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... ...

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.  T...

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 wa...

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 thi...

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...

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 everyd...