the new city of brotherly love...

So although Philadelphia is officially the city of brotherly love, I've decided that's not 100% accurate. Jon and I took a little Valentine's Day jaunt to Chicago this weekend and it was fantabulous. Even the crazy cold weather didn't get us down. We happened to be there at just the right time to avoid insanely below freezing temps and were able to walk and just enjoy discovering the "new" city of brotherly love.

Reasons why I've dubbed Chicago the "new" city of brotherly love:
1. Customer service, well great customer service actually exists in this place. As soon as we pulled up to the hotel people were helpful and kind and just did their jobs with a smile on their face (the virtual nonexistence of customer service in Utah is high on my list of why I don't always want to live here, but I'll save that for another time, another post). It makes me soooo happy and I tip sooooo well when people do the jobs they are paid to do. So it was refreshing to be in a place where customer service was so abundant.

2. Chicagoans are NICE. Between the man who stopped, without having to ask him, and gave us directions, meeting Cysion, a rapper who had Jon listen to his cd and then let Jon take his picture, and the server who wasn't bothered at all when I accidentally spilled (Jon will say "threw") my diet Coke on him at lunch our first day there, I've never been to a place where people were so NICE.

3. Old friends. Coincidentally, lots of photo/art kids ended up in Chicago. This was a last minute trip, but the night before I mentioned to Jon that we should try to get together with all the folks out there. So he contacted Kelli, Jon's former assistant, and she got in touch with everyone else and we met for lunch. It was so great to just sit and talk and laugh and eat and enjoy. It was hands down our favorite part of the trip.

So, Chicago is great. Even in the winter, even with the wind, Chicago is great. So here's to short, virtually free getaways! May everyone be able to get away a little more often and then love whoever they left behind a little bit more when they get home! Thanks for a great Valentine's Day babe!