chicago, day one.

one of my favorite parts about the city is alleyway stairs like the ones in the blip -- i don't know why, but i've always thought of them to be the symbol, the mere definition of city life.

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the entire family dragged our butts out of bed at around 5 am, loaded up our luggage onto the car, and drove out of our driveway by 6 to head down to chicago, il. we got breakfast about an hour into driving at a random tim horton's while loading up on gas, then started driving again...
after i was able to stay awake for more than five minutes, i took over the wheel and drove on the freeway for the first time in ages.
....not gonna lie, it is the most frightful thing after so long of "nowayareyoudrivinganywhereyou'regonnakillsomeone."

but nevertheless -- we arrived at chicago around noon (safely, might i add), and the first thing we did was wander around downtown and grab some lunch.
.....after napping for about half-an-hour in a parking lot.

this is actually the first time in a while since i've been to downtown chicago -- almost four years, actually! i forgot how busy its streets are...as well as how windy it is, haha. it was nice to walk around and breathe in the atmosphere, though -- how busy, enthusiastic, and urban it is, not so much the pollution.

we visited saic and got a tour of the place. it's nice, but i'll be honest -- it doesn't seem like the school for me. i'll probably still apply to it, though, when the time comes. we'll see.