Dig Down Deep

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The 42nd Annual Sheffield Garden Walk was this weekend and I met up with some friends to enjoy the musical stylings of a band called “Cowboy Mouth”.  The Garden Walk is apparently exactly that–a walk through a bunch of cool gardens in Lincoln Park, coupled with concerts at night.  I didn’t know about the actual garden part until I got on their website tonight.  I feel a little guilty–I thought it was an even exclusively about beer and loud music.  I like gardens as much as the next person and would have totally checked the educational part of this festival out but I am willing to place bets that if this was the 42nd Sheffield Garden, there will be a 43rd and I can have a more well-rounded Garden Walk experience.

Anyways.

Cowboy Mouth was pretty fantastic.  And funny.  The drummer was placed in the middle of the stage and did a majority of the singing, which was pretty impressive considering that hitting sticks on tubs and singing at the same time can’t be easy.  Usually, if I am not familiar with a band, I have a hard time getting into the concert.  Cowboy Mouth made it impossible to not be engaged–within minutes, I was shouting the band’s name along with the rest of the crowd and doing my little concert dance that involves a lot of arm waving and hair tossing.

What really made me want to be a Cowboy Mouth fan was the moment in the concert when the drummer/lead singer was banging along and told the crowd to “Dig down deep inside, dig down really deep inside to that part inside you that you KNOW is bad ass”.  Umm, hello?  Of all the things we do to keep positive and present in our daily lives, how often do we think about and rely on that part of us that we just know is bad ass?  In those dig deep moments, have I ever been like “Man oh man, Nina, you are just incredibly bad ass!”?  No.   It’s really conjures up that confidence piece, which is always key, right?

I have been pretty much obsessed with things/people/ideas that inspire me lately, like someone who has been walking through the desert in Vegas and need a cocktail, er, water.  I’m not sure if I’m just more aware lately of all the inspiring things that happen every single day in this world of ours or if there’s something in the water at my place of employment but I have been so thirsty to soak it up.  From Dance! (Leslie was in the chair next to me while I was getting a pedicure on Friday, btw) to conversations with co-workers to just seeing the movers and shakers in this community doing their thing, I have been on an inspiration high lately.  Annnnd I love it.

High Five of the Day: My boy Rosco who provided me the lovely pic posted above.  He’s also on the internets–http://www.xroscox.com/.  It’s not porn, I swear.

Cubs Win!

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I started Sunday out with plans to do laundry, apartment hunt and go to yoga.  I ended up at the Cubs vs. Pittsburgh game with 9 of my closest friends.  A soft pretzel, a few cold beers and a 8th inning comeback by the Cubbies and I had my first Cubs game of the 2010 season under my belt.

That is reason #2987 that I live in Chicago–at a moments notice, I can be gifted a Cub’s ticket and walk up to Wrigley Field to go to the game.  And enjoy the game alongside some of my best friends, who also happen to be there randomly.  Sure, I’m starting the week lacking clean sheets and no where to live come July 1st but when I look back on this season in my life, I willing to bet that I’ll remember the fun times with my city and my friends more than chores left undone.

Softball Saturday

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My friends are a very well rounded group.  In addition to their 9-5s, they are actors, volunteers, singers, writers, video gamera and now, every Saturday morning at 10am, recreational softball league players.  Team “Get In The Van, We Have Candy” no longer partakes in consuming (too many) adult beverages on Friday nights because they have to be ready for “the game” the next morning.  They are dedicated.  They are committed.  They go to sleep with their Corcoran’s t-shirts freshly pressed and their mits polished, dreaming of a victory that will put them in the Chicago Recreational Sports Hall of Fame.

Never mind that both teams they have played consisted of middle aged co-workers who have finely tuned their game over the course of the last 20 years.  Never mind that the girls on the team don’t know how to play their positions.  Never mind that my friend Linda was heckled into striking out by her own boyfriend.  This is a team with their eye on the prize because they have already won an award so prestigious, so elusive, so surprising because no one even knew this award was up for grabs.

Team “Get In The Van We Have Candy” was awarded “Best Team Name in All of Chicago Rec League Sports”.  Before the season even started.

I mean, really–it’s all how we measure success.  Those old folk opponents of “Team Get In The Van We Have Candy” might measure it by getting so far ahead that the mercy rule is invoked within 45 minutes.  But “Team Get In The Van We Have Candy” knows the true accolades are those felt in the heart, not seen with the eye.

Besides, Coach Matt came up with a game plan for today, at the request of players looking for more direction: Drink more beer sooner.  The game may be at noon, but drinking starts at 10am.

High five team, high five.

Shamrock Shuffle 2010

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This past Sunday, I ran the Shamrock Shuffle, an 8k that starts in Grant Park and weaves its way around the loop.  The Shamrock Shuffle is the kick-off to running reason in Chicago and the annual rite of spring.  The “rite of spring” part I don’t believe because last year, it snowed on the day of the Shuffle and this year, it was 34 degrees.  In any case, Ryan and I dragged our behinds out of bed in time to get to the Blackstone Hotel to meet up with the Imerman Angel folks (the charity we were running for–check them out, it is an amazing organization) before heading to the start line for a brisk 5 mile run.  I snapped this pic a few seconds before the race began.

I was too cold to be nervous for running a distance I haven’t even come close to in nearly 6 months but I was pleasantly surprised to see that I still had it.  We made great time!  Ryan and I made a fun game out of weaving in and out of the crowd of 25,000 + people and before I knew it, I had 5 miles under my belt and a beer in my hand.  Ahhhh, running season in Chicago…

I kind of feel like signing up for the marathon wasn’t a terrible idea now.  I had so much fun on Sunday, despite the frigid temperature, that I think I want to run at least a 5k race every month leading up to the marathon to remind me of how fun it is to have my feet pounding the pavement with several thousand other people.  Plus, I’ll get a bunch of free shirts.

What are your recommendations? Any favorites that I NEED to sign up for?

High Five of the Day: Trader Joe’s Chocolatey Cat Cookies.  I am usually a sucker for the vegan, organic animal crackers but I veered of the path of security and tried the Chocolate Cat Cookies.  They are my favorite thing of the week and I can’t help but smile and feel like I’m 7 when I pull one out and see a little cat smiling back at me…before I chomp its head off.