gnat slept through the whole thing

and i'm not even mad - i woke up to this:

what is it about snow that makes me feel like such a little kid?

this afternoon i head west for the rest of 2011, and although i'm so excited to see friends and family (and be warm) i'm also a little sad to leave. i'm starting to feel the potential end of my chicago residency close in on me and am having trouble reconciling how much i miss california with how much i love living in this city. in fact, last night i got a little choked up watching this:

ah well. i'll be back in january, and there will be more snow (and more adventures) waiting for me i'm sure.

gnat enjoys free summer music

this morning i realized i hadn't yet posted about what is probably my favorite chicago summertime activity - evening concerts in millenium park.

regular attendees include cara,

myself,

eileen,

and sean,

with occasional guest appearances by aleck

and andrew

among others.

about once a week cara and i load up bags of snacks, wine, and blankets and head down to millenium park, where we all play card games and listen to free music all evening.

this summer we've heard everything from rachmaninoff to egyptian music to iron & wine, all from this patch of grass.

in other news, all of my pictures are going to be in hipstamatic for a while, both because i'm basically obsessed with it and because carmine II is in the hands of the geek squad after sustaining a fall. (yes, again. shut up.)

gnat is reunited with an old friend

that's right everybody - my girl guy is back.

he's been on hiatus since december, so when i felt the little tug that told me he was out there (a little bit like the spidey sense, except it goes off for imminent loud redundant singing instead of danger) i thought i must be wrong. still, i peeked out the window and sure enough, there he was.

now i've had the winter blues all week, so i perked right up when i saw him. i snatched up my scarf and coat and ran downstairs to introduce myself. unfortunately my excitement faded quickly and was gone by the time i made it over to his corner.

i think the following photo, taken by a passer-by, speaks to the emotions i was experiencing as he continued right on singing about his girl throughout our encounter:

that, my friends, is an unsuccessfully suppressed grimace.

i have no idea whether the groundhog saw his shadow last week or not (or even what it would mean either way... groundhog day isn't really something we pay attention to in california). what i DO know is that it's starting to get warm enough out there that my girl guy can comfortably stand outside and sing for hours on end, and for that i am definitely grateful.

gnat goes to white castle

i went down to my old hood (south loop) last night with taylor and friends to see a concert at reggie's music club, which happens to be about an inch and a half from a real life honest to god white castle.

the band that opened was excellent, but the "headliner," ekoostic hookah, was underwhelming at best. we slipped out in the middle of their set for some sliders.

taylor insists that this was the worst white castle she had ever been to and that we have to try a different one before i can pass judgement - i'm going to write about it anyway.

we got tiny little cheeseburgers and crinkly fries (and chicken rings, whatever those are...), which we ate while huddled around a trash can because there were no tables and it was 11 degrees outside. i don't really have anything else earth shattering to say about the experience, so without further ado here's an incredibly awkward photo of my tentative first bite:

the verdict: white castle isn't half bad. i wouldn't go on a zany late night misadventure in pursuit of it (unless neil patrick harris is involved, then i'm definitely down), but it wasn't bad at all.

on second thought, i have been known to instigate spontaneous outings in search of strange foods at ungodly hours on a pretty regular basis, so yeah, i guess i probably would go on a zany late night misadventure in pursuit of it.

i had a katy perry induced moment of intense homesickness on the train this morning. my pod was on shuffle and "california girls" came on, and i looked out the window at the snow, and i counted all the items of clothing i was wearing (leggings, jeans, two pairs of wool socks, undershirt, sweater, scarf, sleepingbagcoat), and i got a little choked up because all i really wanted from life at that moment was to be driving up PCH in santa monica with the windows down. and maybe a cheeseburger animal style with fries and a diet coke from in-n-out.

oh yeah.

gnat prepares for her last day in california

yes, the one month mark of my california stay is fast approaching and with it my impending return to chicago. here's a sampling of the things i did while i was here:

i spent the first week fluishly and furiously (like fast and furious but with more phlegm) knitting from the couch in my parents' living room.

i made my way south to LA and back (twice) to see some of my favorite people and eat some of my favorite foods, including this pizza from enzo's in westwood:

it's just so damn satisfying.

i visited san diego and celebrated maya's birthday and larry's newly awarded permanent residency. (hooray for no longer having to worry that he'll get deported!)

can you find anything wrong with this picture?

i saw some free (well, almost free) music that would have caused 15 year old me to flip out at the del mar racetrack:

i collected some evidence that we have seasons here in california, too:

and, perhaps because i've begun to miss living right on top of a purveyor of silly flavored cupcakes, i baked.

blue moon orange with honey cream cheese frosting:

and irish car bomb cupcakes (guiness chocolate cake, whiskey ganache filling, bailey's buttercream frosting) for very late celebrating of daniel's birthday.

all of this and more! sadly most of the trip went undocumented, owing to carmine's accident early on. he couldn't be fixed, so tomorrow i'll pick up his replacement - carmine II. thank you, accidental damage warranty. also tomorrow, packing. not looking forward to that.

stay tuned, only one more day before gnat's chicago experiment is actually about chicago again.

gnat goes goes back back to cali cali

and gets laid out by the flu the moment her plane touches down at san francisco international. awesome.

no matter. it means i get to take some time out from lying on the couch, wheezing, knitting, and watching harry potter movies to post a couple of pictures.

thursday night i got a little crazy at trader joe's for snacks and two buck chuck (which costs three dollars a bottle in chicago... seriously chicago, wtf.) for a picnic in millenium park. cara, eric, laurena, maya, daniel and i wined, dined, enjoyed some free jazz, and hobnobbed with some hungry mosquitos.

on friday myself, cara, aleck, and cara's friend lisa who was in town for a brief visit, went looking for billy goat's tavern - a chicago legend. this saturday night live skit is evidently about it. there are several locations around the greater chicago area... we chose the absolute sketchiest one.

in case we weren't sure we were in the right place, this sign was posted outside:

also notable this week, i did battle with and subsequently vanquished a disgusting little apartment intruder. i had to sacrifice a tupperware to do it but he's gone and isn't coming back with any of his little cockroach friends. gross.

gnat sees more free art and hears more free music

i know, i know, enough already.

the museum of contemporary art, which until about a week ago i had no idea even existed, is free on tuesdays so yesterday i paid (ha?) a visit. they have an awesome exhibition of alexander calder's mobiles which is mostly cool because, well, alexander calder invented the mobile. photography wasn't allowed in that particular exhibition, unfortunately, because they were really something else. (the photos in those links really don't do them justice)

post exhibit i settled on the lawn in the sculpture garden and listened to the jazz stylings of mwata bowden while reading my new book - alton brown's gear for your kitchen. there will most definitely be more on this later.

gnat fears life without vegetables

yesterday it was about 34007509 degrees out, so naturally daniel and i chose to spend the day sitting outside in direct sunlight listening to (yep) free music. we watched fireworks from the lake then from daniel's apartment. i guess fireworks aren't illegal here, because the whole skyline was all lit up with fireworks being set off all over the city from nightfall until past midnight.

i spent today with cara, the future roommate, who is out in chicago for a visit to look at apartments. we did some preliminary hunting and will be continuing the quest for the perfect place tomorrow.

then i paid a visit the jewel-osco, the midwest equivalent of ralph's. the produce section was a little depressing, which worries me because it's june so i can't imagine what it will be like in january. a full 1/3 of the section was apples, and the only fresh herb in sight was parsley. sooner than later i am going to be hurting real bad for some cilantro. i need to find a mexican market somewhere.

after selecting all of my items, i had to carry them the eight blocks back to the apartment. i am going to have to learn some serious self control when it comes to grocery shopping.

and i cooked! i had forgotten how much cooking improves my mood. i've been showing you pictures of food that everyone else in the city made, so here's some that i made:

the best pastitsio i have made in my entire pastitsio making career. seriously. i put on my big fat greek wedding while i was making it, you know, to set the greek food mood.

gnat necesita una poca de gracia

so far i had only really meandered from the apartment in one direction - north. i figured it was about time i familiarized myself a little more with my surroundings so yesterday i set out towards the east. from the train station two blocks over:

i didn't get very far though, cuz i live about three blocks from the lake, but i did walk by soldier field onto the museum campus which houses the planetarium, the natural history museum, the aquarium, some pretty sweet views, and lots of tourists who are happy to take your picture (albeit crookedly):

once i hit the water i had little choice but to head, well, north (it was either that or south, i mean come on) so i walked up past the marina back to millenium park where the grant park orchestra was having open rehearsal:

daniel managed to get off work early and met me at taste of chicago for, yeah, more free music. we saw los lonely boys and los lobos. i had only heard one los lonely boys song before then (check it out) and wasn't expecting them to be as completely awesome live as they were. seriously so fun to watch.

los lobos played a long set too which was fine but we were a bit distracted:

by this guy:

at least, until they played la bamba.

gnat makes friends (both human and non-human)

i spent most of friday bumming around the apartment then walked down to grant park to meet daniel at taste of chicago for the "rap down rewind" concert. we saw salt n pepa, slick rick, doug e fresh, these guys:

(there's absolutely no way to tell, but that's bell biv devoe) and some other fools. the place was packed. i thought jazz reggae was nuts, but it wasn't like this:

and this was from pretty far back away from the stage.

yesterday i went down to the bar next door to watch the usa/ghana game in hopes that i'd find some friendly people to sit with and i DID! i made a friend who actually lives nine floors up in my building.

after the game i set off on a quest to find a good nearby coffee shop where i could do some reading (total fail) which was (thankfully) interrupted by a phone call from my roommate to ask if i wanted to go hang out with her fiance and his friends. on the way home we grabbed groceries and i cooked dinner but really sorta disappointingly. i don't have any kitchen mojo here yet, think i still need to get used to everything being so nice... it seems only cook well in kinda crappy kitchens with hodgepodge cooking implements that need to be re-screwed together every now and again.

OH yeah, the other friends i mentioned. they love crawling all over my wall of windows (how the heck do they get up here? i'm 21 floors up...) and yesterday i met a particularly large one.

i didn't get a chance to name him before he disappeared, with my luck probably into my bed. oy.

gnat swears this will get easier (right?)

the last two days have been, well...

rough.

moving across the country to a city where you know exactly one person, a person who is really busy, is not easy. i knew it wasn't going to be when i decided to do it, but i guess i didn't quite expect this. it's only day two, and it wouldn't be all that fair to say i was trying my hardest to get out there and enjoy the city because i haven't but still... there is a big part of me that wants to admit defeat, pack up the little bit of stuff that i've unpacked, and head back to california.

in the meantime i've been applying for jobs and volunteer positions, looking for classes (what kind of classes you ask? cooking, music, knitting, improv, basically you name it and i'm interested), and checking out chicago social networking opportunities.

i just need to make it a few more days and then all of this will get easier. i think. i hope. no, i know.

on a lighter note, last night daniel and i went to a pretty awesome free concert in the park. we saw el ritmo de la vida with doc severinsen, who used to play trumpet for johnny carson on the tonight show. hes completely awesome. and he performed in pink leather pants.

and finally, by request, the view from my apartment which is, sadly, far less spectacular than the view from daniel's: