Chicago on Film, Photo Dump #1

I got back the seven rolls of film I dropped at the lab when I got back from Chicago on October 1st.
Where to begin? Seven rolls mean lots of pictures to state the obvious. :)
The first picture, the picture of me, was taken at my birthday party in June. I love to get pictures back from the lab and refresh all these memories from a few months ago. :)
This post is going to be a photo dump!

 Every time I go to Chicago, one of the first thing I go to is this sculpture, the Cloud Gate, or 'Bouboule' as we call it with my friend Estelle. I have so many pictures of it already from over the years but I just can't help myself!

I bought a nice tripod during our stay and couldn't wait to use it so we went on a walk with Greg and I took a roll of pictures of Chicago by night!

 I've never been a fan of this open stage in the Millenium Park but seeing these pictures, I'm starting to like it a lot!

The colors were changing, it was quite magical.

I think this is my favorite picture from this trip! On our walk at night to try out my tripod, we passed by the Hancock center, I looked up and saw it had its top lost in fog. It looked so surreal!

Coming back from the beach by the aquarium one day we caught this sight of the Buckingham fountain at dusk.

 We walked an awful lot for a month. When I got back to France my legs and feet were sore for few days. We only took the train twice. Once on the first day to go from O'Hare to our apartment and some other time to go to Elk Grove Village( Hobby Lobby and Walmart). I think we walked an average of 8miles a day. It felt great, I love walking.

At the beginning of our stay, we took a walk 'on the other side of the river', that is West Chicago and came by factories, and railroad tracks. It was a very a hot day, I was quite crabby. :p

Delicous and healthy food at Elly's on Clark.

Neo, a club, on Clark as well. I've never been inside, well I'm not a club person, but last year Greg took a picture of this wall and has been using it as a screen saver ever since. :) It looks very familiar now.

This is the door of a school in Lakeview East. The school is right next to the apartment we rented last year. It has many murals all over.

A cat that was watching passer-bys in a shop window. He reminded me of my cat who is also black and white.

This is it for today, I feel bad posting so many pictures and not having many things to say about them. But it's been a while since Chicago now. I wish I could have done that from over there but I didn't have a laptop nor did I find a place to get my films processed. But I'm just so glad I put my Grand Pa's old film camera to use. And I love the kind of dreamy/blurry/yellow aspect of film.

Home At Last

A week ago today we just got back home from the airport. Our month in Chicago had just ended. It was a fun month and I came back inspired and refreshed. I was supposed to start work last saturday. We got back to Paris on a Wednesday but my manager asked me to start the next day. That was harsh. I haven't had the time to do anything. No laundry, no sewing, no grocery shopping...

This was our routine in Chicago, almost every morning I would cook eggs and bacon. So different from our breakfasts here in France. They mainly consist of a bowl of cereals for me and a cup of coffee for Greg.

We went to the Lincoln Park Zoo a couple of times. This chimp pretty much express how I felt a few days ago. Sleepy and depressed. I came home thinking the life of my dreams would start and all the plans I had made just went out the window. The schedule I should have had at work has been completely rearranged without my knowing, leaving me less time to focus on my sewing. I was very angry. I'm so glad I have my colleagues though. They are a bunch of awesome people. We chat a lot, they are so interesting. 

One of my favorite places in Chicago is the Lincoln Park Observatory. It's a green house full of tropical plants. and like the zoo, the admission is free. How awesome is that? We always try to drop a few dollars in the box at the entrance though.

I finally been able to try my hands at block carving and printing. It had been on my to-do list for quite a while.

This is my new tattoo on my inner left arm. :D  

Chicago is such a beautiful city. I love the lake shore. The beach has really been my favorite place this year. I've been to Chicago seven times in nine years. I had never been swimming in the lake that much before this trip. What a blast!

Night ritual. Beer or wine or both. :p 

I'm glad I'm home. I had a grand time in Chicago but I couldn't wait to start working again. Even though this last week has been pretty tough on my nerves, I'm starting to catch the pace and bite the bullet about my job as a salesperson not going as I wanted. It's not that bad.

It's also exciting to start thinking about next year's trip. We have 11months now to come up with something nice. :p

For this post I just picked my favorite pictures from my digital reflex camera. Yesterday I dropped 6 rolls at the lab from my film camera. I cannot wait to get those back! 

Good Bye Chicago

It is Sunday and we are leaving Chicago on Tuesday. I feel much better than I felt in my previous entry, even though the end of our stay is almost here.

We have been able to go back to the beach since the weather is very nice again and it makes me feel so good. I really missed that, it was kind of a mood setter for the hole day. Swimming is very relaxing and bathing in lake Michigan feels like becoming one with it and the city. It must sound silly. But when I am in the water, I realize that I am HERE, in Chicago. I have nothing to worry about, really. 

Usually when I go back to France in October, I am buried in bills and taxes, but for once I still have money in my bank account and will be able to pay for everything. First time ever.

For the first time in a very long time I also go back to a steady job.

The only thing I have to worry about right now is how am I going to pack all the stuff I bought here in my  suitcase and take it to the airport.

Not even a real problem. ;)

Like a reflex, I would be tempted to say that I am going to miss the apartment we are in a lot. But when I think about it, it is not true at all. I think it is a nice apartment and I really made it my own for a month but I will not miss it one bit.

Sorry about the mess. :p 

A few days ago I was really excited about sharing pictures of the place but I realized I didnt have any real stories about it. It is just a place we slept at for a month and spread our stuff all over.

It is located in Old Town Chicago. Last year, the place we rented was in Lake View East and the neighborhood was awesome. Bookstore, tons of cool places to eat, my favorite record store ever: Reckless Records, the lake was close.... so many little things. But this time, we did not click as much with the area. That is really OK because it is close from erything. Everything is 30mn away walking, the Loop, Lake View, Wicker Park. All the places we love. And we have a very nice beach 10mn away.

But still, it did not do the trick for us.

I had a really fun time. I did a lot of things I really wanted to do. Last Thursday we have been to Blue Chicago, a bar on Clark street with live music. I have been wanting to go to this place for a long time and last year we almost went but backed out at the very last minute when we were at the door. 

That is really something I can cross off my bucket list now.

So many other new things, new restaurants, new walks, new beach...

 I got a tattoo by a different artist. Usually when I come to Chicago, I always get a tattoo by Jacob Kearney.  I have 5 pieces by him. But this time I needed to change.

I think that is the bottom line. As much as I love Chicago, I need a change. I want to see something else now. I guess that is why I have been feeling weird for the last few days. I slowly came to realize it was time to turn the page, at least for a while.

We have been talking about going to Portland, Oregon next year with Greg. It seems lovely and fun.

But for now, it is good bye Chicago. And I dont even feel sad about it.

One Week Left In Chicago...

Here we are, just another week left in Chicago. Usually by now I can not wait to go back home but this time my heart is breaking a little at the thought of leaving.

I wish I could have made posts on this blog about our every day life these past 3 weeks because it has been really sweet.( But I don't have a laptop and I wouldn't have been able to upload pictures from my camera on here, and I don't really see the point of posting pictures from my tablet for a whole month.)

The only remotely bad day I had was yesterday. It was sunday and we decided to stay at the apartment, it should have been a great day for me to sew and draw but I felt uninspired. Oh well, that's OK but I guess that's why I'm feeling quite confused and meh today.

It's funny how the first week of our stay went by so slowly. We went to the beach every morning and visited Chicago the rest of the day. That was awesome. Then we got tattooed Greg and I and it was over with the beach. The weather got pretty bad so we wouldn't have gone to the beach anyway. Our 'healthy' routine went out the window though and we didn't find nor did we look for something else to replace it. But again, that's OK. We did tons of cool stuff and had so much fun.

I did a lot of things I wanted to do here. I tried a bunch of different American wines. I worked at my sewing, not as much ass I wanted to but I guess I could never sew as much as I'd like. :p 

I've finally been to Hobby Lobby again. It was quite a trip, we had to walk to the loop, take the L to Rosemont station and then take the 606 bus to the store. One of my main goal, if not my main goal, when I go to the US is to load up on craft supplies, ad this time I scored big time. I got everything I need for this year projects. Everything on my list that is.

I think writing this post, I'm trying to make myself feel better, coming up with an assessment of the days gone by.

As I said usually by this time during my trips I want to go back home. This time it's diffferent. I've been able to work here and it's not usually te case. That's all I want in the end. (When I say work I mean sewing for my online shop.)

When I get home I have a pretty nice life to go back to. I'll be working as a salesperson selling cooking gear in my favorite parisian department store and I'll be working only 3 days a week. My dream job. Not a lot of responsabilities, with people i love, doing something I like. And the rest of the time I plan on visiting my family and friends and of course making my own sewing business grow. I think it's the first time in my life I have a plan. And I also think it's a pretty good plan. Working 3 days a week should cover my basic expanses and I'll have all the time I need to do what I really love on the side.
That's it for today, it's a beautiful day here in Chicago and I can't wait to go outside.
I'll be back shortly with a new post before we leave.
It's funny how I see the posts I write here as souvenirs I'll be able to read when I get home. But in the end, I think I'll really grasp how good was this trip after a few days back home judging on the memories I have of it. Memories, memories... That's all it will be... (Sorry for being so gloomy)

Life Lately

I haven't had or taken the time to write a post for this blog in weeks. I've been busy with work and my days off are pretty much the same and not very interesting.
I've had lots of ups and downs in these last few weeks, my Dad went to the hospital but got better pretty fast, we finally got our plane tickets to Chicago which is a real relief but puts some pressure on my shoulders as well (I'm always afraid I messed up the booking and that we'll be stuck at the airport and never leave France), the job I'll have in October will be awesome except that the contract isn't... So many little things with a good and a bad side.  Oh yeah and the whole water system of the apartment has been clogged since sunday, so no showers, no laundry and no dishes...
Every time we get some good news, some bad come right along. And vice versa. I'm either euphorical or crying, all the time.

I haven't had the time to cook in weeks, these pictures must be at least two weeks old and the clafoutis, congolais and tarte aux poireaux have been long gone. I miss cooking. It makes me feel so peaceful.
When I start work again in October I'll only be working 24h/week, 24hrs in 3 days. Something I've been wanting to do for a very long time. I'll be able to cook a lot more than I am now, I will be able to visit my family too, and most of the time I'll be sewing for my business. Dream life.

One of the few vaguely creative thing I've done lately is painting my nails again and trying new things. This is the only picture I took unfortunately and the manicure is a work in progress in this picture. Oh well... I'm not intending to write about beauty stuff anyway. At least not for now! :p

I've been drawing a teensy  bit. I'm planning on taking my sketchbook and all of my drawing stuff to Chicago, along with my sewing kit. I trully hope this is going to be a creatively packed vacation. I'll start by hitting the arts and crafts stores hoping it will give me a boost. Not a boost really because I'm longing to grab my sewing needles or pencils, but new materials means new ideas. It will be a brand new start.

A week ago I finally took the time to do something I've been wanting to do since 2007 when I discovered Blythe dolls. I bought my first doll with two goals in mind: use her as a model in photoshoots and make clothes for her. Real clothes, not just fabrics wrapped around her plastic body like I actually did. Now that I have a sewing machine, and a big bag of different fabrics (I've blogged about that here ), it was just the right time I guess. And I've been watching Project Runway, which actually inspired me to do it. I'll never have the skills those guys have. Sewing clothes is so tedious to me. You need too much discipline and patience and I guess I lack those two.

In totally different news, pigeons built a nest in the neighbor's flower bed. A little less than a month ago, there were two eggs in the nest. We've been watching the little family ever since and it's really thrilling!!!

The eggs hatched and the little birdies are growing bigger and bigger. That's our daily show.

I took the last two pictures yesterday. They're so big now, and they kind of look like vultures!! :) The first picture is from august 3rd I think, and we're august 26th! Can you believe how fast they grew? They've been batting their wings for a few days now, I guess they'll be trying to fly anyday now!
Thei neighbors left on vacation. They should be home soon. We'll leave them a note on their door to tell them they have pigeons in their flowers but that they should soon be gone. :)

So this has been life lately. I left out lots of things I'm pretty sure but that's ok, that'll teach me to write more regularly on here.

Saturday will be my last day of work. I really enjoyed the time I spent there, all the nice people I met and all the books I was able to read on the commute.
Our plane to Chicago leaves on Monday. I can't believe I'm almost there. My favorite place in the world. And I'll be there in a few days. I'm really trying to enjoy these last few days here in France because that's one of the best parts of travelling, the excitement it creates the days before you hop on a plane.