Friday, September 18, 2015

Novelties I found in the big city

I'm not a small town girl, but I'm definitely not from the big city. I lived in Columbus, Ohio for 22 years and never visited a bigger city until I moved to Chicago. When I moved to Chicago, I figured that certain things like traffic and the sheer massive nature of everything would take some adjustment. I never expected so many little things to take getting used to. Here are a few "novelties" that I didn't expect to find so darn exciting. Anyone that has ever visited a big city and gets enjoys the little things in life will relate.



  1. Everything about city 7-11 - My point being, they're everywhere. Is there a city ordinance that requires a 7-11 on every corner? Can Chicagoans not ever be within a block and a half of hot cheetos and Icees? Not that I'm complaining... But for the first month of me living here I geeked out each time I saw a 7-11. Actually, I thought 7-11s might only be in movies since there aren't any where I am from in Columbus.
  2. Dunkin Donuts - Ditto everything above. Never saw a Dunkin Donuts before moving here, either. And now I'm addicted to those sugary sweet cups of liquid ecstasy they call iced coffees.
  3. 2-story Targets - The best part? They have cart escalators. I won't confirm or deny that I still Snapchat it every time.
  4. The "El" - A train with a view! I rode around on the brown line for at least an hour my first weekend here. Then I freaked out the first time I got on the red line and freaked out before realizing that the elevated train also goes underground. Public transportation in general blew my mind. The feeling of getting from point A to point B on the El was pure gold.
  5. The Chicago flag - You could sell me anything with those heavenly, blue stripes and majestic, red stars. Once I learned what the 4 stars stood for, that was my go to party fact for a month. Hell, it still is.
  6. Tourists - This novelty still hasn't worn off on me. People visit where I live. Families! With accents! Young couples! Old couples! Bachelor parties! Famous people (sometimes)!
  7. Chicago references - Never listened to Kanye West once until I listened to each song on his discography to take ntoe of when he mentions Chicago.
I hope you enjoyed my list of silly little things that excite me about living in the big city! Do you have any "novelties" that you've found when you visited or moved to a new place?