Middle C

   365.77

Chicago celebrates St. Patrick’s Day in a way unmatched by other cities. For 50 years, the Chicago Journeymen Plumbers have turned the Chicago River a breathtaking green for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade celebration. Forty pounds of vegetable dye are tipped into the river on a Saturday morning. When the dye hits the surface of the water, it appears bright orange, but as it dissolves, the river transforms into an electrifying green as the crowd erupts into cheers.

So electrifying (and so green!), I haven’t missed the event in seven years. And for the past five years, my friend Lisa has hosted brunch from her condo in Marina City, a corn-cob shaped high rise along the river. This year’s celebration was the busiest and most spectacular one with nearly 80 degree weather. Slainté, I say, to my friends near and far!

    365.75  (more photos below)

Since I moved to Minneapolis last August, I’d been to Chicago twice last September for Notre Dame football weekends, but this was my first trip back in six months. Let me tell you: It’s weird being a visitor in a city where you once lived. For more than four years, I called Elmhurst, Illinois home. I’d never taken any photos of the neighborhood because there was “always tomorrow,” so I spent my morning here on a photo walk. Elmhurst was close to my old office and while it assuredly was not a popular place to live among single, late twentysomethings, I loved that town:

• the Jewel grocery store literally next door for last-minute ingredients or a beer & wine run.
• the Metra train station 4 blocks away which could reliably take me to the city in 30 minutes for weeknight dinners or weekend fun.
• Fleet Feet specialty running store next door, where I could roll out of bed at 6:45am with plenty of time for a spoonful of Nutella and stretching before 7am Saturday runs.
• Ace Hardware, my dry cleaner and White Hen Pantry (now 7-Eleven) just outside my back stairwell
• My doctor’s office across the parking lot, and my optometrist four blocks north.
• The funky Effigy salon that cut my fancy textured hairdo, which I didn’t understand but was noted by my female friends. The business also included an art gallery, wine bar and ice cream shop. (Where else do you find that?!)
• The 8-screen York movie theatre, one block away
• My favorite Chicagoland pizza, Roberto’s (though I do love Giordano’s stuffed pizza)
• Elmhurst Public Library, ranked among the Top 5 public libraries nationwide in its category. (Nothing says nerd quite like visiting your old suburban library in the first hour after arriving in Chicago, but I digress.)
• And a diverse mix of 30-40 shops and restaurants in an 6 block radius.