I sneezed my way through the last year. Like, I had a ton of allergies (I always feel like such a tissue-toting geekazoid when I admit that I sneeze–on average–30 times a day), but also I feel like this year blew by as fast as a good set of sneezes.

Especially summer. Gosh. It leaked through an empty drain. But yes, we still have one final weekend here together. One beautiful (first) anniversary to look forward to this weekend, so Chicago’s not over yet.

Still, despite the rapidity of the experience, and the occasional inane, coma-inducing boredom, I still feel like I accomplished most of the goals on my list.

 

Here is is, the Reader’s Digest Version of our Summer in Chicago.
Let’s begin with books, shall we? I read (In order of how much I liked them, 1 being the best):

  1. To Kill A Mockingbird–Harper Lee
  2. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn–Mark Twain
  3. The Scarlet Letter--Nathaniel Hawthorne
  4. Les Miserables--Victor Hugo (hated the translation I read)
  5. October Sky–Homer Hickam
  6. I Feel Bad About My Neck-Nora Ephron
  7. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde–Robert Louis Stevenson
  8. The Old Man and the Sea–Ernest Hemingway
  9. The Miracle Worker–William Gibson
  10. Monster–Walter Dean Myers

    TOTAL PAGES READ: 2,197

*I also listened to audio versions of The Book Thief and The Art of Hearing Heartbeats. 
 
Writing Projects:
  1. Pages of Novel Written: 89 (and counting)
  2.  Number of Blogs Written (that involved actual writing and not just like “Sponsor My Blog” or whatever: 31
  3. Second City Comedy Writing Classes attended: 5, with 5 Writing Assignments
  4. New Followers: 31
  5. Probably 20 pages of like… teacher stuff.
Theatre Events:
  1. Kristin Chenoweth
  2. Improv All Stars–Second City
  3. Bang the Drum Slowly
 
Visitors and New Friends (Not Ranked, just appreciated):

  1. Mom- we went on a bus tour, saw a play, went out to a fancy dinner at Roy’s and generally had a great time.
  2. Megan and Quinn- Met their puppies, went to the Bean, etc.
  3. Karl–Got breakfast and caught up for the first time in years!.
  4. Ruth–Had a lovely brunch/lunch and then walked around the Art Institute and had a generally lovely afternoon. Excellent to chat with a fellow English Teacher/younger married person.
  5. Andrea and Colin– Andrea went to my high school, but we didn’t really know each other until we got out here. We love them now and are sad that distance will separate us when we move and they stay! We went to the temple, The Taste of Chicago, and to dinner over at their adorable apartment. We’re going to miss you guys.
  6. Krystle–My adorable blog friend become real life friend. We hit Uno’s, and laughed about the eccentricities of blog world. This girl is sassy and fun. I (not so) secretly hope she comes back to Provo and hangs out with me there.
  7. Kelsey and Michael– A brief drop in for the 4th of July was ever-so-welcome! We kicked around some water in a fountain. I wish they had moved to Chicago, not NY cause our time was just too short.
  8. Jason and Carrie–Friends, it’s really starting to break my heart that you’re going to be in Minnesota and not Provo. We’ve had so much fun with you two at church and at Giordanno’s, etc. I vote no to the Carrie and Jason relocation movement.


Movies (Ranked)

  1. Moonrise Kingdom
  2. The Dark Knight Rises
  3. The Amazing Spiderman
  4. Men In Black III
  5. Snow White and the Hunstman (boooooooo!)
Events and Activities (ranked):

  1. Building Sand Castles at the beach with my handsome hubby.
  2. The Shedd Aquarium
  3. The Bean
  4. The Art Institute of Chicago
  5. The Open Book
  6. The Museum of Science and Industry
  7. The Taste of Chicago
  8. Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier
  9. Old Town
  10. Church in an old elementary school
  11. Shopping on Michigan Ave (more fun if your loaded with cash)
  12. Lincoln Park Zoo
  13. The Field Museum
  14. The Garfield Conservatory
Food Places (Ranked):
  1. Roy’s
  2. Eduordo’s
  3. Uno’s (GASP!)
  4. Giordanno’s
  5. The Big Bowl
  6. Chicago Dogs all across the board
  7. Cheesecake Factory
  8. CPK (Love these two both, they just weren’t uniquely Chicago)
  9. Lou’s Pizza
  10. Weird, loud Sushi place on Rush St.

    That’s (almost) a wrap folks!

  1. Aug 03, 2012
    Brooke

    Loved almost all those books, and hated Snow White and the Huntsman. You sure did a ton this summer!

    Reply
  2. Aug 03, 2012
    Dave

    Sierra, I love that you're in Chicago. I've only spent 2 weeks total there but it's my favorite city.

    I'm commenting because I want to make sure you haven't missed one of my favorite foods out there: a hot beef from Portillos. Go, get it with the spicy pickled vegetables and dipped in gravy. Trust me. So good.

    Reply
  3. Aug 03, 2012
    Deidre

    You've done so much! Well done!

    Reply
  4. Aug 03, 2012
    Kels H. M.

    I support the Carrie and Jason relocation campaign, but unfortunately, I want them to relocate to New York. And you, too. So work on that.

    Reply
  5. Aug 03, 2012
    Krystle

    yay for being friends. and i like this post idea. i want to do one.

    Reply