Happy New Year!

Happy New Year's eve everyone!! Here's to 2013.

The benefits of being single

I won't lie, there are definitely perks to being single.  The best one (in my opinion) being free reign of any space in the bed to sleep.

I can sleep on the right side.  Or the left.  Or in the middle.  Or no a diagonal.

I can sleep with just one pillow.  Or two.  Or all six.

I can con Samson to lay up there for a little bit without worrying about running out of space.

I can use all the blankets or none of the blankets.

So, during this holiday season when not being part of a couple is most recognized, I wanted to celebrate the little things...

The Christmas that practically wasn't

The Christmas break started off on the right track.  My girls gathering with my grade school friends on Friday night was a blast.  We had a great time, busted out the old yearbooks, watched our 8th grade video and passed around gifts.

Here's a vintage Megan photo:

Megan - 4th grade

My friend, Megan, works for GAP (in the Men's department) and gifted us all some great men's products - I was loving my socks!

Then, on the Saturday before Christmas, my mom and I took a quick trip to the mall and then did some major grocery shopping in preparation for having everyone over for Christmas Eve.

Sunday - well, I don't really remember much about Sunday.  I know Lauren and Kevin and Liam came down, but I don't remember anything outstanding.  The Hales came by to visit.

On Christmas eve, all the relatives came over for lunch at my parents house.  Justin couldn't come because he had the flu (which Kayla had earlier in the week).  Melissa spent most of the day sleeping in my parents room because she felt terrible too. Kayla opened some presents from my grandparents, we played cards and then everyone headed home.

By the time Christmas day rolled around, Kevin and Brendan were sick, my mom hadn't been feeling good for the last day or so and Lauren was faltering.  The Hales came over again, but it was pretty much all hands on deck to take care of the kids while everyone tried to sleep off the sickness.  By 6pm, I had caught the flu.

We were like a cess-pool of sickness.  We had opened presents (with only Kayla having enough enthusiasm to enjoy it).

The chef's new apron to compliment her new kitchen

We all left my parents house before noon on Wednesday while there was a little bit of an energy boost.  I was exhausted after making the few trips up to my apartment to unpack my car.

Thankfully, I think we all are feeling better - but what a crappy way to celebrate Christmas.  I would officially like a do over!

2013 Goals - The rewrite

So after a most positive review of my annual physical from my doctor, and just overall recently feeling pretty crappy.... I am revising my goals for 2013.

I figure this is fair since I still have over a week left before 2013 begins and since we are all still around (thank you Mayans)... well, famous words of Lesley Gore, "It's my blog and I'll do what I want to" (okay, not really but you get it.)

2013 Goals:

1. Complete at least 2 items from my 101 IN 1,001 LIST each month - If I am going to make my March 2014 deadline, I gotta get trucking on this one.  I set up a measurement for this one as well... because goals are better with measurements.  (I have known this from work for years, but that doesn't mean I care to employ it in my personal life) :)

2. GET IN SHAPE - This one is a no brainer.  I have to get my butt in gear.  I have a family wedding in May, a half marathon in June and the general desire to tone up and shed the 15-20 extra lbs I am carrying around.  So let's do this!

3. EAT BETTER -  I feel like while my eating habits are pretty decent (above average), they could be better.  I would like to do a better job of planning out my meals ahead of time and adding more variety.  Eating yogurt for breakfast and a salad for lunch every day becomes REALLY boring and that's when I end up running out for Jimmy John's or something instead.  Anyone have any good suggestions??  

The last workday for 2012

The last day of work before an impending vacation or holiday is always the same.  Pretending to get a lot of things done but really just moving stuff around.  It's very much like when you were a kid and your parents said you had to eat a few more bites, so you just pushed the food around your plate to make it look like you ate more.

I know I'm not the only one that's done that.

Yesterday was almost as bad, but today will be worse.

I have a feeling I'm going to be doing some pinning and plenty of facebooking.

Today after work I am supposed to head out to the 'burbs to hang out with my elementary school friends - pending everyone arrives from their destinations today.

Tomorrow I will be spending the day at my parents and then babysitting Kayla and Brody in the evening.

I imagine Sunday will consist of grocery shopping (if we don't do it Saturday) or just lounging.  My parents are hosting one side of the family for lunch on Christmas Eve (a happy medium to our usual plans).

I took off the rest of next week from work, so I won't be returning until after the new year.

Honestly, I'm just looking forward to having multiple days in a row where I don't have to get up by alarm clock and I can wear my sweats all day if I want.  (Though really, I'm wearing leggings at work today - so I shouldn't be complaining!)

OH, Leslie asked for a picture of my holiday nails - so here it is! Excuse the messiness, I haven't cleaned off the skin around my nails yet.

The glitter is actually Martha Stewart glitter pens.  Which makes it really easy for application, but doesn't last long.  I just did them last night and one is already chipped!

I'm trying

Trying the best to get into the holiday spirit.  Here's a little something that popped up on my facebook feed.  I love these guys from Hallmark and remember spending hours with Sara sending eachother ecards and laughing hysterically.  Good times.

Bright like a highlighter

It's been a while since I've done an outfit post, so here goes.

I got this shirt just before Thanksgiving and I love it because it's almost obnoxiously bright.  Like I'm wearing a highlighter.

*shirt - Express, jeans- Gap, shoes - Target

The lighting in my hallway doesn't do that shirt justice, so I thought I would snag a close up.

One Week...

One week until Christmas and I am not ready!  I only have about 20% of my gifts bought.  Nothing is wrapped.

I have two reviews to give for work today and two more later this week.

I CANNOT wait to be off work all next week.  I'm going to take one day of doing nothing but reading in bed.

For now.... enjoy this picture of Samson.  He's so spoiled, I let him lay on the couch with me on Sunday.

On Babies

There was a time, in the not so distant past, when I was months away from getting married and was mentally on track to progress my life in that direction.  That included kids.  Maybe not immediately, but I was on that track - marriage, babies... 

Then we broke up.  

And then Melissa and Justin had Kayla.

At the time things were very difficult for me - emotionally.  I was so happy for Melissa and Justin, but there was that nagging feeling in my head that I wasn't going to get to have that right now.

I love Kayla.  She was (and still is) the cutest little bundle of giggles.

When Melissa and Justin moved in with me when Kayla was 3 months old, I realized the direct impact of a baby - first hand (well, as first hand as an aunt can get).  She was fussy and didn't sleep well.

There were times when I was babysitting her so Melissa and Justin could get out of the house for a bit that I was frustrated.  She wanted to be standing all the time.  She HATED going to sleep.  But at least I knew the process.  I knew all her tricks and the little things to help get her to sleep.  So I felt like I could definitely still handle taking care of her.

Now Liam and Brody are here also.  And at 3 months, they are giggly little stinkers.

Yesterday, I babysat Liam so Lauren and Kevin could go to the Packers-Bears game.  Melissa, Justin and their gang came by the hang out - so it was a full house.

Liam was a smiley happy guy almost the entire day.  The issue was trying to get him to sleep.  And I gotta be honest - not knowing the tricks is frustrating.  I tried to put him down for a nap and it wasn't working... so Melissa tried and she was able to do it.  Then later, Justin was able to.

It's so hard not to get frustrated and think - man, I can't even make this kid take a nap for one day - how on earth can I be a mom.

At the end of the day, it was fine.  He was happy any time we weren't trying to make him take a nap.  

This weekend I am babysitting Kayla and Brody.

Just one more chance to redeem myself.

The Christmas Spirit

I gotta be honest.  I'm not feeling very Christmasy this year.  I'm not sure why or how to fix it.  It just is the way it is.

I started listening the Christmas music at the beginning of November and listen to it almost every day.  I have a tree and decorations up in my apartment.

I'm just not feeling it.

I'm hoping things are going to pick up in the next week - seeing family and everything.

2013 Goals

The goals has been working for me these last two years, so I am going to stick with that theme in 2013.

As always, I'll be updating the Goals page on the blog so that it shows 2013, 2012 and 2011.  You can still track the progress there.

2013 Goals:

1. Complete at least 2 items from my 101 IN 1,001 LIST each month - If I am going to make my March 2014 deadline, I gotta get trucking on this one.  I set up a measurement for this one as well... because goals are better with measurements.  (I have known this from work for years, but that doesn't mean I care to employ it in my personal life) :)

2. GET IN SHAPE - This one is a no brainer.  I have to get my butt in gear.  I have a family wedding in May, a half marathon in June and the general desire to tone up and shed the 15-20 extra lbs I am carrying around.  So let's do this!

3. SAVE, SAVE, SAVE - I'm going to keep this one for the 3rd year in a row.  It's been really good for me to focus on this. 

So there they are.  I've been pretty successful overall with my goals the last two years, so here's to that continuing! 2013 is going to be a lucky year!

#64 - Try 10 New Restaurants

In an effort to build goals for 2013, I took a look at my list of 101 things.  The list that I thought I was doing such a good job of checking off, only to realize I have over 80 things left.  80 things!!!  That's like 6 things a month.  It's highly improbable that I'm going to be able to complete all these things at that rate, so I best get going.

After reviewing the list, I noticed that there are some things that I have done (like the brewery tour) that I didn't even realize I had done.  

Then I noticed that there are some things I have done, but didn't really feel like I did... mostly because it wasn't the extravagant process I had envisioned it being.  What are you talking about Megan?  Well, for example, I added "try 10 new restaurants" on my list because I planned to go to all these really great restaurants downtown.   Not even realizing that in my quest to "learn my new neighborhood", I had checked off almost all 10 I needed.  So I went back through.  Some of them are not in my neighborhood, but most are.  I've added a few little notes if I have talked about them before.

1. Hub 51 - I've been here a few times, but one time I mentioned here was over my birthday weekend
2. Hatsu Hana Sushi - this is the sushi place Brooke and I are trying to make our own
3. GT Fish & Oyster - I went here with Brooke and Mary
4. Jack's on Halsted - This was the first place I tried after I moved with my mom and dad
5. Wilde Bar & Grill
6. La Scarola - We just ate dinner here last weekend
7. Wakamono Sushi
8. Angelina Ristorante
9. Arami - Went here for my big birthday dinner
10. Untitled - Technically, I am eating dinner here TOMORROW, but we'll count it.

#74 - Go on a brewery tour

I didn't even realize that last weekend I coincidentally checked off something on my 101 list!

Go on a brewery tour!

I talked about our tour of Goose Island here.  Yeah for being productive without even realizing it!!

The previews are in!

Yesterday I received the link to preview my pictures.  Needless to say, most of the afternoon was spent pouring over them to pick my favorites.

Here's a little teaser while I wait for the final products.

*Unedited and cropped from the proofs

Weekend Wrap Up

I need a weekend to recover from my weekend.  I'm going to do my best to recap everything that happened, but it feels like a blur.

On Thursday, I took the day off work to run some errands and clean my place.  Well needed and I enjoyed having that free day to get things done.  Amanda got in around 10:30 and we stopped at a bar where some of the volleyball people were having a few drinks before we went home.

Friday we had a jam-packed day.  In the morning, we got up and went to get mani/pedis.  Then, we had just enough time to stop at home and change before we went over to Goose Island for our VIP brewery tour.

Brooke hooked us up with the Regional Sales Director who gave us an in depth tour of the place and LOTS of background information.  We were able to taste a few new brews that they are working on and then walked across the street to bourbon barrel storage area.  If you don't know, Goose Island was the first to release in the US a bourbon barrel aged ale/stout.  It was amazing to see and it smelled like bourbon in that room!

Then, we ran into the master brewer who invited us to join them in their tasting panel.  They were tasting a few of their regular brews and then a tasting of a new batch of one of Brooke's favorites, Fleur.

It really was a unique experience to get to see that (though I felt extremely out of my element).

Of course, we ended up staying there much longer than anticipated, so we barely had time to run home so I could shower and let Samson out before we headed to our photo shoot.

The photo shoot was an absolute blast!  Right away when we arrived, we were the only people there.  They told us to throw on a robe so we could get out hair and makeup done and then could browse though the outfits.  I managed to snag one picture of the hair and makeup while I was in the dressing room.

Nothing like a few victory rolls to get you into the spirit.

It was much more difficult to pick out outfits than I expected.  I was thankful to have Brooke there to help make suggestions.  I found my first outfit, a retro style bikini, right away, but finding outfit #2 and then the outfit that Amanda and I would do together was much more difficult.  It was important to me that if I was doing pinup photos, that I was going to try to go as authentic as I could.  Those of you that know me would not be surprised by that last statement.

Finally, after trying on a ton of stuff and plenty of hemming and hawing, I figured out my last two outfits and a flurry of posing later, we were all done.  Heather, the owner and photographer, was absolutely amazing.  She was super supportive (for a girl who does NOT like to be in front of the camera) and made all the difference with posing help.  She knew all the classic pin up poses and made prop suggestions.  If it wasn't weird, I might consider moving directly into their studio.

After we got changed, all three of us sat down with Heather to select all the photos we wanted to be included in our online viewing website.  This meant getting rid of all the ones where you are mid blink or look almost exactly like another one.  I appreciate this process to weed out all the weird ones right away.  It also gave us a nice preview.  We had to remember to keep in mind that there would still be some touch ups to the final pictures, but we had some really good laughs and some excellent photos.  I should get an email with the link to review my pictures sometime this week and then I have 30 days to decide if/what I might want to purchase.

Amanda and I were joking around all weekend that it was TORTURE to have to wait because we just wanted to look at the photos.  It led to some funny stories with the three of us all weekend.

After the photos, we stopped for dinner around the corner and then after a quick change, headed out to a bar on Division for a little fun.  I called it an earlier night heading home at 2am and Brooke and Amanda stayed out for one (or two) more drinks after that.

On Saturday, we made a quick trip to a few boutiques for Amanda and then got ready for my holiday party. I had a great turn out and I think everyone had a blast.  Well, everyone except Samson maybe...

The last group of people left around 12:15ish, so it was a relatively early night.

On Sunday, Amanda and I decided to take advantage of my Art Institute membership and walk around a bit.  I really enjoyed that because it's been a while since I had been there.  I managed to take one photo in the Thorne Miniature room (probably my favorite exhibit).  I find it fascinating how exact they are and how you can see the progression through time.  This was one of my favorite rooms.

I believe it's a French entry hall... or maybe English.  I should've paid more attention. :)

Why I love a short week

AKA Today is my Friday. :)

God I love a short week.

Tomorrow and Friday I took off because Amanda is coming into town on Thursday night and I had to burn a few vacation days since they all won't roll over to 2013.

So tomorrow I will be doing a major scrub down of my apartment.  It will need it before the party on Saturday.  Then, Samson will be getting a bath - which is WORK for me.  And probably running some last minute errands.

Friday we have a full day.  Amanda and I want to be a mani/pedi in the morning.  Brooke scheduled a Goose Island brewery tour around lunch and then Amanda and I have a pinup photo shoot (belated birthday gift to myself) in the afternoon which I am SUPER excited about.

On Saturday, I am having my holiday open house party.  So far a decent amount of people have RSVPed that they will at least stop by.

So tonight I'll be trying to clear out some of my DVR and getting so sleep in preparation for a fun weekend ahead.

A match update

With my third month on match almost over, I've come to realize a few things....

1. Online dating is both extremely frustrating and amazing comic relief at the same time.
2. There are an awful lot of poorly taken cell phone photos as main profile pictures.
3. Writing skills are terrible.  Period.

I have now taken to forwarding most of the emails I receive to my mom for a good laugh.  The other day I received an email that just said this:

I was so tempted to write back and tell him congratulations.  PEOPLE, USE PUNCTUATION PLEASE!  It makes you look like a moron.

Then there are emails like this:

Great!  I don't think it takes a whole lot of effort to mention one thing you actually read on my profile that prompted you to write in the first place.

Don't get me wrong, occasionally (and I really mean occasionally) there is an email that pops up that is well written, shows they actually read my profile, and have taken the time to see that we might be looking for similar things.  I went out with two people because of this.

And then there's the profile pictures.  Profile pictures that are bed self portraits taken in their bathrooms.  Or webcams.  Or weird random photos with people cropped out.  Or the guy with his photo of him holding a glass of wine and a lobster.  This one I actually snapped a photo of and send to a few friends who have done match.  Nothing like expressing - hey, I like wine... and seafood - right on your profile picture.

What I find most frustrating is that about 75% of the people I actually email never get back to me.  Which maybe they aren't interested - and that's fine - but could they at least send the auto "thanks but no thanks" email.  At least I'm not sitting here wondering what's going on.

My 6 month period ends in the middle of February so I still have some time to see if it's worth it.  More than likely, I will chalk this up as a great experiment and will not continue after February.

The office holiday party

This past Saturday my office had our holiday party.  We had drinks and food at The Pour House and then caught a show at Second City (it was the show - "who do we think we are" if you are interested).  It was a blast and such a nice departure from the typical dinner-at-a-restaurant-and-then-go-home-early parties that I was having at my old company (sorry guys who read this - but I know you agree!).

I managed to capture a photo of my outfit for the night - holiday festive.

 *pants & shirt - Express, shoes - Steve Madden (old)

Also, I tried my best to grab a photo of my hair and makeup.  I had gold smoky eyes to play up the gold on my shirt and my new red lipstick.  I bought a curling wand to try to replicate my hair that George did.

So far it's turning out more wavy than curly and I can't seem to replicate the staying power that he could - though it still stays pretty wavy for a while.  I might have to buy a curling iron and give it a try that way.  For now, it is nice to have this option.

On Sunday, I headed up to my parent's house to do some baking in preparation for my party this weekend.  I made 8 different types of cookies with about 2-6 dozen each.  It was 10 hours of baking.

Thankfully, I had a cheering squad that entertained me a good portion of the time.

Also, we taught her about headphones.  Doesn't she look like a mini teenager???

Finally, at around 6:30pm when I was done cleaning up the kitchen, Kayla goes "Meme all done cook".  Yes, Kayla.... Meme was finally done cooking.

This week is a short work week for me and then Amanda is coming!