Chicago
Travel
Another short trip to this fantastic city, but it was totally worth it. I finally made it there after my mishap with transportation read all about it Getting to Chicago. Taxi Fails and Missing Buses.
Once I finally got there I decided to walk to the hotel I was staying at, The Inn of Chicago to be exact. According to my phone GPS, it was supposed to be 30ish minutes. Well, that was wrong...
Chicago in 25 hours!
Another short trip to this fantastic city, but it was totally worth it. I finally made it there after my mishap with transportation read all about it Getting to Chicago. Taxi Fails and Missing Buses.
Once I finally got there I decided to walk to the hotel I was staying at, The Inn of Chicago to be exact. According to my phone GPS, it was supposed to be 30ish minutes. Well, that was wrong...
Yep, 50 minutes away and lucky me I was right by the water. I said screw it though I wanted to see the city and experience it all. I slightly regret that now, but it was fantastic none the less. I finally made it and just in time because I was losing feeling in my legs. That wind chill was no joke, and I was there on a warm day. It was in double digits, and there was no snow storm in the forecast.
On to the fun stuff, what I actually did besides freezing----
1. Head to a mall, I went the Water Tower Place. It was 7 stories, and I could not turn up an opportunity like that. All I bought was postcards to mail home, but still, if I weren't broke I would have left with a lot more!
2. Eat at The Purple Pig. Being a party of one got me right in at the bar. I was able to watch all the dishes get made and also watch the two drunk girls next to me flirt with the bartender (who had a ring on!). He played along though, and I in return had free entertainment. After the perky two-some left I then had some fantastic conversations with two other travellers. One with a British accent who lived in Manhattan, but was previously in California. And the other an older man, who came to The Purple Pig everytime he was in town, you know a place is good with that!
At The Purple Pig, I had a few too many Crown and Cranberry, they didn't have the green stuff to make the oh so fabulous Washington Apples. But the drinks were strong which is just what I wanted.
Then there was the food. It all looked so good, the cheese plates, bone marrow, EVERYTHING!! I had the Eggplant Balls and Meatball Slider. Two small dishes that helped with my liquid diet.
Eggplant Balls//Kitchen View and of course drinks! // Meatball slider to die for
3. After leaving The Purple Pig, I knew I had a few too many. It was quick vaca, it's allowed. So I decided to take a taxi to Eataly, a block away from my hotel. I have a love for the Food Channel, cooking shows, anything with food in general. So stopping at this place was a must.
Hello, the place is run by these people! A few should look familiar to all you foodies out there like: Joe Bastianich, Lidia Bastianich, Mario Batali... After walking around this place, I wish I had room to eat. This place is like a grocery store with places to drink wine, eat dessert and sample the cuisine. AMAZING.
4. Head to the Art Institute of Chicago. My final destination for this trip and the place where the conference was. Not only is the museum fantastic, but it is also right by the BEAN! I was walking to the museum trying to find the correct entrance to go to and walked right by the bean. No one was there, it was 8am, and it was slightly cold, but it was magical. My first time seeing it and I was pretty ecstatic to say I had finally seen it!
The bean// Front of the Art Institute// Another amazing piece of art
Well, there it is what I did in 25 hours in Chicago. I know it wasn't a lot but I'll be back to see more of Chi-town, so no worries with that!
Have you ever been to Chicago? If so what is on your must-do list?
Travel
Getting to Chicago: Taxi Fails & Missing Buses
I have been to Chicago before for a matter of about 24 hours. It was a trip to see my little brother finish the Navy Basic Training which was exhausting but worth it. I even got to meet some of the BFs high school friends that currently live there.
Chicago was the first place that made me fall in love with the idea of living in a big city. We walked to dinner, then a few blocks later we headed to a pretty impressive bar. All of this was within walking distance from the BFs friends apartment.
I was amazed. And I knew that I wanted to come back to Chicago! Lucky me I am now a 3-hour bus ride from the city and got to head up there last week for a 1 Day conference.
To start off, this post have even of you ever taken a Megabus ride? I suggest it if you ever don't feel like driving to a large city that has public transit that you can use. Also, they say there is WiFi, but on my 3-hour trip there was none, so keep that in mind.
But on to the real story, let's start from the beginning...
I had a Megabus ticket for Tuesday at 10:45am. Meaning I needed to get downtown by 10:30am for the bus. Luck would have it this trip is the first time for quite a few things.
9:30am called to arrange a pickup and thought all was set up. A taxi should be here within 35-40 minutes is what I was told.
10- I went to sit in front of the museum to wait.
10:10- No Taxi still, I called and asked where it was, it should be on its way I was told.
10:20-Called again, yet was told it was on its way.
10:30-Called and was told 'No taxi is on its way'. Excuse me & WTF were two thoughts running through my mind. So I asked to speak to a manager, she was extremely friendly, but still, nothing came out of the talk, except that I should have informed them I needed to go to the bus station then they would have rushed. Didn't know that taxis had priorities on their list for pickups.
At this point, I was upset that this trip was off to a horrible start. And I was out another $18 for a bus trip to Chicago.
I was determined to make it to the next bus. It left at 2:15pm, and I made sure that I would be there.
I decided to take the bus, even though Indy has one of the worst public transit systems. After figuring out that a bus would run right by the museum at 12:14pm and would take me 3 blocks from where I needed to be I headed over to the bus stop. Unfortunately, there was a 3-foot pile of snow blocking the bus stop, and I was out there early to make sure I didn't miss it.
In the end, I made it downtown with enough time to head to Starbucks and find the pickup spot for the Megabus.
I made it to Chicago even after missing my first bus, a horrible taxi experience and my first public transit experience in Indy. So overall it worked out...
Come back to hear about my 25 hour trip to Chicago including too much to drink, getting lost and finding the Bean and a 6 story mall... That will all be tomorrow!
Life
Love
Distance doesn't matter to us
I have been in Indy now for almost a month, and I am loving every moment of it. Yes, there have been massive snow storms practically every weekend, I was even lucky enough to get here right before the Polar Vortex, but still, this is what I needed to do to help with the next part of my life.
With all the excitement around my new home, job, city, and surroundings I have found myself wondering if leaving the BF is making me a shitty GF?
Recently a chat with a friend of mine got me thinking, why does time apart in my relationship work, yet others can't imagine being apart for periods of time?
The BF and I have always been an 'interesting' couple too many of my friends. On girls night the other girls were busy reporting to their BFs about the night, while I was all about having a fun time. Going away for a wedding weekend, the BF knew that everything was fine, texts were exchanged, but I didn't step away from the festivities every 2 hours to talk to him on the phone. Getting way too drunk at the Frat house and going to the Spring Formal with BLil didn't freak him out, heck he encouraged me to enjoy college.
Yet with all of this, I still have friends who seem to not have the type of happy relationship that I seem to have. With the job in Indy was there was never a time where I thought the BF wouldn't like the idea. Sure we are apart, but this is something that I really wanted and worked hard for.
I have plans on applying for a Fellowship in the UK that would mean another 9 months apart, but it sounds like a fantastic opportunity, and steps like this are necessary to get where I want to go. So he encourages me to go for it.
I have a dear friend from college who couldn't imagine even applying for a job because it requires a MONTH of training in another state. This meant that she would be apart from her BF and he just wouldn't approve. Could you imagine turning down opportunities because of something so small? Getting into a career that can lead to some excellent opportunities is something that should be worth a month apart. But in that relationship, I suppose that being apart to reach your dreams isn't something that is supported, which baffles me!
In the end, I know I am not a shitty gf, I am just in a trusting relationship where we can both encourage each other as we try to reach our dreams. Yet I still can't imagine how other couples freak with the idea of living apart, but still, I am glad that living life is something that has made my relationship strong enough to deal with the distance.
* Sorry for the extra random post, but heck just thoughts on life! And some mad props to my fantastic BF for being there for me through all my adventures and dreams! Thanks for the support babe :)
College Tips
Heading to a Conference
So last week I was busy trying to finish up my Poster for SERMACS (South Eastern Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society) which I why I was super MIA!!!! I literally had my poster printed at 3pm Tuesday, and I left for Atlanta at 7:30pm. Let's talk about cutting it close!
So now onto the College Advice for this week--- Head to a conference any chance that you get!
Here are my five reasons why I believe heading to a conference is a great idea!
1. You get away from school, and the school pays for you to go- WIN AND WIN! Now getting away from school for educational purposes is considered excused absences, so no strikes on your attendance. As for having your trip paid for, I know for schools that I went with, as long as I presented I get reimbursed for it! Now the best part is, WCU doesn't require receipts they just give me money based on the days that I was there. This means that my 'extracurriculars' (aka the BAR) is all covered! Even bigger WIN.
2. You get to go out with Professors and students in a setting that probably wouldn't happen at school. Having a drink with a professor was on my to-do list before finishing college, weird I know but don't hate on my goals. Also going out with friends in a new town is always exciting!
3. You meet people in your field that could: give you advice on your project, advice on grad schools (or trying to get you to apply for your group), possible collaboration work, or potential job opportunities. Going to a conference with people who do the same thing as you, gives you so many opportunities for your future, so take advantage of it.
4. Conferences look great on your Resume, and the better your Resume seems, the more people will consider you for jobs, awards, or school. And no matter how small the conference, it still goes on there and looks fantastic!
5. You get tons of free stuff! So in case you don't know I am a chem student, so at chemistry conferences, they give away nerdy stuff (NMR Tubes, periodic tables, sticky note pads, etc.). Now yes you may be saying that shit sucks, but us nerds love it all! And you can never have too many sticky notes! But for a non-nerdy conference I know a couple of Interior Design students who headed to a showcase a few weeks ago, they got some AMAZING reusable bags, like 5 or more of them.
So there you have it the 5 reasons to head to Conferences! Hope this inspired you all to head to a conference, and maybe even present!
What do you think about conferences? Get any cool free stuff? Or have any other tips?
College Tips
Finding the Right Graduate Program...
So when I started my search for a Chemistry Graduate Program, I had no idea what to do. Now I am again on the hunt for a graduate program, this time in Art Conservation or Historic Preservation! So this being my second time around I feel drastically more prepared and wish that I would have known all of this stuff the first time. So here is a list of some helpful hints for searching/finding a graduate program!
- Start early!!! I wish that I would have done this the first time, because before you can believe it's deadline season! This means that you need to finish up all your personal statements, online applications, CV/Resume, somehow get you, professors, to submit your recommendation letters, and submit your GRE scores and transcripts. This all takes tons of time and effort, so the earlier you start, the better.
- When you think you have found a program that interest you ( hopefully over the summer or early fall) email the advisor and/ or professor in the area that interests you. Why do this? Well, I have had a few occasions where I think a program sounds fantastic and that it would fit what I want to do, but then I never heard back from them after my email to them about the program. Now, this may be harsh, but I know now that any program that doesn't have time to email me back is a program that I wouldn't apply to. My reasoning for this is that I want to go to a program that will care/help/ give advice to me along the way and if they don't have time to email a prospective student back then how will it be if I go there.
- If you have a chance go to a conference during the Fall (right before applications are due), make sure and go to it. For me, this was the Regional ACS in Richmond, VA (Oct 2011). During the conference, they had a graduate fair there with tons of schools with information, students, and professors that were more than willing to answer your questions about their program. When you are done talking to them (if the program sounds promising) make sure to get a business card with the professor's email address, then make sure to email them within a few days of the conference ending. This will get your name remembered by one of the professors at the school there and could possibly improve how your application looks when applying to that school. Why is this? You were at a conference (always good because this means you probably had a poster presentation or a talk), you are now a person and not just an application, and lastly, you showed that you were interested in the program!
- My final suggestion is before sending out your applications and spending all of your money, try and visit the school if you live close by. I plan on doing this over my Fall break and venturing 4ish hours to visit a school that I am interested in. This to me is always the best way to really get a feel if you would like it there and is also a way to talk with students about how it is in the program. For me, this is also a time to talk to professors about my interests ( I want to stay in the lab doing research) and a way for professors to see if you would fit in the program. This is a great final step to do if you think that you have found a program and are planning on applying!
Now with all this advice, start your search now for your program and have good luck with applications!!!
Hope this helped!!
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