Turkey, Lettuce, Tomato, Mayo, PB&J

Last night, I attended a Chamber dinner at the Sheraton Chicago Northwest. No matter how often I attend functions there, I am always reminded of when I lived there as a kid. Yes, I was Eloise.

When I was 10 and in 5th grade, our house burned down (no one was hurt and we rebuilt the home, thanks for asking). During reconstruction, we lived at what was then the Arlington Park Hilton (now the Sheraton Chicago Northwest).

Life at the Hilton was fabulous. We had a huge suite, an indoor pool, and a restaurant that would cater to just about every whim we had. Every morning, I would call the restaurant and have them pack lunch for Dave and me, which we would then pick up when we stopped in for breakfast.

Dave and I got the same thing everyday for lunch: Turkey, Lettuce, Tomato with mayo on whole wheat for me and peanut butter and jelly for him. Inevitably, our lunch would also include fruit and a cookie as well. Our lunches would always be packed together and we simply divided them up at lunch.

One particular day, we decided to have lunch with Mom, so we took our Hilton-made lunches and walked over to what was left of our house - just 2 blocks from school. She was happy to see us and take a break from supervising the demolition of the remains of our home. Imagine our surprise, however, when we opened our lunch to find one sandwich containing turkey, lettuce, tomato, mayo AND peanut butter and jelly. It seemed that the man I spoke to in the kitchen that morning was new and had misunderstood my order.

Needless to say, we did not end up eating that sandwich. I don't remember what we ended up having for lunch that day, but I do remember it involved a lot of laughter.

And yes, the food has improved at the Hilton (now Sheraton).