living in chicago

Spring Break! Woooo!

7 April 2013 / aidan, living in chicago, pictures

Aidan flew in the evening of March 28. When the last flight comes in, it’s almost always guaranteed there will be a delay, and this time was no exception. Except the delay never actually happened. Things got squared away on the departing side really quickly, so Aidan arrived even before his original scheduled arrival. How often does that happen? 🙂

We had a fun, low key spring break. We spent most of time hanging around the apartment and relaxing, playing video games (we played Harry Potter using our “dudebro” voices) and just chilling out. It’s always nice to do that. I’d managed to clear most of my week just so Aidan and I could hang. It was challenging to keep my schedule clear, but I did it for the most part.

We went out a few days, but our biggest adventure was hitting the Shedd Aquarium. A few locals advised us against it. “It’s spring break, it’s going to be a mess!” they said. But Aidan and I met up with the woman I babysit for and her two sons, and we headed out anyway. And it turned out to be fine. It was crowded, but not so much that I was super annoyed or anything. We got there early, and because she had a stroller, got to bypass the main ticket line and use the accessible line. I upgraded our tickets because Aidan wanted to see sharks.

He got his wish.

We got to touch a sea star; Aidan didn’t like that much. We also saw penguins, pretty fish, whales, a snapping turtle, and other beautiful things.

The Wild Reef exhibit was my favorite. I’ve always loved coral reef, so seeing it there was amazing. Coral reef fascinates me. It’s teeming with life–thousands, if not millions of organisms make it their home–and it’s so delicate that it can only survive in the most exacting of environments. Once upon a time I fancied having a coral reef tank, but they’re too hard and expensive to maintain. Thank goodness we have the Shedd, right?[1. I used to have freshwater tropical tank many years ago. I really miss having an aquarium. It was so calming and beautiful. We just don’t have room for one where we live now. :(]

Of course there was souvenir shopping. Aidan wanted plushies. First, he was desperate for a stuffed penguin. I told him to wait until we were done looking at things because I didn’t want to lug the thing around. Then, by the end of the visit, he wanted a stuffed shark. So we headed to the gift shop. I was expecting to spend $25–30 on a single plush for Aidan, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that they were TWO for $30! Well then. So Aidan got two sharks and he named them Saw Blade and … well, shoot, I know the other one had Hammer in his name somewhere but now I can’t remember what his name is. Anyway, he was happy.

And man, some of the things that come out of that kid’s mouth!!

Aidan: There are so many movies coming out that I don’t care about!

Ronni: Oh hell no.
Aidan: Oh heaven yes!

Aidan: Would you like this Easter egg bubblegum? It’s egg-flavored gum. Just kidding!

Aidan: Mom, you need to buy a new mirror. That’s a funhouse mirror.

He’s right about the mirror. It does a number on my self-esteem when I’m standing in just the right… or maybe wrong place.

Aidan flew back to Ohio tonight. The gate agent sat him next to another UM–an 11 year old girl–so he’d have someone to talk to. The next time I see him, he’ll be arriving for the summer. And two days after that is Disney World!

So, that was my spring break in a nutshell. It was a good one. Hope yours was good, too.

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Nothing Says Procrastination Like Blogging!

14 March 2013 / living in chicago, pictures, ronni

I picked a photo I took in the Spring of 2011 because I am SO READY for that now. It’s still cold outside, here. Cold and grey, and the wind kicks pretty hard. I know we didn’t even have a bad winter, but I’m still ready for it to be GONE. It’s March 14, for the love of sweet baby Jesus. Spring’ll be here in six days, not that you’ll ever be able to tell here. If the high DOES get above 40F, we’re also treated with a side dish of rain. But mainly, the temps have hovered in the mid-30s to mid-40s with no indication they’re moving from that any time soon. That photo from above was taken in May of 2011. I worry that I have at least two more months of cold to endure. WAH.

Most people like it cold because they say you can always add more layers. But there gets to be a point where a ton of layers makes me look like the marshmallow man and they’re bulky and uncomfortable. I have a high heat threshold and very little tolerance for cold–I actually get ANGRY when I get too cold. So given the choice? I’ll take the heat over the cold any day. The cold seriously feels like an assault on my body. I have to tense all up and shrink into myself, and it never works. Even when it’s in the 40s I have to wear layers and layers to stay warm, and it usually only lasts for a few minutes before I’m cold again. It sucks to always be freezing while everyone else says they’re fine or even hot.

At least the trees kinda LOOK like they may start to bud soon–the branches are starting to get bumpy. I wonder how much of that is my imagination, though. The lilac bush around the corner looks as dead as ever. I’ll know Spring is really here when I can smell those beautiful lilacs.

That’s what they look like when they’re blooming and smelling amazing. That photo was taken April 2012.

The sidewalks are covered in dog poo because people obviously can’t be bothered to clean up after their dogs. [1. Why even GET a dog if you’re not going to do everything you need to do to take care of it? I hate scooping the litter boxes but I do it because it’s better for all of our sakes.] It’s really gross. I mean, there’s always at least one pile of dog poo per block, but this is really out of hand. I almost took a photo today but thought better of it. You’re welcome.

Tuesday night was really good. Wonderful food, good company, and good times!

Wednesday was good as well. Spent all afternoon and evening in Naperville. I was cold, but I managed to have a good time anyway. I had dinner at Noodles & Co. I love their Wisconsin mac & cheese, and I get the crusted parmesan chicken on it. I added a caesar salad for $1, and they have one of those cool now drink machines. I get the water and flavor it with cherry or grape. 🙂 It was yummy!

My newest freelance project is underway and it’s not as hard as I anticipated. It’s kind of tedious, but it’s not the worst job I’ve ever done. I’ve been working 1/2 days at VSA, and that’s been going well. And things are going well with my new client, too.

Mercury Retrograde cannot be over soon enough. This is the worst one I’ve ever experienced. Last night, my friend Andy texted me and asked why I didn’t respond to his email. I checked my inbox and HIS EMAIL WASN’T THERE. This morning, I happened to peek into my junk email folder and found a bunch of emails from the past nine days that I have NEVER indicated should be junk and had never been marked as such before. Important email from Moksha, mail from friends. Meanwhile, every single Old Navy and Target email is steadily coming through. I was like WTF. Then I checked the spam folders–found out I’d missed a deadline on something because the email went to spam when it had no business. I am not sure what gmail’s problem is but they need to fix it! Fortunately, I was able to get the thing to the client in plenty of time, but that is seriously distressing. I spent my lunch hour setting up filters to keep this from happening again. I’ve never had to worry about this before. I like to use an email client on my computer–lately it’s been Outlook–because I don’t always want to log in to gmail. But because of this latest glitch, I think I’m going to have to go back to logging in on the web too so I can check those other folders. Because even though I have IMAP, the new labels aren’t showing up in my Outlook. FRUSTRATING. Maybe I’ll see what happens with Thunderbird again. I’ve been bouncing around email clients for a while ever since I switched computers and MacMail is being weird.

Today, I met with a family that I will start babysitting for soon. How exciting is that? I get to watch a 12 month old with the coolest name, and he is so sweet, with totally nibble-able cheeks and an adorable little grin. I’m looking forward to spending time with him. There is also a four year old I’ll get to watch as well. The cool thing is that they live walking distance from me, and Aidan is welcome to come along with me on jobs! I get my baby fix, Aidan gets to play with other kids, and the four year old gets an older boy to look up to. Win win all around. I’m actually really excited about this!

I *think* I might be able to sleep in a bit tomorrow. I made my deadlines, and I have a little bit of breathing room. VSA doesn’t need me until the afternoon, and then I’ll be busy in the evening with a workshop, and then coming home to do more work. Saturday, I am attending a thesis workshop, and Sunday I’ll be working. Monday as well, and Tuesday, and Wednesday! That work’ll be from home, though. Unless I go to a coffee shop which I doubt because frankly, no establishment ever keeps it warm enough for me. Which is why I work in my living room most often unless I have to be onsite. I FEEL more productive at a desk or a table, but my couch is more comfortable. And I have blankets and space heaters and kitty cats.

Adam got really sick the other night. He came out of the room shivering with his teeth chattering asking me to take his temperature. He was burning up. 🙁 He’s been recovering, but he still has swollen glands and a sore throat. I’m feeling weird now… really hoping I’m not getting what he has/had. I really don’t have time to get sick right now.

Anyway, I am off to bed. Crookshanks just hit the litter box so that’s my cue. While I desperately long for Spring, I’ll look at more flowers.

Till next time….

4 Comments

In My Yoga Life

1 February 2013 / life, living in chicago, pictures, ronni, yoga, yoga teacher training

I haven’t posted much about yoga lately. One might think I haven’t been doing much. You’d be sort of right. When it’s very cold outside (like now, it’s a balmy 12F), I have no interest in leaving my bed, let alone my house. But there are some days I have things to do, so I dress in layers and do it.

Have I mentioned that I hate winter?

Teacher training ramped back up in January with my therapeutics apprenticeship with Gabriel Halpern. Gabriel’s an interesting teacher and he has an interesting style that I’m not used to seeing in the yoga world. He’s definitely of the “tough love” school, but the main underlying thing there is the love. There is also chocolate. Lots of chocolate.

We had two days of orientation, where we went through all the different poses we’d be working on with our students.

Yoga Teacher Training: Customized Yoga Apprenticeship Orientation

gabriel uses jaylen to demonstrate a pose to us

graham dances with mr. skeletonAfter the hips and knees orientation, where we practiced on each other, my hips were so open that I was able to comfortably get into Padmasana (Lotus Pose) for the first time since I was a little girl.

On January 17, I met my person and she is wonderful. I get to work with her every Thursday, showing her poses and making sure she feels OK. During the week, I keep in touch with her by sending her information and poses and dharma stuff.

In January, I also started my workshop management position. My first workshop was a doozy! It was a detox. I had to cut up fruit, heat up oil and put it into cups, make tea, tape the floor and set up mats inside each taped rectangle, greet people, and then actually attend the workshop. WHICH WAS AMAZING.

The first time I did a detox was in the fall of 2010. It was fun but hard! There were definitely points where I fell into Child’s Pose. I just couldn’t do everything. But this last time? I told people that I’m either getting stronger or the detoxes are getting easier. I doubt that Amber is making it easier. I think I’ve just gotten stronger.

In the middle of January, I taught my thesis workshop. I called it Your Yoga, and it was about being creative in your own yoga practice. I had five attendees, and I played music, led an asana practice (with a segment for the students to do their own thing–being creative!) and we talked about yoga. Most of the students were beginners, so it was fun to tell them about what yoga IS and how it can relate to their lives and change their lives.

Tonight, I head out to work and attend the Shatki Gong Healing given by The Starnes Sisters. I went to one in the fall and LOVED it. Also, I love their fashion sense. It’s fabulous.

I still have non-contact stuff to do for teacher training. I’ve got to write up my thesis, do my book reviews, teach one more private lesson (free–any takers?), do a write up about the private lessons, and decide on a final exam. I also need to attend more workshops and special events–but being a workshop manager makes that quite easy for me. 🙂

So, that’s my yoga life for now. ‘Til next time!

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Best December Ever

5 December 2012 / christmas, friends, life, living in chicago, positivity

Sitting here, listening to my *Best Christmas* playlist and thinking about decorating/wrapping presents/addressing Christmas cards but really not doing any of that. 🙂

We’re five days into December and it’s already pretty awesome. We’ve had really mild temperatures (which I am loving). December 1 kicked off with the Moksha Yoga holiday party.

moksha’s “tree”

amber dazzling us with a really hard pose

friends
i love these folks
reshma, julie, me, graham

Sunday, I started off the day with brunch with Reshma, then that evening, I headed out to King Spa for a night of relaxation and pampering. I LOVE King Spa. $25 admission gets you access to so much. Then you can spring for extras like massages and facials and body scrubs. The best part is that it’s 24/7, so I can go anytime I get the urge!

Monday was another brunch date, this time with Jen. Adam and I headed out that evening to see the zoo lights, not realizing that they only turn them on during the weekends. Honestly, I’m not sure of their thinking. The lights are on only weekends leading up to Christmas, then after Christmas, they’re on every day for two weeks. WHAT? Only Chicago. Always doing stuff that MAKES NO SENSE whatsoever. *shakes head*

I was pretty disappointed, so we went to Molly’s Cupcakes for a consolation prize. I got the Mint Velvet cupcake.

how jealous of this are you?

Tuesday, Adam and I headed out to Naperville for shopping, where I scored tons of this awesomeness:

Score!!! 12 boxes at Big Lots and I bought them ALL.

yes i am a snack hoarder why do you ask?

Then we headed to a Heather Dale show, consisting of traditional Yule carols. Oh, her voice is pure and sweet. And she can play so many instruments. She was a joy to watch and listen to. (And you can listen yourself if you go to her site and download her free album!) We got to experience beautiful singing and music, talk to cool people, and HUG A S00J!!!

s00j, me, adam
YAY s00j!!!!!!

sj tucker and heather dale making beautiful music

sj tucker and heather dale making more beautiful music

It was a lovely night. 🙂

And randomly…I like seeing people’s trees in their windows, and I like the trees that are up in the stores. They look really pretty this year. I am not sure when I will put my tree up. Maybe this weekend. I haven’t even decided if I’m going to go for the Disney theme again or just do a generic theme like I’ve done in the past, or a combination of both. I sometimes wish we had room for a 7- or 8-foot tree so I could have room for all my ornaments, but my 6-foot is OK. I once had a huge tree and the bottom half was bare because of cats and toddler Aidan. See?

my tree in 2003.
notice how bare the bottom is? lol.

So…our three cats tend to leave the tree alone for the most part. Crookshanks likes to lie under it and sleep, and Helena will nibble the branches and ignore the little tree I set out for her to enjoy, but once I get the gifts underneath, they tend to leave it alone. 🙂

There’s still a ton to look forward to this month. Two birthdays, Solstice, Hanukkah, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, shopping, music, family, friends, food, decorating, cookies, the 24 hour A Christmas Story marathon, and more! YAY Best December ever! 😀

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Every Day I’m Amazed

1 November 2012 / life, living in chicago, pictures, yoga teacher training

Things have been kind of nuts lately! Teacher training, work, just trying to get stuff done! But it’s been great. Hmm, what have I been up to the last time I posted?

Well…

I got my nails done. We had some freakishly warm weather last week, so I took advantage of it, wore shorts and short sleeves, and headed to Pinky Nail to get pampered:

I did the early voting thing:

And….

I’ve been attending many video reviews. See, in addition to my own video review, I have to attend five others. I’ve gone to four others, so I only have one more to go. They make for long days; we have a practice for about 90 minutes, then we head to Daren’s (my teacher) loft to watch the video and listen to his critique. We also learn a lot more about cueing, watching the students, adjusting, and correcting them. This goes on until about 5pm or sometimes later. Then I usually end up hanging out and chatting with Daren and/or various other trainees. Not only is this a good learning experience, it’s a nice way to bond with my fellow trainees.

I’ve been hanging out with some trainees/yogis as well. Sunday, I ran into Fatima at King Spa, and also met up with Daren and his partner Lance for dinner while we were there. Monday, I attended a video review, and then Carmen and I had dinner and went BACK to King Spa. Yesterday, I got to spend hours with Graham and Milena as we explored the next phase of Moksha’s growth.

Graham, who is working so hard on getting this thing going!

SO. King Spa. Let me tell you about King Spa. Oh, glorious King Spa. It’s a Korean spa in a suburb north of Chicago. My friend Jen and I had vouchers, so we headed up Sunday, late afternoon. King Spa is open 24/7, and it’s not by appointment, so we knew we could arrive anytime. I’d never experienced a Korean spa before, so I didn’t know what to expect. But for the low regular price of $25 (we paid $15 for our vouchers), we got two lockers: one for shoes, one for the rest of our stuff, access to the steam room, the spa, many types of saunas, and a movie room, quiet rooms, meditation rooms…. basically, it’ a place to max and relax, for realz, yo. There are loads of extra services you can pay extra for: scrubs, massages, facials, etc. And there is a food court that serves yummy Korean food and yummy juices.

Sunday night was my first time there ever. If you want to get in the spas, you have to get naked. I was OK with that, though. I also got a body scrub. They really do scrub you down. I was cleaner than I’d ever been in my life. They also shampoo your hair (mmm scalp massage). The spa is unisex, but the rest is co-ed, and you are given uniforms to wear. Pink for women, grey for men, yellow for kids. 🙂 The saunas range in temperatures from 19F to 400F. Yes, you read that correctly. I like to go in the 400F one and then go right into the 19F after. Mmmmm. There is something for everyone and you feel like a million bucks when you come out. I plan to frequent that place a LOT. Now that I’m getting more comfortable driving. It only took me more than four years, right? I still have not driven downtown yet, though. Mostly I drive up to Jen’s place (way North), to Moksha, or out to the suburbs, like I did today.

Because last night, I found out that John Barrowman (along with his sister Carole) was going to be at Anderson’s tonight. And with Adam completely booked with ghost tours, I knew if I wanted to meet him, I’d need to get myself out there. And believe me, I NEEDED TO MEET HIM. I’ve been a fan of his ever since I saw him playing Captain Jack on Doctor Who, so I was excited.

I made my way out to Naperville about 1:30pm, so I got there about 2:15pm or so. I got my book for him to sign, and then just hung out. I ate lunch at a yummy BBQ place where the guy behind the counter was really great. He made every single customer that walked into the place feel welcomed and wanted, and you very rarely see that anymore. I shopped a bit (and picked up these gems)!:

Then I returned to Anderson’s (OK I may have shopped a little bit in between), sat down with my new books, and started reading. I chatted a bit with some other fans, and then the really cool lady in purple next to me belted out this amazing opera note because John had come up to her to hug her! (She’s known him for years.) SO, I offered to take a photo of them together if he wouldn’t mind posing with me for a quick photo as well. 😀 Then I hung out for the next two hours, chatting with the lady in purple (Linda) and any other random people, and then it was my turn to go meet him! 🙂

John Barrowman, Carole E Barrowman, and Me

Yeah. THAT HAPPENED YOU GUYS!!!!!!111!!!!!!

He and his sister signed my book!

The week is only halfway over. There is more to come.

Tomorrow, I start teaching karma classes at Moksha every Thursday from 12-1pm for the next seven weeks. The cost is $8, so if you’re near the Riverwest studio, and you have some free time, come on by! It’s a very basic level class, so no experience necessary. This is a requirement to get my certification! Eeek!

There is anatomy class tomorrow night (next to last class!) and Friday, Suzanne Sterling is back!! If you were around last year, you might remember how I came floating out of the Suzanne Sterling workshop. I won’t be able to attend the entire thing this year, but I am going to a few of the sessions (well, one at least) and I know it’s going to be amazing. I can’t wait to see her again!

Friday night, I have a brainstorming party at Daren’s loft, and Sunday morning, I have a lecture with Wendy Doniger, and she’ll be talking about death and rebirth in the history of Hinduism. Should be interesting.

So, November is going to be crazy and it’s not going to let up until Thanksgiving. I’ve got almost 400 emails to answer, and a guest post to post on my blog (I haven’t forgotten you, Celeste), a few giveaways, and more coming up. I’ve only done Christmas shopping for my mom so far, but I’ve got time for that, so I’m not too worried. 🙂

OK then. I’m tired and I have to teach tomorrow, so I’d better start heading toward sleep. Plus, Adam is bringing himself some McDonald’s and I don’t want the scent to tempt me. I haven’t had McDonald’s since March 24, 2012, and I want to try to go at least a year without giving in. I know, it’s stupid how it tempts me so much. It’s terrible for me and will probably make me sick since I haven’t had it in so long, but dammit if those fries and McNuggets don’t taste amazing. And it’s not like they aren’t SUPER aggressive with their advertising. But still. I AM STRONG. ROAR.

‘Til next time! 🙂

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