To The Journey...

As 2015 comes to a close, we're all reflecting upon the year we had. Looking back at my year, I struggle to wrap my brain around the journey.

I started 2015 purposefully unemployed in Vancouver, happily immersing myself in the art of improv and the mountains of the pacific northwest. I drove across country, experienced my first hospital stay, landed in my parent's home, and networked my way back into full-time employment. Now settled into a new home in downtown Chicago, I'm now trying not to loose this new-and-improved version of my life in the daily routine of work & commute.

...Geez, guys, no wonder I'm so tired!

Seriously, how the hell did I do all that? My brain honestly can't comprehend the last 12 months of my life. All I do know is that I have this blog and new Facebook friends to prove that it happened.

I also know that in terms of the journey, this one has come to a close. The blogging one, anyway. I started this form of public musing in an effort to chronicle my adventures as I found the way to my new destination. And frankly... I've arrived.

Yes, physically I have a home, but more importantly I have found a better balance within myself. My creative pursuits are finally of equal importance to my career. (Though the struggle continues to ensure they don't hinder each other.) I successfully left the only city I'd ever lived in and built a home for myself in another. I crossed mountains, deserts and international borders that seemed daunting two years before. And I have the confidence in myself to know that I could do it all over again if I wanted to. Which, in reality, I probably will.

Thank you for your support and interest in this crazy journey I embarked on. I hope you have found it as interesting and ridiculous as I have. I hope you've embarked on an adventure of your own or tried something on your bucket list. And I hope we both continue to do the things that scare us.

Happy New Year.

Windy City Life Update

The past weeks have been a whirlwind of new job, new commute, family commitments, and improv class. And somewhere in there I’m trying to unpack my belongings that have been shut inside a storage unit for the past year.

I planned on stopping this blog once I felt at home in my new city-dwelling & improvising life. Instead, I just stopped talking. Apologies.

The truth is, my new life so far has felt like a hazing process for new Chicago residents. I’ve discovered things left in my apartment that would make you cringe. I’ve chased after buses and trains. I’ve crammed myself on already-packed buses and trains. I’ve waited in piercing wind and drenching rain for buses and trains. (See a trend, here?) I’ve cursed Chicago landlords. I’ve celebrated when my apartment’s heating turned on and cursed it when it wasn’t hot enough. I’ve arranged utilities, argued with my internet & cable provider, and forgotten an appointment with the gas company.

At work the past two months have been a series of successes and failures. I’ve hit roadblocks for certain, but have yet to fall completely on my ass. …So I guess there’s that.

Within all of this, I’ve been doing what I purposefully moved downtown to do. I spend at least three nights a week at a theater of one kind or another, either learning by doing or learning by watching. I laugh a lot and have had the pleasure of befriending some truly lovely human beings. I’m in no way settled into my new life, but I’m starting to feel more comfortable.

Occasionally it hits me that I actually did the thing I set-out to do. Returning to Chicago, my goal was to work and live downtown – with less business travel and more personal time – so I can pursue my new artsy goals. And holy crap you guys, I actually did it. The moments I realize this feel so fulfilling and confidence boosting. I hope I can enjoy them more once I’ve adjusted to the logistics of my new life.

For now though, I’m off to brave rush hour in the third largest city in America.
Wish me luck.

My Ride Home

Happy Anniversary

The past three weeks have been filled with the sentence, "This time last year..."

I took a mid-September holiday up to Vancouver.  I flew out on the day I had just given up my apartment the year before.

My first day back at work after said trip was the one year anniversary of embarking on my road trip in 2014. I found this the most poignant of all anniversaries.  On the day I said 'screw it' to the universe one year, I said 'yes' to a new job and routine the next.

Today, as I write this, it is the one year anniversary of my arrival in Vancouver. When last year I crossed the border crying and laughing simultaneously, today I celebrated with a stuffy, un-airconditioned ride home on Chicago public transit on my way to my pre-Vancouver improv class. And honestly? I was perfectly happy.

It's an odd feeling.  As I'm growing more comfortable with life here, Vancouver still feels like it happened yesterday. Granted I just took a trip to visit, but be it six months or 3 years I know I'll have a second home there.

Speaking of homes, I move into a new one this Saturday. The furniture and boxes I put into storage one year ago will be pulled out and driven to Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood. I will have my own couch. My own bed.  ...and it will feel so very final. 

This journey will be over.  

So Little Time

It's been a heck of a week. New job & excessive commute left me exhausted.  How did I not think this change in lifestyle would be hard?

In an effort to ease the commute, I spent the better part of my Labor Day weekend apartment hunting in Chicago.  I saw some great places and some not-so-great ones. I put an offer in on one, only to find it rented the night before  and I had to promptly begin the search again.  No firm housing plans yet - hopefully the second application is successful.

In the midst of all this, I was cramming in preparations to travel back to Vancouver. I'm on my way today with an over-packed suitcase and a relative idea of what my week there will look like. Overall, though,  it's a day I've been anticipating for months, but is now feeling like one more thing I have to deal with.  I'm guessing this feeling will disappear when I arrive... I just find it surprising.

Day One and Done

The first day back at work went well. Lots of paperwork and meetings, as well as a lovely lunch out with my department. The people are nice. ...I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Perhaps the 'other shoe' is my commute. I spent 7 hrs at work and 5.5 hrs getting there and back. I was just a few seconds late for my bus, my other bus and my train. Yes, I was that person scrambling to chase down public transit like I had left my phone / baby / donated kidney on the CTA. (Ok, technically I've never seen a donated organ on the bus, but I think we can all agree it's probably happened at some point. I mean, FedEx Letter envelopes explicitly say, "Do not ship liquids or blood." That means someone previously tried to ship blood. ...in an envelope.)

In reality, my commute is temporary until I find a place in the city, which should shrink it to only an hour each way. Until then, however, I'm going to continue doing my best impression of this guy...

Here's to Day 2!

Back-to-School

Tomorrow is the big day - Monday, August 31st I start my new job. I will have gone exactly one year without working full-time.

Tonight, on "First-Day-of-Work Eve," I feel like a cross between a nervous school kid and a cantankerous employee who has been pulled back from retirement. I'm attempting to dismiss any nerves with a wave of the hand, declaring starting a new job to be old hat. While at the same time I'm packing a new backpack, picking out clothes, and worrying about catching my bus on time. Oh, and I made sure to get my hair cut last week. 

Here's hoping I find someone to sit with in the cafeteria. 

Full Circle

So, you guys, it's been a hectic few weeks. Here's the long and short of the shenanigans:

I spent a week in an intensive musical improv class that basically re-wired my brain and it's now stuck on the act of rhyming random words....curds, birds, turds, nerds...

I celebrated my 35th birthday! When my family asked what I wanted for presents, I requested gift cards for gas and groceries. Practicality abounds in my thirties, apparently.

I dragged myself out of bed at pre-dawn hours to witness the Perseid Meteor Shower. Sitting like a weirdo in a lawn chair, in the dark, at the end of my parent's driveway, I finally witnessed my first meteor shower. ...Until my mom told me about a family vacation we took to Arizona, where we all sat on a mesa in mystical Sedona to watch intergalactic pieces of rock streak across the sky. I have zero memory of this and am super frustrated.

The most consuming part of the last few weeks - and reason for my radio silence - has been a flurry of job interviews. I suddenly went from woefully filling-out online applications to digging suits out of my closet and preparing for three interviews in a one week period. Then follow-up interviews the week after that. Oh, and the contract work I've been doing? Add that in too. Unfortunately for me and the people I live with, this all hit during PMS. In a five day period I ate an entire tube of raw Pillsbury chocolate chip cookie dough. Did I get sick and die? No. But I did hate myself afterward when I could barely squeeze into my Ann Taylor power suits.  (...oh well, we all know I'll do it again)

So much was happening! It was incredibly encouraging and confidence boosting. At the same time, every interview FAQ / info sheet / internet article reminds you never to discuss the interviewing process while your interviewing. I understand the logic behind it, but it doesn't leave you with much to talk or write about.

However I'm writing about it now, so you've assumed correctly that my interviewing is over. I've accepted a position at a medical association in downtown Chicago and begin work August 31st. It is a role that will be challenging - in a good way. It will allow me to move to the city and pursue my improv & musical endeavors until my heart is content.  I'll share more specifics as my employment begins, but will say that I am very excited about the choice I am making.

I hope you're happy for me, too.