Wednesday, December 31, 2008

2008 in review

1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before? left the south, went on a blind date, experienced sub-zero temperatures, saw snow and no one freaked out, became an auditor, sailed on a 40ft Sydney, played floor hockey…

2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? yes, i had a running resolution to be debt free and it finally happened. well consumer debt free. now i have to get rid of my house.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? nope

4. Did anyone close to you die? nope, thankfully

5. What places did you visit? england, orlando, atlanta, wisconsin

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? sell my house (1 bedroom condo in fabulous midtown atlanta, interested?)

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? march 26 – moving day

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? becoming debt free

9. What was your biggest failure? being homesick even though I was so ready for change

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? nope

11. What was the best thing you bought? a plane ticket to england to visit my best friend

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? becoming debt free, making new friends, surviving a new culture-cold-new job

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? er...drinking too much (chicago is a beer town with a beer problem)

14. Where did most of your money go? a mortgage AND rent

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? going to atlanta to see my nephew!

16. What song will always remind you of 2008? gavin rossdale’s wanderlust

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? A mix at times
b) thinner or fatter? A few more pounds (I think it was the beer…)
c) richer or poorer? Richer (no more debt) and poorer (2 housing payments)

18. What do you wish you'd done more of? praying

19. What do you wish you'd done less of? complaining

20. How did you spend Christmas? as a visitor in atlanta, living out of a suitcase and splitting my time between mom, dad, and sister

21. Did you fall in love in 2008? with chicago, yes. a person, no.

22. What was your favorite TV program? fox & friends

23. What did you do for your birthday in 2008? my sister came up to chicago to surprise me. i took ½ a day off from work and we had cake for breakfast and watched "you’ve got mail"

24. What was the best book you read? i honestly didn’t read any good books in 2008…

25. What did you want and get? to move to Chicago, a DSLR

26. What did you want and not get? to sell my house (it's a great bargain! perfect for an investment property!)

27. What was your favorite film of this year? batman

28. Did you make some new friends this year? yeah, a lot

29. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? being closer to ethan

30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? work appropriate monday-friday, wicker park friday-sunday

31. What kept you sane? planning vacations, going to church

32. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? gavin rossdale, was slightly obsessed with him in junior high through college, then he left public eye, and then he came BACK!

33. What political issue stirred you the most? the whole freaking election and being in chicago for it

34. Who did you miss? ethan

35. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008. where you are located will not make you happy; you have to be content with your life where ever you are.

Friday, December 19, 2008

warm enough to snow

that is the oddest phrase a southerner could hear. apparently it has to be warm enough to snow. what is warm then? well the temperature has to be in the 20's. colder than that and the preciptation just stays in the clouds.

well i guess it got warm enough. on tuesday, chicago got 5" of snow. in the last 24 hours, approximately 12" has fallen. along with freezing rain and ice. it didn't affect me too much since i take the L to work, but apparently some commuters had 3-4 hours of travel time!

it does look beautiful: my first white christmas. the lake has a layer of ice and snow and it looks so different from the summertime when it was filled with boats. instead of leaves, the trees have christmas lights and a thin sliver of snow delicately balancing on the branches. people still flood the streets, shopping and headed to work or the theatre or a restaurant, but they are dressed in fur-hooded down comforters, scarves wrapped up to their eyes, and boots up to their knees. and i'm one of them.

the trick is to just be prepared. i actually get warm walking around in all my gear. i may be asking for it, but dare i say, it's not that bad.

i hope the novelty doesn't wear off in january...

Friday, December 5, 2008

1 degree

i promise not to post every day's weather. i mean, there is more to talk about than how cold chicago gets. and everyone told me before i moved up here what i should expect. but i just wanted to share today's temperature.


* click picture to view larger

Thursday, December 4, 2008

white christmas

today it's in the 20's (°F), but with the wind chill it feels like 2°F. yep, i didn't forget a digit. it feels like two degrees outside. and it snows.