downtown Chicago adventures

I'm completely stressed out. Every time I plan on moving out of my apartment and plan on getting a roommate it falls through. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I was supposed to move in with a friend of mine who was planning on moving to Chicago this year. I haven't talked to him since the beginning of May and at that point he was sure he was moving here. Earlier this month I tried contacting him because I needed his half of the security deposit if I was going to find a place. He never responded to me, leaving me stranded yet again. Everyone I know is coupled up and living with their other half. I really don't want to go into a blind roommate situation. I just don't know what to do anymore. I hate doing this but I have 2 more people I can literally beg to live with me. One said that they might move in with other people but wasn't sure. The other I don't know what is going on with her apartment but it's worth a shot. Tomorrow my lease is due if I want to renew which means I HAVE to move out. I have never been this frustrated/upset/scared. I would consider moving back to Michigan if I didn't have only 1 semester left and a guaranteed amazing internship. I have to figure things out just so I can graduate.

Aside from that depressing aspect of my life, I had an amazing day off today. I woke up early to go and get my blood tested for these pills I have to take. I've been meaning to do it for 2 weeks now but have been so busy. After that I went to financial aid to talk to the lady who is handling my case. She went to lunch minutes before I arrived so I had to waste some time. I ended up going to the Art Institute and checking out the new modern wing. It was worth the wait. They had some amazing work. There was a Jeff Koons piece (photo taken from some mystery website). After studying him it was exciting to finally see his work in person.



I then came across prints of my favorite artist. It was a piece by Sherrie Levine called "After Egon Schiele." The piece consists of seven gelatin silver and eleven chromogenic prints. I didn't have a camera and only had my phone. Here's a shitty photo, but a photo none the less.




After that little adventure I ended up at Starbucks in dire need of caffeine. It has been since November since I had a cup of coffee. What started it was that in December I realized I didn't have coffee for the whole month of November and decided to see how long I can go without it. It is now the second to last day of June and I caved in. I was so sick of iced tea and a caramel soy iced coffee sounded amazing. It's okay. I'm still not having any espresso.

THEN... I headed back to my school for financial aid. Met up with Hellena (my financial aid lady). Found out I won't be getting a $3,000 grant because I don't have a Illinois license but the good news is that after all my financial aid goes through I only have to pay $800 out of pocket for the last semester. So good news there, who knows if I'm actually going to be able to go or if I'll be homeless. Okay, I wouldn't be homeless, I'd just be living in some shitty apartment and having to commute an hour to work, school and internship. I'm contemplating calling up my apartment people and seeing if I can extend my lease 2 months.

After my adventure downtown I ended up going out for a late lunch with a friend. We had sushi at Hatsu Hana, one of my favorite places in Chicago. We then headed to Argo tea for a soy mate latte and continued our journey to Pastoral, a wine, cheese and bread store. We sampled some cheeses, some amazingly delicious, some completely disgusting. I ended up buying "barely buzzed" which is a cheddar that is hand rubbed with lavender, espresso and vegetable oil. I think it would go perfect with a Guinness or an earthy red wine.

Tomorrow is cleaning day and hopefully day 1 of packing.

busy busy busy

Things I mentioned in my last post but never wrote about:

The grocery cart story - my legs are still bruised from this incident. A couple of weeks ago I went grocery shopping with my little bubby (old lady) cart. It only fits two of my grocery bags in it but I had 3 of them. I'm making my way to my block and I'm almost to my apartment when all of a sudden my cart hits a crack in the sidewalk and tips over. My foot gets stuck underneath it and I fly over the cart and land on my shoulder. Hummous, spinach and other delicious foods in the back on top fall all over the sidewalk. This girl was walking towards me when this happened and helped me pick up all my groceries. I only had one more building to go and by the time I got to my place, my knee bleed through my jeans. It was quite the site to see. Embarassing, yet hilarious. My shoulder was sore for a week and I couldn't lift anything heavier than 5lbs. It was intense.


Fischerspooner - I went and saw them in concert while I was in Detroit. Amazing. The whole show was this ridiculous performance art piece. The two friends I went with said it was the most bizarre thing they have ever seen and would probably have nightmares. I on the other hand have dreams about seeing them again. The costumes, the lights, the music, it was perfect. I could have done without the weird dancers, but it suited the whole show. I wish I took pictures.

Hydrag Revue - June 13th was my birthday, which landed on a Saturday. Every Wednesday my friends and I go to Hydrate for the drag show that a friend hosts. Taj (the host) was told it was my birthday which meant I was brought up on stage with a few other people to do a birthday shot. While I was onstage doing the whole "What's your name, how old are you" schpeel my friend yells out, "She's wearing a butt plug." Taj turned her head around to me and said "Girl, are you wearing a butt plug?" I'm completely embarrassed because I hate being the center of attention/butt of a joke (no pun intended). As my face becomes bright red and I'm trying to defend myself my friend yells out, "It's been in for 2 days!" There was more embarrassment, a couple of threats I shouted out to my friend, and a ton of laughter. This story still gets told every time I hang out with them.

Speaking of my birthday, I had a decent time. My friends took me out for sushi, I got a tea pot and a ton of money (which i still have to write thank you notes to on Monday.) I ended up at my favorite bar in Chicago, Delilah's. Other friends showed up, lots of tequila was involved, and I somehow ended up being out till 5am.


So far it has been an eventful summer. This weekend is pride so I'm extremely busy but I'll try and write a decent post when I get home from work tonight or tomorrow.