The Seasons of 2021

Spring

In January, Michigan Avenue was still a post-apocalyptical silence, but it could’ve just been the ruthlessly cold weather.

Between the pandemic and the cold, we stayed home in our matching onesies, and developed a sourdough addiction. The cat was a big fan of the onesies while the dog tirelessly begged for a taste of the sourdough bagels.

In February, we ended up canceling Chinese New Year celebration and renovated our master bathroom. Buh-bye 20-year-old massive jacuzzi, hello reasonably sized rainfall shower!

March began with our 2nd anniversary. We splurged on private balcony seats for the immersive Van Gogh exhibit (which turned out to be meh) and obnoxiously held hands for the entirety of the sushi dinner afterwards. #notsorry

Then all four of us got to reunite with the pet uncles.

In April we took the cat with us on a road trip for the first time. He was surprisingly a really big fan.

Spring was great. ❤️

Summer

As the vaccines rolled out and weather recovered, the city came back to life and so did we. An immediate result of the sudden increase in outdoor activities turned out to be Viv having a bad ankle sprain in the beginning of May, which led to a lot of sitting around with the animals for her in the following 6 weeks.

Justin, being a meticulous caretaker and probably also a wizard, somehow managed to keep her feet off the floor for the entire first week, which did wonders for her quick recovery.

Once Viv got better, we resumed enjoying the little blessings of summer.

We went on runs and bike rides.

Viv’s gardening and cooking addictions bore fruits.

We had cold beers and fried things outdoors.

We went to jazz clubs.

We took more trips.

We got to spend time with awesome friends.

Summer was great.

It was over way too soon.

Autumn

Autumn in Chicago is short. It starts with the dramatic color change in leaves at the beginning of October and ends with a half-frozen rain slurry traveling at 20 mph into your face right after Halloween.

Viv got bangs.