Settling In Chicago
We moved into our new apartment on September 1, and now, 3 weeks later, I am finally starting to feel settled. Hurray. But before I get into that, let me describe our awesome new place as well as mention a few happenings over the last month.
Our apartment is HUGE. Almost twice as big as 116 in San Francisco. And its cheaper, better condition (hardwood floors, beautiful wood trim, etc), laundry in the building, one neighbor upstairs (not an old lady .. bring the noise!). Neighborhood is great, too – plenty of street parking, covered with trees, 3 minute walk to the Blue Line (subway stop), 5 miles from the Loop (downtown Chicago), and several bars and restaurants within a 5-10 minute walk. I also splurged and got fast internet and satellite HD TV (read my AT&T blog for more). Everyone says Chicago is awesome except for the winter – so being close to the subway and to corner stores, bars, and restaurants is essential. Good work Shayna on picking out such a badass pad.
Besides spending time getting settled, we have also been busy doing… things. Most notable were the friday night out with Anu, Corey, Mazen and crew, Bobby’s visit where we had drinks and dinner, and the block party last weekend with Monotonix. We’ve been hanging mostly with Shayna’s college friends – Rachel, Brandon, Lara, Katie, Jenn, etc. As mentioned in earlier blog, Rachel and Brandon were dope enough to let Shayna kick it on their couch for a couple weeks while she was apartment searching. And pretty soon we’ll be starting up a bike gang .. so hide your booze and daughters. Other fun times include bowling and beers with Lynn Trahey, and getting our dance on – once on a monday night at subterranean with shana (yes, 2 of ’em in logan square), another time to see DJ Mehdi at Debonair Social Club, and Friday we’re planning on seeing Flosstradamus at Sonotheque. All three are like 20 minute bike ride from home. Werd.
So yeah, getting settled. We had to buy lots of furniture, meaning I spent lots of time shopping at thrift stores, which chicago has tons of. The best is Brown Elephant, but Ark is good as well, and Target and Ikea are cheaper than most other used furniture stores. Did i mention we have 2 giant Targets about a mile from us? Used items bought in chicagoland include our purple couch, kitchen table and a chair. New items include TV stand (a buffet table), 2 dressers, bookcase, many shelves, and several plants. We still need a bed frame, a dining room table, and a couple more little comfy stool seats, but those are low priority.
Next I need to explore more of the city, start thinking more about jobs, and continue studying for GMATs .. oh yeah, I’m taking the GMAT this fall, possibly hit up grad school next year and get me selves one of dem MBA’s.