summer birthdays

2013 Summer Birthday Honorees

"I'm not from here."  That's the answer to one of the questions I've been asked the most since moving to Chicago.  People always want to know where I'm from and when they find out it's Ohio, they want to know why I decided to move here rather than stay there.  I'll admit, I'm curious about where people are from too.  In Chicago, you meet a lot of people who were born and bred here, maybe more so than people who are transplants like myself.  The really baffling part is their extended families all live here too.  If I don't shock them with the fact that I'm living away from the place I was raised, I definitely do when I tell them my extended family lives all across the U.S. (I should add, that's on both sides of my family).  Luckily for me though, I have an aunt, uncle, and cousins who also call Chicago home.  Since I've moved here and gotten to spend more time with them, I've gotten a taste of what it's like to have extended family just down the road expressway from you.  It's as sweet as the dessert table we had at our recent summer birthday celebration:

Red velvet cake, cheesecake squares, and pecan pie.  Better just try them all.

And I'm thankful for that!