Vida

I always look forward to Thanksgiving.  I think it honestly might be my favorite holiday.  It's just hanging out.  My family doesn't go crazy with shopping for Christmas.  We will decorate the house during Thanksgiving weekend, but that's about it. This year I have been especially looking forward to it because I need a little break.  Things have been super busy...bordering on overwhelming.  And I've been looking forward to the inevitable relaxation that is supposed to come from my parents' little town.  Then...I looked at the weather and it is supposed to be 60 degrees  Saturday!  Now I can't wait! What are you doing for Thanksgiving?  I have a Turkey Trot, time with family, Schlafly brewery tour, hopefully the Cardinals hall of fame on my agenda.  Super excited over here! Happy Thanksgiving!

As everyone is talking about right now...it's cold.  Like January cold...in November.  Tuesday I honestly don't think we hit 20.  Le Sigh. I haven't yet given in to the freezing temps...I'm still biking to/from work.  I add the from designation because on the way to work, the sun is out, it's not too bad.  The ride home, when the sun has set, is when it seems a bit stupid. I layer. I wear jeans over my tights. And wool socks over the tights. One heavy duty pair of mittens on the way in.  Gloves and mittens home. Hat. Scarf. Real winter coat (which I've never worn this early before). My tips of my fingers still get cold.  What do I do? No, I seriously don't know the answer.  If you have any suggestions for biking in the extreme cold, please share! I have -30 degree gloves on my Christmas list.  Do they make those? My 16 ⁰ ride to work this morning almost felt warm...maybe I'm acclimating.   Doubt it. I did take the bu...

Last weekend I had my last wedding for a bit.  One of my Mexico roomies got married in Pittsburgh and we all made the trip!  It was pretty great, not going to lie. We got there and cut it a bit close to actually attend the rehearsal so we met up with everyone at the rehearsal dinner. :)  Saturday we had some free time before the wedding so we checked out the borough we were staying in: Southside Flats .  I loved The Pretzel Shop.  So good!   We also loved Over the Rack, a bicycle bar where we had lunch. The ceremony was beautiful.  Melissa and I passed out programs, carried up the gifts, and upon arrival ended up doing all the little things like organizing the flowers, etc. as we waited for the bridal party's arrival.  (We were happy to help, but weren't really expecting it...so...we did our best ;) Melissa & I got asked if we planned to match each other. Nope. We got asked if we planned to co...

This weekend is my last wedding of 2014! I'm heading to Pittsburgh for this one & it's one of my roommates from Mexico.  I'm so happy for her and excited to be there for their special day! They opted for a relatively low key wedding.  No bridal showers or bachelorette parties.  Their invite didn't even have where they are registered.  When I reached out to her, I said something along the lines of: "Are you registered somewhere or are you encouraging creativity for gifts?"  She responded with something along the lines of: "We're registered at Bed, Bath, & Beyond (which was a strange experience walking around with the scanning gun), but if you feel inspired we would love creativity." Boom.  Opening.  I'll take it! I did send something off their registry to their new home in San Antonio, but I also got excited to make them something for their new home. A banner with their last name initial! Choose your fabric.  This project...

This week felt incredibly long.  I'm blaming it on the time change and the fact that I now remind myself to turn around at my desk every day at 3:30 to watch the sun set.  (It's become a thing in my area where Thursday it was 4:30 and Meredith said, "Oh, Lisa, it looks like you missed the sunset today."  And I did.) But this week had things happening: *Waters, Magic Man, & Smallpools in concert WOAH CHICAGO!! @HOBChicago pic.twitter.com/NLtSK3OYTd — Smallpools (@smallpools) November 7, 2014 *christmas lights up at work.  It's fine.  They're pretty. *I fell in love with this series of short videos.  I have no idea why.  When I was in dance as a kid I tried ballet, tap, and jazz and ballet was quickly excluded.  It wasn't for me.  But this week I found myself walking down State Street gazing up in the windows of the Jeffrey Ballet to watch them practice.  (Quickly glancing is probably more accurate...it was cold.) * ...

Last week was an exceptional concert week for me.  I was lucky enough to catch San Fermin, The Mowgli's, & American Authors.  In one week! My sister, Karen, and I found out San Fermin would be in Chicago at LouFest when we went through the artist signing line.  (Correction: Karen participated in the artist signing line, while I hid behind her shoulder and Ellis, the composer/writer, reached out to me to introduce himself.  This band is full of quality people.  Just sayin'.  I get awkward around bands.)   So we followed through.  Found their show at the Metro (which could not be more convenient for us) and met up with Rubina, my friend, to enjoy their show.  So good.  We were not disappointed.  I was only minutely disappointed because for some reason I assumed they were headlining so when they didn't come out for an encore I was confused.  But then I realized they were the middle act and it made sense. ...

Over the weekend one of my friends got married (!).  It was beautiful.  It was adorable.  There was so much love throughout the weekend. But this post isn't about that. My friend who tied the knot, Kelly, is my friend who has more  nicknames for me than anyone else! Does anyone have nicknames for you? If most of my friends call me anything other than Lisa, I'll usually get Lis .  Which is strange because if someone calls me Lis, even if I don't know them that well, I'll get a warm, fuzzy feeling.  An uber driver I had in Nashville called me Lis after a 15 minute drive.  We were immediately bonded. But let's back up.  My sister, Karen, went through a stage in late middle school where she added an o to the end of everyone's name.  Mom-o didn't last long.  Mom put an end to it quickly.  Lisa-o didn't work so she called me Leo and I hated it.  I don't know why, but I did.  It went on for awhile because I obvi...