A couple of weeks ago, Alex committed to her chosen university, beginning this fall. And since this week was her school’s spring break, we decided to take an impromptu trip to visit her soon-to-be college town.

A few months ago, we came to visit this city - at that time, we were visiting Columbia College Chicago. It’s a fine school, with impressive facilities, but it didn’t feel like the right fit for Alex. However, it was Alex’s first visit to Chicago, and she fell deeply in love with the city.

“I wish I’d applied to other universities here,” she said wistfully.

“Well, let’s look and see if there are any other places with art programs,” I said.

And so our final night in Chicago, we did - and that’s how we found the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The more we read about it, the more impressed we were, with both its national and international reputation for art and design (which is what Alex is interested in). So as soon as we got home that Sunday, Alex applied (the deadline for the application was the next day!).

Three weeks later, she was accepted.

She wanted to wait until she heard back from all of the unis she’d applied to (she applied both in the US and the UK) before making her decision, and in the end, this felt like the best fit. And, of course, it’s in her beloved Chicago.

On this trip, the weather was rainy and chilly, but it didn’t dampen our spirits. (See what I did there?).

We took a tour of the school (including getting a glimpse at her potential dorm), and thoroughly explored her new neighbourhood. As I said on Instagram, while I’ve visited Chicago many times in the past, needless to say, this is the first time I looked at it through the lens of it being a place for my only child to live.

My impression: it’s as if London and New York City had a love child, and its fairy godmother was Houston.

And I mean that in the best possible way.