Entries tagged as ‘Chicago’
Can someone tell me how to be a morning person AND a night owl?
…No one?
I think this may actually be impossible. If you come across such an anomaly of a human being (robot?) please put them in touch with me immediately. I’m in trouble over here.
Writing posts at night is just not happening. I used to post everything in the morning before work, and felt great about it. Now I just feel lame.
What happened to my mornings? The gym. Oh, how I love my new gym. The running on cement every morning had turned my knees into gravel–LOUD, CREAKY, PAINFUL gravel. So no, I never made it from my couch all the way to the 5k. However, I am alright with that because instead of my morning runs, Justin and I have been making it to our gym in Andersonville before the sun even hits Clark street. I feel great. One of my goals is to be able to arm wrestle Michelle Obama and not lose in the first 2 seconds. Arm wrestling me is on top of her list of her priorities. Surely.
So even though I am getting in shape and feeling healthy, my blog life is really suffering. I am going to have to move it up a spot on my nightly list of priorities. “Falling asleep on the couch before 9:30 p.m.” will have to move down a notch. 10,000 lame points have just been awarded to me.
So if you have any ideas that would help me that don’t involve methamphetamines, that would be swell.
I have a lot in common with the morning glories that climb the fence near my train. Here is how they look before lunch.
And here they are around dinner time.
On a happier note, my friend Randy just got a job in Chicago and is moving here! He will be a fine addition to this great city. Here he is showing the proper way to smash/eat an over-sized burger with way too much grease. Welcome to Chicago!
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: Chicago, Daily Picture, gym, photography, morning person, guilt, night owl, morning glory
This image has nothing to do with the brunch you are about to receive, but I took it on Saturday night on my date with Justin. It is the closest thing we get to "big sky" in our hood. Don't laugh at me if you are from Colorado.
So this weekend, my brother, his friends, and his ridiculously nice camera came for a visit. You might ask,”Was he apartment hunting because he is moving here shortly?” No such luck. Yet. But I feel like we are making strides in the right direction.
Most of the trip was a series of mishaps and getting caught in the rain, but at least brunch didn’t let us down. Six of us trudged up to northern Andersonville, or “Wisconsin” as Justin would say, and waited for about 6 hours in 90 degree heat/steam before being seated. We were eventually lead to a table on the patio directly in the sun, in the same heat that we just waited in for 27 hours. On the bright side, a constant stream of condensation from our water glasses dripped on our legs, and Amber guzzled an iced coffee the size of her torso.
Sounds great, right? Well when the food arrived, all was forgiven. Just look at it!
Summer peach & almond bostock french toast: Two thick slices of homemade almond crusted brioche french toast, layered with warm syrah poached summer peaches and vanilla creme anglaise.
Let's just see that again.
I am telling you, I am more of a savory breakfast person, but this is one of the best things I have ever eaten before noon. I wish I could send this through your computer screen so you could taste it.
Casey's keylime and apricot brioche french toast: Three thick slices of french toast layered with homemade lime curd and fresh apricot.
The awesome thing about having a six person brunch is getting to try all the other dishes that you were pondering on the menu. I had blackberry blisscakes, mango & sour cherry blisscakes, huevos borrachos, and my good friends–home fries.
We signed our bill just as the storm hit the patio, we congratulated each other on our perfect timing, then we ran/waddled to our buses and declared brunch a victory.
If you would like to try these delightful dishes, and you live within 10 hours of Chicago, go to M Henry on Clark. You will not be disappointed.
Categories: Chicago · Daily Picture · andersonville · dining
Tagged: andersonville, brunch, Chicago, Daily Picture, food, french toast, m henry, peaches, photography, review
There are thousands of reasons why my brother should move to Chicago. The “Movies in the Park” is one of them. Who doesn’t love a free movie in a lake-side park with food, friends, and a gorgeous skyline?
Jordan, what are you doing? Why aren’t you in these photos? Stop being lame.
Look, Ryan saved you a seat!
The girl on the right needs a patty-cake partner
Did you see the weird fog creep into the Loop during sunset, making things all dreamy? No? Stop being lame.
What is Amber looking at? Not you.
She even passed the delicious olives to you, and with no one to grab them, they made a terrible mess on the picnic blanket. Horrible olive fail.
Olive fail #2?!?! Why, Jordan? Why??
Categories: Chicago · Daily Picture · Uncategorized
Tagged: Chicago, chicago outdoor film fest, Daily Picture, fog, grant park, Jordan needs to move to Chicago, movies in the park, picnic
If you haven’t been to the Lincoln Park Zoo, then I would certainly like to know why. You can email me the excuse, detailing how you live in a bubble or an iron lung and simply can’t get out of the house. Those are the only acceptable responses.
The zoo is FREE, so needless to say, half of Chicago shows up there on nice summer weekends. I can understand if you have never been there because you are terrified of large groups of people, tube tops, and children wearing nothing but funnel cakes. Even if being rammed in the back of the knees repeatedly by strangers with strollers on a Saturday isn’t your thing, put on some shin guards and go for just 15 minutes to see the Meerkats in the African exhibit. There is no glass between you and these fat little versions of their famous relatives.
The only person I know that is sure to hate them is my friend Maggie. She is not a big fan of cute things, including this and the cat collage I have posted on the wall just outside my office door.
During your visit to the Meers, you are sure to see a “fight.” It will go something like this:
Categories: Chicago · Daily Picture
Tagged: Chicago, Daily Picture, lincoln park zoo, meerkat, meerkat brawl
The ASNA blocks of Andersonville are a great place to live, especially if you are a young family, gay, or have a dog. If you don’t fit into these categories, you are still welcome, but just a bit of a minority. Justin and I are definitely in the minority.
We do want to stay here as long as possible while Justin is still in school. Luckily, he negotiated another year or so on our lease. He was wearing this shirt during last night’s lease conversation with our landlord:
Yep.
I made that for him with a sharpie. Aren’t I the best wife ever?
So last night was also the ASNA block party. The turn-out was much larger than last year, and the amount of children in attendance seemed to have tripled. Andersonville must be an increasingly popular neighborhood to have kids in. I didn’t notice any other #1 Cat Parents in the crowd, so I guess we were on our own.
Horses! There was absolutely no reason for police horses at the block party. I think they were there just for petting.
This is Latte the dog. He wants to pet the horses too.
I think that police horses are one of the most patient animals on earth.
Categories: Daily Picture
Tagged: Chicago, andersonville, Daily Picture, summer, horses, asna block party, #1 cat dad, apt
Chicago is amazingly clean for a city of its size. I am speaking about the parts of Chicago that the tourists might see. Or the Olympic committee. The planters along the streets of downtown are changed up many times a year and are often mind-blowingly gorgeous. And have you see our parks? Awesome.
It is no secret that our city is a wee-bit corrupt. I don’t even want to know about half the things that go on behind closed doors. At least Chicago looks pretty on the outside. I think people would be a lot more pissed about the suspicious way things are run if the planters were full of garbage and pee. They might still have a little pee in them, but the pretty pink and green leaves are covering the spots up quite nicely.
Have a look at what our parking ticket fines bought us:
Categories: Daily Picture
Tagged: Chicago, corruption, Daily Picture, green and pink leaves, photography, planters
Have you ever been on a store check?
No?
Well then you are missing out on feeling like a creepy loiterer. I spent my day in the western suburbs of Chicago doing just that. I won’t go into detail about the exciting world of store checks, but I will share this discovery with you.
If you are part of a certain “exclusive membership program” of a certain warehouse store, then you can pick out your own casket, some “Versace” china, and replacement printer cartridges all in one convenient aisle.
I am just as confused as you are. Wait, what does that say on the top of the casket display?
Non-Emotional? What? And why that image?
After a long day of store checks, I was happy to arrive home from the strip malls, big box stores and mall sprawl of the western burbs. Andersonville, I <3 you. I felt like celebrating the general awesomeness of the weather and the neighborhood with a Monday night patio dining experience and a stroll along the Clark street strip.
Geranium patio companions at Andies.
Justin on the left, and I'm on the right. Who knew that sauteed spinach could be an entree? "Jo in Seattle" would approve.
The Swedish horse in front of the White Attic.
Electric violet blue window boxes and tiles on the front of Tapas Las Ramblas. They hurt to look at in person because of the intense saturation.
These bench and planter areas can be found on each corner along the main Clark street strip of Andersonville. This evening sun can be found on perfect summer nights. It cannot be found when trudging home from the train at 5 pm in January. I have to remember this shot when I am wearing boots and down coat in the dark.
Categories: Chicago · andersonville
Tagged: Chicago, andersonville, Daily Picture, food, dining, photography, patio dining, flower, versace china, casket, geraniums
I haven’t talked about Commuter Tourism for awhile. If you are new, let me tell you that I do not have a car. This means that I don’t have to endure horrendous traffic on the way to work. Since I happen to love my route to work, I often take pictures along the way. Many days, these do not make the cut into DPH. They end up in the trash because I can’t stand the extra files crowding my space. Makes me itchy. Even though they are generally sent to digital death row, I continue to take them everyday because it keeps me fresh. Commutes have the danger of becoming monotonous and mind numbing, but if you look closely, there is something new happening all the time.
Today, I feel like giving some of my commute files a pardon from their sentence of certain death, and will let them live with the cool kids on the interwebs.
Vines again. I have a special place in my heart for them. My first attempt at growing plants was when I lived in Florida. Many flowering vines clung delicately to my balcony railings. Then there were four hurricanes in one season, and I had to cut them all off so the pots wouldn't fly through our glass doors. 
I am so sorry my little vine babies.
Follow the blue/orange/pink/green/yellow brick road. This must have taken someone hours to draw. It runs the span of our block and alternates colors and number of lanes. My guess is that the artists are Francine (lemonade stand extraordinaire) and her buddy who was making invisible strawberry sundaes the last time I saw her.
The colorful road ends at a house that has very nice people living in it. I must have dropped my security badge outside of this lovely home on my walk to work this morning. On my way home, there were two big orange signs in their front walkway that read: “MEGAN BOLEY we have something of yours.” AWESOME. I love people like that. I wish I would have photographed the signs. When I got home, I also had an email that informed me that they had the badge, since they had been thoughtful enough to google me. How nice is that? Thanks, nice neighbors.
Back to the commute now. Half of my journey is in the Loop. You have seem many photos taken of Chicago in the loop. I am sure of that. Many just featuring a picturesque panorama of our beautiful skyline. Recently, I have been admiring the skyline from below, but just in bits and pieces. I like to isolate the tip-top of the buildings in the photos. Why embarrass the Merch Mart by revealing the whole body? Sometimes it is sexier to just peak your interest and then leave the rest up to the imagination. Here are the first shots in my new series called Chicago Nubbins. Sorry if you hate that word. I am open to alternate names.
Whoa! Double nubbin.
Categories: Chicago · Daily Picture · andersonville
Tagged: andersonville, Chicago, commute, Daily Picture, good neighbors, karma, nubbins, photography, sidewalk chalk, vine
Please refrain from eating this. I know it looks delicious and awesome. Get your own, because I am in love with this one.
Iced tea is sweating in the sun. I'm not. I love the bright burst of jeweled light at the bottom of a sunny patio beverage.
And sprouts. I love sprouts. Piled them high on a sandwich with fresh home-grown tomatoes and spicy mustard and I will love you forever.
And buffaloes! Love 'em. They also seem to love themselves. Love for all.
Less love for these. And the people that just left them on the ground. I guess their love affair was short lived. "These violent delights have violent ends And in their triumph die, like fire and powder, Which as they kiss consume."
Don't know what this is but I love it.
George's Ice Cream and Sweets on Clark. It's a welcome addition to the Andersonville strip. Who doesn't like ice cream shops that also serve Illy coffee and are nicely decorated? And the logo of the little red guy on the bar stool with a double scoop and poo-shaped hat? Love him.
Am I over posting flower and foliage shots since it isn't spring anymore? No, I still have mega foliage love.
Excuse me while I make-out with any flower that is attached to a curly vine clinging to a fence. Just walk past and ignore us, please. We are in love. There is just something about climbing vines that gets to me.
Just in case you were counting the amount of times I used the word love, you are correct with your tally of 354677324. I’m just excited that it really feels like summer. At least for today. Lightning bugs are blinking right outside my window, but I don’t have a tripod yet so there aren’t any photos to mark this happy occasion. I might go set the camera on the front steps to steady it and see what happens. Likely, all you would see is a really long exposure of nighttime grass with a smattering of dead patches from all the dog pee.
Some of the photos posted above are from our neighborhood scouting in Rogers Park. It has it’s good spots. But it is safe to say that I would be megapleased if we could someday buy a place in the Andersonville/Ravenswood/Lincoln Square area.
Today, I told Justin that sometimes I feel like a crazy person with no plan. So many things about our life are up in the air at the moment—waiting in limbo until law school ends. Since he was some kind of monk in one of his many past lives, his wise response was
“no one ever knows what will happen.”
Hmmm. Damn it, he is right.
Patience is a virtue that I am still working on. I think I might be working on it for my whole life. The next year or two will be very exciting and confusing times. He will be graduating and we will find out if we can stay in Chicago or if we are moving elsewhere. My fingers are crossed for Chicago, but I am learning to have an open mind about other possibilities. As the end of school comes into sight, I find myself giddy, thrilled, nervous, and also trying to plan for a life that I cannot yet predict. Have you ever read a “Choose Your Own Adventure” book? That about sums it up, only I can’t cheat and flip ahead to read all the options and outcomes.
I need to work on becoming more like a monk and less like a kitten on catnip that wants to lick the butter you left out on the counter when you were making muffins.
Deep breaths.
And lots of love.
Categories: Chicago · Daily Picture
Tagged: andersonville, Chicago, Daily Picture, happiness, justin, law school, love, marriage, patience, photography, rogers park, summer
.gif)