Spring 2018 Recap

Okay, listen. I had all intentions of keeping up with my blog with my full-time job, but it’s difficult! Not only am I busy from 8 to 6:30 (that’s including my commute), but I have a social life again after being gone from the city for almost two years. Your girl is straight-up tired. AND here’s the (somewhat) sad truth. My days run into each other, my weeks run into each other, and my months run into each other. Not much changes day-to-day so it would have been a veritable copy/paste from one month’s recap to the next. So instead of being late with my April and May recaps where I also might have had to address that I turned 33, I present you with my SPRING recap, or rather some highlights from a very busy season, that started with a weekend with my family for Easter:

Untouchables Bus

Chicago | An Untouchables Mobster Tour of the Windy City

He waved a gun at the entire bus while yelling, “Shut up, everybody!” Then he grinned and said, “That’s how you say ‘hello’ in Chicago.” The gun was fake, as was his “gangster” accent, but he stayed in character for the whole bus ride. He was “Baby Face Bambino,” the bus driver was “Shoulders”, and I was there for “Chicago’s Original Gangster Tour” with Untouchable Tours.

May 2017 Recap | Chicago, Madison, NJ

Dog-sitting in Chicago for most of May felt like a no-brainer to me. For the last few months, I’ve had a flexible, freelance, remote job working on TripSavvy.com, which just launched on May 15. I could either work from the various libraries in and around my hometown, or I could work while staying for free in the city of Chicago. I have a few friends in the city and had plenty I wanted to see, do, and eat that I’d missed from my first long weekend there. The fact that I’m obsessed with puppies was another bonus.

2015 Resolution. Check.

It seems that I make resolutions on a weekly basis. Because I am ridiculously hard on myself (as even my Fluent City French teacher pointed out during my third class), I’m always picking things out that I should do better and things I should stop doing. “Always be a work in progress” has been a quote on my Facebook profile since college. But last year for my *official* 2015 resolution, I chose something that wouldn’t make me feel bad about myself and wouldn’t make me question my past mistakes. The resolution, the goal, was to explore 15 new places during the year of ’15.

Is the Hot Dog a Sandwich?

If you’ve been on the internet this week, you have probably heard the newest, most important debate since “What color is this dress?!” The question these days is…is a hot dog a sandwich?

Chicago, IL | An ExBEERience in Chicago

Not only was I lucky enough to participate in a food tour when I was in Chicago last month, I also had the opportunity to do a beer tour, which is something I’d never done before while traveling. I am definitely a beer girl over any other type of alcohol (read about my Struggle with Port Wine), but I also am now in my 30s and (very) unable to drink as much as I did in my college glory days, so I was curious how the day would go.

Chicago, IL | The (Deep) Dish on Chicago Food Planet

Last weekend was my first time ever in Chicago, visiting my friend Kristyn who moved there about a month ago. I’d wanted to go several times before, including last fall, when my cousin Em ran the marathon. With my luck, of course the marathon was the same weekend as a wedding I was in. Neither party would reschedule, so I chose the wedding. Since it took me so long to get to Chicago, I knew I had to make the most of it when I finally arrived.