Sarcastic City

So, due to popular demand, I have decided to start another blog. Thomson's Travel Blog is still awesome sauce and I hope that I will have another opportunity to update it, but in moving to Chicago, I have stopped traveling for the time being BUT I have not stopped being great or doing cool stuff, hence, Sarcastic City.

The name is a play on Second City, the theatre company that is here in Chicago, where I live now. I tried a few other names ("The Misadventures of Me"; "From Suburbs to City" etc.) but the domain names for those had all been taken. Apparently no one is as smart as I am to take this domain name, so now it's mine! All mine! *Evil laugh*

So, in case you couldn't tell, I have moved to Chicago. I never wrote a post to finish up the saga of Central America, but I clearly made it back to the States without causing any international incident (I did, however, learn a valuable lesson -- no matter how amazing Cookout is, do not agree to have an 11 hour, overnight layover in an airport, because you will sleep in the floor using your suitcase for a pillow and your portable hammock as a blanket).

The move happened on Wednesday, and it is now Saturday, so why haven't I blogged yet? There has been a lot of stuff happening! (And I was having that problem finding a domain name that I already mentioned). Plus, this is my blog and I decide when I want to write on it!

So, let's rewind and talk about the week!

Wednesday: My dad drove me to the airport. I checked my bags and one of them was overweight so that cost me $100. This move was already spectacular. (Seriously, American Airlines? $100?! They asked me if I knew what was making the bag overweight and if I could take it out, but hey, if I knew that, the bag wouldn't be overweight in the first place). I slept through most of the plane ride, so there isn't much to report about that.

And then I was in Chicago! Wow, amazing. (Yes, I know I have such a way with words, you can write that and many more compliments in the comments section belong).

If you're thinking, August 17th is a weird time to move, you would be correct. There has never been a lease in the history of the world that starts on a Wednesday in mid-August. I have a temporary living situation with a friend of my dad's, Janet. Janet has an apartment downtown and oh my goodness, I cannot get used to life like this. I can see Navy Pier from my temporary bedroom. (I am writing at night, I will post a clear daytime picture during the daytime). This is a nice place. I will never be able to get myself a place like this and I am just so thankful to Janet for allowing me to stay here and get my feet on the ground.

After getting all my stuff up to the 30th floor and settling in a bit, I thought heading to a movie would be a nice way to start seeing my new city. I had a Fandango gift card and purchased a ticket online. I was going to leave the apartment in more than enough time to walk there and just as I headed out onto the street, my phone decided it needed to reboot it's entire system. Experience has taught me that this can last a longggggg time. I was not happy. I was going to miss my movie! I couldn't even call an Uber without my phone, BUT, I was able to hail a cab. I'm not psyched that I needed to pay for a cab on my first day in the city, but cabs can be a part of the city experience so I won't complain too much. Also, my phone had the brilliant timing of completing its reboot as the cab dropped me off. The reboot had also depleted the phone's battery to just about nothing.

I went to see Suicide Squad. It was not as bad as the reviews would lead you to believe, but twice as disappointing. After the movie, my phone was basically dead (thanks to that conveniently timed reboot I've already written about at length). GPS wasn't really happening with 2% battery, but I was able to navigate myself back to the apartment on my own, cuz I'm wicked smahrt (Boston slang... I'm gunna need to figure out what Chicagoans say). I also visited the grocery store and made myself a grilled cheese for dinner!

Thursday: Thursday included a trip to Target and CVS. I bought inserts for my shoes because they were sorely lacking in arch support. I stopped at Millennium Park and saw The Bean (mostly because it was on my way -- I've seen it before). I stopped at Garrett Popcorn and got popcorn because it seemed like a very Chicago-thing to do and I hadn't had it during my previous visits here. I got a mixed bag that was part cheese popcorn, part caramel corn.

Friday: Friday was a big day. I realized that I had barely been here for 48 hours but it felt like so much longer. I had lunch plans with my potential roommates and plans to meet some TAD friends for a play in the evening. I got gussied up and took the subway to Logan Square. This is the neighborhood that my potential apartment is in and so it made sense for us to do lunch there. We had lunch at a restaurant called Dunlay's On the Square. The restaurant was picked by Janell, potential roommate #1, who I'd skyped with before I got here and I would be meeting Mary, potential roommate #2, for the first time. Janell and Mary already knew each other but hadn't lived together before. Dunlay's was good -- they had mac and cheese! But the best part was that we decided that we were going in on the apartment. Potential roommates became future roommates and soon we were on our way to see the apartment. The apartment is kind of a mess at the moment because the landlord, Marge, is doing some work on it. It is on the third floor of a building (well, it is the third floor). We have a dining room AND a living room. Just one bathroom but the kitchen is nice and even has a dishwasher. Now, there is clearly a lot of living space in this apartment, but my room is a different story. It is very small. I'm not too worried, but other people might be if they were me. But those people aren't me and those people aren't getting ready to move into their own apartment. The apartment is a 15 minute walk from the train station but across the street from a grocery store (I'd rather walk 15 minutes to the train than 15 minutes carrying bags of groceries!). Logan Square is a cool neighborhood that I'd definitely been interested in when I was searching for a place to live, so I'm excited to be moving there. Big success!

After lunch, I hung out in Logan Square because it would have been ridiculous for me to go back to the apartment just to get back on the train and go see the play (the Logan Square subway stop was about halfway between the two, but going back and forth would have been a waste of time). I found my way to the library (I'm getting a card once I have a piece of mail to prove that I live here. I don't care if I never use it, I want it) and also to a coffee shop where a writer's group I'd seen online meets. It's close to the Chicago Diner as well, which is a vegetarian restaurant that I really liked when I was here in February.

After being a tourist in my own neighborhood, I got back on the L and headed to Jefferson Park. My friend, Becca, works for the Windy City Music Theatre and they were putting on a production of Peter Pan. I met up with another friend, Tatjana and we sat back to enjoy the show. As Tatjana said, people in Chicago will put a theatre anywhere! It was a very small space, but they did an awesome job in the space, including a very impressive bare bones way of making Peter Pan fly, that included a stripper pole. We got dinner after the show and they made me feel like Chicago is really going to be home soon.

Today: Well, today, I started this blog! It was a quiet day in the apartment for me. I did some long-distance work for my dad, sent out a few job applications, watched some Gilmore Girls and cleaned up. I went to the grocery store and got a giant cupcake at the bakery. No joke, this thing was gourmet but came at a bargain price. I made pasta for dinner and added peas because I knew it was what Whitney would want. I've spent the better part of the evening watching Superstore in bed with no regrets.

Tomorrow, well, who knows what tomorrow will bring. It's just creeping in at this petty pace or whatever. (Not like I worked for a Shakespeare Company or anything). So for now, enjoy my blog!

Also, even though this is the Sarcastic City blog, I have yet to see a Second City show. I'm not sure when I will, but I know you'll read about it.