Emerald City Expatriate

"Uptown Girl, she’s been living in her white bread world As long as anyone with hot blood can, and now she’s looking for a downtown man And when she knows what she wants from her time And when she wakes up and makes up her mind . . . " Today I am watching a beautiful autumn sunset outside my window.  Over 3 months in Chicago, and I don’t know why I haven’t done this yet.  In the distance, Trump Tower glimmers bronze instead of its usual sliver; everything else is bathed in a warm, antique-feeling glow and steam puffs out of a few chimneys.  I feel like I’m in a Charles Dickens story. Earlier this year, I was questioning (as I still do, sometimes) if it is really possible to live life without regret.  I was looking back at some big decisions I’d made in my life and wondering if I would be happier or more fulfilled if I'd made different choices.  It’s one thing to make a bad/wrong decision and know it immediately.  I was frustrated that no matter how hard

I set a new record this year:  I managed to stretch out my birthday celebrations for over a month. My grandmother wanted to bring my mother and aunt to Chicago for a “girls weekend” to celebrate my 25 th .  She wanted to stay at Trump and buy us all tickets to see “Kinky Boots” in its out-of-town tryout at the Bank of America Theater.  However, mid-October was the earliest we could make it happen. Obviously, I had no problem with this.  A weekend at the Trump Hotel, a tour of the Chicago Theater, dinner at Rosebud Prime (the best steak I’ve ever put in my mouth) and two hours of onstage drag queen glory – all at no expense to me – adds up to a pretty awesome weekend.  We even spotted the director and producer of the show at Rosebud Prime, and I’m pretty sure we saw the cast of a reality show arrive at the hotel Saturday afternoon.  (Anybody watch that crap?  Is there a new series out there involving yet another pack of dark-featured pretty people?)      “Kinky Boots,” in