Girls and Baseball

Happy Monday, ya’ll!

This weekend I was lucky enough to have one of my best friends fly in to hang out with me and get in on the Cards/Cubs action going down in Wrigleyville!

We didn’t get tickets, but instead opted to watch at a bar outside the game and meet up with some peeps after it was all over.

It was a money-saver. We’re so saavy like that.

We were also so saavy by opting to eat at home for most of our meals. Mary had been traveling the last week and was ridiculously excited when I suggested it as one of the options.Sometimes it’s just refreshing to eat a normal meal. I had also been out more this last week than usual, so I was happy to oblige.

PS- sweet potato tortilla chips are some of the best things I’ve bought at the grocery store as of late. Get some. Today.

PPS- also, as long as I continue to drink Goose Island Summertime, I will refuse to acknowledge fall being just around the corner.

Word.

After getting some food in our systems, we walked our way over to Wrigley and kicked back until it was time to hit up the last Wrigleyville Block Party of the summer with my roommate and Megan.Look at that- Cardinals fans and Cubs fan can hang out together and be civilized. Sort of.

Or at least we were. That doesn’t go for everyone. There was a dance-off during the concert that got pretty intense. I swear people were THIS close to breaking out the worm or something of equal humiliation.

At about this time, Mon came down and joined in on the fun as neutral ground- she’s a Sox fan.Yes, a Sox fan. We were a group of random assortment, indeed.

The Block Party only went through the early evening (lame), so we wandered along and secured a table at Red Ivy.

The table was necessary. I needed to switch out shoes.This new pair of shoes has been waiting to be broken out for month (sad but true). They were fantastically comfy, but after 5 hours, it was time to retire them for the evening.

Tip of the day- wear a big purse. That way, you can sneak a pair of flip flops for emergency usage.

It’s much easier to wander from the table and take random strolls onto the dance floor that way.

Another tip of the day- never forget to eat dinner. Yes, we forgot to eat dinner. Sure, the lil’ power lunch held us over relatively well. But it’s a marathon, and after 8 hours of silliness with nothing of nutritional value being consumed, you’ll have a problem.

We solved ours with a late night visit to a mexican spot by my place. Funny enough, it was one of the multiple spots I attempted just a few nights before.

Second time’s the charm?

I drove Mary back to the airport yesterday, and now another standard week of work is really all I’m looking at right now.

Whomp whomp.

However, before I leave, it should be noted that today is the birthday of a good friend of mine:Excuse our appearance. 8 hours in Wrigleyville can do that to you.

But not to get off subject- today is Megan’s (Braise the Roof) birthday! We’ve known each other for a year now and I’m so glad to have found such a great friend in this city of mine off the interwebz who isn’t creepy… at least most of the time…

A Day of Baseball

After my late night shenanigans on Friday, Saturday morning’s early wakeup call to go down to Wrigley was not a pleasant one. 

But I persevered.  Because I was meeting up with another gal from my hometown (who lives in the area) and a few of her coworkers to go cheer on the Cardinals during the Cards/Cubs series!I may not be a Cubs fan.  But I’m a HUGE fan of Wrigley Field.  How can you not be?  It’s iconic!

I’m also a huge fan of Murphy’s Bleachers.  It’s a bar just outside of Wrigley behind the outfield.I also like to drink Old Style at Murphy’s.  I was told during my first trip to Wrigley that it’s sort of a rite of passage. 

Drinking before noon is totally acceptable when done so in a ceremonious fashion.  Right?

I believe this is also the only time that drinking crap beer would be considered “ceremonious”.

One of the guys was able to pick up some bleachers seats for us.This was my first time in the bleacher seats.  Supposedly they get pretty crazy.  I would assume this happens when it’s a little warmer than 55 degrees and when one of the teams playing still has a shot at the playoffs.  The whole atmosphere was a little subdued.

I did spy some good looking eats in front of me.Who doesn’t love a huge helmet full of nachos?  And they were LOADED.  Unfortunately, I never found where these were being sold.  And had to stick with a dinky overpriced italian sausage.  Booo…

What’s your favorite kind of stadium food?  I used to seek out the Dippin’ Dots if wherever I was had them- I was obsessed!

Sadly, I had to endure a Cardinals loss.  I’m sure Paige, who was also there, may have more enthusiastic feelings towards the outcome of the game. 

Oh and did anyone see Hawksworth get a line drive right to the face?This could be one time that I’m glad Wrigley doesn’t have a big screen for replays. It looked horrific- and that’s coming from the girl who saw it all the way from the outfield…

Afterwards, we made a trip to Cubby Bear (also right across from the stadium) and hung out there until I was ready to sneak out and get home.  I was exhausted. And kinda hungry.Trader Joe’s spinach and ricotta stuffed ravioli.  Topped off with my “fancy” Prego and sautéed mushrooms.  Way better than another round of pricey stadium food, right?

And right now I’m up and at ‘em early again to drive down with my lovely friend Annie to totally OWN this 8k we’re doing.  Well- hopefully.    I’ve been a little shaky on the left leg as of late (notice all the elliptical vs. running days).  But I’ve taken some time off of it and I think I’m ready to go!

Time to get my run on!

Have a great Sunday!

Starting the Holiday Weekend Right

With a nice run.  Yes I did.  Five miles at 10:00 on a Saturday morning.  It was surprising to me how warm it already was.  8:45 pace.  That’s really all I have to say about that.

I was able to do the morning run (and feel much better than I did about it last week) because I stayed in last night.  I said what the hell and rented Dear John.  A lot of you said it was good, and I thought it was alright.  I got a little fidgety in the last half hour or so and started to get up to do things (so you know it wasn’t good enough to keep me glued to my seat).  But I liked it.  I kind of wonder about the book, but doubt I’ll read it- I’m not the biggest Nicholas Sparks fan.

Before the run, I had a nice big breakfast.  Dessert pancakes seemed appropriate.  It’s all only because I need the carb loading… right? 

It’s gonna be short and sweet today.  I’ve got 30 minutes of yoga calling my name before I shower and watch the Cards/Cubs game as I’m getting ready for my night out.  I’m meeting up with Jaime to watch the Blackhawks game at a bar and then tracking down my Mizzou boys to really get things started.  My only fear is that they’ll be slowing down earlier than planned.  I was getting pictures last night at 3:30 in the morning of how much fun they were having.  I reminded one of them that it’s a marathon weekend and they’re screwing themselves if they don’t get to bed soon. 

It’s always about pacing yourselves, kids.  Always.

Have a good holiday weekend, everyone!  And GO CARDS!!!!

In a Nutshell

This is my week in a nutshell. Hence the title.

I took my first ride ever on the L on Sunday. It was a whole two stops.  It wasn’t so bad.  But I learned I should carry more exact change (as if the tollways didn’t already teach me that). Now I have a CTA card with $8 on it. I wonder how long that’s going to sit in my wallet untouched?

I was out on my balcony last night and one of the units across from me had their blinds open. There was a large dog that humped the couch for pretty much the entire time that I was out there. Not that I was purposely looking, but a large gyrating figure in my direct line of view catches my attention pretty easily.  Don’t judge.

Two of my guy friends are coming up this weekend for the Cards/Cubs series. At first, I was just “normal excited” for this weekend. Now, I am SUPER excited for this weekend. I love it when Adam comes up because he gets everyone he knows to come out, no matter how much he has to talk, and is pretty good about making sure that every single person is having the same exact amount of fun he is. And I haven’t seen Cisco in almost a year since he went off on his little Argentina excursion. Hooray!

In an attempt to be less wasteful, I have eaten oatmeal for dinner or breakfast or both for the last four days. I needed milk at the grocery store and they happened to have a sale on the gallon size. Now, I’m not a big milk person (I eat my cereal without, believe it or not), but it didn’t make sense for me to buy the smaller size when it would actually cost more than the gallon. But now I’ve got this stupid gallon of milk that just won’t end. The “sell by” date has come and gone, so I smell the damn stuff everyday. I think I’ve started getting disappointed that it hasn’t gone bad yet because I think to myself, “Really? Oatmeal again?”.  But I’m trying to be more economical and I can’t get myself to let it sit there and go bad because I just didn’t feel like using it.  It’s a freaking recession, people!  Blah. I haven’t really had the time to make anything else that would require it. I don’t like milk on my cereal. I like oatmeal. So it makes sense. And I add other stuff to it to make it a little less boring. But this is getting out of control.

You know what else is out of control? An entire rant about oatmeal.

I do not have an opinion about the Obama family’s new dog. None whatsoever. 

I still have not seen “I Love You, Man”. I do have an opinion about this- and it bugs me.

Apparently I need more sleep.  I skipped the gym this morning and slept an extra hour.  At work, the comment was made that I look well-rested and perkier than normal.  I don’t really feel any different- just carrying a little guilt for not going to the gym.  I don’t think I look any different.  Do I normally look exhausted?  I’m concerned…

My cousin and I have decided on the next 5k that we are going to do.  Niki found another good one and it’s called “Run for the Zoo”.  I believe a theme is surfacing- we like to run for the benefit of animals.  The location is in Lincoln Park again, but this time we get to run through parts of the zoo.  It’s not until June 7th- which is fine because I have plenty of time to recover from the whole wisdom teeth thing and be lazy for awhile.  I know, I’m treating it as a much bigger deal than it is…  Anyways, it starts at 8:00 on a Sunday morning.  I am positive that during that run I will be reminding her that this was her idea and not mine.  She picked it. 

Run for the Zoo