The Taste

The Taste of Chicago started this past week and runs for 2 weeks in Grant Park. It's not just food....it's tons of music, cooking demos from famous chefs, and even a 5K to burn off all those extra calories. With our windows open and from our balcony, we can hear the music from the main stage in our apartment, which adds another layer to the array of city sounds we hear on a regular basis. Music from the festivals in Grant Park is a little more pleasing than the jackhammers and fire trucks.

I have really been looking forward to "the taste", because we are always trying new restaurants. Almost every time we go out to dinner, it's a new place. I hate to eat at the same restaurant twice because Chicago is chock full of great eats. We always have trouble deciding where to go, so I figured the taste was the perfect way to try a bunch of different restaurants at once. 

When Justin and I joined the thousands of people in Grant Park on Sunday to get a taste of Chicago, I hate to say, I was a bit disappointed. I don't consider myself to be a food snob, it's just that none of the fabulous restaurants I hear rave reviews about were there. I'd even say that the Taste of Charlotte beats of the Taste of Chicago. You read that right....in a battle of the tastes, Charlotte wins! That doesn't mean that I don't love the restaurants in Chicago overall....I absolutely do. Chi-town just doesn't have a good selection of top notch food at the festival. Two weeks is a long time for restaurants to participate, and I suppose all the well-known places don't need to lure people in. Many of the neighborhoods in Chicago have their own taste fest, so I'm guessing that's where I'll find the drool worthy grub I'm looking for. 


Nevertheless, it was a gorgeous Sunday, which we haven't had in a while, and a perfect day to be out and about. I am a people watcher, and the taste definitely provided plenty of that, as well as plenty of freebies. I was tempted to jump in the Ocean Spray cranberries to cool off my tootsies!

I also got to pose with a ginormous Case tractor (the company Justin works for)....while sitting on a bale of hay, eating watermelon. Justin was so proud! :)

I do want to check out some of the cooking demos this week as well as some of the free music. We still have tickets left over, so we'll be heading back next weekend to give the Taste of Chicago another shot.

Festival Time!

It seems my blogs are few and far between, yet lengthy lately. So, I'm going to make an effort to post more and keep them short and sweet! Festival season has begun in Chicago, and I am loving it! One of my soon-to-be professors at SAIC gave me the excellent advice to enjoy my Chicago summer and the wonderful festivals....I certainly intend to do just that! I added all the festivals I could to my Google calendar to keep them straight. 

We got started last weekend at the Old Town Art Festival. Almost an entire neighborhood was taken over by hundreds of art booths, food, and live music. It was packed in amidst the vintage town homes of Old Town....so cute! I'd love to live in a neighborhood like that or Lincoln Park one day....we'll see. Anyway, we had a nice relaxing stroll browsing all different kinds of art. (Unfortunately my phone battery was low so I didn't get to take any pics.)

The following day we headed to the Blues Festival in Grant Park. That Sunday was absolutely gorgeous, and people were just chilling in the park BYOB style. There was lots of food and 3 stages of music. 

We people watched, and just hung out with everyone else...such a great afternoon. I love this kind of relaxed atmosphere right in the middle of the city. It's an awesome energy.....awesome city!

People, People Everywhere

Sitting on my balcony I can hear all sorts of sounds of the city.....dogs barking, cars honking, fire trucks blaring, construction workers pounding, even fireworks booming at Navy Pier on Saturday nights.  Today I hear marching bands from the Columbus Day Parade. Brizz and I took a walk this afternoon through Grant Park to check out the festivities, but she was more interested in the random bits of trash....I mean treasure....buried in the grass, as usual. So, we visited our favorite fountain and enjoyed the walk back up the lakefront trail to our home. 

You would never know it's October in Chicago. The weather for the past week has been more like the South than the Midwest.....low 80's and Carolina blue skies. There are people everywhere enjoying the warm temps, which is how it's been since I arrived. I get the impression that Chicagoans truly appreciate a nice day and don't take them for granted. Yesterday we noticed a group of people in the park sitting on a picnic blanket around noon. They were camped out until close to dinner time. People are constantly playing soccer, flying kites, walking dogs, or just sitting and enjoying being outside. I've had to get used to walking through different parks in the city and coming upon a person just lounging alone in the grass. When I see someone sitting in the sun, I get the impression that it's not because they want to get a tan, like most Southerners, but they are soaking up the warm rays and enjoying the wonderful weather while it lasts.

Chicago has been especially crowded lately because of the marathon of 45,000 people, which was on Sunday. It started at 7:30 a.m. a couple miles south of our building. At 7:45 we could see the pack of runners sandwiched in Lower Columbus Dr., and they didn't stop coming for at least half and hour. 

yep, those are people in there!

We decided to walk down to the finish line to see the leaders come in. It was amazing to see such incredible athletes and even more awe inspiring to think they finished a marathon in just over 2 hours! Some of them looked like they had just been out for a morning jog instead of a 26.2 mile run. I felt ashamed as I stood there in the sun, squished by spectators on all sides, thinking how hot I was and how much my feet hurt. 

men's winner

women's winner....she was booking it on the home stretch!

We made our way to the 26 mile marker (which was up a cruel hill), and as we watched longer, the more "inexperienced" runners started coming in. It was difficult to see the pain on their faces as they pushed through the last .2 miles. Some got a huge smile of relief and joy as they spotted the 26 mile sign. Others were doing all they could to make it up the hill. One guy lost all his Gatorade and collapsed on the concrete. Less than a minute later he sprang up and kept going. There were amputees racing, men and women of all ages, one guy dressed like Minnie Mouse, runners high-fiving the spectators, and people carrying their country's flag. 

It was inspiring to think about how hard these people had trained, and I have a new respect for marathon runners. However, I will use that experience to inspire me in other areas. Call me a wimp, but I still have no desire to run like that, especially not after seeing the pain of the Chicago runners. Kudos to them, but I'll stick with yoga. 

By the way, I did finally make it to my yoga class. 

Namaste.

4 Years, 5 Moves....are we home yet?

Justin and I have now moved 5 times in the 4 years we have been married. When we decided to move to Chicago I was so nervous that we had made the wrong choice, but I had this gut feeling that moving was what we were supposed to do.  Part of me was trying forget my aspirations of living in a big new city, and just settle in Charlotte....and I really didn't want to deal with moving again. Then, I started finding Chicago all over Charlotte. It was little things, like turning on the radio and hearing Jimmy Buffett live from Chicago, spotting a Chicago Bears license plate, and that little Starbucks bear wearing a Chicago t-shirt staring at me in the Marshall's checkout line. Our first trip to the grocery store in Chicago, there was that durn bear again, wearing the same shirt. These things seem random and insignificant, but to me they were little signs that helped to ease my worries.

Thursday is our 4th wedding anniversary. Ironically, we were planning to be visiting Chicago this weekend months before we learned we would actually be moving here. Justin was planning to run in the Chicago marathon, and we were going to celebrate our anniversary. With starting a new job and moving, Justin hasn't been able to train for the marathon, but we were destined to be in this city one way or another! 

It's been one month since we moved here and Charlotte seems like another lifetime. So far, living in Chicago reminds me a lot of when Justin and I lived in Australia for 4 months. Getting used to a new city, new people, new places, new routine.....reinventing ourselves. Since it's all so new, it still seems like we are just visiting, and I wonder how long it will be until our new life really feels like home. It's exciting and scary at the same time, but I'm so thankful that we took the leap to try something different and not stick with what was comfortable and familiar. There is still a lot to figure out, but it's only been a month, and I can't wait to discover what this great city has in store for us!

buckingham fountain in grant park

one of my favorite places