Learning To Love A City…

 

All my life, I’ve loved New York City. The people, the food, the wide streets, the narrow alleys.
Even before I’d ever been to Manhattan, I knew I loved it. There was just something ABOUT it.

Chicago on the other hand could not have mattered less to me. For years my family travelled to
Naperville (a suburb of Chicago) for homeschool conferences. After I moved out I found myself
flying to the Windy City for marketing seminars. Just staying long enough to be assaulted by
the cold and treated to a deep dish pizza.

In all, Chicago was one of those cities where I just couldn’t understand why someone would live
there, much less LOVE to live there.

As the years passed though, I met more and more amazing people who were simply addicted to
Chicago… They spoke of it’s people, it’s food, and it’s parks… After a while, they’d finally convinced
me that somehow my impressions of it were completely unfounded and that I MUST make time to
get to know the city they loved so much.

We’d met Matt & Stevi through a mutual friend (Kenny Kim) in NYC last October and hit it off
immediately. Ever since, we tried to find excuses to spend time together; they kept tempting
us with the concept of the elusively awesome Chicago.

And that’s how we ended up in Chicago with our dear friends Matt & Stevi Savage.

 

(photo above by Matt Savage)

 

Immediately after arriving at their amazing loft, we took off to find some good
food and drink. On our way downtown we passed the set for the new Transformers movie
and of course had to stop and take a few photos

 

Pretty cool, right?!
After Transformers 2, I thought I’d never want to see another one… But now I’m actually
excited to see the scenes that were filmed in Chi-Town! The ENTIRE time we were there,
there were film crews flying black helicopters around capturing bits and pieces of the movie.

After stopping by the set we headed into the depths of Chicago’s underground street and
parking system… Where we recognized a plethora of spots from the Batman movies

We were in search of a special little wine bar that was well loved by Matt & Stevi. It was
right down by the river and really was a unique little place. Sadly though, it was closed
and that left us with nothing but time to wander around this truly intriguing city.

 

Left, Matt under a bridge… Right, an incredibly interesting skyline makes
Chicago stand TRULY apart.

Above, Matt’s standard pose… That man LOVES photography as much
(or more) than I do… It’s such a joy to shoot with him!

 

One of the things that brought the four of us together is simply BEER.
We both love the intriguing balance of flavors in today’s micro-brewers
style. Above is our first sampler at a small bar near downtown. The Rye-PA
in the foreground was an absolute “kick in the teeth” (in a good way).

The next day, we all headed back downtown to wander around a bit and
see the sights. We ended up at the “beach” on Lake Michigan. Matt had
left his sunglasses at home and we all felt it’d be nice if he multi-tasked
by wearing mine with his regular glasses.

 

As the day wore on, we made our way to Goose Island Brewery to sample their
creations… It wasn’t our favorite brewery but we had a nice time hanging out!

 

Matt & I left… We share an affection for hats.
The sign to the right is actually a door to a lounge that was right down
the street from one of the places we had breakfast… “Orange” a fascinating
little cafe with an Orange inspired menu… (Including Orange Coffee). 

    

 

One of our last nights in town we planned a little get together at Matt & Stevi’s
loft with a bunch of our photographer friends from the area. We had such a great time!

 

Left: Matt setting up is flash umbrella to protect the grill master from the sunset light.
Right: We decided that we simply had to shoot some medium format long exposures of the skyline.

 

Stevi, Kenny Kim, and Friends.

 

 

 

They’ve since moved but I simply ADORE their view!

 

The next morning we made our way to an incredible open air market on the
North side of downtown. Of course we all brought cameras

Matt shooting Nelle and I, shooting Stevi & Matt.

The Market (above).

 

Matt’s shot of Nelle and I.. It’s hanging in our bedroom now

 

Another short car ride led us toward the heart of downtown and this incredible
ampi-theater.

 

We were drawn closer by the sound of INCREDIBLE music.
See, they were practicing for a Cellist’s performance sometime in the near future.  

The sound of strings has always stirred my heart and the cello has been my
favorite instrument since childhood. As we walked closer, I realized what was
happening… I was truly and wholly falling in love with this quaint city.
It’s art, it’s people, it’s food, it’s STYLE was truly lovely.

I simply adore lovely things

 

 

The video’s shaky and poor quality but it should convey a bit of what we experienced.

 

 

So awesome!

 

Stevi is an absolutely precious person. She and Matt are a joy to be around.

 

I simply had to put a picture with “The Bean” into this series… I don’t think a trip
to Chicago could be complete without at least stopping by

After the bean, we swung by an incredible community center that was once a Library:

 

And then a coffee break at the truly wonderful “Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea”

 

We truly fell in love with Chicago… It’s like a clever blending of Portland, San Francisco, Phoenix,
and New York… All balanced in such a way that it’s a real pleasure to spend time there…

We’re really looking forward to going back!