these streets will make you feel...

I love this city.



I'm sitting here, alone, on a bench by Buckingham Fountain, feeling all nostalgic and pensive. I just spent at least an hour at my favorite yarn store in the south loop (I think... I always had a hard time figuring out how all the loopy stuff works. Probably because I have yet to take the El). Then I walked a bunch and ended up here.

Over the past three years, I have loved venturing down into the city. I usually take the train, usually alone (there was that one time with Corella, which involved us getting a bit lost in a semi-scary neighborhood. But we survived...). I've always enjoyed making the trip by myself, for purely selfish reasons. I love to walk, and it's typically a much faster pace than most people appreciate. It's a great way for me to get some serious exercise once a month or so. Also, I like the fact that I don't have to have a set plan or itinerary, so I can walk around as I please and then, whenever I start getting too tired, I start walking back toward the metra station.

These trips, for me, have an almost healing quality, not unlike my hiking adventures in the hills back home. I get to be a part of something larger than myself, to be among a whole lot of people that I never once have to talk to (not to mention the people-watching!), and to enjoy the sights and sounds and flavor of the city. And then, whenever I get good and ready, I leave it all behind and go home.

When and if the time comes that I leave northern Illinois, one of the things I will miss most are these random day-trips. I know I would want to visit again, and I hope Future Me would make it a priority. The pulse of this city has gotten into me, and it will forever be at least a small part of who I am.

wordless wednesday

a perfect disaster

I think I should create a weekly post called "Things You Should Never Say." This week's edition: Things Your Accounting Manager Should Never Say.

Are the letters on your shirt curved, or is that you? - K

Um, yeah. Nothing says uncomfortable like "Hey! I'm looking at your boobs!" If he wasn't so clueless, I'd be offended. He really didn't think anything of it at all. And if we weren't in an in-depth conversation about university logos (unfortunately situated on my shirt), it really would have been awkward. Good times at work.

In other news... My birthday was earlier this week. My very favoritest present? The phone call from my brother, in which my twin 3-year-old nieces sang Happy Birthday to me. Best. Present. Ever.

(So much better than the naked bike ride I *got* to witness in the city last weekend. Really? That is so not attractive.)

Okay. I'm going to go clean something now. Happy almost-weekend!

i can watch a sunset

Friday night before last I decided to go run around downtown Chicago for a bit. I've missed non-subzero temperatures, so I've been taking advantage of the decent weather as much as the semi-constant rain will allow. Anyway, I ended up spending a good amount of time sitting by Buckingham Fountain, which I hadn't actually ever seen before when it was warm enough to be running. It was beautiful, and a perfect place to catch up on some journaling and such.





(I'm still learning how to use the settings on my camera, so hopefully the quality of such photos will improve in the near future.)

I've also been trying to take advantage of the nearby state park on a more regular basis now that it's warmer. There are some great secluded spots by the lake that are perfect for some nice afternoon reading with the poochie.






There really wasn't much point to this post. So, um... Thanks for reading anyway?

my fingertips are holding on...

Just in case you were really worried, I do get out occasionally:




This is Lake Michigan, just a tad north of Navy Pier. You probably can't see it very well, but my favorite part of this picture is the guy playing with his dog in the water. They were fun to watch :) This is the day I got lost trying to find my way to Lincoln Park Zoo, but I still managed to watch a great UK game.

A few books I've read lately:
Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella. Very cute story, good chicklit.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Odd book, but it kept me interested.

In the Woods by Tana French. Not as good as The Likeness, and annoying lack of story resolution, but I love the way she writes. Good except for the annoying part.

Damsel Under Stress by Shanna Swendson. Probably not my favorite of the series, but still good chicklit. Light, fun, easy to read.

Him, Her, Him Again, the End of Him by Patricia Marx. Funny, quick, easy read. Slightly disturbing, but is a perfect example of how we tend to rationalize things away.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. SUCH a good book! I loved it. I'd recommend it to just about anyone.

Last, but the opposite of the least, The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. Quite possibly the best novel I've read all year. It keeps you guessing the whole way through, is incredibly well-written, and to steal someone else's review, is "a book for book lovers." If you don't typically like books, this may not be the book for you, but for the rest of us it's fantastic. I'll leave you with the response to a question during an interview with the author, which has become one of my new favorite quotes:

"I know there are people who don't read fiction at all, and I find it hard to understand how they can bear to be in the same head all the time."

the random trip downtown...

One Saturday during the cold, cold month of March, I decided that it was time for me to get out of my hay-feverish house and do something fun. I decided to go downtown and run around a bit. So now, let's play a short game of "Good Idea, Bad Idea".

Good idea: Deciding to do something interesting and spend an afternoon walking around downtown in the big city.

Bad idea: Deciding to walk around downtown on a cloudy 38-degree afternoon with no winter coat with which to stop the frostbite.

(Hint: UK hoodie - NOT adequate insulation. Long underwear - Best. Idea. Ever. You'd think I could've put 2 & 2 together....)

Good idea: Walking along Lake Michigan on a sunny afternoon.

Bad idea: Walking along Lake Michigan on one of the windiest days in Chicago history.

(okay, so probably not the windiest, but it sure felt like it. As did the resulting wind burn.)

Good idea: Visiting the absolutely beautiful main branch of the Chicago Public Library on a wintery afternoon.

Bad Idea: Unwittingly piquing a security guard's attention while browsing through the Chicago Public Library.

(Let me clarify: piquing an ARMED security guard's attention)

I could go on, but honestly, that would just be painful for all of us. Meanwhile, I realized a few things on this little trip of mine... First of all, I am not yet, nor do I ever think I really will be, a "city person." I guess I was just raised with too many manners NOT to hold the door open for people at the 7-eleven or smile as I pass someone on the sidewalk. I actually tried to act all non-chalant and stuff, but let's face it, I'm a Kentucky girl at heart. I have to be pretty preoccupied to completely ignore the fact that you are STANDING IN MY PERSONAL SPACE as we wait for the blasted light to change. No matter that it's not really a crowded corner, and there is plenty of room for you to stand OVER THERE to wait... Also, I think I am just too fascinated by people. I'd much rather watch everybody and everything and look at all the pretty buildings and the people walking in flip-flops in 38-degree weather on the nasty city streets and just take it all in. But I guess that's just me. Oh yeah, and I am also slightly freaked out and honestly saddened that there has to BE armed security guards standing at every corner in the public library. I come from a place where the town drunk used to spend his weekends sleeping off his hangover in the public library, and nobody cared.

Anyway, I spent the day being awed by the library, going to see Buckingham fountain (which, let me tell you, did a lot of good in the winter when there wasn't any water running), walking along the Lake for awhile, walking back up Michigan Avenue, wandering around a little looking at stores, going into a 7-eleven and buying a Moon Pie (for the sheer personal irony... I'll always think of RC1 when I see one. Which later Chico found on my chair at home and completely smooshed trying to break into the package), and going to my favorite little Greek Walgreens. At which I heard all about the cashier's upcoming back surgery. Every. Little. Detail. Tell me, why is it that people don't get the fact that the polite smiling and nodding going on are not invitations to hear MORE about why you are mad that you were called in to pull an extra shift even though your back hurts and you're scared about an upcoming surgery that I now know WAY too many details about? But anyway, I purchased my over-priced postcards and a small bag of easter candy and left as soon as her painstakingly-slow cashier skills would allow. I walked (read: limped) back to the train station and picked up some dinner and read while I waited for the train home. Which was totally and completely packed, thanks to the Blackhawks game that had just let out a few blocks over (which my boss & coworker had attended, unbeknownst to me). I think the Blackhawks fan sitting next to me was a little weirded out by my laughing at the Evanovich book I was reading, but you know, sometimes you can't help the out-loud part.

So that was the gist of my day. I leave you with a slightly scary picture of me (hey! I was completely numb at this point) next to the still-green river (it being the day before St. Patty's and all).