Happy Anniversary Chicago

We did it Chicago! Some people said we'd never make it this far....and maybe I was one of them sometimes....but we've proved them wrong. We're still together you and I. Two years ago, I got on a plane for a three month internship with three suitcases. I didn't know what to expect...or if I would stay..but I was excited. Movies like "While You Were Sleeping" and "The Lakehouse" had made me want to live here someday and that day came on June 20th 2010. It was a rocky start. On my last anniversary I recounted my misadventure that led me to be 45 minutes late, lost and ragged on my first day of work and in the city. I've loved and lost a lot while here in Chicago. It has been a roller coaster. There have been such great high moments and there have certainly been dips, twists and turns. I went from being the girl with no dishes, sleeping on an air mattress in an otherwise empty studio apt, to living in a spacious flat with roommates and free furniture that I have acquired. It's like the "Circle of Life" with furniture in Chicago-love that. I can remember one morning in the first round of temping, being on call for work and being so grateful when the call came to go downtown. I was dressed in my skirt and blazer suit because it was the only suit I owned and got on the bus. During my bus ride I got a call that they didn't need me anymore. I was so broke, I couldn't spend the $2.50 to ride the bus back to my apt so I walked in the biting, freezing January cold in my high heels with the wind blowing fiercely, trying not to cry because it would only make me colder. Now, I am grateful to wake up every morning and know that I will walk to the brown line to get off at the Quincy stop and walk to the E-Trade Financial building across the street from the Sears/Willis Tower and take the elevator to the 26th floor where I go to work at my job in public relations. Faces that greeted me with smiles when I first moved here are slowly moving on with their lives and to new adventures. Now I have become the reassuring, welcoming smile. I have met such strong wonderful people here in Chicago. A friend of mine said of this city, "Chicago is a place to refine souls." I feel like that is true. There is so much good here....but it can also be so hard on you. I have grown so much while I have been here....but I have had to fight to stay here and make me dream a reality. I wanted to work for it...and have certainly felt the intensity of growing pains. To a certain extent, that was part of the adventure that I longed for. I looked at it as if a rite of passage. It was so much more than I bargained for. So many memories have been made here...some so that I will always keep in a very special place in my heart. It has been a ride, to be sure, but I think I've got better at buckling up and learning to throw my hands up in the air. The lake, the pier, the architecture, free festivals, concerts in the park, the art institute, water taxis, fireworks, museums. It has all been worth it. Would I do it all over again? No. But I am so grateful that it is all a part of me now. Happy Anniversary Chicago, I still love you so. The theme song for this post I think articulates how I feel about what my time in Chicago has meant to me. The Fighter . Enjoy.