Technical note:

Joe's Travels

I figured out how to allow for comments by anyone so feel free to comment away...

The stars at night....

So I just got back from meetings in Houston and there's not much really to say or any pictures for that matter. They had a nice mall.... that was about it. And if you've seen one mall, you've seen them all. Basically, there was an "indoor" mall right next to an "outdoor" mall, but near the indoor mall there was a man made river. The area was called the Woodlands and it was very nice looking with a bunch of trees and that man made river by the mall and all, but with the heat and humidity of Texas added in. I guess they are opening a Ferrari dealership somewhere nearby, but when I checked on housing prices on Zillow.com, the nearby houses were going for $150k. Not sure what's going on there.

The hotel I stayed in - Hotel Sofitel - was nice and had a huge mural painted in the common area. They had a gift shop where they sold french pastries and french sparkling lemonade. Plus, all of the travelers spent a lot of time just hanging out in that common area which was very European of them. Plus I heard a lot of different accents. I'm pretty sure the hotel chain is french and it was kind of nice to be reminded of France, except that the hotel rooms were bigger in THIS french hotel. Well, you know what they say about Texas. My first day I got there early enough to hang out by the pool for a while and enjoy my apricot soleil. It's basically a buttery croissant circle with sweet apricot preserves in the middle. It looks like an edible little sun. Mmmmm, delicious!

Since there wasn't much to do in Houston, I was pretty happy to get back home, whereby, Jennifer, Robyn, Jeff and I went to Bobby Q's last night. It's this fantastic BBQ joint off the I-17 where the old Bobby McGee's used to be. Best BBQ and macaroni & cheese EVER! And I usually only like Kraft. Go figure. Sorry no pics from this trip, but I'm headed to Montana on Monday so look for some good ones from Big Sky Country when I return. Ciao!

Toot, toot!

So, I have been doing the hardcore tourist thing over the weekend in Chi-town thanks to the benevolence of my old friends Amanda and Lucas (not that Lucas has been around, but thanks buddy for letting me crash in your room while you and Melissa were at the lake - Sorry about the sheets! The ones I use at home are rubber....) From the pics you can see the "Bean" at the park - so many parks and public spaces. I guess this is thanks to Montgomery Ward (the actual guy, not the store) who forced the city to plan for public spaces along the lake. Tempe should do the same...

But I digress. Last night I was FORCED to head out on the town with 6 beautiful women. Although they were raucous and rowdy at times, they were suprisingly well behaved. I have to say I did not get the "Vince Vaughn" treatment from any of them. After many drinks and many bars later, the celebration of Colleen's 29th birthday was a complete success. Or at least I think it was.... Last I heard, she was working on some booty calls at 2 in the morning ;-)

Today we managed to make the Architectural Boat Tour which was sold out yesterday. Some good pics here and in the link to

more pictures

LOTS of condos and high-rises going up along the river. I guess it's prime to have a pool and a gym in the building you live in - in case anyone is looking to make the move to Chicago. BTW, I am getting what I am told is the WORST impression of Chicago. It's like when tourists visit Phoenix on a 75 degree day in late February and think we have the BEST weather. Well, it's sunshine and rainbows here this weekend and I guess I would need to return to Chicago in January to be thoroughly dissuaded to move here. But in the meantime it's been weather heaven!