I’ve been ordered to update by karizona and confusified (even though neither of them update THEIR LJs anymore), so I suppose I should. Bwah.
Michigan Avenue
I’m getting more used to living here. I am finding it pretty easy to get around. As the Weird Chicago (and employee of the month every month since Weird Chicago’s been in business) driver Willie told me, as long as I know my 100s, I shouldn’t have much of a problem figuring out how to get home. Chicago is on a grid system, you see, and once I figure out my coordinates, I’m OK. I’ve been blessed with a pretty good sense of direction, and when I get out of a train station and get my bearings, I can usually figure out where I am going. Driving still makes me nervous, therefore I don’t do it much, but I like taking the trains.
Last week was CRAZY. Last Saturday, my friend Jen picked me up and we went to La Peep to celebrate her friend Irene’s 30th birthday. 🙂 Yes, this place is located right across the street from Harpo Studios, which is about a 15 minute walk (if even that) from my apartment. Cool, huh? That means at any given time, I am less than a mile from Oprah Winfrey. /dorkitude
Anyway, brunch was a lot of fun and Jen looked pretty as usual. So did my plate. Note the strawberry mimosa at the upper right of the bottom picture. Mmmm.
My plate was not as pretty as Irene’s, however:
After brunch, Jen and I headed up to Devon, the Indian area of town, for some Amla oil. I use the “gold” formula and let me tell you something. I LOVE this stuff. I LOVE it. I love the way it smells, I love how impossibly soft it makes my hair feel, I love how shiny and healthy-looking my hair is! And the big bottle I got only cost $5.00!
After some windown shopping and admiration of saris, we stopped for an Indian snack of tandoori chicken. I also had ginger tea which was amazing. I, of course, did not eat the onions.
After that, Jen and I hung out here, ate the last of the AMAZING spinach lasagna Adam had made a couple of days before, and watched TV.
Sunday, I met Jen at Lush for a very cool event. It was two hours of consultations, and at the end, we each got grab bags full of samples. Jen also treated me to loads of stuff and let me keep the grab bag one gets after spending a certain amount.
This place is so cool. The bath bombs are awesome. It’s like a giant Alka-Seltzer for your bathtub, only with glitter and things to make you smell yummy. I also have yummy soaps, some of the Rehab shampoo, and yes, some bath bombs. I’m so cheap that I had Adam take a hammer and break one up for me. 🙂 The store is expensive, so I think I won’t be shopping there much, but I enjoyed my experience there. It’s a cool place. It’ll definitely be a TREAT whenever I go there. And of course, I made up a Wishlist (hope this works): http://www.lush.com/cgi-bin/lushdb/ord/bwishlist?action=load&listid=36838
After Lush and some walking around (unfortunately, most stores were closed due to it being Easter) we went out to Jen’s friend (and a new friend of mine) Gina’s place for Easter dinner. We drank lots of wine and Adam got all cute and silly, as he’s wont to do when there are more than two glasses of wine in him. It was a great night. Actually, the entire weekend was great and I felt a lot less homesick. 🙂
Last Monday, Adam took me to Harry Caray’s to celebrate having survived my first week living here. I had veal. What I didn’t realize was that when one orders veal, that is all one gets. A HUGE piece of veal. No sides, no pasta. I was like “Um… OK.” But I couldn’t eat it all anyway, so I took it home and had the rest of it a few nights ago with some spaghetti. It was good. But that place is weird. All of the servers in there are men. I saw two women workers, and both were hostesses.
As I said earlier, last week was crazy. Spent a lot of time downtown in meetings, taking tests, and walking a LOT. Wednesday was beautiful. Temps near the 60s! I got my Chicago Card Plus and found a place that sells ham, egg, and cheese on a croissant any time of the day. God Bless you Dunkin Donuts even though some of your employees are bitches.
Thursday was REALLY crazy for me. I was out all day and the weather was icky icky ICKY. Still, I got a lot of walking in which felt great, and tests galore. Friday I took it easier than usual and Saturday, I didn’t go out at all, which really baffles Adam I know. He likes to talk long walks all around the West Loop. I like to relax and watch America’s Next Top Model. 🙂 I’m finally current! Woo!
The apartment is shaping up. With the exception of Aidan’s room (which is a hot mess and full of unpacked boxes and bins that I need to tackle SOON), the place looks great. Check out the photos!
Kitchen
Check out all the tea!
Carb City. This is where all the junk food and breads go to live until I eat it all. Mwah hahaha.
My dresser. And guess who! 🙂
My closet.
Little Lucy resting in bed.
Bathroom sink.
My stuff. Hahaha.
The Corner of Mystery (aka The Reading Nook)
The Evidence of Book Nerds
Other stuff:
· Adam feeds me really well. In addition to the aforementioned lasagna, he’s made me breakfast on my really busy days (it’s nice going out with a full stomach!), and he’s made pizza burgers and oven fries, grilled burgers, and pot roast with carrots and mashed potatoes and gravy. I find myself totally looking forward to mealtimes because I know he’s going to bust out something incredible.
· Lucy and Crookshanks have a weird relationship. Now it’s to the point where they can be on the bed together, but if he approaches her, she has a fit. If he is here but not bothering her, she’s fine. She’s been out and about a lot more and boy is she back to being annoying at night! But she’s still very skittish and spends a lot of time under the bed.
· The upstairs neighbor is kind of annoying in that he likes to pick up his guitar and sing loudly starting at 11pm. He and his lady friend also indulge in other loud activities from time to time. I’ve had to go sleep on the Slacker Sack because they were so loud. Fortunately, before I’d even moved in, he’d come to Adam and told him that when he got too obnoxious just to let him know, so Adam knows that he’s going to need to say something to him. If he’d go in the living room, it’d be fine. But of course, he’s right above the bedroom. Still, I guess he’s no where near as bad as Joan and her “STOP THAT DAMN NOISE” and the sex-noise workout guy and the loud TV all freakin’ night guy. I’m sure once Adam talks to him, everything’ll be OK.
· I live SO close to so much good food. There is Terry’s Toffees, who’s made toffees for the grab bags for the freakin’ Academy Awards, Avanti Pizzeria, which has amazing burgers and very yummy deep dish pizza, Butterfly, a Thai and sushi place, Bari, which sells great sandwiches, Salerno’s, another great place for sandwiches, Pie-Eyed Pizza, where I can get New York Style pizza, Windy City Cafe, where I can get breakfast anytime (I am a big propoent of breakfast anytime) and if I am in the mood for something “ordinary,” I am also walking distance from a Subway. There’s also a Mexican restaurant, Burger Baron, and well… I haven’t even explored enough to know everything yet. I just know it’s awesome.
· I’m not sure if Chicago realizes that it IS spring and that when the temperatures climb to near 60 one day, that it’s OK to stay that way. It doesn’t need to drop down to the 30s and snow like crazy the next day, it really doesn’t. I am very eager for it to warm up for good. Spring and early summer in Chicago is amazing. See my icon for evidence!
· I miss my little Aidan, but I get to talk to him almost every day. He is usually watching Spongebob and giving me a play-by-play or playing with some loud toy. It’s nice hearing his little voice, though.
· April 9, my friend Sarah rolls into town. I can’t wait to see her. She and I got close near the end of my time at ZB and Columbus, so leaving her was hard. But she’s coming soon and I can’t wait!
· May 9, a month later, meimeigui comes to visit!! YAY!!! I haven’t seen Rosa since October, and I can’t wait to hang out! YAY!
· This means I need to get my bootie in gear regarding getting Aidan’s room all cleaned up! I want the place to be completely organized by Friday. And when I say Friday, I mean this coming Friday. Or next Monday. At any rate, I have GOT to get to work!!!
OK, that’s enough of an update now. ‘Til next time!