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!