Sub-Zero Temperature Dreaming

adminAddison, baseball season, Chicago, Chicago Cubs, CTA, Freezing, Spring, Uncategorized%s Comments

Hopped the Red Line to the Addison stop today for a meeting.

I must say, my adventures north to Wrigleyville have been primarily for baseball, brats and adult beverages to be enjoyed while wearing red, blue and white.

But even with snow on the ground and even though I was heading to a decidedly work-related round of caffeine, I couldn’t help but look at the above scene, subtract the snow and add in thousands of people milling around on an equally sunny day and multiply it by the buzz that is always in the air right before a Cubs game.  Which equals me starting to get very, very excited for spring.

How’s that for a sub-zero temperature distraction?

Wednesdays, Whirlyball and Winning

admincheap plastic trophies, Chicago, co-friends, co-workers, fried food, fun, team games, Uncategorized, victory, Whirlyball%s Comments

Temperatures continue to drop, the week is only half over and you haven’t had a belly laugh in weeks.  The solution my co-workers and I came up with?

Whirlyball.

One hour in the contraption pictured above, whirling around, trying to throw a whiffle ball into a basketball’ish net all while basically playing bumper cars to stop your opponent was the best spent hour in my Wednesday. I have bruises on my knees from ramming into walls and other Whirlybugs but with some solid teamwork and passing on my (winning) team’s part and lots of fist pumping, it was well worth it.  I love my co-workers and we always have fun but Whirlyball certainly upped the fun ante.  We’re going to have to dig deep for our next fun, obscure group outing- Whirlyball raised the bar.

Oh and we also ate every fried food known to mankind.  At a place that has “Whirly” in its name, I shouldn’t be surprised that everything on the menu was friend but in fact, it most definitely was.  And it was glorious.

I also went home with this bad boy:

The sweet souvenir of victory, baby!

Family Ties

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My Dad loves Chicago as much as I do, maybe even more.  His Dad grew up on the South Side and some of my favorite memories as a kid are of them recounting times they had in Chicago together.  My Dad passed their love of the Windy City down to me by bringing me here as often as possible when I was young and it totally worked-  my love of this city borders on obsessive.

When I’m on my way to or from work, wandering around or doing something fun, I’ll sometimes snap pics on my phone and send them to my Dad.  Judging from his email responses (the above pic was deemed “the best one to-date” this morning), I think he gets a kick out of seeing what I see every day.  We don’t get to see each other as often as I’d like and I love this way of connecting on that day-to-day level that, as adults, most of us don’t get to have anymore.  I’m very close with my father and living in Chicago makes me feel even closer to him, particularly when we’re talking about one of the pictures I’ve sent.  Shared vantage point, I suppose.

I also think he likes getting the photos because he knows where his little girl is and that she’s safe (I don’t think I’ll ever get too old for him not to worry about that).

Chicago has always felt like home, in that down-in-your-bones, 100%, deep-breath-kind of way, even before I lived here.  Maybe that’s why- because Chicago was home for my family way before I was ever a part of anything.

Ah-ha!

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People were acting strange yesterday; saw a man running outside in shorts and a t-shirt (it was 16 degrees), a random lady yelling at the Starbucks girl for not filling up her coffee to the right level, and I spent a majority of the night feeling like I forgot something major (Did I pay bills? Did I feed Luna Bell?  Did I go to work today?). 

Sure enough, when I looked out my window, it made sense- there was a full, full, FULL moon.  Gorgeous moon.  A moon giving light to a sea of ice that reflected like glass.

So, I made some tea, took a deep breath and took my perch at the window, staring out at it until the full moon had passed over my building.

Note to self: whenever you feel like Crazy Town, check and see what the moon is doing.  It might not be your fault.

(photo via WGN TV)

Wednesday Walking

adminChicago, Cloud Gate, David Bohn, Equinox, Millennium Park, snow, sparkle, Tabata, The Bean, Uncategorized%s Comment

Even though it’s still 25 degrees, the sun was out in full force today so I was actually looking forward to my walk to the gym (if you haven’t tried David Bohn’s Tabata class at Equinox, do it immediately.  It will change your life or, at the very least, your butt).

On my way, I came across a snow covered-Bean, reflecting the city with a backdrop of blue.  And a Zamboni clearing off the skating rink.  And lots of other people like me, who were happy to ignore the cold for a chance to see some sparkle on the snow.

I love this city.

Happy Birthday: Ryan Edition

adminbirthdays, Chicago, foodie, Happy Birthday, More cupcakes, Ryan, Uncategorized, Wow Bao%s Comments

Dear Ryan,

It’s your birthday and as you enter your 27th year, I wanted to let you know how much fun I had with you as a 26 year old and how great I think 27 is going to be.

In the last year, we’ve been on 3 planes together, road tripped to 3 weddings and explored the heck out of this city we live in.  We moved in together (!) which means we combined all of our “stuff”, painted walls and moved furniture around 50 times until our new apartment felt like home.  Remember coming home from vacation in Florida and how we realized that this place is home simply because we’re in it together?  Looks like we didn’t need to care about where the furniture was so much.

You, birthday boy, may be the funniest person I have ever met.  Thanks for making me laugh until my sides hurt.  Despite the fact that the Chicago Marathon filled up before you could register, you did every single long training run with me.  Thanks for being my biggest cheerleader- I couldn’t have done those 26.2 miles without you!

You love Wow Bao, More Cupcakes, and Luna Bell, all things that I adore.  You also love numbers, finance and leaving wet towels on the bed, all things I do not adore.  But I couldn’t have a better person in my life right now and I am super grateful to have you as my partner-in-Chicago, someone who is as big of a foodie as I am and will wander around this city with me for hours, just enjoying being somewhere we love with someone we love.

So, happy birthday, baby!  I hope you enjoyed your Bacon-Maple Cupcake.

Love,

Nina

Back.

adminChicago, Home, InStyle, projects, RealSimple, Ryan, The Island, Uncategorized, vacation, vince camuto boots%s Comments

This cabana is where Ryan and I spent the last 4 days.  We filled our time with really important things like reading magazines, swimming in the ocean, playing some ball game thingy I bought at Publix, swimming in the ocean, eating seafood and making cocktails.  Tough weekend, ya know?  It was fabulous and exactly what we needed.

Speaking of eating, Ryan taught me how to attack one of these guys during our dinner at a place known on the Island as “The Tiki Bar”:

I’ve had lobster before, I love lobster, but have traditionally been more of a tail girl so this was a first for me.  Dating a Marylander, a land where people are apparently obsessed with cracking open crabs, I can’t get away with pre-prepared shell animals anymore.

Having extended summer just one more weekend and relaxed more than I thought possible, I am back in Chicago and ready to take on fall.  I feel like I’m on project mode after having so much time to devour magazines and write and bounce ideas off Ryan all weekend.  I have all of these bare walls in our bedroom and I’m thinking of taking over one of them with this:

I love the idea of gathering my favorite photos and paintings, putting them in plain frames, throwing in a silhouette or two and creating a border of sorts.

I’m also loving on this ring (I do love a monogram), the InStyle Look of the Day app and I’m pretty sure these boots will eliminate any question of if I can wear black and brown together.

Like I said, way too many magazines were read this weekend…

Whether it’s back to school, back to work, back to whatever- I’m happy to be back in action in Chicago.

Moving On Up

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Moving on up…literally.  Up to the 41st floor to be more exact.  This is what I wake up to every morning.  Yeah, I’m still not even close to over it–I had about 40 pictures to choose from for this post of the exact same view because I take a picture pretty much every morning, noon and night.  Thank God all those other apartments didn’t work out because apparently 18th time’s a charm.

Luna Bell is thrilled with the move.  She doesn’t know what to do with all the room she has to run and her new favorite past time is watching the lights from cars going by at night.  Her head just whips back and forth.  It’s hilarious.

Ryan feels pretty much the same way.  He has lots of room to run and he likes looking out the window too.

As for me, I’m just livin’ the dream.  When I was young, my family came to Chicago a lot.  I wasn’t allowed to cross the street by myself in my hometown,  but for some reason, when we were in Chicago, my Dad would leave me a $10 on the dresser at the hotel in the morning to get myself a newspaper and Corner Bakery for breakfast and then I would wander around Michigan Avenue and the Gold Coast window shopping for hours.   I remember thinking, “Someday, this is what I’m going to do every day.”  I know that’s super cheesy but if I ever stop squealing on the inside (and let’s be serious, sometimes on the outside) when I cross the river in the morning or see the Navy Pier fireworks happening right outside my window or when my daily run consists of being on the most beautiful lake-shore in the world, well, then it’s time for me to move.  Or stop being such a curmudgeon.

Living with my favorite person and cat in the world in my favorite city in the world…jackpot, baby.  Overwhelmingly grateful for these blessings.

High Five of the Day: I just noticed the reflection in this above picture so the High Five of the Day has got to go to my tank top.  The Scoop Neck Tank is my fav.

Every Body Needs a Home

adminChicago, CTA, Home, Melanee Cooper, Uncategorized, yoga, Yoga House Chicago%s Comments

Yoga mat strapped to my back, I tapped my foot impatiently as the Brown Line train I was riding crept along.  It probably knew that I had a noon class to make it to.  I got off the train 5 minutes before yoga was supposed to begin.  I didn’t want to be that girl who walked late into a zen environment only to ruin the calm vibe with the plopping down of her mat and water bottle.  Sigh. No yoga for me–to Trader Joe’s I go.  While going to put more money on my CTA card, I saw a sign for Yoga House.  I had heard this studio opened only a few weeks before and was looking forward to trying it but wasn’t sure exactly where it was located.  Well, here is was–740 N. Franklin.  And there was even a class starting right that second.  It was too much of a sign to not go in and see what Yoga House was all about.

Yoga House is the rebirth of the Melanee Cooper Gallery.  Melanee was in the art business for over 20 years and started practicing yoga 10 years ago.  Suddenly, she found herself structuring her work around her practice.  She had this beautiful space, felt yoga was art in itself and wanted to share that passion with others.  Yoga House was born.

Their mantra is “Every Body Needs a Home” and that’s exactly what it felt like–home.  I’d been having a hard time quieting down the “busyness” in my head that day–work stuff, to-do lists, more to-do lists, should I be feeding my cat organic cat food, should I be drinking more water, you know–hamster wheel brain.  But going into that studio felt like I had found the most silent space in Chicago.  The quiet rumble of the train. a lone fountain in the studio and some pranayama breathing later and I had lassoed in the stillness and contentment I had so been craving.  I was fortunate  to have Melanee lead my practice.  The class was fantastic–practicing yoga in a former art gallery is now my new favorite thing.  Beautiful hardwood floors, perfect lighting, amazing art still on the walls, a lovely little fountain that convinces you that the hustle and bustle you see outside on the street is nothing but an illusion–Yoga House is on to something.  Probably because it is so evident that Melanee is living her passion and you can’t help but feel good being around that, ya know?

By the time I got home, Melanee had emailed my descriptions of all of her teachers and I cannot wait to try their classes as well.  You should too.  I’ll see you there–I’ll be the girl in the corner who doesn’t want to leave.  740 N. Franklin, Chicago, IL 60654 www.yogahousechicago.com

The Golden Arches

adminChicago, Father-Daughter, fountain Diet Coke, McDonald's, toddler, Uncategorized, weekend%s Comments

Popping in to Mickey D’s to get a fountain Diet Coke and a yogurt parfait this morning, I overheard this gem of a father-daughter conversation:

3-year-old girl with butterfly wings attached to her t-shirt: “I’m excited for my hamburger”.

Dad: “Well, I got pancakes–it’s 8am, they don’t have hamburgers this early.”

3-year-old:  “But this is McDonald’s!”

Dad: (Struggling between the fact that she’s a toddler and explaining the intricacies of McDonald’s dining schedule): “We’ll come back this afternoon.”