Your Mode of Transportation/Where You Live

Another double post. Can you tell we're in mid-November? But I'm still at it.

Mode of Transport: These days it's the train. A few years back Trench and I had a car basically catch fire on the highway and that was the end of us being a two car family.

Trench usually has the car because he has to drive out to the burbs for work. I miss having a car, but I think I would still take the train to work because it's in a very trendy, boutiquey neighborhood and parking is difficult. At my old job downtown I happily shelled out money to pay for parking in the garage. Sometimes with me, it's less about the money than it is about time. If it takes twenty minutes to drive somewhere, and 45 minutes on the train, I'd rather drive even if I have to pay for parking. With my current job, all the time gets eaten up with looking for parking, so I'd rather take the train and read a book instead of freaking out over parking and traffic and construction. I do take the car sometimes when I work on Sundays because parking is a lot easier and the trains run slower. The feeling of leaving work and just walking straight to my car instead of waiting 15 minutes for a train? Glorious.

Where You Live: Trench and I recently bought a condo in the most northern neighborhood in Chicago. I didn't mean to move this far north, but the further you get from the trendy neighborhoods, the more affordable the housing is. We definitely lucked out. Trench and I spent almost ten years in the same apartment, mostly because our landlord let us do whatever we wanted and never raised our rent. It was a great apartment and I miss it, but our new place is so much more updated. Central air/heat! Windows that aren't drafty! Multiple electrical outlets everywhere you look! Trench and I both take decorating very seriously so we quickly dove in with paint and artwork to make it our own.

The neighborhood isn't bad. We were worried because it has a reputation for crime, but our place is off the main strip, so it has a very quiet and residential feel to it. We're across the street from a park and just a few blocks away from a beach. Right by the train station there's some evidence of gentrification...a coffeehouse/bagel sandwich place. A massage therapy business. An Italian restaurant. A wine store (our favorite). So we might be a little far out, but I'm slowly falling for my tiny corner of the city.