Miss my Chi

This might seem lame and obvious but I miss Chicago SO much.
Every time I think about the city my heart aches to be back there. I don't think I've ever felt this way about any place I've lived in before.

It may sound cheesy but Chicago touched my soul and awakened something in me that just made me feel good. I knew it when I was there but I know it even more now. When I walked among the buildings downtown during the work day and walked through the crowds and hustle and bustle on the el, it made me feel alive. On the nice weather days walking from the train to our apartment would invigorate me.
Sure, there were hard times and the hassles of city life but I think the benefits far outweighed the bad.

We want to get back to visit as soon as we can and show Max to our friends and enjoy some of our favorite things again, but I'm afraid I will just get sad that we don't live there anymore. Im afraid I'll never want to leave.

I've never loved a city as much as I loved Chicago. There is something about it that just feels like home to me. I feel like I belonged there. I feel something is missing in my soul not being there.

One thing I love is that Chicagoans have such pride in their city and I felt proud when I was there.

I loved that there was so much to discover, to do, and to be inspired by, yet it still felt small and welcoming and friendly.

I'm not sure where we will end up ultimately, but I know Chicago will always be my favorite place to call home. 💙

"Do you think about me now and then,
Do you think about me now and then... 'cause I'm comin' home again..."
http://youtu.be/LQ488QrqGE4

In-laws in Town

I don't really feel like writing, but it's been a while since I posted so I thought I would write something...
The end of the semester at school was a whirlwind, super busy tutoring tons of students the last few weeks. Glad it is finally over. I had a nice week

This past weekend, Joe's parents came to visit and we attended our first concert at Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, IL....and it was a good one! We saw Tony Bennett! It was his 85th Birthday Celebration. Had to believe he is 85 years old the way he sings. It really is effortless for him and his voice still sounds great after all of these years. Unfortunately, we couldn't bring cameras so all I have is some grainy photos from my phone...even more reason to get an iPhone!

We had a nice time at Ravinia, Millennium Park and hanging out at various spots in Chicago with them.
The fun doesn't stop there! My Mom comes to visit us this weekend. Busy times ahead.

Here are some select photos from Joe's parents visit as well as my one and only super bright video of Tony Bennett singing one of my favorite songs. You can view all of the photos HERE as well.

Update

I am feeling better since my last post. That's how it goes for me, I guess. It's off and on. If we don't talk about our problems it's as if there are no problems. We just go through the day-to-day and I manage to keep myself happy and busy doing everything I usually do. We have our first appointment with the marriage counselor this Wednesday, so we'll see how it goes. Hopefully she will be nice and knowledgeable and she will help us work out some of our issues, or at least help us communicate in a way that is more beneficial for us. I just hope I can get through the 50 minute session without crying for 45 minutes of it. I am such a basket case when it comes to talking about things. I am great at having discussions but when things get personal, I get so emotional and I cry. I go into the ugly cry and I am literally incapable of speaking without sounding like a blubbering idiot. It should be interesting.

Just to add a little insight to my last post...I can deal with the little 'stuff' that comes up in a marriage. The little annoyances, the small things, the nit-picky stuff. I have learned to look past a lot of things and not let it get to me. What I really hope to get help with is the major stuff....the things that we can't seem to agree on, and the things that majorly affect our lives and our future together. My goal is not to try to change Joe or to change myself into a different person, but to help us work through things in a healthy way. Everyone has their own issues as a married couple and as individuals. It will be interesting to see what happens. I will try keep this blog updated, as boring as it may be, so that I can reflect on it remember as we go through it.

In other news, we are coming to the end of the insane Midwest heat wave we've had for the past 5 days or so. It was miserable. Near 100 degree temps plus the super high humidity made it disgustingly hot here. It's times like these that I miss the dry heat of California. Between the heat and the thunderstorms we haven't had a good nights sleep in a few days. Even with our 2 window AC units our place is a sauna. Damn vintage apartments and damn 3rd floor! I miss central AC so much! Chloe had a tough time with it too, she's up panting all night and then the thunderstorms make her about have a heart attack. Louie still wants to snuggle when its that hot! He's nuts. I can't wait for Monday when it's finally supposed to be back to normal. Less humidity and lower temps. Bring it ON.

band of brothers

Joe's brothers, Steve, the oldest, and Andy, the youngest, came to visit us 4th of July week. Unfortunately, Joe's other brother, Ben, who is in Las Vegas for the Air Force couldn't make it this time.
We had a fun and jam-packed 3.5 days...
Cubs vs. Sox game at Wrigley Field, thanks to my awesome in-laws for the tickets!!
It couldn't have been a more perfect day for a Cubs game. The weather was great and there was a nice breeze once we got inside. This was Joe and my first cross-town classic, where the Cubs and White Sox play, and also our first Cubs game where they have actually won! Woo-hoo! We got to hear (and sing) the "Go Cubs, Go" song that they play when they win (the song was stuck in our head for their entire visit, one of us was always singing it! ha ha!). Andy and Steve really enjoyed getting to see Wrigley from the inside. It is amazing place to watch baseball and to people watch too, truly an experience. We had some hot dogs and enjoyed game.

Later that evening we visited the one of our favorite places for the best gourmet burgers in Chicago, DMK Burger Bar. Steve and Andy both enjoyed it a lot, it's SO good!
We had fun at Montrose Beach, played Frisbee in the water and enjoyed a nice day. We played tennis and Frisbee at Winnemac Park near our place on the 4th of July and went to the Field Museum to see the Whales exhibit. It was really cool to see the gigantic whale bones, too bad I couldn't take photos of them. The rest of the museum bores me to tears, but luckily I brought my camera and was able to keep myself occupied taking photos of the museum's architecture and playing with my camera settings. I was able to get some pretty good shots. Afterwards we walked around Museum Campus and took in the great views of the city and lake. Six years living here and the view of the magnificent Chicago skyline and lake never fail to impress me. LOVE this city.

The boys had some time without me at the U2 concert at Soldier Field and they had a blast. Joe and I saw them there a couple years ago, so I opted not to go a 2nd time. They enjoyed it.

We also managed to squeeze in a little kayaking on the lake before they left on Wednesday morning. We had fun paddling around and enjoying the water from a different angle.

 See all the photos from their visit HERE.

busy busy

I haven't posted in a while because it seems like I've been so busy lately. Between IIDA Board stuff, interviews, working at school and trying to have fun I haven't had much time to post.
It's a nice weekend here in Chicago. Cooler and in the 70's....I'm loving it. We've had a nice weekend so far.

Friday night I had dinner with my friend Sarah and her friend Kelly. We went to the Thai place down the street where we often get take-out from, but this time we went for the authentic Thai dinner experience. Since Kelly is from Thailand she was able to order off of the official "Thai Menu" that is daunting to most Americans. It was certainly a fun experience, but proved to be too much for me. I get Thai food all the time but I get the more Americanized Thai that we are all used to. The true Thai dishes were so different. It was hit or miss for me, I liked a few things, but I couldn't handle some of the others. Traditional Thai food is super hot and spicy and some of the flavor combinations just didn't jive with me. I'm ashamed to say I think I'll be sticking to the standard menu next time I visit. Glad I tried it though! :-)

Last night Joe and I went to our friend's Birthday Party + Marathon Fundraiser. He and his partner throw  great parties every year and we always attend. This year my friend Dan is running the Marathon for T2 - Team to End Aids and he was raising money for his team. I admire anyone who commits to running a Marathon. They have a great roof-top deck in their building, which is a great location for parties in the summer with great views of the city. Last night turned out to be a little chilly and windy when the clouds rolled in, but we had a great time anyway. Lots of our friends were there and we had fun.

Today we took the dogs for a long walk around the neighborhood. It's a beautiful sunny day.

I had two interviews this week, both at good firms. Both went well but positions are dependent on what happens with their projects. They are busy, but they are sort of feeling it out before hiring. So we'll see what happens. I am feeling positive and hoping something gives pretty soon. I also got a call from someone I used to work with who asked me to work with him on a project as an independent contractor. He has his own firm now and is getting very busy. I wouldn't want to work for/with him on a full-time basis, but this is something that could be fun and I am probably going to do it (if he in fact wins the project). It should be a good opportunity to do a little bit of design on my own...kind of.

Here are a couple pics I've taken over the past few weeks.

May Flowers

Spring has finally sprung in Chicago! I have been in awe of all of the trees and flowers blooming in our neighborhood and around the city over the past few weeks. The tulips downtown in the planters have been just gorgeous. I haven't taken my good camera downtown to capture them though, so you'll have to take my word for it. I LOVE spring in Chicago. Though it has been a rainy one so far, we've had a few nice warm days. I was able to get out with my camera a couple of times around our 'hood, both times it was pretty cloudy though, but I still got some great photos. Flowers are by far one of my favorite things to photograph. I love the color, the textures, the variety.  I would love to get a good macro lens for my camera so I can capture even more detail. I love seeing things come to life here in the city. It's got to be one of the best times in Chicago.
To view all of my spring flower photos click HERE.

Obama Photos

Here are a few photos from the Obama 2012 Campaign Kickoff at Navy Pier that I attended. Finally getting around to posting them. I took a ton of photos but had some trouble with my new camera so I didn't get as many good ones as I would have liked.
Anyway, it was an amazing night, so glad I got to attend and finally see my fave President live and in person.


Derek Rose from the Bulls

Colbie Caillet performing

                                     

Rahm Emanuel - Soon to be Chicago's new Mayor

Obams!

Bulls Hat at the end

View all of my photos HERE in my Picasa Album

OBAMA!!!!!!!!!!!!

I finally got to see Obama live and in person!!!!! Lots of other famous people were there too, it was very cool! I ended up getting a free ticket to his 2012 campaign kick-off fundraiser event at Navy Pier last night. I am so grateful to have been able to attend! I was one of only 2,300 people! So exciting! I have lots of photos to edit before I post them.
Here's the video of his speech. I thought it was SO great!!!! It was inspiring and had lots of Chicago humor and lots of fun light-hearted parts. Watching it again now makes me smile. Can't believe I was there!! I love him!

Watch it! Great Speech!!

View more videos at: http://www.nbcchicago.com/?__source=embedCode.

Here's and article about the events too.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/sc-nw-obama-campaign-20110415,0,1283197.story

Miss Jackson if you're Nasty!

Finally here - Janet pictures and videos!

We had a BLAST at the concert!! She was amazing! I don't know if any concert will ever top that for me. The dancing was great, the whole show was great. She is so talented.

Seeing Janet was really a childhood dream come true for me. I have loved her and her music as long as I can remember. She did all her hits from back in the day...I was in heaven!

I got a little teary during the ballad part in the middle of the show, she sang Nothing (a new song which is great), Come Back To Me, Let’s Wait Awhile and Again. A couple of those songs were my favorites growing up...they remind me of being a little girl/teenager in California and listening to them over and over. Really beautiful songs.

After the show I wanted to go again. I was so pumped! She did 3 shows in Chicago and if I could afford it I would have gone to all of them! I LOVE Janet!
I didn't take my good camera - I think those types of cameras are banned from concerts - but Kameko and I both had our little point and shoot cameras and we still got some decent pics and videos. Thanks to Kameko for the close-ups!
You can watch the slide show below or click on it to view them large on my Picasa account.
Video's are below as well. They aren't the best quality, but it's something! Please disregard any off-key singing, that was probably us! hahaha!



Opening video before she came out. Note the guy in the lower right. He had some moves. :-)


Pleasure Principle (one of my fave songs ever!)


Nasty Part 1


Nasty Part 2


Escapade


If - Part 1


If - Part 2 and Part of Scream (I was going crazy at that part...note camera shake)


Rhythm Nation (MY FAVE!)

Blizzard 2011 - Part 4

Here's a little video I took this morning. It was still snowing at this point and it was before they came to shovel our building. We didn't go far.

SnOMG! Blizzard! Part 3

We woke up this morning to about 19.5 inches on the ground with HUGE drifts and its STILL coming down. It took Joe 3 hours to get home yesterday from the suburb where he works. I got home quickly on the train, but for my friends who take the bus, one of them was stuck on Lakeshore Drive for 6 hours in the bus! There was an accident and then that backed up traffic, everyone left downtown early trying to get home. She ended up taking 4 different buses and then walking a mile in the snow only to get home at midnight! They closed Lakeshore Dr. last night but tons of cars were stuck. Here's a short video we found on You Tube that someone took this morning of the drive (below). Note all the cars still stuck! People were stuck in their cars for 12 hours! They got everyone out at 5:30 this morning! Nuts!
We are staying home today, school and work is closed. Pretty much the whole city is shut down. I'm going to take the dogs out since Louie wants to go play. We'll see how this goes!

Chicago Blizzard of 2011 Part 2

We all made it home safely. My walk from the train was HORRIBLE. My hood was blowing off, snow slapping me in the face from every direction, hands numb through my gloves, wind whipping like crazy!

As I sit here and type now I hear the wind whistling through our new and old windows. Its really cold in here! Darn it, this drafty old apartment!! I just put some plastic wrap on our back door because there was a little pile of snow inside the door because it is blowing right through the cracks! AHHH!
I took some photos (through the snowy window of course) just after I got home. Looks like it's going to snow all night. They are still saying we're going to get 15-20 inches. They are saying the winds could create up to 24 foot waves on the lakeshore and Lakeshore Drive is now closed due to blowing snow and high winds (and danger of high waves).
Pics from out the window when I got home at 5:00. Tomorrow morning will be quite a different scene I'm sure!

View Out of Our Window

Alley Behind Out Building

Chi Blizzard of 2011

I'm at school working now, but the blizzard they have been hyping up on the news has officially started...(current doppler radar image above looks pretty nasty).  It's supposed to be as bad or worse than the big Chicago Blizzard of 1967 when they got 20+ inches. They are saying it's going to be a record breaking snow for Chicago with blizzard conditions and 20 foot waves and lake flooding on Lake Michigan due to the 50mph winds we are supposed to get on Wednesday. School has been called off for tonight's classes and tomorrow morning (Wednesday). Most businesses are closing early today and are closed tomorrow. Luckily Joe is off tomorrow, and now so am I.

Joe is on the way home now, his company let them go at 3:00, but he said he probably won't get home until his usual time because things are moving so slow. uh oh....

We are getting out of class now (early) so I'm heading out.

Here are some pics from the 1967 blizzard. I'm hoping it's not this bad, but we shall see!



Dream Land

Yesterday I taught my first little kids art class. It went OK for a first day...but that's another story.... Right now I want to write about my drive to and from the class.  

Even though I was in a mad rush (in voting day traffic) driving to and from the class yesterday, I couldn't help but be in awe of the amazing surroundings I was driving through. The Village of Winnetka is where the class is held. It's a small suburb only a few miles north of the city, but yet it is this whole separate amazing world that I never really knew existed. I have heard about the beautiful homes and picturesque streets of Chicago's North Shore, and I have driven on the expressway that Joe takes to work up north in another suburb, but haven't seen anything like this before. The route I took yesterday had me driving through the winding roads right through Winnetka on a perfect sunny Fall day. It was enough to make anyone swoon. Hey, I finally found a suburb I could live in! Ha-ha...only if someone has a cool 3 million to loan me! :-) 

The homes in Winnetka are huge, unique, some old, some new, beautiful mansions with huge lots and beautifully landscaped properties. I was in complete awe of the wide range of architectural styles, from traditional to modern, they all had their own unique character. They were nothing like the McMansions of most American suburbs, each home was one of a kind, but they all worked together beautifully to create this perfect looking little place. I couldn't believe the beautiful tree lined streets, flanked by the gorgeous homes...many of which back up right to Lake Michigan and have their own private beaches (pretty much looks like ocean front property). It reminded me of the main neighborhood streets of Beverly Hills, but without the palm trees. I cannot get over it, it was SO amazing!! I don't think I have ever seen a more perfect, picturesque little town. By doing a little Googling I found out that Winnetka was named number 4 on the list of America's 25 top-earning towns and one of the best places to live by CNN Money in 2009.  I can totally see why. How perfect to live there, in what feels like another world, and still have the city of Chicago just a stones throw away. The median home value is 1.5 million! Holy crap, these are some rich people!

Home Alone House

Another great and interesting factoid... this is also the place where they filmed Home Alone, only my all time favorite childhood Holiday movie. My next big mission is to take a scenic drive through Winnetka to take it all in when I am not rushing through. I also plan to find the Home Alone house and take a picture of me in front of it. The Home Alone house doesn't even compare to the homes I saw driving through. Its pretty generic, but still neat. I will go see it and report back.

Seriously, one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. *Sigh*



smack dab in the middle of suburbia

On Tuesday (tomorrow) I start a little gig teaching "art" projects to little kids. It will be two 1-hour classes for the next 6 weeks and it's out in a suburb just north of the city. Its not a lot of money, and with Joe taking the train those days, it will probably be a wash financially. Oh well...it will be a change of scenery for me, something to expand my horizons. (Dad-ism: Dad always told us to expand our horizons when we were kids.)

On Saturday I drove all the way out to the western suburbs for a "teacher meeting" with the woman who coordinates all of the art classes and teachers.  Let's just say it was eye opening...

I felt so out of place. I was probably the youngest one there, or at least I looked like it. I was smack dab in the middle of suburbia... in a big messy house that reeked of maple syrup, surrounded by motherly women wearing sweats and no make-up. Ahhh! I didn't know it until then, but this was my worst nightmare come true. I know this all sounds so judgemental, but really it's just observant. I am a very observant person when it comes to people and environments. I tend to take it all in really quickly...and I either love it or hate it. I definitely reacted strongly to this one....

Sometimes you don't even know how different you are from people until you are thrown into a totally different environment. I never thought I was a very city-ish person until Saturday. In that house, sitting with those women, I came to the complete realization that I really do love the city. I always knew I did, but after I left, I knew it was truly home for me. The city is the place where I feel the most comfortable, where people are more like me.

All I could think was how I could not imagine myself living in a suburb. It's just not me. Though the Chicago suburbs have nice large lots, interesting older homes with character, etc, they are lacking something major that really rubs me the wrong way. I really can't pin-point it, but its something. Maybe I haven't visited the right suburb, but I have yet to find one that makes me think, "I could live here." 

I don't know why, but I started to think about the idea of having kids and moving to a suburb and it totally freaked me out in that moment. Not like that's our plan, in fact, we don't really have a plan, but we have thought about this as an option before. On my drive home, my mind raced with all of these kinds of thoughts and questions. Why did I have such a bad reaction to this? Am I not meant to have kids because I don't long for that Utopian place that is supposedly suburbia?  Why did going out to this woman's house even make me think about  having kids and moving to a suburb?  Ugh,...I don't know. All I know is I learned that I am more content with my life as it is than I thought.

I always welcome change, in fact, I am one of the rare people that seeks out change and likes to challenge myself. But changing into suburban super Mom just doesn't seem to fit. I guess I just have to quit worrying about what is normal and just do what is right for me and for us. 

So, after learning about the class I will be teaching, I must admit I am a little nervous. I'm sure it will be fine once I get into it and get more comfortable, luckily I have 2 smaller classes. I just hope the little kids like me! Tonight I will prepare the art lesson for tomorrow and hope it goes well. At least it's only 6 weeks...I might love it, or I might hate it, we'll see. One thing I know for sure, it will probably cure my baby fever for the time being. 2-6 year olds tend to have that effect on a me.  :-)

Fall

I don't really have much to write about. I am sitting at work in the computer lab and its pretty slow so I am so bored and need to fill my time.

It's a super warm nice day today, which is weird for almost November. Soon enough it will be cold and snowy, so this is a welcome treat. One last hurrah before winter starts....

I am glad it's Fall, and I'm glad we've had such a nice Fall so far. I love the bright colors of the leaves on the trees in Chicago. I love walking home from the train and walking the dogs in the park during the perfect not to cold, not to hot weather. I love the way the leaves fill the sidewalks with color. I can't believe its already (almost) November, it makes me think about how another year has flown by. Time really does fly and I think it's going faster and faster the older I get. yikes.

I am excited for the holidays. Even though we wont get back to Omaha to see family for Thanksgiving, we will go for Christmas, as we usually do. I really love November and December in Chicago, the lights the holiday hustle and bustle, its so fun.

STITCH 2010

This year I participated in a fun industry event called, STITCH. Myself and 6 other Harrington Alumni worked together to create an awesome entry for this years show. We were asked really late in the game by Kimball Office, an office furniture company if they could sponsor a team of alumni for this event. We accepted the challenge and met multiple times in only a couple weeks to conceptualize, design, and finally sew and create the dress. It was SO much fun. We had a great team! Our dress came out SOOO neat and our makeup and hair concept was just perfect. We got so many compliments on our entry, ours was clearly one of the most well-made and interesting garments on the runway. We found out later that we were only ONE point away from winning the coveted "Best in Show" Award. Oh well! We knew who the real winner was! Ours was AWESOME!

Here's the scoop on the event...
STITCH is IIDA-Illinois' biggest event that pairs Chicago's most talented Designers with industry manufacturers to create one-of a kind, wearable garments for the runway show of the year. The theme this year was "A STITCH in Time: Design for a Decade." So the idea was to take any time period or decade and create a conceptual (not literal) interpretation of anything from that decade or representing the entire decade.
The Harrington Alumni team created a wearable garment for our model out of Kimball Office's exclusive Maharam fabric.

Our official concept was:
Victorian Illusion. Inspired by illusion, transformation, and 1880's Victorian style.
Magic makes something out of nothing -- it transforms,
Transformation is mysterious -- or is it simply an illusion?

More about our design... Victorian fashion was characterized by large collars and bustles, corsets, tiny waists, and the use of birds and feathers in their hats and hair accessories. Magic was also experiencing its "golden age" due to the advancements in technology. many magicians created the illusion of pulling things out of their top hats or making birds disappear. Our model, Enza, emerged from a large magicians top hat (which we also created), she revealed herself by pulling the hat down. She emeged....a modern version of a Victorian "bird", complete with feathers in the hair, on her eyelashes, and feather-like pieces of fabric on the skirt of her dress. She walked to the song, "I Can Transform Ya" by Chris Brown

Here is the video that I made out of all the photos and video that myself and everyone else took. It was SOOOO fun!  You can watch it here (small) or click the link below to watch it large! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Sul5f3qAnY Turn up your speakers and watch in 480p for best quality!!

Catch Up

I don't know why I've been so bad about writing lately. Anyway, time for a quick post to catch up...

On August 4th I saw President Obama, live and in person! Well...for a split second anyway :-)
I was coming out of my Turbo Kick class and I saw a whole fleet of black Suburbans and cops down the street.  I watched the news before I left for class and saw coverage of Obama getting off of Air Force One for his Birthday visit to Chicago. He was also in town to support a local senator, etc.

Anyway, I put two and two together and realized he was probably having dinner at the restaurant down the street (Graham Elliot, a very expensive, modern restaurant in River North). I walked over to the small crowd of people to check it out. I saw secret service everywhere, so I decided to wait. Not sure if he was just getting there, or if he was about to come out, but I waited....and waited......aaaaaand waited.  Until nearly 11pm!!  For 3 and a half hours I stood there with a growing crowd of people, behind a police line, in my sweaty gym clothes,... waiting. I watched secret service and Chicago police get in and out of their cars, I watched people going in and out of the restaurant (they were searched and wanded before going in). I watched the secret service people eat Subway and also watched them yell at people for pushing on the police line. Later on, they even ended up wanding the crowd with metal detectors as it got closer to the time he was going to come out. The news crews were there and everything. It was cool.

People came and went, a mom and her boys from out of town waited near me for a couple hours before finally giving up because the kids were so bored and tired of waiting.

Finally at about 11pm, they backed up one of the suburbans right up to the sidewalk in front of the door to the restaurant and people started coming out. We were kept so far back it was hard to make out who was coming out, but the photographers were flashing, so we new it was someone good. Finally, Obama came out, I saw him and the whole crowd started cheering... he turned toward the crowd, gave a quick smile and wave and got into the car.

The secret service hopped in the other cars and there went the big motorcade, out of sight in about 1 minute flat. Here is the photo of what I saw that was in the Huffington Post the next day... YAY!

Later, I found out that he had dinner with Oprah and a few other people, so that must have been one of the people who walked out before him when the photogs were going crazy! :-) 

Anyway, it was fun and I am glad I waited!

Here are some of my crappy phone photos from when I was waiting.

         

Here is the link to the full article with photos from his visit: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/05/obama-in-chicago-friends_n_671678.html#s123197