chi chi chi chicago

Chicago is amazing.

Seriously, I have no idea how I got so lucky. Here's kind of an in-depth rundown of my apartment/roommates/internship … with pictures!

THE APARTMENT: We have the basement and first floor of a three-flat apartment. I'm not really sure how many units there are in the building, but we're in the back. Basically, the building is right next to/behind the El, so we hear it every 5-10 minutes. That took a little bit of getting used to but it doesn't bother me. Upstairs is a big living room and kitchen, a bathroom, and the bedroom I share with Amanda from Ohio (pictured left). Downstairs has a lot of closets and random storage space, two more bedrooms, another bathroom, and a little empty corner area that is being used as a fourth bedroom (the door is a tapestry). The place is huge and seems a lot more like a house than an apartment.

It's all wood floors, but somehow mine and Amanda's room isn't finished, so our floor is kind of dirty. That's what socks and slippers are for, right? It's a cozy room — definitely smaller than my dorm — but we have a pretty big closet and have no problem fitting our stuff in there. We each have a twin-sized air mattress and with not a whole ton of space in between them (maybe 2 feet?). But the good thing about having such a small amount of space is that it forces me to be a little neater, something I'm usually not very good at.

In the living room (pictured right) we have two huge, comfy purple/maroon couches (which make great beds when people come to visit), a big TV, PS2, lots of movies, and a coffee table that's usually cluttered with books, ashtrays, spare change, other random stuff, and sometimes a hookah. I'm not a huge fan of the smoking of anything in the apartment, but I'm dealing with it, and we have high ceilings so the smell doesn't stick around for long.

The kitchen (right) is really nice too — a fridge, table and chairs, stove/oven and microwave, a sink with low water pressure, a dishwasher that gets run way too often, and not enough cupboard space. It's amazing how quickly we go through food and dishes. Cereal seems to be the food of choice here (Alex eats usually two to four bowls a day), so the dishwasher is always packed with bowls. It's pretty funny.

THE ROOMMATES: There are five of us who actually live here: Amanda and I share the first-floor bedroom, Max and Alex have their own rooms downstairs, and Nathan has the tiny corner area with the tapestry door. But, Max's girlfriend Amy was here until Sunday (I wish she was here all summer), my friend Lori who I'm interning with is over all the time, and Alex's girlfriend Jessica is around a lot, so it's more like seven or eight. Everyone is 19 or 20, and we're all students. Basically it's just a college house, but not nearly as dirty as most of the ones I've seen. (Top left: Max and Amy, bottom left: Lori and me)

The thing is, before everyone moved in, no one knew more than two people living here. Neither Amanda or I had met anyone (or each other), and Alex and Nathan didn't know each other (but Max knew both of them). But somehow, we all hit it off and when Nathan's friend was here the night Amanda and I moved in (the guys were here before us), she had no idea that most of us had just met. I love having so many people around — everyone is coming and going all the time and we're basically just one big, happy family. And I love that before I got here, a lot of people probably thought I was crazy for moving into an apartment I hadn't even seen photos of with four people I had never met.

One of the best parts living here is that everyone is from different cities and states, and most of us have slightly different accents. I'm from Michigan, Amanda and Nathan are from Ohio, Max is from Louisiana, Alex is from D.C. (but lived in France for 12 years), Lori is from Florida, and Amy also is from Louisiana but goes to school in Tennessee. It's fun imitating how other people say words, because everyone has an accent in relation to everyone else.

So far we haven't had any problems with people getting along, but it really goes beyond that, because I think it's at the point where I could call all of my roommates my friends. We all hang out together when everyone is home, we're always laughing, and we have a lot in common with one another. Everyone does their part in the house, the place is relatively neat and clean (especially for a college house), the sink isn't always overflowing with dishes and mine and Amanda's bathroom is clean. Everyone kind of eats everyone else's food, but we're all constantly buying groceries, so it all evens out. (Top right: Nathan, bottom right: Amanda and Alex)

THE LOCATION: The apartment is in Lincoln Park, which is one of the nicer parts of Chicago. DePaul University is right here and students are still in school (including Alex and Max), so there are usually a lot of young people around. Everything is so convenient — within walking distance (less than 10 minutes) there's a Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Sunflower Market (similar to previous two), CVS, GAP, Bed, Bath & Beyond, tons of cafés and boutiques, etc., etc.

THE INTERNSHIP: I officially started Wednesday at Venus Zine, but last Saturday Lori and I went to a meeting about redesigning venuszine.com, then Sunday went to see Regina Spektor and reviewed the show. There's already a pretty wide range of stuff I'll be doing there: adding concert dates and uploading stories and photos to venuszine.com, opening mail (which consists of tons and tons of CDs and the occasional book or DVD), and I already have a couple of writing assignments. There definitely will be some typical intern work, but Amy (my editor) said she'll usually give us time to work on stories and what not. Some stories will get assigned, but mostly I think it'll be my job to pitch ideas and do my own stuff.

There are a few shows coming up that Lori or I are reviewing, and a few CDs, and I also get to cover Lollapalooza in August. The best part about opening the mail is that we pretty much have first dibs on reviewing albums. And while most of the CDs are from artists I've never heard of, there are definitely a few I've gotten really excited about, like the new Polyphonic Spree album that comes out next month.

At the meeting Lori and I went to last weekend, we decided we want to start a Venus Zine podcast, which I'm sure will be a huge project, but a lot of fun and a great experience. We have a few ideas for stuff we want to put in it, but nothing for sure yet. Ideas or suggestions — anything having to do with women in music, film, the arts or D.I.Y. (do-it-yourself) culture — would be great.

The office is really laid-back, and is shared with three other small publications owned by the publishers. My friend Lauren from MSU/The State News is interning for the publishers, so she's there some of the time also, which is awesome. All of the interns work in Amy's office, a tiny, tiny office with four computers. It's a tight squeeze and it's usually pretty warm in there, but still a lot of fun.

And I can't forget the proudest moment in my career so far (ha ha ha). I wrote a big story for the summer issue and the magazine doesn't come out until June 1, but I already have a copy and it was so exciting to actually see it printed! Seriously, that thing took me so long to do (it was also my final project for my environmental journalism class, which was my only 4.0 this semester), and at times it got really, really frustrating, but I'm so happy with how it turned out. I also reviewed a CD and have a little bio and my picture on the contributors page, which is pretty sweet. So if you want to check it out (at Borders, Barnes & Noble, SBS on Grand River in East Lansing, and some independent record and book stores), it comes out June 1 and has Björk on the cover.

THE JOB: Currently nonexistent. I've applied to quite a few places and should be hearing back from them soon, but if I don't have anything secured by next week I think I'm going to get really worried. My first choice would be working at Argo Tea, a really awesome tea café half a block away from me. It's an independently owned store and there are five or six locations in Chicago. I like the environment of the place, not to mention every drink I've had there has been excellent. And it's half a block away. I also applied at Trader Joe's, Sunflower Market, Whole Foods, a couple of boutiques, and some other places.

So uh, yeah, that's Chicago so far. I don't want to leave.