I'm such a grown up

Yesterday I felt likesuch a grown up. I got dressed up for work, and had plans after… I went to see the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. It’s been years since I have gone.

CuzIL had an extra ticket and invited me along. We had a great time! We started out at Macey’s for a few moments and then headed to Atwood Café for dinner. It was perfect because we both work in the loop and we had just the right amount of time to eat and head over to the show with a quick stop off at Nordstrom’s. (It was on the way… what did you expect??)

So, the show… The conductor for the evening was John Williams. Big deal right? Well, I didn’t think so until I found out who he actually is. It seems that this is the gentleman who wrote and conducted the music for Jaws, Indiana Jones, ET and Star Wars among other well known … tunes. It was truly amazing to watch, and the orchestra sounded so perfect that I kept thinking that it was computer generated save the fact that I saw them playing. It is so different to see and hear at the same time than to just hear the music, and that was the most amazing part of the evening for me.

After the first half of the show, Yo Yo Ma comes out on stage. Yo Yo Ma! He is an incredible cello player, and I have some of his music. I am a big fan! The crowd went wild! The somewhat reserved audience had apparently saved up their enthusiasm for his appearance. The music starts and about 3 rows behind us a lady pulls out a piece of hard candy. We know this because she proceeded to play with the wrapper for what seemed like the next 10 minutes. She began this process just as Yo Yo started his first solo piece of the performance. Now, I don’t know about anyone else, but going to a concert is in large part an auditory experience. What are you doing Lady???? CuzIL was so irritated that she shushed her. I almost laughed out loud.

The rest of the performance was spectacular. After 4 or 5 encores the performance was over and everyone left feeling great. How can you not when the music is so uplifting? As we were leaving we noticed that we could see the fireworks being shot off at Navy Pier out one of the windows. We stopped to watch the rest of that show and by the time it was over the crowds had cleared and we strolled out without being squished in the crush.

It was fun. Thanks for the invite CuzIL!