old friends

i'm at the reception desk again with some time on my hands, so here's a rundown of my weekend.

on friday night, i was reunited with some old friends - louie, dan and eric from freshman year at uw. a lot has happened since the last time we've been friends, however the boys somehow managed to stay exactly the same. specifically, they're still drinking like college freshmen. i realize it was a special night - dan was in town, louie's moving to cali on thursday, there was the pride parade, and eric is about to be a father (oops!). however, by the end of the night, dan was dancing strange and pretending to bite my friends, and louie was lost. he was somewhere in the city of chicago not answering his phone. i'm sure he woke up in some 45 year old woman's bed the next morning with a wedding ring on his finger. seriously.

saturday, we spent some time with friends of will's from college. they were, as compared to my old friends, very mature and sane. i think the fact that they were an engaged couple and not a gang of bachelors with tons of emotional baggage helps.

sunday morning we woke up and made omelets for kelly, drew and ourselves. i made the omelets, which were pretty spectacular.

after will went to work i relaxed on sunday. i'm almost done reading the end of faith by sam harris. it's been incredibly thought provoking. very gutsy writing. i've really enjoyed it.

back to work.

hold on to your hose, ladies -- corporate's coming!

this morning i had to be at work at seven. in order to let will sleep in i left him my keys and we agreed to go to lunch where i would retrieve them. long story short, i locked myself out without my wallet or phone with will in my apartment sleeping like a dead person. a newspaper lady finally let me in to get my stuff, but now i've got to grab a starbucks doubleshot from the 7 eleven and jump on the first bus i see. somewhere in the gold coast (the land of expensive condos and full time nannies), an old man tries for about five minutes to board the bus before the driver decides maybe he should pull up to a different spot to make it easier on him. this is when i remind myself that only a city person would be annoyed at the length of time it takes for an old man to do something. i took a deep breath and tried to be mindful, like the elementary school kids i read about in the new york times yesterday.

mindfulness. like meditation. i'll try that in my classroom someday. for now i'll use it on my own nutso self.

so, now i'm running a few minutes behind on the day they asked that i come in early to get ready for "corporate." right out of an episode of the office. before i know it, i'm contemplating trying to cross michigan ave during rush hour on a glaring don't walk sign.

and this, my friends, is how the city makes you crazy. thanks to the accumulation of some minor inconveniences, i found myself with a full plate and the balls to risk my life and play frogger on one of the busiest streets in the country. thankfully, i didn't go through with it. i waited through the eternal green light for my time to cross.

waiting shouldn't be such a thorn in our sides. even when we can't find roses in the concrete jungle, it's time to stop and smell something. homeless person poop, maybe. i'm sorry, i just ruined it.

it's friday. smell that.

new apartment

here it is! our new apartment! it's actually a one bedroom condo that we're renting from someone, which means it's well kept. it has a big kitchen, a fireplace, and everything inside of it looks new and clean. everything we'd seen beforehand was covered in a layer of grime and fifty layers of paint. will's sister, molly, was in chicago last weekend so she was able to come along and give her input. it was nice to have her.

i'm excited to move in. here are some pictures.

audubon

i got a message from the principal at audubon elementary yesterday letting me know the position is still open and he hasn't forgotten about me.

right on cue...

these past few days have been marked by a crescendo of panic as it sinks in that the summer is plugging away and i still don't have a teaching job. and the thought that if only i'd had one for last year i could be sitting on the beach right now makes me throw up a little in my mouth.

i look forward to an interview at audubon. it's in roscoe village, which is a great neighborhood. i'll be coming to this interview as prepared as i can possibly be.

i'm running on the lakeshore again. after work with will. the only time of day that i can appreciate the city's unrelenting wind. will's like my personal trainer. he makes me run faster and longer than i would alone. i'm really excited about keeping it up.

lunchtime. peace.

pre timestamp note

just a quick post before clocking out for the day.

i got out of the office again. i escaped twice to run some mundane errands, but my mini-vacations from the hancock saved the day. the sunlight, fresh air, and noise of the city refueled me. i'm trying to be more positive. i'm not always succeeding, but i'm improving my days little by little.

during lunch i bought a green purse. another little thing that cheered me up. it was on sale at macy's. three compartments, which is mandatory for me, but on the smaller side compared to past purses. i'm trying to simplify my life.

tonight we're going out - me, will, pat and kristin (the newly arranged couple, thanks to will the matchmaker) to friar tuck. i'll take pictures.

parkinglotland

a need for fabric found me running an errand today outside of the office. hundreds of dollars in petty cash in hand, i hailed a cab. it took me to an unfamiliar spot in chicago. something looked funny. oh yeah, there were parking lots. which meant when my transaction was over i'd be stranded, cabless, with only a silhouette of the hancock in the distance. it's as if i can still see them all working. tiny, miniscule bugs inside a building the size of my thumb.

36 dollars in cab fare achieved 5 dollars of tattered, taupe fabric to cover the gap in the wall where the pepsi machine once stood. such an important errand. i don't know what they would do without me.

and i still can't believe that parking lots turned this side of chicago into a different world. not unfamiliar, because it reminded me of home. i envied the cars coming in and out. leaving their parking spots at joann fabrics and home depot to travel home to real houses with their things.

within an hour i was back on michigan avenue, in my office on the 31st floor. on my agenda was to find a rolling chair, make a sign that says the coffee machine isn't working 100% (my boss's words), and order a picture frame from staples.

my suit jacket is stifling.

now i'm waiting for will while i do laundry and choose which book i'm going to read of the two new ones i bought from borders today: the end of faith, or a heartbreaking work of staggering genius. maybe a little bit of both.

we'll watch mallrats tonight and laugh and pretend we don't care for just a few hours before waking up and starting all over again.

the hancock, the restaurant, and celebrate de pere

i work in the hancock center. i was promoted a few weeks ago and started last week. the view is gorgeous. the picture on the left is what i see when i turn around and look through the conference room windows behind me. it's the oak street beach. the new job as been an adjustment. the vibe is much different. much more tense. i work with all young women, and, admittedly, a group of young women can be as turbulent and unpredictable as the chicago weather. after a few days spent in the pit of despair, the ice broke a little on friday. i've come to the understanding that some of these women simply hate their jobs. this alone can turn a perfectly good woman into a bitch - i've watched it happen to me in the past week. i can sympathize with their frustration. we're all a little suffocated. drowning in legal pads and bland office furniture. of the four of us on the floor, three majored in the arts. and here we sit at desks, sending requests to security, thirty floors below, when an office is too hot or too cold.

will took me to dinner on mother's day (just a coincience) at the restaurant where he works. it's at the top of a skyscraper on navy pier. circular, so you can see the entire city - the lake and the skyline. we had fun making believe we were wealthy chicagoans, drinking grey goose martinis and eating our food in tiny sized portions on white plates. his friend pat prepared our food. i had seared tuna, and with dinner we had a bottle of wine that reminded us why our choice wine for lazy weeknights, yellow tail, is only 8.99 a bottle. cause it's crap! well, no. it's fine for us. our cab home flew along lakeshore drive, leaving the skyline behind us as we returned to the northside of the city.

this morning i waited in a crowded clinic waiting room surrounded by screaming babies of all races (except white) for two and a half hours to see a doctor. it was hard to find a place on a saturday that takes insurance.

this is my orchid. a gift from one of the lawyers who worked at the previous center in the south loop. i've been really good about feeding it warm water every five days or so. i can't believe how long it's been alive already. i couldn't even keep a cactus alive, i get so distracted.

a year ago i walked into this apartment with my mom and girl who was showing us apartments, surprising an irritated, half naked man. i've been keeping it pretty clean so that when they start showing it again i won't be surprised. maybe i should stop showering, just so i won't ever be caught in my towel in front of some strangers. "oh, hello. i'm sorry, i wasn't expecting you. oh, and by the way, i think you should know before you make any decisions, because they kept it a secret from me at first, be prepared to be scalded by flaming hot water every minute or so in the shower. other than that, it's a great place."

for memorial day weekend, will and i went back for celebrate depere to hang with krystal and her fiancee rodney (pictured with me, looking hardcore). surrounded by severe hick-age and way too much country music, we resorted to the carni games. we won some toys, as you can see. i kept the patriotic bear, will's got a dalmation, and the happy couple went home with a basket ball and a rubber ducky. so i guess you could say it was worth it, even though they stopped serving beer at 10:30.

tonight i'm going out on the town with will's friend kristin. i'm excited. my tax return came back, eaten up mostly by the misbehavior of pars cove and their sheisty tax ways, but it's still enough to go out and have a good time tonight and have plenty left over. rock on.