Looks like April showers will be bringing May flowers AND Chi Beer Week! Outstanding.
Chicago Marathon 2011!!!
I glanced at my Blackberry an hour ago to find an email informing me that there were only 5,000 spots left for the 2011 Chicago Marathon.
Wha?????
Last year, it sold out at the beginning of April. It’s not even March yet!
I’ve been dragging my feet, playing the “Oh, I’ll sign up next week” game since registration opened on February 1st but when I got that email that it was filling up fast, my reaction was to grab my credit card even faster. No WAY was I going to miss out on the Marathon. 10-10-10 was too amazing of a day, of an experience to not want to be a part of again.
So, it’s official- I am signed up for the 2011 Chicago Marathon!!!
Update: Just got an email from Ryan- he’s signed up too! Looks like the threat of missing out on 26.2 miles of blood, sweat and tears, glory was enough to get both of us in action!
Snowiest February in Chicago’s Recorded History
Yesterday was the day February 2011 won the prize for most inches of snowfall on record, beating out 1896 by 3 inches. The dusting we got overnight made everything white again so even if more snow was not on my high list of wishes, it did make the city look very pretty.
When I called Ryan on my way home from work, he was only a few blocks ahead and offered to wait for me to catch up so we could walk home together. What a doll. I snapped this picture from the Columbus Street bridge. What I love about it is that is doesn’t look like we’re in a city; it looks like we were in the middle of the woods, entirely alone. But right next to that white path is a river and tall buildings and a busy highway.
I think that might be my favorite thing about Chicago- so many quiet moments in the middle of the hustle and bustle.
Sub-Zero Temperature Dreaming
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
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?
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
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!
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
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
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.
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.