Welcome to the Windy City

I made it! I’ve experienced my first full week here in Chicago, and honestly, I’ve been feeling good. I haven’t cried as much as I thought I would be. I’m feeling a bit at peace with life right now.

Welcome to the Windy City
Kristle & I leaving Cleveland for Chicago!

Disclaimer: Some of the links below may be affiliate links which I will earn a small commission if you click and purchase from them.

I made it! I’ve experienced my first full week here in Chicago, and honestly, I’ve been feeling good. I haven’t cried as much as I thought I would be. I’m feeling a bit at peace with life right now.

Oh yeah! On a whim, literally days before I made the move, I decided to create an Instagram account for when I don’t feel like writing an elaborate post here on the website. So go follow @jjemellee and help me get up to 100 followers!

I still have A LOT to unpack. Unpack as in literally unpacking my boxes and not just for my mental health and processing. (By the way, if you want a very chill zen game to play, y’all should play Unpacking. It’s one of the cutest indie games I’ve ever played. It does a great job telling a story without any dialogue.)

There’s piles of boxes still left for me to organize, but honestly, I still don’t know where to place most of these things since the basement is already furnished, but still has my Chicago family’s possessions.

As a New Yorker, here are things that have already crossed my mind now living here in Chicago:

  • WTF is validated parking?
  • Going around the block is actually driving along a long ass triangle
  • WOW, I’m actually driving IN the city and it doesn’t feel congested at all
  • People really LOVE their pets here. There’s like a billion stores that cater to your pets like grooming, day care, clothes, special treats, and of course, convenient vets locations
  • Waiting 30mins for deep dish pizza will not be a common thing for me
  • Yup, it sure is a Windy City
  • I hope I won’t get confused with the subway system
  • A FREE ZOO!!!

I’m sure there will be plenty more thoughts of adjusting to Chicago life, but as of right now, I don’t feel homesick… yet.

Honestly, the freedom to do whatever I want is quite refreshing. Not that I didn’t have any freedom when I was back in NYC, but since it's a brand new city to explore, it’s kinda fun to check out all these different places. Like I gotta find Chinatown, where’s the best nightlife spots, or even where’s the best food spots to eat.

But I also need to find all the places where I need to rebuild my habits again like finding a climbing gym, a good hybrid gym for strength training, and which is the best grocery store to bang my buck.

Overall, I finally did it. I made my first big move away from home. Let’s see how it goes.


If you enjoyed reading this, support and follow my journey.

It’s free to join, but if you pay $10/year for the smol tier, it goes directly to me and you’ll immensely help me out 🙏🏽

If you don't like reading, consider subscribing to my YouTube channel to watch my vlogs or follow my Instagram for sporadic journal entries💖


Thanks for reading!

📲 where else to find me 📲
YouTube | Instagram | TikTok

Looking for something that I recommended in my socials or blog post? Check out my Amazon shop, Kit, or my actual Recommendation page.