2011 was a tough year, for me and a lot of other people. As the year draws to an end, and I always do, I look back. A lot happened in the past year. Some good, some not so much. However, every event has had a role in my life and how I’ve grown.
After 2 years and 9 months, I left the only city I’d been able to call home for more than a year since I left Jackson. Fargo was good to me, even if I wasn’t always good to it in return. Some of the best friends and best experiences I’ve had in years, came from Fargo.
Chicago, the city of my dreams, became home. I transferred stores, and began working in what I could only describe as a pinball machine. It tests me every day, and some days, I fail.
Lessons learned:
-Some jobs just suck. But no matter how much it sucks, it’s a job, and it’s a means to an end.
-Big city life is both exciting and overwhelming. Striking a balance is hard, but it’s possible.
-The best meal of your life may not come from a Michelin 3-star restaurant. It will more likely come from a side street gastropub you only know about because a customer raves about it online.
-It is really possible, and honestly the easiest way in a big city, to make friends on Twitter.
-It is also possible to be surrounded by 3 million people and feel completely alone.
-Life is rarely at all like the movies. There’s no fanfare, no big climax, and no life-altering character catharsis. But a huge life change can feel like the movies.
-Finding comfort and solace is much easier than it seems.
-Your best friend is the person who doesn’t let you wallow in regrets and demands only the best of you.
Some key and defining moments of the past year:
Celebrity encounters:
Marc Malnati, owner of Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria, the best pizza in Chicago
Chef Dave Beran, head chef of revolutionary restaurant Next, owned by Michelin 3-Star chef Grant Achatz of Alinea
Live music:
Mat Kearney, November 17th
Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band, December 15th
Chicago BluesFest, late June
Restaurants of the year:
Frontier
Cafe Spiaggia
McCormick and Schmick’s
Nichole’s Fine Pastry
The Hotel Donaldson
Song of the year:
Writers of the year:
Jim Harrison
Kathryn Schultz
“Welcome to Chicago” moment of the year:
CTA Red Line experiencing catastrophic electrical failure on my way to work
“Proud to be from Michigan” Moment of the year (TIE):
Detroit Tigers Pitcher Justin Verlander winning Cy Young and MVP Awards
Wisconsin Winter Tourism campaign controversy
Best week of the year (TIE):
Spending a week at Rose Lake in Michigan with Michonne and her family
My long-absent best friend, Tish “The Californian” and me together for the first time in 3 1/2 years
Best day of the year:
May 20, the day I arrived in Chicago
Resolutions/Goals:
Write more fiction.
Get fit again.
Get a new job.
Cook more.
Make more friends in Chicago.
Visit Michigan more.
Final thought:
Life is too damn short to be unhappy. At 31 years old, I don’t have time to spend any more time frustrated and unsatisfied.
