Make Time: Chicago Time

So I've been home in Chicago now for about 4 days and it's been very surreal. I landed on Saturday around 6:30am and headed right into my buddy Jimmy's place in Old Town (neighborhood I used to live before I left). The biggest shock to my system was the weather - wow. It's not warm here at all! All day on Saturday it was below freezing, and since then it's had some warmer weather but it never stays. I knew it was gonna be cold but it's sobering when you go from Brazilian beaches to frozen Chicago. So I'm at Jimmy's place by about 7:30am and we start off St Patrick's day as usual - drinks and more drinks. A high school buddy of mine, Sean O'Connor, joined in the crew with a friend of his, and Jimmy's cousin Alissa joined in and we had a great crew. We left for the bars about 11am and they were PACKED. Everywhere we went had a line and so we hung at our favorite bar for a while but I quickly lost the crew and was wondering solo. Somehow in my solo-wandering I managed to lose my top hat. Yes, the top hat that made it through all of South America was lost on my first day back in Chicago. I guess it was ready to go. Thanks for getting me through South America, buddy - hope you're in good hands. The rest of my St Pats day continued with many bars, friends, and laughs. I ended around 7pm with some much missed buffalo wings - definitely back in Chicago.

Since Saturday I've been hanging with friends and spending quality time relaxing. The cold weather makes it very easy to relax, which is nice. On Friday I'm flying to Las Vegas to spend the weekend with friends from my days in San Francisco. They do a trip every year for the beginning of the college basketball championship tournament, otherwise known as March Madness, and it's a blast. We're staying at the Mirage this year, which is a great spot, and we have a great deal on the rooms so it's not going to cost much at all. Phew. Also, the best part is that my oldest sister Taty is going to be in Vegas on Friday so we get to hang out. Bonus! Can't wait to see her and hang out. I'm going to be a little more quiet over the next few weeks because I'm home here in Chicago, but I'll update the blog with anything significant (paintings, funny goings on, etc).