Guess Who's Back, Back Again

Well, over a year has gone by and I find myself itching to write again. Since publishing a book seems like not only a lot of work, but a challenge to stick to one topic, publishing a blog post seems much more manageable and (possibly) enjoyable for others.
Last time I wrote, finding a place to print my resume was a challenge, as was learning the lingo to being a Nebraska football fan. While, I still have so much left to learn before I could pass as a true “Husker”, I have become quite comfortable walking about 500 steps to the UPS store, where for $0.15 cents a page, I can confidently print anything I need and even get it notarized. Yes, many things have changed.
We're just a couple of local Chicagoan's now.

I also now have a job, and not just any one, but one in teaching, which if I ever doubted was my passion, missing a school year without a classroom of my own was enough to remind me. I remember saying to Scott before moving out here that my “Chicago Dream” was to live and work in the same part of the city, not only for convenience, but for community. This is probably something I enjoy the most, as moving to a big city was so daunting. I work a little more than 10 blocks from my front door and while every day we are working to establish a stronger sense of community, the short commute and friendly faces I see when I get to work have saved me.
I have learned so much more about where we live and seeing it now through all four seasons, has really helped me appreciate our location. Winter is by far the silliest season to have in a city. While I still get excited to see the snow, it is harder to navigate and play in here than my original Hyde Park. Summer though, this is a great spot to be. I am sure this next fact is one everyone knows, but the city of Chicago is right on the great Lake Michigan. Unlike other places I have lived or traveled to, the city does not develop houses or apartments right on the water with private access only, so the lake front is all public. This does not necessarily mean you can jump in anywhere, but there are many beaches and a gorgeous bike path that follows the lake. Our part of Hyde Park though does not only have multiple access points to the bike path, but the most perfect park and spot to swim, barbecue, or hang a hammock in the whole city. Last summer I taught summer school in the morning and then would bike over to Promontory Point and camp out there for the afternoon until Scott got out of work and would come meet me. As I am writing this looking out the window at the brown, empty branches and gray sky, I find myself searching for any sign of Spring to bring me closer to those days.

I have also learned more about the geography of the United States while living out here. I apologize to my previous teachers that worked so hard to teach me about the locations of the states, but apparently, I am an experiential learner. We have traveled to many states around Illinois for some “out of the city adventures”. We have gone to Michigan to visit wineries, Wisconsin to go camping, Indiana to go hiking and Missouri to visit my friend Liana in a show. I should clarify though, I just had to ask Scott for help with this and am still shocked when I see signs saying Tennessee, so maybe I have not learned as much as I thought. Oh well, regardless, it has been a lot of fun exploring new parts of the country. Actually, just yesterday we went on one of these adventures, but stayed in Illinois to go to Starved Rock State Park. All I can say is, wow. It was a perfect spring day, with cool temperatures and the sun shining down. I don’t know if it was that or the fact that it was the first big outdoor thing we have done in a couple of months, but it was a magical day. So much of the hike reminded me of hiking around mountains and backyards in Vermont that I realized how much I took that for granted as a kid. Seeing the canyons, waterfalls and views of the Illinois River was just what I needed after a winter in the city. Scott gets all of the brownie points for listening to my hope of going there in the summer and finding a guided hike just days after I mentioned it. Thank goodness for him and thank goodness for Mother Nature. Yes, Scott, I hope that you read this, because I just put you on the same level as Mother Nature. All the fresh air yesterday while lovely and healing, must have made me a little crazy too. ;)

This one time, in Nebraska

I am currently sitting in an adorable little coffee shop called, "Cafe 53" and there is French music playing in the background, hello Heaven. I stumbled upon this hidden gem last week or possibly the one before, when I was desperately searching for a place to print my resume. You know those days when even the smallest, simple task seems close to impossible? Well, that was this day for me, but thankfully for this little cafe and the great people who work here, it started to turn around. Now, I will spare you the pathetic details of my roaming the neighborhood in search of a way to print a piece of paper, something I now realize I took for granted up to this point, and jump right to opening the door at Cafe 53. It is a lovely, narrow, you-could-almost-pass-by-it type of place that offers free internet and a service called "Print With Me". It turns out, for those new to this as I am, that there are places (not public libraries or print stores, I tried those) that simply have a printer in them where you can email your work to the printer and out it comes. I felt like I had struck gold. Well, this would have been a wonderful option if I had my computer on me, but despite lots of deep breaths and many attempts, I couldn't figure out how to navigate Google Drive on my phone and successfully email the needed document to the handy little device parked right next to the dish return. I am sure there are many of you reading this right now thinking, "Jess, it couldn't have been that hard" and I will agree with you, but remember those days where simple tasks become challenging ones...Ok, so, it appeared that I wasn't going to be leaving with a resume in hand and in fact, I did not. I did leave with a delicious iced coffee that as I opened the door to leave ended up all over the floor and inside my stylish Crocs (yes, I know, I felt it was important to add that adjective, to assure you that I wasn't walking around in the big garden shoe variety, those are for in house use only, right Alec?) Well, it must have appeared that I was on the verge of turning into a puddle similar to the one that was on and at my feet, because an extremely kind man stepped out from behind the counter with a mop and a story that in his country spilling coffee is actually a sign of good luck. Now, I am pretty sure that he was just pulling my leg so that I wouldn't cry in front of him, but I fell for it hook, line, and sinker as he mopped up the mess. He then invited me back up to the counter where he poured a new iced coffee. As he was mixing, I asked him where he is from that turns a sad, coffee spill into good luck and he responded that he was from "Jordan." We then got to talking about a mutual person that we may know and I left with a smile on my face and a new iced coffee. This moment reminded me of the saying that I have read on bumper stickers, Pinterest boards, and been told by a wonderful collection of people, "Life is about the little things" or is it, "Don't sweat the small stuff?" Either way, it was an important reminder for me as I can sometimes lose sight of these little moments when trying to figure out bigger ones. Thank you Cafe 53 and polite stranger, I needed that.

Well, this time I didn’t risk the coffee and went straight for a chocolate scone instead and I must say, I am very please with my choice as I sit here devouring it thinking about how to cram two weeks worth of updates into one blog post. Bare with me, this could be a bumpy ride, just as the flight was that we took out to Nebraska (told you, a bit rough). Regardless, we went to spend Labor Day with Scott's family and I was able to cross another state off my list, experience Nebraska and meet the rest of his family, including his newest nibling (a word Scott uses to describe his nieces and nephews) who was not a month old yet and I had a hard time putting down. Now, I have heard about and even watched a documentary (yup, it happened) on Nebraska sports fans. I have come to learn and entirely appreciate, that “fan” may actually not even cover it. Game day in Nebraska is not like anything I have ever experienced, this I realize isn’t hard seeing as I am from Vermont and while there are so many amazing things about my beloved state, team sports is not its strong suit. So, we did it up in Nebraska where we started off going to a farmer’s market in Lincoln, where I began to get a taste of the extreme team love. Everyone was wearing red or some variation of Husker paraphernalia. Well, I jumped on board and joined in by getting a shirt and hat to be ready for the volleyball and football games we would be going to. I love team spirit as anyone who knew me in high school remembers. Despite my consistently finishing last in cross country ski races (those are VT sports for you), I cheered incredibly loud for my State Champion teammates and I am pretty positive was told on a number of occasions that if there were a team spirit award, I would receive it. So, regardless of my lack of knowledge, I love cheering and looking the part!

91,000 people fit in that stadium and the game has been sold out since 1962 (thank you Husker documentary)! It is really something. I took countless pictures and tagged one #seaofred, because honestly, look at that picture! Well, it turns out what I thought was a "Jessie original" is already a well-known Nebraska tagline. Go back to the drawing board, Jess.

The rest of the trip continued to be a blast and was filled with wonderful family time (thank you so much, Schepers), seeing lots and lots of corn, and experiencing the Omaha Zoo. All I can say is, if you haven't gone to Nebraska yet, do so. Not only will they treat you with extreme kindness regardless of where you are from or how much you know about football, but you can eat Runzas (a delicious hot sandwich where dipping it in ketchup is encouraged, not outlawed) and ride a chairlift over rhinos!

We continued the sports craze the following weekend back in Chicago, by donning our Husker gear again and heading up to the north side of the city to watch the game at a sports bar called, Kirkwood, where many Nebraska fans gather. There was again so much red, that I felt as though we were right back in Lincoln. The place was jamming long before the game began and fortunately enough for Scott's keen eye, we were able to get a table out on the patio, which made watching a football game on a gorgeous afternoon way more enjoyable. Shortly after scoring the prime location we saw a couple sporting Husker clothing looking around for a place to sit. We invited them over and quickly learned that they actually live in Lincoln and were up in Chicago for the weekend. Through further conversation we learned that they know some of the same people and were reminded that this world while huge, is actually quite small. We had a great time watching the game, or rather joining in the cheers when the rest of the people that could see the screens erupted into shouts, and meeting other Nebraska fans. Go Big Red! (Don't give me too much credit, this is also not a Jessie original).

A Month In!

I am not sure if everyone is as big a fan as I am when it comes to the movie, "Rear Window", but anyone who knows me, is aware that it is up there as one of my top favorites. My dad and I loved watching it together and while I believe he tried to introduce me to some other Alfred Hitchcock movies, nothing compared to this one. I mean when it comes to Grace Kelley's outfits and Jimmy Stewart, flying birds just can't compare. Anyway, the reason I am mentioning this classic is because our courtyard could have been where they shot the movie, the similarities are just so uncanny. Currently, without any exaggeration, one of my neighbors is playing the piano and there are others sitting outside chatting with the sounds from the street coming through as well. All I need next is for my neighbors that have a puppy to get a basket that they lower down off their balcony and I would be convinced I had time traveled. For those of you reading this wondering what it is that I am talking about. Put your computer away and immediately watch "Rear Window". Not only will the last 2 minutes of your life reading this make a lot more sense, but it will forever be changed by how amazing it is. While your doing that, I will keep a look out for a tiny burning cigarette in a darkened apartment. Again, watch the movie.

Life inside the apartment is continuing to settle in. On the 28th, it had been a whole month! The plant we got last week is rocking at life and the animals, well, not much has changed there. These are thrilling updates, huh? In more exciting news, my cousin, Laura, stopped by on her way back out to Montana. It was a wonderful visit. For our first day of exploring we did basically the same exact thing as when Alec visited, we biked to Navy Pier and then walked into the city to grab a bite to eat. This is my favorite thing to do with guests because when you round the corner on the bike path and get that first view of the city over the water, it really impresses.

We actually even went back to the same restaurant, Howells and Hood. This may be considered a more "touristy" restaurant than the locals will admit to enjoy going to, but let's be honest, I still feel a bit like a tourist and their beer line up is one to be rivaled with, not that I drink beer, but still, it's fun. After a lovely lunch, with one of the friendliest waiters I have met in a while, we walked around the outside of the building, which we learned was the Tribune Tower. It all of the sudden made a lot of sense why that building was on the menu because it is in the Tribune Tower...remember, still sort of a tourist. Well, anyway it is a lot of fun and if you ever come to Chicago, which I highly recommend since I'm here, you have to see this building. There are rocks from all over the world built into the outside of it.

                             

Yup, I said all over the world and I only managed to get pictures of rocks from the US, but I still recommend going. Side note, because I enjoy finding "meaning" in little things, check out the names of the places where the rocks came from for the states where Scott and I were born. It's a very logical, scientific sign we should be together, that he can't argue with (no sarcasm was used in the construction of this sentence). Sarcasm aside, come visit, so I can take you on a bike tour to see Tribune Tower and take pictures of rocks! We can also see the coolest outdoor playground around. Laura and I found it and were amazed. It's called Maggie Daley Park and it is part of Millenium Park or maybe it is next to it, but either way it is by far the most unique and fun playground I have ever seen. I think it may actually go beyond a playground and be better described as a natural theme park. It has all of these different sections that are organized by age group and yes, some are for "all ages" which Laura and I were thrilled to see. Rocks and playgrounds, what more could you want?!

I can tell you what I want? That post to have actually saved that I just spent an hour and a half writing, ironically, about how Type A personality types don't thrive on unproductive time. And actually, I think it is ironic, but I am too nervous to leave this page and check that definition in fear of losing my work again and wasting more time. See, Type A. For now, I will end with an updated picture of the animals. After last week's post, I feel like Nuit deserves a picture where he isn't painted to be a killer. Until next week...

The Good, The Bad, and the Orange Paper

A “transition”, Google tells me in one definition is, “the process or a period of changing from one state or condition to another” and some synonyms are, “change, passage, move, transformation, conversion, metamorphosis, segue, shift, leap, progression, flux, etc.” These are all very true and I feel as though that word completely encapsulates the experience that this move to Chicago is, one big, ol’ transition. Well, Google, I have a couple of words that I would add; homesickness, hope, joy, struggle, opportunity, excitement, emotional and FaceTime. I know that that last one is a bit of a stretch, but when you are making up your own definition, I feel like certain liberties can be taken. Thank goodness for FaceTime, the “up the nose view” and all.

The animals are going through a bit of an emotional roller coaster as well. One second, they could be lying next to one another (not too close, but calmly) and then the next, Nuit's hunting instincts come out and poor Layla gets swatted. I have to say, I was documenting this hoping for a very different result that ended with them sharing the animal bed, but clearly, we're not there yet. Following this photo I put Nuit in a separate room for a break, because yes, I sometimes get confused that these animals are not children, and then no sooner had I closed the door, Layla was lying right outside of it. She clearly bounces back quickly. Also, she still has both of her eyes for those of you cringing while looking at this, because I know I was when it happened.

If you weren't cringing yet, maybe this will get you, actually it probably did for me more than you, but let's just pretend so this transition (because Google told me there is more than one kind) makes sense. Ok, so the story behind this lovely piece of orange paper is this...we were on the hunt for a house plant to live in this big planter that Scott owns. Let me just quickly segue by saying that I owed him this plant as an apology for having a minor over reaction to the fact that we were taking the planter with us, because I apparently didn't think it was going to fit in the moving truck, or something like that. I know, the stress of moving made me a very rational person. Needless to say, we were up in the north end of Chicago at this adorable little plant store called, Sprout Home. For anyone that loves plants of all shapes and sizes, this is the place for you. It has everything from the most trendy terrariums to the timeless hanging planters. I was instantly in love. After a lot of searching, and a few succulents later, we found a sturdy, leafy ficus that seemed perfect. The lovely people there (because an adorable plant store wouldn't be adorable without friendly plant people) helped us gather our goodies and we walked back out to the car. This is where you may start to cringe. After loading up the plants, I noticed this big, nasty orange paper staring at me from the other side of the windshield. I thought that I had done a great job finding a nice, shady spot, but apparently this very perfect spot was on a "residents only" street. Rats. Another lesson learned in city living, this time the hard way, always check for signs. I guess there has to be a first time for everything. I will add, that this came just days after a quick celebratory mention to Scott that we hadn't gotten one yet. What was I thinking? Don't press your luck, the ticket gods will hear you feeling smug and make sure to change that fast. Lesson learned.

No transition needed here, because check out that model train! After a week of resume writing, I needed a break from the walls of our apartment, while I biasly feel they are the most adorable around, I was beginning to get a bit stir crazy. Through my job searching, I had seen a few positions open at The Museum of Science and Industry. I decided it wouldn't make any sense applying before going, so I filled up my water bottle (the first tip for any museum trip, bring your own water) and walked, yup, because it is right down the street, to the museum. After recovering from the awe of the exterior of the building, I navigated my through to the ticket line. I had bought my tickets online and wasn't sure where to go, so I figured that was a good starting point. Well, it turns out that I have another museum going tip for you. Definitely buy your tickets online, because not only do you save a couple of dollars, but you don't have to wait in the ticket line at all, you get to go right in. This is probably obvious to many, but this blog is all about honesty, so I was the person waiting in line when I didn't need to, but hey, now I have saved that from happening to you. Right, back to the trains. All I can say is, wow. The whole time I was looking at them I was thinking about how my younger brother would have gone crazy (and probably still would) over this. Also, I wanted to fly home, collect all of my previous students and immediately bring them back so they could run around in awe like I was. I took so many pictures, check my soon-to-be-created Facebook album, but none of them really do the place justice. I couldn't even get the whole train display in the picture and believe me, I tried, it is just so massive. I mean, look how little those people are AND there is a plane overhead that you can walk in. There also is an entire storm exhibit with interactive stations to learn about the world and it's weather. Another exhibit was all about the human body and development and then downstairs there is an actual submarine from WWII. I could go on and on. It is a really neat place and I can't wait to return!
I actually ended up back, but outside the museum, just a couple of days later on a bike ride. In all the hustle of moving and settling, Scott and I didn't have eclipse glasses. After a failed attempt at getting them over the weekend, Scott did some more research on other places we may be able to get some. He learned that the local parks were going to be giving them away the day of. I almost said that I wasn't going to be able to get them, because I needed to be getting work done, but then realized how ridiculous I was being, how often do eclipses come around? Well, it turns out that there will be another in 2024 and it will be a complete eclipse over Vermont, so I know I will be there for that. Anyway, one of the parks is at a beach not far from here, so the plan was that I would bike, maybe jump in Lake Michigan, and see if I could get a couple pair of glasses to bring to Scott's work so that we could see the eclipse on his lunch break. Well, it turns out that is just what I was able to do. I met a nice man at 63rd Street Beach who was handing them out, cooled off in the water and then decided I would use some of the time I had until needing to meet Scott to find this garden that I had read about on Pinterest. A 6 minute, well 10 after a couple of wrong turns, bike ride later and I was looking at this very serene spot. I couldn't believe that this was in the city and not far from my house! A very selfish part of me doesn't want to tell anyone about where it is, but then I remember that I learned about it from Pinterest, so the word is already out. This idyllic little garden is in Jackson Park, directly south of The Museum of Science and Industry. It is also my new favorite place and one I will go to whenever the "very rational and emotionally stable" me is missing, I have a feeling I will be able to find her there.

Say "Yes" to Ketchup

When moving, there are obviously a lot of new experiences to be had, things to figure out and lessons to be learned. This past week for me was filled with all of the above, with a particular focus on learning lessons.
My first lesson has come in parallel parking. Now, this actually used to be a skill that I was relatively good at, then 10 years of living in Burlington, Vermont where I either was spoiled with a driveway, found big open parking lots, or just drove around the block to avoid parallel parking and I have lost my touch. On our street is a man named, Al, who we met the first day we were here. One day, I was driving and Scott saw him pointing to an open spot, conveniently located right across the street from our apartment. We pulled into a driveway to turn around and in an utter panic, I jumped out of the driver seat and told Scott that he was going to have to do it. We quickly swapped and then the nice man helped navigate us into the available spot. When we got out, he introduced himself by name and then proceeded to say that he is the "Mayor of Hyde Park" and he told us that he takes care of the street. It became immediately clear to us that he is not the actual mayor, but a very friendly and helpful person to know, so we introduced ourselves and then listened to a speech about being grateful for living, standing on two legs and breathing without the assistance of a tube in our throats and not getting worked up over the small things. I quickly decided he was one of my new favorite people. Also, I promise to get this back on track about a lesson in parallel parking, but when meeting someone like, Al, it is really important to describe him first. Ok, so here we are unloading our car, listening to a lesson on life (one that I probably needed at that very moment) and we thank him for helping us find a spot. He then informs us that Hyde Park is known as "Hyde Hard to Park" or something along those lines and tells us that spots get snatched up right away, so you better grab them when you can. This week I have seen that he is correct, spots get taken pretty quickly, but we have also been able to find ones pretty close, but I have definitely had to up my parking game as basically all of them need to be reached by parallel parking. So, one morning I decided I would go out and practice. Lessons learned...always check in with Al, start with a big space first, and when you are pulling out of a space for the third time to try again and someone offers to coach you through the steps, say "yes, please!" without hesitation. Oh, and shamelessly take pictures of your parking efforts.

My next lesson was at the Chicago Hot Dog Festival. It was a gorgeous Saturday and we wanted to explore North Chicago a bit. Scott had done some research on different events going on in the area. He became very excited when he read there was a hot dog festival going on. I was a bit more hesitant thinking, "how may hot dogs can we eat?" First part of the lesson learned that day (not for the first time though), always listen to Scott. The hot dog festival was a blast and included way more than hot dogs. There was actually a presentation called, "In Defense of Ketchup" taking place right when we got there. With one of my childhood nicknames being, "The Ketchup Queen" I knew this was going to be a good event. While we were standing in line to get "Dog Dollars", which are worth the same as a regular US dollar, we were handed some free ones from people leaving the festival. Score! After getting our money, we started searching out the best hog dog stand. This ended up being a bit more challenging than you would think, because there were so many to choose from, and with all the lines being long and our stomachs being very empty, we didn't do a very thorough background assessment of the different options. The one we ended up picking though offered the standard "Chicago Style Dog" and "Loaded Tater Tots", so it was a winner in our books. As we got closer to the front of the line, I saw that the back of all the vendors' shirts was the phrase, "No Ketchup". This was probably the only downside to picking this line, because I hesitated for a moment and considered not putting one of my favorite condiments on my lunch. Then, at risk of getting picked on by strangers, I used the last two pumps of the canister on my hot dog and boy was it worth it. So, there was my next lesson, despite what the shirts say, say "yes" to ketchup.

With bellies filled with tater tots and Chicago's famous food, we walked around with some ice cream to other non-food vendors. We learned about a really cool business called, A La Card that sells decks of 52 gift cards to different restaurants in Chicago. Each card is worth $10 off your meal price and has a description of the restaurant, where it is located and what type of food they serve. We pre-ordered next year's set and got this years for free! Another big score came at a vendor just a couple tables away. It was for the White Sox and you got to spin a wheel to earn some prizes. We were actually considering going to a game that night, so this was the perfect table to be at. We saw that on the wheel there were 2 spaces to land on and win tickets to a game, my fingers were crossed, but I was a bit doubtful because the chances were not in our favor. That didn't matter though, because my spin landed on one of those two spots and we won tickets! What a day! I was reminded of the first lesson of the day again, always listen to Scott.
Let's see what this week's lessons are. If I play my cards right, not the restaurant ones though because that would be silly, maybe I will learn what Chicago job is best for me.

We've Made It!

Phew, 17.5 hours, 5 states, a hotel, one dog and a sick cat and we finally made it to our new home in Chicago! It was a fast and furious event meeting the new landlords and unloading the moving truck. What I mean when I say this is, we pulled into an alley, which we have now learned is in between our place and a pizza restaurant (lots of pizza smells wafting up) and our landlord started taking things out of the truck to move it. We had worn nice clothes to meet them and hoped to change before lugging boxes, but there was not any time for that, so flip-flops and a dress it was. Up and down the two flights of stairs we went however many times as the animals waited for us to be done, panicked in both bedrooms. It was an event and quite the way to see the new place, but we did it. The following days were a fury of unpacking boxes, setting up beds, and searching for things we knew we packed, but really had no idea where they ended up.
While the searching for items is still happening, we are down to the last few boxes and have already hosted some visitors! In a crazy coincidence, my future sister-in-law, Julia, was in town for work and we got to see her the second day. We went to grab a much needed and deserved drink and walked the whole 262 feet to Yelp's top rated Hyde Park restaurant, The Promontory. Yup, it's delicious. We also walked down to Promontory Point, which is a really neat park that juts out into Lake Michigan. We put our feet in the lake for the first time and watched as people got their BBQ on around these big fire pits. The park reminded me of Oakledge in Burlington, but on steroids.
We have since continued to explore and have discovered that we really live in the heart of it and are feeling very excited about this. Right around the corner is this great cafeteria-style restaurant called, Valois. It was recommended to us by our landlords and has not disappointed in the slightest. The food is great and the people that work there are even better. Julia and I almost got a free omelette for guessing the ingredients, but no luck. We listed off a whole bunch of vegetables and meats, but missed broccoli. When we went back the next weekend with my brother, Alec, we couldn't find that listed on the menu though, so we were left wondering. We did get a free coffee for our efforts, so no real complaining from me!
Scott and I took a break from setting up and unpacking and carried up our bikes from the basement to go check out the bike path that follows the edge of the lake up to the city. It is a beautiful ride and immediately was put on the list as a great activity to do when guests come. The path reminded me a lot of the Burlington bike path since there is the city on one side and the lake on the left, but a huge difference is that there are not any Adirondacks to look at across the water. The lake is so big, that you can't see the other side, so it really gives the feeling that you are biking next to the ocean. It is also used not just for recreation, but for commuters, so there were quite a few cyclists whizzing by with very few alerting you with an "on your left". This will certainly take some getting used to for me and I will very soon be looking into acquiring a rear view mirror and bell.
A couch, ottoman and shelf later, and the apartment is starting to come together and feel more like a home. I am very grateful to the furniture store for delivering the pieces, because I am not sure that my legs or arms would have held up. I also tried to carefully study their strategies for maneuvering the beast of a couch up the back stairs and in through the kitchen for when we have to do the reverse. That will certainly be interesting. The animals were certainly very appreciative to have something other than a wood floor to lie on and immediately jumped up and got comfortable on the couch. Maybe they will continue to lay closer and someday snuggle. This is very doubtful as Nuit still loves to toss out a claw at Layla, but I can dream!
By midweek Scott was dressing dapper and going to work at his new job! At the end of his first day I met up with him and his new colleagues at this bar that is on the University and can only be attended if you have a student or faculty ID. The place is called, The Pub, and is so unassuming in the basement of this gorgeous, ivy covered building on campus. There was only one other person, one of Scott's new colleagues, who had to let us in, but as the hour continued, people getting out of work slowly trickled down for a mid-week beverage. It was nice to get a chance to meet some of his new colleagues and one used to go to summer camp in Vermont, which gave me a pang of homesickness, but filled me with even more pride as I get to call that my home state.
More boxes, deliveries and neighborhood walks led us right into the weekend and picking up Alec from the airport! Even though it had only been a few weeks since I had seen him, I had missed him a ton and couldn't wait to show him the new place. It was a fantastic weekend! We started off with a repeat bike ride up to Navy Pier, but this time we walked the pier a bit and enjoyed a cocktail as we strolled through masses of people attending graduations, weddings, and Ferris wheel rides. We then ducked into the city to go on the highly recommended architectural boat tours everyone had told us about (thank you so much, Kiersten and Mike). It was well worth the hype and was the perfect way to see Chicago. The tall buildings towered overhead as our witty tour guide, Gladys, explained the history and architecture to us. If you come to Chicago when the weather is nice, definitely go. The Wendella Boat tour did not disappoint!
After about 20 miles of biking and walking we treated ourselves to a delicious pizza dinner back in Hyde Park at a funky restaurant called Medici's. This had also been recommended to us and was another restaurant score. It is a BYOB, which means it had 5 stars in my book before we even walked in. That coupled with eating outside and the fantastic pizza and I can't wait to go back! The next morning we visited Valois again, this will be a guest staple, and walked off the omelets and biscuits by making our way back out to Promontory Point to see the views. Alec had done a Google search of our new neighborhood and was telling me about this park before I even knew about it, so we definitely had to see it in person. It was much more quiet on a Sunday morning than it was the previous Saturday evening and was a great way to close out his trip.
During the drive to take Alec back to the airport, I reflected on our first full week here. We have accomplished a lot and are settling in. Sharing the beginning of this experience with Alec and Julia helped me to realize that. I look forward to seeing what we learn this week and can't wait to share that as well!
Thanks for sticking with me through this first post!