[weekend review] [Nov 16 to 18]

My mom and her sisters were in town this weekend from Michigan so I met them down in the Loop for some shopping and eating and early holiday cheer.

We went to the Gazebo Holiday Market, a fundraising shopping event for the Junior League of Chicago, a non-profit organization that works with at risk women and children throughout Chicago. The beautiful event was held at the Chicago Cultural Center, which is just the most gorgeous building! 

The Louis Comfort Tiffany stained glass dome in the Chicago Cultural Center.

Another pretty shot of the Cultural Center.

My favorite part -- a view of the original interior walls of the Cultural Center.

After we explored the festival, we headed up to the Signature Room Lounge in the John Hancock Building. It is sort of touristy, but the views of the city are just incredible. We went up at sunset, too, so the colors were amazing.

A panoramic I took from the Signature Room Lounge on the 96th Floor.

On Sunday we took it easy -- my family came up to the north side to see my apartment and we got some lunch and did some window shopping. The highlight? These delicious beignets from Butcher and the Burger.

What did you do this weekend? 

Happy Monday, everyone! I can't believe this week is the beginning of the holidays!

xoxo

October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween!

I didn't take a photo on Monday or Tuesday because it was so windy and cold in Chicago I was afraid I would drop my phone into the lake! Plus I only just dug out my winter gloves and mittens this morning.

We've had gigantic waves on Lake Michigan due to the wind from Hurricane Sandy. Yesterday as I was driving home from work on Lake Shore Drive, the waves were washing up over the lakeshore path. There were cars pulled over all along the side of the highway, which I've never seen before. People were outside of their cars, taking photos of the waves. Here is one I took that doesn't even do the huge waves justice:

Lake Shore Drive; Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Other than the waves and the wind gusts, there was no other indication here in Chicago of the type of devastation that was going on elsewhere in the country. Today, the wind was almost completely diminished, so that it felt just like the days leading up to the hurricane's landfall. 

Today's photo kind of illustrates how I've been feeling about Sandy all week. You can see that there is something dark and heavy going on beneath the surface of the clouds and the water, but here in Chicago, in the foreground, it is sunny and bright and business as usual. I've been feeling sort of removed from the destructive winds, loss of power, and massive flooding that the east coast has been feeling even though I have several friends that live in DC, Boston, and NYC. I checked on each of them as the storm continued and thankfully, they are all safe and sound. But just like this photo shows, I can't escape the nagging feeling that there is something dark and dangerous going on, even though it is happening across the country. 

I know we'll be able to band together and fix what the storm broke, but it is kind of a spooky feeling to have on Halloween. Chicago is sending all of our love to the east coast.

October 26, 2012

perfect finish to my Friday -- the sky looks beautiful streaked with red 

{Retroactive} October 25, 2012

6:15 pm ... right before a chilly October storm broke open on the city

{Retroactive} October 23, 2012

the City that Works

I'm Anna, a 20-something water engineer. I moved to the wonderful and striking city of Chicago about a year ago  and I work at the city's water purification plant, housed on a pier in Lake Michigan. One of the most remarkable benefits of the 50 year old building (besides the one million gallons of water per minute the plant purifies for the people of Chicago's usage every day...) is the location's beautiful view of the city sky line. Every day as I enter and leave work, the scene looks simultaneously static -- the gleaming sky-scrapers and ocean-like-view of the lake -- and all at once different.  Each day there is something unique: the color of the sky, the shape of the clouds, the current weather the city is experiencing (which in Chicago, believe me, can vary greatly-- day to day or even hour to hour!).

I'd love to share some daily photos and thoughts with you here. Welcome!