Things turning up Liz!

Yesterday I got a call from GSP Marketing. I thought they were calling to schedule a trial work day, but instead they want me to work all week (Tues-Fri)! I'm very excited to have something to do and of course make some money! I'm still going to apply for other jobs but at least this is a start in the right direction.

Also I got my Illinois state ID yesterday. I'm officially a Chicago, Illinois resident. I live in the mid-west, that's crazy!

Tonight I'm going with Jessica to meet up with an old friend Emily Looser, who just moved to Chicago too. We're going to see Whirled News tonight an improv show at the iO theater. Then we are probably going to get a drink or two afterwards. Should be fun!

My first Chicago Interview

Yes, you read it correctly. I had my first Chicago interview today. It was for a freelance photography assistant at a commercial studio. The place is called GSP marketing, check it out! It's a marketing firm that does in house photography, design and printing. I think my interview went well. The Senior Photographer, Todd seemed impressed with my past experience at Macomber Inc. Todd is supposed to call me tomorrow to schedule a time for me to go back and work a trial day. So, I'm just gonna see what happens. In the mean time I'm still applying for other jobs and hopefully I'll start getting more interviews. I really want a full time position with benefits, but that can be hard to find in the photo industry. Booooo!

Here is a picture of me in my big-girl interview clothes.

Also I've posted some of my re-touching portfolio online. Check it out at www.elizabethsofarelli.com. It's nothing fancy, just a simple Photoshop photo gallery. I'll update it and get a better layout eventually.

Well, that is all for now. Here is another funny picture of Homer:

Towelhead

Last night Ashley and I went to see a free screening of the movie Towelhead. At first we didn't think we were going to get in, but we waited and were able to take some seats in the first row. It was so good, probably one of the best movies that I've seen in a while. After the movie, the writer/director Alan Ball was there to answer questions, and Ashley asked a very smart question. Alan Ball has also written American Beauty and Six Feet Under. Check out the Towelhead trailer and website here.

So that's all for now. I'm continuing my job search, but I have nothing to report yet. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

The Chicago heat and my job search

Okay, so I haven't blogged in a few days because I haven't really been doing anything too exciting. By request of my oldest sister (the blogging queen, haha), here is what I've been up to:

First of all, It's so hot in Chicago! For the past 4 days it's been in the mid to upper 80's and super muggy. Yuck! The mythical lake breeze, which has no comparison to an ocean breeze, does not reach our apartment. Also we have no AC, so I'm writing this with two fans blowing on me. There has been occasional thunderstorms but those don't seem to relieve the mugginess. To deal with the heat Jessica and I have been eating a lot of Gelato from a place around the corner from our house. Yummy!

For the past three days, I've been working on finding a job. When Ajay was here he helped me update and re-design my resume, and let me say it looks pretty awesome. I went down to Kinkos and printed out about 30 copies, but I need to get a lot more. I wrote a fantastic cold call type cover letter and now I'm working on sending them all out.
I did google searches for Chicago portrait photography studios, commercial photography studios and photo labs. I checked out each studio/lab's website and wrote down the places that I liked. There are no shortage of photography studios in Chicago! I'm sending resumes and personalized cover letters to 20 portrait studios, 18 commercial studios and 5 photo labs!
On top of that I've been doing job searches on Craigslist, Comm Arts, the Chicago Reader and various other job search sites. I've applied to about 10 jobs from those sites since I've been here. Whew! Now I just have to cross my fingers and send some follow up e-mails in a week or so.

Today is Jessica's orientation at Columbia College, I've been teasing her about her first day of school all week. Yesterday we went to Staples to get her school supplies and I needed ink for my printer. Jackie was right about all the ridiculous and unnessisary school supplies at Staples. Who needs all of that crap?

Anyway, I think I'm gonna walk up to Wicker park and go to the farmer's market and then come back and package up more resumes. Tonight Jessica and I are going to see DJ A-trak at Subterranean. It should be awesome! Ajay is super jealous...

Trader Joe's, Ikea and Jeff Koons

On Sunday Jessica and I went to Trader Joe's. This was my first time shopping at a Trader Joe's, and I had big expectations. The store was fairly small but the selection was decent. The best thing about Trader Joe's is that all of the products and produce are organic and super cheap!!! Tonight we are enjoying some burgundy pepper marinaded lamb with organic mashed potatoes and organic Brussels sprouts. Yum!

Yesterday we ventured out to the suburb of Schaumburg, IL to go to Ikea. I have been to an Ikea before so I knew what to expect, but it was still over-whelming. We got multiple types of shelving, curtain rods and closet organizers. Here is a few photos of my favorite purchases:

Bathroom shelves

Hanging rack for pots and pans

Hanging Rail

Today we went downtown to the Museum of Contemporary Art to see the Jeff Koons exhibit. There is free admission at the MCA on Tuesdays, yay! The show was a kind of retrospective of Koons' work from the late 80's until today. My favorite pieces were the giant balloon dog and the sculpture of Michael Jackson and his Chimpanzee Bubbles. It was a crazy exhibit but I'm glad that I went to see it. Here are my favorite pieces:


Also here is a funny picture of Homer in a tiny box. Silly cat!

Sunday Morning in the Ukrainian Village

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous since we got here. Sunny and warm every day, a big change from the rainy weather we left back in New England. Perfect weather for the airshow!
Sunday morning in the Ukrainian Village is pretty quiet except for the occasional church bells. We are surrounded by multiple Catholic churches, and all offer masses in Ukrainian, English and Spanish. Jessica has been thinking about attending mass in order to get friendly with some elderly Ukrainians so she can photograph their homes. Ajay and I suggested that she should attend Thursday night bingo, but Jessica pointed out that it would probably be all in Ukrainian. Anyway, You can check out Jessica's photography here.

Tomorrow Jessica and I are planning to go out to Ikea and we're very excited. We need shelves, lots and lots of shelves. Our Chicago apartment is a little smaller than our Portland apartment and we need more storage. Besides the lack of storage, the new apartment has many amendities that our old apartment was lacking.
First of all, we have a dishwasher! I know that probably sounds crazy but this is my first apartment with a dishwasher, can you believe it? We also have a small back porch with a screen door off of our kitchen. It really cools off the apartment and the cats love looking out the door.

One more thing...My sister Jackie asked me how to make photo slideshows. I use an image hosting site called Photobucket. You just upload your photos to thier site and they generate the html codes so then you can post your photos on your blog, myspace, facebook, etc. Very handy.

Navy Pier Ferris Wheel and the Weiners Circle

Yesterday Ajay and I went to the Navy Pier to ride the Ferris wheel. I have had a strange obsession with the Ferris wheel since reading Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. The Ferris wheel was invented specifically for the 1893 World's fair in Chicago. The original Ferris wheel had 36 cars that could each hold 60 riders! Here is a picture:



The new Ferris wheel isn't as big, each of the 40 cars can only hold six people. Ajay and I had our own car for the ride. Also the wheel never stops, you have to jump off while it is still moving! Not only was the Ferris wheel ride exciting but the Navy's Blue Angels were flying around the pier practicing for this weekends air show. The planes were practicing formations and zooming by the Ferris wheel! So awesome!

Here's a link to this weekend's air show. It looks good!



After our Ferris wheel ride we headed to Lincoln Park to eat at the Wiener's Circle. Ajay had heard about the Wieners Circle from multiple people, they all said it was the best Chicago dog experience in the whole city. It took us a while to find the place, but it was worth it. We each had two Chicago style dogs and shared some fries. For those of you who don't know what a Chicago style hot dog is: A Vienna Beef hot dog on a poppy seed roll topped with tomatoes, pickles, bright green relish, mustard, onions, hot peppers and sprinkled with celery salt. It's completely out of control!

Pictures from our adventure:

Photos

Finally! Photos of our street, apartment, Buckingham fountain and from the top of the Sears Tower!!! Enjoy!

2149 W Walton Street

Our Internet is now up and running properly! WoooHooo!

So now that we have been here a few days...I have to say that 2149 W Walton Street is the best place to live in Chicago! Our apartment is located right in heart of the Ukrainian Village and only a few blocks away from the trendy Wicker Park. We are within walking distance to a awesome brand new grocery store plus hundreds of restaurants and shops!


Check out this map:


View Larger Map

I am starting to find that I most likely won't be needing my car to get around. Buses run from most main streets, and we have access to a bunch of lines within blocks from our apartment. Including the Chicago and Division buses that run 24 hours! The buses also connect to the Red and Blue train lines, so it's super easy to get to the Loop. In case you don't know, the Loop is the main part of downtown Chicago, all the train lines meet in the loop.

Ok, so I should get going for the day. Ajay and I are planning on going to the Ferris wheel on the Navy Pier today. I'll post some pictures later.

The Big Move

It's official! We have arrived in Chicago!!!

This weekend was incredibly exhausting. The journey began on Saturday morning around 8am when picked up our bright yellow Penske truck. The movers showed up around 11am, a complete hour late! Jessica and I were very worried that all of our belongs would not fit into our 16 foot truck, but after all the boxes were loaded into the back it was clear that everything would fit. What a huge relief!
After cleaning the apartment, and stocking up on energy drinks and snacks we finally left Portland at 6pm. Ajay and I drove the big moving truck with my cat Homer and Jessica and her friend Allisa drove Jessica's car with her cats Baby and Molly. We drove through the night stopping at rest stops about every 3-4 hours.
The whole drive I was drugging my cat Homer with sedatives, which made him sleep a lot but occasionally he would wake up and cry for a while. Towards the end of the drive Ajay and I (who ever was not driving) would have Homer on our lap. This stopped his endless crying.
After endless hours of corn fields we arrived in Chicago around 12:30pm Sunday. We got stuck in traffic for about an hour and a half, but made it to the apartment safely. Jessica and Allisa went out to the suburbs to pick up our keys at our landlord's office. Surprisingly the four of us were wide awake and ready to move all of our stuff into the apartment. Let me say, thank god that our new apartment is on the first floor! By 8pm, after enjoying some local pizza, we were all in bed.
Monday morning we had the Gas guy and the cable guy come to set up our stove and Internet. Which at the moment our wireless isn't working so I'm writing this on Jessica's laptop plugged into an Ethernet cable. The cable doesn't reach to my computer. :(

Anyway, I should help Jessica unpack some boxes. I have much more to write and pictures to post so check back soon!!!