Midwest Heart

If you follow me on social media, you know that I’ve been in Chicago and that my heart is FULL.  Man oh man do I love that town.  I moved to Chicago on a whim after I graduated college, which now feels like a long time ago in a galaxy far far away.  Ugh, getting older is hard folks.  I think the median age in Wrigleyville is 25.  Oh, to be young again.  Going back to where you came from is always a mixture of emotions, nostalgia and memories.  You’re surrounded by the ghost of the person you once were and can’t help but wonder what would have happened if you never left at all.  It’s not regret but more of a ‘what if?’  I felt like Bill Murray in Ghostbusters when he looks around and yells “I love this town!”  The sun shined down on me the entire trip.  The moment I stepped back into O’Hare the storm clouds brewed their way into the city.  Talk about a metaphor.  I cried the whole way home.  I wish I was joking.

Let’s talk about what brought me to Chicago in the first place.  One of my best friends is getting married this summer to a guy she met in a lazy river in Vegas #itdidntstayinvegas  Hold out hope folks.  There is no one on this planet that loves and deserves the spotlight more than she does.  All of her favorites from both coasts joined forces in the midwest for the final hurrah and I must say, it was a raging success.  It was an amazing group of ladies.  The only drama was a missing wallet and getting everyone to the airport on time.  There was a spectrum of events ranging from Cubs games to male strippers.  I gotta tell you, I don’t understand the whole stripper thing.  It’s just not for me.  The last time I was at a strip show I spent $80 on hard liquor in less than twenty minutes, disappeared from the bachelorette party and woke up to voicemails telling me I was out of the wedding.  #fact  I get so uncomfortable.  And then it’s like they know I don’t want anything to do with them so it draws them to me even more.  It’s like, I don’t want you grinding on me with your spray tan and your back tattoo, sir.  Take your socks off  – let’s go in the corner and talk about your relationship with your mom.  And I would appear to be the minority on this sentiment because every other girl in the place was having the time of her life.  So much screaming.

While I was waiting for my delayed flight back to LA, I sat between two divorced ladies who were certified bananas.  I believe the first quote to make my eyes go cartoon-huge was “My ex husband said if I didn’t marry him, he’d kill himself.  (short pause)  I should’ve let him kill himself.”   They were moaning about menopause when they weren’t complaining that they deserved compensation for the delay.  They were straight up heckling these poor people trying to board their flight saying their plane was in our way.  These ladies apparently had rager plans in LA.  When the gate attendant announced there was a passenger missing from the flight, these two bozos started yelling the woman’s name.  It was like a flock of seagulls, MAYA!  MAYA!  And then of course they got bored after twenty seconds and told the gate attendant to shut the gate and leave without her.  Poor Maya.  And when they weren’t riling each other up, the one with painted eyebrows kept trying to show me her breathing device.  I started to fear that people thought we were a trio travelling together so I zoned in on my phone and then proceeded to be interrogated.  “Who’s Noodle?”  “How did you get your colors like that?”  “Is that your boyfriend?” “Which phone is that?”  I felt like I was stuck between the female version of Statler and Waldorf.  I couldn’t board the plane fast enough.  And then the sun broke through the clouds shining upon my face like a glittery beacon of hope and I got a window seat next to the only unclaimed seat on the plane.  Life can be very very good.

Found out over the trip that guy I was going to have drinks with met someone ‘wholly and unexpectedly and things were moving quickly but that I have a great energy and hope we can meet one day’.  huh?!  I mean, I guess it’s better than if he had actually met me and then decided to go another route.  Also, he’s into yoga which means he probably has cats so it wouldn’t have worked out anyway.  Next!  My uber back to my apartment was this chatty chadwick who opened up the ride by asking how I felt about marriage.  After a 4 hour flight, it’s like I THOUGHT YOU’D NEVER ASK!  So after a big sigh I tell him I think it takes a lot more work than people anticipate and that social media and technology have made it exponentially more difficult to stay faithful.  It feels like everyone who is married wants to be single and vice versa.  He said his one tip of advice is “Less expectation, more appreciation”.  And THEN he goes into this elaborate speech saying he didn’t know if I was religious or not but that if I pray to the big guy upstairs for a man, he will come to me and that I will probably meet him at church.  I was like, oh my god, has he been talking to #Lakme?  So I’m walking to my apartment and he yells out the window “You’re going to find him soon, I just know it!”  Guess we will have to see.

It was a whirlwind trip of awesome and I am super grateful for my time away.  My heart was smiling the entire time.  I met up with people I haven’t seen in years and it’s like we never skipped a beat.  If you’ve ever touched my soul, you’ve got a place in there that time will never diminish.  That’s just how I am.  I was drunk in love for a week.  I even dragged a friend to Buckingham Fountain.  It’s my favorite place in the U.S. – I’ve had dreams of being proposed to there since I was a little girl.  I could sit there for hours.  You can take the girl out of the midwest…you know how the rest goes.   I’m on the west coast doing what I need to do.  Chicago will always be there with open arms.  If you haven’t visited your roots lately, if you’ve been craving a little piece of home, I recommend it.  It sets your veins on fire and gives you a new lease on life.  It’s motivating and inspiring and a million kinds of happy.  I even cried on our way back to the airbnb one night I was so happy.  If you’re wondering, yes I took this picture.  Isn’t she dreamy?  Until next time, my love.