Bon Chic Bon Genre

Bon Chic Bon Genre , Chicago Chicago and Ciao Italy !!

When does a new friend become an old friend ?

Is it while " running" a 5 K in two different continents in a span of 6 months ?

or is it when some random person you've just met sees pictures on your digi cam and asks if the girl in the picture near the fountain is your best friend?




..maybe it is over singing to coldplay in a loud bar ..and drinking rice water ( lol! ..couldnt think of the actualy word ..thot of ricotta ...but thats cheese isnt it ?!)

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.maybe be it is over watermelons , rain , cheese cake , jelly beans and a fabulous skyline .

..or is it when you all end up wearing white shirts and looking like triplets ?



Or maybe it is while watching the sunset from the plant"a"rium ...over a very trendy yucky green tea latte ..

or maybe it is while contemplating the "balconization" of chicago onj an architectural tour that was simply amazing !

maybe it is over fireworks , family and friends ?





I couldnt pinpoint the exact moment .
But like the best things in life and the best memories that last a lifetime - one seldom can .

It was the weekend of a lifetime - or a lifetime in a weekend !
From Bucktown , Little Italy , Lakeshore drive , magnificient mile , Navy Pier , Millenium park , 5K and the Metra ...this weekend was truly about the Taste of Chicago !

Thank you Thank you Thank you

Some Fun Facts from my trip :

1. BCBG - stands for Bon Chic Bon Genre ...Tinu , Riz , Farzeen : I will NEVER make the jurraat of wearing a designer whose name I cannot abbreviate or exapand ..and no ..I havent bought my ABCD jeans yet ...and Riz and Tinu : Blue Cross Blue Shiled ..does Not have a clothing line !!!

2. Farzeen ..the jelly beans in this posting refers to the 40 + feet tall monument gracing millenium park ..so I did not eat them all alone without sharing (unlike the Eli cheesecake)

3. cant wait to go to Mary"Land"

4. Always remember to be just like in looovee with animals and treat computers like they are our friends ( someone actually said that to me ..lol)

5. the great fire of Chicago that raised the entire city to the ground started because a lady was milking her cow who accidentally knocked down a lamp causing the inferno
- the burnt to ashses the entire city ...but this also meant that for the reconstaruction ..architects and engineers from all over the world flooded chicago and created some abs specatacular buildings and monuments

6. RECOMMENDATION : I look an architectural tour of the city in a boat . They take you down river and show you all the fabulous buildings and explain the art and the forms and different construction styles and stories behind the buildings . Its about 2 hours long and is a MUST if you ever visit the windy city . Tours leave from the docks near the Wrigley Building . It was very informational and exciting .
I felt like I was in the fountainhead ..and was imagining the rush of excitement that must have been in teh city during those great times

7. Did you know that the Sears tower has a zip code of its own ..housse 16 thousand ppl and is made of 9 cubes one on top of the other ?

8. Thank you Farzeen for taking me to the Chicago Tribune . It was the fav part of my trip .The entire building has pieces of art and material from monoments all over the world including the WTC , Sistine Chapel , Taj Mahal , Pyramids ..etc



9. All the houses surronding the river have extrenal makeshift wrought iron balconies ...that hang like coat hangers from the top nd bottom of the buildings ..thats because most of the buildings were warehouses and id not ahve outdoor porches ...so they had to be external ..leading to the "balconization" of chicago ..per our tour guide

10. I 've always liked the NY skyline ...but I have to say ..that after this weekend ..I'm in loooveee with the windy city and its skyline wins hands down in terms of art and style !!!

11. Farzeen clicked a very candid snap of me near the lakefront and I was trying to remember what I was thinking precisely at that moment when I saw the picture today ...I was thinking about my family ..and ushma ..and our place and all the times in Bombay and how far it felt from that lakefront walkway ..and how I'd give anything to have them there with me looking at the sunset ..and it made me think of something that a co TA of mine said to me once ..my first semester in the US ...about Home ..and how Home was not where you were meant to live forever - it was what you carried inside you forever ..no matter where life took you .