I’ve been told by la (repeatedly) (and in a British accent) that the above line is from a Chitty Chitty Bang Bang song. So I’m not surprised that it popped in to my head when starting to write this travel-related blog post.
La and I have gotten to do a little traveling as ad girls. Sometimes for shoots, but last week it was to do focus group testing for four commercials targeting regular women (read: we had to get out of the LA area to get accurate feedback). La flew to Denver, and I flew to Chicago. Meaning, I flew into O’Hare and never officially left the suburbs.
The glamorous view from my 6th floor hotel room… interstate:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5981697907/in/photostream
When testing was officially over (which went great, BTW, and we will hopefully get to make our spot) I went rogue and decided to trek in to the city to find myself an authentic Chicago-style hot dog (first introduced to me by Portillo’s/Eric Burnett). The hotel suggested I take a $4 train ride, which I did, and to my surprise it was a double-decker adventure that made me feel like I was on the Knight Bus. But, it took 45 minutes, and my phone was dying so I couldn’t play games :(
When I got there, I was greeted by this lovely sight:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5981697835/in/photostream
Then, armed with a little bit of phone charge and a yelp app, I set out to find that perfect dog. I must have walked all the wrong directions because sadly, after 2 hours of humidity and blisters (tmi?):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5981869797/in/photostream
this was the best I could do:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5981697747/in/photostream
I had to sprint back to Union Station (or wait ANOTHER two hours), dripping and still hungry, to sit on this thing for another 45 minutes (picture taken just before my phone finally died):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5982259414/in/photostream
When I got back to the Itasca bus station, there was not a cab in sight and it started to thunder and rain. Luckily, someone else’s cab took pity on me and I finally got back to the hotel.
Phew!
Meanwhile, la was living the beautiful life in Denver:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5982259254/in/photostream
All in all, it was a nice departure from our regular grind. For those of you who go on business trips, you know how fun it is to spring for the $5 snacks on the plane or $9.99 internet at the hotel knowing it’s all ending up on an expense report. When I arrived at the Itasca, IL Westin, walked up to that front desk and handed them my credit card, it was a great feeling to know that I’d be getting the rewards points but not footing the bill. Traveling for work is awesome!
xo and back at my regular old Los Angeles desk…
li
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