Home Sweet Home Chicago

OK, OK - I know.  My new home town is Evanston, but its close enough!

Yes, I actually did it.  I bloody well moved from San Francisco!  If anyone had told me a couple of years ago that I'd only be in San Francisco for less than three, I'd have laughed and told them they were insane.  It had been my dream to live in San Francisco for so many years, that I thought i was going to be there for good - but when opportunity comes knocking, you just gotta answer the call!   Of course, behind Door Number 1 was Tokyo, then Door Number 2 was Zurich but in the end, Door Number 3 was the one I stepped through - so here I am!!

I know I've been a bit remiss with blogging recently (hopefully you understand!) so I know I need to update you on the full skinny!  Firstly, my apartment.

Its fab.

I mean, seriously fab.  Its brand new, never been lived in, is slightly bigger than my current place at 1450sq ft and I splashed out and rented a place with THREE bedrooms!!  Luxury!!!  I have so many bedrooms they're coming out of my ears! (almost)  One I'm going to turn into a library/media room with my old chocolate brown slouchy couch from Crate and Barrel - such decadence!!  The other two have big walk-in closets that I'm having built out with Elfa storage "solutions" (they don't call it shelving, dahlin') so finally enough storage space for my multitude of adult-size plush animal costumes.  

Wanna see what it looks like? 

Here's a link to the video I took when I was having a look round on my apartment finding visit.  Had I thought it at the time, I should have narrated it in a Lloyd Grossman accent, but never mind.  Are you ready?  Let's go Throooooough the Keywhoooole….

The building is also even more full service than my place in San Francisco with an absolutely beautiful common area (free Starbucks!  free wi-fi!  fireplaces and comfy chairs!), a kick-ass gym (with a full weights room, a cardio room AND a pilates/yoga studio!) and a brilliant roof deck.

Early morning fireside telecon snuggled
 in a comfy chair?  This does not suck.

The AMAZING common living space.

And the icing on the cake?  There's a PIE shop in the building!!!  Yes, IN THE ACTUAL BUILDING!!!  PIES!  COFFEE!!!  What more could any girl possibly want??  That was the final clincher for me - especially as the girl in the leasing office gave me a voucher for a free slice of pie!!  Heaven!  So, the lease was duly signed the next day - and remarkably, for a bigger place with more amenities, its about $1000 cheaper a month than the rent I'll (hopefully) be getting for my place!  Huzzah!!  That should just about cover my monthly pie fund.  Here are a couple pics of The Happiest Place on Earth.  Try not to lick your computer screen.  I tried.  It doesn't work.

My Oh My.  Its a gaggle of pies! 

There's nowt so good as pie.

The actual move itself (so far, at least) has been relatively drama free.  I was buried under a blizzard of packing boxes and chipper chappies on Monday, boxing up all my worldly possessions while I asked myself that time-honored question of all folks relocating everywhere "how on earth have I managed to acquire so much stuff?".  Quite literally, as soon as a box is filled, you instantly forget what is in it - and then ask yourself "well, do I really need it?".  The answer is obviously "yes" otherwise we'd all end up living like asetic monks, but its nice to toy with the idea of extreme minimalism, at least in the moment and in the abstract.

The boys handled the move fine - we didn't crash and the flight was smooth, so that was good.  The guy from the shipping company arrived about an hour after I did and I'm sure he was probably relieved to hand them over and escape the yowling!  Izzie was still in fine voice a couple hours later as he explored the kitchen.   He seems to have forgotten what water looks like though….

At the moment, I am living probably more like a student, with just an Aerobed and a sleeping bag and an enormous suitcase full of clothes and shoes.   I didn't even have space to pack a pillow, so a rolled up towel stuffed into the sleeping bag cover is having to suffice for now (though, to be fair, a slightly less ambitious shoe haul in this advance guard of personal possessions would have made room for one!).

Umm… and that's just the downstairs.

The packers amusingly reassigned
the function of my meditation cushions….

As far as Evanston itself goes, so far, I love it.  I haven't (obviously) explored that much of it yet but what I've seen so far I like.  A lot.  Due to an amusing corporate turf war, there are TWO Whole Foods AND a Trader Joes within 5 mins of each other and about a 10 min walk down the road.  That's a greater concentration of over-priced artisan, organic, local, co-operative farm to table fancy food than in Manhattan.  Bloody brilliant.  There's a Right On Net Zero Energy Walgreens a minute's walk away (its a flagship of energy saving eco-friendliness - Platinum-rated, no less) so my Mazlov's hierarchy of need to have a pint of milk within walking distance has been well and truly met.  There's also a fantastic health food shop even closer, so Mumsie, you will be like a very happy Organic Vegan Pig in Post-Digested Excreted Food Products.  Its fab.  It will be even fabber when I'm not having to slog through simply uncivilized amounts of snow in what are truly epic winter conditions.  Apparently (as everyone has told me) we are "enjoying" the coldest winter on record for 20 years.  Bonza.  Way to break in the girl from California.

Gotta love me a town that appreciates a good pun!

Used bookstores!!  Just down the road!
Aka Mumsie's room

Anyway, so far so good.  My car arrived today, just in time for my first official day in the office since relocating.  If truth be told, I'm a little nervous about driving in the snow tomorrow, but at least here they are prepared for the snowy conditions, so the roads are very well salted and plowed (*ahem* Atlanta..)

The local train station.
Next stop, Arctic Circle.

Here's a Reader's Digest (remember those?) of Things I Have Learnt so Far:

Its effing cold here.

That snowblowers are cool.

That snowblowers are even cooler when I'm watching someone else do the hard work pushing it through the snow drifts.

That snowblowing is the equivalent of dusting when you have cats.  Ten minutes later, its like you were never there.

Leaving the house without sunglasses when wading through snowy parks is a bit squinty.

I understand the desire to hibernate.

The pie shop's savory choices are as delicious as their sweet treats. 

That I don't think the windscreen wash bottle in my CA-registered car had de-icing stuff in it.

I suddenly appreciate soup a whole lot more.

The siren that sounds outside is not signifying an imminent air raid ("to the bunkers!") but is actually to tell you to move your car off the street cos of the snow, so it can be plowed.

I understand bears.

Questions I still have unanswered:

As we drove over a frozen solid river on the way in from the airport, I wondered "where do all the fish go?".  Do they swim south for the winter or are they still encased in the river like little fishfingers in waiting?

Will my windscreen wiper bottle thaw out and what happens when it does?

How do I open my cans of soup when my tin opener is still packed?
Is it spring yet?