How We Found Our New Home

Maybe you've noticed that things look a little different around here? Josh has been offering to do a little site redesign for a while, but until recently I haven't felt like I could take advantage of his offer. I mean, this is what he does for a living; I wasn't quite ready to take advantage of his generosity, and I certainly can't afford him. The day after we found (and applied for) the perfect apartment, we woke up, and Josh turned to me and said, "now that we're getting serious, I want to talk to you about something... I'd like to get you your own domain." Aww shucks. So he's in the process of doing some kind of internet voodoo, and I'll keep you posted. The day we went apartment hunting (Saturday) was proving a bit of a challenge. I'd found my (almost) dream apartment, and I was comparing everything we looked at to the apartment that got away. Couple that with the Most Unpleasant Rental Agent on earth and Saturday morning wasn't exactly a cake walk. Fortunately Josh didn't like anything we looked at any more than I did. Lunchtime rolled around and we decided what we really needed was a beer (Josh) and a mimosa (me). We shook off the morning's defeat, cleared our minds and took a nice long walk down to meet our (third!) agent. As cliche as this might sound, as soon as we met this new gal we were both immediately calm and knew she'd find us a great place. I was smitten with the first place she showed us, but when Josh's mouth twisted sideways I could tell he was less so... The next place we saw was amazing. One of those luxury high rises, state of the art everything. Our only complaint was it was... too nice? Wait, that's not a real complaint is it? I am here to tell you it takes all kinds. It was an amazing apartment, but we wouldn't have been comfortable there, we wouldn't have been us. The third place she showed us had hardwood floors, a dishwasher, a gas stove, garage included, in unit washer/dryer and central air. Both our jaws dropped and we asked what was wrong with it? With some trepidation, she mentioned that it was a "unique" space. That was definitely true, but we were just the unique people for it. We walked in, exchanged one of those conspiratorial glances and knew it was the place for us.

The Ultimate In Lazy Dating

Friday morning things were moving right along according to plan. Josh went to the apartment rental service with me to keep me company and to offer his expert opinion on apartments. The agent that helped me out was a really enthusiastic and friendly guy, who took one look at my apartment wish list, laughed, and asked what I could live without. I was prepared to compromise, having been told that a Chicago apartment with all of the following (in my price range) was an urban legend:

Dogs allowed Parking Patio South facing windows Hardwood Floors In unit (or at least in building) laundry Close to train Gas Stove Dishwasher

The nice young rental agent spent about 40 minutes pouring though the listings and found five places to show me. We started with the one, he said, that he thought would be (almost!) perfect. It was. As soon as we walked in I was struck by how much it reminded me of the apartment where Jill and I used to live in Wash Park. Charming, vintage, and full of sunlight. The rental agent could tell I was sold and the corners of his mouth turned up into a self-satisfied grin. We went to see the next apartment because, well, it didn't seem prudent to settle for the first place I looked at. After the second apartment however, I was ready to forgo the remainder of the showings and sign on the dotted line. First months rent paid, lease signed I happily strolled out of the office ready to go explore my new neighborhood. A few hours later I got a call that the apartment had already been rented, and the listing just hadn't been updated. I'm a little embarrassed to tell you how hard I took this news. I was a bit heartbroken, I mean, I'd already decided where to put my furniture! Defeated and slightly deflated Josh and I headed downtown to see a movie. Eschewing the bus we decided to walk the long walk back to his place, keeping an eye open for "For Rent" signs. I was pouting about the apartment and hadn't noticed that Josh had been uncharacteristically quiet most of the day. As we waited on a corner for a light to change he started hemming and hawing the way he does when he is about to say something he considers of particular gravitas. Usually I'm pretty intuitive, and when he does this I know exactly what he's about to say. (The day he told me he was in love with me I knew exactly what was coming but it was too much fun watching him torture himself to find the right words to even think about helping him out.) This time, however I was so stuck in my own mind I didn't really see this coming. We'd briefly discussed moving in together before, but dismissed the idea as rash and foolhardy. Something over the course of the day must have changed his mind about that because that is exactly what he suggested while waiting for the light. Seven blocks later I was sold too.

Greetings From Chicago

I've been in Chicago for a few days already, and so far I've been slacking on the photo snapping. Due largely to the fact that thus far I've been taking care of business. On Thursday I had work stuff to do all day and yesterday was devoted to finding an apartment. The story of how I found the perfect apartment and how it slipped right through my fingers is post unto itself. Any plans we may have had today (we didn't have any) are officially put on hold as the apartment search continues. It hasn't been all work and no play. On Thursday night we went to see Byron's show and I was amazed. It was really fantastic and very engaging.

Dibs

I've been plagued with insomnia on and off for as long as I can remember. When I was a little girl and I couldn't sleep at night, I'd rearrange the furniture in my bedroom. Now I just stare at the ceiling and try counting sheep. Last night I called Josh in the middle of the night. You know he must dig me because instead of being pissed that I'd woken him up at midnight, he was jazzed to hear from me. We started talking about my impending move to Chicago. I'm not going to lie, we talk about that a lot these days. What can I say, we're both excited. I think normal couples might be worried about logistical things like how such a big transition will affect our relationship, will we get sick of each other when we get to see each other all the time? Josh's big concern? Once we actually get to hang out on a regular basis and our stories start to overlap; who gets to blog about what?

Even More Chicago Stuff

On the off chance that you weren't sick to death of seeing pictures of ME! ME! ME! here are a few more I really liked from Chicago, and then tomorrow I promise I'll move on to something else. Josh is such a trooper drinking his beer. He said he's practicing for COD FISH '08. Josh's brother was also a real treat to meet, he was very nice and wanted to make sure I was having fun all day. But, with cold beer and curry fries how could I not have been having a good time? Josh and Byron, I kind of like their mirror image smirks. I think this is where we all started to take on that drunk in the middle of the day look, I blame this frozen purple concoction. Sort of a Dimetapp flavored Slurpee. The fingerstache, always a party. I loved watching Josh working. I sat around and did crossword puzzles. I also enjoy his try anything once attitude. In this case it was a half-dozen Blue Point Oysters. I ate five of them, but at least he tried one. Ever patient, this might have been the 273rd self portrait in two days...

More Chicago Stuff

I'm kind of torn between telling you guys about how great my weekend was and keeping it all to myself. I had the best time in Chicago with Josh and I can't wait until I live there, I really think I'm going to love it. Well, in the summers at least. Saturday morning after the Lincoln Park farmers market we whittled away the morning at the zoo and the conservatory. Josh bought me a Sponge Bob Square Pants Popsicle for breakfast. We made some little kids jealous, they had to wait until after lunch, oh it's good to be a grown-up. When Josh's brother told us that Amber was in the bar I got all nervous and excited. I know, I know, pathetic. He said I should go say hi, but I stayed put on my bar stool. Instead she came to us. I didn't ask her any questions about Rock of Love, but I wished her good luck. Josh sat back and rolled his eyes at me, but humored me nonetheless. Josh took this picture of me at the conservatory. I know it's little cheesy and glamor shots-esque, but it's still very pretty. It cracks me up just how often Josh has his eyes closed when we try to take a picture. There is one picture from his trip out to Colorado in May where his eyes are closed and I'm making a ridiculous face that he has framed in his apartment that just cracks me up. Oh Berg. As cliched as this sounds, drinking coffee and sharing the Sunday paper outside on a beautiful morning is a little bit of heaven. Thank god for umbrellas, though we were still all wet when we arrived at our destination. Public transportation is also the tops. The trains and buses just run all the time. Wonderful. I was a little nervous about meeting Josh's best bud Byron. I'd been reading his blog, and I'd kind of assumed he'd been reading mine. He was every bit as charming in person as I'd expected. We ended up at a neighborhood RibFest, drinking beer, sampling ribs, willing the rain away... Oh the rain, just look at that crazy frizzy hair!

Photo Essay Tuesday (Random Things I Got a Kick Out Of In Chicago Edition)

Chicago was unbelievably fun and amazing and I could go on and on and on, but it's a Tuesday morning and I've got to get to work. I took tons of beautiful pictures of the city and of Josh, his friends and myself, but I also took a handful of pictures that puzzled me, made me laugh or really just caught my interest. And here they are. I know, I know Chicago is the "Windy City", so I shouldn't be surprised that it was, well, windy. But man alive was it windy. So windy that it threatened to blow my dress right off (and it almost did once or twice, many a Chicagoan saw my color coordinated boy shorts), more surprising was that the powerful winds blew this giant tree right out of the ground. Look, I totally understand that I am outrageously immature and childish and I pretty much have the sense of humor of a 13 year old boy, but this Kangaroo and his giant balls made me think of Van Wilder, which reduced me to hysterics with the giggling. Good times. I don't know if anyone else in America watched Rock of Love 2, but Jill and I loved it; and hey we were pulling for this gal. Josh and I ran into her at a bar called the Lucky Horseshoe where she certainly stuck out like a sore thumb. For that matter I suppose I did too. It was certainly my intention to make a good impression on Josh's brother and best friend, but I'm not sure fawning over a reality TV personality was the best way to present my most fabulous self. Cheese curds. I've never had a curd before, never even heard of them, I guess it's a midwest thing... but oh mercy, I ate some serious curds this weekend. I'd like to say I was skeptical at first, might make for a better story, but that would be a barefaced lie. Cheese curds are delicious, and that is the final word on that. One of my favorite place we visited this weekend was the Conservatory at the Lincoln Park Zoo. I could have spent all day in there. I particularly liked these funny pod plants of which Josh snapped some photos. It was a lot of fun to have a partner in crime hunting down great picture subjects. This was my favorite plant in the whole conservatory, a coconut orchid. We walked into the room that housed the orchids and the air was perfumed with a most delicate fragrance I couldn't quite put my finger on... I turned around and stuck my nose deep in this plant and came away with a really subtle and heady coconut scent that I can still smell if I really think about it. Sunday morning found us sitting on an outdoor patio reading the paper, and call me old fashioned, but I was caught a little off guard by this article about water sports. In the paper. Yeah, those kinds of water sports. Finally, at the Rib Fest. Oh, how I laughed.

Where DO You Think We Are, Exactly?

Josh: Do you have Greek food here? Me: Um, yeah. Josh: Do you have Ethiopian food here? Me: Um, yeah Josh: Do you have... um... I can't think of anymore Yeah, and I'm the uncultured bumpkin. (We're in Denver)

Photo Essay Tuesday (Josh Edition)

My big weekend plans for Josh's visit kind of fell by the wayside when, about 45 minutes after he stepped off the plane in Denver, he started feeling the ill effects of the altitude. So, instead of running around the city trying to see as much as possible we spent a lot of time sitting in the sun on my patio grilling and reading and just shooting the breeze. Not that I'm complaining. We did manage to take in some Golden. Well, my Golden, which really includes the big brewery, the little brewery and the grill on my deck. Katie, Kassie and J.Paul joined us to soak up some seriously beautiful weather. We played cards... We got a little sun... Seriously, you can't blame the guy for trying to shut me up, if only for a minute. The day grew longer and the beer grew stronger... Kate and Josh battled it for the title of 22 champion... Sadly none of us could remember all the rules! Enter Mak, tired after a big bike ride, but just in time to drink some beer and keep us all in stitches.

What Are Your Plans This Weekend?

As a sort of preemptive measure against mentionitis, I've waited until now to say that Josh is coming for a visit tomorrow. I am super-de-duper excited. But that's not all folks, Katie (of Mak and Katie) will be in town, and we all have a dinner date with Suzie and Mike and maybe Tanya. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! After weeks and weeks and weeks of studying, and working, and being a good little girl who stays in and reads Jane Eyre before going to bed at 9pm on a Saturday night I am all wound up and ready to go play. I have a very cute dress (less than $25, gotta love that Forever) and I plan on looking hot and drinking beer and sitting in the sun (please be sunny, please be sunny) and eating sushi and walking Murphy and getting coffee and grilling on my deck and hopefully some other stuff that I'm feeling a little too prude to share with you. So, have a great weekend. I'm pretty sure I will.

Warts And All

Last night I turned in my last ever physics assignment. My last ever grad school paper. OK, there's still The Plan, so maybe I should say my last ever engineering grad school paper. It is an amazing feeling. Not that the hard work is over, there's still that one last little, nagging, deliverable... the thesis. But, my to do list only has one thing on it, compared to the 11 things that were looming last Thursday. These past few weeks have been kind of light on the blogging, volume wise due to school work, but content wise due to something else entirely. I've kind of met someone. I've alluded to it, but I've refrained from mentioning it directly. And the reason I've kept mum? He reads this blog. That's how we met actually. Normally I'd go on a date, give someone a little nickname, and tell you guys all about it. But... first thing in the morning when you read about it, he'd read it too. I'm not sure any budding relationship can withstand that kind of scrutiny, it's a lot of pressure. But at the same time, at least he already knows I kiss and tell, so that won't come as a surprise.

Fries With That?

My little trip to Chicago went really well. I had about a half a day of business to take care of, and the rest of the time I spent checking out the area, trying out the commute, and taking in some of what Chicago has to offer. One thing Chicago had to offer on this particular visit was a little of this guy's company: