My One Year Anniversary

One year ago today I moved to Chicago, Illinois. I had about a week from the time I was offered the internship and my start date. The best I could manage for living arrangements was to sublease an amazing condo in the heart of downtown. The catch was that I couldn't move in until the night of the 21st...which was also the day I started work.
My flight didn't arrive until just before midnight in Chicago. I spent that night in a hotel by the airport. I had googled directions and had them printed out and left early. I was all dolled up and ready to take on this city. Except that it was raining....and I didn't pack an umbrella. I assumed that rain meant cold...but it didn't. So I was sweating in the humidity under my trench coat as I got soaking wet in the rain.
I got on the right train and got off at the right stop.....but from there I was confused. Aka lost. Which way was east Google?! There are no mountains-only buildings-how the crap am I supposed to know!? I asked three people for directions and each lead me astray. One person directed me to the AON center...which turned out to be the Thompson Center. Neat. I was frantically trying to get ahold of my contact in HR, because as you guessed it...I was late.
By the time I made it to the building and checked in....I was pretty much a hot mess and 45 minutes late. It wasn't necessarily an ideal cute meet for me and Chicago. However, it didn't take long for me to fall in love. Despite the terrifying walk to work each morning at 4:45 a.m. and taking wrong buses that put me in the projects.
Chicago Summer is amazing. Thursdays were my favorite. I'd get off work and go to my beloved Farmer's Market in the Daley Plaza. (I was committed to the Farmer's Market.) I would buy fresh produce and flowers. Then I would head to the Art Institute (free on Thursday nights) and wander through the gardens to the free concert in Millennium Park afterward. Fireworks at Navy Pier, walks along the Chicago River, random boat rides on the lake, Cubs games, road trips. It was a wonderful Summer.
Fall came and things began to change. I had moved from downtown to a quaint little neighborhood near Wrigley Field. My internship ended and a chill began to set in. It was a long, cold winter. It really was. We had Chiclone hit in the fall and the Chicago blizzard that shut down the city. I was job hunting, and temping. My friends brought my car to me...and the city welcomed it by ticketing it, towing it, breaking into it and stealing it.
Though it was often covered in snow, I could still see the beauty Chicago had to offer. The Chriskindle market, ice skating in Millennium Park, the Lincoln Zoo lights, dueling piano's, WICKED, and dance parties were all bright spots that warmed the soul. My love only grew stronger.
Now here it is Summer again. We've made it through tornado watches and the time for beach volleyball and bbq's is here. I started a new internship that I love and the sun is shining again....well most days. There have been highs and there have been lows, but we've worked through them. Chicago holds my heart for now and I am so happy to be here living my dream, one day at a time. Happy Anniversary Chicago, I love you!

Panic in Detroit

To be honest, I haven't even heard that song by David Bowie....but I did go to Detroit recently...and maybe there was a little element of panic. Road trips and adventure have begun-hello Summer 2011! I headed up north to Michigan with some friends to see what there was to see.
I think Detroit gets a bad wrap. It makes me sad how much has been abandoned in Detroit. It is a pretty cool city-I think it still has plenty to offer. We started out at Hitsville USA, the home of Motown! It was amazing. I totally recommend checking it out. It has been left much the same as it was when it was in its heyday. I loved it-plenty of memorabilia, history, and our tour guide was a great singer too. I was impressed! Then-at the end we got to sing in the actual Motown recording studio! Yes please! That pretty much made my life. I loved it.
We then went to downtown to try some famous coney dogs. We did a taste test between Lafayette and American Coney's, they were right next to each other....so that was pretty easy. Lafayette was the legit local place where they just crank you through. You are in and out. They start cleaning up after you and seating people at your table before you've had the chance to leave. Then there was American Coney's they were the more touristy yuppie place....and their chili dog was better, I gotta say, they won my vote.
We just stumbled upon the rest of our Detroit experience. It worked out really well. We started walking around Detroit and I thought a building looked cool so we went it. Turns out it's a tourist destination and was the cathedral of finance. One of the guys at the tourist shop gave me a list of things to check out. Turns out there was a major festival downtown so we went! On the way we saw all the major sites that are on the postcards for Detroit. It was great.
We then went to what was supposed to be an art festival in a park...pretty lame. But we then went and took some hipster photos in front of a cool looking church nearby and it turns out that it is the church with a hole in the roof. They let us go inside. It is the church that Mitch Album helped save and wrote about in his book, "Have a Little Faith".
We did a few other things but then decided that since we were so close to Canada...that we would make a run for the border, but we didn't have any papers with us...so we approached the border and filled up on gas. I went inside to use the little girls room and asked a cashier if they would let us back into the states...she said they wouldn't let us into Canada and that I couldn't buy the delicious chocolates that I was about to purchase. Curse. Oh wait, we just filled up on duty free gas....ah. So I explained what happened to someone working there and he said that it would be alright just when we got to the check point to tell them we made a mistake and that we need to get back to the states. So check point, success. He gave us a form we filled it out and told us to go to the guy at the fence. He then asks if we purchased anything, any food, gas, perfume, etc. My friend Lauren (bless her heart) then tells him that we bought gas. Doh. So he made us go to Canada because he wasn't "willing to lose his job other this". So we go over the bridge....and do some sweet talking and we were told to go around the corner and flip around....and we missed it. We accidentally really went into Canada. Oops. It's alright though-a little more sweet talking got us back to the USA. Glad to be back! and to not have been arrested.
The rest of the weekend we hung out in Ann Arbor-it was beautiful up there. As much as I love being in Chicago, it is nice to get outside the city too!
This song is a shout out to the Motown: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXKHMaoalB0
It may be my favorite AND it shows the recording studio of Motown!