Coming to You from NOT my Writers’ Group

 So, last Friday, I got some super productive writing done at my writers’ group (I also got to stare at some butt paintings for three hours and that’s just funny) and I was excited to go back today, but my third roommate, Mary, needed to come over at 2 to sign the lease and Janell couldn’t let her in, which meant that I would have had to leave before the fun, social part of writers’ group even began, so I decided to skip it so I could save some money and write at the apartment. (I will be posting it from wherever I can find WiFi, because we currently don’t have it and the neighbor’s signal isn’t strong enough for me to steal it from them!).

Even though I’m not writing from New Wave Coffee Shop today, I still plan to fill you in on all of the incredible details since the last time I updated you on my wonderful, sarcastic life.

My last update would have been on Wednesday – Moving Day #2. Give a big cheer because yesterday was the final moving day!!! It feels so good, even though my room is basically still empty and I have roughly nothing in it right now. I’m just glad that I don’t need to carry my whole life across the city again.

I took another Uber yesterday morning. I was juggling about 100 things and the driver called me the actual second he arrived, which caused me to drop about 99 of those things and swear very loudly into the phone. Like, calm down, bud, I’m on my way and I’d be getting to you faster if you weren’t calling me right now!

It was an Uber Pool, which means that your driver can pick up/drop off other people along the way and we picked up a guy a few minutes later and dropped him off at Target, which is not a long walk. You paid $3.12 instead of walking a half mile… to each their own, but I think it’s a little sketchy. Other than that, the ride was uneventful.

I got all of my things up the stairs (thank you, once again, MCT muscles!) and then it was time to get some keys and sign a lease! Yes, I have officially signed the lease. I’m a lessee, according to my lease… that I signed. Also, I got like 500 keys!

I also have Lego Batman

Ok, more like seven, but that’s a lot. We have three keys for the front of the apartment, three for the back and one for the mailbox and I’m supposed to know where they all go. Actually, for the front keys, they came with those little rubber things that help you tell keys apart and I switched them up so that they are now in ROYGBIV order, so the key that opens the first door has the red one, the second door is orange and the third door is green. Pretty smart of me…now I just need to figure out the back half of the apartment. I might order other key identifier things, like rainbow unicorns or cats, for some fun, but since I don’t have internet, it’s hard to find those types of things. My system is working for now and that’s what matters. Actually, what matters is that I can come and go whenever I want because now I have keys!

Speaking of coming and going, I needed to go to CVS because the moving announcement I’d ordered had arrived. Actually, they arrived last Friday, but CVS never felt the need to tell me that. I knew it was going to be a long walk, but I went out anyways. And then it started to rain… so I stopped and got on the bus. And then the rain stopped, so I got off the bus and still had a long way to walk and at this point, it had gotten hot, so I was burning up. Long story short, I got a pint of Ben and Jerry’s on my way home. (The moving announcements turned out fantastically by the way – I’m adorable).

After that, I did some organizing and envelope addressing and watched Star Trek on my laptop. We don’t have cable or anything like that in the apartment yet, but I do have my extensive DVD collection to keep me company. As I was debating whether or not to put on Star Trek: Into Darkness, I got a text message from Claire Noone. Claire and I went to DeSales together – she was a sophomore when I was a senior – and Claire is planning on moving here in a month. She was here with her future roommate, another DSU grad, Parker (he transferred to DeSales in the fall of 2014, so three months after I’d graduated) because they were doing some interviews with potential landlords. The two of them are coming here for the improv scene and wanted to know if I’d join them for Improvised Shakespeare. I had no idea what it was but I was game, so I ordered a ticket online (thank you, 4G) and got dressed.

I looked so good though

In case you haven’t noticed, I like taking advantage of public transportation, so I got on the bus. Well, I waited for the bus, because it was late. I’d left with more than enough time to get to my destination but minutes and seconds were ticking away. The bus arrived and we were off! Just kidding, because with time already dwindling, we got stuck in construction traffic. The plan was to transfer from the bus to the train and then walk the last few minutes to the theatre but when I finally got to the train station, with just twenty minutes left before the show, the sign told me that the train I needed to take wouldn’t be arriving for another 14 minutes. I said screw it and called an Uber. (Actually, I didn’t say screw it, I chose a much stronger word because I didn’t really want to shell out the money for an Uber at that point, but I also didn’t want to miss the show. It’s improv – you kind of need to be there at the beginning). I made it with a few minutes to spare, got seated with Claire and introduced to Parker and prepared to have my mind blown.

The concept behind Improvised Shakespeare is that the actors have all studied the Bard (and their “thees” and “thous”) and after getting a title from the audience, create their own Shakespeare play. Yeah, it sounds pretty unbelievable and it was. We were sitting in the back, so my suggested title was not chosen. My title, for the record, was “The Night of the Venomous Squirrel” – I had that horrific bus ride to think of what I might suggest. Instead, they went with “The Coughing Lumberjack.” (I guess I’ll have to do my own play about attacking squirrels now).

My world will never be the same. These guys literally created a Shakespeare play on the spot. They used Shakespearean language but there were some modern references and one entire monologue about how majestic bald eagles are, which made me very happy. I can’t get over how awesome it was. On my way home, I realized that they perform on Thursdays and my birthday is a Thursday. I already texted Claire (since she’ll be living here by then) and she’s game to go again. I told her I’d be happy to go to another improv show for my special day, but perks of being the birthday girl really are that I get to pick! Maybe if I go on my birthday, they’ll pick my play title! Ya never know.

Claire, Parker and I hung out after the show – mainly recovering from the brain damage of having our minds blown! We talked about DeSales, Chicago, theatre and more. I’m excited that they’re coming here. Hooray for more friends!

So cozy

I took the train/bus combo home and this time it was far more successful. When I got home, to my home, the apartment where I live now, I still had to blow up my air mattress. It took forever! Until I realized that there were two nozzles and I was using the small one to blow it up; once I switched, it took roughly a minute. I celebrated my first night in the apartment with a selfie.

It will be nice to have a real bed soon, but my first night on the air mattress wasn’t so bad! This morning, I woke up and made myself French toast and then I went to the grocery store. I’m now running into this problem because I don’t know how to shop for myself when I’m staying somewhere longer than a week, like how do people do that? I can shop for a family, but shopping for just me is a totally new thing. I kind of just wandered for a while. The supermarket is right across the street from my apartment, which is convenient, but I made another blunder to add to my list of rookie mistakes:

They asked if I wanted paper or plastic. I went with paper because those bags are sturdier. Or they would be IF THEY HAD HANDLES. These bags didn’t have handles and ripped as I was walking across the street. All of my groceries made it home, but I know that next time, I’ll ask for plastic.

After that, I continued to have a very productive morning! It was great. My plan was to run all of my errands and be right on time for writers’ group (we know how that turned out). My first errand was to Walgreens to drop off a prescription. Whitney will be happy to know that I am going to be changing pharmacies. The walk to CVS yesterday was a long one and I don’t feel like doing it again when I can get to Walgreens in a quarter of the time.

After that, I went to the library. I feel like I’ve been talking about getting a library card in every other blog post, but today I was finally able to do it. You see, the prescription that I dropped off had been mailed to me, meaning that I had a piece of mail to use to prove that I now lived in the Chicago area. So yeah, I don’t want to brag or anything, but now I can take out books, periodicals, DVDs and more at any of the 70-80 branches of the Chicago Public Library. (Sorry, Dad, I know you sent me something to help me get my library card but Dr. Belkin beat you to the punch).

My final errands before group was a trip to the bank and it was while I was walking to the bank that I got a message asking if I could be back at the apartment for Mary at 2. I could have gone to the first half of group, but like I said, that’s the non-social portion. The talking doesn’t start until 2 and I figured I could go back to the apartment and use some of those groceries I’d already paid for instead of buying a sandwich at the café (I don’t drink coffee, people, but I need to get something at these places. New Waves doesn’t have hot chocolate either… so rude). I made myself a veggie burger (but I forgot to get buns so I used wheat bread) and watched X-Men: First Class. Basically, I’m getting comfy in my new home, even if all I have to get comfortable on is an air mattress. 

Also, one of the neighbors has Xfinity, so it's pretty sketchy, but I managed to connect long enough to hit send on this post. I guess the Blog Gods want you to read my words.

Also, I ordered some shelves in the mail and they arrived this afternoon, so I put them together! Ta da!

Look at that craftswomanship