I’ve only been to Chicago once. It was for a trade show back in 1998. I had just stared working for the company as their lead graphic designer and it was s time for me to both get to know the business and get to know my co-workers. The president of the company spared now expense and we ate at the greatest restaurants, ordered cocktails all over town, and had spending money to play with in the stores. I had a blast.

I ended up staying with the company until just before I gave birth to my daughter. In fact, I still do a lot of freelance for them.

While we were in Chicago we took a night and went to bar under the observation dck of the Hancock building. Of course, it is close to impossible to get a good table over by the windows. I observed firsthand that night, for the first time, how imposing my boss can be in public. He somehow strong-armed us a table and I think the people who had been sitting there never knew what hit them. I got to sit in a chair that bumped right up to the glass and when I looked down it felt like I was floating out over the city of Chicago.

The next day I had a whole other view of the “Windy City” when I was standing on a sidewalk in front of an office building and saw an entire window come crashing down from a hotel. The heavy winds had sucked the window right off the building. Thank God it did not hit anyone!

Now one of my best friends is moving back to Boston with her husband and children. We met when we were both living in Gainesville, Florida and she had moved there from Chicago. They just miss the city so much that her husband finally found a job there again so they can move back. I am planning to go visit them soon, so I can see Chicago on leisure terms, instead of having to mix business and pleasure.