Vida

Here we are another weekend, after another rough winter week. So much complaining from me lately so today I want to switch it up. What are you grateful for? I'm grateful: My sister picked me up from work Wednesday when it was 1 degree.  Words do not exist for how happy this made me.  I felt like I'd made it.  (Even if it was my sister.) I'm grateful for Spotify. my co-workers for putting up with me while i'm in my funk Sunshine.   Even especially when it's -6 degrees see the sun in the reflection? just for memory's sake -6 degrees P.S. February

In case you haven't heard, today is the first day of lent.  You know, the day after Mardi Gras.   Anywho I'm pretty excited for one of the things I'm focusing on for lent this year.  I'm going to take one photo a day of something I'm thankful for.  Then at the end, I'll have 40 photos of things I'm thankful for.  I'm already dreaming of how I will scrapbook it when I'm done. Not only does this project combine many things I enjoy doing, but it focuses on something I know I need to think of more:  how thankful I need to be in my everyday life.  Today I already decided what my photo would be of and then already I have thought of at least 4 other things I could take my photo of.   So many things to be thankful for! Are you doing/giving up anything for lent? One of my friends is giving up apps on her phone (only using it for phone calls) after dinner to try and be more present. I loved my friend's story about a 2nd grader after she expla...

Every year my parents come visit me around my birthday.  And the exchange while planning the date has lately become this: Mom:  We'll have to watch the weather though.  If the weather's bad, we won't be able to come. Me (always a bit selfishly):  I didn't choose to be born in January. While it is true, I would rather have a summer bday, I did choose to live in Chicago.  I'm sure if I lived south, my parents would have no issue getting to me.  So I'm going to take some blame here...but I'll probably still say the same sentence next year... My parents haven't missed a year yet. you can call this my prime color outfit, i will not be offended 2..7!  Get it?  I like it.  It's a once a decade kind-of thing. I was a bit concerned about turning the big 27 for some reason this year, but now that it's here, I'm pretty a-ok with it.  Although it is interesting how my perspective of time has changed. Me and Dad walking by the ...

#1 This week I am thankful for two girls that I don’t know their name, I will never see them again, I learned very little about them, but we shared a cab to LaGuardia.   I was heading to the airport later than I anticipated because my boss is insensitive.   I searched for a cab for an hour in the cold.  (Sadly, this is not an exaggeration.)  I walked around.  Chatted with other cab seekers.  Had a few people step in front of me to grab “my” cab or run over to the one I had my eye on.  Cab hunting is pretty cut throat. Especially, when there are so few to grab. These two girls came over to me on the sidewalk and asked if I happened to be heading to LaGuardia.   Yes. Let’s team up to find a cab. That is exactly what we did.  And it still took 15 more minutes before we got one. They were also there for work, but had both lived in NYC previously.  They work in something with models.  They went to Nicaragua for w...

I'm officially back from Europe and vacation with my family.  We all arrived at our respective destinations late last night (or early this morning). It was a lovely, lovely trip and I did not want to come back. I was so successful at avoiding thinking about real life the whole week that on Friday/Saturday/Sunday when I started realizing I wouldn't be able to avoid real life forever I started feeling sad.   It was only stressful to have short connections both ways... there:  Chicago-Brussels-Budapest back:  Nuremburg-Munich-Newark-Chicago I definitely had to hustle in Brussels and Newark.  In Newark most of the plane boarded before I even got there (since I was working my way through security and looked at my boarding pass to see my flight was boarding, this is just after the security officer told me my gate was "waaaaayyyy at the end").  I walked right on the plane, but I did not miss it! I'll give you a little recap later this week, but for...

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!

Today was already the best day of the week. Not a big surprise, since it's Saturday.  But hang in there while I explain. Today I volunteered and I just love those kids. It's been a bit off for about the past month because many of the kids are in mandatory ISAT prep classes (yes, on Saturday) and there's so much going on that messes with the organization of the three Chicago Cares programs that usually occur at the elementary school.  (The other two programs were actually canceled for the last month and I think they start up again next time...) I walk in expecting a bit of chaos and as soon as I sit down with the fellow volunteers and introduce myself one guy makes a sigh of relief and says, "oh good, Lisa, you're the regular."   Me:  Yes   thinking I don't know this guy Guy:  Yemsi (the regular program leader) had a doctor's appointment today and can't make it.  She said you would know how to run everything. Cue me being the leader...

Hey there 26, what do you have in store for me this year? My birthday started out with a lovely lake run & brunch at my fav diner, Melrose!  No pressure to leave, just time to chat and catch up. It was SO nice.  (I'm not sure I remember the last time it was 40º on my birthday, if ever.)    This of course made me want to go for a walk and have a swing, although let's be honest... I always want to swing.  Karen wasn't so keen on the idea, but I totally pulled the 'it's my birthday' card and she went along with it.  (I think she had fun.) Yes, you see that right... no gloves! In the afternoon we met up with a group of friends at Green Mill for  The Paper Machete Show .  I highly recommend this show!  It was so funny and I think we all had fun.  It was hard to choose a favorite act, which is always a good sign.  There were 9 of us and we all squeezed into a booth with a couple chairs.   Note:  this show ...

Today was a good day & worthy of a thankful time post for just today alone. *I dragged Karen to the gym for a kickboxing class and she shoved her feet into my tennis shoes that are a size too small for her.  She says she had fun, besides her feet hurting. *Karen & I had a lovely long brunch at Waffles' new location in Lakeview.  Yum! *Karen went to Stanley's with me.  I love Stanley's!  I would be very content if I just shopped there, but for some reason I only go with other people and she accompanied me.  Stanley's always makes me happy. *As I was walking this afternoon, I heard a little girl walk out of her place with her dad (I assume).  She said, "It's beautiful."  He said, "It's a little chilly."  She said, "It's beautiful."   It was adorable, made me smile, & clearly I'm still thinking about it.

Yes, after a hiatus from the blog world, thankful time is making a reappearance for this Sunday! I can feel you're just as excited as me, so let's get started! This week I'm thankful for an email (or several actually). Subject:  t minus 10 What? Well, I received this email from my friend, Rubina, on Thursday, which just so happened to be 10 days until the marathon.  I open the email to find a little inspiration.  And I loved it!  It made me excited, it made it real.   Then Friday I received another email. Subject:  #9 This one threw me off.  9 what?  (I can be a little slow sometimes.)  Don't worry, I figured it out AND I got more inspiration! Saturday Subject:  #8 I really hope these keep coming all the way to the marathon because I'm loving every one! Rubina had to listen to me talk out my psychological fears after having a bad 20 miler.  She listens to all my stupid updates, how I'm feeling, what I'm eating, whe...

So Wednesday I walked to the gym and saw a dresser sitting on the sidewalk with a Free sign on it.  It's not uncommon when people move out, they put furniture they are not taking with them on the sidewalk.  Usually, I'm not interested, but that dresser caught my eye. I continued on to the gym expecting it to be gone when I came back. It wasn't. I untaped the drawer and looked inside.  It looked like it was well taken care of. I kept going. Then I went to church.  Walked past it again. I was walking home and it made me stop AGAIN (yes, I know this is a boring story.  Hang in there) I untaped the top drawer again.   I tried to lift it. It was heavy.  No way can I get this to my place. Begin walking away. The garbage recycling man said, "Do you want help with that?" "Really, you wouldn't mind?" "No, just give me 10 minutes." He put it in the passenger's seat of the garbage truck and drove it up the street to my...

This week I'm thankful for friends & family!  I mean I always am, but... Did you hear about the Megabus accident on Thursday afternoon?  One person died and many were seriously injured.  I'm a big fan of Megabus and frequently ride it.  My dad sent me the article first.  Then I started getting texts from friends.  Some just informing me (knowing I was in Chicago), others checking to be sure I wasn't on it. It was so nice they cared enough to check-in with me! I have awesome friends! Then I saw Greta posted this picture on facebook... Umm... adorable!  Karen commented on the photo:  " Awww...I remember going on rides just like this when we were younger. :) "  And it's exactly what I was thinking.  For me, on Dad & Jeffrey and NOW here's Jeff doing the same thing with his son.  This to me is a perfect picture for so many reasons! (Thanks for sharing, Greta!  And Greta's birthday is on Tuesday so HAPPY EARL...

Check this out! They repainted Halsted between Diversey & Wellington and it is nice!   Can you see the dashes on the right side of the bike lane?  That's for car doors so it's not as easy to get doored!   And the path is spacious.   And notice the extra space on the left of the lane. Yes, it's only about 4 blocks, but it's the best 4 blocks I've ridden in the city! Today I'm thankful for legit bike lanes! Keep 'em coming!

I actually took some photos this week... * One of my roommates from Mexico came to visit last weekend (she still lives there).  One of my other roommates, who lives in Chicago, and I were able to spend a couple days with her as she kicked off her month in the US.  We missed our other roommate, but were happy for the time we got to spend together. of course that's tequila. these are my roommates from Mexico Sunday was a day made for the lake *Jason & I were in Champaign for work this week.  We ate at Radio Maria the first night.  That hummus was probably the best hummus I've ever eaten. *Rubina & I had a picnic on the lake.  We had a lovely time once we found each other, which is a completely different story.  It's nice that we both live on the lake, she's just a bit north of me. I hadn't seen her in too long so it was extra special. And she made me feel better about my concert I'm going to alone in about a month.  I just b...

Clouds.  You may never hear me say that again, but it made for a much more enjoyable morning run. A pot of veggies for breakfast.  I was still in my sticky, dripping running clothes when I started chopping veggies.  Totally worth it.  Yum! Iced coffee. Cardinals line up for today.  Even though we're still missing many players, I'm happy to see Craig back in the 4 spot. Reusable napkin. Summer dresses.  I say dresses are God's gift to women (we deserved something , no?).  Although winter dresses are another story.  Those can be torture.   $54 for a dress w/o pockets. probably not, but I have my eye on the one on the left Ceiling fan. Luna recovery drink.  After long runs, this is lovely.  No, it's not made anymore and mine is expired.  But I keep drinking it and I'm ok.  I would not serve it to others, don't worry. I remember when my mom gave these back to me when I got back from Mexico and I ...