I am good at money

Good morning!

I just spent my morning stuck in standstill traffic on Lake Shore Drive sitting next to and listening to his (quite loud) phone conversation about how annoyed he was that he was still on the bus, I hear you, buddy. To those of you who are asking why I didn’t take the Red Line, it was also delayed, so although I was in the latter half of the arriving students (20 minutes late), according to my professor no one got there on time. I praise you Chicago rush hour for this unpredictability. You really make getting on some mode of public transportation at 7:30 worth it.

As for the more fun/more entertaining part of this post, I had quite the full week and weekend. Last Thursday, Megan (OMG friend reveal??), and I walked from the Water Tower campus of Loyola to the Harold Washington Library in the loop. To those familiar with Chicago is quite pleasant but quite a long (2.5 miles) walk. To make matters unexpectedly worse the jeans I was wearing that day were, in simple terms not broken in and starched to high heaven, and as someone who wears no-stretch jeans, my legs were bleeding because of the friction. God really gives his toughest battles to his curviest warriors.

Over the weekend, I stumbled upon the Edgewood Art Festival, (Edgewood is the neighborhood south of Rodgers Park, Loyola sits squarely on that divide so the festival is about two blocks from my dorm). My day was off to a strong start, I had gotten myself I Muppets themed latte at the coffee shop, so as I sipped on my Rolf the Dog latte, I saw the shinning opportunity that 18-year-olds who make smart financial decisions can only dream of. I paid for a custom oil painting of myself. I’ll put the picture somewhere below this, (putting pictures on WIX is a pain in the ass). I also made a mosaic as a little activity that the Chicago School of Mosaics was putting on.

Now for Sunday, this is where things get good. I got coffee in Andersonville, good coffee better company (shout-out Chicago Alex). Walked through a cool area, (Lakewood-Balmoral), and inhaled some second-hand smoke on the red-line train back. I got back around 1 for a quick turnaround for the adventure of the week. The international museum of surgical science. Yes, readers, for the low price of 15$ you too can look at a collection of shiny metal tools to poke and prod, and graphic murals making you grateful you live in a post-anesthetic world. But where would that story be without a healthy dose of misfortune?

Imagine- you’re on a bus to go to the museums, you get off the bus, and you realize your phone fell out of your back pocket and is now heading to Lake Shore. Well, for my friend Arya, this was a reality. However, this is a story of TRIUMPH! Megan called the phone, and a good Samaritan picked up and agreed to leave it a minute mart a few stops away. So back on the bus we went, which I feel the need to mention went around Lincon Park, so a very scenic trip. We secured the phone and finally made our pilgrimage to the museum, (which had a great gift shop by the way).

I finished my eventful Sunday with a scrumptious dinner in Evanston at Dave’s Italian, (thank you to Sam Mcllhagga for the rec). An intimate restaurant, in which we ate 4 baskets of bread, (there were only 4 of us), and our kind waitress included 4 MORE loaves in the to-go bag like we were Dickinson-esc street orphans. Will definitely be going back, my entire dinner came out to 22$ and I also got dessert.

My Monday was not particularly eventful, and I’m staring down the barrel of a not-super-exciting week. Today I’m meeting with some of the people who run the radio station to see if there are any opportunities to get involved. I’m going to the library's “register to vote event” which promises a VERY special guest; I swear to God if it's just the mascot, that might be my last straw. I need blog material.

Well, that’s it from me! Talk to y'all next week!

-Gretchen

(PS. It's a slide show below, so make sure to click through)