Sweet Home Chicago

Whether it's the Great Blizzard of 2011, the NFC Championship game, or Rahm Emanuel's mayoral race, Chicago has been in the news a lot lately.  Because of this, Chicago has been on my mind more often than usual.  I miss it.  I really do.  I lived in Chicago for seven years.  That seven-year period shaped me and influenced my life more than nearly any other seven-year time span.  I went to college in Chicago, lived in my first apartment in Chicago, worked my first real job in Chicago, and developed the most amazing friendships while living in Chicago - friendships that I know will last a lifetime. 

As silly as it may sound, I also developed a friendship with the Windy City itself.  I loved riding the Brown Line to work, jogging along Lake Michigan, going for photo walks through Grant Park (and, later, Millennium Park), spending Tuesday afternoons at The Art Institute, perusing the stacks at the Lincoln Square branch of the library, and window shopping along Armitage Avenue.  The Windy City and I had some great times together.  And though I grew up in San Antonio, I sometimes felt more at home in Chicago than Texas.

After almost three years of being way, I'm finally going back for another visit this summer.  My college roommate is getting married in Illinois (yay!) so I'm using that as an excuse to take The Boyfriend to all my favorite Chi-town spots.  I can't wait to introduce him to my friend, my sweet home, Chicago.

One of Redmoon Theater's great street spectacles:

Downtown Chicago, through the rails of an urban Christmas tree:

The lobby of Chicago Shakespeare Theater:

View from Millennium Park:

Under the infamous Bean:

Summer clouds through the skyline: