Wish List

Home Sweet Home

After nine months of living in Russia, I now have a ticket in hand for a visit home (I did make a quick stop in NY in February, but since it was unplanned — 8 hours notice — and I didn’t make it to Chicago, I don’t really count it).

I’ll be arriving in the Bay Area on July 28th and will make my way to Chicago sometime around August 3rd or 4th, staying through Jess and Stephanie’s birthdays and my cousin’s wedding on the 13th.

Since the ticket was booked, I’ve been obsessing a little bit about all the things I want to do/things I’m excited about while I’m home.

Here’s my list so far — please let me know if there’s anything you’d like to join me for or anything that I’m missing:

1. FAMILY
2. FRIENDS
3. walk/run along Lake Michigan
4. Fresh air (yes, even August air in Chicago is fresher than Moscow)
5. Girl & the Goat (or has something better popped up since I left town?)
6. Mexican food — I’ll take everything from El Pasidito to Big Star to Frontera
7. Thai Food
8. Indian Food (S.D., I’m counting on you for a visit to India House)
9. manicure/pedicure
10. Target
11. Whole Foods
12. Jewel
13. Clothes shopping (I’m not normally a huge shopper, but the options in Moscow are at least 2x as expensive as in Chicago)
14. Miller Lite at a Sox game (doesn’t matter how terrible they are)
15. FAMILY
16. FRIENDS
17. English
18. English
19. English
20. English books
21. English newspapers
22. Wicker Park
23. The Loop
24. Lincoln Park
25. Lake View
26. Gold Coast (only since M&L moved there)
27. English Movies
28. The “L” (actually, this may be the one area that Moscow wins)
29. Michigan Friends
30. Jenner Friends
31. Grippo Friends
32. Federation Friends
33. All my friends
34. My little cousins (sorry to the rest of the family, you get a special shout out if you’re under 10)
35. Beer gardens
36. Terraces
37. BBQ (can I please, please, please come to someone’s house to grill?)
38. Mom and Dad and Aaron (immediate family gets a special shout out too)
39. Meeting new significant others . . . you know who you are . . .
40. Meeting new babies
41. Wandering around my hood
42. Knowing how to get around the city
43. Driving a car (maybe?)
44. Walking around the city after dark
45. A Moscow mule at Violet Hour
46. Prosecco with the girls
47. Summer Lunches (no, I’m not a summer associate any more, but maybe I can convince some of my lawyer friends to take a leisurely lunch at a River North restaurant and recreate the experience)
48. Not getting lost
49. Not getting lost
50. Not getting lost
51. Using words instead of body language to communicate what I want
52. Malnati’s deep dish
53. Vienna Beef Dog
54. Kaufman’s Bagel
55. Skokie (only because Josh and Liz are getting married there, though I love the whole Fine family that’s based there)
56. FRIENDS
57. FAMILY

I’m sure there will be more to come in the next couple of weeks, but think this is a pretty good start.

Best Friends

Sometimes we’re lucky enough in life to have friends that really know us.

I count these friends to be few and dear and no matter how much time or space separates us, when we actually have the time to connect, it’s like we never parted.

M is my best friend from law school. She was one of the very first people that I met. It was a scene from Legally Blonde — a sunny day, my orientation group was sitting under the shade of an ancient tree in the quad, and we all went around in a circle introducing ourselves. Each introduction more intimidating than the next, I said something about working in state politics in New York, she said something about working in state politics in Washington, and with minutes we identified a common acquaintance. From then on we were inseparable.

From our first Michigan football game, to our first and last finals, to our first BBQ in our off-off campus apartment, through boyfriends and singlehood and student senate campaigns, we’ve always been at each other’s side. Saying goodbye to M after painting the Rock on Hill Street in the middle of the night was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. The amazing thing about law school is that it brings people together from all over the country, the hard thing is that it rips them right back apart after graduation.

M went to Seattle, I went to Chicago. We were both in intense “big law” jobs and a couple of time zones apart. Though it might be months in between times we actually connect on the phone, I know she’s there for me anytime of day or night — through breakups and breakdowns and job changes, and yes, even a move out of the country, M is just one of those friends. (The others, you know how you are, I thank you for being there as well.)

I’ve been traveling a lot lately (more blog posts on that later), and when I returned from an insane Israel, Berlin, Helsinki, St. Petersburg business trip/holiday, I had a slip in Russian taped to my door. My Russian is getting better, so I managed to figure out that I had a package waiting for me at the post office — a 2.5 kg package.

I knew it wasn’t mom and dad (because they are coming in 10 days), but who else is insane enough to try and send a 5 pound package to Russia — one email to M confirmed that of course it was her.

I had no idea how I was going to pick up a package at the post office. Using my Russian keyboard at work, I managed to google map the address and figure out where I thought the post office would be, and a colleague confirmed that I translated the hours correctly (the post office takes a lunch break). So today, the first day I had time to get totally lost, I embarked on adventure.

For maybe the first time since I’ve been in Russia, I actually found a building by address on the first try.

Roskavoy Post Office

I was a little nervous because my colleague had told me that I needed to find the “right” window at the post office, and I came in armed with the word for package written on a slip of paper. Fortunately, it was a small post office and there was only one window open. I handed the woman the slip, and she knew exactly what to do with it. Unfortunately, I couldn’t follow her directions on what needed to be filled out on the form. After a few back and forths in very bad Russian, we negotiated that today’s date and a signature would suffice to release the package.

She dragged the package out of the back room and used a knife to cut open the burlap bag it was secured in (I have NO clue). After another signature and date, the 2.5 kilo package was mine for the taking.

Package from M.

I managed to drag the thing home on the metro, all the while trying to figure out what the heck she could of sent me.

As, I opened up the tissue paper, I burst into tears.

Easter candy all the way from Washington State to Moscow

Crazy, right? Who starts crying over Easter candy? And who sends Easter candy to a Jew living in Moscow?

But M really gets me. Not only does she know how much I LOVE Easter candy (perhaps due to a few late night day after Easter sale runs to Meijer’s), but she knew exactly which ones were my favorites.

So M, even though I’m guessing it’s probably one of the most expensive Easter gifts you’ve ever sent, know that you got it exactly right. Thank you for being one of those friends!