teaser! :)

I have been having so much fun lately that I haven't wanted to stop to blog! *gasp* Can you believe it?! ;)

Seriously though, it has been a really busy few weeks filled with fun weekend trips as well as visits from friends and family.

 I promise to write a legit post once things calm down (probably the middle of next week), but right now we have out of state company that we are enjoying so much!

Instead of taking time away right now, I am just going to post a few pics from last weekend in Missouri where we celebrated my sister Ellie's 25th birthday! We went on a 6 and a half hour river float trip Saturday on the Meramec River (SO AWESOME), and then Sunday we toured Onondaga Cave (also extremely awesome).

The arch. You know, just in case you needed proof we went to Missouri. ;) I kept saying "doesn't St. Louis look soooo tiny compared to Chicago?!" lol

Huz and me outside of Onondaga Cave State Park!

Inside Onondaga Cave.

This room was called the Lily Pad room (inside the cave)

Can you imagine exploring this several hundred years ago with just a lantern?! Ahhh!

Two HUGE stalactites called "the twins" inside Onondaga.

That's just a teaser for now. I look forward to blogging again once things slow down a bit!

xoxo,
Emme

Oh, the conversations we have over dinner...

This is totally normal dinner conversation when you're married to a Doctor-In-Training:

Me, whilst taking a healthy bite of my pork chop:  Soooo...how was your day at the hospital? Did you see anything awesome?

Huz: Let's see....there was a HPV check, an AIDS patient, a few diabetics......

(taking a bite of his baked potato)

....Oh!! And a guy with lots of ulcers on his anus.





Yummy! ;)

Never, ever, evvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvver again.

Huz and I went to the Taste of Chicago this afternoon. I hate to say this, but I really should have listened to Yelp and to my husband who sweetly tried to talk me out of partaking in this "festival". Huz was right. And yelp was right. The Taste of Chicago was AWFUL.

Deal breaker number 1: B.O.

The crowds were massive, rude, and gross. Super effing gross. I'm talking about being elbow to elbow with people with body odor so rank, it would make a rhinoceros keel over and beg for the sweet release of death.

Also, as you may very well know, people automatically turn into idiots when they find themselves in large groups.



Deal breakers number 2 and 3; rude people and nasty food.

It is not that hard to act like a civilized human being and follow the unspoken "rules" of the sidewalk. One: Don't stop your stroller the size of Alaska in the fricking middle of the jam packed sidewalk.
Two: Don't smoke your nasty ass cigars in the middle of the jam packed sidewalk either, and blow your smoke in my face/ little kids' face. We'd really rather not smell like a dirty ashtray. Move over off to the side and smoke away!
Three: don't try to walk against traffic. Move to the other side of the sidewalk if you are going in the opposite direction. 

It's called common decency, and respect for fellow festival goers. Apparently 90 percent of the people at the taste do not have it.

Not only were the people insufferable, it was raining, and the rib tips I tasted from Robinson's #1 Ribs were undercooked, grisly, and downright disgusting. I took about 2 bites and threw the rest in the trash.


You fail taste of Chicago. Faaaaaaaaaaaail! (And if the word epic didn't make every fiber of my being cringe and wince, it might even be fitting to say that the taste of Chicago was an epic fail.)

I can't say anything about the entertainment because we didn't listen to any of the bands; we lasted about 40 minutes and then got the hell out.

I recommend you stay far faaaaaaaaaaaaaar away friends. Don't do it!


Signing off for now,
Emme

Inexpensive ways to make your apartment feel like home.

When you're broke students, like my huz and I, you have to get a little bit creative when it comes to home decor. Luckily, I have found a few extremely cheap (or FREE!) ways to make our apartment feel cozier.

1. Flowers. I am OBSESSED with flowers. If I could afford it, I'd have flowers in the house every single week.


Oh wait!


I *can* afford it, and it's all thanks to the farmer's market that happens in Harold Washington Park (right across the street from our place!) every Thursday from 7am to 1pm.

I chose these lilies this week. And I only paid $5.00 for them!

The lilies that you see above have permeated our entire apartment with their incredible fragrance. Even my husband commented on how nice our apartment smells. Plus they're a gorgeous vibrant pink.

So lesson 1: Bring flowers into the house. They'll brighten up any room, guaranteed. (If you're allergic, they make silk arrangements too that will be just as lovely! Not sure how the cost compares though.)

Not only do we have flowers in our apartment, we also have lots of plants. The plants were also free. I just had to buy planters. My father-in-law was kind enough to start us a two clippings from his dieffenbachia, and they're gorgeous plants. They're also extremely easy to take care of. A little sun, a little water, and that's it!

Here you can see one of our diefs siting atop our craigslist bookcase!

Before I left my job at the clinic, a sweet coworker started another clipping for me; this time a philodendron. The plant did marvelously well, and just last week I was able to plant another clipping that I took off of it. Here are our two philos.

You'll notice I chose bright planters. They also help add color to our place.

Lesson 2: Hit up friends and relatives for plant clippings. Plants will definitely brighten up your place, plus they're good for you!



The third way I found decor for our place on the cheap: check with family. Who knows what you'll find. Huz and I got several photos from his dad, as well as the two paintings you saw in a previous post (titled something like: home decor when you're married). We also have a gorgeous painting of the French Quarter, and a hand painted vase from Mexico, both of which belonged to my beautiful grandmother.

Stunning green and white hand-painted vase from my grandmother's trip to Mexico.

Painting from my grandmother's trip to New Orleans.

So lesson 3: Speak to your friends and family. You never know what they might be willing to gift/lend you to brighten up your space.

And the final lesson, of which I'm sure you're already familiar:  CRAIGSLIST/thrift shops/garage sales. You can seriously hit the jackpot.

We got our bookcase from craigslist for 20.00. and I LOVE it. My next goal is to find an over-sized chair with an ottoman for additional seating in our place.

I guess that's it for today. Hopefully I've shown you that it is possible to add color and interest to your home for very little cash! If I can do it, you can too.

"You're such a city snob now!"

Said my very dear friend Andrew to me via text the other day.

You see, Andrew and his girlfriend are going to be in Illinois next month for his brother's wedding. I am super excited to see him since it's been almost a year, and I can't wait to meet his girlfriend!

Anywho, we were discussing our options for the couple of days they'll be in Chicago. I was rattling off tons of fun suggestions; Cubs games, brewery tours, boat tours, restaurant ideas, fun bars, comedy clubs etc. when Andrew dropped the "city snob" bomb on me. I know he was totally joking, and I quipped back something about "once you go city you never go back." And I sort of don't ever want to. ;)

However, you all know (or should know) that  I am the furthest thing from a city elitist. I've only lived here for about 5 months for crying out loud. I'm a transplant, and I think it's incredibly funny when city people get all hoity toity and preachy about how *gasp* they would NEVER live in the suburbs.

Yes, I understand their love of Chicago. I love it too. I love it more every single day. Chicago has the beaches of Lake Michigan which have allowed me to fulfill my dream of living on the water at the ripe old age of 26. (Lake Michigan is not exactly the water that I had in mind, but God has quite the sense of humor, methinks.)

Chicago has incredible food, great music, gorgeous art, friendly people, stunning architecture, etc etc. but I certainly can't say that it is the greatest city in the world, or that there's nowhere else I'd rather live....eventually. I can only say that I feel uber lucky to be here right now, at this point in my life, and I am going to explore the shit out of this city. And I'm gonna show friends around proudly when they visit. And I'm gonna live it up while Will and I live here, because I want to have beautiful memories of our time here in the Windy City.

xoxo,
Emme

A famous guest at the Museum!

The one and only Rod Stewart visited the Museum of Science and Industry this morning! His hair was just as badass as the photo above too!!!

I caught a glimpse of him as he was on his way out today. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to meet him, (my mom is a HUGE fan! Wish I could have gotten an autograph/photo) but a coworker did meet him, and said he chatted with her for awhile and was very nice. He came to tour the German U-boat which happens to be the only one left of its kind in the entire world.

Pretty cool!!!

*sigh*

I've been struggling lately with that whole "wtf am I going to choose for a life long career" thing. With 2 semesters left until I have my bachelor's, and my 27th birthday approaching, I have been putting a tremendous amount of pressure on myself to make a decision about grad school. Why do I put so much pressure on myself? I don't know, but I do. I occasionally I find myself playing the comparison game "where am I in my life compared to blah blah blah" against my peers/friends/relatives. Many of whom are homeowners with well paying jobs.

Me? I'm a non-trad college student, working a low paying job with a good chunk of student debt and no clear vision of what my future career should be. My sisters are both in well paying jobs in the health care field; one a nurse, one a physical therapy assistant. My brother is a heavy equipment operator. My husband is a med student. My best friends have all chosen career paths. I have cousins near my age who have all chosen their paths. One is a youth minister, one in the navy, one is a pilot, and one a lawyer.

Sometimes I wonder why the hell I don't have my shit together like many of my peers/friends/family. Why don't I know what I was "meant" to do? Some days are better than others. Some days I just go with the flow and tell myself that it is totally *not* realistic to have your whole life figured out by age 26.

Some days I tell myself that at least I am figuring out careers I was definitely *NOT* meant for. i.e. waitressing, nursing assistant, medical secretary, medical biller. So hey! Only 3490834058604856 billion more careers to try out and then maybe I'll know what I was meant to do. ;) Clearly I am making SOME progress. ;)

There very likely will be an entire post on this topic sometime in the very near future. I am just too tired to do it tonight.

Until then, I had to post this picture I stumbled across because it gave me giggle fits! :)

4th of July Festivities!

I hope everyone had a safe and happy time wishing Happy Birthday to America last night! I made the cake pictured above partially to be festive and patriotic and what have you; and partially to bribe my dad into coming to Chicago for a visit.

It's a very easy recipe. You'll need a few blueberries, a pint of strawberries, one container of cool whip, and your favorite cake recipe. (I used a butter cake).


Then all you do is bake your cake, let it cool completely, frost with the whip cream, and arrange the fruit. Tasty and delicious; and also a good way to bribe city-hatin' folk to come in for a visit. heh!


Other things I did to celebrate America's birthday:

Watched the parade in our neighborhood. It turned down 53rd street so we only had to walk half a block to get a good spot. Hyde Park has this annual 4th of July celebration that includes a parade, live music, games, a picnic, etc. It was in the triple digits yesterday, so unfortunately not too many came out to partake, but you better believe that I did. Here are a few of my favorite photos of the parade/band/etc.

Bagpipers kicked off the parade!

Some adorable pom girls or something. I liked their shiny outfits.

Fitzgerald's Martial Arts!

Protestors demanding the release of Bradley Manning

Cool church float. They handed out free Popsicles too which were very welcome since it was over 100 degrees outside.

Hyde Park Garden Fair float! They handed out various seed packets which I thought was really cute. Unfortunately I got radishes. I do not like radishes. :(

 My parents missed out on the parade, but they got into town shortly after. As my dad and huz relaxed in the a/c with a couple of Heinekens, my mom and I went for a stroll down 53rd to check out the live music.

The band was playing some rockin' blues. They had great energy despite the small turnout.

The sign advertising our neighborhood's fun little celebration at Nichols Park!

We closed out the evening by having a cook-in rather than a cook out, and then heading out to watch some fireworks. :) We made brats and burgers on the stove. We also had watermelon, potato chips, and macaroni salad. The food was delish, and we stayed cool to boot. At around 8pm we headed over to the point to watch some fireworks. It was so nice to spend the evening at the park. Even dad enjoyed himself. :) The point wasn't as crowded as I thought it would be, and those that were there were all decked out in their red white and blue. We commandeered a great spot near the rocks to watch the fireworks, and a wonderful breeze was blowing off of the lake.

Navy Pier fireworks as we viewed them from Promontory Point.

Today my mom and I went to the farmer's market in the park across the street from my apartment. They had gorgeous bouquets of fresh cut flowers for around $5.00 each.

I got these beauties for just $3.00 this morning.

 We also bought the ridiculously succulent peaches pictured below. They're seriously delectable. I scarfed down two whole ones by myself. I can't wait to hit up the market for the rest of the summer for more flowers and fruit.

Before my parents left, mom and I capped off the morning with a trip to the beach. The water felt great on our toes, especially after a half mile walk in the 104 degree heat. Not that I am complaining. It can stay 104 for the rest of the year if it would like to. See my previous posts for more info on my love affair with hot weather..... ;)

Me and mom at Lake Michigan. Blurry enough that you can't tell who we are! Ha! ;)

My gorgeous mama at the beach.

I hope you all had a safe and wonderful 4th of July!
Til next time,
Emme <3