Hello There

What happens when you finally achieve your dream of moving to the big city?  Be careful what you wish for; you just might get it and it often won't be how you thought it would be.

All my life, I have wanted to live in a big city high rise.  I blame the TV shows of my childhood; life in a large city looked so grand and glamorous and fun!  The swinging mod pads, kids that took buses everywhere and without grownups; that was the kind of life I wanted.  It only got worse as I got older but somehow could never shake my small town roots.  When I was between marriages, I preferred guys that either lived in large cities or weren't opposed to moving.

Luckily for me (and the rest of the world), I married a fantastic guy who shared this fantasy of living not only in a big city, but CHICAGO.  Both of us have always been drawn to this dynamic place but were frustrated that it just didn't seem like it was ever going to work out.  We visited often and tried to plot just HOW to make it happen.

And then, suddenly, it did.  

We had only two weeks to tie up loose ends, pack an immense amount of crap and find a new apartment: our dream was coming true!

Except, um, maybe not.

Moving sucks.  Really sucks.  But now that we are out of the "just moved" stage, the realities of true urban life vs. the small city faux urban life are hitting us.  Wheel tax and stickers, where you CAN park, public transit etiquette, rush hour traffic, rules of the alley, all have been experiences that while we "knew" about them, the reality is we just had no clue.  

On our honeymoon (where else? Chicago!), we laughed ourselves silly when we successfully navigated getting on a bus and riding 9 blocks in a straight line.  We jokingly named ourselves "Mr and Mrs Bumpkin" because it was quite obvious that we had not been on a city bus before, let alone the BIG CITY or cars or electricity.....yeah, we were those folks and we got some pretty hateful glares from the regulars who are over the thrill of a bus.

This is intended to be a chronicle of us "bumpkin-ing" around as we figure out the transition between small town and the City of Chicago.  If you also dream about escaping your small town cesspool for the bright lights, don't give up but go ahead and laugh at our naivety.  Born and raised in the urban jungle folks, you can laugh, but cut us some slack.  You make it look easy; that why people like me want to come to your city.  The only ones that can't make fun of us are the transplants that have acclimated: you were once like us, quit laughing and help us out, for the love of God!