Just one more chapter...

And then I'll go to bed...

Room with a view

Our staff holiday party was hosted in the Signature Room at the Hancock, one of my favorite places in the city.
While I sometimes find it hard to relax while being suspended 95 floors above ground, the spectacular views never fail to take my breath away...

BFFs

Be not afraid

The darkness has no power here

Look at it this way

Sure, it's a chilly Monday morning.

But the city looks like this:




And my shoes look like this:




If that's not a promising start to the week, then frankly I don't know what is.

Hey there, whatcha reading?

Here...we...go...

I woke up to the hiss of my radiators and a foggy view out my windows.







I feel like we're reaching the top the roller coaster and the mind numbing descent is coming into view. Get ready, Chicago. Here comes the big drop...

Because that would make sense

A string of 80 degree days and we have to have a fire drill on the first cold and rainy day. Our office found each other in the chaos and we worked together to help our designated fire warden get her orange arm band on.

Timeless classic

Being a few beers in at the time, I decided to postpone sharing this photo until the next day so I could make sure this product name is as hilariously awesome as I believed:





Broccoli Wokly. Yup. Still lol inducing.

Lady of mine

A few weeks ago, I stopped to capture this gal passing me on the street:




This morning, when she appeared at my local Starbucks and brandished, yes, a red phone I knew the time to share had come:




Until we meet again, Lady in Red...

Make it so

If I ever find a genie in a bottle, I will wish for world peace, limitless wealth and the ability to transform any place into this (accordion included):

As it should be

A chai latte and this welcoming sight is the perfect start to my morning:




It's 2011 and I'm a hopeless city girl.

Necessity is the mother of roadtrips

What do you do when you need to get away but only have a 3 day weekend?

You take a roadtrip to Milwaukee.

Which went something like this:


























And if that's not enough to win your heart, then be sure to stop by Nomad's where this is a $5 deal any night of the week:






God bless you, Milwaukee. I shall return.

Morning perks

Starting work at 5:30 in the morning doesn't have many perks, but this is definitely one of them:


















I'm happily back to a 9am start time but...I do miss that.

Remember me

Having visited ancient ruins around the world, trying desperately to imagine the lives of the people that walked the same road, bridge, floor that I now traversed I sometimes find myself wondering... Will tourists someday file past the foundations of these buildings and wonder what kind of people walked under their towering shadow? Will they imagine me?

Peek-a-boo

I've been waiting for the free time to edit some photos from an afternoon exploring several vintage shops. But, sigh, the moment has not arrived. My camera has not been untouched since then but I stubbornly just keep waiting...waiting...

Feels a bit like life. So in the smallest gesture I'm defying the oh so human desire to wait for the perfect moment and instead go with the unpolished, the unimpressive, the simple and, yet, the delightful.

While cleaning, I noticed something strange about my laptop bag:





Did you find him?

Yes, my lord

I'm beginning to think that Chicagoans are really just suffering from a very, very bad case of Stockholm Syndrome. Our winter (and in this case, spring too!) is so harsh that when our great captor finally graces us with fair weather, we are utterly delirious with delight and devotion. Were the last few days as heavenly as I imagined it or is it merely the delusions of broken spirit? You tell me:

At my office:






At the lake:






At Rib Fest 2011: (That dark mass protruding from her dress is, yes, a dog.)





At my family reunion:

City life

11am: Hiking





2pm: Real Mammoth bones





6:30pm: Classical concert





9:30



10:30




11:30

Train buddies

For the first time in months, I've had the occasion to ride the morning train I used to take to work for almost four years.

Sure enough, all my train buddies were there. You know them - the people you see everyday but never talk to, people with names like "80's hair guy" and "Romance novel girl."

I got to sit across from beard guy today. I wonder if he recognized me. I wonder if he would think it creepy that I took his picture.






I missed you, beard guy.

Bartender, baker, bookshelf maker

In the last two weeks, I have:

Built a bookshelf






Purchased art for my wall







Baked banana bread (I had lots of bananas)







And, yes, graduated from bartending school






I'd invite you over for drinks and dessert but I'm too tired.

Mid-air adventures

During my long walks along the lake, I've often passed an outdoor trapeze school. Each time I passed it, my horror levels dropped a little until I finally started to consider taking a lesson. Then Groupon sealed the deal.

Yesterday was the big day. To slightly misquote Dickens, it was the worst of times:

It was the best of times:

Bruised and tattered but triumphant I am now going to don a sleeveless dress and head to a wedding. When else will I get to tell people I had an incident with the net while trying to perform a catch on trapeze?

Exactly.

Failure to load Spring: please try again

When I get up in the morning, my apartment generally looks something like this:





Last week, I awoke to a 40 (yes 40) degree drop in temperature, torrential downpours and this:





Seriously Chicago? Get. It. Together.

Video of destiny

Sitting on the bus, I spent a good ten minutes listening to a group of friends amuse themselves by revisiting pickup lines they had invented earlier that afternoon.

On a whim, I decided to get one of their pickup lines (the one they prefaced as the most hilarious of them all) on video to share with you, my gentle reader, and see if you thought it was nearly as funny as they did.

Minutes later, the man in the video saw me loading up my video editor on my iPhone and used that as a segue to...try and pick me up. I tucked my phone away quickly and made a mental note to not edit videos while sitting next to my unsuspecting subject.

A few stops later I happily bid him and friends goodbye and hopped off the bus.

THREE HOURS LATER, while riding the bus home I felt a tap on my shoulder and heard someone say "No way - aren't you the girl we met on the bus a few hours ago?"
It was the same group of friends.

And the same guy tried to pick me up again ("Maybe I could, you know, find you on Facebook or something").

I like to think my video altered out destinies and entwined our paths. Maybe everyone who watches this will have good luck. I should start a chain letter. Or a cult.

Watch with caution. This video has great power