Chicagoist.

 I recently signed up for the daily email from Chicagoist.com because it seemed like it'd be a good source for info on what's happening around town. After all, the site claims to be *the* source for Chicago "news, food, arts and events."

However, instead of getting updates on street fests, new art exhibits, or restaurant recommendations, these are the delightful types of email subjects that have been popping up in my inbox:

(Today) Subject: "Where are you most likely to get robbed on the CTA?"

(Yesterday) Subject: "Are your fruits and vegetables killing you? How to tell if your food is covered in pesticides."

(The day before): Subject: "Pet Piranha bites off portion of toddler's finger."

(Day before that) Subject: "14 year old killed by gunfire last night."


Errrrrm...........that's uplifting.


Heh. Um, these are not the updates I was hoping to read about every day.


But hey, the next time I'm in the market to read something extraordinarily depressing, or something that's certain to turn me into a hypochondriac or give me repeated panic attacks, perhaps I'll give Chicagoist another go.  ;)

My nephew came for another visit :)

Last week my mom, sister, and sweet baby nephew Allen came in for a visit. I'm so blessed to have such a tightly knit, loving family that visits often!

Cher, mom, and Allen arrived around noon and we went to the south loop to do a little shopping. I was carrying Allen around in the moby, and all the shopping must have worn him out, because he fell asleep as we were leaving the store. I had to post my new favorite pic because it's too cute!

Auntie Emme and Allen in their cool shades. :)

It is so exciting to watch my nephew grow and change, and when he smiles at me it melts my heart. I love being an aunt! :)

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

I was chatting with two of my female coworkers at lunch today. They both very recently ended relationships with their significant others, and I could tell they were really hurting.


Coworker A was in tears as she explained that she split with her partner because her partner constantly made her feel bad about herself. Her partner would constantly make rude, condescending comments about the food she chose to eat, her makeup, the clothes she chose to wear, the music she chose to listen to....and on and on. As she spoke, it became very clear to me that her relationship with her partner was abusive. Her partner was basically trying to control and manipulate her life in every way.

Coworker B explained that she recently split with her boyfriend of nearly 5 years because he was disrespectful, and he had cheated on her in the past at least once that she knew of.  She said that he constantly made lewd comments about attractive women, and she had tried to speak to him about it, but he just brushed her off.

I know that both ladies will be much happier now that they're rid of their unhealthy significant others, and luckily they both acknowledged that though right now they're hurting, they know they made the right choices in getting rid of their toxic exes.

When I hear stories about relationships that involve abuse, condescension, manipulation, and disrespect, I thank my lucky stars for two things:

1. That I love and respect myself enough now to never allow myself to be mistreated in a relationship.  (I have been mistreated in the past, and I have learned from those experiences. It is absolutely imperative to kick people out of your life that are toxic. I cannot stress that enough. It really, truly is.)

2. That I have a partner in this life who is not only intelligent, hilarious, gorgeous, and kind, but he also respects me as a person, and he is a respectable person. He doesn't abuse me, he doesn't hurt my feelings intentionally, he doesn't cheat on me or lie to me. He doesn't talk down to me. He doesn't hit on other women, or rub it in my face how attractive another woman is. He consistently makes me smile and laugh. He values my opinion, and he supports me in my endeavors.

Indeed, I am a very lucky woman to have married such a great person. I'm thankful for my huz every day.

Summer lovin'

Summer has arrived. It's been in the 90's for many days in Chicago now, and it. is. glorious. I love the heat, and you'll never catch me complain that it's too hot. I think it should be illegal to complain about the heat in IL. After all of the atrocious subzero temps and blisteringly cold weather we have to deal with all winter, it can get as hot as it damn well wants as far as I am concerned.

I've been taking full advantage of the weather by wearing all of my adorable summer sundresses and by parking my derriere on 57th street beach as much as possible.

Yours truly on 57th street beach. Hopefully this sweet profile shot doesn't give away my identity to all the weirdos on the interwebz. ;)

I especially love it there during the week because there are so few people there. I went this morning for about 3 hours, and had a huge stretch of beach all to myself. I think there were only about 10 other people on the entire beach.


Even when it gets busier on the weekend, it's a nice crowd that gathers there. I've yet to encounter any creepers, which is nice. It's a very relaxed atmosphere and it's not just a ton of basically naked singles trying to show off which I've noticed seems to happen on certain beaches more north.

There are no Heidi Montag attention whore wanna be's on 57th street beach. PS. Do you think those things can double as life preservers?

Not here. It's a nice mix of singles, students, families, and even a few seniors. It's very peaceful and relaxing indeed. I usually take a book or two and it is a wonderful way to spend the day.


Oh! And there is a little snack shack where you can get cheap, tasty munchies or my personal favorite; $2.00 snow cones. I love 57th street beach so much that I told my husband this afternoon when he got back from the hospital that it is so nice there during the week that it makes me never want to get a "real job." I think I'll just become a beach bum. Is there any way I can get paid for that? heh heh heh...

Our Place (with some updated pictures)

This post is all about my love affair with our place here in Chicago. I promised many moons ago that I would post some more photos of our place, and so that's what I am doing in this post.

Note: If hearing me squawk about the details of our place doesn't appeal to you, please feel free to skip this post.I promise I won't judge. ;)






Still reading? Awesome!



I have to confess that I love our condo; more specifically, I love the view from our condo. It is definitely the NUMBER ONE reason I love this place.


 See for yourself, my friend!

That's  Navy Pier in the distance. Every Wednesday and Saturday we can see the firework show from our living room. Awesome!

We can also spot the Sears Tower from our living room window.

Looking out our living room window at Harold Washington Park and Lake Michigan

That's Lake Shore Drive and the lakefront bike path. This is looking east from one of our living room windows.

The tennis courts and Lake Michigan again.

Looking west out our living room window at the neighborhood.

As you can see, our view is gorgeous. Looking east, it's all lake, looking west, it's city, looking north, it's the pier.

Here are a few shots of the inside. I wasn't able to get the best shots because the huz is busy studying at his desk which also happens to be in the living room, but you'll get an idea of what it's like inside.

Here's the Mister's recliner, and our new bookcase. I finally have family/wedding/vacay photos on display! Yay!

Part of our living room; the part without the Mister's desk/study area. Kind of an odd shot, but you get the picture. :)

Our very tiny, very cute, very much a one person only, galley kitchen. :)

***I apologize in advance for the current messiness of our bedroom. The bed isn't made either, so it's not in the photo. heh heh.***


Oh!! I'd also like to say that our closet doors do shut, but I left them open because I was trying to give you an idea of the enormity of the closet in our bedroom! We have another closet that's the same size in our hallway. Score!

I told you it's messy! But check out that HUGE closet!

Here's the bathroom. There's a toilet to the right of the sink, but it was too awkward to get it in the photo. Plus I'm sure you've all seen a toilet before; there's nothing special about ours. heh heh.

Other things I love about our place:

-It's within walking distance of many delicious restaurants, Promontory Point, 57th St. Beach, Osaka Garden, the Museum of Science and Industry (my employer), Walgreens, CVS, and several grocery stores.

-Our building (and neighborhood in general) is nice and quiet. The majority of the folks in this building own their units, so there's not any riff raff.

-We have an enormous farmer's market literally right across the street from our place every Thursday. Awesome.

-We live one mile from President Obama's place. It's pretty cool seeing secret service dudes all over, and it's nice having the extra security. Le Prez was actually in town this past weekend, and we saw the Presidential Helicopter Squadron pretty up close and personal, which was really neat.

-Speaking of extra security, we're also very close to the University of Chicago, so we have their police force patrolling the area as well.

-The bus picks us up less than half a block from our door and has us in the loop within 20 minutes.

-There is very easy access to lake shore drive and 55 whenever we wanna get out of town!

Sooooo, as you can see, this place has quite a bit going for it. I hope you enjoyed the little virtual tour of our condo, and listening to me blabber on about it. I just think it's really great that we are both very happy here, and feel blessed that we were able to lease this place for our first city apartment.

A beautiful sunrise

The night before last, I woke up around 3:30 in the morning with a terrible backache. I didn't want to wake up the huz, so I tiptoed out into the kitchen to take some ibuprofen, then went out to the living room and sat on the couch with a cup of tea.

Shortly after 5am, I snapped these photos of the sun coming up outside of our living room window.

Such a gorgeous sunrise, wasn't it? I was glad to be awake to see it, and to watch the seagulls soaring over and diving into the lake in the early morning while the city was still sleeping.

Chicago is an entirely different world before 6am. :)

A bitchfest from a new Chicagoan

I don't know if I can technically call myself a Chicagoan because I am a transplant, but for the sake of my blog title, that's what I am. Ok? :)

After an especially hellish Monday, I've decided to delight you with a break down of a few things I detest about living Chicago. (Hey, I can't be all sunshine and roses 100% of the time. ;) Muahaha!)

I mean, I've lived in Chicago for about 3 months, so I think I can speak with a bit of experience now.

Number 1 thing that SUCKS about living in Chicago? Grocery shopping. Not only is it insanely expensive, (oh, hello there you 9.5% sales tax aka the highest sales tax in the US!) but it is unnerving. There are suits in bluetooths bumping into you in every aisle. There are moms pushing strollers the size of Texas down the aisles. There are annoying preteens blocking your view of the ice cream selection. And do trust that they will absolutely not move to the other side of the aisle no matter how many times you politely say "excuse me for a moment please." Speaking of aisles, could they possibly get any smaller?! I think NOT.

What's that you say? You just need to run in for a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread? Muahahahaha, you silly, silly fool!! So do 9,466 of your neighbors! There's no such thing as a quick run to the store. Have fun waiting in line for around 20 minutes, because there are probably 2 checkout lanes open at Treasure Island, and maybe 4 at Hyde Park Produce.

This is me when it is time to grocery shop.

Grocery shopping in Chicago blows, or at least grocery shopping in Hyde Park blows. Trust me on that, my friends.

Number 2. Driving. Oh sweet Lord in heaven, do I ever hate driving in Chicago. I avoid it at all costs. Just ask my husband. It fills me with dread. How can I even begin to explain the depths of my hatred for Chicago driving? For starters there are about 90 bajillion tourists in Chicago at any given time that have no effing clue where they're going. They're gawking at the tall buildings. They're switching lanes at the very last second. They're driving 20 miles per hour under the speed limit. Factor in my completely disastrous directional skills, extremely high traveling speeds, and ridiculously impatient Chicago natives...and you have one VERY unpleasant experience.

Pretty sure this is sort of what I look like while driving in this town.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaait a moment. I didn't even mention construction or traffic!

It. is. out. of. control. Seriously. If you have to drive more than a couple miles, make sure you allow yourself an extra 30-45 minutes or so just to sit in construction zones. Ewwwwwwww.


The 3rd thing that I hate about Chicago: Parking. I guess it goes along with number 2, driving. I drove around the other day for literally 40 minutes looking for a street spot. 40 freaking minutes. Then you have those assholes that have BMWs or Cadillacs that take up 3 spaces so their cars don't get scratched. And folks, if you can't find a street spot, prepare to PAY, and you're going to pay a lot. *sigh*

4th thing I hate about this city: Certain bicyclists. I get it that you're training for a triathlon. Or shit, maybe you're even training for the Tour de France, but guess what? When I am walking or cycling more slowly in the right lane, (just as I should be) you don't need to be a giant asshole and nearly run me over going about 90mph. And don't scream at me to get out of the way. Just go around me! Pretend like you're in a car and I am in the slow lane. You don't own the damn bike path, so quit acting like it.

Oh and P.S. Those spandex shorts you're wearing are sofahkingdisgusting.

Ummmm......ew.

I think I'll stop here for the evening. That's about enough bitching for one night.

I will say that in the near future I will have a list of things I love about Chicago, and surely that list will be much longer than this one. :)

I hope you all have a great week!

Sincerely,
Emme

I get by with a little help from my friends...

I knew that this weekend was going to kick ass when I got home on Thursday night and my lovely husband had this beautiful summery bouquet waiting for me. I absolutely LOVE fresh flowers, and this sweet surprise from my husband was such a nice way to begin the busy, but awesome weekend.

I was lucky enough to score Friday, Saturday and Sunday off of work, so Friday morning I made the trip back to our little hometown to spend some time out on the river fishing with my dad, to do a little shopping with my mom, and to see my sister, brother in law, and my sweet baby nephew!

here's my sweet lil man!

Saturday afternoon I drove back here to Chicago because the huz and I had two very dear friends who came in Saturday night for an overnight visit. We did our best to show them a nice time, and it started with a YUMMY Mexican dinner at Maravilla's on Saturday evening. We had many laughs and many cocktails and ended up watching a completely ridiculous movie when we got back to our place called Wanderlust with Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd. Dude, that movie had me laughing but OH SO VERRRRRY disgusted all at the same time.

We took our sweet time getting up this morning (hey, it's Sunday! Laaaazy day!) and I ran over to Treasure Island to grab us some brain fuel. (I.E. Krispy Kreme donuts, fresh squeezed OJ, fresh fruit, and cinnamon struesel cake.)

After coffee, juice and the breakfast of champions, we showed our friends the skyline from promontory point park, and then headed to the Museum of Science and Industry to catch the bus on over to Navy Pier.

It took forever to get there because we took the "scenic route" and because Bluesfest is going on this weekend so the the bus routes are all jacked up. It was totally worth it though because the Pier was seriously awesome today. Apparently, most everyone was at Bluesfest so it wasn't crowded at Navy Pier at all. We grabbed lunch at Harry Caray's, strolled around the shops, caught some live music, and just enjoyed the sunshine with several cocktails. We also rode the Ferris Wheel and I got some great shots from waaaay up there. It was an awesome day and a great way to kick off the summer.

Navy Pier Ferris Wheel

A cool shot of the skyline from the wheel.

look at how *not crowded* it is for being such a beautiful day! score.

View of the skyline and the carousel from the ferris wheel.

Lovely Lake Michigan

A view of the Shakespeare Theatre from the ferris wheel. I've been there once and can't wait to go back for another play.

the beer garden and music stage where we whiled away the afternoon, cocktails in hand!

It's always so nice to catch up with good friends. The last time we saw this particular couple was waaaaay back in February I believe. The huz and I really enjoy it whenever we can get together.

We've got some very good friends in Oklahoma that we miss and would like to catch up with as well. We're trying to devise a plan for a couples trip sometime in the near future so that all three of us couples can spend some time together. It's difficult though because many of us are college students and others have crazy work schedules. I'm hoping we can work something out though; it would be fantastic.

Til next time,
Emme

Minong!

Just returned to the city after an amazing weekend at the lake in Minong, WI. Will and I went to Minong to celebrate my mom's 50th birthday.

Mom has a very dear friend who we'll call Lynne. Lynne and her husband own several lake homes in Minong, and they were gracious enough to invite all of us (me and Will, and my sisters and their significant others/children) to stay for a weekend to celebrate mom's birthday. 

We had such an amazing time, and made so many wonderful memories. The weekend was filled with laughter, love, guitar-playing, cocktails, grilling, fishing, boating, tubing and four-wheeling. I know it meant so much to my mom to have her whole family together for this mini-getaway.

The lake was so peaceful and relaxing. I honestly didn't miss Chicago one bit, and Will and I both wished the weekend didn't fly by so quickly!

Yesterday morning my dad and I got up shortly after 5 in the morning to do some morning fishing, and I got some great photos that I think just about capture the beauty of this place.

I'm going to share some of my favorite photos with you below. Enjoy!

A view of Big Sand Lake from the lower porch of the lake house.

My nephew being absolutely adorable. He made the trip too, of course!

Looking up at the lake house from the boat dock.

That's dad and me on the dock doing some night fishing.

Caught one! (Actually caught 25 over the course of the weekend! Awesome!)

Here I am jamming out (after a few cocktails) with Lynne's husband, Frank. :)

Early morning fishing. The water was like glass. That's dad down on the dock waiting for me to get in the boat!

 

 

Mist over the lake. Very early morning.

My husband on the tube. He was a champ! We were going full throttle and he never fell off. Not even once. :)

 

 

ATV posse! These were a blast, but OH MAN did we get dirty!

Of course I'd like to post more photos, but they have faces in them, and I am trying to blog anonymously for now. I will always remember this trip with a huge smile. Suffice it to say this was one of my most favorite vacations of all time, and Lynne and Frank mentioned they'd like to make this an annual thing with our family. We are very blessed to know people that are so kind, fun, and generous! I'm already looking forward to next summer!

Ta ta for now,
Emme