By Cheryl Wilson I recently attended an improv class at Second City. My friend Madeline had been talking about how much fun she had at the drop-in classes (http://www.secondcity.com/training/chicago/coursecatalog/59/), and I impulsively volunteered to join her the next time she went to one. She sent me a message a few days later to make sure I was serious, and before I knew it, we were ag  Read more 

By Cheryl Wilson Will and I finally got to explore Andersonville last weekend, and it was a blast. I’ve been to a few places in the neighborhood for Rebellious meetings, but before our adventure I hadn’t gotten a chance to really explore. I’m so glad I finally did. The first place we discovered was probably my favorite. Andersonville Galleria (http://www.anders  Read more 

By Cheryl Wilson Apartment hunting in Chicago. Did a shiver just run down your spine? As much as I have been looking forward to finding somewhere new to live, just the idea of looking for an apartment makes me nauseous. You have to decide on a neighborhood, a price range, which amenities are must-haves and which are nice-to-haves, and often, you must take someone else’s needs i  Read more 

By Cheryl Wilson My boyfriend Will and I try to explore a neighborhood we’re unfamiliar with every weekend. This can be a daunting task; Chicago has 77 neighborhoods, and many of them are large and have to be split into multiple trips. We began this tradition a little over a year ago by hopping on the El and getting off at a stop that looked like it had a lot going on. We woul  Read more 

By Cheryl Wilson I’m officially a working woman! This week I started a content writing/SEO internship in Northbrook. I’ve been telling everyone that I want a full-time position for about a year now, so I’m pretty excited to have found one. It’s not exactly using what I’m getting my degree in, but it’s related and I’m going to learn a lot ab  Read more 

By Cheryl Wilson One of the hardest parts about winter, for me, is being cooped up inside all the time. During the warmer months, I walk everywhere: to the grocery store, to my boyfriend’s house, and to meet up with friends. But the moment it’s cold out, I could qualify as one of the laziest people in the city. I get upset if I have to park more than a block from my apartment   Read more 

By Cheryl Wilson Lately I’ve been thinking about what makes someone a Chicagoan. For those of us not born and raised here, what does it take to be able to say you’re from Chicago? Is there a certain length of time you have to live in the city? Are there things you must experience before you truly belong? I’ve gotten two parking tickets, two red light tickets, a   Read more 

By Cheryl Wilson A little over a year ago, New York was hit by Hurricane Irene. The storm arrived in New York City a week and a half before I was supposed to move there for grad school. I was still living in Albany, where I worked at a restaurant that often provided meals for the emergency disaster responders. The storm struck the day after my last day at the restaurant, and I was suppose  Read more 

Every single day I wake up, and I’m excited: I live in Chicago now. It still feels like I’m on vacation from real life. I have a job, I have rent and bills to worry about, and school has started up so I’m busier than ever, but I’m in a city that finally feels like it could be my home, so these things aren’t nearly as stressful as they could be. It’s bee  Read more 

A few weeks ago, my boyfriend’s apartment was robbed. We weren’t home at the time, thank goodness, but they took our laptops, his Xbox, any games they were interested in, and cash that we had left rather than carry on us. More than that, they took the sense of security that I had felt in his neighborhood. When I first started visiting Will a year ago, I immediately lo  Read more