So...What Else, What Else, What Else?

Six Week Challenge

2011-03-21T21:35:00.003-05:00

Today was my first day in my self-proclaimed "Six Week Challenge". The challenge for me is just to get my butt back into gear! Day one wasn't a complete win. There may have been some wimping out at the gym, a handful of chocolate and even some ice cream that I found in the freezer. WTF? Really? Not a good start at all.

So, I suppose that I could just scrap it and start anew, but I'm going to stick with it and call tomorrow Day 2. It has to be an improvement over today.

Six weeks is just until May 2. That's hardly anything. I can do this. Right? Right?

I'm lacking motivation lately. And will power. I've been in a bit of a funk lately. Ya wanna know why? I'll tell ya...because I've been eating crap and not moving enough! I just need to get back into the groove and things will turn around. Fake it 'til you make it!

I don't have any hard core rules to my six week challenge, but here's what I'm thinking:

1. Gym four times a week.
2. Meatless Monday each week.
3. No alcohol.
4. Get enough sleep! For me, 8 hours is ideal, but not always likely.
5. Stay on track even when I'm traveling, which is alot over these six weeks.
6. 5 fruits and veg a day.
7. Drink water!
8. Eat smart. Eat less. Move more.
9. Limit processed foods.
10. Be aware of choices!

Day 2 is tomorrow and I'm already getting ready for it.

Here we go again...

Tap, tap, tap...Is this thing on?

2011-03-21T14:59:00.002-05:00

Shit. I don't know what I was thinking saying that I might want to start blogging again. I do think about it, but putting it back into practice is quite another thing. I have no idea what to blog about. Dang, I mean it's really been over a year since I've said anything of value.

Here are some things that are going on:
1. I started vermicomposting in January and it's been fun. I love my little wormies.

2. Container gardening. I don't think I'm a green thumb, although I may be. My only attempt with gardening was in Phoenix years ago and, really, who can grow anything in 120+ heat. I'm going to do a garden on my balcony this spring & summer.

3. Westley the cat was really sick. That's not really fun. She's doing better now, thank you for asking.

4. Vacation. I made a commitment when I turned 29 that I'd leave the country every year. So far, I've done it! This year is looking shaky. I had to cancel a trip to Egypt (duh). Trying to convince The Boy (TM) to go to Montreal late this summer.

5. My parents are coming to visit for three weeks in May/June and we're going to do a trip around Lake Michigan. Fun.

6. Cooking. I've been cooking alot, purchasing fun kitchen appliances. Do you care?

7. I'm still chubby. It's a constant battle. Today is the Day One of my Six Week Challenge. It's just my own little personal challenge to eat well and exercise. Back to the gym, back to the trainer and backing away from the plate more often.

8. Meatless Monday. I'm going to start doing at least one day a week as a vegetarian. Today is also my first Meatless Monday.

9. Volunteering. My volunteer dance card is pretty full and I'm happy about that. I was also just asked to be on the Board of a local theatre and I'm looking forward to that adventure.

10. I'm at a loss.

blah, blah, blah

9.

What do you want to know about? Questions? Comments?

Consideration

2011-03-10T17:59:00.000-06:00

I'm thinking about starting to blog again.

What say you, Internet?

These are the words of the President I adore

2010-08-14T11:14:00.002-05:00

The Storm of the Century (of the week)

2010-06-24T18:00:00.001-05:00

Lightning strikes three of the tallest buildings in Chicago at the same time! from Craig Shimala on Vimeo.

Miss March 2011

2010-06-15T18:36:00.002-05:00

My friend from college, Stephanie and her husband, Joe, came to visit me for St. Patrick's Day. They've never been to Chicago and I hadn't seen Joe in nine years!! We had a great visit.

Stephanie sent me this note via email earlier today:

"Each year for Christmas I create a calendar for the grandparents with pictures taken of our family throughout the year. Cheesy, I know but they LOVE it!

Anyhoo…The other day Joe hands me our camera and says “Hey, include this picture of our trip to Chicago in this year’s calendar. It’s a decent picture and the parents would love it.”

I eagerly grab the camera and said “you’re right Joe that is a great picture of you AND GEGGIE, I am sure the parents would love it.”

We both laughed and kids had a wonderful time teasing dad about his eyesight and not being able to tell the difference between mommy and Auntie Geggie….

In case you were wondering, you will be Miss March in the 2011 Cartwright calendar."

I snorted out loud!

Gor--JESS

2010-06-03T13:01:00.002-05:00

It is spectacular here in Chicago. It's made me forget that today is only Thursday and I can't quite play yet.

Today's been great. Off to a late work meeting tonight and then a late sushi dinner at Tank.

Tomorrow is The Boy's birthday and we're going to The Violet Hour for drinks and then to Lula Cafe for dinner. I've been to The Violet Hour a million times and love it. Lula is new to me, but I'm looking forward to it. I'm leaning towards the halibut for my dinner.

Mayfest is also this weekend in Lincoln Square. Lincoln Square is a super cute neighborhood just to the east of my. Mayfest is basically an excuse to drink beer, eat brats and enjoy the gorgeous weather. Works for me.

Through all this, I'll be hitting the gym and being cautious of my caloric intake. It must be done.

Have a super de duper weekend!

What's Going On

2010-06-02T15:45:00.001-05:00

photo.jpg
Originally uploaded by geg5150

I've become a pretty crappy blogger in the past year or so. Boo on me. Here are a few updates:

1. I went to the Indy 500 this weekend. It was crazy. So many people, so loud and so fast. I'll tell you that it's a different class of people. You can click through the pic to see more pictures.

2. Bug came to visit in early May and I fell off the gym wagon. It's been about three weeks since I've been to the gym. Today I have a 6:30 p.m. spin class and I'm nervous about that.

3. I'm doing a little challenge with two of my co-workers to lose 12 lbs for our sales meeting in San Francisco on July 19th. That's 6 and a half weeks. I'll see what I can do.

4. I'm so excited for my vacation that starts exactly one month from today! I'll be in South Padre Island on the beach at my parents' house for five days and then off to Austin for Lolo's 40th birthday party. (Any great recs for what to get for a gift?)

5. Because of #3 and #4, I'm starting a boot camp class. I'm going to test the class at 6 a.m. on Friday and we'll see what happens from there. I'm worried about it. It's in a park just up the street from my house. I'm willing to put myself out of my comfort zone to do it.

6. My weight loss has plateaued. Of course, I'm not really doing much to jumpstart it, so hopefully this will help. As of January, I'd lost 43 lbs in a year. Great, huh? I've been maintaining since January and I'm happy about that. One step at a time.

7. No big fall vacation for me. Boo.

8. Summer is here in Chicago. Can't believe that this will be my third summer here! The past two have been mild and I'm thinking that this one is going to be warmer. Thank goodness for A/C.

9. The lady downstairs keeps her beagle on the balcony for most of the day and night and boy, if you know beagles, you know that they're barkers. Geez.

10. I've been using a self tanner and I can't decide if I look streaky or just silly.

Things Said in the Kitchen

2010-04-28T21:30:00.000-05:00

The Boy: What's wrong with this salt?

Me: What do you mean?

The Boy: This salt is different than the other salt that used to be in this bowl.

Me: Oh, yes, it is. I'm trying a new salt.

The Boy: I don't like it. It's not as salty as the other salt.

Me: It's fleur de sel. It's French.

The Boy: I knew it had a smug look on its face.

Fruit Salad -- Yummy, Yummy!

2010-04-27T11:12:00.002-05:00

My current fave fruit salad obsession is dressed with a lovely honey, lime & ginger dressing.

Lime & Ginger Fruit Salad
Blackberries
Mandarin oranges
Fuji apples
Bananas
Red Grapes

You know I don't really do measurements, but the dressing is the juice of 2 limes, a blob of good honey (I'm using a local wildflower honey) and a blog of fresh ginger.

Yum and good for you too!

Summer Drink

2010-04-14T19:43:00.004-05:00

Each spring I try to create my "summer drink" for the year. I realized 2010's drink this past Sunday evening at an impromptu backyard BBQ at my friend Betsy's house. I present to you the:

Blackberry Lime Gin Fizz
3 blackberries
Tanqueray Rangpur Lime Gin
Trader Joe's Sparkling Limeade

Muddle the blackberries in a glass with a fork. Fill with ice. Add the gin, we did about 1 1/2 shots in a big rocks glass. Top the drink with limeade.

Delish! We thought that this might be good with a little mint, but didn't have any.

Tonight, I played with the recipe a little and created the:

Limeberry Vodka
3 strawberries
Vodka
TJ's Sparkling Limeade

It was good, but I liked the blackberry/lime version better. I do think that the strawberry version would be good with basil!

Cheers to a lovely spring and summer!

I went on vacation

2010-03-31T13:48:00.000-05:00

It was Mom's 60th birthday back in October and we went to France and Ireland for two weeks. It was fun!

Pics start here!

The Sandwich

2010-03-27T15:50:00.002-05:00

I'm breaking the silence to share the best new sandwich I invented today.

A fried egg with brie and fig jam on toasted hearty wheat bread.

Apparently it was delicious. I don't eat fried eggs, but I would totally do it without the eggs or possibly with a slice of salty ham.

I guess I should stop by and visit again soon.

Two Weeks

2009-09-25T08:46:00.003-05:00

Just eight more work days until I depart for Paris! Mom arrives here in Chicago on the 7th and we take the red-eye to Paris on Friday night the 9th. I'm getting really excited, but realized in a panic last night that I really haven't done the preparation I need to.

First, I called about my iPhone and activating the $25 international service. I'm not so worried about the phone, but the Internet, the apps and the GPS will be a great feature. Until I found out that it's $25 for 20 MBs of data and I use on average over 700 MBs per month. Ouch! Looks like I'm gonna pass on that.

Mom really wants to do some wine tasting and I looked into going down to Burgundy for a wine trip, but instead have decided to do an over night trip to the Loire Valley. We'll stay the night in the town of Blois at this hotel. Then we'll hit the Château de Chenonceau, the Château de Chambord and the Château de Blois. I'd also like to visit some wineries, probably in Vovray. Eek, so excited!

I also booked us a wine class at O Chateau in Paris. I found it myself, but then saw that David Lebovitz recommended it, too. I love him and plan to take several of his recommendations.

On Sunday we'll be visiting the Place des Vosges and probably the Picasso Museum. Plans are to attend an organ concert at Notre Dame and eat dinner in the Marais.

We'll be visiting the Louvre at some point, too. We've both been, but you can spend a lifetime and not see everything. I also just found a private museum that I wasn't familiar with, the Musee Jacquemarte-Andree and it's just a block from our hotel, so we'll be hitting that for sure.

Between houseguests, traveling and being sick, I haven't been to the gym in three weeks! Yikes! So, today is my first day back and I plan to hit it everyday (except the four days I'm out of town next weekend). And, I've made the decision to bring workout clothes and shoes with me on vacation. The hotel we're staying at has a great gym and I really need to take advantage of it. Sure, we'll be walking plenty, but I really need to work up a good sweat at least every other day while I'm there.

Now, I haven't started planning the Dublin leg of the trip at all.

Do you have any suggestions for Paris or Dublin? I'm open to everything!!!

Take the Time

2009-08-20T11:31:00.002-05:00

Regardless of what your opinions are, I hope that you'll take the time today to join in the President's National Health Care Forum. It's at 2:30 Eastern. Just visit here to RSVP and you'll get a link to watch online. You can even submit your question to be answered.

I, for one, support some serious health care reform. In fact, I'd support complete socialized medicine. But, my opinion is neither here nor there. The point is that I hope you'll get involved and spend some time learning more about the proposed plans.

Can't We Just Be Polite?

2009-08-19T11:41:00.003-05:00

I'm not going to say that Mr. Frank was polite, or that his actions were appropriate. In fact, he's a little harsh and down right rude. But, really? Comparing President Obama to Hitler? That's a little extreme. I think that both parties in this exchange were going for shock value and trying to get our attention.

However, I do think that "Trying to have a discussion with you is like arguing with a dining room table, I have no interest in doing it" will be my new response to all things ridiculous.

60 Days

2009-08-10T09:24:00.002-05:00

It's officially less than two months until my big vacation for my Mom's 60th Birthday. I am just so ready for an escape, and nothing says escape like leaving the country for two weeks!

As I mentioned before, I'm using points for our hotel in Paris so it's FREE! This isn't exactly where I wanted to stay, but the price is right. Don't get me wrong, there's something to be said for American accomodations, but we're not going to be in America. The location isn't ideal either, but again...Nothing beats free, right? I shouldn't be complaining, I'm not complaining. In fact, I decided to use my "clout" as a Hilton Diamond member and shoot off an email to the Hilton Arc de Triomphe to request an upgraded room and an Executive Level guarantee (both of which I'm entitlted to as a "Diamond Member", but that are granted on an availability basis.)

Really, I'm not trying to be bossy or needy, I'm just trying to give my mom a kick ass birthday. I figured if I don't ask someone else will and I don't want that someone else sitting in our hotel suite with a lovely view of the Eiffel Tower.

I sent off a nice, short note explaining that I am bringing my mom to Paris for her 60th birthday and would very much like a nice view and an upgraded room. Withing hours I'd received an email return offering a VIP arrival with a bottle of Champagne and a birthday cake upon our arrival, a room with a view, and an upgraded room on the Executive Level. How nice is that?! I love great service!

I was kinda feeling like I might be over Hilton properties, but might give them another chance. We'll see how this trip pans out.

Today I Am...

2009-08-03T20:04:00.002-05:00

Shamlessly swiped from Blackbird.

... reading "The Sweet Life in Paris" by David Lebovitz

... listening to the new Regina Spektor album, "Far"

... watching the maple tree outside of my window

... drinking water

... making progress on reorganizing my new dresser drawers

... waiting for vacay in only 64 days!

... wondering how much it will cost to send all of my laundry out

... wanting this damn new rug in my office to stop shedding!

Poor Neglected Blog

2009-07-27T13:04:00.002-05:00

I don't know why I can't seem to blog more lately. Just lots going on. Work has been crazy and whenever I can walk away from the computer I do. Blogging just hasn't held much allure for me of late.

This weekend was fabulous! Friday we went to the Lawrence Fish Market and picked up enough fresh sushi grade fish to feed a huge family. Friends came over and The Boy and I made sushi, nigiri, sashimi and maki. It wasn't pretty, but it was delicious. Seriously, the best fist I've had in Chicago, if you're here...go. The place is a total dive of a fish monger, but worth it. And cheap, too! Lots of fish, new friends, four bottles of wine and a pineapple make for a fun night.

Saturday was sleeping late, breakfast, a neighborhood walk then off to miniature golf and then a viewing of Arsenic & Old Lace in the park.

Yesterday was more sleeping late then a trip to the gym and errands. The afternoon was completed with a few hours at the beach and then Raiders of the Lost Ark at a park in Bucktown. Dang, that's still a great movie.

I have GOT to get black out blinds in my bedroom. It's a south facing window and it's SO bright, it's light here by 5:15 or so.

I'm also starting to get excited about my trip to Paris with my Mom in October. It's now just about two months away. Still a surprise for her. I have two ideas on how to break the news to her. One is a list of "60 Things to do on Your 60th Birthday" with #1 being "Go to Paris with Geg!" Or, I'm thinking of just sending her a copy of this book with the itinerary in it. Mom doesn't really love surprises, so I need to tell her. Is two weeks enough notice? What do y'all think.

The other exciting thing is that I'm signed back up for classes at Second City. I was halfway through Level C when I had to drop out due to sickness early this Spring. I'm going back to retake Level C and classes start next Wednesday. I'm really looking forward to it. It will be with a new ensemble, so I hope that I like them and that they like me!

Work is work. After super crazy travel for a month, I'm home for a while and looking forward to getting back into a routine with classes, the gym, work and sleeping well!

Biggest fish

2009-07-20T23:03:00.001-05:00

We did a little impromptu fishing last night with The Boy and his dad.
I caught the first fish. The Boy caught the biggest...This 1.9 lb
bass. All together about 15 fish in just under three hours with two
bathroom breaks, 4 cigars, 10 beers and no injuries.

2009-07-20T20:57:00.003-05:00

I've written about this before, but I love the great ethnic markets here in Chicago. The two in my new 'hood are Andy's Fruit Ranch and Cermak Produce. Cermak is certainly Hispanic focused and Andy's is a little Middle Eastern, Eastern European and Hispanic mixed.

Tonight I went to Andy's to pick up a few things and I'm always shocked at how low the bill is. Here's what I got for $23.74 tonight:

1 gallon skim milk
1 head romaine lettuce
1 head of red leaf lettuce
1 bunch of celery
2 lbs of baking soda
1 1.80 lb cataloupe
1.45 lb green grapes
1.10 lb necatires
1.27 Fuji apples
3 limes
1 huge red onion
1 bulb of garlic
1 large hand of bananas
1 big red pepper
1 lb plum tomatoes
1 jar of Dijon mustard
1 jar of mayo
1 pint of sour cream
1 Milka chocolate bar

That's alot of stuff!!!

It's such a great $$$ saving option compared to going to Dominick's or Jewel everytime I need groceries.

Are you a contridiction?

2009-07-17T12:51:00.000-05:00

Chicago skyline before opening night of the Chicago Outdoor Film Festval

2009-07-14T20:37:00.000-05:00

Yep, you're reading that right. Beef lips.

2009-06-26T14:54:00.001-05:00

Fridge Friday

2009-06-26T08:51:00.001-05:00

Fridge Friday 6-26-09
Originally uploaded by geg5150

Click through to read the notes and see the freezer!

Let me see your fridge!