July is Tourist Month

And last night, Frontera Grill was over run by the jean short wearing lot of them. I wonder how many were there because the food is excellent, and how many were there just because Bayless is famous enough to have been on a multitude of television shows. There's something very wrong about arriving at a restaurant, one that doesn't except reservations, mind you, at 5:30 to be told that it would be a good two hours before they could even think about seating you.

Thankfully, the wonderful Blackbird was able to fit us in, and I don't think we could've had a more lovely meal. The Pinenut Gazpacho was summer in a bowl, and the Buckwheat Crepes were a perfect entree to follow. The dining room was light and airy, and the front of house staff was a delight. So I'm pretty happy that we couldn't get into Frontera, to tell you the truth.

Tonight? Charlie Trotters. Dude.

At Blogher yesterday, I sat in on a couple of technical sessions - accessibility standards and traffic drivers - that made the conference completely worthwhile. I'm hoping that I'll be able to get into the panel discussion that's playing host to Amy Sedaris this afternoon, but I have a feeling that the room is going to be bursting at the seams.

Props to Blogher for:

• Technical sessions
• Amy Sedaris
• Sponsor AOL's awesome swag - a Casauri laptop bag
  

Not so much with the props to Blogher for:

• Unfocused Community Building session
• Caterers who (a) put bacon in the only green salad on the buffet, and (b) decided that vegetarian baked beans would be an excellent vegetarian meal option in the middle of a sweltery, muggy summer.
  

Sweet, Sweet Chicago, Day 1.5

Chicago makes me smile. That's pretty much the best thing that any city can do, I think. So I guess it's a pretty good thing that that's where I am right now.

I arrived mid-afternoon yesterday, and was promptly whisked away from the utility vest wearing masses at O'Hare by my lovely, lovely friend Lisa. We headed into the city to check me in at my hotel, and headed off in search of CYCLING GOLD.

Matt, Lisa's husband, rides bikes. And when I say he rides bikes, I don't mean that he meanders about the roads like I do, I mean that he gets his ass in races and he picks up points, and sometimes performs magic tricks at the same time. Last night, we all headed down to the velodrome just outside of the city to watch some excellent athletic craziness go down. There's nothing finer then sitting outside with friends you haven't seen in person in a good year watching people ride around and around in circles, sometimes at speeds that make your head spin.

Also, athletic feats provide excellent fodder for the mocking. Because we are horrible, horrible people. Dry humping and disco? I can't even begin to tell you about it.

This morning, after the gym and food shopping for breakfast at Fox and Obel - yes, I've gotten to that point where I've traveled so much that I refuse to eat every meal in a restaurant - I walked on down to the Navy Pier for the start of the BlogHer 07 conference. Where I am now. Blogging. Because I am an utter, utter nerd. In my defense, however, the welcome session that's occurring at this very minute has devolved into what I can only describe as a 700-person theatre game masked as an introduction tool.

Theatre games give me hives. And instead of being a useful tool, they make me feel like a tool. So I have retreated to one of the session rooms, and am patiently waiting for the session-y bits of the day to start.

This evening, we're going to see if the excellently hirsute Rick Bayless' restaurant Frontera Grill will allow us to sample their wares. This is where I clap like a goon.

Oh, people are starting to wander into the room! So post this I will, and see you in a bit, kids.