A Whale of a Time

Last night, my friend Natalie and I went to the opening night celebration for the Field Museum‘s newest exhibit, (opening today) Whales: Giants of the Deep. We got dolled up and enjoyed fantastic foods and drinks the whole night while diving in with the whales.

The exhibit was pretty cool and filled with skeletons of various whales making you feel so incredibly tiny. But my favorite, and most shocking moment, happened when we stumbled upon a replica of a whale’s heart. It’s basically the size of a Mini Cooper. No joke. And as we stood there, dressed to the nines, our mouths just hung wide open.

But our favorite moment of the night came during dinner with a nice couple from Elmhurst, Cheryl and Johnny I believe? They were our parents’ ages and hilarious. We couldn’t have asked for better table company. They told us their story and we told them our transplant stories of arriving in Chicago. Then Cheryl said something that just made Natalie and I put down our forks and drinks (which, let’s be honest, is quite the feat).

“There’s always more work. Find time to play.”

Cheryl delivered this line with such brutal honesty to us. It didn’t feel like advice, it felt more like a command. Now it’s no secret, Natalie and I play. And play hard. This week alone we’ve had events every night of the week. And yea, while we’re exhausted today and I’m 4 cups of coffee in on this Friday, I wouldn’t trade any of it. In a city that offers so much every day of the week at every hour of the day, it’s crazy to not take advantage of it. I have friends who work themselves ragged throughout the week, work on the weekends and have maybe 12 hours for themselves that spend sleeping until noon. And it makes me sad for them. Because Cheryl’s right; there’s always going to be more work.