Gratitude Week 17

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Fearlessness. My little buddy J takes swim lessons and his mom invited me to tag along this week. For 30 minutes, J and his little friends play games in the water with their adult (parent or nanny), putting their heads under water, kicking, splashing, jumping off the edge. Aside from the can’t-even-handle-it cuteness, what struck me the most was the fearlessness these kiddos had. Under the water they went and there was no doubt that they were going to find their way up to the top. They reacted to the water with such sheer instinct, it was incredible.

My mom told me that J’s age group, the under 2 years old set, are the ones who know fearlessness, who experience their environment on instinct. It’s as we grow older that fearlessness is replaced by panic. It got me thinking about how often I react from a place of fear and panic and how rare those moments of instinct are in the adult world. I think I want to be like J and paddle my little hands, knowing 100% that they’ll find their way to the top of the water. I am grateful for fearlessness…and the inspiration that little people can bring us.

Quincy Street Distillery

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Did the weekend fly by or did it fly by? I seriously can’t believe it’s Monday again.

Our weekend kicked off with an event at the Junior League of Chicago called “Perfect Pairings”. I joined the League this winter to get more involved with volunteering in my community and this event is one of their big fundraisers. While sampling the beverage side of the pairings, Ryan and I met the founders of Quincy Street Distillery, a local small batch spirits creator. Historic Riverside is home to the distillery and I want to get out for a visit ASAP. Hearing them tell us about how they make this boozy goodness sounded so prohibition, old-school Chicago and the French 75‘s they made us were really, really good. And it’s local! I know buying/drinking/shopping local is a thing now but businesses like this are the real deal and seeing their passion for their craft in person was really cool.

I see a field trip to Riverside in our future.