Winter in Chicago can wear you down. It starts off great. “Look at the snow! It’s wonderful! Christmas and New Years are coming! Yay!”. However, following the beginning of January to the end of April, this part of the world drags on and on day in and day out with grey skies, occasional snowfall and freezing drizzle, record low temperatures, and of course Chicago wind that will rip your face off in the winter. It’s safe to say that often, those months tend to all blur together as we all patiently (or in most cases impatiently) wait for spring.
For those of you who live across the Atlantic that read this blog to find out what Petra and I have been up to, I’ve put together this entry as more of an overall view of what we’ve done so far in the year 2010.
Mostly winter activities circle around drinking in warm bars and pubs, talking and listening to music, hoping to keep our spirits up until the sun returns. This year, of course, was no different. In January we saw our friend Katie Todd (who I did the music video for HERE if you haven’t already seen it) play at the Double Door. We had a Dinner Party at our place with friends just for the hell of it. We saw our friends play in Mas Trueno at The Dark Room and the same night saw more friends play at Lasalle Power Company downtown. I filmed my second official music video for the band Your Villain My Hero (more on that later when the video is officially unveiled) as well as a photoshoot with a jazz band called Alysheba. My parents, Iron Bob and Lil’ Ellie stopped by for a few days before and after their trip to Mexico where we hung out and also went to the Museum of Science and Industry to check out their cool stuff (including an incredible replica of the interior of the entire whitehouse. Which sounds totally lame, but was absolutely amazing! Unfortunately they wouldn’t allow photos) and say hello to an old nieghbor / friend who works there. Plus, my Dad and I had to check out the U505 German Submarine, which I believe completely transported him back to his childhood. Our friend Corri had a birthday party that we attended that was great fun as well. We celebrated Valentines day with some friends at the Fireside Grill for Brunch and Bloody Marys, as well as met up with our friends Mike and Janelle and Ethan Biar and his date Colleen for drinks later in the month. We also joined Nick and Eric at The Hideout for some incredible music by Robbie Fulks and his band of jaw dropping musicians. We’ve been trying to get outside more for exercise (or rather I have, as my wife is always riding her bicycle along the lake to and from work everyday while I sit lazily at home in our warm soon to be old apartment).
Which leads us to the last important thing we’ve done this year; we have put money down on our first apartment together located on Lake Michigan. You can see it on google maps HERE. Photos of the apartment can be seen HERE.
So far, I guess this dreary winter hasn’t been so bad, but we are really ready for the sunshine and warmth to return.
