The day I trekked across Chicago...and back again

I'm so glad today is over. I literally went all over the city searching for a special type of portfolio for a presentation. Did I know what I was looking for? Nope. It was like "Where's Waldo" without knowing what the hell Waldo looks like.

My day started like any other normal day. I got to work, went to my morning meeting and grabbed a Starbucks. As I walked back in from my coffee run, the art director was yelling my name from the associate creative director's office. I went straight in there and was informed that since I wasn't busy today (according to my boss), I was to run around the city doing errands for the big new business presentation that had to get finished today.

I was a bit annoyed. Perhaps if they would have asked me, I would have told them that I did in fact have a huge copy project due tomorrow that I had barely started on. But no, I couldn't say anything, so I put a little smile on my face, grabbed some petty cash, signed off of Gchat and set off on my adventure. 

5 cab rides, 4 blank stares from salespeople, 3 calls to the art director and 2 hot flashes from running in and out of the cold with my heavy coat on later, I arrived back at work with four different options for the one type of portfolio I was supposed to find. No one had actually seen the type of thing I was looking for, they just thought they knew it existed. 

And guess what? None of them worked. 

So I was sent back out after I scarfed down a quick Lean Cuisine. I was told to try Staples and this time I decided to walk. I knew it would be a fruitless effort. No way would Staples carry it. But as I walked into the store and started to wander down the aisles, I had an idea. It was like one of those lightbulb over the head moments.

The art director had vaguely mentioned something about the portfolio I was looking for having something to do with photos. So I whipped out my iPhone (I'm obsessed), searched for camera stores and found one only a block from where I was. I quickly walked over there and found one of the shadiest buildings in Chicago. It was totally unmarked, the lobby was all torn up (not for a remodel), there were light fixtures and wires hanging from the ceiling and random puddles on the floor. It was straight out of a horror movie. 

Needless to say, the camera shop I found nestled somewhere on the 5th floor of that building wasn't what I needed, but the guy did point me in the right direction...to a store about 6 blocks away. 

So I finally found the real camera store and found what I needed instantly. It was exactly what the art director described. I hopped in a cab, raced back to the office and was welcomed back as a hero. Ok, not really. But they were pretty happy.

It was late afternoon by then and I still hadn't worked on my project. And today was a day I had to leave at 5 on the dot to make it to my haircut appointment at 6.

But 5 rolled around, things still needed to be proofread and the creative team (AKA my team) was busy finishing the new biz presentation. When it started getting later, I apologized to my coworkers, ignored their dirty looks, said I had to go get a haircut, put on my coat and left.

When I got outside, another lightbulb went off in my head. What the hell was I doing? I was totally cutting out early for a haircut (yikes, pun) and I felt really guilty. I didn't know what to do. So naturally, I called my Mom and asked for advice. After a 10-second debate, I called my hair place and rescheduled. (Sigh). My hair will have to wait until Saturday.

I ran back upstairs and though my coworkers surprised, I could tell that they were happy I hadn't bailed. And two hours later, the job was done and we all went home. I was really proud of myself for getting everything done today. But I don't know why I didn't think of rescheduling earlier. Yikes.