Vida

no, not me!  my sister. i'd like to take this post to introduce you to my sister, karen.  she's pretty much amazing and i don't deserve her at all. example 1-yesterday was an ordinary day.  i called her to help me through indecisiveness and to complain, etc.  then later in the day, I get this... 2-i mooched off her all fallish last year and she totally took care of me and didn't make me feel bad about it once.  i made myself feel pretty bad about it, but that's besides the point.  i was in a tough place in that time and she was just there for me... completely.  without question.  she taped/dvr/tivo (whatever) her favorite shows to watch the many games (cardinals of course) with me.  i could continue with that, but i'll stop for now. 3-i call her to complain, but i rarely call to rejoice with her.  she listens to me and let's me get it out and is supportive through the whole thing.  she probably gets the worst of me than anyone else.  i don't

i mentioned yesterday about things reminding me of mexico and i forgot to include this article, which i came across last week. i don't think i ever saw this fruit in mexico city, but luci went on a trip one weekend and brought back a couple of these for me.  they were just SO pretty!  (honestly this article doesn't do it justice.)  and i saw them for sale in the markets in oaxaca , so i guess the south. it's sort-of kiwish, but way prettier.   the first time i saw it was in mexico and i had no idea what to even call it in english. dragon fruit it is!

so lately i haven't been the happiest, although this wonderful weather is doing it's part to help me feel better.   so i decided i have SO much to be thankful for and i need to focus on that more.  i'm going to start doing weekly posts "thankful time" and think about everything i have to be thankful for... which is A LOT. so let's get started.  what am i thankful for this week? ~Monday was a great day this week (with the exception of my bike breaking down ).  I got to spend some catch-up time with justin and emily.  emily and i even took advantage of one of my perks of working at the adler and went up in the sear's tower for free. ~it's amazing how calming a walk on the lake at night and making time for my fav yoga class can be. ~Saturday I was able to talk to one of my co-workers who had been annoying me and now I understand a little better what she was thinking and why she was annoyed at the same time.  now i feel better about it.  i need

did you hear about this? Photo taken by Richard Lam apparently they were watching some hockey game and i'm not sure if vancouver's team won or lost, but a riot ensued.  at this point the police became rather violent and knocked the girl on the ground so her boyfriend was checking on her and comforting her when he kissed her and bam.   i heard they were offered $10 mil in promotion stuff since now they're "famous."  and they turned it all down.  just wanted to go on having their life as planned...  =) the today show says this kiss will be added to history's "famous smooches"  (go to the video like 1:30ish).   i guess we'll see...

how i love thee and hate thee at the same time let me tell you about the last 24 hours with my bike. the chains were getting a bit rusty, but i remembered the wise words from the hi guy 2 years ago that you can use baby oil to fix that right up. so i took it out and fixed that up. done. then on my way back from that my fender started acting up (i know that sounds weird when speaking about a bike).  i guess a screw fell off or something (i still don't know) and it would giggle around at times scraping the back tire making a beautiful whistle sound or at other times it would slide up and trap my tire to completely stop my bike suddenly and basically buck me off my bike.  (that's why the whistle sound was beautiful when thinking about the alternative.) this was quite annoying on my rides yesterday where i would often stop (not by choice) and slowly but surely made it to my meeting and home at night (which by the way was one of my favorite rides... ever.  it was

so many of the fruits i love are showing up in the grocery store again (at reasonable prices) and i'm so happy.  (side note:  i would like to say farmer's market, but i'm still working saturdays so they don't work out with my schedule.  hopefully soon...)  i remember coming back from mexico and buying all this delicious fruit and making fruit salads every morning for breakfast and it was all for me (karen wouldn't touch half of it)!  it was wonderful!  and i'm so excited we're getting back into the season for more... then this release came out.  really?  apples now have the highest pesticides.  i think i saw 98% of apples.  ugh.  i vaguely remember not too many years ago (4 tops) apples were one of the safest and strawberries were the worst.  which sort-of makes sense because strawberries soak it up.  but apples.  apples and bananas were my fruits i never worried about purchasing organic.  maybe i'm crazy.  i'd rather not eat pesticides.  i mean.

yesterday i picked my training schedule for this season.  i decided to try a different one this time around (even though i don't have any complaints about the last one i used).  i did some internet searching and found a free one that i like. most trainings are not free.  there are some great group training groups i've heard of in chicago.  and that sounds like a great option, but they're quite expensive in my opinion.  from what i understand they have a group run every week where everyone comes together.  personally, i enjoy the freedom to make my runs fit around my schedule.  although, i think that's great for encouragement and fraternity.  i see benefits and negatives. i was surprised to see many of the schedules online cost money.  literally just to print out the schedule and the rest is up to you.  i definitely didn't do that. so i found my free schedule.   then i realized i'm running too far already.  i don't like to think i'll be scaling ba

i really do like art projects!  just not the kind where i have to do a bunch of the same thing... then i get bored.   seriously though, i make my own cards, which my family usually describes as "interesting."  But I love it.   that's partly financial reasons, but also i just need my artistic release. if you get a card from me that's not handmade, something's probably goin on with me. i was just introduced to this website 20x200  and i love it!  i felt like i was at my own personal art gallery looking at the variety of different art.  i went to the under $20 section (yes, there's one of those) and found myself extremely excited!   and they're having a sale right now too... my apt needs some decorating.  i have two trusty pictures that go with me to each one (one from the seton girls after freshman year and the other from my grandma and grandpa a few years back for christmas).  they each have a lot of sentimental value.   so i have those two and

when most people hear this saying they think of the blockbuster hits right now in theaters.  not i!   i love the movies in the park.   sadly, grant park movies are not happening this year.  but there are still movies all over chicago in a park near you.  i made quite a list of movies i want to go hit up, real close to me.  so movies in the park are still happening... just not grant park. find a park near you

that's right chicagoans!   bike to work week is here!!!! technically it started saturday at the adler, but we have this big sheet up to track your miles.  i love it.  i mean i ride my bike everyday (mainly for financial reasons), but it's so nice to see others who don't usually ride, doing so.   this week's weather looks perfect so let's do it and make a little difference.  maybe after you give biking to work a try, you might really like it.  you'll never know if you don't try! p.s. karen-just because you're not in chicago doesn't mean you can't participate

after having a pretty crappy week today is such a lovely surprise! today is beautiful!  i had a lovely long run (which always helps me find my center)!  and i'm moving forward and focusing on today and all that could be in store. oh and i want to share this with you because i think it's so cute!  and true as well...

today i'm sent special thoughts to my kiddos in mexico.  if i remember correctly from last year AND they are going by about the same schedule... TODAY is their graduation day! from the  guardería  (pre-k) of course.   i'm sure they got all dressed up and were beyond cute and did their dance perfectly and their parents and family members looked on adoringly and very proud.   oh how i wish i could have been there/seen it.  my thoughts and happiness is with them anyway. WAHOO!

so today was  is a warm day!  i really am enjoying it... but the school we were at today had air conditioning in the whole school, except the gym.  we were in the gym.  in fact, there weren't even windows.  we turned on every fan available, regretted wearing jeans, and sucked it up. i was a little worried because on our way there liz wasn't feeling so hot, haha no, she was definitely feeling hot well.  i went in to figure things out while she waited in the car and i had to break the news there was no air.  let's just say she wasn't excited by the news. we made it through the day... uncomfortably. i know i'm being a bit melodramatic.  i don't plan on using the ac in my apartment this year, but i have windows! i had a box of papers i need to take tomorrow in the igo car so i went by my place before taking the car back so i didn't have to walk the whole way with a heavy box.  as i was walking up with the box i thought, 'i'm putting on

after graduation (2 years ago... whoa i'm getting old) someone told me now it's finals everyday at a J-O-B.  i sort-of see this at work, but this week pressure's higher than usual... we're visiting a high priority school.  i like to treat all my schools as VIP schools, but this one is coming from the grant funder.  and it's a huge school.  we're going tues, wed, AND thursday.  this is the first time we've gone to one school for three days.  this is in pilsen and it's one of those schools where each grade has 2 classes taught in english with support in spanish and 1 class taught in spanish.  when i first called this school to set-up the sessions one of the first questions they asked is if we will do the program in spanish, which we do.  so i've been practicing it in spanish on my runs for a week.  i feel pretty good about it.  and 3 important people from the funder are coming wednesday morning.  yeah, it makes me a little nervous, but actually i'

thursday after a long dome day liz & i made our way back to the adler for a going away picnic for elena (her last day was friday).  it was super fun.  we brought a variety of food and a lot of it.  and we just talked.   Liz & I printed this for Elena's going away "gift" yep... lots of food then we decided we needed to take some pictures.  it's funny how when i tell some people i work at the adler they say "best view of the city" or something like that.  which is true, but we definitely don't appreciate it enough.  so we went over to take some pictures with that beautiful view.   i was still sporting the adler look, which we all dislike i have no idea who's idea it was to try the jumping thing.  it is SO hard to get everyone in the air at the exact same time.  luckily, mark, one of the astronomers, came over and is super techy so immediately figured out the delay on the camera and stuck with us until all our feet were off the g