Category Archives: Random

Up until recently, I wasn’t much of a biker (as evidenced here). Okay, I’m still not much of a biker, but this past Saturday I was more of a cyclist than I’ve ever been before.

Along with my dad and Josh, I successfully completed the 2011 L.A.T.E. ride in Chicago. This means that I cycled around the city for 25 miles in the middle of the night with 9,999 other crazy people. Not only was it a good time, but it got me thinking about other races. Next up: A 35-mile ride through Chicago’s South Side at the end of August.

Where do you go when 20 minute long storms rip through the neighborhood? You go home of course.

This morning when I arrived at work, I couldn’t get my gate clicker to open the gate into the parking lot. While I was saw that no other cars were parked in the lot, instead of coming to the conclusion that our office was out of power, it took me several seconds of sitting in the alley and two phone calls–one to my mom and one to my dad–to realize it. No, there had not been a freak accident and no, I was not being left out of some grand scheme to take Monday off, but yes, our office may be without power.

Did you know that when the power is out, your life basically shuts down. Without power, there are no working phones, no working computers, and hence no access to email. There is no air conditioning, no ability to use the copy machine, no way to make coffee and no way to refrigerate your lunch. Oh, and there are no lights.

So you get a free day. You get to go home. You get to change into shorts, watch the end of the Today Show, check your personal email and get sucked into old episodes of Beverly Hills, 90210.

And then the power at home goes out. This is 10 million times worse than having the power go out at work. You think you have time now to catch up on magazines, paint your nails, take an extra walk with your pooch; and you do all of that, but secretly you just want to sit on the couch and watch soap operas all day.

The world needs more free days.

[image courtesy of pinterest]

Since I’m only two months into a new job, I am most definitely still in what I like to refer to as the “learning phase.” This means that I ask a lot of questions, a lot of the time.

Still, I can honestly say that I’m only two months in and I have already been given a lot of responsibility. One of those responsibilities: managing a 16-year-old summer intern. I certainly do not feel qualified to manage anyone, let alone someone who is still in high school and is only a few years shy of being the same age as me.

After two days of working with the intern, however–a young girl who lives in the West Lawn community and attends a prestigious Chicago public school–I’ve learned two things: I can be more awkward than a 16-year-old girl.

When I’m not fumbling over my words about what I do on a daily basis, or poorly explaining how to operate the copy machine, I’m constantly asking her if she feels overwhelmed and needs to take a break or verifying for the first, second and third time that she has a ride home. Ack. I wonder how long it takes before you’re not awkward anymore. Never?

[image courtesy of we heart it]

Usually when my mom and I visit my gram, we have to suffer through some really bad TV. My grandma is obsessed with Iron Chef and as much as I love the Food Network, I just can’t get behind this show. So after suffering through one too many food challenges, finally two good movies came on today that my grandma was satisfied with.

I walked in to see the final few scenes of Patch Adams and then stayed long enough to watch A League of Their Own, a complete classic that you just can’t go wrong with. I may be one of the most anti-sports girls around, but this movie is just too good.

I made sure my mom and I stayed long enough to hear the infamous Tom Hanks line, “THERE’S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL,” but we left shortly after that.

Unfortunately, I’ve never had a professional massage, which is kind of surprising, even to myself. I grew up with a grandma who spoiled me rotten with endless back scratches and massages when I was little; I would have done anything as long as a back scratch was involved.

Flash forward to this evening when after running an errand with my mom, we stumbled across a place called La Vida Massage. Located nearby right in Willowbrook, we were pleasantly surprised to find inexpensive prices, a friendly staff, a peaceful and inviting atmosphere and a free tour of each of the rooms. For a mere $40, you can get a full 60-minute massage session. If my cheap self decides to oblige, I’d say that’s money well spent.

A professional massage must feel this good.

Photo via pinterest