I'm sorry...so sorry...

I've been busy...


haven't blogged in a while...


Back Soon!

Tiny Wooden Shoes

So this weekend, my mom and I took advantage of the great weather and roadtripped up to Holland, MI to play tourist on Saturday. The whole fam went here when I was still pretty little - I only vaguely remembered things. Anyway, we started out at the tulip farm and wooden shoe factory that also featured bison (yes, Holland, MI has lots of Dutch touristy things...get it - Holland...). Here we saw pretty flowers and wooden shoes, Dutch art, and yes, a bison.





After the bison, we moved onto a faux-Dutch village complete with staff in more wooden shoes, a carousel, tiny Dutch houses, fudge...mmm, um and a bunch of other stuff. It was funny because one could definitely tell that the area had built up around it - my Dutch village experience was only slightly marred by the highway in the background - very American.



Stained glass window in the church - really beautiful.



Yes, I'm royalty, didn't you know?



Van Gogh - pre-ear cutting incident.



Mom being carried by a stork...the white stork is the symbol of The Hague in the Netherlands.


And post-stork, we got fudge...mmm...this is a pic of other candy choices that we forewent.


Big shoutout to all of the faux-Dutch for showing us such a great time.


And a huge shoutout for Michigan for not having a 10% sales tax. Our post-tiny-wooden-shoe trip included meandering to a local mall where I could buy stuff that didn't bring tears to my eyes when I saw the receipt. Totes awesome.

And this, dear readers, is where the pictures come from (no stork needed):

G is for...er, um...

Okay, so no street picture today...total failure, I know. Maybe I'll just give you all the rest of the alphabet the last day of April - just for fun...something to consider.

Anyhoo, so the two pictures from the other day - one was from the Beer Can House, and the other is from the National Museum of Funeral History. While I was in Houston, my friend Little Ms. Bossy and I decided to do a "weird Houston" day and go to some random places that neither of us had been!! It was super fun, especially when we went to this place called the Orange Show that I had seen on a show on the History Channel a couple of years ago. Dream come true...hahaha. Anyway, I leave you with another picture from the Beer Can House - which is about as attractive as beer will ever look to me.

For more info on the Orange Show or the Beer Can House OR lots of other random things, click here.

Peace out!

I'm not telling

I'm recovering from my travel woes, so this blog post will be super short.

Went to Houston for the weekend.

Here's my "F" street...


That I saw on my way here...


After that I went here...


All the while I made a new friend...


More details to come...mwah ha ha.

Eeeeeerieeeee....

No, not that kind...

Erie - as in the lake, and a street on the north side of the Chicago River that runs through the Magnificent Mile.

I was going to take this picture last night after my French class, but when I left class it was lightning and thundering. I waited for the 36 bus, but it didn't come; so I thought I would then hop the red line, but it wasn't running southbound (construction); so then I booked it down to Michigan and hopped on the 147 to connect to my bus home. By this time it was pouring down and the rain was practically horizontal. The moral of this story was that I could have cared less about getting a picture of a street sign - ha!

But today, while frantically running errands before I take off for Houston tomorrow, I managed to remember to get a picture after walking by the street twice and forgetting.

I'm thinking this April goal will be less about learning about the city and more about learning to be patient, and focused, and actually remembering to take a picture...you know, the little things:)


This picture would have been closer except for the enormous school group that laid claim to the sidewalk.

Let's start from the very beginning...

Suckers...we're not starting from the beginning - we're done with "A." Hey-yo

Alrighty then, now friends, please see below:


One of my favorite streets in Hyde Park: beautiful row houses and a huge stone abandoned church - really cool. When my mom was here last, she tried to break in, but couldn't.



This street is home to the world famous Cornell Dollar Store - if you look up Hyde Park on Wikipedia, you'll see a pic:)


I actually don't know that much about Dorchester - runs through Hyde Park and has some neat stores on down, but it warrants further discovery. I'll add it to my list.

The most important election this year...

is not the presidential one. 78 caucuses, primaries later, I mean, who cares?

Instead, let's talk ketchup. More specifically Heinz ketchup. Even more specifically, the Heinz's Top This TV Challenge.

You see, both my sister (one of the people searching in the grass) and my good friend (the main girl in the green colored shirt) are in the commercial that was submitted to the contest and is now a contendar, i.e. they are in the Top 10.

Their submission is by the Unknown Penguin group called Heinz Ketchup Watching: Sharing the Love.

Four runners-up will win $5,700, and their commercial will air on national television. The grand prizewinner will win $57,000 and a spot on national TV.

Why am I sharing this? Because I want you all to get out there and vote!!!

You can vote once a day, every day until April 21?

Now, you're probably asking, "why should I vote."

And I say, here's my Top 10 reasons to vote:

1) I told you to - duh.
2) Don't be that American that has the right to vote, but doesn't excercise it.
3) There's penguins involved.
4) My friend told me to tell people to vote, and who wants to let a friend down?
5) Um, ketchup?
6) It's funny.
7) If you're killing time on Facebook, you can take the time to vote.
8) Your mom wants you to.
9) My mom wants you to.
10) If you vote, and the commercial wins, then you can brag at parties about how you voted for the winning Heinz commercial. Then you'll be cooler.

Grrrr...

Dear Blog readers:

So, I know what you're thinking - "So, A is for Adams, so what - where are some more streets? I'm boooorrreeeeddd!!!!!"

I know, I understand - I've been horribly negligent of our online relationship.

I was going to take some more pictures today - I had Blackstone, Cornell, Dorchester, and Ellis all lined up. All of these streets I pass during my runs in Hyde Park.

I started a run today with the intention of covering these streets for my blog. I was at 57th street before I realized I had forgotten my camera.

I turned back, with you all in mind, grabbed my camera, and started the run over again. I was about a mile in when I took out my camera to take a picture of Blackstone - and got this message - WARNING: BATTERY EXHAUSTED.

Bitter, defeated, I continued my run and got back 45 minutes later with a lack of oxygen and a lack of pictures.

Fear not, dear ones, I will be on another run tomorrow with courage in my heart and new batteries in my camera.

Blackstone, Cornell, Dorchester, and Ellis - your mine!!

Love,

KT

A is for Adams

Why is Adams Street important?

a) It is the name of the street where the side entrance to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's Symphony Center is located.

b) It is the name of the street my sister and I lived on last year in Arlington, VA.

c) It is the name of the street my sister lives on in Washington, DC.

d) All of the above


If you guessed "D" you are correct!!!

I know, pretty cool...

Oster-monath

That's Anglo-Saxon for "April." This month is my month - yes, I'm claiming it, don't argue.

Alas, the beginning of April means the end of March. We have inned like a lion and outed like a lamb. It also means - my 30 day goal is over! Er, 31 day goal - but still - 31 pictures for my beloved friends and family.

I know what you're thinking - no more pictures! Panic!! I can hear the gnashing of teeth and wearing of the sackcloth from here.

Is this the end of an era of picture taking by yours truly? Absolutement pas!

For April, there will be pictures, albeit slightly different. In my panic of not having a goal for April yesterday, I turned to my sister - a fount of knowledge. After turning down her suggestion of punching someone different in the face everday, she did come up with a stellar idea.

Hence, for April, in an effort to help me further know a now-thawed Chicago, I will be taking a picture of a different street sign...wait for it...in alphabetical order.

Now, right now my mom is probably thinking, "Great, this is going to be like the time in high school when she had to compile a huge project on British literature using a certain theme. While other students chose things like "love" or "despair," my daughter had to insist that each work had a color in the title, which took freakin' forever."

Just kidding, my mom thinks this goal is brilliant! I already have A-C figured...X, not so much - but one is always better for trying, n'est-ce pas?

Plus, I will include some regular postings. Also, with each street sign, I'll talk a little bit about where it is, why it's significant, and whether or not I was utterly lost when I found it. Hopefully, this project will result in a better understanding of my adopted city of Chicago.

Alright, look out for the first one soon!

I know, it's like sitting by the phone waiting for your new love interest to call!

Well, at least that's what I've heard - I never really wait and most the time I hope they don't call...hahahaha.

And scene.