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. :)