Who let the girls out in Chicago??

Ok, so the Chicago trip was mainly all about the Kings of Leon concert but since Jennie and Kelly had never been to Chicago I figured we had to do some of the free touristy things so they could say they popped their Chicago cherry. I wouldn't be much of a friend if I wasn't willing to pop a cherry, now would I?

We woke up fairly early considering we got in kind of late AND we all had to shower after being rained on, so at about 8 am we were all feeling bright eyed and bushy tailed. OK, that's a straight up lie. I think Kelly was the only one who was gun ho about being awake. And so as we're getting ready we hear this knocking on the door. Now, none of us brought a boy back to the room so we're thinking it's someone who's clearly confused. No- it's housekeeping asking us when we're leaving.

Hi- check out is at noon, bitch. I know you are all excited about not really cleaning but making it look like you did, but jesus. We still have three hours to make a mess if we want to. Whore. Good thing it wasn't me answering the door and good thing I have nice friends.

So after leaving and loading up the van with our shit, we decided that since our hotel offers no food (despite paying $323 for the night after taxes), we were going to hit up a Starbucks to feed Kelly and Jennie's addiction to coffee. I opted for orange juice and a donut. Both of which were disgusting. I took 3 sips of my juice and 2 bites of my donut before tossing them. Goodbye $5.71 I'll never see again.

But we saw the Chicago Bean in Millennium park. Super weird when it's all sunny and bright out. When I was here in March it was all rainy and gross so yeah. It's REALLY reflective in the sun. So here's Jennie and Kelly popping their Chicago cherry.

And then I had to get my dork on. Obviously.

OK, so I got my touristy dork on twice. Sue me.

But one thing that I didn't get to do in March was see the view. It was so cold and rainy out while we were there, not to mention foggy as hell, so when I visited the Hancock Building for a view we saw pretty much nothing. Which on it's own was kind of creepy. But this time I paid for the girls and I go up to the Observatory on the 94th floor because I? Wanted to see the damn city. And see the city I did.

To say it was gorgeous is a huge understatement. Seriously- it's Chicago for as far as you can see. I'm already itching for another girls weekend trip- this time focusing on Navy Pier and the beach.

So some of my more with it followers remembered that I started my Chicago trip by getting my period. The fun thing about me is that I'm nothing if not predictable. On every fun thing I have ever done in my life, any kind of trip, any kind of anything- one of two things will happen. I'll either get a migraine or I'll get my period. I had my period on the kayak trip. Any woman alive will just know how much you don't want to be having your period when you are stuck inside a fucking kayak for 6 hours. You also don't really want to be at a concert where you are going to get rained on. And because my girly bits are all not where they are meant to be, tampons are not an option for me. So yah- it's gross anyways and I gag thinking about it but seriously. Throw me in a car for 8 hours with my period and I? Am going to get cranky. Jennie and Kelly didn't tell me to settle the hell down so maybe I was ok after all. But walking all day Sunday? Dis-gus-ting.

We ended up leaving Chicago around 2:30ish, but then didn't actually leave the city limits until 4ish due to traffic. But guess what we got to drive next to for awhile??

A mariachi band! I am loving how the driver is kind of smiling.

Anyways. So while Jennie and Kelly watched the rest of season 2 of True Blood in the backseat, I drove us home as fast as I possibly could. We arrived in Superior at what- 11:30 pm? That was after a stop in Madison to get gas and eat dinner at a gas station Taco Bell where our order taker guy had hardly any teeth, and a stop at Rice Lake so I could pee and get french fries and a soda. Poor Kelly had another 20 minutes to go since she lives in a town outside of Duluth, but it wasn't bad. AND I didn't feel like falling asleep while driving so that's always a plus.

But this trip just reminded me how much I love the city. I thrive in the city. I feel like I'm in my element. Like at any given time there are a million things I could be doing at the exact moment and it's up to me to decide which thing is cool enough for me to go to. Whereas in Superior....not so much. A trip to Target is about as exciting as I'm going to get. :)

Kings of Leon. Minus Bird Poop.

So after MONTHS (seriously- since March) of waiting....finally I went to Chicago to see my lovers, Kings of Leon. First off, I can't even tell you how much I love KOL because all of you would be here for days and by the end you would wish I permanently lost my voice or that my fingers would just seriously fall off already. Because I could go on for days about them, their music, and their talent. So please, hit play to your right to rock the hell out with me.

So I'm going to post more about the rest of the weekend tomorrow, but I seriously felt like this concert deserved it's very own post. The concert was actually held in Tinley Park in the amphitheatre there- which to be honest, made me nervous. Two reasons: number one being our seats were in row ZZ out of MMM and two, all of the reviews of the venue that I read Friday night were awful. I kept reading about poor sound quality and that sucks. But seriously- nothing would prevent me from going to KOL.

Jennie and I, pre-concert 

At the concert we realized our seats were fucking awesome. Almost in front of the stage, just enough back that we could see AND we had cover over our heads. This would come to be pretty damn important about an hour into the show.

Me and Kelly, pre-concert

Two opening bands played, The Stills and Built to Spill. I had only heard maybe two songs from each band prior so I didn't really know what to expect. Usually this is fine because I've discovered a lot of bands I love by them being opening acts so I am always there early to catch them. I feel like a lot of opening acts don't get the credit they deserve when really, they want it just as bad as the headliner.

The Stills were good. They seem new, they seem like they are trying to find their performing niche so to speak, but they were pretty good. Good enough that I'd like to hear more from them.

Built to Spill sucked so fucking badly I felt like my ears were going to bleed. Seriously, I was one step away from covering my ears and hiding under my seat saying, "Mommy make it stop" because that band? WOULD.NOT.STOP. Seriously. Nobody was feeling them. Hardly any clapping was happening between songs. The singer either had an abnormally large tongue, a speech impediment, or was drunk as fuck because everything was slurred. They had to start a bunch of songs over, and really? Save yourself the embarrassment.

I'm sad you can't really see this. But the tragedy is not just her unfortunate shorts, but her legs? Looked like they had a herpes outbreak. Seriously. It was disgusting. They were all red and rash like. DISGUSTING.

AND we got to sit behind the fat family. Yup. The mom? Had afro hair and I couldn't see around her. The dad who wouldn't just sit the fuck down (seriously- he was forever getting up to get them all food and drinks) was so sweaty and fat. So he would fan the sweat from his hair onto us. DISGUSTING. And they kept eating these hamburgers that smelled like ass and then proceeded to fart all night. Oh- and the teenage girls? Had skirts so short I'm pretty sure we saw vag.

In the middle of the Built to Spill set my dear, dear bestie Mr. O texts me about the KOL concert in St. Louis. And the bird poop. And because I don't watch the news and hadn't been in touch with the internet since 5am on Friday, I had no idea what he was talking about and thought he was messing with me. Coincidentally- he wasn't.

Jennie and I waiting for KOL. It was 99 degrees and 100% humidity. Goodbye makeup. So glad we spent time on you.

When KOL came out obviously everybody started losing their shit.

HEY! It's me with really bizarro lighting and pigtails!

Anyways, so they opened with "Crawl" which is just a good opening song. One thing about KOL is that they? Are so incredible live that I am willing to say they are better live than they are on an album. Don't get me wrong- I have all of their cd's and know the words by heart. I can listen to any of their songs and immediately feel the emotions behind it. But they are true musicians. They don't need auto tune. They don't need machines and shit to make them sound good. They work at it until they perfect it on their own. And that? Is a real rock band.

But at about five songs in, Caleb says, "Well- we made if five songs so far", no doubt in reference to the bird poop incident in which they had to leave after three songs. (Which seriously- I don't blame them. That is fucking disgusting and Caleb is a germaphobe. I think big props to him for even going out because I certainly wouldn't have. Grossness.) And like right on cue- the rain started. Along with thunder and lightning. It was AMAZING. I like rain storms anyways and the scarier the better, but this was just awesome to see. I did feel bad for the assholes on the lawn but not for long because the wind switched and then we were getting drenched. Which was actually fine because it was so mother fucking hot outside.

To which Caleb says, "We'll keep playing until the birds start shitting."

Oh Caleb- I heart you. *swoon*

Anyways. So they played hard. I started to get jealous about the bitches on the lawn because guess what? It is REALLY hard to rock out when you have a super heavy purse on you. And are in narrow aisles that slant downward. Because that? Has broken ankle written all over it. But I did at a few points. I had to risk possible ankle injury because this concert was worth it. I called two friends during "Sex on Fire" because if you could been there? ELECTRIC. I love the sound of an entire crowd drowning out the band while singing. They did it during "Sex on Fire" and obviously again on "Use Somebody". Surprise sing along of the night? "Knocked Up". I love that song anyways, but I am surprised at how many people sang along to it because nobody knew it at the Minneapolis concert this fall. Shame. I was also surprised that I appeared to be the only one anywhere around me to know "Molly's Chambers" and "Fans". What the hell, people?! I will say for the record that "Molly's Chambers" is in my top 5 of favorite KOL songs and also one of the top three of their songs that seriously will get me hot and bothered. A lil Sara Fun Fact for ya.

OK, so after the encore performance it was REALLY raining. And I mean REALLY raining. Anybody on the lawn were so far gone drenched they were in no rush. For those of us who were only wet on our backs we wanted to stay a little more dry but it wasn't happening. It took us maybe 20 minutes to get from our seats to my van in which we arrived totally soaked. Soaked beyond soaked. It was so worth it. My bra was retaining water. My shoes were retaining water. My underwear was soaked. My jeans were so wet I had a hard time getting them off.

Annoying thing- when venues don't have traffic control and make exits a free for all. With the ridiculous amount in fees we pay just to see a concert you think they could at least get a rent-a-cop or something. It took us a really long time to get out of the parking lot.

So here's me when we got back to the hotel. My hair had started to dry and my shirt was stinky. Makeup is gone. Yucky.

All in all? Fantastic fucking concert. Probably the best concert I've ever been to? Yes- definitely would say that. Muse is going to be a close second, but Kings of Leon put on a great show. I think they had about 20-25 songs in their set and even though Caleb mentioned having a sore throat and haggard vocal chords, you never would have known it. They rocked it out and they rocked it hard. They interact just enough but they are there to play for you and that's what they do. Their set looked great (my camera sucks so fucking bad- all my pics are blurry. Sorry.), they had a little bit of pyro, they had a million screens so no matter where you were you were seeing the band. And even though you know a lot of time and money goes into these shows, to me, it still felt like you were seeing a band on the edge of being discovered. Like the last stop before they make it huge. That? Is talent. I think it just confirms that they are still in touch with their fans, they are there to perform and make great music- not to indulge in all of the excesses that eat a band up. True musicians. I wish there were more of them.

I'm leaving......in a minivan...

...and I won't be back until late Sunday night...

(repeat that in your BEST Elton John voice.)

That's right hookers! This bitch is going to Chicago in approximately 20 minutes. By the time you read this me, Jennie and Kelly are (hopefully) in the middle of Wisconsin (if you're reading in the morning/early afternoon) with the intention of arriving in downtown Chicago at 3pm.

THEN.....I will attempt to woo Caleb Fallowill from row ZZ at the Kings of Leon concert. It sounds bad, but the rows go until MMM, so maybe it won't be so bad. CROSSING MY FINGERS.

And what better way to kick off an eight hour car ride than....dun dun dun.....

having your period. That's right- Mother Nature is once again proving that I'm actually HER bitch by giving me horrendous cramps, a headache, and yes- bleeding which may require stops. Which can only mean that I may be forced to use *GASP* gas station bathrooms.

Fuck you, Mother Nature. Fuck you.

See you all Monday!