Vida

A Couple Weekends Ago: Cashier: Would you like a bag today? Me: No, thank you.  I'll use my backpack. Cashier:  Save the 7 cents. Me:  And the environment. Cashier: People seem to care more about the 7 cents. Me:  Not me. February 1st Chicago put a 7 cent tax in place for plastic bags and somehow it seems to be working!  Last year I was excited about a plastic bag ban and then a loophole slid in for stores to have even thicker bags that "people would reuse."  Spoiler: no one reused them.  And it was terrible. So as February 1st approached I refused to get my hopes up. Then I started to notice people bringing in bags  or just saying they'd carry their stuff and skip the bag.   I don't think I will come to understand how in other people's minds 7 cents is terrible and the thicker bags weren't.  Regardless I'm glad it's working. P.S. Would you like to know more about terrible plastics?   Read here .

Let me set the scene.  Monday was President's Day, both Mike & I had the day off work and it was 60 degrees in February.  Once Mike peeled himself out of bed from his recovery from the Auto Show.  (He was there for 12 hours and a little sore on Monday...)  I suggested a bike ride.  There's a sign by us that says Chicago River North Branch 1 1/4 miles.  Neither of us were familiar with it so we thought we go check it out. First we started with empanadas from Cafe Tola.  Yum! As we sat there we realized the 1 1/4 miles note didn't make any sense.  There is a Chicago River North Branch that is mostly in the suburbs and the furthest south it goes is Lawrence... was that it? That's definitely more than 1 1/4 miles north of us.   We still don't know what that sign is referring to, but we ended up on the Chicago River North Branch and it was lovely.  A nice relaxing bike ride.   We made it up to Skokie and decided to tu...

Hate takes energy, love gives vibes. This quote from Girls over the weekend is pretty appropriate in so many ways right now. I've always liked Valentine's Day.  February 1st I get out my card materials and get to work on cards for my family, which I always enjoy doing.  I think Valentine's Day is at it's core a good reminder to care about people...all people. Do you have plans for celebration? Turns out Mike & I have very different ideas of how this holiday should be celebrated.  We ended up planning our own celebrations...with each other. Sunday night we had "my Valentine's Day" and tonight we'll do "his Valentine's Day".   Everyone's happy.

Guys, we went on our first outdoor run of 2017 over the weekend and it was amazing. Yes, it was challenging.  Turns out my body just doesn't stay in running shape when I force myself to run 2 miles on the treadmill every once in awhile in the winter.   Outside is my jam. I promised Mike we'd go slow and not too far.  We did both.  We probably ended up around 4-5 miles.  Nothing crazy.  We're going to work our way into this.  It was a bit chilly but I still got home happy! And we stopped for pie on the way home.  Balance.

River North will never be my scene.  It just won't.  Even if I get to see lovely friends there. For the first time in my life, I made it on the "board" of a video game.  And then I didn't know how to put in my initials and put in AAA. :( I'm not the girl who's going to wait for brunch at a new place (that takes reservations) when there are a ton of delicious places around the corner.  Note: make a reservation for The Robey. The weekend was full of comedy and I think we all need some comedy right now. Thursday we started at Unabridged Books. Saturday we got to Green Mill for Paper Machete 45 minutes before it started and got the last table.  I walked away with a to do list: calling representatives, looking up some laws, etc.  One girl did a piece like "Ann Frank" ... amazing.  Another on women's rights...amazing.  There was a little stand-up: How come guys are called bros, almost as a compliment, and their female counterparts are called...

Anyone else trying to stay on top of everything happening politically and feeling overwhelmed?  Very overwhelmed?   Me! I'm reading terrifying articles (when the sun's out).  Reading them cautiously and thoughtfully.  Making calls.  Writing postcards.  (P.S.  If you're in Logan Square, Hopewell is having a postcard writing event on Thursday, February 2 at 5:30pm) Two things I've discovered in the past week and enjoy: Countable - it's an app to monitor how your representative are voting and what's currently happening in congress.  You can pick what specifically you would like updates on. Pod Save America - I enjoy listening to podcasts during work.  Usually it's Cardinals podcasts, this week I delved in to Pod Save America.  It is a political podcast hosted by ex-Obama staffers.  They give it to you straight (which is quite terrifying), but their delivery is spot on and I'm not scared the way I am after reading recent new...