Yesterday was our first full day in the big city and we both really enjoyed it. It still feels as if we're visiting since we don't have any of our furniture and are still living out of suitcases.
We arrived on Tuesday around noon and boarded the "L" train from O'Hare and we didn't even have to get outside before it felt like you could have cut the air with a knife and our "Seattle Summer" clothes were stuck to us. Let me tell you, two suitcases (one a backpack), jeans, two layers of shirts, socks and shoes were not the best choice. By the time we got to the apartment finders that had our keys, we had to just sit for a few minutes on their couches in their air conditioning. Both of our shirts were soaked through!
By the time we reached our apartment (after another walk and another "L" train) we walked up our four flights of stairs to find that our landlords hadn't expected us for some reason. Lovely! The whole place was (is) covered in drywall dust and still had a ladder in the middle of our living room. In a matter of minutes Larry was at our door and showed Harold how to install air conditioner filters and how to change the batteries in the smoke detectors. At this point our shirts still hadn't dried, so this was pretty much the last thing on our list of things we wanted to be doing. However, Grace (Larry's wife) brought us up linens and a blow-up bed so we could sleep on something other than the hardwood floor. They had also turned on our air conditioner for us so we cooled down fairly fast.
Apparently there was a "heat index temperature" of 104 degrees that day, and man did it feel like it. It was around 94 degrees without the humidity.
We basically settled in (dried off), put different clothes on, then headed to an early dinner at our current favorite cafe a block north of us. We came back, blew up the bed, then fell asleep by around 7:30. Well, Harold was asleep by 7:30. We had a very exciting thunderstorm that evening where the lightening was constantly flashing across the sky. Then the thunder shook the building and the rain pounded on the window of our bedroom. I read the National Weather Service report while it was happening and it said to move to the lowest and most interior room of your house because of "deadly lightening, large hail, and winds in excess of 60 to 70 mph." Ha. Welcome to life outside the beautiful PNW!
Yesterday Harold and I took the bus into one of our favorite little neighborhoods (Andersonville) and met up with one of our favorite camp people (Weezer) who happens to be visiting a friend in the city! It was awesome to see a familiar face and be able to chat about something other than our move. We furniture shopped at a few cute antique stores, had lunch at an amazing sandwich place, and overall had a pretty wonderful afternoon.
In the evening Harold and I ate leftovers from the cafe while sitting on pillows in our empty living room (did I tell you the storage place in Chicago is closed on Wednesdays?!), then we decided to take a walk along the beach since the temperature was more enjoyable than Tuesday. It was stunning! We are hoping to make a evening ritual of it until the weather changes. We left the apartment feeling good about many of our choices that led us to this big city, and our walk confirmed it. We watched the sun set over our new city and realized that we are really really in this together.
And I wouldn't have it any other way.
No comments:
Post a Comment