"Home"

Last weekend, Will and I went home for Easter to spend time with our families.

By "home," I mean the small town we moved away from just over a month ago. I think since I spent the first 26 years of my life there, I will always call it "home" even though Chicago is slowly starting to feel like home too.

I'm really glad we went because had been itching to take my first fishing trip of the season with my dad. He and I have been fishing partners since I was a toddler. Our fishing trips are really important to me, because life is short and I love time spent sitting out in dad's boat, just him and me, shooting the shit. And when luck is on our side, we're also catching a catfish or two.

Well, luck wasn't on our side last weekend, but since it had been over a month since I'd seen my dad, it was nice to catch up. And he cooked me and Will a great breakfast, which if you know my dad, is a very VERY impressive thing.

I seriously couldn't tell you the last time my dad cooked ANYTHING, unless you count grilling burgers or fish on the grill. Mom does 99.9% of the cooking in their house. I was so impressed to wake up and find my dad cooking breakfast that I *had* to snap a photo to remember the occasion.

Here's my daddy looking happy about cooking us up some delish cheesy eggs and sausage:

Though the fishing and eating was great, I have to say that the best thing about going home was spending time with our families. When we left, I have to admit that I was a little heavy-hearted. I know that we are only 75 miles away, but with busy schedules we figure that we'll probably only be able to see our families once a month or so. I am extremely close to my family. I am lucky that I grew up in a happy home with lots of wonderful memories, and that my parents also happen to be two of my most favorite people in the world. Spending time with them is very important and special to me, and I am looking forward to the next time we can go home for a visit. I've been feeling a little lonely since we left last weekend.

Since I haven't started working yet, I haven't really made any friends here in Chicago. Since Will started at the hospital, I have been doing a lot of homework, a lot of walking/biking, a lot of exploring our neighborhood, and a lot of enjoying the lake front. What I haven't been doing a lot of is socializing, and I miss it. I am definitely not an extrovert, but I do have a handful of very close friends that I miss dearly, and I hope we're able to spend time together soon. I feel like the older we get, the busier everyone gets. People get married/have kids/move away, and it gets harder to spend time with the people you care about.

I'd really like to make some friends here in Chicago. I was asking Will the other day if anyone he has spoken with at the hospital is new to the area and has a spouse/significant other, or if there is a medical spouses/significant others group at the hospital. No luck so far, but I'm sure once I start work at the museum I will meet some great people! I am definitely staying positive about the whole situation, and trying not to dwell on the lonely feeling.

Until next time,

Emme

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

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.

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!

Little Words of Encouragement

Yesterday afternoon my mom came over to my house to bake Christmas cookies. Baking Christmas cookies is something we haven't done together since my grandma passed away about 2 years ago. It was really nice to pull out my grandma's worn, hand-written recipes, cover the kitchen in flour, sugar, and colored icing, and spend some time with my mom, who also happens to be one of my best friends in the entire world.

Somewhere between cutting out doughy Christmas trees, and frosting our gingerbread men, my mom turned to me and asked, "Are you getting excited about moving into the city?"

I let out a long, slow breath, and wiped my sticky, sugary hands on a towel.

Finally, I smiled and said, "Yes, definitely! It's just....I will miss stuff like this. I will miss being able to drive 6 miles and be at your and dad's house. I'll miss hanging out on the back deck on long, hot summer nights. I'll miss our Sunday family lunches. I'll really miss S Park and being able to take long, quiet hikes there every night after work with Will.

There's a lot that I'll miss, but at the same time, I am ready to try life in the city. I'm excited about all of the culture, and art. I can't wait to find the delicious, hole in the wall restaurants, and the awesome consignment shops. I am so excited to be able to hop on the L and head to Wrigley for some Spring baseball.

All in all, I guess I'm feeling a little bittersweet over the whole deal. I feel like Will and I have been slaves to waiting on the med school for so long, it almost seemed like this day wouldn't come. I just hope the city doesn't chew us up and spit us out."

My mom smiled and said, "You're going to be just fine. Embrace this change. Enjoy the fact that you have a wonderful husband standing beside you, and this move and the stories that will go along with it are the stories you'll tell your grandchildren about.

You and Will are intelligent, kind people. You're not going to have any trouble meeting new friends or adjusting to the speed, and excitement of Chicago. Trust me, I am your mother, and I have known you for 26 years. You're going to thrive in the city. Besides, if you ever get a little homesick, we're only 70 miles away, and you can always come home."

Before I could respond, there was a knock at my front door, and my dad walked in. He grabbed a gingerbread man, popped it into his mouth and said, "Emme, these are delicious! You sure did get your grandma's baking gene!"

I smiled. When I'm feeling nervous or scared, it's really nice to have my parents' little words of encouragement.