Brotherhood of the Traveling Office

... well, it would be a brotherhood, if I had any bros here, anyway. I'm working (for the third day in a row) out of the Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins a couple blocks from our new apartment in Chicago. Every morning I come in, pay $1.09 for an iced coffee, and milk it for all it's worth by nursing it for a couple of hours while abusing the free wi-fi. After today, though, I'm moving this operation to a new coffee shop each day (hence the "Traveling Office" title, also inspired by Rachel recently staying up until 2am to watch the sequel to the Rory Gilmore/Ugly Betty vehicle/sensation) until we have internet set up in the apartment. Tomorrow's office? Cherub which the yelp reviews say "smells like grandma's attic." Can't wait!

Despite the bleak initial picture with regards to coffee shops here (seriously walked two miles down a main street in an unsuccessful search for a coffee shop with free wi-fi -- I don't think that's even possible in Seattle), we're off to a good start here. The apartment is way bigger than we need, particularly since we have no furniture other than the bed which (self-congratulation alert!) I successfully "built" (read: assembled with the helpful picture-instructions of IKEA). Each day brings new adventures and misadventures, the latter being particularly fun in the freakish (or perhaps even worse -- the routine??) 90-degree heat.

We've also been exploring some of the local cuisine and will surely be taco/burrito/torta experts of the first order. I've been furiously trying to keep up with Yelp reviews after each experience, too!) We also found a swingin party to watch the Lost series finale -- part of the Brew and View series at the Vic Theater. As it turns out, it was a good thing, too: the excitement of the crowd definitely buoyed spirits through the at times underwhelming and at other times plain frustrating 3.5-hours (Check out the Slate guys' discussion of the finale, too!). Reminds me of hooting with glee at a midnight showing of "Attack of the Clones" only to find out much much later that Yoda's sparring match with Dooku was actually pretty ridiculous.

Now that I'm settling into some sort of a routine (shyeah right), hopefully I'll be able to post more. There's definitely stuff to say! Until next time, keep cool and go Hawks!

The Big Onion

I've already stumbled upon my new favorite nickname for Chicago, my soon-to-be home sweet home ... "The Big Onion." I like it for so many reasons. 1) I love onions. 2) I like how it compares to "The Big Apple." 3) I like that it comes from the meaning behind the Potawatomi word "Checaugou" which means 'wild onions.' Apparently there were a bunch of wild onions growing at the mouth of the Chicago river when they arrived there? 4) I've already used the term once in talking to a Chicago resident (granted, not a Chicago native, but still ...) and they admitted to never having heard of it before!