of fire and it all tasted pretty good. and i'm telling you- i'm now a fan. enjoyable and the feeling is liquid. pure gold. it's the smoothest buzz you could ever have. and after i oozed out of the bar i slept the sleep of the dead in my hostel and woke up in the AM to meet my friend cathy for a massage.

this is the first full body massage i'd had in 7 years. the last one was in alaska and i felt horrible bcs at the time i had no idea about tipping and she did such a good job- after i literally fell into the grass and stared high up into the sky and the fish/chips were the best things i'd ever tasted- i walked droopy eyed and shuffle feeted for the whole rest of the day with a slushy grin, and a lot of mmm, hmms. yah. okaaayyy.

this time it was serene and a lot more expensive. gourmet sweet apples. loose leafed tea. steam room. candles. sage oil (which i think my nose is allergic too)... and i tipped high. it was a fluid relaxing massage. nothing abrupt or jarring and mostly not so pain inducing. the thing, the curious thing was this time there wasn't so much to release- some toxins in the upperback but otherwise just nice. loose. free. and i thought, ah see, this is where i went, that's where i was. and how little stress i'm clinging too in my life right now. my friend cathy got a stone massage next to me and i heard the clinking of stones, and while she dreamed she was a geisha, i imagined that i was by a creek, dappled light and in a light yellow grass field that stretched out to a mountain- i sat by a rock and looked out with squinty eyes. and i said, oh, so jesus, is this where we are now? he said, yes. we walked out into the field side by side and i thought- wow how grateful i am. and as i felt the masseuse run his hands over one arm, one leg, i thought, what a blessing. one that i can even have the luxury of a massage, two that it's no longer a necessity, third how free it is to feel so open and walk out into the day thinking sure, whatever, okay... is this where i'm going? no problem. is there something to worry about? no. check my clock. buy some keihl's. laugh. eat lunch and fly fly on home.