life here

There are certain aspects of my “lives” in different cities that stand out to me. For example, when I think back on Memphis, I think of jogging in our lush neighborhood, the Food Network, and a Fino’s turkey sandwich with extra provolone and black/green olive spread. Right now I’m aching for outdoor happy hours with the Austin girls and the absurdly gratuitous tailgates at UT. But I’m curious to see what's going to define my daily enjoyment here in Chicago, which of course I won’t appreciate until I’m longing for it from my next home. Always thinking ahead.

Living in Chicago is still obviously new, but it’s never too soon for a few observations:

1) Chicago drivers are the most terrifyingly competent automobile operators I’ve ever encountered. Meaning: they drive like assholes and somehow manage to squeeze riiiiiiiiight between those cars, brake juuuuuust in time to avoid killing a pedestrian, and baaaaarely make it through red lights. I arrived to the city in the middle of 5 o’clock traffic downtown, which means I am the first person to ever continue functioning while experiencing a coronary. The driving methods here are impressive solely because the majority of these jerk-crazies actually pull off their stunts while keeping all pedestrians and bikers safe at the same time.

2) It is already fall here. WHAT THE HELL. Maybe I’ll appreciate this at some point, but right now I’m not sure how I feel about wearing a fleece during the day. I would probably love the weather if it weren’t for the dreaded understanding that after this really nice part comes death hypothermia winter.

3) These people love their festivals. I went to an arts festival two weeks ago, to a German festival on Saturday, and had to turn down a crafts festival on Sunday. Considering how not-plugged-in I am, those probably account for 5% of the actual festivals occurring in the city.

4) Our neighborhood is awesome. Some photos from our ride today to the shopping/bar/restaurant area 5 minutes away:

Lincoln Square!

The Davis, a movie theater with uncomfortable seats but tons of charm.

Part of the actual square. Sort of hard to see, but there's a fountain in the middle, and a thin cobblestone street with retail on both sides. So many places to go!

5a) Biking is cheaper and faster than driving, taking the train, and walking. Thus, it is awesome. We’ve been biking as our main form of transportation and I love love love it. I thought it’d be too scary to ride amongst the jerk-crazies referenced above, but it’s actually not bad because there are so many other bikers out there. And again, their aforementioned ability to not kill people.

5b) On a related note, driving here generally sucks. The traffic, the parking, UGH. It's so discouraging. In some neighborhoods, you’ll look for parking for 30 minutes without success. And if you find a spot but you don’t have a permit for that area, you will get a $50 ticket, no questions asked. We live about half a block from the train, and once it gets cold, I’m guessing that will become my main mode of transport.

6) People our age don’t seem to go out in the same way they do in Austin. In ATX, many of our nights out circled around West 6th street downtown, and from there we bar-hopped. It was easy to meet up with people, there were plenty of places to go, parking was easy, and anything was just a cab ride away. Here, not so much. It’s more like a one-bar destination. Brian says there are little sections where people will go to bar-hop, but certainly none of his friends do that, and it’s nothing like West 6th. Plus, it seems more reserved for 22-year-olds and bachelorette parties. Is this just an Austin phenomenon, because I don’t think people in Memphis really do this either? I miss it!

7) Pizza and hot dogs. Giant / thick / delicious. More please!

A slice to be contended with.

True Chicago dog from Wrigley field.

For those of you who may have seen this on the Food Network...best dog I've had yet!