failure. rejection. heart break.

Ok. I am being a little bit dramatic. ;)

I didn't get the job, folks. I am going to proceed to drown my sorrows with a few adult beverages, regroup, and continue searching next week!

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Emme

Another one bites the dust!

Actually, if you want to get technical, I bit the grass, not the dust.  Erm. Well, actually I didn't bite anything per se, but I most definitely DID wipe out on my bike a few days ago. Will's bike, actually.

My mom stayed over night on Tuesday and on Wednesday, she and I decided that since it was a gorgeous day we should definitely take a ride by the lake. About five minutes into our ride I needed to adjust my messenger bag because it was dangling in between my legs and driving me crazy. So, I tried using one hand to adjust the bag and in the process hit a hole in the bike path. Out went the bike from under me, and oh well hello there grass and pavement! Luckily the only thing really hurt was my pride, although I was *really* sore when I woke up the next morning.

I should have known then that perhaps the day wasn't going to exactly as planned, however, after I dusted myself off we continued on our ride.

It was another gorgeous day. Not a cloud in the sky and seventy-five degrees with a lake breeze.

Today, two days after our ride, the weather is very different. I am typing this post as I look out at the lake. There are whitecaps on the lake today that are spraying up about a foot or so as they crash into the sidewall. It's 45 degrees, cloudy, and rainy. Oh northern IL weather, you are sooooo crazy.

But Wednesday was glorious and we decided to lock up our bikes on Jackson and do a little walking. Check out the lovely photos mom took.

Solider Field, pretty (but STINKY) Bradford Pear trees, and the Sears Tower (Willis tower, whatev)

Gorgeous tulip tree on the right, and a bit of the skyline.

The Buckingham peeking through the tree. My mom's best friend's family owns a couple of condos there. I can't wait until they come in for a visit this summer!

A mountie and his horse on Michigan Avenue. Later we saw them cantering around Grant Park.

Another photo of those lovely, stinky Bradford Pear trees.

So after walking around for about an hour and enjoying the parks, it was time to head back so mom could catch the 4:11 train back to Elburn. The ride home was lovely and uneventful...for the first half.

And then, I said, "hey mom, I get sort of worried that during one of our long rides something will go wrong with one of the bikes. Ugh. That would suck because Beau and I don't normally carry bike tools, and it could be a REALLY long walk home!"

Mom laughed.

And then literally one minute later I heard a loud **POP** from behind me. And sure enough, mom had a flat.

Noooo!

We both laughed, and then groaned, and then laughed again. I totally jinxed us!

Luckily we were only about half a mile from Oakwood/41st Street Beach. So we walked the half mile and then called Will to pick us up. It was quite a sight to see me pretzeled into the back of our small Saturn Vue with two bikes and my mom and Will laughing up front.

So, in the next couple of days Will and I will be searching for the least pretentious bike shop on  the south side of Chicago so we can get back on the trail!

The fam came for a visit!

My sister Cher, her husband, baby Allen, and my mom came to the city for a visit yesterday. It was another beautiful day, so after cuddling with my sweet nephew for awhile, we decided we should take him on his very first trip to the zoo! So off we went to Lincoln Park Zoo, and it was there with the animals that we whiled away the day. Allen slept through the whole entire trip, but hey, we took tons of pictures and we can show him what his first trip to the zoo was like when he gets older!

This blog post is going to be very pic heavy, so I hope you enjoy the sights. I've posted a hodgepodge of photos from our trip to Lincoln Park Zoo. Of course, pictures are never as good as the real thing, so if you're ever in Chicago, I recommend checking out LP Zoo for yourself! It is free! Do not miss the conservatory if you are as obsessed with flowers/plants as I am. The sights and smells in there are heavenly!

Here is my nephew next to a mold of a polar bear foot at LP Zoo. He's pretty tiny, huh?

I loved watching this guy! Ostriches are definitely one of the coolest birds I've ever seen.

 

 

Not the greatest picture, but this guy was MASSIVE. I've never seen a beaver so large before!

This giraffe kept sticking her tongue out! Of course I didn't get a shot of that, but it was hysterical.

Helllllo Mr. Rhino. This guy was huge.

I sort of thought the one on the left was going to gnaw through the log...

 

 

 

This photo and the next five photos were taken in the LP Zoo conservatory. It is an incredibly beautiful, peaceful place, and I will most definitely be back when I need to take a break from the "hustle and bustle", or whenever I need to stop and smell the flowers!

Sweet little nugget nephew and his mommy and daddy leaving the zoo after a beautiful, fun day!

I hope you enjoyed the photos. I know Will and I really enjoyed showing our family around a little bit, and we are looking forward to their next visit when they can stay longer!

My mom was the only one who was able to stay overnight, and she left a few hours ago. I was going to post about the hilarity that ensued today when my mom and I went for our bike ride, but I think I will save that post for later this week!

Still no word about the job, and though Will tells me to be patient and give them until Friday to get back to me, I'm starting to get impatient!

I think I'll ask if he wants to go to Zberry get some fro yo to ease my mind! ;)

Ta ta for now!
Emme

Damn you, Hunger Games. Damn you!

Will, a friend, and I went to see the Hunger Games on Saturday. I wish I could explain to you how much I was looking forward to this movie. You see, Will and I read all of the books a few months ago, and they were pretty damn good. I would give the books a collective 8 out of 10 stars.

Why do movies always let me down? I think it's because my imagination builds the characters up so much that there is just no way in hell that a movie can compare to the vision in my head. Jennifer Lawrence? Eh. She is a gorgeous woman, that's for sure, but she's just not what I pictured for Katniss. She didn't have enough attitude. She didn't have enough emotion. She just didn't really have enough...anything.

The actor who plays Gale? Liam Hemsworth. Ok. I can see that.

I think the young actress who played Rue was fantastic. And surprisingly, I think Woody Harrelson did a decent job as Haymitch. I also think Elizabeth Banks was a decent Effie. Lenny Kravitz was spot on as Cinna.

The actor who plays Peeta? Josh Hutcherson. Sweet kid but oh sooooo cheesy. I feel like he was just....cheesy.... and the exchanges between him and Katniss were super awkward.

Anyway, you get the idea.  I was kinda let down by the movie, but at least we got to see it at our cool new theatre in Chicago with the really comfy seats! ;)

In other news, Will and I are driving each other a little bit kuku, I believe. We are not used to spending so much time together. We're used to both being super busy, but right now we are definitely not super busy! His program at the hospital doesn't begin until April, so we have about a week left of being together 24-7, and we've been doing this 24-7 thing for the past 4 weeks.

I love Will very much, and I know he loves me, but I can tell we're getting a little nit picky with each other, and that sucks. I swore we wouldn't get nit picky or take our time together for granted because we spent those 2 years of being 1700 miles apart and it was really tough. I am sure once he gets going next week things will get better. A little space is healthy and good for any relationship.

In other, other news, my mom, brother-in-law, sister and sweet baby nephew are coming for a visit tomorrow! I am hoping the rain will hold off so we can go to Lincoln Park Zoo. I will post pictures if we do end up getting a chance to go!

Oh, and I haven't heard back yet about the j-o-b. Still waiting, and still sending out lots of resumes. I am hoping to hear back by the middle of this week... this waiting really sucks! I am starting to get a little bored with not having a job. I do have my college class work, and  I do love exploring Chicago, but you can only do so much exploring when you don't have a steady income rolling in each month!

If you could all cross your fingers for me so I can get this job, I sure would appreciate it!


:)
Emme

Second Interview!

I just received an email from the medical equipment company, and they must have liked me because they asked for a second interview.

Yesssss! :)

Hopefully I will be posting some great news next week!

A waitress for 2 days; a waitress no more!

It is a foggy, rainy, craptastic day in Chicago today; a perfect day to sit at home, get homework done, blog, and continue applying for jobs.

The serving gig I mentioned in the last post was very short-lived, my friends. Two days, to be exact. I used to wait tables at a truck stop, and waiting tables here in Chicago was different than waiting on truckers at a truck stop, but it was definitely not better overall. So why did I quit after two days? Many reasons.

Reason number 1. The manager was giving me extremely bad vibes. He kept telling me he was glad he gave me a chance at the restaurant (on the first day, when I hadn't even proven myself in the least), and when we started talking about my job as a medical biller and office assistant, he asked if I could come to his house a couple of nights this weekend and help him get organized. Um....that is REALLY creepy. Hell no I'm not coming over to your house at night! Or during the day! Or ever! I also caught him just watching me on several occasions, and it seriously made my skin crawl.

He was also extremely bad at handling customers complaints. I had a table that found a HUGE chicken bone in her chicken salad sandwich. I was so embarrassed. I ran back to tell the manager and he rolled his eyes and said "what's the big deal?! It's not processed chicken, so there are going to be bones!"

Really? WOW!!!!! Awesome customer service! She could have CHOKED or punctured her esophagus or stomach. I'm not even joking. The bone was sharp and large. And the manager thinks it's not a big deal, and he doesn't even tell me to offer her anything else? Or a free dessert? Or a free meal?! Of course, I offered her something else anyway but she declined, as she had lost her appetite. Can ya blame her?!

Reason number 2. The restaurant is brand new, and extremely disorganized. They opened up in mid-February, and they have lots of kinks to work out. Both managers that I met did not know how to run the POS (computer system). There were two servers that were considered "permanent" and they didn't even know how to answer all of my questions about the system, about the menu, about substitutions etc.

Reason number 3. People can be really, really awful to their waiters. I showed up Wednesday at 2:45pm and began taking my own tables. It was super busy, and people were up to their same old shenanigans. 

Scenario 1: Making me wait at their table for 10 minutes while they're trying to order because they "don't want to have to wait an hour for the order to be taken."

Awesome. Not like I have 5 other tables waiting that already know what they want.

Scenario 2: Waving me down every two minutes for over half an hour to ask questions about the menu. Literally. I am not joking. Every. 2. minutes.

Then, after I do my best to provide great service for you, suggest menu items that meet all of your diet demands, and refill your hot tea 7 times (yes, I am not joking. This woman drank 7 pots of tea.) And after you sit at my table for well over 2 hours, you stiff me. No tip. Nothing. Awesome.

 Scenario 3: Customers calling me racist. Oh yes, it happened. Apparently I'm "racist and don't serve black people." Ummm. Except that over half of the tables I am serving right now are black.

Luckily this awful comment came shortly before I left for the evening, so when the tears began to stream down my face and I began to do the ugly cry, the only person that saw me was my sweet husband, Will. He hugged me and told me that I am a great person who doesn't deserve to be treated in such awful ways. He reassured me that we'll be okay financially and quitting is a perfectly valid option. So I made up my mind to quit.

Basically folks, my very short gig as a waitress reminded me why I left this awful profession over 8 years ago and vowed never to return... unless being homeless or prostitution were my other options. Well, for right now I feel pretty secure that Will and I won't be homeless anytime soon, thank heavens, so bye bye waitressing gig.

I called the (WEIRDO) manager up last night and told him today would be my last day, and asked if he would he still like me to come in one last time. He said no, but again he asked if I would be interested in working on the side for him this weekend. I told him no.

Now, while I am relieved that I won't be working there any more, I am also a little bit sad. I had met so many funny, wonderful, kind fellow waiters/waitresses in the two short days I worked there. I think I could have made some really close friends.

And despite the terrible way customers sometimes treated me, the money overall was great. I made well over 100.00 on my first night. So the income would have been nice.

One more thing: I had an interview yesterday with a small, family-owned medical equipment office for an office assistant/billing assistant position. I feel pretty confident with how it went, but I am also admittedly a terrible judge about that sort of thing... so hopefully I'll hear back from them soon.

Until then...

Remember to be nice to your servers! :)

xoxo,
Emme

St. Patty's Day Weekend

This weekend was just as excellent as I expected it to be. My little sister and her fiance came up to the city to spend St. Patrick's Day with Will and me. They got here Saturday morning around nine, and the first thing they did was give me a really cool housewarming gift.

It was actually a two part gift. Part one was a delicious bottle of Tortuga Rum from the Cayman Islands which made me all nostalgic, of course. At around this time last year, Ellie and I were there visiting Will at med school, and we made some incredible memories that will last forrrrrrrrrrrrrever. If you haven't been to the Cayman Islands, I cannot recommend a visit strongly enough. It is paradise on earth.

Tortuga Rum from Grand Cayman

(As you can see from the photo above, we dipped into the rum a bit before we left for the parade.)

Part two of the gift was a cute free standing wine rack which is a perfect gift for me because I looove me some wine. Yep. My sister rocks. 

So after opening presents, hugging hello, and doing some general catching up it was after 10am, and we made our way down the block and caught the #6 into the loop. We walked around awhile trying to find the best spot to see the green river before we went back to Buckingham fountain and found a spot for the parade.

Look at all those people! I think Will said he read somewhere around 500,000 turned out?

Purdy shade of green, no?

I must confess that what we saw of the parade was a little less than impressive. We didn't stay the whole time though, so I can't really give an all encompassing review. Instead of hanging out the whole time, we decided to walk on over to Navy Pier because Ellie's fiance, Brandon, had never been there before.

Oh. my. It was packed. We expected it to be packed though because it was such a gorgeous day outside. We walked around a bit and decided to grab some burgers and Italian beef at the famous Billy Goat Tavern. The line was out the door but damn, those employees were extremely efficient! We didn't have to wait long at all.We enjoyed our lunch and each others company. Then, we contemplated going for a green beer or six, but instead...we went home for a nap! Ha!

The truth is, we were pretty much exhausted from 5 hours out in the heat and from walking all over town. I must confess that on our way home we had an effing ball watching pretty much everyone downtown getting completely smashed, puking all over each other and the sidewalks, fighting, crying, stumbling,  protesting, screaming and generally just acting like a whole helluva lot of idiots.

As I laughed at the ridiculousness around me, it dawned on me that I must be getting old, because I had absolutely no desire to partake in the festivities to that degree!

When we got home, the four of us promptly passed out for an hour. When we woke up, we were refreshed and ready for some Chicago style deep dish! After a quick poll, it was decided that dinner would be at Giordano's in our hood that evening.

Don't I look tasty? Nom nom.

                                                       
 After dinner Will and I took Ellie and Brandon on over to Zberry. Zberry is my new favorite spot. They have self-serve fro-yo with a toppings bar. I'm in love. Check out our tasty creations below!

Mine's the top right. Raspberry pomegranate yogurt w/ pineapple, cherries, and kiwi on top.

                                      
 After dessert, we went home and watched The Descendants which got rave reviews, but we thought it was overrated. That about sums up our St. Patty's Day. Low key and perfect, if you ask me.

Today Ellie and I walked down to Dunkin Donuts for some breakfast treats and coffee. We also took a quick bike ride by the lake before she and Brandon left for home. I'm hoping they'll be back for a longer visit very soon! There's just so much to do, and so little time in one weekend!






In other news, I start a new j-o-b on Tuesday. I am not super excited about it, because it's a waitressing job, but I am also not super excited that I haven't heard anything back on the 80+ resumes I've sent out, so I think I'm going to give this job a shot. I told the manager I am only willing to work a maximum of 4 days per week because I am also a student. A serving job will at the very least give me a little income, and it will hopefully be a good way to meet new friends.

 I'll probably blog later this week after I've trained for a few days and let you know how it's going...wish me luck!

I hope everyone had a happy, fun and safe holiday weekend!

Ta ta for now,

Emme.

Spring has sprung in Chicago!

Or should I say summer has sprung? It is 79 glorious degrees in the windy city today, and the sun is shining brilliantly off the lake. After doing some reading this morning for class, Will and I decided we *had* to get out and enjoy this day.

I was planning on just biking over to Promontory Point and maybe just whiling away a couple hours on a picnic blanket by the water, but Will had another idea. He wanted to bike to Navy Pier. It's an 8 mile ride from our apartment. That means 16 miles round trip.

Ok. Why the hell not?!

About half way there, it dawned on me that we didn't bring any water with us, and the sun is really beating down today. Meh. No biggie. We can just buy a bottle or two at the pier, right?

Wrong. :(

I also realized I had taken the $20.00 out of my camera case.

Oops. No money, no water. We are dumbasses.

But we made the trip anyway. It was Will's first trip to the pier! We walked around enjoying the sights, sounds and sunshine. I took a couple of crappy photos, which I shall post below for your enjoyment. (I desperately need to get batteries for my camera because I think it takes much nicer photos than Will's camera.)

Taaaaaaaaaaaaaa daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Navy Pier! Yeah, told ya the pictures were craptastic. Some day my camera will function again, and Will might let me stop to take more photos along the way like a "nerdy tourist".

So it was an afternoon well spent, although I don't think Will will want to bike there without water again.I have to confess to you that before my sweet Seattle-bound friends gifted us a pair of bikes, I hadn't ridden a bike in about ehhhhhhhh 8 or 10 years-ish.

Read: I was getting reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally crabby and tired on the way back! I am not used to biking such long distances yet! My ass and calves were begging for mercy at around mile 12!

Will, bless his sweet little heart, tried to cheer me up by singing Beatles songs and that Rocky song that goes "da da da, da da da getting stronger!", but I was having none of it!

The rest of the evening will be spent lazing around the apartment reading for class with the windows wide open. Eventually I will pry myself off of the couch and cook us up some steak fajitas. Yum.

Until next time,

Emme.

90% done!

As I am writing this post, I'm laying on my bed which is placed directly across from two large windows with a breathtaking view of lake Michigan. We're finally here. We're about 90% unpacked, and we are already in love with our new city.

My observations so far:

1. We have a 24 hour door person at our building. There are actually 4 door people that rotate shifts. There are 2 men and 2 women, and 3 out of the 4 are wonderful, funny, sweet, intelligent people! The 4th one is a grumpy old asshole of a man who obviously doesn't enjoy his life (or job) very much.  Luckily, he only works part time on the weekends, so hopefully Will and I will be able to avoid him most of the time.

2. The first night we were here, our toilet was leaking when we flushed it. Uh oh. I went down stairs to the sweet door person, filled out a work order, and the maintenance man came the next afternoon. Um...huh? The next afternoon? Before we signed the lease we *specifically asked * if there was 24 hr. maintenance and were told yes. *sigh*

Anywho, it really wasn't a huge deal. The water wasn't GUSHING or anything. It was more of a slow trickle, and only after the toilet was flushed. The maintenance man came on Sunday afternoon. He was super nice and friendly and it's working just fine now, no leaks, so I can't really complain too much.

3. I suck at remembering names. I can remember 2 out of the 5 people we've met at this building so far. Fail. I need to start writing names down.

4. My husband is seriously a handyman. He doesn't give himself enough credit in that arena. In the two days that we've been in Chicago, he has put together our sofa bed as well as installed a new shower head. The shower head that was in there when we moved in on Saturday was so. evil. It either pelted so hard with water that you were wincing in pain and begging for mercy, or it sprayed so lightly and cock-eyed that you'd have to spend at least an hour in there trying to shampoo your hair and shave your legs. Sheesh. So we bought a new one and I am about to test it out once I'm done with this post.

5. The people that we have met so far have been extremely friendly. I have no idea why the stereotype exists that Chicagoans are mean or impatient (except while driving- this is oh so very true!)--everyone we've come across (with the exception of grumpy mccrabass part-time door person) has been really friendly, and genuinely interesting.

6. We are literally right off of lake shore drive. I thought that the constant noise of the cars traveling day and night would bother me. It really has the opposite effect. Will suggested (and I agree) that it's got this nice "white noise" quality that is really kind of soothing when you're trying to sleep.

7. Our kitchen is teeny, and I can't stress how much I love those little kitchen hooks for hanging up pots and pans! They're great for maximizing space in our small kitchen.

8. 900 square feet is a great amount of space for two newlyweds and a cat. We moved from a house that had over 2000 square feet of space, and I thought we'd feel a little bit cramped, but we don't at all!

9. I can't tell you how much I LOVE waking up to the view of the lake, the park, and navy pier in the distance. It is really, truly spectacular, and I've woken up with a huge smile on my face for the past two mornings.

10. This city has an energy that is really invigorating for a small town girl. It might sound stupid, but it's true. I feel like so much is out there right at my fingertips, and I swear I will take full advantage of that!

Those are my observations on Chicago living thus far!

So today we unpacked, cleaned, and took an hour and a half walk along the lake paths which are just steps from our front door. Our plans for the rest of the week include:
- Explore neighborhood and public transit options in more depth.
- I have to read for class and write a mid-term paper.
- Go to the museum of science and industry because 1. I haven't been there in several years. and 2. It is within walking distance from our place.
- I need to continue job hunting.
-This weekend my sister and her fiance are coming into Chicago for St. Patty's celebrations! So that should be a blast!

Finally, I am going to post some pictures that we've taken over the last two days. I've probably seen it a thousand times, but the Chicago skyline still rocks my world.

A not so good picture of our teeny kitchen. I did not get a good shot of the pots/pans on the hooks that I love so much!

A crappy photo of one side of our living room. The hall comes into the living area in such a way that makes it difficult to get a good shot, but it's actually a very large space. Excuse the mess. Oh, and the bike won't always be in our living room. Heh. We have not gotten our bike storage assignments yet.

This is a view of our building from the bridge. It was built in 1918 and it was originally a hotel where people stayed while vacationing on the lake.

 Chicago skyline. Nuff said.

My view as I am typing this post. Okay, I need to get off here and clean that window! lol.

Stayed tuned. I have a feeling this blog is going to get better and better as we learn to live in this fantastic Windy City!

A few teaser pictures of our new place...

Let me show you some pictures of our view. (Because you do not want to see pictures of the boxes stacked in our place. I will post some pictures of the inside of our apartment once we have things put away!)

 
See the Sears tower (Willis tower, whatev) in the second picture? Saaaaawwweeet! And at night, it's all lit up green for St. Patty's!

Please know that the pictures do not do this view justice. The lake looks sooooo far away in the first picture, but when you're looking out the window, it's like we're right on top of it! I always said I wanted to live on the water. This wasn't really the water I was talking about, but it is gorgeous just the same.

I am really, really tired from the move today, but I promise to write a real, quality post in the next couple of days once we get settled.

Approved!

We were approved for the condo! We move this weekend! Woot woot! We are SO excited!

I promise to blog again once we're settled in. My material will hopefully be getting more interesting since we're finally going to be in the city! :)

Hurry up and wait!

I feel like we've been doing a lot of this "hurry up and wait" thing lately. Most recently, we were in the hospital waiting for my sweet little nephew to be born! And wait we did! Cher's labor was 22 agonizing hours long! She said every minute was worth it when she gave birth to precious little Allen on leap day. He was born at 9:54pm on February 29, 2012. He weighed 7lbs 10oz and he is just as perfect as babies can get. Both mom and baby are doing well, and I have been absolutely loving on him since he got here! Gotta get those kisses and cuddles in before we move!

Here is a photo of the sweet lil man!

On the very same day, in the very same hospital, we were waiting for Will's dad to have surgery for his kidney stones. Any type of surgery makes me nervous, especially those that involve general anesthesia! Thankfully, the surgery went well, and he is feeling so much relief.

Now we're doing the "hurry up and wait" as we wait to hear back from our potential landlord. On Friday, Will, Ellie, and I drove to Chicago to drop off Will's clinical paperwork and to drop off our application for the condo on that we absolutely love.

I don't think I blogged about it before, but it is definitely the place for us! Both of our jaws dropped when we saw this place which was a great sign, because Will had been a little hesitant at all of the other places we saw. Not here. He was loving it just as much as I was.

We had no idea we could afford a view like this! It is quite literally right on Lake Michigan in a gorgeous old building that was a swanky resort back in the 1920s and 30s. It's 900 square feet of space on the 11th floor with closets galore, and stunning views of Lake Michigan and the Chicago skyline. The building also has a great laundry room, a bike room, and it feels very secure, as in you have to be buzzed into the building. It has a really friendly doorman too, which makes me feel a little spoiled! It doesn't have a gym, but the lake paths are steps from the front door, so I'll have to deal.

The gentleman that showed us the place said you can watch the fireworks at Navy Pier from the living room! How awesome is that?  We love it so much because it's so spacious, and it offers so many of the amenities that we were looking for, as well as breathtaking views, but without the cookie cutter, boring look of the new high rises.

We are supposed to hear back on our application by the middle of the week. So we're crossing our fingers that we get a big yes! If so, we move next Saturday! That's 6 days from now.

Until then...I am going be packing, doing homework, and spoiling my sweet little new nephew!