Vida

My two favorite days of the year are coinciding... sort-of . #1  Summer solstice I love the summer solstice!  Longest day of the year!  I love my sunshine. AND #2 (This one's the stretch) Opening day ;) Have I mentioned how excited I am for my first in-person Cardinals game of the season?  It's three weeks away!  My other favorite day of the year is opening day.  Yes, opening day was several months ago, but it's my own personal opening day since I'm going?  Maybe it's a stretch.  Oh well. Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab! Jeff & his family won't be able to make it to the game with us, but he got included in the fun video because today is a very special day for him!   Happy 31st Birthday, Jeffrey!!! Greta snapped this photo a couple weeks ago of Jeff & Charlie at one of Jeffrey's softball games. Good bye May.  June begins my month of pretty much not being in Chicago at all... Louisville, Lexington

Hello Summer Cold*, please go away! Oh, man, I don't know what I picked up over the weekend, but whatever it is hit me hard yesterday.   Good news:  I'm in town all week. Bad news:  I'm out of town the next two weeks so I packed this week full with plans.  I have friend plans at least once a day all week and I'm fighting back the chills/sweats.  (I feel like that has a name, but I can't think of it right now.) Last night, I laid down for a bit after work, before my friend's birthday get-together.  And I gave myself a pep talk in order to get myself there.  I did indeed go, I just walked very slowly and pretty much the entire evening I was 2 steps behind everyone.   I feel better today (after sleeping 12 hours last night, when I think the fever broke).  Let's hope it just keeps getting better. *as I laid in bed whining to Karen this morning I kept saying "wa wa summer flu..." to which she said.  "You do not have the flu.  The flu is s

Sometimes things happen and you don't realize how much you need it to happen the way it does until after. I hope you had a lovely Memorial Day.  I'm very happy to report I pretty much completely logged out of the online world from Saturday morning through yesterday afternoon.  I mean, I used spotify for a bit, but that was it.  Too much talking and things to do.  It was lovely. I think I'm going to approach this from a let the photos tell the stories because that's more fun anyway... right? Friday night started out with an amazing friend date.  Rubina & I hit up Michaels, dinner, & drinks at quite possibly my new favorite dive.  Oh, Broadway, thank you for supplying me with such an abundant number of dive bars.  Probably exactly what I needed. and yes, i just broke my own rule.  I don't have any photos from our outing... Saturday morning I enjoyed a 13 mile run, while the weather may not have been perfect beach weather, it was definitely perfect run

Many people start running because there is such a small monetary investment.  I probably thought the same thing and in comparison to other sports, if you go about it the right way, it can be!  It's easy to get sucked in, but I have some tips for how I get around the temptation.  I'm a pretty low maintenance runner, but I do spend more money on high quality clothes because chafing is not my friend. I try to buy my shoes on runningwarehouse.com  on liquidation.  I can usually get my shoes over half off.  When I put the miles on my shoes so quickly, I cannot afford to pay full price all the time.  When I first started running I got fit for my shoes at Fleet Feet and continued to use that type of shoe for years.  I didn't want to change what was working.  Then I did some research to figure out what I liked about those shoes and found things I needed in my shoes (example:  overpronation support) in less expensive pairs. I feel like this time each year is when I do my annu

Behind the Beautiful Forevers - Katherine Boo This one isn't uplifting, folks.  It was definitely a thought provoker though, which I love.  I did a lot of journaling while reading this one.  And for some reason it made me think a lot to my time in Mexico.   When I started reading the book I had to stop...'I thought this was nonfiction?'  It is.  It's nonfiction, written like fiction.  Making it a very quick read. One of the many themes in the book is the fact of low-income people being pushed out of their homes in the name of progress.  It happens in the neighborhood slum where Katherine told their stories.  It happens everywhere.  I heard how in Chicago they are moving the low-income housing unit...again.  They constantly do this.  I think it's terrible. The Warmth of Other Suns - Isabel Wilkerson This one was about the migration after the Civil War.  It follows three completely different migrants, one to New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, with other stori

Clearly I took a break from my 'thankful times' posts for awhile, without really thinking about it.  It just happened. Today I'm thankful for chipotle in several different forms. Rubina & I had a lovely brunch at Cafe Con Leche Sunday for several reasons including outdoor seating, an enjoyable atmosphere, ... and chipotle salsa that I was clearly very into.   It was perfect for my brunch, but what would I do when I ate my leftovers?  No chipotle salsa?   Lucky for me, Jason gave me Cholula Chipotle hot sauce as a surprise on Saturday.  This made my leftovers even better this morning!  Thanks Jason!  I feel like I did not properly express my gratitude when he gave it to me. Yum!

Looking for jobs is exhausting and frustrating.  It makes me stop to think:  If I could do absolutely anything for work what would it be? What would you do? It made me think of a business plan I had to do for one of my many, many group projects in undergrad.  The sheer number of group projects in business classes was amazing.  Anywho, a little background, I always stood out in my business classes and never quite fit in, but I absolutely finished my minors in marketing and sales leadership.  (Between my major and minors I dipped in the communications, art, and business schools.) I have no idea how, but I convinced this particular group to do a business plan for a yoga studio that has a card making studio.  Looking back, I would have loved to see my professor's reaction when he first heard what our business was going to be!   I really wish I could remember how I convinced them and made that happen.  I could use those skills everyday.  I think I just didn't over think it.

It's overcast here in Chicago this Friday.  Not raining, but overcast.  Perfect weather for some reflection. Yes, it's made by Cleveland Clinic, which is one of the hospitals we work with.  (Yes, it really is that white.  And yes, I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with that health system.)  But none of that is the point. I always try to stop when someone is rude to think that I don't know what's going on in their lives.  I am probably not successful the majority of the time, but I try.  Yes, this video is focused on a healthcare perspective, but I think it's something to think about in all facets of life. I hope you all have a lovely weekend and take a little time to reflect... it's good for you ;) p.s. Update Janie Rubes was nice enough to share a video that I think is what I was trying to mumble my way through.   I wish I had a way with words... I don't.  Today in yoga something happened while Molly and I were talking with our instructor

Good Morning  Good Morning Good Morning to you. this is a song my kids in Mexico sang to the English teacher when she came into the room.  Sing may be an exaggeration, they had these words and put some notes to it. Then The teacher would say:   Good morning children. The kids would yell:   Good morning teacher. Is it weird I never learned the English teacher's name?  She was always Miss Ingles (Miss English).   None of this is the point of this post... We're going to go for bullets today: *Have you ever worn your pants backwards?  Lucky me, I get to check that off my bucket list.  (Clearly, I'm kidding.  I don't actually have a bucket list & wearing pants backwards would never make that list.) Usually you can tell when you put exercise pants on backwards (I mean, you can tell when you put all pants on backwards), except for this morning apparently.  You want to know the really sad part, I didn't figure it out until the END of an hour

Were you missing my baseball updates?  ;) We had a pretty amazing weekend with pitching, if you haven't heard.  Miller Friday Waino Saturday . Then today even the New York Post was complimenting the Cardinals.  Yes, I will take it and enjoy it. Here are some of my favorite quotes because I cannot resist, but I recommend reading the entire article! *infrastructure that has made them a model franchise *But the Cardinals are one of those organizations -- think Yankees, Rangers -- the shuns excuses, finds solutions and keeps winning. *Also, as with the Yankees, the Cardinals have created an atmosphere in which serious-minded veterans want to not just play, but stay. ... and then those players become so intoxicated by playing in arguably the best baseball town in America they re-sign for very good, but not payroll-crushing extensions. *"Think about that place - if you are a player, it is nirvana," the executive said.  "You get three million fans a year.  Ever

I know this video is everywhere right now.  Typically when I see a video everywhere, I don't watch it, but I randomly watched it over the weekend & I think it's the prefect way to start a new week. Happy Monday everyone!  Here's to a good week.

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there!  And especially to my mom!!! Mom & I on a bike ride when they came to visit a few weeks ago. I'm so thankful for my mom.  She sometimes tells me things I don't want to hear & I roll my eyes and get annoyed, but at the end of the day I know she has my best interests at heart because she loves me.   When we went for our little bike ride she got ready with her beloved sweatpants, which make Karen & I laugh.  We stopped to fill up her bike tires and once I finished filling them up I look back at her to see she stuck both pant legs into her socks so they wouldn't get caught in the chains, which completely makes sense, but it looked hilarious (picture balloon pants).  I just laughed and she said, "What?"  I love how she just doesn't care what everyone thinks. Love you, Mom!  Happy Mother's Day! update:  My mom sent me an email to thank me for this post and used LOL twice in the email.  

My phone cover is sort-of bright, but it's fall/winter bright.  Definitely not summery.  But ya know those covers can be pricey!  While reading this post  I got the idea to use nail polish and make my own.   And the thing I always seem to go to when drawing... Sunflowers. I'm not convinced I'm done with it, but I like it. Come on summer!

So I've been inspired by a lot of things lately and with that inspiration it's made me want to pick-up my camera again* *Ok so not really again.  In college, one of my minors was photography and the majority of my classes were with a film SLR camera and I love love love mine.  I love developing film and working in the dark room.  That is no longer the way of the world.  So about a year ago I got a DSLR (digital) to work with and I never really warmed to it.  I would like to warm to it... Along those lines, I decided to start scrapbooking again, which I've enjoyed pretty much my entire life, but haven't worked on any since I got back from Mexico about 3 years ago.  And I'm in love with it.  I decided to start with 2013 and as I make progress I literally want to keep flipping back to look at it again and again.  It's very me. Sunday morning I was working on my St. Patrick's Day page when I walked to the kitchen for coffee and saw the wrapping on my new to

If you are at all interested in music in Chicago, you've heard of Lollapalooza .  (You probably have heard of it, even if you don't meet those descriptions.) I've always wanted to go to Lollapalooza, but I never have.  I just can't justify the price tag.  Yes, a single day ticket is $95 (and yes, it's sold out - clearly others aren't worried about the price).  I was just thinking I need to check into after party concerts around the city and see if there are any I'm interested in. (I might even be a bit late...) Then during my week of driving I heard about LouFest in St. Louis in September.  I was intrigued enough to look it up yesterday.  I've never heard of this festival before, but it's looking good.  Yes, $75 is expensive, but it's for two days and while checking out the line-up there are SO many bands I would like to see: *Walk the Moon (yes, again ) *Icona Pop *Local Natives *Alabama Shakes *The Killers (what a flash back) *The Mo

Will not be happening. Well... unless something randomly comes up. I decided a couple months ago to take this year off for races. Why? Well, I have several reasons so I'm going to explain in list format: *My knee.  Yeah, I've talked about this before on here.  After almost every marathon I ran I had some knee pain for a bit.  But after the marathon in October, the knee pain stayed and lingered and stayed.  I really only started feeling better in February or March maybe.  (I think I had some IT band syndrum going on.) *Competition.  I never starting running for competition.  I ran because I like it.  I'm not a super competitive person and I want to get back to that natural joy of running.  Yeah, I'll probably run just as many miles on my own as I do during marathon training, but it's not for a race, it's for me.  Last weekend I throughly enjoyed my 24 miles (10 Saturday, 14 Sunday).  I went out just listening to my body and how I felt for the day, whic