>>>>

in my last post i talked about how my family came to chicago from michigan to see me this past week. wednesday my mom and sister came in on a train. i went to to union station to pick them up. my mom had been to chicago with me before long time ago, but it was my sister's first time here! i was excited for her to see the city for the first time!  once they got here, i took them to the chicago diner for lunch, i showed my family millennium park, and we went to water tower place for some shopping. thursday, i took my family to see my school, we had vegan pizza at karyn's cooked, and we went to the art institute! friday, was more of a relax day. steve made my family a big lunch, and then they headed for the union station for their train back home! it was really nice having them here and i am going to miss being able to see them whenever i want. 


(these photos were taken on my phone, so sorry if the quality isn't that good). 

down low + up high

this week was full of adventures! steve's mom was in town this week, as well as my mom and sister. on monday steve's mom took us up to the john hancock observatory, which took us 94 stories above michigan avenue! it was a great experience. i loved all the views! i can just imagine how beautiful it would look at night, too.

tuesday i went to my orientation. i was so excited to go and see all the people who were going to be my classmates for the next 10 months. there were about 13 people that were there for the orientation along with me. they told us the dress code and filled us in on some things, and we introduced ourselves to everyone. this week i will go in for my very first day of class! 

don't forget: once i hit 100 i am going to be doing a giveaway! only 1 more follower to go.

exploring

this week my mom and sister came to chicago to visit me. i've been taking them all around the city to see all my favorite places. i will do a post this weekend with more pictures and details of the fun!

4 simple goals

elsie from a beautiful mess started a project called '4 simple goals' that i have decided to participate in. here are the guidelines of the project:

1. choose simple goals that will make your life richer and happier on a daily basis. choose things you may not otherwise get done but that are not difficult to accomplish. 

2. do not choose result oriented goals, choose activity oriented goals. for example.... instead of "lose 10 pounds", choose something like "eat fresh fruits and vegetables every day". get what i'm saying? positive actions instead of just the end result! 

3. choose goals that are personal that you believe will truly make your life richer just by doing them! they can be daily, weekly or one time experiences. 

4. choose a reward for each goal as it is accomplished! it can be a small or large reward. 

5. blog your goals, each one as you achieve it and a big post when they are all finished before the new year!

here is a list of my 4 'simple goals':

1. hang art up on my bare walls! having just moved into a new place and getting everything else organized, i haven't had time to hang up all my art on the walls. i want to figure out which should go in what room and how they should be grouped together. 

2. do back-strengthening exercises every morning! i've been having trouble with body imbalance and sciatica coming and going for the past couple of years. to help counteract this, you can do exercises to strengthen your back. i want to get in the habit of doing exercises every morning; that way my back can be strong and i hopefully won't experience this again. 

3. eat fruit everyday! i know that when i eat fruit, i feel great! i feel healthy, and i feel happy, so why not do it every day?

4. do something fun every weekend! i never knew what to do in michigan because i lived in the middle of nowhere. now i live in a great city, and i want to take advantage of it by going on more dates with my boyfriend and doing fun things every weekend.

exciting news!

i have a special treat for all my readers... a (future) giveaway! soon after i hit 100 followers, i am going to have a giveaway! i currently have 95 followers: only 5 more until i hit 100!
 
i appreciate each and every one of you that check out my blog and check out what i have to share. this giveaway is in honor of you! 

'stay tuned' for more information!

shakuhachi

bambi northwood-blyth for shakuhachi s/s '11.

the art institute of chicago

today was my first time being down in the loop since i moved. steve and i went to the art institute of chicago; they have free admission every thursday evening. the line was so long when we got there, but it moved pretty quickly, and we were inside in about 10 minutes. once we were in, steve and i went to see our favorite type of art, modern art. it took a bit of time looking at the art and we only got through the modern wing today. i hope we can go back sometime soon and see the rest of the art that's at the museum. 

ellsworth kelly, black and white (1960-61).

joan miró, portrait of juanita obrador (1918).

earlier in the week, steve took me out to a lovely vegan restaurant to celebrate our 5 year anniversary. it was called karyn's cooked. i had fresh squeezed lemonade and steve had a blueberry flavored izze to drink. for our appetizer, we had thai skewers; for the main course, we had a vegan pizza on thin whole-wheat crust, topped with homemade soy cheese, marinara sauce, seitan, and veggies; and for dessert, we shared a slice of vegan blueberry cheesecake. it was a wonderful evening. i really liked eating at karyn's, the food was delicious, and i loved the vibe of the place. i will definitely be eating there again!

my new apartment!

i am finally living in chicago! it was a long day yesterday, getting everything moved here from michigan. i'm still really worn out from moving everything into the new place, haha. i am so happy to be here! there are going to be so many new things to do. i am excited!

we started out at about 8 am on saturday. steve's brother joe helped us. it was a long drive! took about 7 hours to get here from where we lived in michigan.  we got to chicago in the afternoon, picked up our keys, and headed to our new place! 

here is what it looks like. i will post some more photos of it once everything has it's place and i decorate. 

this is a lovely built-in closet that's in the bedroom.

this is the bathroom.

this is the hall closet.

these french doors open to the kitchen; so cute!

after we got all our belongings in the new place, we took joe to the chicago diner for dinner. it was so good.  i had the chickin' caesar salad, steve had the california reuben, and joe had the bbq"ribs" sandwich. we also all split a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough vegan milkshake, yum! 

today is steve's and my 5 year anniversary. i can't believe all the time that has gone by since we met in 2005. i'm so happy to see the way things have turned out with us. tonight we are going out to celebrate!