KTHXBYE

What we can conclude from this month:
- Allyson only missed one day in April, which means she has done better than every year in the past and still has a goal for next year.
- Allyson likes well dressed boys with british accents.
- Allyson still presses the "new blog" button.
- Allyson likes you guys.

What I did today:

I've wanted to visit Chinatown since fall, but just have never gone. Today I was craving bubble tea, so I said, heck... I'm going. It's awesome. I want to go back.

What I finished today:

(Well, ALMOST) My Secret Garden blu ray project. Fun project, bad bad pictures.

Ps. I didn't make like a NOVEL. It's a 25 page book with five different essays I wrote and designed for  my Type class. Don't be TOO impressed. :]

Okay, BEDA. You were okay. See you next year. 

Okay, blog. You are great. See you soon.

Places I Cannot Forget: Chicago Style

It hit me a few days ago that I've nearly had an entire school year living here in Chicago. It's a funny thing how I still feel like I haven't explored/been to much of the city, when in fact I have done quite much. Here are some of my favorite discoveries of the city thus far:



1) My nutella latte at Ipsento Cafe.
Not only was the latte to die for, but this was probably my favorite cafe atmosphere yet. I must go back.

2) The vegan shakes at The Chicago Diner
This whole place is great (and completely meat free,) but they have seriously the best shakes you may ever taste in your life, and I am not exaggerating to you. Promise. Vegan desserts, as a whole, I find are much more delicious. And the great thing is, you can still eat meat AND vegan desserts. :]

3) Le Creperie
I actually haven't come here since living here, but we used to go here whenever I would visit. I grew up loving crepes dearly, and I still have yet to have a better one in the city.

4) Stanley's Produce
This morning I bought two cartons of strawberries, a bunch of bananas, two heads of brocolli, and three pears for $3.67. Enough said. On a related note, the strawberries are nearly gone.

5) The Dirty Chais at Pick Me Up Cafe
Another new discovery. This diner is heavily hipster but so eclectic and wonderful and 24 hours. Last night I ordered a chai with kahlua in it. Again, enough said.

6) The Chicago Cultural Center
Sounds boring, right? So much not so. I had to write a paper on this building for class and I fell in love. It was Chicago's first library and it is just absolutely beautiful. And it's also home to a peaceful book cafe and an awesome non profit program that's basically an art class for mentally challenged people.

7) Wallaby Australian Yogurt and Hand Ground Peanut Butter
Okay, these aren't unique to Chicago, but they are both absolutely to die for at Whole Foods.

8) Chicago Bagel Authority
The best bagel sandwiches. You will. Ever. Have. And I don't exaggerate this, either. They steam them instead of toasting them.

9) Crossroads
A trendy/vintage thrift store at its finest.

10) The Tapas at Cafe Ba Ba Reeba
When I heard Spanish food, I got nervous. But oh lands, my children. Oh. Lands. Food at its finest. And fantastic Sangria.

Come visit and let me take you there. :]

It's definitely December

I finally switched over to the new Blogger template. I still need a few days to adjust. Hmm. Anyway, this year has already been the most Christmas filled year I have had ever in my life. Largely in part due to two things: my roomie, and Chicago.

This weekend was amazing. With everyone around me on the quarter system and not in school right now, I have the disadvantage of managing a "not in school" social life and an "in school" schedule. Therefore, I haven't been home in days, my room is a mess, I have no groceries, and I should have done laundry a week ago. HOWEVER, this was one of my favorite weekends in Chicago thus far.

Reasons:

1. Chicago has this thing called the Holiday train, where they take a normal el train decorate it inside and out with as much Chrstmas as possible. The seats, the outside, the lights, the music, the ads... Christmas. Everything. It's the most magical commute you will ever experience. Santa is even on it.

The seats may have been my favorite part.

Polar Express? Perhaps.

Even the awful jokes were magically endearing.

2. Then we went to the Zoo because during Christmas they have it lit up like crazy and Christmified to the max. The picture up top is of that. Plus, I had never even been to this zoo yet, so it was especially exciting. We all literally felt five. Which brings me to...

3. My friends are just as nerdy as I am. It's not strange geeking out at the most randomly simple things, because chances are one of them is geeking out more than I. And they're Nerdfighters. And we talked about Maureen Johnson and John Green and took pictures by puppy sized elephants. And we all had fancy cameras and all stopped at random times to take pictures. So you weren't "that one person whose camera is better than everyone else's and takes random artsy pictures." 

ALSO, it was getting to the point where we were all figuring out how similar our introverted nerdy similarities were that I asked one simple question. "Okay, so how did you start on the internet. I mean, what brought you to it. What was your first obsession."

In unison everyone said, "Neopets."

Done.

Puppy-sized Elephants

4. We went to this HUGE HUGE craft fair. And it was packed. But it was packed with awesomeness. Oh, and Jeananne and I wore antlers the entire day. At one point a woman on the street called us Donner and Blitzen. We're Don and Blitz.

5. Our apartment is crazy full of DIY Christmas crafts.

6. Christmas Christmas Christmas.

Okay, Lex... I got your request loud and clear and it's coming soon. I need to write like six more blogs this year because I wanted to have more than last year.

Happy Christmas, Harry!

Happy Christmas, Ron!

You Live and You Learn

I know you learn new things every day, but I feel like I've been learning at an exceptionally fast pace recently. Involuntarily and voluntarily. Academically and culturally. I've been pushing myself an insane amount, because being behind is one of my least favorite things in the world. I hate HATE missing things, opportunities, people, events. The right side of my brain has slowly been engulfing my life. Everything is design. The things I do to procrastinate have to do with design.

I'm officially "Linkedin." I have become a "prospect" in the Graphic Design playground, "Dribbble." And I've stuck my foot in a variety of things I am still completely unprepared and way too amateur for. #exhausting

The other things I learn and attempt to keep up on are all about culture. Last fall in Minnesota I was intoduced to Toms. I told my friend who lived in Chicago about them, and she said everyone in Chicago had them. They were old news. So now I'm in Chicago, and I think about this all the time. I wonder whether or not the popular Jeffery Campbell shoes that have five inch thick heels will be popular outside of the city.  I wonder if Hunter rainboots are common outside of the city, because by golly everyone has them here. I start to forget that in other cities, saying, "I'm vegan" will get you blank stares and questions and not a, "Yeah, me too."

But I miss cheap thrift stores.
I miss $.99 Arizona tea.
I miss no tax on clothing.
I miss fall in Wisconsin.

And I still think my favorite place to be in anywhere in the middle of nowhere.

Other than that, everything is still wonderful. I can just see flaws more clearly now and think more realistically about what it's like to live in the city.

Now, one final thing. One of, if not the best night thus far here was spent at a screening of Like Crazy at the Chicago International Film Festival. Not only had I been excited to see this movie ever since last winter when it won at Sundance, but I was able to see it with the actors and director. It was so surreal and wonderful. I got to ask the very last question, and Anton Yelchin (that funny Russian boy from Star Trek... :] ) looked me straight in the eyes as he answered. So lovely. I think these are the only pictures I've taken so far, since my phone camera died.

Not to mention the film is phenomenal.  Pheeenooomenal.

Culture Shock

"I don't know if you drive
If you love the ground beneath you
I don't know if you write letters or you panic on the phone
I'd like to call you all the same,
If you want to
I am game

I don't know if you can swim
If the sea is any draw for you
If your better in the morning or when the sun goes down
I'd like to call you

I don't know if you can dance
If the thought ever occurred to you
If you eat what you've been given or you push it around your plate
I'd like to cook for you all the same
I would want to
I am game."

-Lisa Hannigan, I Don't Know

Can you experience culture shock from moving from a small to a big city? Because this is what I'm calling it.

The weirdest thing? KNOWING that if there's something you want, it's within walking distance.

My first full day in the city was full of welcome week stuff. A HUGE convocation bash in the park for new students. There were hipsters EVERYWHERE. If I was with one of my friends from home, we would have exchanged so so many side comments about all the hipster cliches. It really was humorous.
But the thing is, I loooove it. And literally NOTHING you can do/say/wear will stand out.

But I honestly felt bad for having a plastic water bottle. There was even a Washing/Rinsing/Filling station for metal water bottles.

Then I went to my department's connections program thing. I learned a lot about my program from three professors. (My favorite? A friendly looking man with a tactful mustache. He was adorable and passionate about dorky things.) One woman professor was a guest speaker at the BAUHAUS. This means nothing to most, but in the art world.... you know about the Bauhaus. It was architecturally and educationally revolutionary.

There I learned that we are pretty much friends with Threadless. FRIENDS! The AIGA (the professonal association for design) uses their warehouse from time to time. ^&WTRGBAFKEUY&W^A$&T
Anyway, then I hopped on the train to the Threadless store and bought a $10 Harry Potter tee. Free shipping. Ten dollars. Threadless doesn't get much cheaper than this!

(Ps. For 48 hours starting Labor Day ALL tees are $10. You are not going to want to miss this... Have fun. Splurge.)

OH, did I mention I got a pumpkin spice latte during that day because Chicago got the PSL a week before the rest of the country?! Oh. Yeah. That happened.

So. I ended that day completely and utterly elated.*

I feel like people in big cities are spoiled. Big time. I mean, everything is monies. But it's all here. And everyone looks cute. All the time.

Anyway. Our apartment is officially clean, organized and awesome. For the first time in 20 years I feel like my room is completely a current representation of my personality.

With all this being said, I still lack friends to do these cool things with... as much as I love exploring by myself. So, I am going to go continue chowing down on episodes of Arrested Development in the familiarity of my bed.

Pictures soon, once I get my camera.

Job soon.

School soon.

*Except for the fact that Burt wasn't eliminated from Project Runway yet. Who's with me?!