Falling in Love with Chicago

It's been about two and a half months since I moved to Chicago and I finally feel like in the past few weeks the warmer temperatures have allowed me to explore some of the city I'm now calling home.

I love Memorial Day Weekend because it signals the unofficial start of summer and summer is hands down my favorite season, I mean there are so many great things to enjoy - who couldn't love summer?

I've been trying to get into the habit of becoming a more consistent runner. I mean, I am signed up for a Warrior Dash and the BIG10 10K so I guess I have to. But learning more about my neighborhood is also great motivation to get out and run a couple of mornings a week.

(And who doesn't love to see the sunrise over Lake Michigan?)

(View behind the Lincoln Park Conservatory)

(Lydia had told me about this lily pond/prairie pagoda and I made it a mission one morning to find it. So serene in the middle of the city.)

On my way home from work last weekend I decided to take a bit of a scenic route and strolled down Michigan Ave. before catching the bus. My office is in such a great location, right in the heart of so much great shopping, food and tourist traps. There was an old church that has always caught my eye on my bus ride to and from work and the weather allowed for the perfect opportunity for some exploring of it. I love that this old architecture is mixed right in with Chicago's skyscrapers.

(Can you see the little bird drinking from the fountain?)

I spent sometime meandering through Lincoln Park as well. I always knew that Lincoln Park was a gem in Chicago but didn't know much about it overall. But after doing some reading on it (#historynerd) I was so eager to see it all. You could spend a day exploring Lincoln Park and I'm not sure you would see it all. There's a zoo, a petting zoo, several ponds, beaches, restaurants, the conservatory and plenty of open green spaces and gardens just to name a few things. Plus, the views of the city were stunning.

Sunday, I talked Lydia into joining me on a trip to the Lincoln Park Conservatory. The conservatory, like everything else in Lincoln Park, is free and features four rooms of stunning exotic plants. I wish I had taken a few more pictures while we were there but I guess it means I'll just have to go back!

We explored a bit more of the park and watched what I'm sure will be stunning wedding photos be taken. As we started to walk back towards my apartment we felt the first drop of rain which very quickly turned into a torrential downpour. Lydia had the great idea to hide under the prairie pagoda I mentioned earlier to wait out the storm.

Unfortunately, the roof of the pagoda was not solid and we ended up trying to position ourselves between the slats to avoid the sheets of rain falling outside. Eventually, we gave up and made a mad dash to La Fournette Bakery & Cafe for some tea and macaroons.

So excited for more summer in Chicago adventures!

Thought Catalog: 5 Things Everyone Feels When Moving To A New City

It’s fair to say that I’ve moved around quite a bit. Four states, seven cities and nine different addresses before the age of 25. Moving is something I’ve become a bit of a pro at, as well as starting over in a new location.

Here are the five things everyone feels when moving to a new city.

The Sun is Shining on Chicago

Yesterday was the first truly warm day of year and I celebrated it by spending the day rowing, drinking iced coffee, laying out on my Mary's roof deck, wearing shorts and sandals for the first time and drinking Oberon's outside. It was wonderful and almost made me forget the terrible, no good, very bad winter we just experienced.

Being back in the Midwest this summer there are a lot of things I'm looking forward to enjoying this summer.

Doesn't the city just look so much better with a bit of color and sun?

Washington, D.C.
I'll be visiting my friend Marissa in D.C. in June and am looking forward to recreating some of the greatness of our Boston and Cape Cod vacations last summer. (Perhaps we'll unintentionally match again?) I've never been to D.C. before and can't wait to do all of the stereotypical tourist stuff. My best friend since fifth grade lives in Baltimore and I'm also hoping to be able to meet up with her. Any suggestions on any D.C. musts? Tips for seeing the city? Any great restaurants?

Trips to Michigan
Michigan is my favorite in the summer. It truly is a hidden gem. Between the Great Lakes, all of the inland lakes, cities like Detroit, Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids, and the UP, Michigan has so much to offer. I'm hoping to be able to spend some time in Grand Haven this summer and would love to plan a trip up north to either the UP or Mackinac Island since I've never been.

Lake Michigan
My new apartment in Chicago is literally blocks from the Lakeshore and I can't wait to spend my weekends sprawled out on the beach with a good book.

Summer Concerts & Events
One of the many benefits of living in a big city is the number of cultural events and concerts that take place. I'm excited to take advantage of some of these events and already have tickets to Lollapalooza in August.

Spontaneous Trips
I feel like the warm weather makes people much more inclined for adventure and spontaneity. Last year, Laurissa and I took a couple of fairly spontaneous trips to Maine and the beach and I can't wait to embark on some in the Chicago area. Whether is a quick road trip or a trip downtown, everything seems so much better in the summer.

Homemade Ramen

I have a love-hate relationship with cooking, and having a miniature kitchen with virtually no counter space has only strengthened that relationship. But I recently felt inspired to try my hand at cooking again outside of the realm of pasta and frozen pizza.

I had been craving ramen. Not your college cup-of-noodle ramen but the real deal. I've only had real ramen once during Head of the Charles weekend last year in Boston so I would not consider myself an expert on the topic and wasn't sure what to look for in recipes. A lot of the recipes I came across seemed really involved, using a lot of ingredients I'd likely never use again and I hate that.

I finally stumbled across a recipe on my new favorite site for recipes, Damn Delicious. I really like this site because all of the recipes are unique but easy to make. I've so far made variations of their ramen recipe and their pesto pasta with sun-dried tomatoes and I've been pleasantly pleased with both.

But back to the ramen.

I liked this recipe because I already had a handful of the ingredients on hand and I was able to use most up in making this dish. The other big selling point for me was it only called for one pot to cook in - an almost must for me now that I've got a kitchen that resembles the play kitchen I had when I was five. A few variations I made:

• I used bella mushrooms because that's what I had on hand and I think it was just fine.
• I used low sodium chicken broth and I think it helped the dish stay light and not too salty.
• The pictures for this recipe show a soft boiled egg but its not included in the ingredients, I added one to my dish for a bit more protein and flavor.

The recipe made about 3 1/2 servings - enough for dinner and two lunches at work which was wonderful. I'm looking forward to trying more recipes on this site - tonight's menu will likely be the quinoa enchilada casserole!

Recent Reads: The Virgin Suicides

I picked up The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugene on a whim a few weeks ago. (Coincidentally, the author is the same person who wrote Middlesex - a book I started to read last year as part of my long distance book club but just never made it through.) I had watched the movie about a year ago when I stumbled upon it one rainy afternoon on Netflix*. The movie was good but almost left me feeling unsettled so I thought following it up with the book might be a good bet.

The story is told by neighborhood boys in 1970's Detroit who are mildly obsessed with their neighbors, the Lisbon girls. The five girls, Mary, Bonnie, Therese, Lux and Cecelia, all commit suicide in their family's modest suburban home over the course of the year. Disturbing, yes.

Death is an overlying theme in this book, but so many other themes are explored. It picks apart adolescence and coming of age, as well as sex and love. It focuses on freedom and an escape from the rules of society. Uniquely positioned in Detroit right at the start of its fall from glory (I've since learned the author is actually from Detroit), the book almost eludes to the fact that the Lisbon girls are symbolic of the general feeling of the time. The girls end their young lives because of the ugliness around them, just as so many were fleeing the city as it took its turn from the worse. The book almost makes the case the that the Lisbon girl suicides were their break for freedom, versus the end of their lives.

The book is not a casual read. If you're looking for an easy read, this is not it. But if you're looking for something a little deeper and darker and thought provoking, this might be it. It was not my favorite book but I am considering giving Middlesex another try.

*Side note: The movie is still available on Netflix if you're interested in only a two commitment versus a 243 page commitment.

How long is your birthday?

Lydia said to me, "I feel like your birthday always seems to extend way more than a day." And she was right. And I am incredibly grateful for my incredible family, friends and co-workers who make it that way.

This year, my birthday kind of snuck up on me. With the craziness of moving and getting settled into a new city and routine over the past weeks, I couldn't believe my eyes when I looked at my calendar and saw that my birthday was right around the corner. I also couldn't believe that I was turning the big 25 this year. A full quarter century old!

Two weekends before my birthday, I headed home to Grand Rapids to celebrate Easter with my family. We also went out to dinner to celebrate my birthday at Bonefish Grill. I was surprised with this delicious and rich cookie pie (I don't like cake).

(Birthday dinner)

The next weekend I was back in Chicago and decided to celebrate my birthday with my friends (my real birthday fell on a Monday this year). Mary and I kicked off the weekend with a low-key dinner at Kuma's. Whenever I'm at a place with exceptionally good or unique food I always think of Laurissa and how I wish she could experience it too. I didn't inspect the menu too closely while I was there, but just from briefly skimming the burger choices I think she would've died. (They're all named after famous rock bands!)

Lydia was coming into town and she suggested we go for a birthday weekend run. I hate running but I agreed because she promised there would be treats at the end. It was perfect weather for a run, sunny with just a bit of breeze and the views from beach we ran to were spectacular. (I should clarify that this run turned into a walk.)

(Views of the Lake and the skyline deserve two thumbs up.)

Finally, we made it to Everybody's Coffee for delicious treats. This coffee house was so fun and probably my new favorite, and my iced latte was spectacular as well. While I ran to the bathroom, Lydia surprised me with this amazing cinnamon roll topped with a koala. I died.

(I LOVED this!)

Celebrations continued Saturday evening (I have such great friends!). Mary had arranged for us to head to DOC Wine Bar. It was really beautiful spot and they served flights of wine! All of the flights were named after Chicago neighborhoods, I had the Lakeview (appropriate since that's where I live). We also all shared the Grande Butcher Block which had some of the best meat and cheese you can imagine (I tried duck!) and a brie and pear bruschetta which was heaven.

(Flights of wine!)

Full of wine and cheese we headed to the J. Parker, the rooftop bar at the Lincoln Hotel. The weather was perfect for sitting outside with the fire pits and the views of the lake and the city were spectacular. The cocktails at this bar were also pretty good and I learned I actually really like dirty martinis (surprising, since I HATE olives)!

(#lemmetakeaselfie)

(Mary was in this photo, but she apparently can't handle photos.)

The night ended with Brad and Matt taking me for ice cream (perfect).

I love my friends. :)

Rowing Life Lessons: #3 It's Ok If Not Everyone Likes You

I have always worried if people like me. I don't know why, I just do. I'm always nervous that people secretly don't like me. And I feel like in the past I've adapted who I am to make sure I don't ruffle anyone's feathers.

This has been true for me for along time. I recall in middle school once pretending to not like Harry Potter because none of my friends liked Harry Potter. I know, how could I ever pretend to not like Harry Potter? Straight blasphemy.

I digress.

The thing with being around the same people for four years nearly everyday and spending almost every weekend traveling together is you can't really be on everyone's good side all the time. People become less like your friend and more like your brother or sister - and I know I at least fight very openly with my sister. Plus, as a coxswain you're essentially the voice of the boat and at times the team. And not everyone is going to like what you're saying.