Thursday, July 28, 2011

Cabin Weekend-Summer Edition!

It is FINALLY here, Cabin Weekend-Summer Edition! I think I have been counting down for this weekend since we departed the cabin after the winter edition! I blogged about the winter edition here.

I'm working for a few hours this morning and then flying to my hometown early this afternoon and I can't.freaking.wait!

Tonight I will be having dinner with some high school friends and then Kal and I are headed to the cabin! Woo hoo!

This is the second time Cobes has had people up in the summer but last summer I didn't get to go because I was on vacation with my family. I have purchased some sweet items to wear (we kind of have themes when we are there)!

I am so looking forward to a weekend by the lake with good friends, good food (definitely not WW approved) and some good old Spotted Cow beer!

Enjoy the weekend, everyone!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

What I'm Loving Wednesday...

I'm loving...


-that tomorrow I am Wisco bound and by dinner time I will have a cold one of these in my hand...my all.time.favorite.beer. I will also be getting to see some of my most favorite people, ever!



-Mumford & Son's CD. I play it constantly in my car and its ahmayyzing.

-One Republic "Waking Up" CD. I started by purchasing "Good Life" and then listened to more of the album and loved it. One Republic is a new favorite band of mine

-this quote, so so true and I always need to keep it in mind.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

My Weekend.

Ah what a glorious weekend it has been!

It has consisted of hanging out, or otherwise known as studying with this book...



...I take the GMAT August 20th and that date is quickly approaching.

Hanging out by the pool.

Shopping.

Working out.

Dinner downtown.

Hanging out with friends.

and a whole lotta much needed R&R! In fact, I took a two hour nap and slept in until almost 11 today! It was great. Now I'm enjoying the remainder of my weekend and looking forward to a 3.5 day work week.

Friday, July 22, 2011

I'm baaaack.

Helloooo blog world! I am back from my trip to DC! I had a great week at training and learned a lot of new things. It is nice to be home though!

I did manage to work out while I was gone but the whole eating according to plan thing didn't go so well. I didn't do bad, but I didn't do great either...story of my life. fail.

Anyways, Brianna and I left for DC Monday night. We got in around 8 and went to eat at this restaurant called Oya, an Asian restaurant. It was delicious! I had the most amazing Riesling wine.

Tuesday was the first day of training. I got up and went to the gym at the hotel to work out before hand. I have never been one to get up before work to workout. I can’t seem to wake up and get out of bed any earlier than what I have to in order to be at work on time. So this was quite the accomplishment for me. It felt great to have my workout in early and know that I didn’t have to worry about fitting it in once training was over. That evening we had a reception to go to at the hotel and then we headed out for a little bit.

Wednesday morning Brianna and I woke up and went running outside. Again, it was a shock that I was able to get up before work and be functioning enough to burn some calories. I can’t tell you how great it felt! Plus the scenery wasn’t so bad either. Below are some of the things that we saw on our run.

The White House


The Lincoln Memorial (currently being worked on)


That evening we had dinner with our trade attorneys and called it a day. I had a chance to catch up with my friend Meagan from high school. We were supposed to meet up but dinner went late so we chatted on the phone instead. It’s was so great to catch up with an old friend. I have known her since I was 8 and I’m so happy we had the opportunity to do so. I will be making it a goal to stay in touch with her going forward!

Yesterday was our last day in DC and were up again before the day started (work wise) to run. I mean holy crap WHO AM I? We had an even better run than the day before and I took some more pictures of some of the monuments. I think that running around that scenery helped to motivate me. When our day was over we had a few hours to kill before our flight left so we did a little shopping. There was a Forever 21 and H&M by our hotel but I was kind of disappointed in what they had and didn’t end up getting much. Forever 21 can be a little overwhelming to me because I’m not one to like to dig through racks looking for clothes. After our shopping was done it was time to head to the airport.

World War 2 Memorial




Overall it was a great week in DC. I’m looking forward to a relaxing weekend at home and spending some time at the pool.

Happy Friday! This time next week I will be sipping on a Spotted Cow Beer, my favorite...which I only get when in Wisco. You better believe I'm going to work out a lot and eat super healthy until then so I can really enjoy it!

Monday, July 18, 2011

DC bound



Another weekend that went by TOO fast! I'll blog more about my weekend later but
I'm headed to DC tonight for a three day work training! Hope everyone has a great Monday!

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Heart Like Mine



Miranda Lambert concert bound!!!

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

What I'm Loving Wednesday...

I'm loving...


-my "Chicago" mug that I got from a Starbucks in the airport. I'm going to start collecting them from every city that I visit!



-FRUIT! If I could be a fruit I would be either pineapple or cantaloupe. Mmmm mmmm.

-this blog "Gina's Skinny Recipes". They are healthy living recipes and she gives you the Weight Watchers points as well. I've tried quite a few recipes and they are all deeelish.

-Blind Pilot. They played at the DMB Caravan and they were awesome. Check them out!

-that I'm going to see Miranda Lambert on Saturday! Last time I saw her she opened for Dierks Bently and now she's the headliner. I really think she and I would be great friends...just sayin'.

-goat cheese. I am lovin' some goat cheese. Especially on a salad, with blueberries and walnuts. (thanks Mer for getting me hooked). It is SO good!

-the city of Chicago. Last weekend was the third time I've been there this year. I visited in April, June and July and I love it. There are a milllllion things to do and it's just great.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Celebrate we willl cause life is short but sweet for certain

So it’s time to finish the rest of my weekend in Chicago. Friday night we stayed up talking with Danette, who arrived in that night. We had to fill her in on our day and chat about our plans for the next day. Mer and I were not really up for taking the subway/train to or from the concert after our experience Friday night. Wanna see what the bus looked like? Exhibit A…squished like sardines.


Honestly, the being squished on a bus was not the bad part. I mean, we’ve all been squished and had our personal bubble invaded before. It was the not knowing when we could get a bus/competing with all the other 30,000 people that wanted to get on there too. There were some mean people!
Note to self: next time (yes I plan on doing this again if DMB does another caravan tour)-hire transportation. We tried to get the hotel to send a driver for us and they said they couldn’t do that because the location didn’t have an address and they didn’t want to subject their drivers to that…ok so here are my thoughts on that a.) LAME. He’s a driver, isn’t it his JOB to drive to locations and drop off/pick up people...no matter what the location is! That’s what I thought! b.) agitated…I just wanted to know that I could get in and out lickity split. We were willing to pay!!!

Ok back to the point of my post, what we did Sat/Sun. Saturday Mer, Danette and I got ready and headed out for the day. We wanted to get in a good meal so that we didn’t have to eat too many meals at the concert. I mean, concert food is not cheap. We found this tapas place close to our hotel and we were sold! Two pitchers of Sangria later and yours truly was in a different state of mind and in RARE, I mean RARE, form! After lunch we got a taxi and headed to lakeside. We immediately made a beeline to hear Dave and Tim play an acoustic set.



I left halfway through to stand in line to meet Tim Reynolds and his band (known as TR3). This was so exciting for me. I GOT TO MEET TIM REYNOLDS. This man can make noises on a guitar like you have never heard. He’s a legend (in my world at least). I got my DMB Caravan poster signed ($40 poster…man my dad would tell me what a waste of money but I’m quite proud of it, see below). So glad I got in line when I did because it turned into quite the line.



After we just hung out. I was amazed at how many more people were there on Saturday. It’s like people came out of the wood works. It was a little too crowded on Saturday for me. Plus I was just dirty…I have pictures but I will spare you. Not sure how I ended up getting so dirty. All I did was walk around but I had dirt on me from head to toe.

Sunday we didn’t go to the Caravan because we were flying home, so we woke up and headed to Rockit in River North for brunch. If you love a good brunch and a bloody mary bar then this is the place for you! I had never heard of a bloody mary bar until I visited Chicago in April. Remember the “Mantour” I blogged about? Well our first stop on that tour was at Rockit (But in Wrigelyville). It was there that I got to experience the bloody mary bar and I was hooked. The food was once again delicious, as was the bloody mary. I got the Cinnamon Raisin Grilled Cheese. It was cinnamon raisin bread, brie, and apples….with a side of sweet potato fries. SO not WW approved but whatevs. I’m going to work my butt of this week in my workouts and I think the meal was definitely worth it. This picture does not do it justice!





After lunch the three of us headed to do some shopping! I purchased my first pair of Toms! Then we had to say goodbye to Danette and Mer and I had a few more hours in the city to do whatever. We wandered around, went to Millennium Park and did some more shopping. It was then time to head to the airport. By the time we got home Sunday night we were plum exhausted. I can’t say enough how awesome the weekend was. A repeat is definitely in order and soon! DMB Caravan, if you are around next year I will be there!

Monday, July 11, 2011

Now a night so fine makes us wanna stay, stay, stay, stay, stay for awhile.

I’m baaaaack……from one of the greatest weekends and trips, yet! I can’t even begin to describe the trip that I had. It was an amazing time, spent with great people! Today I’ll begin with Thursday/Friday of the trip.



Mer and I flew out Thursday afternoon and landed in Chicago around dinner time. We then met up with some of my high school friends for drinks and then Mer and I went out for a little bit. I always love getting to see my Wisco friends!



Friday morning began with a walk to get lunch and some essentials that we forgot. We then began the trek to lakeside for the concert. The train ride from the city wasn’t so bad but then we had to take a 3 mile bus ride to the actual concert location. I think they need to recalculate the distance because that was the longest 3 mile bus ride, ever! Nonetheless we got there, walked around, and got a spot to hear Amos Lee! I enjoyed hearing him again but thought he was better the first time I saw him. After Amos, we went and listened to Soja, a reggae band. They were AWESOME and one of my new favorites! It was then time to secure our spot for Ray Lamontagne and DMB!

Amos Lee


Ray Lamontagne


Ray Lamontagne was awesome! I will see him again in concert. Then it was time to wait for DMB to come on (we had about an hour 15 to do so). The area around us got PACKED! Everyone was squeezing in and pretty much on top of each other, waiting to see DMB. Mer and I were probably 10 rows back…the closest I have ever been at a DMB concert!

Finally, DMB came on stage and they rocked it. Dave is hilarious and when you can see him up close it's even better! I have always said that the Coldplay concert I went to two summers ago was the best concert ever, but I think this may have topped it. Seriously, it was AH MAY ZING. Then there was the encore in which Dave played a new song called “Sweet” which he said he wrote that morning about his son. Dave played the ukulele while he sang the song as well, which was awesome. I liked the song and hope that we’ll hear it again in the future. The encore also included “Stay or Leave”, “Jimi Thing”, “Shake Me Like a Monkey” and “Stay (Wasting Time)”. It was an awesome encore.



Mer and I left the concert all smiles…and then things changed a little.

Yes I had an amazing weekend and yes I would 100% do it again but there was a wee hiccup Friday night and that was leaving the concert. The location they picked for the concert is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. It used to be home to a steel mill which closed in 1992 and they have yet to do anything with the property. This meant that the DMB Caravan had to arrange for buses to come pick us up at the location and drive us to the train station. There were THOUSANDS of people, I mean about 30 to 40 thousand…which is very typical for a DMB concert. You get the majority of those people trying to leave at one time and it’s chaotic. At other DMB venues most people drive but for this location it was supposed to be “easier” to take public transportation. While I love love LOVE the city of Chicago, the CTA has some major work to do if they want to keep hosting events like this…especially at Lakeside. It was totally confusing on where to catch the bus (supposedly there was 27 of them…I think I saw 5, maybe). After 45 minutes we got on one and headed to the train station…again the bus ride seemed like the longest bus ride, ever.

We finally got back to our hotel and got over the transportation part and reflected on our day…which was a top one in my life so far.

More DMB pics and the rest of my weekend to come! Hittin' the WW hard today!

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Chitown Bound


The day is HERE! Mer and I are headed to Chicago this afternoon and I cannot wait! Only a few (okay more like 7 hours) of work stand between us and boarding the plane!

When we land we are headed to our hotel and then out for drinks with one of my high school friends!

The rest of the weekend will be spent at the DMB Caravan and Sunday were going to hang out in the city until our flight!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

What I'm Loving Wednesday...

I'm loving...


-that tomorrow afternoon I'm headed to Chicago for DMB Caravan! They have never had a concert at the site location so it should be interesting. This is what they (concert planning people) have imagined it to look like.



-these Margarita Ice Cream sandwiches. I blogged about them last week and my sister made them last night. They were so good.



-that I got my plane ticket for Cabin Weekend Summer Edition and that my dad let me use points to do so! Thanks Dad!

-the weather that's predicted for Chicago this weekend. As of now, it is only supposed to be in the 80's! I never thought I would get excited about that but this 90 degree weather has been HOT! I am looking forward to some cooler weather!

Monday, July 4, 2011

Sunday, July 3, 2011

5K Recap

Sooo as I posted on Friday, I participated in a 5K this weekend. I didn't say "ran" because I technically did not run the whole thing. I didn't go into the 5K thinking that I would run all 3.1 miles seeing as how I signed up for it only 5 days before. I had some co-workers that were participating in it, so I thought "why not?"

I rode with one of my co-workers to the race and we got there about an hour before it started. We walked around, stretched, and ran a lap around the track to prep. When the race started I was doing great and felt great...then after the first mile things changed. My shins started feeling like they were on fire, literally!!! I began walking and it was getting worse. In fact, I wanted to just give up and walk as slow as possible, or even sit down. I walk 4 miles (sometimes run at least a mile of the 4)or more about 5 times a week so I wasn't sure why my legs were acting this way. They finally started to feel better and I was able to run the last half mile. I finished and was proud of myself for doing so. Even though I did not run the whole race I want to get to where I can and I definitely want to participate in more 5K's in the future!

I'm off to enjoy the rest of my Sunday! I am so happy that today does not mean the end of the weekend like it normally does!

Friday, July 1, 2011

Holiday Weekend

Well helloooo three day weekend! I am so happy to see you! Even though I'm staying home and not doing anything big for the holiday weekend I still have lots of little things planned that I'm looking forward to.

1.) I am running a 5K tomorrow...not sure how much I will actually run but nonetheless I'm doing a 5K.

2.) Sleeping. I know you can't "technically" catch up on zzzzzz's but I'm going to sleep a lot this weekend!

3.) Laying by the pool, soakin' up some sun and reading.

4.) Shoppppping! The outlets are having some good sales and I can't wait to go! I want to get some new things for Chicago next weekend!

5.) Spending some QT with these people (mom and dad) and my dog, Blakeli :)




6.) Working out. I plan on getting some good workouts in (in addition to the 5K) this weekend.

Happy Happy Weekend!