Last weekend of August recap – sadface!

Hi lovelies!

I hope you had a great weekend. I’m exhausted after mine, even though it wasn’t too crazy. There wasn’t any gay Twister involved.

The weather in Chicago has been breathtakingly beautiful lately…it’s almost comical. You wake up every day and it’s sunny, 78 and breezy. What is going on?? I don’t want this to end!

On that note, I can’t believe it’s almost September. Holy crap. Where did the summer go?!?

I spent the weekend with my friend in distress, hoping to cheer her up even the tiniest bit. I think it helped, but it still feels horrible to see a close friend hurting so badly. We spent Friday night out in the suburbs where she was playing guitar and singing in a benefit concert. A bunch of our friends came out to watch and I saw some old friends/teachers/acquaintances, which was mostly fun. I saw a few people that I had no interest in ever seeing again after high school as well, but eh — what are you going to do?

We picked up some beer after the concert and headed back to my friend’s mom’s house, where we used to hang out all the time in high school. We even drank in the same spot we used to sneak booze into way back in the day when we were rebellious teenagers, hahaha — it was such a goofy flashback! Talk about memory lane.

Saturday I spent the day with her for her birthday. I was invited to her grandparents’ house for an old school Italian home-cooked meal, which was amazing. I didn’t want to be rude and snap pictures, but her grandmother made roasted peppers, tomato + cuke salad, roasted lamb, and fried green tomatoes. The best part was that it was all fresh from their garden!!! What a treat! The meal ended on a perfect note with coffee, presents and cake. I hope it made her rough week a little better.

 

After our wonderful meal, I had to leave to go to my company’s summer picnic. I had high hopes for it, but it turned out to be somewhat of a bust. I know you’re probably like “Duhhh — all company picnics are lame!” But I work for a pretty neat company, so I expected more! Oh well…it was a nice excuse to be outside and sip a free beer! I was pretty stuffed from the birthday lunch, but I managed to nibble on a few bites of a veggie burger (not very good, so I tossed it) and a hot dog (same), plus some pasta salad (mediocre, but over oily. I ate it anyway, which I wish I hadn’t). I felt pretty overly full afterward, and wanted to get in some walking, so I decided to head to the Sprint store to get my sporadically functioning phone fixed. I got off the bus about a mile from where it was and walked the rest of the way, which felt pretty good after so much food.

Too bad I had to sit in the freaking Sprint store for two and a half hours. Argh. I could feel myself getting worked up and frustrated, so I had to keep reminding myself to adjust my attitude…

There is this crazily cheerful bus driver I encounter on my way to work about once per week, and he is always shouting cheerful “mantras” at passengers on the ride (silly, I know) — but often they actually can make a difference. One of his favorites is, “Don’t expect good things to happen if you’re walking around with negative thoughts. Adjust your attitude and keep things positive, and the good stuff will come.”

I find this such a refreshing and inspiring thought. Isn’t it crazy how just saying things like that can make them come true? Walking around with a scowl on my face is not going to bring any positive energy my way, no matter how bad of a day I’m having. When I normally get off the bus for work, I’m already irritated because my stop is one of the most tourist-heavy spots in Chicago. There are out of towners everywhere, which can make it frustrating when you’re trying to hurry and people aren’t paying attention because they’re walking while looking up at the buildings (this is how us “natives” spot you!) or asking me to take pictures of them. But instead of being irritated, I should be thankful that I get to walk past such a beautiful and picturesque spot every day. BAM! Attitude adjusted!

Anywho, I had to keep that kind of thinking going to get myself through 2.5 hours of phone-service hell. I think the issue was finally resolved, but considering how my phone has worked so far, I wouldn’t be surprised if it acted up again. Only time will tell I suppose!

After the phone store marathon, I headed back up to my friend’s for BFF duties, armed with red wine and pizza. We stayed up late talking, goofing around and watching a movie, and I ended up staying over.

We had brunch Sunday, and I rolled with the classic eggs, hash browns, toast bacon. It was greasy as all hell, but pretty tasty. The “toast” they gave us was actually brioche bread, which was super sweet. It’s definitely not something I would order on my own (I don’t like sweets too much), but it was a nice change of pace.

 

source: That Dog's Blog

 

By the time I got home, I actually felt ill from being so exhausted and having not been home since Friday morning for more than an hour. I canceled the rest of my plans for the day in favor of resting and going for a loooonnnnnng walk. My knee has still been feeling very finicky, so I nixed the idea for a run in favor of a longer walk, and turned on an audiobook to entertain me. My route went over to the lake and all the way down past Belmont harbor and back around, which ended up being a little over 3 miles. The best part of the walk by far, though, was the fact that I saw a rap video being filmed in front of the lake. Like, this kind of rap video:

 

I wish I had brought my phone along with me to snap a picture. Needless to say, it was hilarious and incredibly ridiculous.

The rest of the night was spent grocery shopping, cleaning and watching True Blood. I stayed up way later than I should have because my sleep schedule is all wonky, and now I’m exhausted. Need to get back on track!

Catch ya later!