Treat or Treat

admincandy, committed to costumes, elevators, Hallowen, holidays, pirates, Superheroes, Tinkerbell, Trick or Treating in a City, Uncategorized%s Comments

Tonight, I had my first Trick or Treaters ever.

There was a sign-up sheet at the front desk of my building and after I signed up as being a “Trick or Treat” Stop, the doorman gave me a hang-tag for my door.  So from 4-6 tonight, Luna Bell and I waited with a bowl full of Snickers and M&Ms for the Trick or Treaters to come a’knockin’.

There was a princess, a dragon, a fireman and a spider.  Zorro stopped by as did Thomas the Train and Tinkerbell.  13 Trick or Treaters in all.  And the beauty of going Halloweening in a high-rise is that all the kids were able to wear their costumes as they were meant to be worn- no sweatpants, no gloves, no snowsuits shoved underneath them.  Where I grew up, it was usually snowing by Halloween and my parents would always try to ruin my life by making me wear my snowsuit under the princess costume of the year.  I did, however, escape pneumonia so maybe Mama and Papa G were on to something.  In any case, these adorable kiddos I saw this evening were in their costumed glory sans layers and looked like they were having a blast, playing on the elevator between floors to get to their next candy stop.

There were no tricks on this Halloween, just treats.  Just the way I like it.

High Five of the Day: Goes to the mom who told me that her son is “committed to costumes” year round.  The Pirate getup today was carefully selected amidst a closet that also contained costumes to transform him into a doctor, a fireman, a superhero, a wizard and many other.  Because you never know when you might want to perform surgery.  Or save the world.  And you need to have the choice to do either.

Friday Goodness: Peanuts Edition

adminA Charlie Brown Christmas, eco-friendly, It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, laughing, Linus, Peanuts, Uncategorized%s Comments

I found this article after I posted last night and it more than made me chuckle.  Way more thought and detail than had ever occurred to me about the Peanuts Gang but super entertaining for people who have grown up watching “It’s The Great  Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas”.

“Back in 1966, when this special first aired, they called that (Linus spending his Halloween in a pumpkin patch) delusional. Now we’d probably laud Linus for being eco-conscious, getting back to nature and showing his support for the local food movement.”

Enjoy and Happy Friday!

Plus Charlie Brown Equals the Holidays

adminCharlie Brown, Halloween, holidays, It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, joy, Linus, Lucy, music, Uncategorized, Vince Guaraldi%s Comments

Nothing signals the start of the holidays like a Charlie Brown television special.  The music by  Vince Guaraldi, the zig-zag on Charlie Brown’s shirt and the way Lucy pulls the football out from under CB gets me every time!

“It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!” is on tonight to once again prove that Linus is the smartest one of them all and is always right…including about the Great Pumpkin.

“There are 3 things you never discuss with people: Politics, religion and the Great Pumpkin.”  Wise words, Linus, wise words.

Fly Yoga

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I had heard the hype, I had heard how amazing it was, I had heard that you feel like a regular Cirque du Soleil.  So I went up to i.d. gym in Lincoln Park to try Fly Yoga and see if I could fly through the air with the greatest of ease.

I don’t know about ease but I certainly got my yoga on in a silk cocoon.

Basically, you go through your flow using the silks to help you move deeper into your postures, increase balance and flexibility.  Created by the owner of i.d. gym, Brent, Fly Yoga is a one-of-a-kind thing and  I cannot believe we have it here in Chicago!  I love yoga and to add a playful, creative spin to my practice was really exciting.  What was not so exciting was overcoming my fear of heights/suspension that is getting worse as I get older (Hey, I AM turning 26 next week).  You might say “Wait- you were only 3-4 feet above the yoga matted floor at any given moment, pull it together!”.  While this is true, I usually keep this body safely on the ground so relying on a silk blanket thing freaked me out at first.  Particularly when my head was hovering above the ground.   But once I started to trust that the silks and rock climbing hooks really could hold up to 3,000 lbs, I was amazed by what I could do!  Pigeon pose with my shin tucked under my chin? Done.  Downdog with my legs in the air?  Definitely.  Splits upside down?  You got it.

My favorite part?  Looking over at my fellow fliers and seeing us all upside down, red faced, and giggling.  Fly Yoga is fun but it was even better to do it with friends I do regular yoga (read: on the ground) with all the time.  Ya gotta mix it up, ya know?  I’m so glad we did and I can’t wait to go back!

 

 

The Windy(er) City

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There’s an epic storm going through Chicago today.  Watching the news last night equated it to a tornado/hurricane that spans 2,200 miles, all of which will pass over Chicago.  70 mph winds have already been clocked.  We were instructed to tied down everything we didn’t want to blow away.

Um, like my building?  And my cat?  How is that helpful advice?

The waves on Lake Michigan was the biggest and most violent I’ve ever seen and Luna Bell and I watched wind and rain race horizontally across our window for the better part of the morning.  The windows are rattling and I’m a little worried about how I’m going to get to work without looking like I just went swimming.

I really need rain boots.

 

NYC Part 2

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After making it through what Ryan and I were sure was the worst rush hour Penn Station has ever seen (it probably wasn’t) and the longest ride on the Long Island Railroad of all time (again, I am sure it wasn’t), we were back in Manhattan.  The entire train ride, all we could talk about was the amazing food we had the previous night at our friends’ wedding (mashed potato bar!  pasta bar!  carving station! paella bar!) so by the time we got off the train, we were famished.  And frustrated that a mashed potato bar was not waiting for us upon exit of Penn Station.

But across the street was salvation:

Yes, a little wheeled pagoda held the key to our hunger.

Hot dogs!  Pretzels! More hot dogs!  I seriously have not been this excited about processed food since…well, possibly ever.

Deeee-lightful.  .

Just A Big Apple Girl?

adminanticipation, devil, Halloween, Henri Bendel, hot dogs, Manhattan, New York City, Patsy's, pretzels, sightseeing, street vendors, Uncategorized, wandering%s Comments

Not quite but I was in NYC this past weekend.  Ryan and I traveled East to attend the wedding of very good friends of his from college (more on that later).  We did some shopping, we did some eating, and we definitely did some wandering.  Yes, we did check out a few famous Manhattan landmarks but my favorite part of visiting another city was simply putting one foot in front of the other and seeing whatever there was to be seen.

Rockefeller Center

Candles at St. Patrick’s Cathedral

A piece of the Berlin Wall

Even though we were on limited time, I did manage to come home with my favorite brown and white striped bag from the place I just love swinging by when I’m in New York: Henri Bendel.

Saks, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdales and pretty much everything else, Chicago has.  But not Bendel’s.  Chic without being stuffy, sophisticated while still being fun.  I treated myself to a pair of lovely pair of earrings that caught my eye and picked up my favorite mascara as well (in both black and aubergine because it came in a set for just a little more than the regular prices.  And you know homegirl loves a good deal).

Of all the great people watching Ryan and I did, this kid takes the cake:

1 week before Halloween and he already was wearing his devil costume.  I’m going to assume that his choice of ensemble for the day was more about the impending holiday than a general nod to his overall behavior.  I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt.

High Five of the Day: As much as I enjoyed being in another city for a few days, there is really nothing quite like home…and I couldn’t have arrived home in Chicago on a more beautiful, unseasonably warm, sunny day.  Deee-lightful.

 

Vino and Vinyasa

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Wine.  Yoga.  360 degree views of Lake Michigan and downtown Chicago.  One of my favorite yoga instructors in the city.  Wine.

Did I mention that I had a great night last night?

The Vino  and Vinyasa event at The W Hotel Lakeshore combined a majority of my favorite things (if someone would have thrown in Christmas carols, I would have been beside myself).  55 people getting their yoga on in the incredible Altitude room, unreal views, and a glass of wine at the uber chic Wave Lounge made for one of those evenings where you go “I can’t believe I get to do this.”

It never ceases to inspire me to see people make the choice to be invest in their health after work when they could have instead chosen to go home and sit on the couch.  I saw 55 people take the time to be good and connect to themselves  so that they, in turn, will be able to offer up more light and love to everyone they come in contact with.  Totally powerful stuff.  The fabulous Jonny Vu was there, Leah from Bright Pink, my lulu girls, girlfriends from Lincoln Park… like I said, powerful evening!

Getting back into yoga full force post-marathon feels A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.  I attribute getting through the marathon entirely to continuing to practice during my training.  It feels really good to give my body some yoga love for hanging in there with me through 26.2 miles of pounding the pavements.

Namaste and Happy Hump Day!

(“I’m gonna make you girls a Hump Day treat!” Name the movie….)

My SSB

adminCarrie Bradshaw, cohabitation, couch, fashion magazines, GLEE, Gossip Girl, Luna Bell, saltines, secret single behavior, Sex and the City, Uncategorized%s Comments

I love Ryan and I love living with Ryan.  I always feel my most authentic self around him and there is nothing I love more than going for a run together, coming home to make dinner and spending our evening doing whatever we need to get done side by side on our ginormous couch (no, seriously- this couch is massive.  96 inches didn’t feel that big in a showroom but this thing is HUGE).  Moving in together hasn’t really changed any of my habits; he loves Gossip Girl as much as my old roommates did due to his man crush on Chuck Bass’ hair, he laughs when I put on my iPod and bop my head when I am writing and we both fawn over our cat more than most people do their children.

But there are some things you just don’t do when someone else is home.  .

Carrie Bradshaw so wisely called it your “Secret Single Behavior”, the things you do in the privacy of your own home that you would never do in front of your partner.  Her “SSB” was stacking saltines with grape jelly and then eating them while standing up in her kitchen reading the latest issue of Vogue.  I love watching my dvds of Sex and the City as much as the next girl who went to college right after the series ended and therefore, owned every single season so she could watch them hungover on Sundays with her roommates while eating tater tots and veggie buffalo chicken wings.  I mean, for example.

But I never considered what my SSB was until tonight when Ryan was gone for the evening.

Immediately upon walking in my door, I was on SSB auto-pilot.  A scene that has unfolded a million times before commenced once again.

I sat on our ginormous couch, a pile of previously unread fashion magazines on my left (how is Drew Barrymore STILL making covers, someone please tell me), huge fountain Diet Coke on the coffee table, Luna Bell on my right and my laptop on, well, on my lap.  For the next 3 hours, I flipped through said fashion magazines, looked up things I liked on the internet, looked for dresses for a wedding I’m attending this weekend while watching every single episode of GLEE that I have recorded on the DVR.  Fast forwarding to the songs I like, typically old school show tunes.  Possibly Definitely singing along.  Rewinding the ones I thought deserved another go.  Singing louder.  I took a break once for LB and I to go to the window to watch traffic together.   While listening to French pop music on Pandora.  And I may or may not have been pretending I knew French while attempt to hing (that’s hum and sing) songs I have never heard before in my life.

And I didn’t have to talk to anyone about anything.

Mind you, with Ryan here, I can do those things too.  But I’m more focused on spending time with him, us both enjoying what’s on tv, making conversation.  Tonight, I could be all about the show tunes, trendy dresses, celebrity gossip, and bbm’ing my BFF Holly when I needed her opinion on a few (or 11) dresses.

I’m happy to have Ry back home tomorrow but my evening of my SSB was enjoyable too.

Maybe if I set the closed captioning on the tv, Ryan can learn the words to GLEE and sing along too…

Quiet Moment

adminChicago Sunrise, joggers, Lake Michigan, Lakeshore Drive, Luna Bell, quiet moments, Republic of Tea, runners, Uncategorized%s Comments

I woke up before the sun did today.

Which is not really all that impressive since sunrise is around 7am these days but it is Sunday, after all.

With nothing to do and nowhere to go, I curled up with my favorite big, cushy blanket, a cup of my favorite tea and watched the most quiet Lake Michigan and Lakefront path I have ever seen.  Usually, there are tons of sailboats out, runners getting their jog on, bikers getting their pedal on and traffic for Luna Bell to watch on Lakeshore Drive.

This morning: quiet.

Still water, a lone jogger, a ball of fire slowly rising out of the lake.  Quiet in my apartment, quiet in the little world outside my window.

I know the rest of Chicago i s waking up right now too but, for now, I am relishing in my quiet moment.