Mother/Daughter Bonding Time

Since school is out for summer (again!), my mom decided to come down for a day in the big city with yours truly. When she first got here it was raining and I thought it was to continue for the day since my fabulous always correct weather app told me so. But it actually ended up being a lovely (but humid!) day! We went to lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, Northside, in Wicker Park (or is it Bucktown...I never know the difference?) Then we walked around window shopping and occasionally walking into a few stores in hopes of some cool air or a public bathroom which I never did find. (i heart chicago). We had lots and lots to catch up on and there was never a quiet moment. We both sure do like to talk a lot! We finished the afternoon with a stop at Starbucks for a refreshing cold drink then went downtown to see the Marilyn Monroe statue. Wow, is she big! Thanks SO MUCH Mom for coming down to spend an afternoon with me. I really cherish our girly time together!! Love you!

Fill in the Blank Friday!

Linking up again with Lauren for Fill in the Blank Friday bringing out the basics! Hope you all have a happy Friday and and even happier weekend!

1. My favorite color is purple, especially dark purple -- love all things purple! .

2. My travel destination of choice is hmmm, if I am stressed I would say anywhere with a beach and umbrella drinks but I'm loving Jason's and my annual fall trip which can include hiking, apple orchards, pumpkin picking and anything these Midwest states have to offer in the fall. I love being out in nature where I feel closest to God and having Jason by my side makes it even better .

3. My favorite food is movie popcorn Yummmmmmm .

4. My happy place is running along the lake .

5. My favorite saying is "Be joyful in hope" .

6. My dirty little secret is I don't think I have any! I am an open book and tell all -- most of the time telling more than I should or more than anyone wants (or should) know! .

7. Something friends might say about me is that I can't think of anything...if you read this, won't you share with me what you'd say about me? .

Goodbye Q101

A couple weeks ago, I was listening to Q101 as I sometimes do during the day because I love Electra, the afternoon host. As I was listening, I quickly learned that that was the last day Q101 would be airing and basically everyone who worked there had received notice that previous Monday that they were being let go and the station was coming to an end. On this particular Thursday when I was listening, they were hosting a sort of tribute to the radio station having all the past DJ's calling in and reminesing about the past 19 years it's been on the radio. I was shocked at how emotional I got, I didn't realize how attached I could become to a radio station.

As it is in 2011, I have to say I don't really listen to that station anymore. But as for my teenage years Q101 was a HUGE part of my life. That radio station became sort of like a lifestyle for me.

I remember the first week Q101 was on the radio, it was the radio station we listened to at the barn. Most barns/farms listen to country radio but at ours it was always Q101 -- The "New" Rock Alternative. Those years of music helped to shape who I was as a teenager (I know thats making my mom cringe as she reads this). But I lived for going to concerts as often as possible. I went to the first Twisted Christimas at UIC Pavilion with Bad Religion, Killing Joke, Dinosaur Jr., Veruca Salt, Weezer, and Hole in its line-up. (I'll never forget my friend's mom dropping us off there and feeling so cool being in Chicago all alone!) Nine Inch Nails, Beastie Boys and Smashing Pumpkins concerts were all at the then Rosemont Horizon. One of those shows I remember driving to as a 16 year old in my first real snow storm as a driver. Several Veruca Salt concerts with Jolene when her mom made us take Irving Park all the way to The Aragon Ballroom. I went to a few Jambouree's out at the then World Music Theater including it's first one with it's line-up consiting of Bush, Collective Soul, Sheryl Crow, Duran Duran, Faith No More, The Flaming Lips, KMFDM, The Lupins, Phunk Junkeez, Sponge, Stone Roses. Bush and Alanis Morisette separately at the then World Music Theater. Many of those bands from Jamboree and Twisted Christmas I went to see individually at whatever venue they were playing at the time. Somewhere my mom has all the ticket stubs saved from all the shows...I wish I had them here to take a picture!

I remember the night before the Smashing Pumpkins "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" came out Q101 played the album in its entirety on the radio one night as I sat in the corner of my bedroom listening to it on my radio which sat on the floor. It was also on Q101 that I heard when Kurt Cobain died...I remember exactly where I was driving when I heard that. All these memories feel like just yesterday!

When I heard that Q101 was ending, I truly felt like a part of my teenage years was ending. I guess technically, my teenage years ended years ago when I calculate my age, but it just doesn't seem like that long ago. Thanks Q101 for being such a huge part of my teenage years and helping me get through what I thought were some of the hardest years of my life. Oh to be a teenager again.

Fill in the Blank Friday!

Its Friday which means "fill in the blank friday!" Join in on the fun here!

1. One of my happiest moments ever was my wedding day. It was the most beautiful and most love-filled day! Everything was just perfect .

2. Summer is wedding season and weddings are a day filled with love. A day when couples have the whole world ahead of them! I love wedding ceremonies, I cry at almost every single one .

3. This summer we're trying to live up Chicago and make memories like no other .

4. My summer food of choice has been strawberries .

5. My summer uniform has been skirts, my one new pair of shorts. (I returned the ones I bought the last time I posted about this) flip flops, flip flops and more flip flops .

6. If I could spend the entire summer in one location I would choose I'm exactly where I want to be this summer .

7. My summer anthem is so don't judge...but I'm totally in love with Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night - TGIF." I mean who can deny that it sounds really good loud with the windows down and sunroof open? And I still love Lupe Fiasco's "The Show Goes on" .

Summer (non-alcoholic) Beverage of Choice

I am obsessed with Tazo's Passion Iced Tea. At the end of last summer I discovered it at Starbucks while looking for something without caffeine. Obviously with the colder months I moved on to warmer beverages but as soon as the temperatures heated up, I hit up Starbucks and got my first Passion tea. With the prices at Starbucks and the obsession that this drink became, I decided I needed to brew it at home. For the past couple months, I've always had a pitcher of this tea in my fridge. But I was super excited to hear about the newest creation from Starbucks, a Tazo Iced Passion Tea Lemonade. Mmmmm Sounds absolutely refreshing and refreshing it was. I finally got to try one today and it did not disappoint one bit. Perfect for one of the hottest days of summer! I think I will save this one as a once a month treat though since its a lot more calories than just the tea and I actually have to buy this one from Starbucks because I haven't found a low-cal lemonade that I like that I could blend it with. So tasty,, you should treat yourself to either the Passion Tea or Tea/ Lemonade today!

Love my Schedule!

I love my new schedule now that I have something going on every day! I love having to be up every day for class or to babysit. When I was initially laid off I spent over a year trying to find a job and that just wasn't going to happen. Then when I decided to go to grad school in the evenings I babysat during the day full time which at least helped pay the bills but that ended when I decided to go to school full time which was in the hopes of getting a "real" job that much sooner.

January through March I was taking four classes and the amount of work kept me very busy. But then last quarter I found out I wasn't allowed to take more than three classes and couldn't find a job to fit my schedule. These last few months have been so boring with my lack of structured schedule Lucky for me, I am finally in a position where work and school have fit so well together. The kicker, is that it only lasted four weeks...I'm already done with summer classes after next week!

I've really enjoyed having to go to bed at a decent hour because I have somewhere to be in the morning. Mornings haven't been enjoyable at all since I hate mornings but once I'm past that first hour or so, I have an extra skip in my step knowing I'm needed somewhere and have some responsibilities. I am so excited to know that there is the possibility of a job waiting for me at the end of what has seemed like a very long dark tunnel or "unemployment.". It will certainly take some getting used to, getting up every day and working full days again but I am so ready to have a "real job" with "real responsibilities!!"

*Image found here

BUSY Week

This week has been super busy. I started my babysitting job last week so this was my first full week which means between that and class I had to be out of bed every day by 6:30. Poor me, right?! {said very sarcastically} Mornings have never been my friend, especially starting the week Sunday night by not getting to sleep until after 2:00am from the Dave concert. The babysitting has been going really well! Jack is super sweet, the hours work so well with my schedule, they live just a couple miles away and the family is wonderful!! (As Jack is sleeping on me right now! awwww)

Monday night I went to dinner with Beth to Uncle Julios, YUM. I am so thankful for the friendship that we have and any night at Uncle Julios is great for me! :)

Tuesday I did my first 5k of the season which was the Strike Out ALS at US Cellular. I wasn't able to run many times before it so certainly didn't feel like I was ready to do it but was so glad I did. Though it was the slowest run time I've ever done I was proud of myself for going out and doing it. I cannot believe my back still doesn't hurt!! The run was very unique, it started pretty boring because we ran around the parking lot which wasn't so bad with the run heading toward the beautiful Chicago skyline but we had to do it twice so a bit redundant. The later part of the run was up the ramps to the upper concourse, that was brutal...I mean seriously we don't have hills in Chicago - my body didn't know what to do! Then we ran along the upper concourse and down to the field where we ran along the warning track, then had to run up the stairs (gag) to then run back down the ramps to the finish outside in the parking lot. Very unique! I even got to see 2 friends who also registered. One of my friends, Lisa, I haven't seen in about 3 or 4 years so was a lot of fun to catch up!

Christy and me before the race

Running toward the beautiful skyline

Blurring since I was running..not sure how the other one turned out

Along the warning track -- very cool!

Wednesday night was Small Group and me having to write a paper...so another busy night!

Yesterday I went up to Gurnee after class to visit my friend, Nikki who just had a second baby. We had a nice lunch and catching up together and was so nice to meet little Matthew and see Jake again. Feels like just yesterday that we were both working next to each other at ACS, us both not married and slaving away at ACS events...amazing how much has changed in just a few years for both of us!

Last night we went to our last Cubs game of the season at Wrigley Field. We got tickets to a game once a month and next month we're going to Milwaukee to see them play. We ended up not getting our September tickets because we have a wedding to go to instead. I cannot believe that very well may have been our last game of the season at Wrigley!! So sad. Plus if all goes well with selling our condo then it will be our last game as a Chicagoan. I can't believe it!! We had fun but the Cubs were sure to send us off with a loss. It was a painful game to watch.

Our seats were really good!! Thanks Uncle Dennis!!

Me and my honey doing what we love to do together!

Now I'm ready to bring on the weekend!! Happy Friday all!!

DMB Caravan

One of my favortite times of the summer is going to see Dave Matthews, but this year they made an announcement that they are not going to be touring so they could spend more time with their families. A few months ago they announced that they would be touring to four areas of the US on a three day, multi-stage event called the DMB Caravan. I knew one of the caravans would be in the Midwest so was watching the website like a hawk. When they finally announced that it was going to be in Chicago I was literally jumping up and down like a five year old. We decided we were only going to go on Sunday because we were supposed to go to an out of state wedding the same weekend.

The concert was at a venue on the south side which we learned is going to be future site of homes and shopping along the lake. It was HOT on Sunday but super fun!! We got to see a friend of mine from college that I haven't seen in a few years while we listened to David Grey. But as soon as he was done, we tried to get as close to the stage as possible for DMB. We got up pretty close and the night was amazing. He played a lot of his old songs. I thought maybe since they weren't trying to promote a new CD they were able to play whatever they wanted. A few covers and just an over-all fun night. They even played "Say Goodbye" which used to be one of my absolute favorite DMB songs. :) The night brought back lots of memories from college since so it was a weirdly emotional night that I can't quite explain. Do I dare say that I think I may finally be outgrowing DMB shows? I've been thinking this would happen for the past 3-4 years but every time I've gone it's been so great. This time was an amazing setlist but I think I may finally be over the absolute obsession that I have with their shows. Well, maybe not! Next year if we're in Colorado, that will be a whole new experience for us so I'm pretty sure we'll end up having to go again (and again!)

*seriously we were a lot closer than what this picture shows, especially if you could see how many people were there!

Fill in the Blank Friday!

I've been wanting to do this for weeks but haven't found the time...Click here to participate!

My plans this summer include: Since in my opinion 4th of July is the near midway point for summer I'll include that we just got back from visiting Jason's family in Iowa, Dave Matthews Band Caravan this Sunday, Lollapolooza, Cubs games, another trip to Iowa for Jason's cousins wedding, two of my dear friends weddings, packing and trying to get our place "staged" to sell and lots and lots of walks outside with Cooper.

The best summer I ever had was: My first summer in Chicago (2005) with my then best friend with a ton of street fests, concerts and the beach!

Summer is: Beer gardens. Street fests. Flowers blooming. Fireworks. Lollapolooza. Cubs games. Outdoor concerts. Running along the lake. Kids playing outside.

My favorite summer food is: watermellon and Jason grilling just about anything outside

The best way to quench a summer thirst is: red sangria, passion iced tea, summer shandy mmmmmmmmmm

My summer uniform consists of: skirts, sleeveless shirts and flip flops...I haven't worn shorts in about 5 years...I hate the way they look on me but I just bought 2 pair this past week. One is most likely going back, short shorts just don't look good on me!

The best thing about summer is: the heat! I love, love, love hot weather!