My Kind Of Town...

Chicago Is!

What a FUN week in Chicago! Oprah was just the beginning of a great week with friends and family. Early in the week I caught up with my friend Allyson from high school. We have not seen each other in about four years. But thanks to the internet, we have kept in touch. I was also able to meet up with my friend Matt from high school, and his wife Lori. He gave me a great tour of Chicago at night, driving all around the city to show me the sights. While I have been there a few times before, it was nice to see it with a good tour guide.

Darrel and I decided to have lunch at the top of the Hancock Building, which is pictured below. Matt gave me a heads up on this one- you have to pay $12 a person to get to the top observatory floor, but if you go to lunch, it's about $15 and the same view. We were SO high! the restaurant is on the 84th floor.
Thursday I went to visit my cousin Jon and his family, about an hour and a half outside of town. I took the train to get there, and was very proud of myself for getting on the right one. Rachel made dinner (which was great, because it was the first time I had not eaten in a restaurant in about a month), we hung out, and watched Lost. Because I am obsessed and could not miss an episode. It was so fun to see their little one, Tanner. He is the happiest baby I have ever met!

My cousins Heather and Kelly came to town on Friday afternoon, so we could have a fun little girls weekend. I got all of my work out of the way in the morning, and we spend the afternoon shopping on Michigan. Then after a long afternoon of shopping, we went to go see Wicked! All of us absolutely LOVED it. It is so clever, and so well done. Heather said she wanted to go back on Saturday. :) We went out with Darrel and some other friends after the show, and stayed out a bit too late...
Saturday, Darrel and I met up with my friend Katy (from Arizona State), her husband, and her daughter. She is expecting another little one around Memorial Day. I had not seen her in two years- I could not believe how her little daughter Natalia has grown up! We went to the Park City Grill, right in Millenium Park by the outdoor skating rink. We made it an early lunch, and I spent the rest of the afternooon working at the hotel. Nothing too exciting, and I was kind of shopped-out by then anyway.
Saturday night was dinner with some of Heather's friends, a party, and the bars. Matt met up with us again for a fun night in Old Town.
All in all, it was one of the best weeks I have had on tour. I was so happy I could fit everyone in around work. I didn't sleep much, but it was worth it!!

OPRAH!!!

I have been in Chicago all week, and what a week it has been! I will write more later what I have seen and done, but the BIGGEST and BEST part of the week was going to see the Oprah show! I was lucky enough to get four tickets for the Tuesday taping. We picked names out of a hat, and three of our cast members came along with me. We bought new outfits, Jason made up an Oprah song- the days leading up to it were almost as fun as the actual experience.

We had absolutely no idea what show we would be seeing. It could have been Dr. Oz, or I divorced my husband day, or Gayle talks all day. But I got a call early on Tuesday telling us to dress like we were going to the finale of Dancing With The Stars. We sill had no idea (but Jason was really hoping Marie Osmond was going to be there. We arrived at the studio around 12:30, waiting in line for a long time to get through security, then waiting in a room for over an hour. They slowly started to call names to be seated, and when we walked in the studio, it was so cool! They had re-created the DWTS set! We found out that four past champions were there (all of them performed) and the entire NEW cast would be announced as well. They were all there! I was so star struck I think I had stars in my eyes. For some reason Priscilla Presley got to me the most. I could not believe I was sitting next to the wife of Elvis!

We were a bit disappointed with Oprah herself- you would think from watching the show that she would be interactive with the audience and very friendly. When the cameras were off, she was simply very business-like. No smiles, no fun. But hey- who cares!? The whole day was wonderful, and it is a great memory.

Unfortunately, no matter how many smiles we flashed, no matter how much the new outfits cost, no matter how many laughs we laughed, we were not shown when the episode aired. I guess that Drew Lachey and Kristi Yamaguchi are more important than we are! :)

Valentine's Day

We had a show in Hamilton, Ontario on Valentine's Day, so Darrel and I decided to celebrate one day early since we had the night of the 13th off. At first I had said I didn't want to exchange gifts, and we should just go do dinner. (I said this as we were walking around a Wal-Mart in Wisconsin, thinking, "I'm never going to find him something on tour"). Well, then we went to Indianapolis, they had a Nordstrom, and I changed my mind when I found this awesome purple and white paisley shirt. Poor Darrel. :)

We found a really great steakhouse in Hamilton called The Keg. Not a very romantic name, but the food was really good. After, we took a cab to this tiny little bar downtown I had read about called the Pheasant Plucker Inn. Strange name, I know, but we had fun. I still just can not get OVER the prices up here. A draft beer is like $6, and with the fees we pay for the cards to exchange, or the ATM fees, everything winds up costing us more American than it does Canadian! Who can afford this place!?

Anyway, we had a nice night, he got his shirt (wrapped in Nordstrom tissue because I never found a card store), and I got new Burberry perfume! I hope that you all had a nice day with the ones you love as well.

Working Out

I worked out today for the first time since November. I was shopping yesterday and just felt really crummy about the way I looked. I'm not saying I am fat- but I am definitely not in shape! It didn't help walking around the mall looking at pictures of stick thin models in the clothes. So I took my butt down to the (really nice) gym at the hotel today, watched "10 Years Younger", and walked 2.5 miles. Darrel said he's proud... I reminded him that today is only day one, so wait a week or so, and then be proud. Speaking of proud, he is on day four of no smoking!! Yeah for Darrel! :)

St. Louis

WOW- the theatre in St. Louis was breath-taking. We played the Fabulous Fox- there is a chain of Fox Theatres... I know they are in Atlanta and Detroit as well. We have played some great places, but nothing like this. Photos can not do it justice- the detail and vastness of it was overwhelming when we arrived. The coolest thing about this theatre is that everyone who come through signs the walls. Everyone from Tori Amos to Ray Charles, to Stomp. Everyone gets a piece. You can spend hours walking around looking in every nook and cranny (elevators, bathrooms, dressing rooms, backs of doors). I have posted some pictures of the walls, as well as the theatre. Other than the theatre, there was not a whole lot going on in St. Louis!

The Jesus Bus

On tour, I ride on a bus with Ted and Corey. Due to the fact I organize all of their media and PR, and I work late selling merch, it would be next to impossible for me to do my job without traveling with them. As a general rule, we travel at night from city to city, and sleep on the bus.

We have had three different busses, and by far, this is the BEST ride! It is actually the same bus that was in the movie Shopgirl with Claire Danes. I remember watching that movie on Netflix thinking- my GOD would I love to ride on a bus like that! Turns out... we are! Ted really fought for a nice bus, and here it is- notice the personal DVD players in each bunk, that also play satellite TV. And did I mention we have wireless?!