I was born in a suburb of Chicago, raised in a (different) suburb of Chicago, and then spent four magical years in Fort Worth, Texas studying journalism and public relations. I spent every summer of college working at a camp in Michigan (also magical)—but knew I wanted to return home to Chicagoland when I graduated (even if only for a bit). I spent some immediate time after graduation living with my parents while I got my feet on the ground, then made my way through a string of city apartments.
When my last lease was almost up and my roommate and I were deciding our next steps, one option in particular stuck out as most promising: move back in with my parents in the suburbs for a few months, save some extra cash, and revel in the joys of home-cooked family dinners, free laundry, and nights by the fire watching The Resident (suburbanites have cable—it’s LIT). It was a…
