Beginning of the Beginning. Chicago Style with Corn...

This week has thankfully been much better than last week already.
Wednesday night I went and cut most of my hair off in response to the bird in the face....
I decided it was a pleasant end to a dreadful few days.

Through the rest of last week and the start of this one, Keith and I have begun the process of visiting the places and people we love.  Unfortunately, there are too many great people and places to see and share them all.  Our time table and budget can't take it.

As we ready the house and our overwhelming piles of stuff for our new adventure, we say, "so long," to Chicago as we've known it.

There is a little bit of melancholy in all the lasts.
Saturday Keith and I had our sixth anniversary dinner at Shaw's.  We shared fabulous oysters (didn't use to like those), martinis, and selections from the sea.  We chatted and talked about the future- as well as the oddity of having to leave things and loved ones behind in the process.

I am incredibly grateful for the time Chicago has given me and my family.  I have loved the long days in the sun, the walks through Andersonville with friends, and the shared excitement in festivals, parties and shows. The opportunities in both experience and food, and the family I've built here.

When I moved to Chicago, it was December 2002.  I graduated early from school in Kansas City Missouri with a theater degree. Keith came and picked me up in a UHaul.  (I was so eager to move, I skipped walking in my graduation ceremony. ) Keith and I rolled into town on a sunny but cold day - December 18th.  We drove our little UHaul with my meager possessions into Uptown to our first apartment together.  We spent two days in Chicago before heading to Wisconsin to see my family, then to Texas for Christmas.

In January, when we returned I hit the ground applying.... downtown padding the streets... steakhouse after steakhouse, I applied for positions waiting tables.  I was so excited, and naive.  I'd purchased the smallest purse possible- I didn't want,  "to get robbed on the el," my wallet is now bigger than that darn purse.

I began auditioning right away too.  I was told by one of Keith's friends who was an actress that it'd probably take me years to get a part in this town.  So, of course I was thrilled when I was cast in the first play that I auditioned for (oh, I got turned down for a bunch that week too- BUT, I should have known something was up).  I was cast in the play, "Dazed and Cornfuzed," at the Cornservatory.  (side note- dear young Chicago actors- run, screaming.)

I was cast as a dominatrix (fully clothed, not to worry), who's day job was as a barista at Starbucks.  I also had a lovely cameo as a dancing poo.

You read that right.

Poo.

Each day I worked waiting tables at Petterinos, (an upscale restaurant next to the Goodman- I had to wear a tux and bow tie. lame.), then would rush home, say hi to Keith, and jump back on the el for rehearsals.  The first time I went on the el to rehearsal- I accidentally took the purple line and ended up in Evanston.  Whoops.

When the show began, my parents came down to see me perform.  They of course were glowing with pride.....

that is, until they saw me as the poo.

Dressed in a trash bag, covered with fake corn attached to my bodice.
I shimmied and shook to the song, "Corn in my Poo."
You now understand why I am telling people to run away screaming right?
We were supposed to perform for 3 weeks, but probably only went on 10 times, since we had to have an audience of 5 to perform.
It was like pulling teeth.

I think I even made the poster.

As we leave the city, these are some of the things I'm leaving behind and raising up as an offering to all those just starting their journey.

More stories from the marks we've left on Chicago to come. . . .

Sleep well.