to live and die by the weather channel

To be honest, I wasn’t really looking forward to this trip. I don’t do well in the cold. And I’m sure they don’t call Chicago the Windy City for nothing. Yesterday, I checked weather.com and found out that the high for Chicago today would be 20 degrees with 25MPH winds. Hmmm…I’m no meteorologist, but that seems pretty cold to me.

So…as I sit here waiting for my co-worker to stop working, I’m thinking, I am a total wuss. I don’t even want to go out tonight because weather.com tells me that it’s currently 11 degrees. I don’t even want to know what that feels like with 25MPH winds. I can only imagine and my imagination is telling me, NOOOOOO…stay inside your warm, cozy, posh hotel room. Where it’s 72 degrees with 0MPH winds. So, I’m a total wuss because I’m going to let the weather dictate whether or not I go out tonight? Yes. Yes, I am.

That’s not to say that I didn’t do anything today. Lucky for me and S, we got into town way before the start of the afternoon workshop we were to attend. It wasn’t a long flight from National to Midway, so we had plenty of energy by the time we got to the hotel where we’re staying, conveniently located on the Magnificent Mile. Immediately, I noticed that there was a Kenneth Cole store across the street from the hotel. Hmmm…this is my kind of place. I heart Kenneth Cole.

On our way to Giordano’s for authentic Chicago-style pizza, I began to notice something. I could not feel my face. It was SO cold and the wind wasn’t helping. The rest of my body was fine, relatively warm under 4 layers of clothing. I had my scarf wrapped around my neck several times, with a wool beanie, and the warmest gloves I own were keeping my hands from freezing. The only part of my body not covered was my face and I was loosing all feeling there.

Giordano’s was only 6 blocks from the hotel but by the time we hit Superior St, I couldn’t feel my lips. I deliberately became a blabbermouth on our short walk in order to keep the blood flowing in my lips. Blood = warmth, right? Anyways, moving my lips did nothing to prevent the numbness brought on by the cold. By the time we got to the restaurant, I was so appreciative. Hmmm…warmth at last. The first thing I did when I got the menu was order a cold beer and a cup of soup. Perhaps if I had enough beer, I would be too drunk to notice the frostbite.

In order to work off the most carb-alicious pizza I have ever consumed in my life, S and I decided to do some shopping. Walking around the city didn’t feel so bad this time around and I totally think it was the beer I had. Hmmm…beer.

So, with my afternoon workshop having come and gone, I’m sitting here watching "the OC" (at 8:00!) and hoping to stay in for the night. I’m scared of the cold outside and room service is starting to look like a great idea. In the epic battle between the Cold and Lizzie, I have decided to raise the white flag.

However, tomorrow will be 2 degrees warmer. Maybe I’ll be able to feel the difference…

Or I could just get drunk tomorrow night and numb myself with liquor before the Cold does.