summer is coming!

it’s that time of year, ladies.

bathing suits are starting to pop up everywhere and flat bellies are on our minds!

corey was super awesome and bought me a groupon (because he’s awesome and was probably tired of listening to me talk about how I wanted to try it ) for what we thought was only yoga classes, but it turns out that it’s for yoga and other fitness classes (abs, something called Train like Jane… it sounds scary, but effective). i’ve signed up for 2 classes a week for the next 5 weeks and am READY.

bring it on summer!

bring it on beach!

bring it on bathing suit!

although the thought of going to the beach in a bathing suit SHOULD be enough motivation… it’s not for me. so, i went over to pinterest for a little more support and lookie what I found! after reading these there is no way you won’t be motivated to get that booty in shape.

like my girl Christina (from that little show Grey’s Anatomy) says,

“Shut up! Dance it out…”

sunshiney day

Last week I met up with Erin, Paul and a couple of E’s friends from back home at Millennium/Grant Park. I left work early and it was a perfect day for a walk in the park. I’m so glad I could go with them! I don’t have many pictures from the day, but here are a couple of my favorites…

This is muh cutie pie nephew. There isn’t much that’s more fun than going to a HUGE park with a 4 year old. It’s my favorite when he goes around telling you how beautiful all the flowers are and how amazing it is when you can just run and run and RUN without having to stop!!

This is Erin. She’s my seeester. And friend.

Sight seeing?

A couple weeks ago Chicago had one of the foggiest days it has seen in a long time. It was incredible! Take a look…

skydiving

Where do I start?

Thursday I got a text from a friend asking if I would go with her while she went skydiving. I told her yes, as long as I didn’t have to go anywhere near the plane or in the air. She told me that not only would I need a ticket to go up in the plane too, but I’d have to pay for it. Sold! This seemed like a win-win situation to me… she got someone to go with her and drive her home and I got to spend a day out in the burbs hanging out with her!

Her appointment was for 1PM so we left around 11:30 and just barely made it for 1PM and she still had to watch the flight orientation video. We ended up standing around after she watched the video for at least couple hours. That’s when it happened.

Somehow, (I truly don’t know how) after 90 minutes of Sylwia trying to convince me to skydive with her she finally did. Sylwia convinced me to go skydiving. SKYDIVING. As in, going up in a [perfectly good] airplane only to jump from it from 14,000 feet in the air. Let me tell ya, 14,000 feet is really high. And cold. It was probably 95 degrees on the ground and probably 75 degrees in the air. I got the honors of sitting across from the door and feeling it get colder and colder. Oh, that’s another thing… did you know that they only let you wear your seatbelt the first 2000 feet up and then they unbuckle you? All the while leaving the door to the plane open. Who decided that was a good idea?

Well, it goes without saying that I lived. Not only did I live, but I had the most awesome time EVER! I can’t say I’ll be jumping again anytime soon, but seriously, it was so amazing. Here are some pictures from our day…

This was such an exciting moment! My pal Jackson said earlier that he’d point to the big orange pully and that would be my cue to pull it and the parachute would open. I did it!! Such an incredible moment!

That was, by far, the most incredible and crazy thing I have ever done! Thank you to Sylwia for encouraging me (over and over!) and asking me to go with you.

Stanley’s dinner

Yesterday I went to Stanley’s, an amazing grocery store in Chicago where you can get great fruits, veggies, meats, breads, etc. Shopping trips to Stanley’s always makes me so happy because I can walk up to the check-out line and know that my debit card won’t catch on fire when I swipe it.
So! Here’s muh goodies! I bought one giant carrot, asparagus, zucchini, yellow squash, mushrooms, an onion, along with potatoes, nectarines, bananas, and other yummy stuff I can’t remember. Remember how I said that my debit card didn’t catch on fire when I swiped it? That’s because all that food was only $12!! What you see in the picture is only a portion of what I got. I made out, kids!

Now, the fun part. Cooking it!!

First, I sauteed the onion and carrot (in olive oil, with some salt) since they take longer. My pan isn’t that big, so next time I’d cut the carrots smaller. I usually do, but I was so excited about this dinner that I just wanted to get cookin’. Don’t judge the carrots that are all over the stove, I had issues.

After the onion and carrot have softened, I add in the other veggies. About a minute after that I add in some paprika. I add paprika to… everything. It’s definitely my go-to spice. It goes with everything!

The next, and last, step is to saute it until you think it’s done!

Voila! My Stanley’s dinner! I ate this, and then I ate some more of this. And then I ate more of it for lunch the next day. (I make a lot) Nothing beats that first meal after going to Stanley’s… especially in the middle of summer where everything is at its freshest. So good!

awkward & awesome thursday!

Awkward…

• Every morning when I go to take a shower I can hear my neighbor turn on the water at the same time and I told a friend that I hoped it wasn’t a guy because I didn’t like the thought of showering at the exact same time as a guy just through the wall and on our way home Saturday we saw who lives there… and it’s totally a guy! 
• Walking down the hall in the building I work having a fake arguement with someone (in my head) and realizing that I’m doing all the facial expressions. At first I thought nobody was looking. I was wrong.
• I’ve never really been one to stumble through my words after a glass (or two?) of wine, but my goodness, after two glasses while out with friends I could not say podcast to save my life. It kept coming out as “padcast” (And then getting an email the next morning saying that my friend was glad my “padcast” was done…)
• Making salsa for a cookout, thinking it looked amazing and then… I tried it. Here’s a tip… when the recipe calls for half a lime, don’t add more just because it smells good.

Awesome…

• Watching New in Town by myself on a Saturday night and unexpectedly liking it! 
• Celebrating my first 4th of July in Chicago. It was amazing! I went to a friends rooftop to watch the fireworks and you could see hundreds and hundreds of fireworks going off all over the city. Seriously, people… everywhere! (Plus, look at the amazing picture of the skyline!)
• Celebrating Danielle’s birthday!! This lucky gal got to work with the birthday gal all day and then go out with a bunch of great people to celebrate. Danielle picked Kin Sushi & Thai and it was delicious. Their crab rangoon? TO DIE FOR!! 
• Realizing that I only have 6 more weeks of school…. EVERRRR!!!!

Explore Chicago

I don’t know about you, Chicagoans, but I am already getting excited about the spring/summer/fall festivals! Last summer I was working full time (for the first time) so I didn’t make it to nearly as many as I hoped. The one that I was determined not to miss was the Taste of Chicago, the worlds largest food festival. And let’s be real… it. was. amazing! I went with Erin, Derek and Paul and we had a blast. We ate, walked around and played in the park.

The other fun thing I did with my girlfrans was go to the Wells Street Art Festival. They had a cover band that played new and older music and really good sangria! It was the perfect summer night, including a quick 20 minute solid downpour that got us all soaking wet. (Hence the see-through clothes and funky hair)

Earlier I was talking with a co-worker about my excitement and she suggested that I check out the Chicago Cultural Center because they have a huge room of pamphlets about different festivals and whatnot. (They even have tables so you can eat lunch and read) Instead of going out in the cold during lunch I decided to Google it and came across the most fantastic site! I’m sure a lot of people already know about this, BUT it’s…

Explore Chicago

…and it’s ahmazing. You can do a search for specific dates, neighborhoods, events, etc. I highly encourage you to check it out!