march forth

Strangely, I don't have any pictures of Sunday. Saturday I slept in my perfect, cloud of a bed (pictures to come later...I'm obsessed with it maybe) for the first night in my new apartment. Sunday was spent unpacking, buying groceries, Dad putting together my desk, Mom cleaning the fridge, Dad hanging up my pictures, Mom cleaning the blinds, Dad switching light bulbs, Mom, Dad...um, what was I doing? Generally being unhelpful but offering colorful commentary as usual. Just kidding, I was unpacking, but my poor parents ended up doing a lot more than they should have...

I think the reason for no pictures Sunday is that I was feeling nervous and sad about ole ma and pa leaving me early next morning. I wasn't thinking about taking pictures or as excited as I was - plus, I think we were all feeling tired despite being relatively well-rested. And, I'm not exactly going to take snapshots of saying goodbye to my parents. "Say cheese, we're all really emotional and teary! Yay goodbyes!"

Like most people, I hate goodbyes and it doesn't help that I am somewhat emotional. Ha!  So I shed a good amount of tears that night and later on during Monday. I may be 22, in graduate school, and living on my own in Chicago, but I was taken aback how I felt about them leaving. I'm talking, bawling. Gratuitous listening to Taylor Swift's "Never Grow Up" and shower crying. For real though.

It makes sense of course...even though I was on my own for four years of college, I was only 2 1/2 hours away from home. My best friends and I - we were all in the same state at least. After I graduated I moved back home for almost a year and spent a lot of quality time with my parents. This is a big step for me, and with it comes big emotion.

But, fear not. I bounce back easily and am never really sad for that long. It'll get easier and besides, I'm living in freakin' Chicago and starting graduate school, and my career. With all this excitement already, there isn't time to be sad. And home will always be there, yes? :)

So - to distract myself from being sad and mopey, I decided to take advantage of this new fresh start and get out and about in Chicago. And, naturally, some retail therapy. Because that's a way I handle anxiety and sadness.

A bad shot because of the cloud, but this is St. Alphonsus in Lakeview, under construction. Gotta love the patina.

Did I wander in to Benefit and Anthropologie? You bet I did. Some cute additions to my room - I'll give a little tour of my room once I have everything all set up and put together nicely. 

From the sale room, possibly where all my future income will be sunk. Oops.

Ohh we are puffy from crying. A picture for my parents to let them know I haven't dissolved into tears, and that I am, in fact, okay. :)


"There isn't a child who hasn't gone out into the brave new world who eventually doesn't return to the old homestead carrying a bundle of dirty clothes."  ~Art Buchwald