Back On The Exercise Bandwagon

I've been getting back in shape, y'all. Cue pleasantly surprised applause. Crickets? Darn.

Well, I haven't been doing it for very long, so there's a chance I'll fall right back off again, but I have hope. The other bride bloggers on weddingbee.com have inspired me to not neglect my fitness just because I've got more demands on my time right now. Here's what I've been up to:

Diet

I haven't been eating the best diet, but I haven't been eating too badly and I certainly haven't gained any weight. I do have the lucky (I think?) benefit of the opposite of stress eating. When I'm stressed, like I've been with planning this wedding, I don't eat. I will go all day and night and then it occurs to me to eat. It's not that I even get hungry, it's that it crosses my mind that it's been 15+ hours since I've eaten.

I've also been staying away from junk food and fast food for the most part. It's just that pesky home-made baked goods that get to me. I can't help it, I like baking for my man. Easy appreciates it, so I'll keep doing it, just maybe a little less.

Exercise @ Home
My Wii Fit Plus is my best friend. I want to keep it up, but it's hard to find the time when there's so many other things I could be doing at home. But I took some time out of my day yesterday to exercise, and I hope to keep it up the on my next day off. Wish me luck!

Exercise on a Date
Easy and I took a long walk after dinner the other night. It was romantic and sweet. And it was a good exercise. I felt great after that walk. I wasn't tired like I usually am after a big dinner. I'd love to make that a routine to get in some exercise on date nights. At least while it's still warm. I'm not going for a one hour walk in Chicago past October. Maybe by then we'll go jogging instead.

Exercise Away From Home
Starting today, I'm going back to yoga classes. I figure if I go right when I get off work to the early morning class, I should be able to work it into my schedule without losing sleep or anything else. I'm going to try it out this weekend since I work three days and see how it goes. If it goes well, it will be my new plan. Toned thighs, I will welcome you back to my world shortly.

Future Hobby/Plans
I miss rock climbing and ballroom dancing. They were great ways to exercise and have fun. I'll work them into my schedule at some point. Sooner rather than later, I hope.

I Have A Wedding Twin

Considering the weekend I'm getting married, I'm sure I'll have tons of wedding twins. There will be a ton of people who spontaneously decide getting married right before Valentine's Day is a good idea.

That's not why Easy and I chose our date, for us it's about beating Mardi Gras with our wedding anniversary every year. But I found my first wedding day twin in the most unusual place: my hair salon.

He is one of my favorite people in the salon. I go in there once a month to get my locs tightened.

That picture can be incredibly vague if you don't know what locs are. I will explain one of these days, but this story is about my wedding twin.

He overheard my talking to my stylist about her being available for my wedding day. He asked my date and told me his date was the same day.

At first I thought he was joking, but he was not. Then we began comparing stories and ideas. The only thing our weddings have in common are the number of guests and the date.

Their wedding date was chosen because it's close to Valentine's Day. Ours was picked in spite of the fact that it's close to Valentine's Day.

But I have to admit I was over the moon about having my first wedding twin.

I loved looking at his pictures, hearing the story of the engagement, and hearing about their wedding colors and florist and cake.

I think we drove everyone else in the shop crazy for about a half hour discussing this stuff. It was my first conversation in person with someone going through what I'm going through with this wedding literally at the same time I was going through it.

And it was awesome!!

Has anyone else had a lovely experience with a wedding twin?

I Know My Driver's License Says Illinois...

But I feel like a damn resident of Missouri. Thank God I'm not, I've got issues with some of their legislation, but I digress. It's just that a number of things have happened in the last day or two that really make me feel like I'm losing my inner Chicagoan.


First, I missed league bowling, and my team only won one game. That mostly only happens when I'm not there. I knew not contributing those extra 20-30 pins would make a difference. Also, my girls in Chicago were talking about having a girls' night Saturday night. What were my plans for Saturday night? Kicking it with Easy and Lion in East St. Louis. East St. Louis. Seriously. But I guess it's okay cause I'm spending time with two of my favorite people in the whole wide world.


And then there's the feeling of all this time I've been spending in St. Louis and what it's doing to Easy and me. When we're apart, we miss each other terribly, so it just makes sense to spend as much time together as we can. But there's also the fear of what's going to happen when our honeymoon phase ends. We've decided we're just going to stay in the honeymoon phase forever. We know it's unrealistic, but we're gonna try it anyway.


Easy and I definitely don't see the world through the same lens, but it's really not an issue because we're so good at communicating and making sure we develop a common language to bridge those differences. But when we're discussing something for the thirtieth time, there's bound to be some frustration adding into the equation. That's when I get scared because it feels like maybe the end of the honeymoon phase. But then things gets resolved and everything feels deliriously happy again. And it's not like we didn't have disagreements almost from the moment we got together. I think what makes us feel honeymoon-stage-ish still is the strong desire to resolve conflicts so we can get back to the lovey dovey happiness.


But with all this time spent in St. Louis, there's not much time for just me. At least it's starting to feel that way. I had kind of forgotten that I like to have a lot of alone time. I didn't think much of it when I was younger because my parents kept me sheltered and going out wasn't really an option, so I just hung out by myself at home. But then in college, I was hardly ever alone at any point within a given 24 hour period, but that didn't seem odd because the people I was around were so much like me, I didn't feel like I was surrounded by people, I was surrounded by versions of myself.


So now, in the new world that includes Easy, there isn't much room for me being me, in my own space. We're working on it though. For instance, early Saturday evening, Easy had a gig. This is a gig I've never gone with him to even though I've been in town for it. But this time, I didn't even ride there with him. I didn't drop him off at the church and then head to the mall. I just stayed at his place and spent some time by myself. And it made me happy. And it made me miss him. I was looking forward to him coming back and telling me about his gig and how it went.


Hopefully, a few small changes here and there can solve the problem. For most people, who they are and what they prefer fundamentally is up for negotiation in the context of a relationship, and there are growing pains. I'm prepared to handle it (I think), and I'm looking forward to a time when solving this problem of me having "me time" is a thing of the past. And I suppose I'll wait til the not-having-time-for-my-friends-in-Chicago thing becomes more of a problem before we tackle that.

Staying On The Exercise Bandwagon

Easy and I didn't get up and go running yesterday morning, but we did go when he got home from work. He only had a half day today because of parent/teacher conferences. And to kick off his Spring Break, we went running. We ran ever farther than we'd run up to this point, so that was a nice expansion of working out. And when we got back, we had a great chicken Caesar salad for lunch and watched Jet Li in Fearless. I think it was a great way to spend the afternoon.


I used to hate running, and I'm not sure I'm still too far from that, but I do enjoy the feeling of accomplishment I get from it. and it might be in my head, but I swear I've had more energy the last couple of days. What I do like it feeling the muscles in my thighs get more firm and knowing that I'm getting my heart rate up, which is great for healthy living.


I'm excited too because of time spent with Lion. He's been super busy with his rotations, so even though I spend so much time in St. Louis, I don't get to spend a lot of time with him. But he has just finished his shelf exam for family medicine and he has the weekend free before he starts OB/GYN on Monday, so I'm hoping we can get some good quality time in this weekend.


One of the only things that sucks about spending so much time down here in St. Louis is that I'm not doing my Chicago stuff. For instance, my bowling league meets on Fridays and I won't be there. My team should be alright without me, but I just wish I was there. I bowl at least 20 pins over my average almost every game, so I'm worth more there than not. But that will something to work out after this season. There are only another ten weeks or so left in the season anyway, if that many.


On another note, I saw a slight increase in the number of followers to my blog. That makes me happy! Looks like reaching out on BlogFrog and 20-something Bloggers has had a pretty nice initial payoff. I would like to say you all should check out my other two blogs too! They're great, and they sound mostly non-narcissistic because they're not about my life.


The first is My Life's Love Medley. It's a blog about the love lives of my closest friends. Each friend gets a day, except Camille and Lion share Wednesday. So there are eight friends in total. I talk about them a bit on this blog, but The Medley is where they get most of their coverage. It's like a soap opera if you look at the different stories each person has told about them. Also, on days when there's nothing to update, I link to another blog or website that talks about something very relevant to my friend's current romantic status.

The second is Rants About The Real World. It's a blog where I share my (usually rant-y) thoughts about what's happening in the world around me. Right now, I'm doing a series of posts on all the protests going on in the Middle East/Africa. Based on the coverage these stories are getting in America, these protests are of interest, some more than others. But I'm covering them all, in chronological order based on when they started. Also, I talk about things that go on in American politics, local politics, pop culture, and the media. If you like current events and general rantiness, check it out.


There are links to both blogs on the right hand sidebar of the blog, usually around the level of the end of the most recent post. Read them, and let me know what you think. I love feedback!

Saturday Night Could Have Gone Terribly, And Instead It Went GREAT!

Easy had a gig last night. And somehow, between him and I, we thought it would be a good idea to invite a number of people who matter to us, and throw them all together. That group included his mother, his oldest sister, his oldest sister's son, his oldest sister's son's girlfriend, a close fried of his from high school, my mother, my father, one of my best friend's Bad, and his girlfriend Jordan.



That's a lot of people, but the night went well. Easy had a gig at a pretty nice restaurant up in Evanston, IL. It barely counts as a suburb because if you're driving north in the city, you will be in Evanston before you know it. The street signs don't even change. Only the parking meters seem to be different. But I digress. He mentioned to my parents last month that they might want to check this gig out.


Then he invited along his mom to come Saturday night with my parents instead of Friday night. Then his sister, then his nephew and his nephew's girlfriend. Then he suggested I invite Bad and Jordan. Also, a friend of his from high school who's also a musician came too. So that's how we all ended up there.


I was a bit nervous about all the people meeting in such a random and large mix. And the restaurant put everyone at one big table instead of several small ones. That turned out to be good because it gave them a chance to talk a lot as opposed to a little. The music was great, the food was good.


They all seemed to have matching senses of humor and get along great. No teetotalers in the group, which of course only improved every one's mood. I learned a few things about the people in my life.

1. I really can take Bad anywhere and he'll fit into any crowd. This applies to Jordan now too.
2. My mom is really looking to bond with some young lady. I think Jordan is going to fill the gap my brother's fiancee never filled. There's something to be said for an instant connection
3. Easy's mom talks as much as mine did. They chatted each other's ears off the entire night.
4. My dad really loves live music. Like, he really loves live music. I'm not sure if he likes Easy because he's so nice and funny or because he plays the hell out of an alto sax.
5. I should have invited more people. My uncle and aunt were upset that we didn't invite them along.


I'm just glad the evening was a success. I hope future group outings will be fun for everyone. And I hope they all actually like each other as much as they seemed. I know my mom definitely loved Jordan. They're supposed to be going to lunch one day this week. That could have been my brother's fiancee. My mom really reaches out to people who will be important and around for a while. I think this is the first time she's seemed to really connect with a girl brought around my my brother, or a cousin, or one of my close guy friends. I hope it goes well.

Creating Things Day Fifteen - A Better Tasting Fuzzy Navel

Easy and I went out late Saturday night to this wonderful place in St. Louis called "lola.".

I really liked the atmosphere of this place and I would recommend it to anyone in St. Louis looking for a place to hang out where there is good music, good food, good service, and good company.

When we got there, there was a band playing live music and we watched them for a bit.

Then we went to get a drink from one of the bars.

I know they make strong ass drinks in St. Louis, so I ordered one of the weakest drinks I could think of, a fuzzy navel.

Peach Schnapps and orange juice, how could you make that too strong?

Plus, it was very late at night and I didn't want to be getting drunk at 1 in the morning.

But I was wrong, the bartender made it too strong. She filled the cup 3/4 of the way with Peach Schnapps and then filled it up with orange juice.

The bottom 1/3 of the cup was still completely clear because there was so little orange juice in the cup.

I didn't even bother tasting it, I immediately asked for another cup of orange juice with no ice and an empty cup.

When Easy and I found a seat near the live music, I began making my concoction.

First I poured all of the fuzzy navel into the empty cup, leaving only the ice in the cup. I tasted the drink and it waaaaay too strong.

It didn't even taste like a fuzzy navel. It just tasted like a shot of Peach Schnapps.

So I alternated pouring the pure orange juice and the fuzzy navel into the now empty cup with the ice until it was a proportion I much preferred to drink.

It tasted much better, and I ended up with the volume of two drinks instead of one.

I learned a while ago that they makes drinks super strong in St. Louis. That's great for getting your money's worth, but bad if you want to enjoy the taste as well as the effect of your drinks.

Seems Like My Weekends In Chicago Are Dedicated To Friends!

Well, at least my Saturdays are dedicated to friends!

Tonight will be a fun night for me. Anyone who reads my other blog will know tomorrow about part of my evening.

It's my friend Sonny's birthday. Well, it was yesterday. His get together at his house is tonight however.

And honestly, I feel a bit out out of place going there by myself because there always seems to be the overgrowth of couples. So I usually bring someone with me.

Last time I went, I brought Leo. Which was a fun night. I'm not being sarcastic.

This time I'm bringing Michelle. No need to turn Sonny's birthday thing into a date. Plus Easy is still in St. Louis until Tuesday.

Michelle has already met Sonny and Cher twice. Once when I moved from Rockford to Chicago and once during our birthday party last month.

I think that makes her a good person to bring to the party/get together. And after that, she and I are heading up north!

We are going to see this R&B group that a friend of hers is in. I love love love live music, so I'm excited to go hear his group play.

There's an interesting story about this guy. Another friend of ours from our teenage years at church is his ex. As far as I know, they haven't spoken much since she moved away, but they're still friends.

Michelle and this guy have become pretty close over the years. They're not dating, they're also just friends.

But let me put it this way. His dad constantly tells Michelle that he'd love her to be his future daughter-in-law.

And our friend who is his ex has just moved back to Chicago. And she doesn't know how close Michelle and this guy are. And she definitely doesn't know his dad is planning their wedding.

This chick is really easy going, so I don't expect this to lead to any major problems. But it will be very interesting if she ends up going out with us tonight.

So, for a number of reasons, I'm looking forward to tonight.

I've Finally Had Busy Day

Since I withdrew from medical school, my life has been uneventful. This is sometimes a good thing and sometimes a bad thing, depending on how I'm feeling on a certain day. But I do know that it finally felt good to have more things than I had time to do today.

I had to be up at 8:25 to get to a hair appointment by 9 am. I've been waking up in the 8 o'clock hour the last couple weeks or so, but having to get up is different from waking up and just turning on HGTV until I pull out my laptop and begin applying for jobs. I get to my hair appointment around 9-ish and I get done around 1-ish. That is a long time, but it's because of my hair. I'm growing dreadlocks and my hair is kind of thick, so it takes longer to tighten my locks than it does for some people.

At 1, I ran some errands and picked up lunch. My keychain is now heavier because I've got spare keys to my great aunt's house now. I'm imagining the extra duties that will come with that... Then I came home and got ready for a trip to the beach. I joined my girl Michelle at her job and we headed to the beach as soon as she got off work.

We had fun at the beach making the world's whackest sand castle (definition of whack; it's #2 and #3), but at least we had fun doing it. We left the beach and went to pick up food for a meeting at our church. After the meeting, Michelle headed to choir practice while I went home to pick out clothes for our night out. I still hadn't decided by the time choir rehearsal was over, so I just headed to her house so she and our other friends could help me choose my outfit.

Then we headed out to this great spot in downtown Chicago called the Fit. It's a rooftop club at the Doubletree Hotel on State & Lake. Great atmosphere, pretty good crowd, ridiculously overpriced. But I recommend it if you pre-game first. We had fun talking, laughing, and people watching. I texted Easy to crack a joke about drunk-texting (he was amused, thank goodness). Turns out he played at the Fit last month sometime. Must've been one of those random gigs he went on that I heard about in passing. That definitely would've been one I would've wanted to attend.

I finally got home about 30 minutes ago. I had a 17 hour day. I haven't done that since early April. I must admit it feels good. I'd love to have days that are busy more often. But instead of hair appointments, errands, and hanging out, I'd like all of that to be spaced out over a number of days and to be stuff I did after work. Oh, if only I had a job to go work at, stupid Chicago unemployment.

Want To Go Bowling? Of Course You Do

I love bowling. I always have, but most of my friends don't, so it hasn't been a big part of my life since I was with my high school sweetheart who was on the school bowling team (and who left behind a bowling ball, thanks sweetie).

When my parents joined the church bowling league, I wanted in, but I was away at school. Now that I'm back in Chicago, I have the time and availability to join the league. So I'm in. My father goes to practice with some people from our church and I've started going with him occasionally to step my game up. Where do we go? Dolton Bowl, in Dolton, IL. I like this place for a number of reasons.

They've got free parking (I'm looking at you entire north side of Chicago). They've got great prices (I'm looking at you entire downtown of Chicago). They also do a lot of Professional Bowling Association (PBA) stuff that I'm just now learning about. Things like oil patterns that help people train for tournaments and stuff like that.

But they know their crowd. They also turn the bowling alley into a club at 10:30 pm. I believe they do it everyday in the summer, I can't speak for the rest of the year. The place gets overrun with people who can't legally drink yet and the music is sooooo loud. But we still bowl with deeper concentration.

They have food, the simple stuff you can get in a rec place: nachos, pizza, ice cream. They have a small bit of alcohol. They have friendly employees. Because this is Dolton though, the crowd is, in a word, ghetto. If that doesn't bother you, this is the alley for you. They take really good care of their alley lanes, computers, balls, even their bathrooms. Grab some buddies who like to pretend they don't need the bumpers and work on your game.

Places Mentioned In This Post: Dolton Bowl
Neighborhood in Chicago Area: Dolton, IL
Recommendations: 1. if you don't like all the noise, go before the teens show up at 10:30 pm.   2. Eat before you go, the food isn't that good.   3. Ask about the oil pattern on the lane. If you want something special or something normal, you'll want a specific lane.   4. Don't be afraid to switch balls if the one you have isn't working.
Who To Do This With: Friends or on a date

Live Jazz Music and Good Food

Jazz music isn't my most favorite genre, but it does make the list of music types I love to hear live. A friend of mine is a musician so I've been hearing lots of live jazz music this summer. Last night I went with him to a gig at this place called Lagniappe Creole Cajun Joynt.

This restaurant already has a location on Chicago's South Side on 79th just east of Ashland. But they've opened up this outdoor spot on RiverWalk. RiverWalk is not a continuous path along the river, so to get to this portion of RiverWalk, you'll need to go to the northwest corner of Dearborn and Upper Wacker Drive. Then go down the steps. The smell of creole food and the sounds of live music should greet you as long as they're not getting too wild across the river at this other restaurant I've been meaning to try.

The open air atmosphere of Lagniappe feels like the parts of RiverWalk that are still just grass and concrete: as the sun moves across the sky and finally sets, you feel like you've enjoyed several different experiences. Late afternoon has it's own culture, including drunken yacht-ers out on the river and Happy Hour diners at the RiverWalk restaurants. Early evening brings in the cute young couples and the last of the tour boats. Twilight has the about-to-be-clubbers and the out-to-dinner-foodies, along with the occasional kayak architectural tour. Then full-blown nighttime brings the I-was-looking-for-a-party-and-heard-live-music crowd. With them comes the drunken foodies who have just finished dinner and are looking for dancing. And drunk people will dance to anything. Even uptempo jazz music? Yes, even uptempo jazz music.

So, pick the crowd (or amount of sun) that's perfect for you and go to Lagniappe. They'll only be open during summer and early fall I"m assuming, since it's completely outdoors. After that, you'll have to head to Chicago's South Side to get some of the food and live music.

Places Mentioned In This Post: Lagniappe Creole Cajun Joynt
Neighborhood in Chicago: downtown Chicago, RiverWalk
Recommendations: 1. Sit at a table closer to the kitchen than the music. The waiters can be difficult to get a hold of.   2. Order water with your drinks. They're incredibly small.   3. Go for the Po' Boy Sandwich if you're not sure what to order.
Who To Do This With: By yourself, In a couple, With your girls, With your boys (if you're over 30), With your parents