A (not so brief) Introduction

Welcome to the Cozy Corner (theoretically I am blogging from this cute and cozy little corner... but in actuality we now have a couch)

Any how, This is me, Emily Forest. I recently graduated from Northern Arizona University and have moved to Chicago to pursue improv with The Second City and other theatrical endeavors. And I thought well... why not document this adventure somehow. So here goes....

This picture was taken during one of my lengthy stays at McDonald's in order to mooch free wifi while waiting for my apartment to grow up and finally get some of its own. I have been pondering, planning, contemplating, and scheming what I wanted this blog to look like and then realized that so much has happened that I should be writing about. 

So in a nutshell (and with a lot of pictures) this is what my life has looked like for the past couple weeks. 

MOVING! 

Almost all of my worldly possessions... except of course my microwave... oops

HOME!

So this is it, my new home. It's an adorable little apartment in a very ethnic neighborhood with loads and loads of families. People watching from the front window is prime. 

Good News! after 2 weeks of living here we finally have internet, furniture, and most importantly HOT WATER! 

It finally is starting to feel like a home. 

My Room

Hanging out (pre-furniture) with Travis, my roommate. 

TOURIST

Ok...yes, I spent the first few days doing very touristy things with Megan (my other roommate) and her mom. We went down to the Navy Pier, which was just as magical as I remember it being when I was a kid. We took a architectural boat tour through the canals, which was informative and fascinating, so I can blurt out random, mostly useless, facts about different buildings in the city of Chicago. 

I ate some good old Chicago style deep-dish pizza (both with my mom and sister and with Megan and her mom). 

In a decision to stay out of the heat one day we checked out the Art Institute of Chicago and the painter in me sort of died and went to heaven. So many beautiful paintings by so many talented artists in one spot. The impressionist exhibit at The Art Institute of Chicago literally rendered me speechless. What can you possibly say when you are standing in a room with paintings by Monet, Renoir, Sisley, and Seurat?

We found ourselves in Millennium Park upon exiting the Art Institute and wandered through, saw the Bean, the spitting fountains, the Frank Lloyd Wright Bridge, and many interesting people. 

I am sure you are thinking we couldn't possibly fit more into this week than we did... but wait... 

We checked out the FREE Lincoln Park Conservatory and Zoo

Not to mention we completely unpacked, built a couple Ikea dressers, and started looking for big kid jobs... (or more likely minimum wage jobs to pay the bills while we contemplate why we all graduated with theatre degrees...)

Just to prove I really did do all that stuff here are a couple pictures: 

 

                                              

 

  

There you have it... my first week in Chicago in a nutshell.