Hi! My name is Kate. Though it's still a bit of a shock to me, I live in Chicago. That's what this blog is about.
I was born in Cincinnati, a mid-sized city which people confuse for Cleveland or think is located in Iowa. It's only fair; Cincinnati is kind of a conservative, backwards, sleepy old city almost full of responsible people who buy cars that will last and have possibly never lived outside a one-mile radius in their entire lives.
So imagine how relieved I was when my family ventured out to Las Vegas to live when I was 18. I didn't settle in Vegas with them at first. I wanted to be freee! So I spent some time in Portland, barely qualifying for coffee shop positions and thoroughly traumatizing myself with a canvassing "job" with the Sierra Club. By the time I came back to Vegas, I was gasping for sunshine like air.
Oh, and then there was the time I lived in Northern California on the ridge of Tahoe National Forest with a bunch of off-the-grid second generation hippies. Back to Vegas I went, with a lifelong distaste for camping and newfound love of plumbing.
And so there I stayed in Vegas, soaking up the sunshine and the mountain views, completing my bachelor's degree in English, meeting and dating a few guys, and managing a small mom-and-pop shop. Eventually, I met a group of friends with whom I fell completely in love, and also met a guy for whom I fell even harder. Among all that, however, something else decided to fall: the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
In 2008 and 2009, my family experienced multiple layoffs and difficulties. By 2010, my stepdad was living away from us near Sacramento, CA, just to keep the family afloat. And the adjunct positions at the University, one of which my boyfriend held, became more and more squeezed. Something had to give. So in the same week, my boyfriend was offered a job at the University of Chicago and my parents decided to move to Iowa. Talk about having the rug pulled out from under you.
I had plans for something else entirely. I was going to apply to grad school in Southern California, where I was sure my talented boyfriend could find work. We were going to live happily ever after against Pacific Ocean sunsets and smog, visiting family and friends in Vegas often.
Why the hell was everyone fleeing to the Midwest? To the hole I had clawed my way out of? To mountain-less landscapes? To snow?!? But I had little choice. I wasn't going anywhere in Vegas either, and I wasn't ready to leave my loved ones and go it alone in SoCal.
So the choice was Pella, Iowa (population, like, 5 or 6 people) or Chicago. Windy City, here I came. When my boyfriend and I arrived here (after absolute sobbing throughout the entire states of Arizona and New Mexico and some VERY trying times in Texas and southern Illinois), we were in a state of culture shock. Where were we supposed to park? What exactly is the El? (L?) And where were our central air and garbage disposal???
To make matters worse, our first winter brought the second worst blizzard in Chicago history: Snowmageddon. It's actually a Wikipedia entry. 21 inches of snow, 4 foot snow drifts, makeshift sidewalks, and unplowed streets the likes of which we could never have imagined bombarded us somewhere between Tuesday and Wednesday the first week of February. To make matters worse, my boyfriend had to attend a conference in DC that Thursday. So, enraged with Chicago, with the Universe, with Fate itself, and my car stuck in the snow for an indeterminate amount of time, I angrily stomped to and from the 14-mile ride on the Metra and El every day for three days to get to the retail job I despised. Things were not looking so good. I hated Chicago. I. Wanted. To. Leave.
But then something(s) happened. I got accepted into the MA program at DePaul. Spring/summer eventually came somewhere around the third week of June, and I discovered the "beach." And I started taking anti-depressants and anti-anxiety pills. (This may or may not be related...) Chicago, pleased with its sufficient abuse of me, began to ease up. I met people and came to love them. I got a better position at work. And, most importantly, I started learning the ropes.
The icing on my cake is that 5 months ago, my sister moved here after graduating from the University of Reno. So, now Chicago feels like home. And I've noticed that over the short two years I've lived here, I've amassed quite a stash of useful Chicago knowledge, ranging from the big to the small, from the significant to the silly. I happily dispense my wisdom, and my sister feels, well, grateful is how she puts it.
So I thought, why not share this stuff with more people? I mean, I can't have been the only lost soul in this city the first year or so that I was here. And I figure there's still a lot more for me to learn and to share. I'd love for this to be that kind of a place: a place where women can exchange their ideas, their advice, their wisdom. I would love to invite guest bloggers to talk about Chicago sacraments which I don't know so much about, like beer and the indie music scene.
I hope that you stick around and find something useful!
