You know, people underestimate the value of a good ramble - Buffy

Not me though. I appreciate a good ramble. They can be very insightful.


Well, tomorrow is the big day! The launch of my 'new adventure a day' experience. Happily, my mom and grandma are both coming to visit for the weekend so there will be plenty of excuses to go to some new places.

I've been contemplating the challenges - and identifying one or two new ones - trying to figure out how, exactly, I'm going to pull this off. The newest challenge that occurred to me (ps did you know that had 2 r's AND 2 c's? thank god for spell check) is that as I'm trying these new things I will inevitably discover things I REALLY like and want to do again. So much to do, so little time...

So here are some of my conclusions -

I've decided the goal is 365 fun and fabulous things to do in Chicago. Which means that I can include things I've done before. And I can do multiple things in one day to compensate for the times I'm out of town. But every day I am in town - I have to do something new.

Whew. So many rules.

On another note - I finally started telling people! First was my roommate Wednesday night. She found it particularly amusing because we do brunch every weekend with a couple other friends (Blue Line Brunch Blog) and of the foursome - I'm the only one that has never blogged. In eight months. So, understandably, she seems skeptical. ;)

Tomorrow we begin!

I have to have a plan? Really? I can't just be proactive with pep? - Buffy the Vampire Slayer

I'm a big fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. BIG. I think the show is fantastic. I own all seven seasons although Season 2 and 3 are, in my opinion, superior to the rest. And I have issues with the Buffy-Spike romance in Season 6. (Random rant: the cross-over episodes with Angel are amazing, but sadly, when you buy a season of Buffy it doesn't include the Angel portion of the cross-over event. which means you're missing a vital piece of the overall story. bah. shouldn't the cross-over episodes be included in both box sets?)

Anyway.

So, as I'm getting ready to launch this big adventure I figured I should have some kind of plan. Leaving plenty of room for spontaneity, of course. Step One - scour as many websites as possible identifying stuff to do, things to see, places to go. This takes far longer than you think it would. But, I've now got some excellent ideas. Here's some of the sites I've been using (other suggestions welcome!):

www.metromix.com
www.milleniumpark.org
www.chicagoreader.com
www.chipublib.org
www.chicagoparkdistrict.com
www.chicagotraveler.com/calendars
www.cityofchicago.org/exploringchicago

Like I said, I'd love other suggestions to add to the list but considering I have yet to tell anyone about my blog I'm not sure who exactly those will come from. I did figure out how to post pictures though. Baby steps.

Step Two - make a calendar.

Now, while putting this plan together I have identified a few challenges I'll face while accomplishing my quest.

First, I travel a lot. My job requires me to be out of Chicago a fair amount. For example, I already know I'll be gone the last week of July and most of August. How does that work? Am I going for something new every day I'm IN Chicago? Should I extend the self challenge to the cities I visit when I'm out of town? Or should I have a goal of 365 new experiences, however that works? Five things one day, and nothing for several others kind of thing.

Second, what about all the fun, amazing things I've already done in Chicago that I want to participate in again? Are those blog worthy? (On this one, I've already decided yes)

Third, for at least the first part of May I'm going to be a tad strapped for cash. So, I'm going to need lots of inexpensive and free ideas. Guess we'll find some good happy hours.

Now I just have to figure out how you find 'followers'...

An experiment...

Truthfully, I'm not actually that new to Chicago anymore. I moved here almost four years ago; a realization I had just this weekend. A realization that led me to conclude that I have been wasting time, not fully exploring all this city has to offer.

When I was in high school, a tiny part of me imagined that some day I would be a photographer. It's been years since I spent any time in the dark room (freshman year of college I believe - Go Badgers) but a few months ago I got a fabulous new camera and have been rediscovering the joy.

Earlier this year I watched Julie and Julia, as did thousands and thousands of others I realize, but I thought it was fun. The idea of following someone on a trivial but charming personal quest intrigued me.

So, welcome to my experiment. These three things have led me to this. I've decided to create a blog detailing my adventures in Chicago. Starting May 1st, my four year anniversary, I'm going to do something new/ go somewhere new/see something new every day for a year and share it with all of you.

Who 'you' are remains to be seen as I have yet to share this little brainstorm of mine with anyone I know and have absolutely no idea how to go about promoting a blog. If I even want to promote the blog...I should probably figure out how to add photos first...