casa
There is a lot to be said about home base, little as I seem to see of it sometimes between the library and the studio. It's pretty much my favorite place (okay it's a tie with the studio, but here there are cats, so it wins.) I've lived in the same 3rd floor apartment for nearly 13 years, and despite the occasional ridiculousness of my Loyola U neighbors (who have an occasional tendency towards loud parties and drunken running through the halls), I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. I am not really one of those transition-friendly sort of people who can up and jump cities or abodes and pretty much even the mere thought of moving gives me hives. As an adult, I've really only lived in three places: the others: my tiny cozy grad school studio apt. in Lincoln Park, and then a hard-to-find spacious old flat in Rockford (sadly given up when I couldn't find a job to pay for it..I still dream about those glass fronted cabinets and the sleeping porch *sigh*) Considering I only really looked at one other place before I saw this one and fell in love, and it was a hasty decision that happened over the course of about two weeks when I found out I'd been hired at the library, it worked out remarkably well (despite the noise sometimes and occasional broken elevators, we have an excellent super and mgmt. company compared to other renter's horror stories I've encountered. Plus my rent has risen at a pretty stable and reasonable rate).
It's a pretty big building, a 1930's midrise and apparently onetime hotel. I love the high ceilings, parquet floors, the largish windows and white trim. I even love my pink bathroom tile and my 1950's-era perpetually-rusting-at-the hardware metal kitchen cabinets (they've been replacing the cabinets over the years as people move out, but they will have to pry my cold dead body off of mine.). Things also used to be much more of a catastrophe in the dining room before I had the studio with all of the printers and press supplies, but it definitely tends toward more of a controlled chaos nowadays--just my sewing, jewelry, and art supplies mostly-the stuff I work on at home....(the table is pretty battered with adhesives and paint and glitter, so I don't really actually eat dinner there...). My writing area is actually a corner of the living room, where I keep my laptop and official paper sorts of things, closer to the bookshelves, which are in easy reach. I do have an abundance of closet space, though the entry closet is ill-used and full of empty boxes, Christmas decorations, and various décor detritus that should have been thrown out. I've been meaning to clear it out and store my off-season clothes there since things are getting dicey in the bedroom closet.
I have also been long enamored of my neighborhood, which feels like a glorious little secret nestled here near the lake. (it's like right there on the other side of Sheridan.) There isn't much happening in terms of nightlife or attractions in Edgewater unless you head inland toward Andersonville, but there is an entire city out there for that (though increasingly my little corner has been hosting more and more food-related delights and antique/thrift stores.)
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Cinthia