how lucky we are to be alive right now

When I came across the list of 25 things I wanted to do before age 25, I laughed at how ridiculously optimistic I'd been. There were so many things I couldn't possibly do. Visit a new country? Visit a new continent? See Hamilton? I was so naive about how little money I'd have.

Unless... unless? That's right. I accomplished one of these goals. That's right. I SAW FREAKING HAMILTON.

the look of pure bliss on our faces

Here's how it happened: my roommate had to travel to Chicago for business and joked about me joining her so she could get to explore the city during the weekend past her business meetings. I joked along with her, but then she mentioned looking into the cost of Hamilton tickets. Suddenly, neither of us were joking anymore! She found some decently priced seats, and all I had to do was buy a plane ticket! The hotel would be covered by her work. The tickets for Hamilton were decently affordably for one of the most difficult shows to see in the world.

So last week, I flew out to Chicago to meet my roommate who had already been there a day. Everything about the whirlwind weekend was so much fun. Every meal we had in Chicago was excellent. We walked through Millenium Park and saw the Bean! We went to the Art Institute! We wore these ridiculous leopard print robes the hotel had and looked like 1970's pimps. I flipped off Trump Tower!

And then... we made it to the room where it happened. It's hard to put all my thoughts into words but the experience was INCREDIBLE. The actors were phenomenal; truly, every last person in the ensemble was superb. I cried at least 5 times, and sobbed through the finale (which was completely predictable). The staging was absolutely beautiful. The turntables were used so effectively, and the lighting had squares! It was so freaking cool!!!

Since listening to the soundtrack back in 2015, I've been obsessed with this show, and I didn't know when I'd have the chance to see it live (although it's coming to Pittsburgh in early 2019, so fingers crossed I can see it again!). It turned out to be way more than I could have possibly hoped for! It was brilliant and wonderful, and my life has completely changed! I kept joking after we left the theatre that I had transcended the human experience and was now pure bliss, which frankly wasn't quite off! I was holding close the feeling of being in the theatre and watching this show all last week when I had quite a few annoying experiences trying to bring me down.

The rest of our weekend was really fun. We went up to Willis Tower which was super cool, but also terrifying when we stepped out onto the glass and saw straight down 1450 feet. We straight up panicked. We also walked over to Greektown, since my roommate is a ridiculously proud Greek American.

smiles on the outside, panic on the inside

I'd just like to say a big thank you to Lin-Manuel Miranda for writing this amazing show, which I can now confidently say is one of the best shows I've ever seen - if not the best! Thanks also to the Chicago cast for an AMAZING performance. Afterwards the cast asked for donations to Broadway Cares and I donated a ten dollar bill - gotta give back the Hamiltons!