I'll have to start adding an extra mile to my daily workout...

When you move into a new place, there are certain criteria to use to help you determine if you've found a decent location. Is the neighborhood relatively safe? Is it convenient to work or school? Is there a grocery store nearby? A drugstore? A Starbucks? A Caribou? Are there plenty of restaurants around?

We've been fortunate enough with our location to answer yes to all of these, but this morning, I added a new question to the list: Is there a cupcake store literally thirty paces outside your building door???

YES!! (Well, there WILL be in about five days...)

Ever since we moved into this place, I've been staring wistfully at the empty retail space in the building across the street, wishing someone would rent out part of it for a grocery store. There's a ton of empty space over there, and plenty of room for something cool like a Whole Foods. And while I don't mind walking the seven or eight blocks to the Jewel Osco down the street, I'd love something more "specialized" close by for days when I realize I just need that ONE thing that I forgot to get, and hey! I can just run right downstairs and pick it up! (I guess I got sort of spoiled those few weeks we lived in our temporary apartment with the Whole Foods right in the building... that may be the only thing I really miss about that tiny little box of an apartment... :))

Well, still no Whole Foods... but this morning I noticed a UPS truck parked outside in front of one of the smaller empty retail spaces. I spied like a voyeur... er, rather, nonchalantly glanced at the storefront, and realized there was a woman sweeping inside. She helped the UPS guy carry about six large boxes into the building, and that's when I finally realized that SOME kind of store was about to open in that space.

And then it finally dawned on me that the big banner hanging in the window of the store WASN'T just an advertisement for a cupcake boutique about a mile away across the river (which is what I've been assuming for the last month)... it was also the announcement of that cupcake store's NEW location, which happens to be right outside my front door! (Cue excited happy cupcake dance...)

So now I'm quite sure we made a great choice when we purchased this condo -- a Starbucks cappuccino AND a cupcake within a five minute walk of my abode? I think that's about as good a location as any. :)