It's a whole new year, thank goodness.

MacTroll and I spent Dec. 30-Jan. 2 alone in Chicago at the W in City Center. It was our first time staying there and I do prefer it to the W on Lakeshore. The building has much more character and the staff is much more service oriented. The two Chicago Ws still pale in comparison to the Montreal W... but you know -- they're Canadian and uber friendliness is part of their culture.

Our only goal during our 3 1/2-day stay was to do thing we couldn't normally do with X-man around. For example, we got to finish whole sentences when we talked. We didn't have to carry around extra clothes in case someone demanded new pants because he spilled two drops of juice on the ones he was currently wearing, we had enough room in our bed and no fear of anyone kicking the living crap out of us while we were unconscious AND we only had to get up when our bodies told us they wanted to. As it was, we took naps 2 out of the 3 days. I was in bed by 10:30 p.m. two of the nights (the exception being New Year's). I also ran on the lakefront before the temps dropped to single digits. Afterwards, I used the hotel gym (it had Nike+ equipment!), which was fine for an hour, but holy cow I'd get bored doing the typical gym cardio equipment all the time. We also went to the movies -- twice. We saw Up in the Air and Sherlock Holmes. Both were funny and entertaining. We even got excited about the preview for Death at a Funeral. There's just something hilarious about Danny Glover and toilets.

New Year's was a little sketchy. We don't celebrate it. We don't believe in resolutions. Why make up something new for a calendar year? Why can't you just make a resolution because it's the third Tuesday of whatever month... It's symbolic, I know. We went out to dinner at a fine, but nothing extraordinary restaurant (Catch 35: a seafood place near the river). Then we worked out at the gym. On our way up the stairs from the 3rd floor to the 14th floor (Elevators were FULL of girls in stilettos and their dates.), we ran into some football player-sized dude in a nice suit covered in blood. Someone had popped him in the nose. He was so trashed he wasn't feeling anything. When we got in our room and finished showering we heard a commotion in the hall. Big, bloody dude was accusing the 20 people or so -- waiting at the elevator -- of hitting him. Shouting ensued. Then quieted. Then returned. $330/night hotel... MacTroll was entertained and hiding behind his peephole.

Things quieted down when everyone hustled down to the party room for the new year's countdown. I fell asleep by 12:30 a.m. MacTroll said that by 1 a.m., everyone was back upstairs, drunk and screaming. Someone else got punched twice and then the guy who punched him highjacked his room. Hotel security called 911. Fire department came to look at the guy who got punched. Then a squad of 4 policemen took the room that had been highjacked. Lots of screaming and such.

When we left for brunch at 9:30 a.m. -- the lobby looked like no party had ever happened. Our hallway outside our room was covered in mushed pretzels. But downstairs was quiet, like it had been the day before. By the time we returned to the hotel room at 9 p.m. that night, everything was spotless and the whole joint was silent. It was awesome.

As for our few days, we spent most of them hunting for a jacket for MacTroll, but they were sold out of his size, and although lots of places had post Christmas sales going on, a fair amount were putting out spring things -- seriously. There were bathing suits everywhere. We also ate at some foodie restaurants. We'd definitely recommend Graham Elliot for special occasions, but I'd recommend that on any dish where there's a "froth" have them remove it. It doesn't add much--and the visual was kind of unappealing to me. But the rest of the food is heavenly, particularly the blood orange dreamsicle dessert. (Seriously, it's worth it just to go for that.) The better "date night" is Eve in the Gold Coast a little north and west of Water Tower. I recommend the chestnut pear soup and the seared Wahoo.