05.26.05 - 10:23 p.m.

There is nothing more infuriating than listening to your beloved snore peacefully as you enter your second hour of not sleeping for the second night in a row. Well, most likely there is something more infuriating, but you can't remember it at the time because all your brain can do is think, "I'M NOT ASLEEP LA LA LA AND NOW IT'S 4:45 AND YOU HAVE TO GET UP IN AN HOUR AND A HALF AND WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT, BITCH?"

The infuriation and the insomnia disappeared nicely once I canceled my bridal shower and bachelorette party Tuesday afternoon. Everyone was quite happy to be disinvited except my mom and Dan's mom. What is it with adults and these idiotic, painful gatherings? I'm not going to get into my feelings on the matter here, since I'm sick of defending myself to all females over 30, but suffice to say I think they're deplorable events and I'm so, so, SO relieved I don't have to go through that process.

So. I am going to Chicago in a few months, and I don't know what to do with myself. Most of my time will be spent in Grant Park at Lollapalooza, but I have a 4.5-hour block of time between my flight's arrival and my sister's, and I have to figure out how to make the most of it.

Our dinner Friday night will be at Avec. I can't plan the other two nights because lollapalooza.com doesn't have a band schedule posted yet, so I can't see when we'll have a break or two to leave the park. They say the setup will be something similar to the Taste of Chicago, where yummy vendor booths are lined up for your snacking pleasure, and that would be a tremendous improvement over the Lollapalooza food memories of my youth. But then, I also remember the large nasty mountains of Harry Caray potato chips at my one and only excursion to the Taste, and I shudder.

So I have one lunch on Friday, a few hours of doing SOMETHING, and then dinner (Avec) and a bar. I feel like I have to comb the archives to remember where I used to go and what I used to do when I lived there. Apart from seeing millions of Howie Day concerts, that is. How can I forget so many details from that year? It was a pivotal year, a banner year, a year where I Found Myself (though not my intended profession, but what the hell). There were beers at Cullens, there were many drives on Lake Shore Drive and too many trips to Orleans Street. There was my first trip to Whole Foods, my first trip to Jamba Juice, tapas nights on that little restaurant off Clark and Fullerton, and late night trips to the Tower Records. There was entirely too much time spent at the movie theater in Evanston, and probably just as much time spent at Urban Outfitters. None of this warrants any "tourist" time when I'm back, but I'm glad to be remembering it now.