this was a package week

last week i missed out on seeing aine! AAAAAARGH!! she was in town for the afternoon but i was waiting on packages so, no chicago diner, no hanging out with awesome people since a ton of new stuff was arriving.

soon. soon we will nosh and talk. i hate that i missed her though.

but about those packages. all week long things have been arriving (this is 10 years of pent up house furnishing, please keep that in mind.)  I GOT A MIFFY LAMP LIKE THE ONES I FELL IN LOVE WITH IN AMSTERDAM!!!!!!!!!!!

got some new rugs! here is one of them that is in the back hallway!

AND MY NEW UMBRELLA THAT WAS UNAVAILABLE IN WASHINGTON STATE BECAUSE THE VENDOR WOULD NOT SHIP THERE I LOVE IT SO MUCH

kkkkkkkkkkkk, here's my new reading chair! i say mine, what i mean is that it is fujiko's. she curled up on it the day it arrived and basically has not left. sigh.

also two new bed frames arrived! here is peel testing out leff's! she approved with a "wraao".

i'll post a video of the apartment eventually. i know there are some of you who are interested in seeing it once it's completed. that's going to take a while (seriously, 10 YEARS OF PENT UP HOUSE FURNISHING TO DEAL WITH hahaha). until then, enjoy? the packing material that came with my shelves.

it's been pretty hot here so i haven't done a lot of exploring (altho "pokemon go" claims that i've walked over 20 miles since starting the game. *shrug*) so it's basically been the library,

the farmer's market, aldi and jewel, short trips on the l,

an aborted trip to the andersonville sidewalk sale (it felt like we were swimming instead of walking it was so humid. XD XD),

the beach,

nearby pokestops to pick up some pokeballs,

and little saigon

cause i'm addicted to ba le.

look, i bought, like, 4 pounds of amish butter IT IS SO GOOD and i need baguettes as a vehicle for that. also thai iced coffee and/or tea and che bap.

THIS WEEK we might make it downtown. also possibility that i will do the 48th ward pokecrawl.  i have done stranger things.

the last week

since the house is done and dusted, we've been focusing on buying stuff for the new apartment. (you may recall that we donated pretty much all of our furniture before we left. smart move!)

the weekend before last, we headed to andersonville 

and hit up the brown elephant (hearts!!),

svea,

brownstone antiques,

poshwire,

and assorted other stores including women and children first.  i love andersonville and it's not just because it thinks everyone is beautiful.

it's just a really good neighborhood. if you visit me, we will be going there at some point.

the night we sold the house, we celebrated at moody's pub. it was a nice evening all around with CICADAS and FIREFLIES (i have missed them both intensely.) and a nice breeze that rustled the banners at the car lot.

delivery is still treating us well! last week we had salam (sooooooooooo goooooooood)

and jerky jerk (not pictured as i was SUPER HUNGRY that night).

seriously, guys. chicago is a real food city. i haven't had a bad meal yet.

hit the beach again. several times. how can we not?

made it to argyle night market! the food is SO GOOD but we ate it too quickly for decent photos. sorry. maybe next week.

caught a drowzee on the way home. watch out for the third rail!! XD

this past saturday went back to ba le for baguettes (89 CENTS FOR TWO OMG best deal on bread EVER) and a quick snack before heading to

hot g dog. ALSO DELICIOUS

i know it seems like all we do is eat. fair enough. but we also buy things about chicago. BWAHAHAHHAHAHHAHA

seriously tho. we aren't the only people who do this. it's one of those weird city pride things.

sunday, we went back to lovely

where i caught a meowth.

WINO FOREVER

this week promises furniture delivery, a possible camera purchase (!!!!) and the first visit from an out of towner.

WE CLOSED ON THE HOUSE WE NO LONGER OWN PROPERTY

WE CLOSED ON THE HOUSE WE NO LONGER OWN PROPERTY WE CLOSED ON THE HOUSE WE NO LONGER OWN PROPERTY WE CLOSED ON THE HOUSE WE NO LONGER OWN PROPERTY WE CLOSED ON THE HOUSE WE NO LONGER OWN PROPERTY WE CLOSED ON THE HOUSE WE NO LONGER OWN PROPERTY WE CLOSED ON THE HOUSE WE NO LONGER OWN PROPERTY WE CLOSED ON THE HOUSE WE NO LONGER OWN PROPERTY WE CLOSED ON THE HOUSE WE NO LONGER OWN PROPERTY WE CLOSED ON THE HOUSE WE NO LONGER OWN PROPERTY WE CLOSED ON THE HOUSE WE NO LONGER OWN PROPERTY WE CLOSED ON THE HOUSE WE NO LONGER OWN PROPERTY WE CLOSED ON THE HOUSE WE NO LONGER OWN PROPERTY WE CLOSED ON THE HOUSE WE NO LONGER OWN PROPERTY WE CLOSED ON THE HOUSE WE NO LONGER OWN PROPERTY WE CLOSED ON THE HOUSE WE NO LONGER OWN PROPERTY WE CLOSED ON THE HOUSE WE NO LONGER OWN PROPERTY WE CLOSED ON THE HOUSE WE NO LONGER OWN PROPERTY

HAPPIEST DAY OF MY FUCKING LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIFE

we do so much now but it hardly seems like it

so, ha. that was a longer break than i had intended to take. i'm not really gonna apologize though because getting used to a new city keeps you on your toes. i mean, even relearning how to relax takes time. 

speaking of which, moving near lake michigan was the smartest thing we've ever done. being able to swim at a moment's notice is heavenly.

clouseau is also enjoying this new less stress lifestyle.

finally got around to drinking the lovely japanese beers that we got from binny's. here's the suiyoubi no neko.

even though we can get cheap polish and chicago dogs pretty much everywhere, it's still nice to have the stuff to make them at home.

i still can't get over the fact that we can just have poppy seed buns and atomic relish whenever we want them.

ibid for swedish lingonberry pancakes.

what? don't look at me.

hopped it to independent spirits which has EVERYTHING. (i love that store TO BITS)

made two trips to 1060 w addison.

the first was to get leff a "try not to suck" tshirt and also to see if they had any seats for the braves makup game (they did).

christ, i hope the cubs make history this year

cause i'm getting too old for this shit.

grabbed a bahn mi at ba le (SO GOOD THOSE BAGUETTES!!) in little saigon. while there, we dropped by tai nam for treats.

we also realized that when you see the gnome, you're almost home.

survived the 4th of july. it was surprisingly sedate. (i guess we live far enough away from navy pier.)

2nd wrigleyville trip -- at the cubs game, there was a TWO HOUR RAIN DELAY HAAAAA :/

the game started at 9pm so we kicked it old style for a while

and left before rondon didn't get it rondone. sigh.

at least we got two mini ron santos.

the next day at the lake

i turned santo into sando.

i also found my MOST FAVORITE chicago mix!

i only found out about this stuff last month. it's a mix of cheddar and caramel popcorn and it sounds gross as hell but IT IS FUCKING DELICIOUS!!! you should try it if you're ever in chitown. or, hell, make your own.

today, leff and i started playing pokemon go. it is the most social video game i have ever played. while walking (and walking and walking) leff and i talked to, idk, four strangers on the street! SO MANY PEOPLE WERE PLAYING and we all just smiled and nodded at each other.

here is where i waited for leff to catch his tauros.

seriously, it is a fantastic game if you've just moved to a new city because it will take you EVERYWHERE to places you don't know about or might have missed. like, cookies and carnitas. we had a quick lunch there after catching a jinx in the alley near their shop.

we also walked through loyola. i didn't know this art deco building was there!!

there is a pokestop near this dude. XD

we even caught a ghastly on the way to greek fest at st andrew's. i swear to you, it was the BEST greek fest i've EVER been to! here's just one picture of the deliciousness. (i ate SO MUCH hahahaha)

whew! we are now caught up and i haven't written TOO much about my quest to be a pokemon master. i will TRY to keep this blog up to date but i can't promise anything. it's crazy busy when you're trying to make up for lost time, you know? heh.