This blog is the chronicle of my journey from the life of a Georgia Peach, where I lived most of my life, to the intimidating fast-paced existence in the city of Chicago!
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Again, I've Abandoned You...
Good morning!
I know it's been a while since I posted ANYTHING here, but last night was a post-worthy night! My husband took me on a date night, of which I knew NO plans! We took a trip to Millennium Park, where carolers perform every Friday night from Thanksgiving until the end of the holiday season. Last night was the Chicago Children's Choir, which brings together children of all backgrounds--ethnic, socio-economic, religious, and others--to sing together, as they believe music is the universal unifier... which I am inclined to believe. These children did a wonderful job! They "only" had a couple hundred perform, but they have something like 2700 children involved with their programs!
Before leaving Millennium Park, we also took a stroll by the ice skating rink, where people were having a wonderful time!
We headed north to Lincoln Park, our former home, to visit ZooLights. The Lincoln Park Zoo is a tremendous zoo, and is free every day, all day! This is actually the zoo we visited when Ryan and I took a trip to the city in 2006, I believe... we had NO idea we'd be living here 3 years later! Anyway, so ZooLights are amazing! They decorate the whole zoo with millions upon millions of lights... this sounds like an exaggeration, and it may be, but there's a lot... take a look at the pictures and you'll believe me! This is a great event because they keep the zoo open late during this season, so you can see all the lights at night... and the animals seem to be pretty active as well. The Ape House was totally asleep, which was cute; the Cat House was hoppin', but we didn't expect anything different with Santa in the middle of it all :) We actually got a glimpse of the snow owl doing its thing and the eagles... always my fav! I told them they were my good luck charms for my undergrad's round 2 playoff game... they started chattering a little to each other, so I'm taking that as a sign they understood and will do their part :) (don't miss my picture of the escaped wild rabbit on the loose!)
After the zoo, we headed over to the Andersonville neighborhood, which is such a cool part of town! They were doing a late-night neighborhood event, so lots of folks were out and discounts to be had. We went to a tapas restaurant, where we ordered 4 dishes between us and shared a little bit of everything. This was my first experience with tapas, and certainly not my last--it was WONDERFUL! I think my favorite dish was the order of lamb sliders, which had unique flavors... some sweet sauce to balance the savory of the lamb--very tasty! After dinner, we wandered down to the Galleria, where over 90 artists display and sell their work.. is a very small area! It was crowded but cool... lots of unique items of all sorts!
Finally, we headed to my favorite vice... George's Ice Cream shop. I've never had a bad taste in this place ever! We have had all sorts of delicious desserts, all decadent and put together in original ways. The first thing we had from here was an over-the-top German Chocolate sundae, with brownie pieces and coconut ice cream as the base... then tons and tons of chocolate and caramel sauce. In the words of one of my friends, it was "slap yo mama good"! :)
After such a great night, I'm not sure how we'll top it today, but we're already off to a great start--a lovely snowfall descended upon us last night and will stick around for another couple of hours. Probably about 3-5 inches of snow will be with us afterwards, and I get to call it lovely because I use public transit to get around--no driving for me! :) Also, I included a picture of our Christmas tree and Christmas kitten, who blends right in with my other decorative requirements (aka the Grinch and his buds). Yes, the tree is themed in support of my awesome GSU Eagles :)
Hope you enjoy the pictures from our escapades! My favorite is probably the dude carving the ice sculpture at the Lincoln Park Zoo... I love the shower of ice off the top!
Ziena
Monday, October 25, 2010
Long Time, No Type
Hello blog!
I've missed you... some. I mean, not a ton, but I've definitely thought about you. A few times. Well, I'm still sorry.
It has been a busy time for us in the city! We have tried to get in several "last nice weather" days before they become extinct for the season. And we have had some VERY nice days.
- Pro: My husband got a great job at the Illinois Institute of Technology!
- Con: Our laptop 100% died. Gone with the wind... and hard drive.
- Pro: We celebrated our 2 year anniversary with an amazing dinner on the 95th floor restaurant in the Hancock Tower, the Signature Room.
- Con: We've been spending a lot of money.
- Pro: We've been spending a lot of money.
- Con: We're really busy.
- Pro: We're totally joining the 21st century. Those of you who know us know what this means... just a couple more days until you can text us without the collection agency calling you.
- Con: We're going to be like cavemen for about 2 weeks with these phones.
- Pro: We got rid of our home phone, but upgraded our cable. Net: PROFIT of $6. YES!
- Con: None
- Pro: We get to commute to work on the train together every morning. Much more entertaining.
- Con: None
- Pro: Life is simply amazing.
- Pro-Con is closed.
We have discovered some lovely little gems in our area, but I'm getting an itch... Since the husband got a job on the southern side of Downtown, he is currently commuting 45 minutes to work each day, each way. My planner (my dominant side) is already considering what our next move will look like... in June. I do, however, feel like we can start branching out and learning about neighborhoods which might be a compromise time-wise and NO compromise happiness-wise.
We also visited my in-laws two weekends ago and took some pictures of covered bridges at a "festival" held in Indiana. This festival consists of riding into a town, past all the yard sales and rummage sales, and acquiring a map of trails in which you can drive to find several bridges. The bridges themselves are cool, and the festival was fun (I haven't found one I didn't like); however, I didn't know what I was expecting--it wasn't really this, though. I really liked the ability to take pictures of subjects I don't ordinarily find... I don't think I have any pictures of covered bridges, so I experimented with a couple of approaches. Once I am able to post the video, I hope you like them.
Finally, we have one last piece of fun news: WE'RE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD FOR CHRISTMAS THIS YEAR!! On our anniversary, I booked tickets to celebrate the wonderful end to our long and challenging year we weathered together. We've never been together, so I look forward to some fun, but also the ability to partake in the nightlife while there... the last time I went, I was on a band trip (judge if you willl... I still went to Disney World). Any suggestions for "must sees" or "don't bothers"??
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Botanical Garden
Thursday, September 9, 2010
The Value of a Dollar Versus the Value of an Education
Monday, September 6, 2010
Georgia Cat
So we accidentally adopted a spaz for a kitten.
- She plays with her toys with incredible energy, but almost seems self-conscious about "getting caught" doing it. She walks off casually like she was too cool for it to begin with.
- Georgia has a MEAN vertical. She randomly jumps at spots on the wall, like she sees a fly--but there isn't one.
- She has found my hair ties as her new favorite toy when she gets up early in the mornings... good thing I keep them on the headboard for me (and her now, too).
- She will run through the apartment like she's got somewhere to be. When she does it, though, she sounds like a dog whose claws need clipped.... "schritch, schritch, schritch". I'm shocked we don't have claw marks on the floors. I think the hardwood flooring is resilient, though :)
Some Unofficial Rules of the CTA
Labor Day 2010
Today, we decided to take a trip to the Garfield Park Conservatory to let me play with my camera some more. I like the ability to experiment and learn from the settings--sometimes I have to take a picture the wrong way to learn how I prefer the picture taken. I appreciate that the instructor of my PhotoSafari class showed me how the "Info" button on my camera shows me exactly how I set everything for each photo. This gives me the opportunity to learn what I could improve for the next shot.
Anyway, we took the Red Line to the Green Line and got off right beside the Conservatory. It was HUGE! The building is divided up by types of plants, so we ventured through several rooms before coming to the outside garden, which was fantastic in its own right. After going back into the building, we came upon another outside garden area, complete with a lily pond, mini-vegetable garden, and labyrinth.
We spent about three hours walking through the facility, and I'm certain we'll be back. The day was overcast, but just perfect in terms of temperature. It was a wonderful, relaxing, inspiring day for me.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
July 2010
All of these events were free, except for the cost of tickets to try foods at the "Taste". Here, you purchase tickets instead of exchanging money for the food. The participating restaurants serve their signature items, so they have a limited menu, generally 5 or 6 things. They also do "taste portions", which are about half the size of a full order. We much preferred doing this, so we could try something without having to commit a bunch of tickets to something we weren't sure we'd like.
So about our trip to the Lincoln Park Zoo: they just opened an entirely new section to the Zoo, which has been closed off since we moved here in November. It is still a little bare, but is a nice area for wildlife. During the slideshow, you'll see a momma duck and 2 ducks on one side of a net, and two or three other babies on the other side; they got separated somehow and we were able to watch the drama from above, unable to help. So what do I do? Start taking pictures while being super-sad for them... they were a bit frantic about getting back together, but not petrified. Sadness at the zoo.
June 2010
April and May 2010
February and March 2010
January 2010
January--probably one of the coldest months of my life. *Sigh* When you learn the phrase "Snot-freezes-in-your-nose cold", it makes you start to question whether the thin blood you brought from Georgia is going to be enough to survive. This is when I purchased the coat that goes ALL the way to my ankles. Totally. Worth. It.
I also started sucking it up, getting out, and learning more about my new home. We discovered that the Brookfield Zoo makes January and February "free admission days", since most people don't really dig the zoo in the winter. We like free. We like zoos. Why not? It was actually a better day than we expected: not terribly cold, no crowds, and pretty active animals.
We also went to the Aquarium during one of its free days (to see a list of Free Days at the Shedd this year, go to http://www.sheddaquarium.org/discounts.html). Upon walking up, we saw a tent covering the entryway and a line. Ugh. Surprise! The line moved remarkably quick and we spent the day wanding among the exhibits and finding all sorts of incredible animals. If you've never been, there's a very cool central tank just as you enter the aquarium and there is a sea turtle I follow all the time. Her name is Nickel, and she swims a constant circle around the circular tank. Her story is a pretty cool one: she was struck by a boat propeller, cut so deep that she was unable to paddle her back feet. She made her way to the Shedd and, upon doing a physical exam, they found a 1975 nickel in her esophagus, thus her name.
My birthday is also in January, so we had a fun day planned: we got tickets to the Oprah show ON MY ACTUAL birthday, which was super-cool, and our show was an interview was Denise Richards. I also got invited to the academic reception held for all of DePaul's athletes at the Allstate Arena, where we got to attend the Blue Demons' men's basketball game. Really, really good day :)
November and December 2009
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Welcome to My Blog!
I hope this site provides an insight into our lives in the city, but also some great ways to experience our home...
-Ziena