Chicago Lakeview Neighborhood.
What’s a girl to do when she’s just not feeling the love for crafting? Or diy-ing? Or home decor-ing?
Which is especially tragic when she’s built this blog on the themes of crafting and diy-ing and home decor-ing.
She can slink away. Let the blog live on the perpetuity with erratic new updates. Kind of like how 2016 has been progressing. Or she can rethink the blog. Add a few more themes. Like recipe-ing …
and Chicago-ing.
So at the risk of turning this blog into something a bit more lifestyle-ing, I’m turning this blog into something that is definitely a bit more lifestyle-ing. I thought I’d kick off my new blog theme and layout – hit the “home” key and you’ll see the new layout – with a closer look at my life in Chicago. Starting with a look-see around my immediate Chicago Lakeview neighborhood …
The dog and I have been taking the camera with us on our daily walks. Something he’s less than thrilled about. It cuts into his sniffing time. It’s also something that takes me out of my comfort zone. Being in public with a camera makes me feel awkward. Like a fraud ….
I’m used to taking pictures inside my house. Out of the public eye. So I decided to start local. And avoid people. 🙂
Our Chicago neighborhood is called Lakeview. I’m not sure why. There are no lake views to be seen from my block. Or five or six blocks in either direction.
My little neighborhood pocket – bordered by Iriving Park Road to the north, Addison to the south, Ashland Avenue to the east and Ravenswood to the west – is a mix of wood frame, brick, and brownstones.
Play lots are scattered here and there, tucked between houses.
Dumpsters on the street are a common sight since the turn of the century (how weird to use that phrase to describe our lifetime!) when gentrification swept in. Tear downs and gut rehabs and two-flat-to-single-family conversions are never ending projects.
P.S. I’m so glad Noah is okay. 😉
Our neighborhood also includes industrial spaces (like the first picture on Ravenswood which now houses office space and a yoga studio) and lots and lots of glorious weathered brick …
Most of the apartment buildings have been converted to condos (again, gentrification).
I also have a fascination with Chicago’s alleys …
I’ll wrap up this lifestyle-ing blog post about Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood on my block (we live in the 4th house from the left).
Next time out I plan to ditch the dog (sorry Ernie) and venture into a more populated area. Well, a quasi-populated area …
🙂
For more Life in Chicago posts, click here …
Your photography is awesome. Love the vivid colors and the character of the city that comes through in your pictures.
Brilliant. Simply, brilliant.
karianne
PS So happy Noah is okay. 🙂
I loved your post today – I lived in East Lakeview from 94-96 and when I saw your 3rd pic (the greystones) my heart skipped a beat because I initially thought it was my building! But it wasn’t:( I loved my neighborhood and miss it! Thanks for the trip down memory lane! Tammy J.
Thank you so much! There are a few streets east of me closer to Wrigley that have rows and rows and rows of brownstones that I just salivate over! And I’ve been inside of few that have been converted into single family homes that are just truly breathtaking!
🙂
What an enjoyable post! I’m looking forward to seeing more.. You do have a way with the camera. Although I have to admit, I had to google. American traffic signs to be sure what the All Way Stop sign was. We don’t have those here in Australia, we use roundabouts instead..
Thank you so much! And I had to go back and look at the picture because I’ve never noticed the “all way” before — I think it just means that it’s a four way stop intersection versus a two way stop intersection.
I loved this post….yes…do more! I’m not all that familiar with Chicago…so this will be fun to see more of the neighborhoods! Just love the architecture…all that brick has me drooling! 😉
Great post! even though you usually do crafting and diy-ing, this is a part of your life too! Thanks for letting us in on your part of Chicago!!
That’s what I’m doing. Letting my blog live in perpetuity.. At least for the last two weeks.
Loved this post. Sometimes I tire of reading the chronic/ constant DIYing on posts. I think….don’t these people tire of this? This was REFRESHING!
Yes, we do tire of all that crafting! Well, at least I do! I would be the worst craft blogger in the history of craft bloggers! So happy you enjoyed my post – it was fun to go outside with the camera for once! 🙂
The surprising thing about taking a camera with you—is you get home and blow up the pictures and SEE things you haven never seen before. Love the idea, as I have a camera with almost all the time, but forget to take pictures. Thanks for taking great pictures of Chicago, from the NWburbs…Sandi
I need to remember to keep my camera with me at all times too! And you’re right about SEEING things in a new perspective once you download them! I’ve been enjoying my new look at my old neighborhood!!! 🙂
I happen to like dumpster art.
I’d love to see “Chicago-ing” as I’m far out in the suburbs and I don’t go Chicago-ing anywhere near enough! LOVE the brownstones.
Beautiful pictures!
Thank you! 🙂
Incredible. I stumbled on your site when looking for a way to paint mason jars for our 2017 wedding centerpieces. I clicked on this particular article and find out you live smack dab in the neighborhood I grew up in from 1974-1999 (Irving and Paulina). I instantly recognized so many of those buildings. Spent a lot of time in that park, both playing as a child and drinking cheap booze as a young adult juvenile fool. And while I don’t really have any interest in moving back to the city, your photos made me miss the old neighborhood for a moment.
Thanks for the pics and stirring up the old memories!
Thanks for sharing your memories with me! A lot has changed in the neighborhood even since we moved here in 1995. Lots of tearing down and building new. Even the park got a new makeover a few years ago!