Just because it's cute

This is what I saw tonight.  It inspired a "just because" blog post.

New Things

I said I wanted to do some new things and go to new places and I did!  Following is a summary of my week in and out of Chicago. :)

First, last Sunday afternoon, went to the Bucktown Apple Pie Contest.  Now if you like apple pie on a fall day, you must make your plans to come here next here.  There were over 100 apple pies to taste, complete with ice cream.  Square dancing, pony rides, a bouncy house...this was the place to be.  See http://bucktownapplepiecontest.com/Welcome.html for more details.  The cool part about this for me, besides the apple pie of course, was that I traveled on my lonesome to a new part of town.  Even though Chicago is obviously a big city, each different little part feels like a small town.  That festival really was like something you'd see in Stars Hollow.

Happy Tails was my next new adventure.  Well really Leo's.  It's a little dog groomery right up the street.  According to the groomer, Leo does NOT like anyone to touch his paws.  I knew that....I was just hoping it wouldn't be an issue.  The following picture indicates Leo's level of happiness with being sent to Happy Tails.

Now I started this last week, but volleyball has become a new weekly routine for me.  It's a 15 minute bus ride north, but it's so fun!  A group of 36 people get together weekly for open play.  It's really competitive, but usually still fun.  Any chicagoans who like to play out there?  Give me a shout and I'll tell you how to get there.

Now this isn't really a Chicago thing, but it was fun.  BF and I made our way down to Prophetstown State Park in Indiana to meet my parents for a picnic.  So fun.  And the dogs got really tuckered.

All in all, fun week, full of new things and routine things.  Let's hope things continue this way.

Small living

Something very appropriate happens when you start settling into a routine in a new place.  You find yourself lacking interesting things to write about.  Everything begins to seem normal.  You start going to the same places over and over again.  You get comfortable living a small life in a small part of this big city. And then something else happens...you realize that's what you're doing.

I believe this week's mission is going to be to visit a couple new places and write about them.  Remind me if I don't do it. :)

A Lovely Date

This afternoon, BF took Leo and I to a place called the "Melrose Restaurant."  Just a typical greasy spoon in my neighborhood, this place is special because they allow dogs at their outdoor cafe.  Leo got bacon!  And crackers, and fries, and bread.  This restaurant is really a nice find right around the corner.  It seems like something you might find in Stars Hollow.  And they still have the Monte Cristo on the menu.  I might be in trouble with that one.  Thank you, BF, we enjoyed ourselves very much.

And see below, Leo was being sneaky earlier today...

So cute, but so bad.  He is not supposed to be on the bed!

Settling In

Working every day for me is not a drudgery.  I find that the only thing I'd rather be doing is shopping.  And since work enables me to go shopping, I happily go to work.  Or stay at work.

Since our office is still in the build-out stage, I've been working mainly from home, and having interviews at Dunkin Donuts.  And believe it or not, I've only had one donut!  Interviews have been going very well.  We've hired a total of 11 people, I think, and I really am so happy with the staff we've got so far.  I have one regret, someone I didn't hire and I'm starting to feel I should have.  May change my mind.

Unfortunately, I have mostly done my shopping at big box stores for the apartment.  I have re-purposed some things I already owned to make things work better in my little tiny box, and I think I'm pretty happy with my place!  Incredibly, I actually really like my apartment!

Settling in, getting into a routine, dating like a normal person...this is the life. :)

Happenings and City Sights

I've lived in Chicago now for almost 3 weeks.  I have developed a pretty good routine most days.

1. 6:45am - Loud clanking of dumpsters being emptied wakes me up.
2. 7:15am - growling at the trash man, I get out of bed and make coffee.
3. 7:30am - brisk morning walk with Leo, greeting several of my building-mates in the elevator.
4. 30 minutes before work - hop on my bike, head down to the Dunkin Donuts by work, carefully observing the sales at all the shops along the way and making mental notes for later.
5. 30 minutes after work - walk Leo down to the faux dog park at Lake Shore Drive and let him play with the other doggies.
6. 9pm - turn on the tv to watch something on Tivo, and instantly fall asleep.  (this is in response to the dumpster man that same morning)
7. 12am-6:45am - wake up multiple times to hear the bus announce it's presence, along with many fire trucks, police cars, and ambulances driving by.

Ok, I know this all sounds very sarcastic, and believe me, some of it is annoying, but I really love living here.  I've been a city girl all along and just didn't know it until now!  Here are some pictures taken from the last few weeks.  

The view of Belmont Harbor from my roof

My new bike rack!

Grand & State

Today was my first adventure on the "El."  The "El," short for "elevated train," is Chicago's version of the subway, and it is also part of the CTA.  Well if you need to get somewhere very quickly, the "el" is the way to go.  I needed to go to Target today, and there aren't many Target stores around here.  So I started at the Red Line stop at State and Grand, and ended up at the Target in the South Loop.  It was so very fun. You just head through the turnstyle and swipe your CTA card, then get on a train like the one below, and ride to your stop!  Just be careful when you come out of one of the underground stations.  It's so easy to lose your sense of direction.  On the plus side, I now know that the GPS nav for Blackberry works!

Identical Cousins

"They're cousins,

Identical cousins and you'll find, 

They look alike, they walk alike, 

At times they even bark alike"

Leo got a rare opportunity a couple of days ago. In Chicago there aren't many chances for a dog to run free, but we happened to be walking in Lincoln Park the other day and ran into Leo's doppelganger! This dog's owners were allowing him to run around off his leash, and John and I decided to be brave (or at least we decided we could catch him if he ran off), and let Leo try it out. It turned out that this other dog was a cocker-spaniel/poodle mix, and was Leo's perfect playmate. They ran together and played for a little while. It was a lovely surprise for all of us.

Lazy Hazy Crazy Days

I will be sad to see summer come to a close.  The past few days have been picture perfect end of summer vacation days.

Friday night, we did the coolest thing.  Thousands of skaters and cyclists massed up in the smack dab middle of downtown and rode 16 miles around the city, totally ignoring motorists and traffic lights.  It's called Critical Mass.  And who knows if it's supposed to be some political statement or not, but it was FUN!  BF fixed up a bike for me, so now I have wheels around the city, and was able to go on the really awesome ride.  The sore booty is worth it.

Saturday: went out to BF's place and made my famous chocolate chip cookies.  With my stand mixer.  Which unfortunately has to live at BF's since I live in a 350 sq ft apartment with no countertop. :)  But regardless of the location, the cookies were a big hit.

Today, the most fun.  Biked from my apartment up to North Avenue Beach and watched BF's group do their tricksy skating.  I got quite a suntan, and actually avoided sunburn this time!  Thanks to Neutrogena's SPF 30.  Reapplied twice. That too is worth it.  Followed that up with taking Leo to the dog beach.  That's right, a DOG BEACH!  How cool.  He was tentative about the water, but once he watched the other dogs enough, he thought diving in would be the right thing to do, and wow!  He didn't stop running or jumping in the water for a good hour.  He's a tired pup tonight.

Since we were so hot and thirsty all day long, I convinced BF to walk down to the ice cream place down the street.  Not that it took much convincing.  However, this is not your normal ice cream place.  This is Cloud 9.  Some weird shaved ice and fruit mixture drizzled with a topping of your choice.  It's been called a "sticky, ethereal puff of summer relief" and they are right.  It was SO GOOD!  Totally hit the spot better than ice cream would have.

So now I lay here in my hot apartment just smiling about how cool Chicago is.  And it's my city. :)

First few days

Click here for pics of my new apartment!

Well, I have food in the fridge.  I have stuffed most of my clothes in the closet.  Maintenance has already been called up here to fix a few things.  It has been a really busy, really tiring couple of days.

Took my first trip to a Chicago grocery store yesterday - Jewel Osco.  I was able to use my Chicago Card Plus for the first time on the bus ride up there, and then we carried 6 bags of groceries on the bus on the way back!  As a side note, I think I'm allergic to all the city grit.  You don't really notice it, but I'm all stuffy I think from the bus exhaust, etc...BF says I will get used to it.

Today, I went down to the mattress store to pick up a mattress and box springs, and as a bonus, I got the rails!  This should supply me with lots more storage space!  We also walked my route to work, and it's a bit long...25 mins at a fairly quick pace.  But on the plus side, there are at least 25 restaurants, a starbucks, 2 hardware stores, a french grocery, and about a million people!  It's so fun having everything in walking distance, and I'm betting I've already lost 5 lbs.  I am curious though, will the feet aching ever go away?

Finally Here!

Wow, I haven't written anything here in a couple weeks.  Things got a little crazy at work, and then I actually made the move!  I am living in Chicago now.  Got my things moved into my apartment today.  That was an interesting adventure.

The day began with us driving downtown during rush hour traffic, which turned out to be moving fairly quickly.  Bear in mind that "fairly quickly" still took us over an hour.  We stopped by bf's office to pick up a furniture dolly, and I stayed with the car on Lower Wacker (think Batman Begins) while watching fish and flower delivery trucks ride by.  We had quite a little trek around the downtown area, and I was able to see just how much hustle and bustle there is.  It's amazing!  SO many little restaurants, shops, florists...since I pointed out all of the latter, I expect to be getting many flowers. ;)

Once we found the apartments, we had to go turn around so that we'd be going the right direction for the trailer.  I've always heard that Chicago traffic is the worst, but we had really had such an easy drive so far, I was starting to be lulled into complacency.  Well, my hopes of easy driving were dashed.  Went up one block, and even though there were no signs, a utility company was blocking the entire road.  Everyone had to turn around.  Turning around in a long truck with a trailer attached is VERY difficult, I've discovered.  I spent about an hour telling people to back up and shouting directions and making wild hand gestures just to try to get us backed down the street.  Bf did such a great job.  We were both a little rattled after that experience, but the next part made it all worth it.

We finally got to the apartment and I took a look around after signing the lease,  I was very pleased with what I saw.  The building is really lovely.  It bills itself as "Luxury Lake Front Apartments" and it's really true.  There are dog treats and coffee in the lobby!   Just walk out the front door, turn to the left, and there's the lake. I was so close to the lake that I could feel the spray whenever the wind blows!  The apartment is small, no doubt, but not as small as I had envisioned.  All the doors, fixtures, appliances, and surfaces are very nice, and a box fan in the window should solve the stuffiness issue.  Pics to come later today.

A freight elevator helped us with our stuff (only took about 30 trips in the elevator).  But let me just say, an elevator with a manual door that has to be held while the dolly gets wheeled in and out is almost just as difficult as carrying boxes!  By the time we were done, we were absolutely exhausted.  But I am thrilled with my new neighborhood.  Within 30 steps of my building there are no fewer than 4 mani/pedi places!  What am I going to do!?!  Leo will also be very happy.  Less than half a mile from our building is a dog beach.  We'll probably head down there today.

All in all, very exciting and successful day.  A bit of sunburn, VERY tired, but very happy.  More to come...

It's coming, it's coming

More and more things are having to be done as I move!  I'm getting so excited!  I ordered my Chicago Card Plus yesterday - a card that takes 7-10 days to be delivered by mail, and can be preloaded with funds to get me around the CTA and El train.  I also changed the information on my website (www.bergmusicstudio.com) to reflect my new city!  Went to the bank to find out about changing my account information, bought new sunglasses...well, not EVERYTHING has to be about Chicago, right? :)


One major bummer.  Boyfriend's home phone stopped working.  So no talking during the day.  Just another reminder that it's so good I'm making this move.  I miss him.

In other news, I am working on my own bonus structure! It's been an interesting process, and just another step in my professional growth.  I love my job and I'm so happy to start fresh in a new place with a clean slate.

Nothing ever goes as smoothly as it should

I finally have an apartment!  I tell you what.  Finding an apartment in the city seems a lot more fun than it really is.  You have to weigh so many different things and decide what you can live without, because you're never going to get everything you want in one place.  And then you have to deal with realtors, because big cities like Chicago have middlemen for just about everything, it seems.  (BTW, realtors are dead to me because of many things that happened a few years back, but that's a story for another time)

So this apartment is lovely.  Everything is brand new, it's in a wonderful location, heat is included in the very reasonable rent...what's the caveat?  It's only 350 square feet.  Yes.  I realize I'm going to be living in a box.  However, I tend to look at these things as somewhat of a challenge to be conquered.  Boyfriend is very nervous that I'm going to be miserable, but I don't think so.  I'm excited!  But the worst part is that I had my heart set on a particular unit, overnighted the money to them to reserve that unit, and it was rented out from under me!  Boyfriend was SO upset and went all mama bear on that realty company.  It was beautiful.  He called them up and told them that I never would have spent the money on overnighting if I knew that apartment wasn't available, etc, and they apparently were so afraid of him that they said they'd reimburse me the $45. :)  And I have a different unit, one where everything is brand spanking new. :)  But really, why can't things ever run as smoothly as they should?

So I'm really doing it.  I have a tiny studio apartment in a really hip part of a huge city.  I am doing the city thing.  Should I be more nervous?  I hope not.  So far this is fun!

Is today the day?

It was a no-go on the apartment I thought I wanted.  I say that because I am going to get an even better one in a better location now!  (that's thinking positively for you).  The lovely boyfriend is headed downtown today for a full afternoon of apartment hunting on my behalf.  :)  I have him scoping one in the Gold Coast, and 3 in Lakeview.  2 are studios and 2 are 1 brm.  Will today be the day I find my city home?  And would you believe it's so hard to weigh location vs. price vs. space vs. shopping?  At least I don't have any furniture to worry about.  I have never been so happy I decided to sell it all!  I'm really digging the one in the photo.  I love that corner window look.

Another thing I realized, after dealing with these blazing hot summer days in SC, is that I am actually looking forward to a chill in the air!  Autumn is my favorite season and I get to enjoy it with my favorite boy in my new city. :)

Still Waiting...

Well, I'm still waiting for word on the apartment.  I only know that there are 2 other applicants also waiting to hear.  Leo and I are sitting alone in our room again this morning.  He has a grooming appointment today - gotta make sure he's set for all those cute babes up in Chicago.  This interim experience living with my boss has been good practice for us.  We'll be in a small space up there, so we're getting used to it now.  He's going to need LOTS of walking to make up for not being able to roam around a yard, like we had in our old house.  It's just good for him that I enjoy going on walks with him...we'll see how I feel in December. :)

Pins and Needles

Waiting is something I have never been good at.  Patience is a virtue I only possess sometimes.  I have found a great apartment that the lovely boyfriend says is perfect for me, at a great price, in the perfect location.  He went to check it out last week, I filled out the applications, and now I am waiting on pins and needles to find out if I got it.  Not very patient...staring at my email, waiting for that inbox unread number to change.

EEK! A Deer!

I probably won't run into much of this once I move, but I almost hit a deer tonight!  On my way home from work, Bambi's mom just hopped right out in front of me! Thank goodness for quick reflexes and decent brakes.  Trade off no deer for city traffic?

The Journey

So for those of you who don't know, I am currently staying with a great friend of mine (and her family) since I rented my house out before I was quite ready to move to Chicago.  It's been wonderful and interesting so far.  All the things I missed while living alone are no longer a problem - there are people in the house, folks to watch tv and movies with, lots of kid food (read: tasty and lacking in nutrition), and dogs for Leo to play with.  I have discovered, though, that there is something to be said for being alone with yourself.  Sitting alone in my room this morning, petting my puppy, watching Animal Planet, and writing to you all.  I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing except getting on my way to my new home. :)

Tonight marks 3 weeks until I’m supposed to load up the truck with all the worldly possessions I think I can fit in a 1-bedroom apartment and get on the road to Chi-town!  (Although, the lovely boyfriend informed me that no locals EVER call it Chi-town...so this will be the last time I use that name).  I’ve started packing.  I am looking for renters for my house.  I purchased guidebooks for the Chicago newbie.  I am making lists of everything I want to do when I get there.  What else?  What am I forgetting?  Anyone out there have experience with a long distance relocation?