"Road Trip"

Well, I've moved - again!  This past week my cousin and I rented a car, left Worcester, and drove back to my homeland, where I'll be living for the spring and summer.  Unfortunately it couldn't have the classic road trip vibe, as we just needed to reach our destination as quickly as possible.  We went straight from Worcester to Chicago in one day, whew.  Here's a tip for long drives:  it turns out that they don't feel that bad if you leave practically in the middle of the night.  My alarm went off at 3:20 and we were on the road by 4 am, ha.  We made really good time to Chicago and were able to go for a long walk around the city to admire the buildings and parks (Trish has never been there) before dinner, beers, and much needed sleep.  We also made a quick stop in Madison on the second day for caffeine.  I wanted her to experience Bradbury's, one of my favorite coffee and breakfast places, and it turns out they are giving away free espresso all through April.  Really good, you should probably stop by if you're in the area.  She's staying for a short visit in the midwest, so I'm showing her some of my favorite places in La Crosse, unpacking, and starting to look for a job.  Wisconsin continues to be one of the best states ever, and I'm looking forward to enjoying this time here.  Hopefully some exploring will reveal new sides of my hometown :)  


ps:  The picture of us at the bottom is, of course, at the Chicago bean.

Printer's Row

Worcester can't make up its mind on its mood today, so we are having a huge range of weather.  It's the afternoon, and so far we've experienced an incredibly blustery morning, a bit of rain, a period of calm, then literally a blizzard that lasted probably less than 10 minutes, and now it's sunny with some wind.  Good grief.  I watched it all through the window while writing letters, filling out job applications, and looking through some more pictures from Chicago.  These brightly colored books, cards, and stationary are from a bookstore in Printer's Row, the neighborhood I stayed in during my visit.  It was a super cute place; thanks to it and a recommendation from a friend, I'm in the middle of a really good book called Cloud Atlas.

City of the Future

Chicago buildings!  Here's something sweet - this city has some of the most innovative architecture in the world.  (These pictures are just from a very small section of the downtown area where I was walking; there is so much more.)  I like how beautiful and clean the skyline looks.  On top of this there is a huge cultural scene, lots of parks and green space, the beautiful lake shore, great public transportation, and tons of good food.  (Check out this article.)  That's why it's such a nice place to visit; there's a huge variety of things to do and see, great and affordable food to eat, and it's easy to get around.  

Lake Michigan

Well readers (however few of you there may be), I've been jumping around constantly this past month or so taking auditions at different schools to try and find the right place to continue my education.  The whole process has been very tiring, but definitely a learning experience.  I've gone back and forth a little bit the whole year about whether or not I even really want to go back to school because I have so enjoyed my time out of it, but after catching glimpses of students roaming campus, I feel that I could successfully make my way back to the work, stress, and rewards the system offers.  Anyway, I was so distracted by the whole process that I ignored my camera for the entire period and didn't have much to post.  But, I stayed in Chicago for awhile during visits to various schools in the midwest, and snapped a few shots near the end of the trip, so I will share them with some stories.  

I love Chicago more with every visit, and on this trip I spent a lot of time wandering around just to admire the city by the lake.  I've said it before and I still believe it's true - Lake Michigan is the best lake!  Vast, clean, beautiful color, perfect for swimming and sailing.  I keep telling myself that I will go camping on one of its many sites sometime; maybe this summer will be it... :)

Chicago Apartment

Whenever I go through Chicago I stop to see friends and enjoy the city for a day or two.  I love the apartment where I usually stay; it has loads of natural light provided by floor to ceiling windows, and my friend fills it with cool art, plants, and books.  Plus, it has a spiral staircase and a sweet view of some city-scape.  I always think it should be photographed for the Small, Cool section of one of my favorite apartment design websites - Apartment Therapy.  There are so many cool ideas there, check it out!

Blowin through the Windy City

On the way home from Luzerne I made a couple stops to visit friends, the first one in Chicago.  I love this city!  A good friend of mine just moved down there to start at Northwestern, so we met up for a day and made breakfast, walked around, went swimming in Lake Michigan, and had sushi and Thai iced coffees (so good).  Swimming in Lake Michigan is wonderful; I've swum in the Atlantic, Pacific, Caribbean, Mediterranean, and various rivers and lakes, and I think the best swimming experience I've ever had is still in the good ole' gigantic midwestern lake.  Not that the others weren't awesome :)  While at the beach, a bunch of planes flew across the sky and wrote an advertisement - neat.  You don't often see skywriting in real life.  
At night I walked around the city with another friend, stopped for Vietnamese food, went to the top of the Hancock building for a night view, and watched fireworks by the water.  Not a bad visit!