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| Home, sweet home... |
Well, my mother is securely and warmly ensconced in her new home, and I have logged quite a few miles - air and ground - in making that dream a reality. As with all things in life, I think I learned a thing or two on my travels. At a minimum, I have a newly warm appreciation for a couple of my wiser packing choices, and a refreshed dislike of Midway Airport.
Just to get this out of the way first - if you have a choice between the 2 Chicago airports, choose O'Hare. Yes, it is bigger than some European countries, and you can walk yourself into a marathon getting around there, but at least it has clear signs giving you a clue about where to go. And moreover, it has SEATS. In a place where people have to wait, sometimes for hours, wouldn't adequate seating be the most OBVIOUS amenity to provide? Not if you're a city of Chicago Airport manager...
We arrived back in Chicago Sunday night, hot on the heels of those terrible storms. The airport was dealing with many delayed flights, and the impatient and exhausted passengers were draped over every available flat surface, which made walking an obstacle course of bags, strewn bodies, and darting children. Lovely...
Even if flights are precisely on time, the average gate at Midway provides maybe 45% of the needed seating for boarding passengers to wait. There's no such thing as giving up your seat for an older person or someone in obvious need of a seat - you're on your own in a sea of people tethered to their phones or computers. It does not bring out the best in humanity..
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| Eileen Fisher Slouch Pants |
These pants look a LOT better in person than they do in this photograph - especially if you get them long enough that they don't leave your ankles looking abandoned... These are sort of the dressiest possible take on sweat pants - they have an elastic waistband, and deep on-seam pockets,but the legs look nice and low-key with flat shoes or walking shoes. I wore mine relentlessly on this trip - machine wash delicate, tumble dry 'til they're kind of sort of dry, and hang overnight. Perfect for car riding, walking miles in a new city, dining out at casual restaurants etc. I just wish she hadn't named them "slouch". I NEVER slouch. I slink, insouciant and elegant...
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| Munro walking shoes |
These shoes are destined to be workhorses in my wardrobe until they have completely collapsed! I wore them with jeans while I was cajoling/castigating the movers, I wore them with the black Eileen Fisher pants to walk for miles some days, and they were always comfortable. I thought it was risky buying shoes online, but now that I'm sure of my size, I would do it again tomorrow.
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| Alexis Bittar stud earrings |
And I found that I wore the same pair of earrings for 14 straight days... It was easy, they are beautiful, and they worked well with my mostly grey and black wardrobe. They are small enough to be subtle, but have just enough sparkle to make me happy.
One thing I did that I might have sworn would never happen - I downloaded the Starbucks app to my phone! While I'd much prefer to patronize small, independent business in most cases, when you're in the middle of a five-day drive, and you aren't even sure what STATE you're in, familiar coffee is a wonderful sight...
I'm sure there are other things that I picked up on my travels that I will share with you in the future - do you find that you come home from travel with new insights, observations and appreciations?
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