it’s october 3rd.

/ authors, life, living in chicago, pictures, ronni, sick

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How in the world is it already October? Time really does fly. In the meantime, I’m trying to get over this cold that settled in nearly two weeks ago and shows no signs of leaving me any time soon. I’m on some good meds, so that’s a concession. Except I can’t DO anything when I’m on the meds except stare at my computer screen and try not to fall asleep. That’s no good. But I do NOT want another four month sore throat, so I’m taking advantage of being in the position to get a lot of rest so I can get better. There’s a lot coming up this month! Two workshops, an author visit, finishing up my Acting 1 class, filming for Sirens, a visit from Aidan, and new books to read! I need to get better and QUICK.

What have I done? This is just today's haul!! #books #ya #andersonsbookshop #abyalitconf #yafandomfrenzy #noregrets

Even though I was sick, I powered through and was able to do a few neat things. The main one being the YA Literature Conference that Anderson’s Bookshop puts on every year. This is the first year I decided to go, and I’m glad I did. Something about being around authors, and books, and watching the panels and talking to people–it’s soooo inspiring. Plus, I got to meet Stephanie Perkins, who is one of my favorite authors. She is super lovely and just amazing all around.

Me and Stephanie Perkins
me and stephanie

Yeah, that was kind of a dream come true right there. 🙂

Among others, I also met Kendare Blake, Demitria Lunetta, T.M. Goeglin, Joan Bauer, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Jenny Han…man I could go on. So many good books and authors and people. It was a very inspirational weekend.

Monday I started filming for Sirens. That was a lot of fun. Yes, I was half-crazed with exhaustion and trying not to cough while the cameras were rolling, but I met some really cool people and had a really fun time on set. And the food was soooo good. Looking forward to going back next week.

This week, my TO DO list was so long that all of it couldn’t fit in my planner. And of course, I was sick! So I lost Tuesday to sleeping, went to the doctor on Wednesday, and lost the rest of that day and some of yesterday to sleeping again. Today I managed to drag myself to a Bar Method class (barre workouts kick my butt but I love them) and over to Native Foods to have lunch with some of my favorite yogi friends, but about halfway through lunch, I started fading. Big time. 🙁 I was glad to get home.

I finished up a big project that I’ve been working on since August; it’s a relief to have that done. I didn’t realize it was almost 900 pages because I was so into it (plus it was broken down into manageable chunks), but when I look back, I feel proud that I did all that work.

Now it’s Friday night, and being the lame person I am, I’m going to take some medicine, have something to eat, and go to bed with a book and my teddy bear. And possibly a cat. Crookshanks has just plopped himself down very close to me and doesn’t seem inclined to move any time soon. At any rate, I am done for the day.

Till next time….

6 Comments

circles.

/ meme, pictures, ronni, survey

I first did this survey/meme in 2006. You can see my original answers in this post.

Curly Sunday
me in 2006

Here are my answers now. Bolded ones are the ones that have changed.

CIRCLE ONE: THE OUTSIDE

1. What’s your name: Ronni
2. How tall are you: 5’1?
3. What color are your eyes: hazel
4. What color is your hair: golden something or other
5. Are you male or female: female
6. What is your best feature (physically): eyes, smile, boobs, skin
7. What’s your shoe size: 6.5 women’s, 4.5 kid’s
8. Glasses, yes or no: yes
9. Did you ever have braces: no
10. On a typical day you are wearing: yoga pants and a tank top
11. When you go to bed you’re wearing: a cool nightgown, or a very cool matching pajamas and tank top set
12. Work out/exercise about how often: not often enough

CIRCLE TWO: MUSIC

1. Name five of your favorite albums:
a. Jennifer Berezan – Returning
b. ODESZA – My Friends Never Die
c. Lana del Rey – Born to Die
d. Haim – The Wire
e. –
…I’m going to add a disclaimer here that I have a LOT of favorite albums and narrowing it down even more will overwhelm me.

2. Name five of your favorite singers:
a. Enya
b. Ginger Doss
c. Lana del Rey
d. SJ Tucker
e. Suzanne Sterling

3. Name three songs you are currently playing nonstop:
a. The Protagonist – Philter
b. Feel Flows – Slow Magic
c. Krsna Govinda (MAKHANA remix) – The Kirtanias f. Jai Uttai
….and many many more!

4. Name one song (give lyrics) that best describes your life right now:
I guess that’s the problem with listening to mostly chill step. Most of the songs don’t really have lyrics….

5. Name one song (give lyrics) that best describes your life one year ago:
^^ See above.

6. When you’re driving, what are the preset stations on your radio:
I listen to my iPod when I am driving.

7. What’s the last CD you bought:
ODESZA – In Return

8. Was the last CD you burned an actual CD or a mix:
Oh gosh, that was so long ago. I don’t think computers even do that anymore!

9. Name one song/band/singer you’re embarrassed to like but do:
I’m not embarrassed to like who I like! OK, that might not be true, but I do like Michael Bolton. *runs away*

10. If you could only attend one concert ever again, it would be:
NOOO don’t do this to me!

11. Name one band/singer you absolutely can’t stand:
I mean, I know it’s out there, but I am currently drawing a blank.

12. Name a group you use to like but feel you’ve grown out of:
I don’t really grow out of groups, I don’t think. I just decide to take a break. I usually come back and revisit.

CIRCLE THREE: MOVIES/TELEVISION

1. Name your favorite actor: Theo James
2. Name your favorite actress: Don’t really have one….
3. Name your favorite television show right now: n/a

4. Name five really cool movies you’ve recently seen:
a. Divergent
b. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
c. The LEGO Movie
d. –
e. –
…OK I’m going to add a disclaimer and point out that I don’t go out and watch a lot of movies which is a shame because I do enjoy going to the theater. Also realize that my definition of “recent” may be different from most.

5. Your favorite canceled television show: Golden Boy
6. Name one movie you wish you hadn’t wasted time/money on recently: n/a
7. You would never watch a movie with: dunno
8. Favorite candy/food to watch movies with: Reese’s Pieces
9. Three favorite tv channels: n/a
10. Favorite reality show: n/a
11. Favorite character on a reality show: n/a

CIRCLE FOUR: WORD ASSOCIATION
(Write the first word/thing/person that comes into your head when you read this word:)

1. coffee: mocha
2. dog: Darby
3. slut: sleep
4. candy: eat
5. pole: dance
6. ocean: water
7. brave: Merida
8. loving: teddy bear
9. cookie: chocolate chip
10. death: fire
11. life: water
12. child: baby

CIRCLE FIVE: WHICH WOULD YOU PREFER:

1. Ten guilty men go free OR One innocent man goes to jail for life: 🙁

2. Eaten by a lion OR Eaten by thousands of small insects: Lion

3. A life of contentment without love OR A life with love and heartache: Quite often, I think the first option sounds ideal. But I’m not that type of girl.

4. Skydiving from a plane OR Bungee jumping off a bridge: Skydiving

6. No television OR No music: No TV

7. No more pizza, ever OR no more chocolate, ever: No more pizza, ever

8. A trip to Europe OR a trip to Hawaii: Europe

9. An hour with your future soul mate OR An hour with a lost loved one: Lost loved one. The future soul mate would come along soon enough.

10. No longer being able to cry OR No longer being able to feel the need to cry: No longer needing to cry.

11. Sex without love OR love without sex: Either is fine.

12. Loving someone who doesn’t love you OR being loved by someone you don’t love: Done them both. Whatever.

CIRCLE SIX: THE LOVE LIFE

1. Are you currently in a relationship: Yes
2. Are you currently looking/interested in someone: No
3. Are you a virgin: Negative
4. If yes, how long do you plan to be one: n/a
5. How many times have you been “in love”: At least four, I’m thinking more.
6. Looking back, how do you feel about that person(s) now: Some of them I just…I dunno. Try to forget about them. Others I am still friends with.
7. Name three things (physically) you look for in someone: lips, hair, voice
8. Name three things (mentally/emotionally) you look for in someone: silly, warm, intelligent
9. Biggest turn-offs include: cockiness, flakiness, dishonesty
10. Your ideal date would be: December 25th. Oh, you meant a different kind of date…
11. You want to get married, where, when, how: Been there done that.
12. Does anyone have feelings for you right now that you don’t return: Doubtful.

CIRCLE SEVEN: THE FRIENDS
(of your friends, who would you say is:)

1. The one you immediately go to with a problem: Wanda
2. The most rational: Adam
3. The funniest: Chris
4. The one you spend the most time on the phone with: Adam (I actually never talk on the phone unless it’s to Aidan or my mom, or sometimes Adam but we usually text.)
5. The craziest (but in a good way): All of them. Every single one.
6. The most honest: Jen
7. The purest: Not a one of the lot.
8. The smartest: All my friends are pretty smart.
9. The most athletic: My yoga friends.
10. The most compassionate: Wanda.
11. The one most likely to get thrown in jail and why: Adam, for getting all riled up in some anti-corporate protest
12. The last one who said “I love you”: last FRIEND who said it? Charla

I can’t believe 2006 was eight years ago.

Ronni
me now

2 Comments

#sweatylife.

/ living in chicago, pictures, ronni

Classpass Launch at Flywheel Chicago
can you find me?

The first week in September, I was invited to attend launch parties for ClassPass, a monthly services that gives people access to fitness studios all over the city. The program launched in Chicago this month!

There were three parties, and I attended two: The launch at Flywheel Sports, a spin studio, and one at The Dailey Method, a barre studio. What’s so great about ClassPass is that I would have probably never tried either of these on my own, but this program encourages people to try new things.

Classpass Launch at Flywheel Chicago

I LOVED The Dailey Method. I’d heard that barre classes were hard, but I wasn’t expecting to enjoy them so much. They combine ballet, yoga, weights, core work. It’s challenging and you definitely feel a burn, but it’s also low impact and works the entire body.

09.05.14-dailey-method
I’m somewhere in this room, I promise!

I was given a complimentary one-month membership, so I plan to try out some more of the offerings they have, such at The Bar Method, Mazi Dance, and Exhale.

I need to move more, I need to #livethesweatylife. It’s time I got back into shape and started taking better care of myself, yes? I think this month is going to be the month to do that.

Photos lifted from here and here Photography by Joel Maisonet and Azuree Wiitala.

2 Comments

long update.

/ life, pictures, ronni, summer

Summer 2014 Collage

Oh hi! Long time no see! 🙂 Sorry about that. It’s just that every time I thought about blogging over the past few months, I just felt like BLAH, nope. Overwhelmed, maybe. I don’t know.

Summer’s on its way out. Yesterday’s high was 60F but it hung out in the low to mid 50s all day. You can only imagine how sad that is making me. I feel like we barely got a summer.

In my long absence from the blog world, I hung out with Aidan, we all went to Jekyll Island for a week at the beach, and I read a lot of books. We went to Ohio and Aidan started middle school. I went to two launch parties for ClassPass and attended a Flywheel class (my first ever spin class. I didn’t like it. My butt was sore for five days because of that hard bike seat. I did like the part with the weights, though.), and a class at The Dailey Method (my first ever barre class. I LOVED it.)

I started acting classes at the Second City Training Center and so far I like it. A lot. The teacher has a real gentle and patient nature about him which I appreciate. Plus he has us do a few yoga moves during the warmup. Cannot ever go wrong with that! This week we started off by playing Red Light Green Light. So fun. We’re working on monologues, and this week I’m doing beat work. It’s challenging. But I know it’ll do nothing but help me.

I’ve also been doing freelance work for Berlitz, which has been fun. I’ve been doing various gigs all over town for Chicago PD (the director was great to work with–he kept calling us “background celebrities”), T-Mobile, etc., and I did a live event for Ravinia which was too much fun. Long days on set. Tiring but I learn a lot and really learn to exercise patience, dig down into the reserves, and call on my experience of working long days in ad agencies. I also realized that no matter how exhausted I am, the word “ACTION” still gets me pumped. So there’s that. Working hard…maybe one day you’ll see me with a speaking part. WAIT. I did have one for the movie Cool Apocalypse. That was fun. 🙂 And I’ve been selected to be part of the hospital core on the show Sirens, so hopefully I’ll start working on that soon and you’ll see me being a nurse or something more often than not.

(I was in that commercial. You can’t see me. At all. But believe me I was there. I have confetti to prove it.)

I’ve been writing a lot. Eating too much. Not getting enough exercise (I know you are SO surprised about that!). I went to a house concert and saw Ginger Doss perform for the first time since 2011, and it was sooooo amazing. She is one of my favorite people to see perform because her voice is magical and her energy is golden. She has so much joy and gratitude to be doing what she loves…and it’s palpable. God, that was a good night.

Jekyll was a lot of fun. A week in the sun, on the beach. I got burned and good, but I don’t even care because now my skin is a gorgeous golden that will be fading way too soon. C’est la vie.

Adam’s mom got this idea for our family photo from Pinterest: we all wore blue, white, or khaki. No shoes. You know the boys grumbled about it but they went along with it anyway. And it was a great idea. Look how amazing we look:

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I honestly can not complain. I had a pretty good summer. Depression is a funny thing. There were some days that I didn’t even want to get out of bed. I hate that there were days I was feeling sad and overwhelmed when it was summer, my favorite season. I should have been out playing and doing yoga and hanging out. Instead, I just wanted to hole up in the house under a blanket. Sucks. And now it’s getting cold and darker earlier and I hate that. I’m a night owl but even I find it hard when it’s pitch black at 4pm.

My 2015 Erin Condren Life Planner arrived. I LOVE it. It’s the first time I ever used the custom colorway and asked for customizations other than the stock photo. I am very happy with how it came out! It’s my two favorite things: rainbow and pink. And polka dots. BONUS. 😀

She is here!! My 2015 planner!! #lifeplanner #eclp #erincondren #eclifeplanner14 #weloveec #organizedlife #pink

I want to start taking The Dailey Method classes all the time. I went Sunday and I’m going again this coming Sunday, and will probably go the next Sunday if nothing else is going on. I need to figure out how to budget that in. Either that place or any barre place really. I plan to try out The Bar Method as well. I also want NEED to get my yoga practice back up and running. Seriously. My pants are all too tight and that is NOT OKAY. I was going to Betty’s Tuesday class but my acting class conflicts, so I need to pick a new class to attend and I think I know which one I’m going to for sure. I want to add at least one more class a week as well. I need something to keep me accountable is what I need.

My child is now in middle school. Can you even? Look at this handsome kid:

Aidan
You guys, I swear he is so super awesome. I hope I’m still saying that when he’s a teenager! 🙂

Anyway, that’s the gist of what I’ve been doing while avoiding my blog. 🙂 I hope to be better about updating. I really do. But for now, I leave you. Just like summer is leaving me. 🙁

Summer 2014 Collage

Goodbye summer. I know you technically still have 11 days until you’re gone, but it’s pretty much autumn already. I hope it’s a good one.

6 Comments

a game of h.o.r.s.e.

/ celebrity, living in chicago, pictures, ronni, videos

Earlier this month, I was lucky enough to be picked to film a commercial with Doug McDermott, an amazingly talented basketball player. He’s in the NBA draft lottery (taking place in just a few days!) and super nice.

Here is the commercial. See if you can spot me! In his intro, I’m standing under his right shoulder (just look for the fuzzy gold head). Throughout the video and many parts, I’m sitting, cross-legged, on the floor right under the basket. You can see me very clearly at 1:36. 🙂 I’m wearing #46!

After the shoot, he was kind enough to pose for a few pictures. Here I am with him:

Now that the commercial is up, I can post my photo with @dougmcd3. Super nice guy. I wish him the best. #dougmcdermott #m&ms #nbadraft #awesomepeople #basketball

I’m standing on stairs because he’s SUPER tall! 🙂

It was such a fun day, and I wish Doug “McBuckets” all the best!

6 Comments