Chicago Chicago that's my kind of town

You may have been wondering where we were last week (don't tell me you didn't notice!?!?)

Well the answer is a well deserved trip to Chicago for a little R&R, Planning & Promoting.

For those of you who don't know, I am from Chicago (ok, actually a 'burb about 40 miles due west of the windy city known as Aurora... yes, the home of the original Wayne's World.) Anyways, Atlanta is a great place to live, but Chicago will always have my heart, currently has my family & has a ton of stores that should carry Rinse and did I mention Oprah?

She (being Oprah) has not called yet, but I have a phone line almost dedicated for her call and no, even being from there, I have never even gotten to see the Oprah show anywhere but on TV. The family was great & the promoting was not nearly what I wanted.

We spent most of our time out visiting fantastic children's activities. My favorite: Dupage County Children's Museum which made way for the brilliant birthday party theme for our little squirt (bubbles & water.) Other places we loved: Morton's Arboretum, Wheeler Park & Swedish Days both in Geneva, Phillip's Park Zoo along with a slew of train stations and other boy loving activities.

We spent our eating times enjoying traditional Chicago-fare including: Hot Dogs & Italian Beefs from Portillo's; the best ketchup-free Hot Dog from Gene & Judes and a Pizza Pot Pie from Chicago Pizza & Oven Grinder (which is quaintly located right across the street from where the St. Valentine's Day Massacre happened... I love gangsta history.

A lot of Rinse planning got taken care of along with behind the scenes stuff (nothing too exciting.) What didn't get done was the pounding the pavement finding the perfect salons, spas & boutiques to carry Rinse. Samples & marketing materials weren't distributed (ok, 1 postcard was handed out.) There's always next time.

Next time might just be sooner than we thought. We applied for the Renegade Chicago show in September. We'll know in just a few weeks if we're in. I sure hope so since Chicago hasn't experienced Rinse in a very very long time (a little bit of Rinse history - Rinse was actually founded in Chicago.) And if not September a winter trip is definitely in order.