Chicago and Palo Alto

It has been something of a whirlwind but I just finished my 2 week US road show and I am so grateful to be in Hong Kong.  After New York City I was in Chicago for 2 days and then Palo Alto before I flew back.

Every where I go I am always on the lookout for planes, mainly because I know my boys love them so.

Chicago turned out to be a tough city for me to visit.  I could appreciate its beauty and the downtown as well as the river, and it put on its absolute best mid November show for me, but honestly as I stepped foot in the loop and heard the clatter of the El overhead, and felt the shadow of the big buildings in the business district looming, and wandered through Millenium Park and revisited old haunts on North Michigan Avenue, I couldn't help but be transported again and again to when I was a law school student, traipsing through these very same streets, full of hope but also anxiety about the future, dreading and hating law school but forcing myself through it through sheer force of will.  I briefly flirted with the idea of going down to Hyde Park to see the law school but couldn't stomach it.  I am immensely grateful to the law school for the opportunity and the education and the avenues it gave me, and happy with the friendships and connections I made, but I certainly did not enjoy the experience itself.  I think these feelings were also triply magnified because I had not set foot in the city in nearly 15 years, so I had no opportunity to make other memories there.  On this trip thankfully I could still take great delight in the city's architectural majesty, though that last picture of the Trump tower is more because I cannot believe he needed his name on that building in such an ostentatious manner.  Really?

I did get to do a quick spell of shopping with my friend Maia, and then met up with Maia and Lauren at a delicious middle Eastern restaurant, Sifra, for dinner.  That was amazing.  Every time on this trip I have seen old friends, colleagues and classmates I am struck by how emotional and sentimental I get.

That was wonderful.  The rest of my stay was occupied with a lot of meetings, enjoying the bright, light filled and spacious offices on Wacker, and a nice corporate dinner event at a steakhouse on North LaSalle.

Then I left for California, which was really lovely.  I also don't think I have been in Palo Alto in 13 or 15 some odd years, and I had never really spent much time there.  I stayed right next to Stanford and enjoyed the contrast of the smaller office and NorCal atmosphere.  The city also rained and was cloudy almost all 3 days I was there, so in marked contrast to the midwest - but I still had a really enjoyable time. I also had a bunch of meetings and met with some (really!) old friends which was amazing.  Funnily enough I didn't feel compelled to take my phone out to take any pictures - I guess it didn't feel like there was much to take pictures of, and the place I really wanted to (Facebook's campus) was strictly off limits.

Here, me and one of my oldest friends. So happy I got to hang out with her, meet her kids, and see her hubby and home!