Sweet [ fill-in-the blank] Chicago // #MakingMajorLifeDecisions

This weekend I followed the roads down Lake Michigan that led to Chicago! Green Bay is not exactly the most exciting place, I mean, it has it's moments. But for the most part, there is a reason why Wisconsin is known so well for beer... you generally need to be drunk to enjoy most of what's here!

Okay, cool your jets fellow Wisconsinites! That last statement was definitely harsh and not entirely true. Wisconsin is gorgeous with a bounty of outdoor activities, but, you have to admit, it does lack severely in the big city offerings.

Where in Wisconsin would streets be shut down for a huge festival celebrating the LGTB community? I can't think of anywhere either. I happened to have an appointment in Boystown on Saturday where I was greeted with the rowdy crowds for Market Days. Unfortunately I missed out on Neon Trees performing Today! 

It's okay though, because I got an even more interesting show by some fabulous queens! These ladies seriously know how to radiate confidence and gather crowds! 

This is the one street in Chicago I know I know I will never be harassed by men.

Now, for the real reason I drove down to Chitown this Saturday?

I signed a lease! 

That appointment I mentioned above, was with my new real estate company! In a month I'll be packing my bags and moving down to the most perfect, little studio apartment! I am currently in progress of applying to Dev Bootcamp, an intensive 9-week course that pumps out some pretty solid web developers... and I hope to make myself one of them! 

Here's a sneak-peek into the furnishings and decor of my soon-to-be room. I've already named my new apartment "The Bullpen", because I clearly have no shame and I basically grew up in barns. Between Ikea, Target and the many junk piles of my parent's backyard, I have been able to go wild with turning my inner-city apartment into a little piece of Wisconsin. Yes, there's going to be a cowhide rug and bull-horns along with lots of natural, exposed wood.

All I think it needs is more cowbell! 

Cheers!

#BigPlans // #BigCity // #LittleBlogPost

So, I have some big, exciting, semi-ambitious plans in the works! And no, unfortunately it does not involve moving to Chicago. Even as sweet as that would be, I have to be satisfied with mere weekend trips to get my fix of big city life. As much as I'd love to get back into a real city, that's going to have to wait a little bit longer... 

I did tease myself last weekend as I drove into the city and immersed myself back into crowds of interesting folks, stunning architecture and the constant hustle. I had to stop myself multiple times from even entertaining the idea of moving down here! As much as I'd love to, I reminded myself the situation I have up in Wisconsin is good.... especially for saving money. 

The money I'm saving is pretty crucial for what I have planned in the next coming months, I won't tease too much since there is still a lot of planning and figuring out of visas'n'such, *hint hint*. BUT(!), my weekend in Chi-town revolved around a two-day class that I hope will help significantly with my grand plans! 

There is a fantastic group called Girl Develop It, if you haven't heard of them, check it out! They're based in a lot of major U.S. cities and even a few international ones. They are an incredibly welcoming community of female (and some male) coders that hold regular meetups and classes. I took a two-day intermediate HTML and CSS class that I learned a heap from!

I am continuing on with several online courses to further the mind-boggling task of learning to build websites. I really want to immerse myself to the level of being able to pretty much do everything myself as much as possible, and the class I took verified this is going to be a long process! So far Skillshare, Lynda, Skillfeed & Treehouse are all proving to be fantastic resources to expedite the process! I'm loving Skillshare and Treehouse the most so far! 

What all this basically means is that you may see a makeover done to this blog very soon, one that includes ditching blogger. Gasp! I'm super excited though to learn Wordpress and play with my new Adobe Creative Cloud programs and features! I finally stopped being stingy after many failed attempts to torrent it and first now realized how nice and extensive the new cloud service really is! 

I have a lot to keep me busy with this summer, but I'll do my best to continue storytelling about my European, Tasmanian and Great Lakes trips I took last year! 

Cheers!

Chicago Onwards

Torsten and I had originally planned a very ambitious road trip, giving ourselves only a few days and a limited budget to really explore Chicago with. In other words, we walked around, looked at pretty things and basically only spent the occasional buck for grub. But just because we chose the cheap way to experience the city, doesn't mean we were any less fulfilled than the people who actually have money. Yup, Money you suck and I'll stretch the heck out of you if I have to and will still be awesome. 

This trip was a prime example of doing just that. I have been posting about our gallivanting around Chicago for the past couple weeks now (you can see them by clicking here) and as I wrap-up retelling of those few days, I want to emphasize what a great time we had without spending more than a few hundred dollars between the two of us. And really most of that was the private room we opted for at our hostel. We enjoy the little luxuries in life. 

Our last evening here was probably the most gorgeous. After we had visited Millennium Park, we immersed ourselves into the city, starting with the Chicago Riverwalk. Along the appropriately titled Chicago River is a pedestrian walkway lined with amazing architecture and cozy cafes. If you are up for splashing some cash, there are a slew of informal, guided tour options that go along the historic river. 

From the Riverwalk, going east-bound, leads you through a couple smaller, interesting parks before arriving at at Navy Pier. Comparable to Coney Island and Santa Monica Pier, it is a quintessential attraction that all breeds of tourists flock to. Along with the overpriced attractions and kitschy restaurants is a really prime view of the city, lake and some good ole people watching. While it seemed more family oriented, we still enjoyed walking around the pier before heading back to the city streets. 

After much debate over the Willis Tower (formerly known as Sears Tower) or the John Hancock Center to get our ultimate Chicago view, we did the savvy option of going to the Signature Lounge in the John Hancock Center. We spent around the same money, had the amazing view over the city during sunset and had some drinks and dessert to enjoy it over. It was more intimate and lavish experience that actually ended up saving us a couple bucks.

Out of the entire trip, the Signature Lounge ended up making the biggest impression on us. We arrived about an hour before sunset, securing us a spot with a great view where we dawdled with our drinks and dessert a bit as we experienced the sunset and lights of the city turn on, from 95 floors up. We still reminisce over this experience the most and could easily see reliving it every time we visit Chicago. 

After the Hancock, we wandered back to the Hostel and packed-up our bags in anticipation for the next leg of our trip. The highlight of our next destination ended up, oddly enough, being our hotel. Yes, we actually stayed in a hotel with an indoor pool, sleep number beds and(!) our very own bathroom. That hotel was cheaper than many hostels I've booked and you can find it in the next city we visited. Stay tuned! 

Check out the places mentioned in this post

Chicago Riverwalk  /  Navy Pier  /  Signature Lounge

Doing it Right // The Bean

It's big, it's shiny, it's the ultimate selfie machine and technically it's not even really called 'The Bean'. It is Chicago's most iconic tourist magnet, luring folks from all corners of the world to stare not only at themselves, but also strangers, apologetically. It is Anish Kapoor's biggest contribution to the Chi-town. It is Cloud Gate.  

What really attracts me to oversized fun mirror is that is is the most ideal people watching prop. Really, as a self-confessed people-creeper, this structure is the crème de la crème. Walk inside and your have full, 360 views of tourists doing all sorts of bat-shit crazy poses. People really get into taking photos of themselves here, just imagine hoards of already snap-happy tourists with a distorted view of themselves with an amazing skyline. And yes, Torsten and I were a couple of those tourists. Those photos are hidden away in a heavily guarded folder. 

Have you been to the 'the bean'? What's your favorite, quirky city icon? 

Be sure to check out my other Chicago posts,

Cheers! 

Being a Tourist // Chicago

After a night over gin and tonics at the infamous Green Mill Cocktail Lounge (known for being Al Capone's gin joint of choice back in the day), we planned the next day to discover the 'must see's' of Chicago. Our route started with walking around museum campus, home to the Shedd Aquarium, Field Museum and Soldier Field and led us through the city's most popular parks. 

While we opted out of actually going inside of any of the museums in order to save money for the weeks of travel ahead, walking around the grounds was an attraction of its own! Growing up a few hours from Chicago I, at some point, had been to most of the attractions here, though was surprised to realize that I couldn't remember really venturing much outside of the buildings! There were plenty of photo ops and sculptures to keep us amused for the morning walk.

After exploring museum campus we had lunch and made our way towards the city. The way from the campus is pretty much straight-up urban parks and green space with sprinklings of statues and gardens that are pretty enough for min-breaks. The most noteworthy is the Buckingham Fountain. I have seen water parks smaller than this fountain. It also makes for a great photo-op with a perfect view of the skyline behind it. 

Just when you thought you were impressed with Chicago's inner-city parks, then comes Millennium Park.  If you've been in Chicago and haven't been here, you've done something seriously wrong. The size of this park is more condensed, though that's probably a plus for those who don't believe in walking. 

Millennium Park is kind of this culturally beautiful, adult playground. A few noteworthy points of interest are the Crown Fountain, Pritzker Pavillion and of course, Cloud Gate.  It is also across the street from  one of my all-time-favorite art museums, the Art Institute of Chicago (again, we unfortunately didn't make it there this trip to save the money). 

While in the park, it is pretty much mandatory to kick off your shoes and splash around in the Crown Fountain while watching the faces change and eventually spit on you.  Then there is testing the acoustics of Pritzker Pavillion by yodeling. Remember, part of being a tourist is having no shame. 

Up next is how to do this iconic Chicago attraction right!

Check out the places mentioned in this post

Green Mill  /  Museum Campus  /  Field Museum  /  Grant Park /  Buckingham Fountain  /

  Millennium Park /  

A day in Chicago for 99c

While Torsten and I were in Chicago, we stayed at a pretty great hostel. We had our own room, it included a decent breakfast,we managed to find a free parking spot to leave the car for the few days we were there and(!) it was just a short trot from the northern bit of Lincoln Park.

 Located a smidge north of downtown and along Lake Michigan's coastline, it is easy to spend a whole day wandering around this suburban park, and the best part? Just about everything within this lush entanglement of trails is FREE. Yep, the zoo, conservatories, gardens and of course those stunning views of the Lake Michigan and Chi-town's skyline. 

 Being late August, it felt like we had the park to ourselves on one of the last summer-feeling days of the year. It was warm, relaxing, entertaining and the only thing we spent money on was a 99c can of Torsten's favorite Arizona tea. We gulped that sucker down laying on the grass, hearing the waves of the lake crash to the left and towering buildings ahead.

99c by day, $10 by night

Later that night our hostel even gave us free entry into the Kingston Mine's blues club. Even on a Wednesday night the club was alive with a full crowd, and the blues rolled late into the night. Though we didn't really have the intention of staying too long or drinking, a bucket of Old Styles and Miller High Life's quickly changed that.

For one of the cheapest days you could possibly spend in Chicago, you really can't go wrong with Lincoln Park and it's bountiful, nearby offerings.

The Must Do's 
in Lincoln Park

Lincoln Park  /  Chicago Hot Dog  /  Kingston Mines  /  Getaway Hostel