Monday, October 27, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Lions in the City
The wind. It's here. I looked up "the meaning behind Chicago being called the windy city" to get to the bottom of things. Native Chicagoans insist that the phrase is about politics and something else about an article written about a rival - or, I have no idea. The wikipedia site states that Chicago is not noted to be significantly windier than any other US city. I believe this to be incredibly false.
My best friend Gena is visiting us this weekend and she called a few days before her departure to ask what she should pack. I told her all she needed was a coat and scarf and that the weather was pretty moderate. Having a visitor means checking out the city and making sure all of the popular sites are photographed - all on foot. We went to Michigan Ave yesterday, sipped tea at the top of the Hancock Building, took photos of ourselves in the Bean at Millennium park and stalked 5 different wedding parties critiquing their colors as they took photos in the park. We were chilly... but not terribly freezing.
Then, today, we decided we would go for round two and take an afternoon stroll through the Lincoln Park zoo and then maybe hit up some of the shops nearby.
Our scarves were flying, my hair whipped my face every 20 seconds, I forgot tissues and I think an entire leaf landed in my eye. Gena, in disbelief, made us stop so that she could film the leaves in a tornado twirl. As we tried to talk ourselves into being brave and facing the blustery fall day - we looked west and saw the darkest, glowing storm cloud. We turned around, and went home.
Is this how the next 5 months are going to be? Will we be hiding out in our purple apartment with Puss fearful of the elements in our new city?
At the zoo we saw the Lions. The big golden cats were no more than 10 feet away from us in an indoor cage, pacing back and forth along the skinny wires that separated the wild animals from the humans (although I am pretty sure the majority of the children around us were much more ferocious than the roaring beasts). Was this a foreshadow for our very near future? Two Seattle lions trapped in our cage afraid of the terrifying wind and puddles that will most likely destroy our outfits and possibly cause our mascara to run.
Do I sound nervous about the following months? I am. However, unlike the lion stuck in his cell, we will explore our new jungle no matter the weather.... we'll just take cabs.
My best friend Gena is visiting us this weekend and she called a few days before her departure to ask what she should pack. I told her all she needed was a coat and scarf and that the weather was pretty moderate. Having a visitor means checking out the city and making sure all of the popular sites are photographed - all on foot. We went to Michigan Ave yesterday, sipped tea at the top of the Hancock Building, took photos of ourselves in the Bean at Millennium park and stalked 5 different wedding parties critiquing their colors as they took photos in the park. We were chilly... but not terribly freezing.
Then, today, we decided we would go for round two and take an afternoon stroll through the Lincoln Park zoo and then maybe hit up some of the shops nearby.
Our scarves were flying, my hair whipped my face every 20 seconds, I forgot tissues and I think an entire leaf landed in my eye. Gena, in disbelief, made us stop so that she could film the leaves in a tornado twirl. As we tried to talk ourselves into being brave and facing the blustery fall day - we looked west and saw the darkest, glowing storm cloud. We turned around, and went home.
Is this how the next 5 months are going to be? Will we be hiding out in our purple apartment with Puss fearful of the elements in our new city?
At the zoo we saw the Lions. The big golden cats were no more than 10 feet away from us in an indoor cage, pacing back and forth along the skinny wires that separated the wild animals from the humans (although I am pretty sure the majority of the children around us were much more ferocious than the roaring beasts). Was this a foreshadow for our very near future? Two Seattle lions trapped in our cage afraid of the terrifying wind and puddles that will most likely destroy our outfits and possibly cause our mascara to run.
Do I sound nervous about the following months? I am. However, unlike the lion stuck in his cell, we will explore our new jungle no matter the weather.... we'll just take cabs.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Public Transportation
I am writing this with an over exhausted brain. It was my first day at work today - which meant taking the bus to and from work during peak commuting hours. A public adventure.
I got ready for my big day with plenty of time, even stopping to down the last of my yerba mate tea before almost slamming Puss in the door. I got into the elevator and watched as it stopped on every single floor from 18 down to 1 picking up professionals ready to make the same trek that I was. Nobody spoke, and it smelled like mouthwash (better than the alternative, I suppose). I haven't worn heels in weeks as I have been in "comfort-unemployment-mode" and as I took my first step out of the front door of my building I saw the 151 bus pulling up to the stop located about 100 feet away.
First of all, these buses wait for no one. You are either on it, trapped in the door, or waiting 15 minutes until the next one stops. I had allocated enough time to wait, but, it was cold. I darted through puddles and prayed that I would not biff it on the slick fall leaves that covered the ground in my 3 inch heels that were making their comeback after the three weeks they were locked away. I barely made it.
Now on the bus, there are no empty seats. Chivalry is dead my friends, or perhaps my face does not show enough life experiences to merit a voluntary vacancy. I stood, grasping the chrome bar above and balancing in my heels as the bus lurched forward and then would suddenly stop every 15 seconds. I was bus surfing. Before long, I noticed that my tense arm had fallen asleep and that my thigh muscles were terribly sore from the balancing act. At least if my job doesn't work out, I'll be toned enough to join the circus.
Finally, after being told to "MOVE BACK!" by everyone getting on the bus, I was shoved to the very back where there was a secret seat.
I reached into my purse for my buzzing phone and read the text that Jen had just sent: Wow. Just waited for the L and it was too packed to get on. Awesome. This whole public transportation sucks. I hate waiting.
Fortunately, my ride is only 10 minutes on one bus which picks me up in front of my building and drops me off in front of my office. Jen has to walk 6 blocks to the red line, get on (if it's not full, it seems), transfer to the brown line, get off and walk 4 blocks to her office. Keep in mind, 8 blocks in Chicago is 1 mile. It takes her 45 minutes to go 3 miles - one of which, she walks.
On my way home at 4 pm, my brain was mush. I had sat for 7 hours and listened to 5 different people talk as fast as they could about sales, techniques, hr matters, etc... all the while trying to be on my best behavior and look very interested in everything our new supervisors were saying. I walked the half a block to my bus stop and got on. Empty row! Score! My joy was short lived as a girl with headphones plunked down next to me. She was listening to Jay Z. How do I know? Because it was so loud I could hear every word this rapper rapped. Not exactly the kind of music you want to hear after a long day and your head is throbbing and all you can do is imagine the bottle of cab waiting for you at home. Next stop - coughing kid takes a seat. I tried to hold my breath as long as possible so that his germs would not creep into my non-insured system, but no luck... I had to breathe. He coughed and coughed and snotted and sneezed. I am going to start wearing one of those masks.
Finally, my stop. I disembarked the public germ infested vessel and walked the 50 feet to my building.
Can't wait for tomorrow.
I got ready for my big day with plenty of time, even stopping to down the last of my yerba mate tea before almost slamming Puss in the door. I got into the elevator and watched as it stopped on every single floor from 18 down to 1 picking up professionals ready to make the same trek that I was. Nobody spoke, and it smelled like mouthwash (better than the alternative, I suppose). I haven't worn heels in weeks as I have been in "comfort-unemployment-mode" and as I took my first step out of the front door of my building I saw the 151 bus pulling up to the stop located about 100 feet away.
First of all, these buses wait for no one. You are either on it, trapped in the door, or waiting 15 minutes until the next one stops. I had allocated enough time to wait, but, it was cold. I darted through puddles and prayed that I would not biff it on the slick fall leaves that covered the ground in my 3 inch heels that were making their comeback after the three weeks they were locked away. I barely made it.
Now on the bus, there are no empty seats. Chivalry is dead my friends, or perhaps my face does not show enough life experiences to merit a voluntary vacancy. I stood, grasping the chrome bar above and balancing in my heels as the bus lurched forward and then would suddenly stop every 15 seconds. I was bus surfing. Before long, I noticed that my tense arm had fallen asleep and that my thigh muscles were terribly sore from the balancing act. At least if my job doesn't work out, I'll be toned enough to join the circus.
Finally, after being told to "MOVE BACK!" by everyone getting on the bus, I was shoved to the very back where there was a secret seat.
I reached into my purse for my buzzing phone and read the text that Jen had just sent: Wow. Just waited for the L and it was too packed to get on. Awesome. This whole public transportation sucks. I hate waiting.
Fortunately, my ride is only 10 minutes on one bus which picks me up in front of my building and drops me off in front of my office. Jen has to walk 6 blocks to the red line, get on (if it's not full, it seems), transfer to the brown line, get off and walk 4 blocks to her office. Keep in mind, 8 blocks in Chicago is 1 mile. It takes her 45 minutes to go 3 miles - one of which, she walks.
On my way home at 4 pm, my brain was mush. I had sat for 7 hours and listened to 5 different people talk as fast as they could about sales, techniques, hr matters, etc... all the while trying to be on my best behavior and look very interested in everything our new supervisors were saying. I walked the half a block to my bus stop and got on. Empty row! Score! My joy was short lived as a girl with headphones plunked down next to me. She was listening to Jay Z. How do I know? Because it was so loud I could hear every word this rapper rapped. Not exactly the kind of music you want to hear after a long day and your head is throbbing and all you can do is imagine the bottle of cab waiting for you at home. Next stop - coughing kid takes a seat. I tried to hold my breath as long as possible so that his germs would not creep into my non-insured system, but no luck... I had to breathe. He coughed and coughed and snotted and sneezed. I am going to start wearing one of those masks.
Finally, my stop. I disembarked the public germ infested vessel and walked the 50 feet to my building.
Can't wait for tomorrow.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Fall is here... and my freedom is gone.
I am adding to the blog on my final day of unemployment. Jen is busy at work and then she's heading (in the rain) to the grocery store... what a good little wife. I haven't left the apartment all day and have tried to catch up on all of my programs on DVR, all of the photos on facebook, and all of my emails in my sweatpants and headband. Depressing to know that this is my last day of freedom. I am in mourning resorting to the most couch potato activites I can think of.
I have been telling myself that it will be healthy and a time of growth - not knowing everything (not easy for me) and being "the new kid". I hope the pecking order is brief.
This weekend was refreshing... Lisa from Escala and her daughter Janna came to Chicago for a girls weekend! It was wonderful to see them and get caught up on the office and Seattle. It felt like forever since last seeing them. My boyfriend Darren was also in town last week and this weekend. It was fabulous trying new cuisine in the city and doing a few touristy things - we had so much fun. I think my favorite was having family dinners... we couldn't leave Jen all alone! Darren was a great sport and treated both of us to some fabulous food, and excellent company. He even put up with my tiny room, squealing shower, crying cat alarm, and miniature kitchen.
We went to a pumpkin patch with our girlfriends about an hour outside of the city yesterday. It was amazing. This place was not just pumpkins on the vine with tractor rides and families selecting the perfect orange gourd to carve - it was a full on carnival. Rides, cotton candy, packaged caramel apples and moving skeletons kept us company as we checked out the farm animals and scurried through the not-so-haunted-barn. It put us in the spirit, for sure. The leaves were gorgeous and it was a cute, chilly day - making the trip worth every second (especially because everywhere was the perfect opportunity for a photoshoot!). Jen and I were ready to run over every child with a wheelbarrow.
The weather is changing and it's getting cold... the hunt is on for the perfect "reallllly high rubber boots" and wind proof jackets... Darren got me the warmest jacket that the North Face store sells. I look like an Eskimo. Bring on the cold...
Send the vibes my way for my first day... and I'll let you all know how trying to run the company on my first day goes.
I have been telling myself that it will be healthy and a time of growth - not knowing everything (not easy for me) and being "the new kid". I hope the pecking order is brief.
This weekend was refreshing... Lisa from Escala and her daughter Janna came to Chicago for a girls weekend! It was wonderful to see them and get caught up on the office and Seattle. It felt like forever since last seeing them. My boyfriend Darren was also in town last week and this weekend. It was fabulous trying new cuisine in the city and doing a few touristy things - we had so much fun. I think my favorite was having family dinners... we couldn't leave Jen all alone! Darren was a great sport and treated both of us to some fabulous food, and excellent company. He even put up with my tiny room, squealing shower, crying cat alarm, and miniature kitchen.
We went to a pumpkin patch with our girlfriends about an hour outside of the city yesterday. It was amazing. This place was not just pumpkins on the vine with tractor rides and families selecting the perfect orange gourd to carve - it was a full on carnival. Rides, cotton candy, packaged caramel apples and moving skeletons kept us company as we checked out the farm animals and scurried through the not-so-haunted-barn. It put us in the spirit, for sure. The leaves were gorgeous and it was a cute, chilly day - making the trip worth every second (especially because everywhere was the perfect opportunity for a photoshoot!). Jen and I were ready to run over every child with a wheelbarrow.The weather is changing and it's getting cold... the hunt is on for the perfect "reallllly high rubber boots" and wind proof jackets... Darren got me the warmest jacket that the North Face store sells. I look like an Eskimo. Bring on the cold...
Send the vibes my way for my first day... and I'll let you all know how trying to run the company on my first day goes.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Just like that!
Jen and I have worked...always. Quitting our jobs at Escala, packing up and moving - we thought "AWESOME!" we will have some time off! About three days into unemployment, we started freaking out. It was like when you stay home from work for a sick day, and then after about 3 soap operas, an episode of Maury and cruising facebook for the second solid hour, you realize that you actually miss work. Subtract the soaps and Maury and you have us surfing every job website for a week. It felt like a year. Everyone we talked to said "oh yeah, it takes about a month, maybe two to find a good job in the city". We were in a serious panic, wondering if we'd still be friends after a "month or two" trapped in our apartment looking for employment.
We made looking for a job our full time job - only leaving our computers to eat, sleep and make a run to the grocery store where we would carefully select what we could afford and carry back with us on the bus. We found that no matter how many companies we submitted our resumes to, nobody would respond. This is even worse than rejection (which we don't exactly handle well) because it was like we weren't even good enough to get an email back. Granted we only looked for 3 days without hearing a response from someone... it was torturous.
FINALLY, Jen got a call from her recruiter that one of the largest hedge fund companies in the world wanted to hire her on as a temp in the HR department. It is called Man Investments and have a history or hiring temps to test them out before they actually hire them on. Jen says that everyone is extremely nice, welcoming but that it is pretty quiet in the office. We are still trying to figure out how this whole recruiter thing works...
I applied (for the millionth time) to an ad on craigslist for an account executive at a company that produces summits, conferences and networking events all over the country. I had no idea what i wanted to do jumping into the job market... but I decided I'd try sales. Next question: what on earth do I want to sell? Toner to admin assistants for their copy machines? Pharmaceutical sales? Vacuum cleaners? None of this seemed glamorous enough. And then... selling events to C level execs of the top 1000 companies in our country? Sounds good. After three interviews, I start at marcus evans on Tuesday in the summits division. Check it out online if you like...
It seems as though it only took us one week to find jobs. Not bad, not bad at all.
All though we hear unemployment is the new black (thanks, mona), and we'd really be ok if we were stay-at-home-non-moms, getting back to the office will be a great change.
We made looking for a job our full time job - only leaving our computers to eat, sleep and make a run to the grocery store where we would carefully select what we could afford and carry back with us on the bus. We found that no matter how many companies we submitted our resumes to, nobody would respond. This is even worse than rejection (which we don't exactly handle well) because it was like we weren't even good enough to get an email back. Granted we only looked for 3 days without hearing a response from someone... it was torturous.
FINALLY, Jen got a call from her recruiter that one of the largest hedge fund companies in the world wanted to hire her on as a temp in the HR department. It is called Man Investments and have a history or hiring temps to test them out before they actually hire them on. Jen says that everyone is extremely nice, welcoming but that it is pretty quiet in the office. We are still trying to figure out how this whole recruiter thing works...
I applied (for the millionth time) to an ad on craigslist for an account executive at a company that produces summits, conferences and networking events all over the country. I had no idea what i wanted to do jumping into the job market... but I decided I'd try sales. Next question: what on earth do I want to sell? Toner to admin assistants for their copy machines? Pharmaceutical sales? Vacuum cleaners? None of this seemed glamorous enough. And then... selling events to C level execs of the top 1000 companies in our country? Sounds good. After three interviews, I start at marcus evans on Tuesday in the summits division. Check it out online if you like...
It seems as though it only took us one week to find jobs. Not bad, not bad at all.
All though we hear unemployment is the new black (thanks, mona), and we'd really be ok if we were stay-at-home-non-moms, getting back to the office will be a great change.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Differences in Chicago
It seems like all we can do is talk about Seattle and what we find different in Chicago. This seems pretty normal... so we thought we'd add it to the blog!
1. People do not wait for the green man to light up to cross the street... they JUMP into the street at any time, leaving Jen and I on the curb looking like worried puppies.
2. This city has little garbage and no homeless people. Ok, so we haven't ventured too far out of our comfort zone, but for the most part, this city sparkles.
3. Everyone loves Barack.
4. Nobody walks all the way around "the lake". ha.
5. Some bars are open until 5:00am!
6. People are always willing to give you a hand... or a hand out. We have received more free stuff in this city!
7. It is 80 degrees today (and yes, we know, it is going to be VERY cold this winter).
8. Everyone is a med student (it seems like)... lis kanyer, come visit.
9. I guess this isn't a difference, but perhaps a surprise - there is GREAT sushi here!
10. Every establishment will deliver what they have to your door. Oh, how I love this.
11. The trader joe's here is huge and has very wide aisles.
12. There is never an option for brown rice.
13. There are always a zillion empty cabs ready to take you home.
14. People live in the city and commute to work in the suburbs.
15. Allison has been working out in the gym in our place (very different from Seattle).
16. People always call you back and/or follow through on plans. "Flake" is a foreign term. Actually, we might be the biggest flakes here! ha.
17. The bus is fun and frequent.
18. There is world class shopping (Gucci, prada, chanel, louis, saks, neimans, etc) FIVE blocks from our house. Danger.
19. Chicago has the highest sales tax of any major US city.
20. Chicago doesn't have all of the fabulous people that we love in Seattle close to us!
1. People do not wait for the green man to light up to cross the street... they JUMP into the street at any time, leaving Jen and I on the curb looking like worried puppies.
2. This city has little garbage and no homeless people. Ok, so we haven't ventured too far out of our comfort zone, but for the most part, this city sparkles.
3. Everyone loves Barack.
4. Nobody walks all the way around "the lake". ha.
5. Some bars are open until 5:00am!
6. People are always willing to give you a hand... or a hand out. We have received more free stuff in this city!
7. It is 80 degrees today (and yes, we know, it is going to be VERY cold this winter).
8. Everyone is a med student (it seems like)... lis kanyer, come visit.
9. I guess this isn't a difference, but perhaps a surprise - there is GREAT sushi here!
10. Every establishment will deliver what they have to your door. Oh, how I love this.
11. The trader joe's here is huge and has very wide aisles.
12. There is never an option for brown rice.
13. There are always a zillion empty cabs ready to take you home.
14. People live in the city and commute to work in the suburbs.
15. Allison has been working out in the gym in our place (very different from Seattle).
16. People always call you back and/or follow through on plans. "Flake" is a foreign term. Actually, we might be the biggest flakes here! ha.
17. The bus is fun and frequent.
18. There is world class shopping (Gucci, prada, chanel, louis, saks, neimans, etc) FIVE blocks from our house. Danger.
19. Chicago has the highest sales tax of any major US city.
20. Chicago doesn't have all of the fabulous people that we love in Seattle close to us!
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Purple Popcorn and Laundry Cards
An entire week has passed... and it feels like a month.
Just after our last blog post, Jen and I made the trek to target on the bus - wearing the same clothes from the night before. Quite the adventure... we had to pick up an air mattress - since we had nothing to sleep on - and some other important supplies for the house. Again, we do not have a car. While shopping, it is easy to forget this minor detail, and we go into our normal habits putting everything into our cart. Brooms, mops, cleaning supplies, bath rugs, food... and the 40 lb air mattress. We schlepped our stuff to the bus, made a transfer, and had three people help us along the way. We were quite a sight...
Our white apartment walls were not nearly crazy enough for the two of us, so we decided to take on a task that always sounds easy enough, but leaves you cussing at walls. Painting.
Jen and I located the nearest (or so we thought) hardware store and picked out purple and green paint for our "popcorn walls". For those of you who are not familiar with this form of wall texturing, the popcorn finish was quite popular in the 60's and 70's. We decided that whoever thought this was a good idea... should be punished. After purchasing the 4 gallons of paint and all of the necessary supplies, we again had to figure out how we were going to get all of this home... 10 blocks away. Luckily, this nice couple stopped us and said "you two look pathetic, can we help you?" and then proceeded to carry our paint home for us. I'm not sure if it was because they were too nice, or we were too "pathetic"! Either way it saved us a little energy!
We had popcorn flying off the wall into our mouths, hair, clothes - everywhere. We were without furniture, so we did not have any form of elevation to reach the high corners of the room... no chairs, benches, nada. We found two drawers to stack on top of each other and carefully climb atop, then move them two feet, climb, move, climb and so on. Basically, painting a popcorn wall without a ladder was the worst idea we have ever had. After two days and inhaling an unhealthy amount of paint fumes, we finished the stupid walls and have a purple and green living room.
Our furniture arrived on Sunday morning and we were beyond excited. FINALLY, a bed, towels, pillows, our SHOES! We spent two days unpacking and getting settled in. It's amazing how much stuff we got rid of before our move... and yet, we still managed to pack our new apartment full.
We figured out how to do laundry. Neither of us has used a card operated machine... and let me tell you, it is not ideal. We feel like we're in college again... no jobs, staying out late, and spending all of our money on laundry cards. Trust me, this has completely motivated us even more to find jobs. In fact, I may start cold calling and begging for one.
We've made fantastic friends from all different circles. Our 1111 friends JD, Nathaniel and Zach have taken us to several fine establishments in the city (including purchasing shampoo from the local Jewel at 1am)- as have our new girlfriends Kelsey and Brianne. In fact, last night we were invited to dinner and a concert in Lincoln Park. We saw from our 18th floor window that it was raining, but thought "hey, we're from Seattle. This rain's got nothing on us!" We opened the main door to our building and sheets of rain were coming at us sideways and diagonal. No walking for us. We had a great time at the concert (check out Daphne Willis) and as we were ready to at least walk to the train stop, a big green van pulled up with a couple of members of the band in the front seats. They insisted on giving us a ride home.... so we hopped in the back and the band dropped us off at our place right after giving us a free CD. It was perfect.
Wow. This was a novel. We're having a great time and have truly enjoyed every second, and every new adventure so far. We can't wait until we have an entire MONTH behind us...
Please keep in touch and we'll keep posting!
xo
A&J
Just after our last blog post, Jen and I made the trek to target on the bus - wearing the same clothes from the night before. Quite the adventure... we had to pick up an air mattress - since we had nothing to sleep on - and some other important supplies for the house. Again, we do not have a car. While shopping, it is easy to forget this minor detail, and we go into our normal habits putting everything into our cart. Brooms, mops, cleaning supplies, bath rugs, food... and the 40 lb air mattress. We schlepped our stuff to the bus, made a transfer, and had three people help us along the way. We were quite a sight...
Our white apartment walls were not nearly crazy enough for the two of us, so we decided to take on a task that always sounds easy enough, but leaves you cussing at walls. Painting.
Jen and I located the nearest (or so we thought) hardware store and picked out purple and green paint for our "popcorn walls". For those of you who are not familiar with this form of wall texturing, the popcorn finish was quite popular in the 60's and 70's. We decided that whoever thought this was a good idea... should be punished. After purchasing the 4 gallons of paint and all of the necessary supplies, we again had to figure out how we were going to get all of this home... 10 blocks away. Luckily, this nice couple stopped us and said "you two look pathetic, can we help you?" and then proceeded to carry our paint home for us. I'm not sure if it was because they were too nice, or we were too "pathetic"! Either way it saved us a little energy!
We had popcorn flying off the wall into our mouths, hair, clothes - everywhere. We were without furniture, so we did not have any form of elevation to reach the high corners of the room... no chairs, benches, nada. We found two drawers to stack on top of each other and carefully climb atop, then move them two feet, climb, move, climb and so on. Basically, painting a popcorn wall without a ladder was the worst idea we have ever had. After two days and inhaling an unhealthy amount of paint fumes, we finished the stupid walls and have a purple and green living room.
Our furniture arrived on Sunday morning and we were beyond excited. FINALLY, a bed, towels, pillows, our SHOES! We spent two days unpacking and getting settled in. It's amazing how much stuff we got rid of before our move... and yet, we still managed to pack our new apartment full.
We figured out how to do laundry. Neither of us has used a card operated machine... and let me tell you, it is not ideal. We feel like we're in college again... no jobs, staying out late, and spending all of our money on laundry cards. Trust me, this has completely motivated us even more to find jobs. In fact, I may start cold calling and begging for one.
We've made fantastic friends from all different circles. Our 1111 friends JD, Nathaniel and Zach have taken us to several fine establishments in the city (including purchasing shampoo from the local Jewel at 1am)- as have our new girlfriends Kelsey and Brianne. In fact, last night we were invited to dinner and a concert in Lincoln Park. We saw from our 18th floor window that it was raining, but thought "hey, we're from Seattle. This rain's got nothing on us!" We opened the main door to our building and sheets of rain were coming at us sideways and diagonal. No walking for us. We had a great time at the concert (check out Daphne Willis) and as we were ready to at least walk to the train stop, a big green van pulled up with a couple of members of the band in the front seats. They insisted on giving us a ride home.... so we hopped in the back and the band dropped us off at our place right after giving us a free CD. It was perfect.
Wow. This was a novel. We're having a great time and have truly enjoyed every second, and every new adventure so far. We can't wait until we have an entire MONTH behind us...
Please keep in touch and we'll keep posting!
xo
A&J
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Our address
Our new address is
1400 N Lake Shore Dr 18A
Chicago, IL 60610
Feel free to send us treats, money, heated jackets.... whatever.
1400 N Lake Shore Dr 18A
Chicago, IL 60610
Feel free to send us treats, money, heated jackets.... whatever.
We made it!
Greetings from the most amazing city in the world!
First, we want to thank everyone who came to our fabulous goodbye party last Friday! It was so special to see all of our friends and family and to feel so supported and loved.
We made it... finally. Jen and I hauled the couple of suitcases we have been living out of for the last week to the airport along with Puss in the kitty carrier. We were pretty nervous about putting Puss under the plane because of all of the horror stories we had heard - but he was just fine. We grabbed him on the other end and couldn't wait to get to our new place!
A beautiful, big haired Italian woman met us in the lobby wearing a tight black Juicy jump suit waving papers in the air. It was Natalie, our new landlord. She is fantastic, in her early 40's, single and an attorney. She also lives in the building and is having us over for drinks next week!
We found out that our stuff is arriving on Sunday (thank goodness), so we stayed our first night with our amazing friends down the street. Jen had an interview (Go Jen!) at 10:30 yesterday which lasted for two hours... she better get the job. I cruised around the city and took in Michigan Avenue. Holy shopping. I was in love. It was one perfect shop after the next... I ended up at Macys looking for shower curtains and a serious down comforter. We were loaded down with stuff and expereinced our first walk across town with our arms full! I totally missed having a car.
Last night we went to Wrigleyville for the first post season Cubs game! We had heard that Cubs fans were intense... but we had no idea. People are packed around every crack in the stadium trying to get a glimpse of the game. There are crowds of people peering into apartment windows on the sidewalk trying to watch the game... police officers are everywhere and everyone roars when the baseball team scores a run! We found a bar and met 5 new best friends in ten minutes. Everyone is so friendly... We actually met two girls who we loved! Kelsey and Brianne took us to a few more places last night to show us around and introduce us to some of their friends. It was such a fun night!
We're off to Target (four buses later) to buy a blow up mattress and some paint.
As soon as we can find the cords for our cameras, we'll put some pictures on here!
Stay tuned...
LOVE,
Allison and Jen
First, we want to thank everyone who came to our fabulous goodbye party last Friday! It was so special to see all of our friends and family and to feel so supported and loved.
We made it... finally. Jen and I hauled the couple of suitcases we have been living out of for the last week to the airport along with Puss in the kitty carrier. We were pretty nervous about putting Puss under the plane because of all of the horror stories we had heard - but he was just fine. We grabbed him on the other end and couldn't wait to get to our new place!
A beautiful, big haired Italian woman met us in the lobby wearing a tight black Juicy jump suit waving papers in the air. It was Natalie, our new landlord. She is fantastic, in her early 40's, single and an attorney. She also lives in the building and is having us over for drinks next week!
We found out that our stuff is arriving on Sunday (thank goodness), so we stayed our first night with our amazing friends down the street. Jen had an interview (Go Jen!) at 10:30 yesterday which lasted for two hours... she better get the job. I cruised around the city and took in Michigan Avenue. Holy shopping. I was in love. It was one perfect shop after the next... I ended up at Macys looking for shower curtains and a serious down comforter. We were loaded down with stuff and expereinced our first walk across town with our arms full! I totally missed having a car.
Last night we went to Wrigleyville for the first post season Cubs game! We had heard that Cubs fans were intense... but we had no idea. People are packed around every crack in the stadium trying to get a glimpse of the game. There are crowds of people peering into apartment windows on the sidewalk trying to watch the game... police officers are everywhere and everyone roars when the baseball team scores a run! We found a bar and met 5 new best friends in ten minutes. Everyone is so friendly... We actually met two girls who we loved! Kelsey and Brianne took us to a few more places last night to show us around and introduce us to some of their friends. It was such a fun night!
We're off to Target (four buses later) to buy a blow up mattress and some paint.
As soon as we can find the cords for our cameras, we'll put some pictures on here!
Stay tuned...
LOVE,
Allison and Jen
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