Sweet Home CHICAGO! Move Updates and an OOTD

 {we heart it}

Hi, hello, we made it, we’re here, we’re in CHICAGO, woo hoooo!  So sorry I am just now getting to posting; I know I promised a quick check in Monday, but clearly that did not happen as its FRIDAY night and I’m just now posting.  However, we made it, and I have so much to tell you!  (Ok, not so much as in “so exciting,” just so much as in “random things I feel the need to share” haha.)  I started out the move quite enthusiastically in terms of photo taking, plans to blog about the process, etc. and about three hours into the anxiety filled drive, I kind of gave up.  (We had a disaster with our U-Haul experience; they messed up our reservation, failed to tell us neither of our cars could be towed behind the U-Haul, and our truck drove at a diagonal.  No joke.  A good 25-30 degree diagonal.  It looked like the truck was skidding off of the road the entire 18 hour drive.  It was terrible, and we will never ever ever use that company again.  Ever.)  Anyway, here are some random snapshots and descriptions about the move process and what’s been happening since we got to Chicagoland!  (And um, people really do say “Chicagoland” here, which to me, is kind of hilarious, as it sounds strikingly similar to Candyland.  Right?  Candyland, Chicagoland.  Just saying.)  Anyway…onto the move :)

Here we are with our diagonal driving U-Haul, ready to head out of town early on Friday morning! The truck was a 26 footer, made to move a family in a four bedroom house.  We have a 2 bedroom and packed the thing to the brim.  What can I say?  We have a lot of crap stuff :)

Last skinny vanilla latte in my old home!

Aaaaaand we’re off!  And yes, I realize this picture is both dorky and dangerous, and well, I’m embracing both.  (But for realz, there wasn’t anyone near me on the road, it was 7 am, and I had a ten hour day one drive ahead of me.  I mean, what else was I supposed to do?!)

Day 2 (hence the hand signal, not to be mistaken for a peace sign.)  After a night stop off in Springfield, Missouri, we finished the second leg of our journey with an eight hour drive.  Here I am following behind Matt/our diagonal driving semi truck and taking self portrait pictures.  (Yes Mom, I know this was not smart, I won’t do if again!)  We arrived in Chicago early Saturday evening, found a hotel close to our apartment (we moved in the next morning), and grabbed wings while watching the NBA playoffs.  (Poor Phoenix.)  The next morning, we got the keys to our new home, turned the lock, and moved in.  Eeek!  I had planned to snap a key turning video, but between my exhaustion and the fact that I looked ten times more mousy and scary than in the photo above, the key turning video and move in day photos were a no go.

And to celebrate our first night as official Candyland Chicagoland residents, we enjoyed deep dish pizza from Lou Malnati’s.  I have a feeling I’m going to need to get my butt back to the gym very soon with this place so close by.

Monday was spent unpacking, unpacking, and you guessed it,  unpacking.  Though I kept breaking down boxes, I felt like I wasn’t even making a dent.  But, at the moment, we’ve only got 5 boxes left, and most of them are my jewelry and handbags, so they’ll take a while to sort through.  Tuesday morning, I got up bright and early for, guess what…an interview!  Woo hoo!  Quick story needed.  Remember last week when I posted this about worrying, especially about finding a job in our new city?  Well, an hour after I posted that, I got a call from a potential job opportunity.  The woman did a quick phone interview, and then scheduled an in-person interview for Tuesday.  Then two days after that, I found out I didn’t get the job I interviewed for back in April.  Some good news, some bad news, all within a short time after deliberately deciding not to worry for one whole day.  So for me, it was really a symbol that when you let go of stuff, stop worrying, and start living in the present, things seem to just happen.  Such a good reminder :)

Anyway, my interview Tuesday morning went well, and hooray, I got the job!  It isn’t in my field, it’s not full time, and it isn’t really utilizing my Ph.D coursework.  Any guesses what it is?  (Short pause for those of you who want to guess…)  If you guessed retail, you guessed right :)  Sure its not in my field, but its at a store I love, its working with people, it pays,  it gives me time to work on my dissertation, and its something to get me out and about in my new city.  No complaints here.  I’m still looking for something at a college/university, but for now, I’m pretty pumped to do something different, much lower stress than my previous position, and something that gives me a huge shopping discount :)  For now, I’m going to hold off talking about where I’m working, not because it’s a secret, but more because I don’t want this blog to turn into an unofficial poster child for this retailer.  Its a retailer I’ve blogged about before and one that is well represented in my closet.  I’m sure many of you will be able to guess the store as I continue doing OOTD posts, especially since my discount will mean a larger representation of the retailer in my closet.  Hopefully my husband is not reading this, as I promised him I wouldn’t spend my whole paychecks before I walked out of work :)

After the interview, we headed to Ikea for some mass houseware shopping.  I figured I’d snap a few OOTD pics since my interview was the first time in several days I’d worn real clothes or makeup :)

Dress: Banana Republic

Cardigan: Ann Taylor

Shoes: Kenneth Cole; I actually wore the BCBG heels from this post to the interview

Necklace: vintage

Earrings: my wedding day gift from Matt

Shades: Juicy Couture

Coffee: Starbucks non-fat mocha  :)

Normally, I would be in a full suit for an interview, but since this was  a retail position, I really wanted to dress in the retailers style.  My thought was, if I can look like I walked out of their catalog, then it will easy for them to see that I’d be a natural fit for their team.  I had training last night, and work my first real shift tomorrow afternoon.  Woo hoo.  “Can I start you a fitting room?”  (Just practicing!) :)

If you’re still reading this, thanks for hanging with me.  I’m gone from Candyland blogland for a week, and then there’s just so much to catch up on!  We had a really full and fun day in the city yesterday and I’ m still trying to go through all my pics from our outing.  Hopefully I’ll have them up later this weekend.  Thank you all for your incredible words of support and encouragement throughout this move process.  I can’t tell you how much it has meant to me and how many times I’ve reread your comments for assurance that all would be ok.  You all rock beyond words, and I’m excited for a new twist in this blog as we explore and fall in love with Candyland together :)

Have a fabulous weekend!