Tens of thousands of people, let loose on the streets on downtown Chicago. Thousands more line the streets, clapping and hollering at loved ones and strangers alike. As I begin writing this blog post, my first ever, I sit from a 10th floor balcony at my friends' apartment in the Windy City (which, I was informed, is NOT because of the wind... us Indiana folk are grossly misinformed).
I headed up to Chicago this weekend to catch up with some pharmacy friends that I spent far too long apart from, shoutout to Meg and Carl for the lovely couch. On my way up on Friday, I stopped at Wabash to visit my brother for lunch and soon after I left, I realized my phone was dying abnormally fast. Now, I've had this iPhone for 3 years now and it's on its last legs, but today it was especially... bad. Relying on my phone for directions in Chicago, I watched as it dropped from 25% to 15% in under 90 seconds. It gets better because this grandpa-of-a-smartphone doesn't charge well and refused to charge in my car. Moments later, my car's brakes start making a peculiar noise. Wonnnderful. After talking to my parents on the phone and exchanging some stress-induced words, I wrote down the directions on paper (like this was still the 20th century, sheesh), buckled up, and continued north. I made it, thank God, a few hours later.
Friday night was spent with friends in Old Town and was mostly filled with pizza and care-free dancing. And in times like this, I am reminded of how fortunate I am to be surrounded by my fun, yet driven friends.
Saturday was divided in two parts; the first half of the day was spent chugging coffee, walking the city, and blowing money on clothes (whoops), while the second half was spent on a couch, cheering on Da Boilas to victory over Minnesohhhda, watching movies, and inhaling burgers and shakes. Personally, I feel like I got the best of both worlds today. A handful of photos from today are below!
Sunday morning started early and I hustled downstairs to watch the Chicago Marathon runners speed past me as I snagged some (below average) photos. I met up with the girls shortly after and we headed back to a fun cafe for some grub before my departure. All in all, a hell of a weekend in the city.
For the end of my posts, I'm going to leave a small, but simple challenge for you to take in the upcoming days... here's the first:
My challenge: Reach out to a friend you have not seen in awhile and set up a time to catch up, whether it's face-to-face or via phone/skype/facetime. It's crucial that we continue to play an active role in each other's lives, even as we get continually busier.