I Can Do It....Can You?

Chicago was Great! I wouldn't recommend large cities during the holiday season, but we managed. The Marshal Fields is closing and the building becoming a Macy's sometime this year, so we went to check out the last of the window displays they do every year during the holiday season. I have never been there before, but I was glad to get a final chance. The thirteen outside windows were made into scenes from Cinderella. I wonder if Macy's will do anything unique like that. I suppose, it is Macy's.

Wicked was a great musical. I didn't know what to expect because I didn't have the chance to read up on it. Basically, the story takes place as the real Oz story is happening, but kind of on the side. You see the tin man ,scarecrow, and lion's tale for a second, but Dorothy is shown only through a screen for just a moment.

The flying monkeys are there as is the wizard behind the curtain, both very scary parts of the musical. I think it is too scary to take the kids.
Whenever any of them have to interact with the real Oz characters they kind of shout off screen. For example, Alphaba screams at Dorothy to give her the shoes, but she doesn't get a response and Alphaba kind of just shrugs and carries on with Glinda.

The music is so so. I wouldn't run out and buy the CD as there is only one song that I liked. Idina Menzel sings as Alphaba/Wicked Witch and I have been listening to the Rent CD the past few weeks so it sounds funny to hear her as the witch.
I think she is very talented.

Before the musical we decided to eat dinner at the hotel restaurant. I allowed Gretch the luxury of one ridiculously expensive meal. We went all out with appetizers, drinks of all sorts, and dessert. It was terribly expensive, but it was well worth it to watch her enjoy it. How can I complain.

I remember in San Fran, when I was still afraid to dine in any restaurant where the meal would cost over $20, we stood outside the hotel restaurant with our personal boxes of pizza's from a corner pizza place and laughed at the people inside shouting about how they were jealous cause we could lay on the bed in whatever and eat pizza.

Like I have said before, I have moved up the ladder, Gretch had to come down a few steps.

Loved the W hotel. Pricey, but well worth the cost. The rooms were wonderful and we had a nice view. We did, as we always do in Chicago, have a problem with the cleaning staff. They always come to clean the room when we are in it. We thought we had been gone long enough during the day. We wanted to come back to the room, rest, get ready for an early dinner, and leave for the evening. However, the staff was still down the hall after a half hour back in the room. We wanted to dive into bed and enjoy some alone time, but were running out of time. I checked the hall one more time and they were still way down the hall. We decided to go for it. As soon as we were under the covers, probably two minutes from me checking, there was a knock. We have been in this situation before and Gretch usually takes care of it. She was laughing and not responding, so I had to call out, asking if they could come back later. A woman asked how long, and I responded with 30 minutes. We must have giggled for five minutes and then started to get busy. G decides she can't relax with the time limit and I told her it made things more intense. We managed to pull it off and be out of the room before anyone came back. It put us in a fun mood for dinner. We laughed, ate, and had an awesome time.

That wraps up the trip. A good time was had by all!