April 29

Holy cow, today was a BUSY day. I also spent, like, a million gajillion dollars. Here is what I bought:

• Rehearsal Dinner Dress from Anthropolgie
• Dressy Spring jacket (Michael Kors at Nordstrom Rack. Awesome.)
• Outlet Mall stuff including new Coach wallet, sunglasses, and all kinds of clothes (As a sidenote, Beth is one of the best shopping partners of all time. She's totally just like me - go in, look around, don't waste time, try on and get out. Power shopper extraordinaire.)
  

So yeah, I spent alot of money, but I have summer clothes and the four big ticket items that I wanted purchased. Let summer begin!

Mike and I also had lunch at Harmony Grill with his Dad, stepmom Vicki, sister Andrea, and cousin Shelly. That was fun, and we walked all over Wrigley and then drove downtown to see his other sister Ashlee at work. We were going to take our engagement pictures and set off from Washington and State to walk to the Museum Campus. By the time we got to Lakeshore, Mike was sweaty and grouchy, I was sweaty and my hair looked awful, and we were both just ready to throw in the towel. So we decided to go home. But not before we got this one, which I love:
We've made another date in a few weeks to try to take more at the Museum Campus, so hopefully those will turn out well.

April 28

Today was the 10 mile run day and one week away from the Indy Mini Marathon that I'm doing on Saturday, May 4th. It's my first race any longer than 5 miles, and certainly the only one that I have seriously trained for. I am very excited and can hardly wait. The 10 mile run went well and I seem to be keeping up with the 12 minute mile pace pretty decently, so that bodes very well for my future.

I have a lot of fun events coming up, so hopefully the pictures will be far more interesting from here on out.

I want to try and take Mike and I's engagement pictures with my Nikon D50, so I experimented with depth-of-field today:

April 27 - Happy Hour and Running!

Today after work (OK, so if we went at 3:30, is it still 'after work'?) we went to happy hour for Val's going-away party. So sad, we will miss her, but she is going to the client I am at now so I will see her even more!

The Happy Hour Crew

Nick doing God-knows-what

After Happy Hour, Beth and I hit the gym for a 5 mile run. Almost to the mini! So close... For dinner, Mike and I went to Leona's for some pasta and the biggest sundae I have ever seen. I would highly recommend the brownie-cake sundae.

April 25 and April 26

Gah, with the forgetting photos. Mike was out of town on business both Wednesday and the bulk of Thursday, and true to form I didn't do much other than work, go to the gym, and eat. On Thursday, our power went out around 8 and I heard an explosion - I'm pretty sure a transformer blew up down the street or something. After realizing that the whole block was out, I called Chadly and Rogus and popped down the street for some Grey's Anatomy. Fun times!

So since I forgot to take pictures, I figured I would post a few pics I already had.

This first one is of my Dad and Ditka. Dad saw Ditka at O'Hare and just had to take a picture. Awesome!

The bluescreen I get ALL. THE. FREAKING. TIME.
That's it for now. I have a ten mile run this weekend, wish me luck.

April 24

Emily and I were walking up Michigan Avenue, and I finally saw one of the R2D2 mailboxes when I had my camera with me.... how cool is this thing? We also went to BodyWorlds tonight, but they didn't allow any picture-taking, so this is the only picture you get from me for the day. But I can tell you that the exhibit is super freaking cool and I would totally recommend going. There are all kinds of different bodies preserved by this plastination process, which was awesome. And there were all kinds of examples of different body parts, affected by cancer or smoking or stroke or whatnot. It was VERY interesting to see how a normal organ would look and then how it would look with something like that affecting it, not to mention the full-body plastinates were just unreal-looking.

April 23

The new website I'm using to track my calories and exercise, The Daily Plate. Pretty cool stuff.

April 22

Today was a relaxing day... just chilling around town.

With Chad and Mike and Southport Lanes. Nothing like an afternoon cheeseburger.

Who has been eating orange popsicles? I have no idea who.

The kabobs I made for Sunday dinner at the Boy's house. These are just the leftovers, I made a ton of them.

April 21

On Saturday, we did the Junior Achievement Bowlathon. It was a pretty good time, except our team lost and we had to sing "I'm a little teapot" right there in the bowling alley. ;c)

April 20

Tonight we hit Kirkwood, the Lincoln Park IU bar, for a little happy hour and general fun. It was a good time, except they took our table at 10PM. Jerks! But I just love the food at Kirkwood, it's yummy.

Amy, Me, and Emily

Chad, me, and Rogus

April 19

See that $20 in my shoe pocket? That means I didn't have to ditch out on my run and catch a cab. Go me, 9 miles along the lakefront and around downtown!

April 18

On the agenda for tonight, some LOST. It's getting great!!!

April 17

Do you ever wish that you had an internal camera? Something to store an image just the way you see it, or to take a picture that is available NOW and not five seconds from now when you can fumble your camera out of your purse, or when you want to inconspicuously take a picture without being noticed? I do that all the time - mostly on the El or around the city when I see people in particularly horrendous outfits, or when I'm driving or on the bus and see something beautiful.

Anyways, this morning, we were driving to work and we saw a bright spot on Lake Michigan. The morning was a bit overcast and there was one spot where the sun had broken through the clouds and it looked like the kind of sunbeams that you imagine with angels, or something. But it was really beautiful. I don't think my photography skillz would have done it justice regardless, so it's probably better I didn't try and get a pic of it. The skillz would not have done justice to the 100% pleather outfit I saw out on the street either, but that's neither here nor there.

So THAT is my picture of the day. While I didn't capture it digitally, I did capture it in my head. And it was more beautiful than anything else I saw today, so it wins!

April 16

On Monday, I went back to Northwestern to see another doctor (this time a head-neck guy, someone in Otolaryngology, I believe), to try and clear up the mysterious case of "Why a 27 year old would get croup." For now, we're going to go with a combo one-two punch of acid reflux (which I very rarely, if ever, actually feel) and disfunctional vocal chords, because he is the doctor and I have no freaking clue.

On the way in, I see multiple instances of this: some HUGE car (hello, this one is a Navigator) parked in a spot marked "Small Car ONLY", pretty much taking up two spaces. This guy was monopolizing the one to his right, and leaving the one to the left pretty much open, which is more than I can say for most folks. The Northwestern parking garage is the biggest cluster I have ever seen: people parking crappy, driving slow, driving fast, not watching, etc. Pretty much any bad driving you can think of.

And, for your enjoyment, part of the conversation with my doctor:

Doc: Do you ever get out of breath when you run?

Me: No more than anyone else, I would think. Isn't that kind of the point?

Doc: Well, some get out of breath worse than others. Or it's more of a gasping.
Me: I don't think so. But then again I don't run very fast. I'm currently at a 12 minute mile.

Doc: 12 minutes? I am no expert on running or anything, but that is very SLOW.
Me: Thanks

Doc: No, I just mean, do you go slow so you don't get out of breath?
Me: I don't know. I just go slow.

Doc: Did you ever get out of breath doing sports as a kid?
Me: I didn't really do sports as a kid.

Doc: What do you mean? Everyone does a sport as a kid. Did you not do sports because you got out-of-breath?
Me: No, I didn't do sports because I'm just not very sporty. I just recently learned how to use an elliptical machine without falling off. I am very uncoordinated.

Doc: ... (Blank stare. Wonders how people like me exist)

Med student who is observing: (understanding nod- Seems like the kind of guy who wouldn't do sports as a kid either)

April 15

Seriously? Organic Rice Krispies and Mini Wheats? The funniest thing was is that they were priced much cheaper than the regular version... must not be too popular of an item!

April 14

AGAIN with the forgetting to take a picture. Today I spent largely on the couch, fighting off a nasty cold and a nastier hangover.

BUT Chicago won the U.S. 2016 Olympic bid! Yay!

April 13

Today we went bowling with the work crew. This is Beth showing off the special beer bottles at the bowling alley. How cool are they?

April 12

Aren't these the most sullen, weird-looking mannequins you have ever done seen? Good job, Macy's on State (RIP Marshall Fields)!

April 11

Seriously? Gah. Spring is my favorite season, and it looks like we're not getting one of those this year in Chicago.

April 10

Tonight, Cory and I hit a training dinner at Morton's. Yum-O!

Taking being "That Girl" to a whole new level

Things I have purchased very recently:
-Pink ipod shuffle (1G! Great for the running! If it ever does get warm....)
-Pink underarmour tank to wear for mini-marathon
-Pink underarmour sports bra (OF COURSE to go with the pink tank top! Duh!)

I think I need to go to "Pink Stuff Rehab"

I also forgot to take a picture! BAD MONKEY!!!

April 8

Today we celebrated Easter by going to church at Pisgah (where Mike went to church in high school). Mike's friend Dale's wife is very sick, and any prayers for him and his wife would be greatly appreciated! Then, we went to lunch at Grandma Hoch's, and dinner (@ 4! I am surprised I was able to eat!) at Grandma and Grandpa Kovacs' house. All the food was so good, and I got a good pic of Aydan:

Then, we were driving back to Chicago and I got some good shots of the skyline and Soldier Field:

April 7

What I did today:

• Woke up at 7:30 AM
• Ran 8 miles at the Logansport gym (Good treadmills, loved that they didn't have a 60 min limit!)
• Went to the chiropractor for the pain in my left hip. He noted that my hips were twisted; as a result the right leg was a full inch longer than my left (THAT would be why it hurt)
• Had lunch at Mr. Happy Burger (omg SO GOOD)
• Visited with Mike's Grandma Knowles (totally reminds me of a southern version of Grandma Stratton)
• Napped a sweet, glorious, 3 hour nap
• Had dinner with the fam
• Played with Dade and Aydan

This is my favorite pic from the day, Dade cheesing. He cracks me up!

April 6

This is a pic I took on Friday night of Billy, Mike's parents dog. Billy likes to bark at me when I come in, but quickly decides to ignore me in favor of anyone that will give him food. :c) Fine by me!

April 5

How I spend most weeknights

With Rachel Ray

And with The Boy

I am one blessed Monkey.

April 4

Meet my new best pal, the 30 calorie plain old popsicle. Yum! What, they are not good for you if you eat 10 of them? Wha?!?

April 3

Today, my friend Beth gave me the new Norah Jones CD. Seems that she purchased two on accident. Yay! Thanks, Beth!

And this is my culinary masterpiece of the day: turkey cutlets, dredged in bread crumbs and cooked in a pan with Olive Oil flavored Pam spray. They were SO good, and super-healthy too. Each piece was only like 90 calories, and plain marinara sauce on top is only about 20.

April 2

Today, the audit team went to Bennigan's for lunch. So good. See Beth hiding behind Brian there? Haha!

A Side NOTE: OK, seriously. If you are a corn dog fan and you want to be a bit healthier than an actual corn dog, you have to get these things. They are only 160 calories and TASTE JUST LIKE A REAL CORN DOG. I am in luuuuurve.

April 1

Happy April Fool's day! I didn't do a whole heck of a lot today except for sleep and do some invitations. Mike and I tied about 20 ties on the invites and I addressed about half of them. Good times! This pic is of the bed upstairs, which has been turned into Invitation-Assembly-Central.

March 31

Some random shots of the day!

The Chicago Olympic logo.... pretty cool

The Boy and I at Duffy's

The Salmon in Lemon Brodetto with Pea Puree that I made Emily on Saturday night

March 30

Since the purple line shows up so few and far between, I thought it deserved a picture!

March 29

A pic of the address sign at my ENT's office