Apartment hunting in Chicago!

In an effort to keep everyone in the loop, I've decided to try and start a blog. I often forget who I've told about what so I figure this can be a one stop shop for anyone who may be curious about the Adventures of the Wilson's!

Some of you may know that Matt accepted a new job back in January. The job won't begin until mid-July. We've told people but still had to keep it "hush hush" since Matt wasn't ready to tell Boeing quite that early! So much has happened since Jan 25, 2010--the night he got the call from Vista! We sold our home (thank goodness!), had a garage sale, moved into a temporary apartment and most recently, and signed a lease on a apartment in Chi-town!

Last week was the first time I'd ever set foot in Chicago and I was a little overwhelmed (but excited!) about what we'd gotten ourselves into! I was nervous that we wouldn't find a place on this trip and then we would be forced to find something online without actually seeing the apartment. Let me just tell you...you can't smell online so I wanted to make sure we weren't moving into a smelly place! We hunted for 3 days and fell in love with the last place we saw! I went into the search refusing to go without a washer/dryer in unit and came away with...you guessed it! An apartment without a washer/dryer in unit! haha never say never! I'm trying to embrace this whole new urban lifestyle! We looked at some apartments north of the downtown skyline but wound up right smack dab in the middle of downtown in "The Loop"! Here are a few pictures of our new place!





Here is our building! We're way up on the 42nd floor! eeek! We have a balcony but I don't think we'll spend much time out there! :)




Here's the kitchen! We saw a wide range of kitchens and this one was by far the best! I saw the smallest dishwasher on the planet and the world's teeniest microwave! I was worried we'd have to store/get rid of most of our kitchen stuff but with this kitchen, I don't think I'll have to get rid of anything else! yay! The stove is built into the island as well as the microwave--it's under the counter which means more counter space--woot woot!



The night view is amazing! This picture is off of the listing. We haven't been in our apartment at night but I'm excited about this view when the sun sets! Matt's office is in the view too which is kind of fun. The bedroom and the living room each have this view!





Here is another view during the day. We have a corner unit so we have east and south views! It's hard to tell from this picture, but we can see Lake Michigan too!



Matt standing in front of our building! We have a doorman which just sounds cool to me! Adds a little feeling of safety. :)

We also got to experience Chicago deep dish pizza and let me just tell you, it's nothing like you've ever experienced before! I'm not sure this picture will do it justice but it was really good! One slice MAYBE two is all you'll be able to handle. Trust me! You will definitely want to throw on your sweatpants and take a nap after eating this goodness!


The good thing about Chicago is you more than likely are walking a lot so it helps you feel a little better about the ridiculous about of food you just consumed! We also went to an amazing steakhouse called Gibson's to celebrate our 2 year anniversary a couple of weeks early. YUM! And then there was Carson's. They are famous for their ribs. I am not a big ribs connoisseur but it was good.



Since our trip was mainly to try and find a place to live, basically the only other thing we did was eat...we did walk around a lot a do a little sightseeing but nothing like museums or anything so we're excited to go back and do some of those things too! Here are a couple of sightseeing pictures that we did take when we remembered.







We were able to go see Lauren, Jason and Luke (and Jake, their dog) while we were in town which was WONDERFUL! Lauren was my matron of honor and she's been one of my closest friends since college! Jason and Lauren have lived in Seattle for the last few years and moved to Arlington Heights in April! AH is about a 40 minute train ride from Chicago so we hopped on the Metra and had dinner with them! I can't believe we didn't take any pictures with them. I was too busy lovin' on their little boy, Luke! He's precious!



Matt and I on the Metra heading out to the 'burbs! This is really a nice way to travel! No traffic! I'll be taking lots of trips on the Metra to see the Johnson's! So glad we're finally close enough to visit now!