Sweet Home Chicago

The song Sweet Home Chicago makes me happy. It sums up how I feel about my hometown, and every time I hear it, I want to turn to the person next to me and ask them, "Baby don't you want to go?" My brother Rick and I danced to this song at my wedding. It was the last song of the night, unbeknownst to us until it ended and the DJ said goodnight. As we danced together, Rick twirled me around and my dress swayed and swished as I turned. A crowd of people gathered around to watch us dance. It's this memory that makes me love that song even more.

On New Year's Day, Linda, Chris and I took a cab over to Yaksie's, a bar that sits just across the street from Wrigley Field. (I've blogged about Yaksie's here before). Blocks away from that spot, traffic was already inching slowly along and crowds of people were walking south on Clark Street. We told the cabbie to let us out a couple blocks away because we knew that we could get there faster by foot. As we got out of the cab, I heard the song Sweet Home Chicago being played by a band near Wrigley Field. "Back to that same old place..." boomed back and forth against the buildings on Clark St. There was excitement in the air. The Winter Classic was going to start in about an hour.

We made our way into the bar to meet up with Stein, Shark, Steve and Brad. They were going to the game, and we were going to stay in the warmth and watch the game on TV. The three of us (Linda, Chris and I) had a great time, holding court at the bar. Our friends Patty, Erik and others came over and joined us. It was so fun to just hang out at our old stomping grounds, rehashing old stories and making new memories, laughing until tears formed in our eyes. So comfortable and fun.

While Stein and Shark were here:
We were here:
Hail, hail, the gang's all here:

Comfortable and fun must have been the theme of the weekend, because the rest of the time was just as great. New Year's Eve at Shark and Jane's was relaxing and fun. It was so good to see Ellie, who is 4 months old and full of coos and smiles. We had a delicious casual dinner, and lots of laughs. A cut-throat game of Jenga ensued. It didn't take me long to remember that I'm not very good at that game - sorry Linda and Shark!

We discovered a new restaurant on Friday night. Glenn's Diner is a small restaurant that is anything but a diner. They have a few diner specialties and serve breakfast all day, but there is so much more. Like delicious fish in interesting sauces, crab cakes, and mussels drowning in garlic, butter, and a little more garlic. Oh, and some garlic toast to sop up all the butter and garlic. Oh, mama. So where did we find ourselves on Saturday morning? Back at Glenn's Diner for crab cake Benedict, sausage and biscuits, and humongous bloody marys. Yum. Again.

Saturday afternoon we went over to my brother Bryan's house to celebrate Christmas. We all brought appetizers, so it was a casual gathering, perfect for catching up and extending the gluttony of the season. We had our usual grab bag so everyone walked out of there with a fun gift. It was great to be with everyone again, even though we were all together just weeks before for Thanksgiving. As Stein and I drove back to Ann Arbor later that day, I began to get depressed that our vacation was coming to an end. I think the last burst of friends and family did me in. I didn't want it to end.

We'll be back soon, I know. Baby, don't you want to go?