So where to begin?
It was great. It was more then I expected. Leading up to this weekend I kept saying when asked if I was excited, "Well, I think it all just feels theoretical still" Like this was something that I was doing in an alternate life. The "Sliding Doors" version of me would be flying to NYC once a month and trying to change her life, while the regular old me would be watching "What Not to Wear" Friday night and picking up my produce Saturday morning just like every other weekend. But that wasn't the case. For those of you who regularly make your fantasies a reality, this might seem hard to understand. But for those of us big dreamers who too often leave our dreams where they are - making it to NYC this weekend was a big deal.
I met some great people who were all there for different reasons. I stayed with my good friend Ali, who after 13 years of being friends but barely seeing or speaking to each other still fits firmly at my side as GREAT FRIEND. Here are the rest of the highlights:
- Met my new friend Jess at a Starbucks the first morning and clicked right away
- Approached by an elderly man at the Starbucks who heard me say I was from Evanston. Turns out his daughter lives there, but he wasn't sure where. This continues my long held belief that everyone is somehow connected to Evanston
- Joshua Rosenthal (founder/director of IIN) was so funny and laid back. My two favorite qualities and not at all what I expected
- Walter Willett (director of nutrition at Harvard) was brilliant and boring, but left us with a final hilarious ending to his presentation
- Debbie Ford was beautiful, dynamic, way spicier and less new agey then I expected.
- At some point during the weekend I felt so at home with where I was I knew I"d made the right decision
- Flying into chicago I could see the lights below sparkling beneath the wave of the trees in the wind and felt it was a warm welcome home
I'm going to learn a lot this year. I will try my best to share it with you all.
Plus next time I'll try to take some photos. I mean, come on.
