love at first sight

so here it goes. what i have promised many of you. the latest happenings with me and my new fancy, the windy city. as i sit in my little velvet chair inside my new favorite cafe on the corner, i finally have time to create my first memoir of many. to catch ya'll up it is quite lengthy. so get ready, get set, indulge!

"the drive"

saturday, may 31

so it begins. sherbear driving and me camera ready for "welcome signs." the exactly 12 hour drive. left lake martin at 6:02 a.m. and arrived in chicago at 6:02 p.m. passing under the "chicago exit" signs and viewing the city skyline as the sun kissed each building. for once i felt love at first sight. what a crazy feeling. i realized that there was no turning back. no going back to what i knew. time to start a new chapter in the book about me.

"move-in day"

sunday, june 1

"so glad to finally meet you!" those were the first words i exchanged with my summer roommate, j to the j. the one girl, the only girl that i know. weird. i have always known more than one person. i have always had people close by who know me for me and all that comes along with that. well not now. so as we venture through the one-way streets and pass by the quaint little door fronts of the locals, which we will become one day, we "have reached our final destination," as trixie the tomtom likes to say. walking up the endless flights of stairs, to reach my humble abode for the summer. everything about it whispers "chicago." the best part is the view from the right side of the bay window. the perfect view of my new fancy. the skyline from the hancock building to the sears tower. what more could a girl ask for. a fancy that is vulnerable from head to toe.

"working 9 to 5"

monday, june 2 to friday, june 6

after sherbear's teary-eyed goodbye from my front doorstep, i wake up trixie and sweetly tell her, "let's go. we can't be late. we can't get lost. today is the first day of many. just me and you." after stop and go, bumper to bumper traffic, i finally park my car in the parking lot of my new workplace  i realize how real this whole experience is.

after a week's work from copying and stapling to running errands in standstill traffic (if that is possible) to hand's on experience with actual job duties and responsibilities like chocolate tours and venue visits (because it is always important for an event planner to know her backyard as my boss would say) and even sitting in on an olympics phone call and staff meeting, (pause and take it all in) i think to myself on my drive home, "it's only been a week. what more could i experience during my time as an intern with a company that i am already, absolutely "lovin' it!"?

"night out on the town"

friday evening, june 6

you could say that tonight is my first date with my new fancy. a night i will be able to find out a little more than what i know already. on our first date, j to the j will tag along to break the awkward silence. so i would have to describe our first date as "extreme social-life makeover." people here are just different. maybe i am just different or are we all are own person, unique and corky in our own little ways? i say yes to all of the above. it is comforting knowing that j ot the j agrees with me. our talks about cargo shorts, graphic t's and white sneakers are endless. it always ends with a chuckle. especially when we see it. not only are people different, but there is something in the atmosphere that yells out "girl, you are not in the south anymore!" but that is what i asked for. right? the best part of the night had to be with me and my roommate singing with our cabby. oh and probably our candid photo shoot during the ride home...

"i've got the blues...well not exactly"

saturday, june 7

this is a day i will never forget. seriously. this day will go down in the books. after pulling our selves together from heat exhaustion, j to the j and i make our way downtown to blues fest 2008. venturing into grant park, i all of a sudden feel something go "splat!" on my shoulder. thinking some little bratty kid was playing a practical joke on me with a water gun or something along those lines, i look down to wipe it off and realize that some little bratty kid was a bratty little bird playing the meanest of mean practical jokes on me. poop. runny bird poop all over my shoulder. what can you do? well j to the j and i just laughed. we laughed more even after my scene and trip to the nearest bathroom. seriously, this stuff only happens in movies, but now this stuff, yes bird poop, happens in my life. story of my life.

reminiscing about "my shitty accident" (excuse my french, no pun intended) every chance we get, j to the j and i make our way to the ticket booth. no we are not buying tickets to ride the teacups or dumbo ride; we are buying tickets to buy our beverages and food. probably the best idea ever. (FYI: this idea will definitely be used for a gathering of fun i will throw sometime in the future.) my first purchase is a 4 ticket slice of watermelon. this hunk of watermelon is mos def on steroids to make it this huge and oh so delicious. i'm 100% sure my watermelon got hit on about 20 times. true story.

our first stop is in a wooded area where we plop down on our purses and enjoy our beverages and food. so as you can tell i did not say chairs because of course we are first-timers and only had our purses. the music is good but the best part is the old man in front of us. cigarette in mouth, jeans shorts on his bottom and no shirt to cover his buddha belly and the hat titled "fifty is nifty." priceless.

so blues fest would not be complete unless we heard some funky sounds. don't you agree? from a distance we hear the sounds of my and j to the j's new favorite band, PG Man. dancing to the front, the clouds open up and down comes the rain. so what do we do? dance in the rain of course! as most of you know, my favorite past-time, which will always remind me of skybar, jordo and umpire.

our jam session is done. we make our way to the beautiful buckingham fountain. so massive. so mystical. in the near future, i can so see myself parked on a bench, taking a break from a bike ride along lake shore drive, listening to the water flow. you have to see it to believe it.

the day is over. its time to fight the rain and "EL" it back to our little apartment in our quaint little neighborhood. 

the life i live. the life i love. in hind sight, it all started with love at first sight.