ChiTown and Val

I'm sitting in the wonderful Chicago flat of my friend Val, blogging. This is like a mondo beyondo dream come true.

Val and I met through a mutual friend, Chris, who lives in Estes Park, CO. (Doesn't everyone have friends scattered across the US now?) Chris thought we would hit it off because Val has a 6-year-old little girl and loves loves loves photography and, well, you know about me. For years I heard about this mysterious Val and how we'd surely be friends. Then last year Val went to visit Chris in Colorado and Chris showed her my on-line portfolio. Val went back to Chicago and sent me a message through Facebook, expressing her appreciation for my work and giving me a link to her Flickr account. Oh. My. God. The girl has an amazing eye. We started furiously writing e-mails back and forth, and found so much in common that we soon decided we were long-lost sisters.

Then, a couple months ago, Val sent me a crazy idea e-mail. "Hey, what are you doing March 12?" She had been asked to photograph a charity event here in Chicago and agreed, then freaked out b/c she hadn't done anything like that before. She wanted a second shooter to provide some back-up. I laughed and dismissed it. Then it came back into my head and I went, "Wait a minute..."

For so long, I have dismissed crazy ideas. I mean, who jumps on a train and goes to stay with someone she's never met in person? Or even talked to on the phone?

Me. I am that crazy person.

The day I bought my train ticket I was deliriously happy. Just for the expansion of my boundaries. Just for doing something nuts and unpredictable and outside my comfort zone.

My train left at 6:40 yesterday morning. M took me to the train station because that's romantic and you know he's all about the romance. All morning, and on the ride to the station, I felt sick. I wanted to throw up. What was I doing? And, more importantly, what had I forgotten to pack?

For some reason, once I got on the train I was fine. So off I went, to meet a woman whose voice I hadn't even heard. I knew what she looked like from some self-portraits she had posted, and realized too late that she had very little information about what I look like. I don't get in front of the lens much, and the only images I have posted about me are pretty old. (I'm growing out my hair, so the crazy curls are back.)

I got off the train and dragged my luggage...and there she was. Beaming at me through the crowd. Instant hugs. We haven't stopped talking since. Well, she's in the shower right now so we're not talking and I'm typing, but you know. She's as great in person as she is via e-mail. We shot the event last night and had a blast. We ate awesome organic BLTs at a place called The Buzz where Peter Segal is known to hang out. Today we're going to see the river downtown dyed green. And walk around and shoot. It's awesome. I'm using her MacBook to blog (M...I so so SO want one of these!) while drinking a great cup of coffee with my butt firmly planted on her comfy couch.

I'm only here for the weekend, so we're simultaneously packing in a lot and taking it easy. We are going at our own pace. Val's daughter is with her ex this weekend, so it's just us girls. We are relishing the simplified roles of friend/photographer. I miss my family tremendously, though. I ducked out of the event last night to call home to say goodnight to Zozer, and my heart shattered when I heard her little voice on the line. I see other little girls and they remind me of her and I want to cry. Will it always be this way? Will I need to eventually wean myself off my daughter?

Anyway, greetings from Chicago. I hope to post images after I get home. It's rather gray and dreary, but I don't get to come here often so we'll see what I can find to shoot. It seems I can always find something.