It was quite the marathon weekend, in more ways than one!

I flew into Chicago’s Midway airport at 1am Saturday morning. I was originally going to fly in at different time, but work situations changed and alas…there I was. So I hopped in my rental for the 4 hour drive to Toledo. Yea, I know - what was I thinking. I think it was worth it when I rolled up to the front desk at the hotel and the woman asked me “Checking out, sir?”. Uh, no…checking in, thanks. Just in time for breakfast? No thanks, just in time to pass out!

So that I did and woke up and went to the wedding, which was beautiful. And then there was a little downtime before the reception, which I was thankful for because I got to take a nap. Staying up working until 5am on Thursday and driving through the night on Friday finally caught up with me. Then we partied until the wee hours of the morning.

Sunday I headed back early to Chicago, only to be informed that the Chicago marathon was taking place. I tuned my radio into the AM station that was covering it just in time to hear the men’s photo finish (!!) and shortly thereafter, the women’s surprise finish. Unfortunately, the marathon was cut short due to the excessive heat in Chicago. I hung out with a few friends and then my cousin was generous enough to delay her trip back home to chill with me for a little while as well.

Then it was on a flight back home and I am about ready to crash, hard! It’s been quite the weekend.

On a nostalgic note, I was driving back from the reception and passed the hotel that I stayed at when I originally moved from Rochester to Chicago and stopped midway in Toledo - the Toledo Dreamplex. It looked like it was shut down and abandoned, but I can book a room next weekend through Expedia if I want to!

Congratulations to the happy couple!

It was a beautiful day for a beautiful couple. It was even better to see all my friends again, some of whom I hadn’t seen since November of last year. It had been far too long and I regret not going back to Chicago more often to see my friends!

I once got a pic featured on Chicagoist and it seems I have done the same again with Seattlest. A picture I took of the octopus when JLeyrer was in town and we visited the aquarium recently got used on the Seattlest site.

As Mike indicated - the legend continues.

In case you’re wondering, I did successfully make the drive from Chicago to Seattle, with some brief stops in Omaha and Denver (thanks to both my friends there for putting me up…or putting up with me…for the night).  The last day was the best, being a 20-hour haul from Denver to Seattle.  It was tough, but I did surprisingly well and the only tough part was the second to last hour.  Other than that, a good mix of wonderful scenery through Montana, stand-up comedy, my cb radio, and recordings of This American Life kept me awake and alert.  I’ve got some pictures to post, but it’ll be a while until I unpack my camera cable.  I should mention I’m already on the road for work (yeayea, so much for less travel…not to mention I’m not even home to receive my belongings from the movers), but it’s an awesome client and job in Beverly Hills and the movers situation has been taken care of.  For now, I need to crash.  On the “Damon is angry at you” list after tonight - the TSA and Alamo Rent-a-Car.  Another round of thanks goes to Hertz.

Well Chicago, the time has come.  The boxes are packed, the truck is loaded and all that’s left is a sleeping bag, a laptop, and an open wireless access point.  We’ve had some good times, that’s for sure.  And I’ll miss you.  But it’s time to move on.  Tomorrow morning, I leave for Omaha, NE to visit with a friend there, then on to Denver for another visit.  And then finally…Seattle, WA - Portal to the Pacific.  Thanks again to all my friends that have made Chicago such an awesome place - I’ll be back from time to time, there is no doubt about that  For now, though…peace out!
(p.s.) I was surprised with how long the movers took to pack everything up in the truck (~6 hours), but very, very impressed with their attention to detail and careful nature - to which I will post a longer blog about in the future.

Packers are here today - it’s kind of fun watching everything get packed up for me knowing I don’t have to do it.  Only a couple more days to go!

I made a photo set on Flickr the other day of the past year.  If you’re bored at work and have a little while, check it out - Year in Pictures - 2006.  I even made a cool little slideshow with some accompanying music (thanks, Apple iPhoto…that was really easy!), but it’s something only my mother would probably care about.  Don’t worry, ma, I’m sending you a DVD.

Most of you already know. Those that don’t, this will be news. I posted the cute little map a week or so ago, but what it really meant is that there are a couple changes coming up in my life. I recently found a new tenant for my apartment in Chicago. I will be in Seattle this weekend looking for a place to live.

That’s right. I’ve decided to pull up my roots and move out west. Something I never thought I would do, at least not to the extent that I am.

As many of you know, I spent about 5.5 months out of this year in the Seattle area for work. Turns out I absolutely loved it. Between Rainier, work, and that whole dancing thing…I created a whole new life for myself out there. It felt good. And I’m taking a risk and moving far away from friends and even further away from my family (as I write this, my sister is in the process of moving back east). There’s one friend I’m moving a little closer too…and I’m very happy about that. I miss that guy!
It’s funny. I’ve always believed things happen for a reason and I was originally very upset about having to spend the entire summer out in Seattle. Turns out…It’s reminded me of the things I love most in life. Is it far from friends? Yes. Is it farther from family? Yes. But what’s a couple extra hours on a plane - I’ll still go home for the holidays, it doesn’t matter where I am. What matters is living life and doing what you love.
So that’s the news. My last day at my current job is tomorrow. I’ve got an awesome new job out in Seattle with an awesome group. I can’t wait to get back out to the mountains. And I can’t wait to get back to the wonderful Bellevue studio (the Chicago studio has treated me quite well in the meantime, tough). And I can’t wait to immerse myself in my job and the Seattle culture. Don’t worry, Dad…I won’t become a wacked-out liberal!
I will miss Chicago. I will miss my friends, but that’s why I hope to find a place where they can crash when they come visit me. I will miss my family, but I’m no closer than I was in Chicago. I will miss my new friends I’ve met even in the past couple months since I’ve been back in Chicago…you know who you are. A couple of you only work a half-mile from me. There’s a lot I will miss…but there is a lot I am looking forward to. Quality of life. Mountains. Hills. Camping. Hiking. Biking. Dancing. Security. Skillz. P1r4t3z. Etc. Seattle offers all this. Chicago offers quite a bit, but there are so many things I reconnected with when I was out there that I simply can’t stay away.

So that’s it. A little over one week and I’m headed out. Thanks to all my friends here - you will keep me coming back, and I hope you come out to one of the best places in the country to visit me. And if I call you in the middle of the night next week…it’s just because I’m on the road and need a little love and some conversation to stay awake on my trek out West. When I get there…I will have driven across the entire country on Interstate 90.
Live…love…and…as always…hack on.

I’ll miss you Chicago.

D

For all one of my readers that faithfully listens to This American Life (TAL) on NPR, TAL is now available as a podcast!  I’m pretty pscyhed because I usually only happen to catch snippets of it while I’m running around doing Saturday morning runs to Home Depot and the grocery store.

Other favorite NPR shows (dorky, I know…):

• Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz - acclaimed artists and up-and-coming performers as they share music and memories with their legendary host, Marian McPartland.
• Car Talk - The “Tappett Brothers” diagnose your car over the phone…and make fun of you.
• A Prairie Home Companion - Something of a live stand-up comedy show.
• Michael Feldman’s Whad’Ya Know? - Another fun quiz show with celebrity guests.
• Wait Wait — Don’t Tell Me! - Fun news quiz show.
• Jazz with Dick Buckley - plays rare recordings and shares his personal stories of the greats of jazz.
  

That’s the short list.  Most of these are on Saturday and Sunday mornings/early afternoon and it’s a favorite tradition of mine to make a purpose to be either in my car or in bed when these come on so I can thoroughly enjoy them.

This evening, a few friends and I went to a restaurant called Timo, formerly Thyme.  This place is right up the street from me and I’ve passed it dozens of times and have always wanted to check it out.  I must say - one of the best dining experiences I’ve had.  Ironically enough, the outdoor garden patio is rated as one of the best in the city, but being that winter has come early that was not an option.  Regardless, the food more than made up for that.  Service was excellent with sneaky waiters finding a way to continuously refill the water without being noticed and folded napkins in the event that you left the table (which we did to check out the garden patio).

For dinner, I chose the pork shank - other options at the table included a halibut special, sea scallops, and a steak.  The pork shank was absolutely amazing and truly fell off the bone - no knife was needed.  All of the other dishes were spectacular too - I would order any one of them.  Dessert, as well, was amazing.  I had a trio of creme brulee that was easily some of the best I’ve had.

I simply can’t say how good this meal was.