Make Time: Back Home Again

After driving 20,000 miles in four months, I'm finally back in Chicago where I started. I got into town around 2pm on Saturday and picked up my friend Maggie and her buddy Mandi at a bar near where I used to live in the city. I brought them back to Maggie's beautiful apartment near downtown, which is where I would be staying until Monday. After dropping my things back at Maggie's, I drove up to meet some friends who were at a Vest Fest party. Everyone in this party was wearing a vest, which was entertaining by itself, and it was fantastic to see most of my old crew in one place. Tons of laughs. Lots of stories. And enough dancing to tire out James Brown. We didn't end until around 5am, and then I got some sleep at a friends place before heading back to Maggie's around 9am. On Sunday I spent the morning and afternoon hanging out with Maggie and eating some of my favorite deep dish pizza at Lou Malnati's. As luck would have it, my sister Taty is in Chicago right now as well, so she came over to Maggie's and then her and I drove out to the suburbs to attend my goddaughter's birthday party. What a great homecoming - being around my friends and then loved ones immediately upon my arrival in Chicago. Makes me feel like this is a special place for me, and possibly the place I should start my business. I'll be working with many people here in the city over the next few weeks in order to decide if Chicago will be my home once again. I'm more than excited about being here, and I'm going to make the most of my time here at the end of my year of travels.