Photos

June 13, 2011 In Illinois, People, Photos

skinny chicks like ribs too

Meet Ellie:

Ribfest Chicago with Ellie & Stacey

All 86 pounds of our adorable little friend was going to town on some ribs this weekend at Ribfest.  I love someone who has no shame when they’re hungry and can laugh at themselves while we laugh too:

Ribfest Chicago with Ellie & Stacey

Meet Stacey:

Ribfest Chicago with Ellie & Stacey

Stacey was in full support of the chow-down as well, after she downed her de-lish portion of the bbq good stuff.

Yep, this is how we roll on Saturdays in the summer in Chicago. Every time I hang out with these two I laugh until my stomach hurts. Needless to say good times.

Until next weekend…

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June 11, 2011 In De-lish, Food, Illinois, Photos

chi-town saturdays

Rules:

1.) Get all your errands and “important” done in the morning.

2.) Get showered and dressed for the day by noon.

3.) Wear comfortable shoes.

4.) Leave your house and get on some sort of public transportation

5.) Plan on getting home at…???

Yep, that’s how you must do it. And you don’t even have to bring a ton of money either!

Last weekend a friend and I met up for free wine tasting. Wandered out of the building and into a guy who had some beer mugs, asked him where he got them and in a flash, we turned, walked up the street 4 blocks and voila! Maifest Chicago:

Maifest Chicago

Singing, dancing, packed house and Mmm…pretzels and Hofbrau Haus beer. Prost!

Maifest Chicago

It took me back to that summer in Germany when I was 15. That’s when nomad and adventurer Diane was born.

The marathoning of festivals and events continued as we walked and walked in the sunshine, hopped on a bus, got rained on a bit, walked some more, more wine tasting and then met up with some other friends at Big Star:

Big Star tostada

Big Star tostada

Yes, this is a veggie tostada, but I totally ate a pork taco, so broke my vegetarianism. The food at this place is smack yo mamma good, so when I saw the words “cilantro” and “grilled pineapple” in the description after the “marinated pork”, I had to. Oh was it so worth it. The vibe at this honkey-tonk-ish, tatted up joint was perfect, the place was slam-packed and people watching was a blast.

After Big Star we headed to Ukrainian where there was yet another festival. I went to bed so happy and exhausted that night I slept like a baby.

Yikes! It’s past the noon hour and I have a Saturday worth of festivals and friends to meet, so I’m off…

Can you tell I’m having a blast in Festival City, USA for a few months of good weather?

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June 9, 2011 In Funny signs, Live the life you want to live, North Carolina, Photos

whoop whoop! this makes 1,001 posts

Whoa. It just dawned on me this morning that I might be nearing the ONE THOUSAND mark and I’ve already hit it! (I’m patting myself on the back right now.) This has been such a labor of love for me. I’ve relished in every minute of creating this thing that has taken on a life of it’s own. Funny, this morning I’m sitting in a coffee shop tapping away at my keyboard as I realize the 1,001 number. I actually haven’t brought my laptop out of the apartment for a few weeks because schlepping it around the city for an entire day while I fight my way through public transportation isn’t the most fun thing to do. I ran out of coffee to French press at home this morning, so here I sit out. I’m glad I hit over the 1,000 mark out during quiet coffee shop time. Coffee shops have provided me hundreds of hours of writing time.

I’ve tapped and typed away on this same laptop since the inception of BLR. I’ve driven to Alaska with this machine, posting all the way. I’ve moved 876 times, changed relationships, jobs, states, hair, mind-set, goals, and more since post #1. I never knew what any of this would be. What I do know is that by committing to this I have gained insight to things I never would have otherwise gained, I’ve kept expanding my mind in ways I never knew I could, I’ve shared every bit of dirty laundry I’ve ever had and liberated myself, and I’ve become utterly fearless discovering that we all really can actually do and say whatever the heck we want to.

Besides the above, one of the the biggest surprises has been the sense of trust and community this has created. I’ve made connections with incredible people that I would have otherwise never met because of this project. I’ve kept in touch with friends that may have otherwise fallen off the bandwagon of life. I’ve started and maintained what I know will be life-long friendships with complete strangers who’ve found this and followed daily. Funny enough the photo I planned on posting today was sent by one of these complete strangers, who over the course of 2 years become a fantastic, generous friend and a really fun dinner buddy.

Jukebox from Charlotte biker bar

(Thanks for the photo B! I love it when readers see ridiculous things and think of me.)

…another one of these perfect strangers turned friends who I got to meet last summer, emailed me yesterday excitedly asking when I could come visit and meet the baby she’s about to have.

How cool is that? Learning from and connecting to each other- that’s what it’s all about.

Here’s to the next 1,000 “posts” in the story, and for us all staying excited to see what else is down the Blue Lollipop Road…

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June 5, 2011 In Illinois, People, Photos

meet sophia

Sophia pre-race

Sophia was my running buddy for the Girls on The Run 5k yesterday.

This 5k is a huge event and the crowd was a buzz with excitement. The girls were all given tiaras to run in, which were decorated at the tiara decorating tent of course:

Tiara decorating tent

“Everybody knows you run better in a tiara!”

Stone Academy was the school I buddied with:

Stone Academy Meeting spot

There were droves of people who showed up for this race. The energy in the crowd for an early Saturday hot, humid morning was fabulous. Here’s us all warming up and getting ready to go:

Warming up

And the race began.

Sophia and I ran, walked, cheered and even danced a little. We stopped at Lake Michigan to splash around in the water about halfway through. I am used to the heat, but by Chicago standards this was a very hot day so I let the tiny adorable Sophia dunk her head to keep cool. She was a riot. Getting a 9 year old to finish 3.2 miles in the blazing sun when she’s sweating bullets and it’s her first race was a bit of a push, but we did it! Some things she said during the race; Sweet and hilarious:

*”Ugh, I had NO idea 3 miles was so far!”

*”Oh my gosh, I feel like I’m walking from Chicago to San Francisco!”

*(After she got sandy and muddy from our stop to cool down at the lake) “You know what they say; if you get dirty- you must be having fun!”

*”My Mom is going to be really proud of me when I get back.”

*I am SO going to do Girls on The Run next year!”

The last quote of course came after we crossed the finish line, high-fived and got our medals:

Sophia and I after the race

Poor hot and tired Sophia’s tiara was flipped and flopped by this point but she was so happy and proud of her medal. (I was too!) This was a treat to participate in, and kicked off a most fabulous Chicago summer weekend. I am always amazed how appreciative kids are when you pay attention and spend time with them. It makes me want to run around the world declaring to all young women that they really can be all they want to be.

Congratulations Sophia! Thanks letting me run with you and making my day. Three cheers to Girls on The Run for all you do for young women!

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May 28, 2011 In Funny signs, Photos, Wisconsin

just a few reasons to love wisconsin

There are grocery stores called Festival as if there were a party inside:

Festival foods in Wisconsin

…and there was. String cheese that looks like this? Yeah- that’s a party:

Wisonsin string cheese?

You’ve gotta love a courtesy phone like this in the meat section. Let’s face it- you don’t get this in the big city:

Sign in Wisconsin grocery store

More? There are spots to eat dinner called Elmer’s Place that have signs like this:

Elmers Place, Redgranite, Wisconsin

So I didn’t participate in the Friday Fish Fry, but yes- I totally ate fried cheese curds for dinner last night and they were delicious. When in Rome…

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