adventures in chicago with laura

Long time no see, everyone. It has been far too long since I've updated this blog, so it's high time I keep everyone abreast of what's going on my life. Over the past 6 months, I spent a glorious weekend in July in Chicago with my dear friend Laura, (whose blog you should totally check out: http://lauraelise.tumblr.com/) took a solo trip to New York, went to the 2nd annual Ohio Beard and Mustache Festival in Columbus, participated in Help Portrait (more on that later), and spent Christmas in Orlando with my two lovely sisters, my brother-in-law, and my adorable nephew, Townes.

Chicago is not a city that I see myself living in, but Laura and I went on a whim one weekend and it was a blast.

The bean! A true tourist magnet. I embraced the inner tourist.

...and then I had a heart attack when I saw a free Onion vendor...

I loved hanging around this fountain and watching how fearless some kids are. Their blithe spirit was inspiring.

...then, off to Chinatown!

...not complete without delicious Vietnamese food, of course...

They appeared to have some affinity for hoards of lanterns, which I had no qualms with. Lovely.

This woman played the violin, guitar, bells, and yes, she was also wearing tap dancing shoes.

What struck me most about Chicago was the efficiency of it, the seamless commuting, but of course I'll have to comment on how painstakingly "hip" it was. There was an entire strip of stores in Wicker Park area that was dedicated to wedging in as many vintage/eclectic shops as they possibly could per square foot. Granted there was some music festival going on that gave the air a perfume of sweaty hipsters, but all in all it was still a positive experience.

This is where Laura and I found the record store with the photo booth inside. This wasn't just any photo booth, though, as Laura and I discovered, but one that actually processed the photograph manually within the machine. You can see the developed line at the bottom and the print was damp when it came out of the machine.

The food was incredible. I'm going to interject a small advertisement for Lillie's Q. Amazing.

I had my first official bloody mary with this breakfast, and it was flawless. It made me wish every morning could start late and with a heaping breakfast.

My friend Matt Halvorson recommended Andy's Music, and I'm so glad we went. They had every kind of instrument imaginable, and most I'd never heard of. They specialize in world instruments, so of course there was a room full of sitars. Why wouldn't there be?

Yankee. Hotel. Foxtrot. (a side note...I took an unhealthy amount of pictures of these towers)

Street magician.

Kids on the subway. The girl in the middle did a small pole dance for us. (what?)

e had to have Chicago style pizza, but after being spoiled with all the food we had the day before, it seemed lackluster.

It was so refreshingly easy to get around in Chicago, I wondered why Cincinnati couldn't have a mass transit system like the L (Cincinnati apparently can't have anything nice, like a reckless child).

I do, however, still strive to find something new and beautiful in Cincinnati every day that I can. I'm still discovering these little obscured, forgotten retreats in the corners and rough edges of the city. I just realized that I've never even been to the Underground Railroad Museum, but perhaps it's because I don't thrive on subjecting myself to "an experience" so much as I like to choose my own adventure, use my imagination, and grow through that process.

I'll soon post about my experiences in New York.

with curiosity and love,

-Natalie

adventures in cooking, city exploring, and art museuming.

This is my little pad, looking in from my private rooftop (that I like to treat like a porch). Some nights, I love just sitting outside with a glass of wine and my guitar. I love summer nights for that very reason. I find refuge in it.

A couple of Saturdays ago, my friend Kristen and I attempted a plan to have ladies night potluck at my place, but we failed at our efforts to organize. Each person who had wanted to come originally had other plans or ended up not feeling well, so we had our own little potluck. I made a scrumptious chickpea curry that I have to brag about here because I started from scratch. It was fun to make, though, and I couldn't complain about how wonderful it made my whole apartment smell.

I recently had the unfortunate experience of having my bike stolen off my own front steps. I have no serial number, but luckily I took this photo in our old apartment because I was so proud to bring out Schwinny from the depths of the back stairway into the light of Spring. I suppose I've learned my lesson to never leave my bike locked up out front of a building (at least in Cincinnati), but now I have the opportunity to scope out a really cool bike on Craigslist or flea market.

My fire escape is spilling over with an abundance of compost, so much so that I had to employ a dinner plate to accommodate for the surplus. I noticed recently that butterflies have taken over the compost, like this guy here. I have to say, I prefer them to flies any day.

I went exploring last Sunday in the city I live in as though it were foreign to me, and it ended up being a blast. I found this skywalk above the square that weaves its way through a deserted building, over Walnut, and ends with a giant window overlooking the square.

I also took a trip to the art museum and didn't even graze the surface of the American art, much less the other regions of the world. But I took solace in the fact that I actually read most of the blurbs next to each piece that I looked at and educated myself a little on the ones that I really loved.

This was the courtyard in the middle of the museum and below is one of my favorites in the entire collection. This is definitely my favorite room, by far, and so it just feels appropriate that the painting lives inside it.

Oh yes, and a deer came out of the woods to munch on museum property shrubbery. Shame on you, deer. It didn't seem to mind how close I got to it for photographs and may have even been posing for me. Either way, it was an adventure-filled weekend that I hope will be a regular occurrence.

Until next time!

-Natalie