Chicago Trip: The Good and the Bad

I know I don't talk much about my job here - other to say how much I love it - but earlier last week I had the chance to travel to Chicago and not only participate in a large industry conference, but present at it as well. This was the first time I had been able to present, and I was very excited about it. Here was the view of my hotel room on the 36th floor:



Pretty nice, right? I loved coming back to the room - I would pull the curtains open every time so I could see the water.

Here was the view from the window near the elevators on my floor - I can't get over the color of the water here - it looks so tropical:



Here is a close up and you can see the Navy Pier with ferris wheel from same elevator window:



Are you catching the theme here?

Yeah, I didn't leave the hotel for three days. 

Don't get me wrong - I didn't have my nose to the grindstone the entire time - I did attend many sessions and learned so much about how things are changing in my industry, as well as met many of my counterparts with other companies and government agencies.  The thing is, I got really sick... as in worship the porcelain god sick - the night before my presentation.  I wasn't sure at first if it was food poisoning or nerves, but it was horrible.  The next morning, I checked my text messages, and there was a note from Andrew saying the girls had been sick all night... Poor Daddy.  This was my first trip away from Piper, and I was so worried about how she would take it - I hadn't anticipated at all that a stomach bug would take us all down.  I love my husband for being here with the girls and taking it all in stride.

So - the good?  I stayed in a nice hotel with a beautiful view, learned some interesting stuff, and gave a kick ass presentation.  Despite the unpleasantness of the night before, I felt much better by the time 4:30pm rolled around.  I really wasn't nervous at all (you know me - I love to talk and teach people stuff!)

The bad?  This was my second trip to Chicago (the first being 2 years ago when I was 6 months pregnant with Piper to the same conference), and I still haven't seen much of the city.  It looks like a really cool place and I do hope I get the chance to come back and explore it one day.   And maybe eat some of its famous food?  I teased my boss and told her I was saving the company money because I only managed to eat 3 meals in the 3 days I was away.  You would think that would have me losing weight, but no such luck!