Day 205 is a little bit vintage

Today Em and I went on a bit of an adventure up to Andersonville to visit some antique shops up there. It was all that I wanted and more! I was just bursting with happiness looking through old mason jars and cigar boxes and lamps from the 80's. It was magical. And I even got a few great finds for the apartment! Happiness. This was a random little horse we spotted during our antiquing adventures. Quirky and fun. We liked it a lot.

ps. Happy happy Birthday to my dearest Em! I love you so!

Day 205, welcome back!

My friends, with whom I stayed, live in Greenpoint. My family lived there, so I used to visit often when I was younger. It was very strange being back in the old neighborhood. Especially seeing plenty of beards, bikes and tattoos. Hipster central. With some heavy-drinking Polish dudes thrown in for good measure.

Day 204 get your gun

Please excuse the late post as I didn't bring my camera cord while frantically packing for New York. Saturday night we went to see our friend star in Annie Get Your Gun. She was wonderful, of course! And it was nice to beat the heat inside this theater near the beach.

Day 204 has a sweet tooth

From this blog I'm learning that I spend a lot of time talking about (and eating) ice cream in the summers while complaining about the heat. But the two really go hand in hand! What fixes a bit of heat suffering like a few scoops of creamy strawberry ice cream? Nothing. Nothing is the answer.

Day 203 is a hidden message

I stumbled upon this artsy little board on the side of a building in my neighborhood. I have zero idea what it is trying to say or if it's trying to say anything at all. I'm not quite convinced it's not just a random grouping of letters. I do still like it though!

Day 203 stays hydrated

It's hot as hell. I didn't drink enough water today. And I'm about to leave for a weekend in New York City. Wish me luck.

Day 202 is still sweating...

I'll stop talking about this oppressive Chicago heat now, I'm sure you'll all tired of hearing about it. But it was another hot one in the city and I was struggling with wanting to take out my camera when I was out. Main priority was staying in AC as often as possible. But I did snap a pic while I was out last night. I don't know how anyone could be out doing construction during the day when the weather is up over 100º. Yikes!

Day 202 screams for ice cream

A local free newspaper featured this article about mom-and-pop ice cream shops around town. I've only been to four of the eight shops mentioned - this needs to change. Today's 100+ temperature would have been the perfect opportunity. Unfortunately today ended up being one of those busy days where nothing much gets accomplished. I bet delicious homemade ice cream would've made everything better.

Day 201 needs to cool off

This summer heat has a sneaky way of causing plans to be cancelled I think. Suddenly not moving while sitting as close as possible to the AC sounds like a much better plan than pizza. Which is crazy, because few things ever really sound like a better plan than pizza, am I right?? Tonight we opted for some chilled wine and brownies over any other plans, and I feel quite happy about it.

Day 201 blasts the AC

I absolutely love driving with the windows down. Frizzy hair be damned, if it's not raining in the summer, my windows will be down. Today was unbearably hot. Even after dark it must have still been in the 90s. It was so hot and humid, in fact, that I put on the air conditioning while driving home. The next few days will be just as hot, if not hotter, so it looks like I'll be putting my AC to good use.

Day 200 can't see a thing

Apparently a pretty intense fog rolled into Chicago today. We missed it in the afternoon, but tonight as we went into downtown we got to see it first hand. The loss of visibility was a bit startling, but picturesque. It was pretty gorgeous and creepy at the same time. I have never seen fog quite like this before and I was totally into it. Chicago is just full of surprises!

Day 200, dawg.

Can you believe it's already Day 200!? This little licorice dog was excited about it - until I ate him.

Day 199 can't take the heat

I'm pretty excited that I survived this wildly hot day without passing out from heat stroke or dehydration. It took many hours after waking up for Em and I to even work up the energy to make breakfast (happened at noon), and then another few hours to start even thinking about getting ready for our day, which ended up including a trip to the post office. The lady who worked there, also suffering from the heat, was moving at a pace that I have just never experienced before. Sluggish is putting it mildly. Heat just makes everything feel like a work out, even the super tough things in life, like standing up. Tomorrow it's gonna be hotter. I think we're hitting 102º. You'll find me in front of my AC for most of the day. :)

Day 199 has new shades

Check out these fun new nail polish shades! I'm currently rocking the minty green color, creatively called "Light Green." With these options, I'm glad it's summer and I can show off different shades on my toes and fingers.

Day 198 is a hot one!

It was a hot, soupy, humid day in Chicago. Miserably, terribly hot. To add to this joy, the power was out in our apartment for a good chunk of the night so we couldn't use any AC. Ugh!! Thankfully we had a cool place to crash and hang out at until our power went back on. This fantastic (and air conditioned) pad also happened to be the home of my newest best friend. Olive is the sweetest little pup I ever have met and I just love her and want to keep her forever and ever. Isn't she the cutest??

Day 198 is a visionary

As promised, here's a Baltimore photo. We went to the American Visionary Museum. If you've never been, I recommend checking it out. The building is covered in a beautiful mirror mosaic. At the entrance of the museum, is an old school bus, also covered in mirror. It's decked out in weird little items, like this badass rabbit here. I want to recreate this set up in front of my house. Art project!

Day 197 is beautiful

I went to a fantastic little sushi joint right by my apartment for lunch (the sushi was divine), and on our way out I spotted this fancy little mailbox. The sticker just made me so happy. Like a little message of love and happiness injected into your day. How lovely, Chicago.

Day 197 for breakfast

Cinnamon waffle with honey peanut butter and bananas. The perfect quick breakfast before hitting the road. I'm going to Baltimore for the night with my folks. Stay tuned for some travel photos tomorrow! Happy weekend friends!

Day 196 and a view from the top

I took an unexpected ride on the ferris wheel at Navy Pier last night. My fear of heights and general uncomfortableness with being that far up off the ground prevented me from taking more than one pic, but I did manage to take some deep breaths and get this shot. It was actually nice up there when I wasn't focused on being scared out of my mind.

Day 196 and blue skies

It's Friday! Finally! And could this weather be any better? I'm always grateful for blue skies and sun. After a long week, I'm very excited to celebrate a friend's birthday tonight. Drinks, food, laughs? Yes please.