What happened to pottery class?

I've been thinking a lot lately about hobbies and identity. When you are a child, your life is consumed with extracurricular activities. When I wasn't playing with friends or whatever, I was at a million dance classes, art classes, singing lessons, acting classes, you name it. Except sports. Don't name that (I was not and will never be the athletic prototype).

So recently I have felt this longing for a piece of my childhood, or not to feel like such an adult with the weight of the world on my shoulders. I couldn't put my finger on what would make me feel better... more like "me" before I lost myself to the daily grind of working full time and spending the weekends being a foodie.

A friend of mine told me that she was signing up for a ceramics class on Monday nights, and it got my thinking how amazing that was. Amazing, yet I couldn't see the logic in me spending the money to do it. It made me sad. I took every single art class my high school had to offer. I used to sing, dance, act... the whole enchilada. What happened to that part of me? Did I lose it somewhere between studying for college finals and going to frat parties? Maybe. But I'm determined to get it back now.

In college I took two semesters of Italian and loved it. After the first week I decided I wanted to be fluent and have my future children be bilingual. But because of other scheduling conflicts I had to stop taking it. For some reason, I thought I would actually sign up for some kind of community center class or buy Rosetta Stone. Yeah, that didn't happen. Once I moved to Chicago I thought I would take these courses that meet every Saturday morning, but it was so expensive, and there was a conflict every few Saturdays for me to do that so I sort of gave up on the whole idea. Until recently. I kept realizing this void in my life, and finally stumbled across these language course podcasts. As soon as I started listening to them I felt like a different person. It was like some part of me had been trapped for four years.

But how many of us just give up these things that made us so happy for no reason at all? Maybe you played a sport in high school but "can't find a rec league." Or you used to sing all the time and perform in the musicals but haven't actually searched for a local chorus to join. Why do we freely drop these things that make us happy, that makes you you? How come our activities of choice now are not the ones that really make us happy, like going to the gym? Who says you can't do whatever you loved growing up.

I now realize that it's these little things that keep us going, that make you feel like a kid again, that make you feel that your identity doesn't have to be compromised just because you're getting older.

I don't know about you, but I'm finding an art class.

So thankful

Thanksgiving in Maryland was amazing. Hands down. It is also my all time favorite holiday.

Mark and I left for the east coast Wednesday afternoon, with Bella in tow. After 11 hours, we made it to my parents' house. It was so nice to reunite with the family, and be back on home turf. The next morning we got to meet up with our other family (Mark's family) and spend some time with them. We did the double dipping Thanksgiving this year, meaning we went to both families. Don't think that will be a reoccurring thing because it was just too much.

We were literally going all day every day we were home. Trying to squeeze in seeing our friends, while seeing all the family is really difficult.No one tells you that when you move away, coming home is like a marathon. You are literally racing all over the place, and passing out from exhaustion every night. Don't get me wrong- I LOVE being home. I miss it already in fact. This was the first trip home that I was really like "I miss DC" not just my family/friends. I guess we have really developed a connection in Chicago because things are becoming unfamiliar in DC, and I actually referred to the metro as the El. Fail.

Unfortunately, we had to race home on Sunday because I had a huge work event Monday. Luckily, this month will be a great one for us. This coming weekend, one of my besties Hillary will be visiting! Then next weekend we will be in New York for a family bnai mitzvah. Then, a week and a half after that, we are on our whirlwind Eurotrip. Can. Not. Wait.

In the meantime, I have been buying into the holiday sale craziness, and had a wonderful time buying lots of fun clothes. My fave purchases are probably a cashmere long sleeve tee from J. Crew, and leopard scarf. Loveee.

I am so incredibly thankful for all my family and friends. Thanksgiving would not have been the same without everyone.

It's my birthday!

(Tomorrow)

So it has been a little while since I have posted to the blog. I guess I have been pretty busy. This past week alone, I had an auxiliary board meeting for the American Lung Association, work has picked up a little since we have an event coming up, and I am now involved with the UMD alumni chapter in Chicago, which is keeping me busy. It is definitely a great way to keep myself busy with events from a different perspective. Last night we had a Maryland game watching event in Lincoln Park, and we had a pretty good turnout. Met lots of interesting people. Afterwards, me, Mark, and our friends Deanna, Brett, Kaitlin, and Matt went to dinner at Dos Diablos. It was really yummy, but the free tequila shots were not exactly life-changing. I was also super jealous of the tables that had sombreros and fake mustaches... not really sure what that was about, but it looked fun!

Today, I spent a good amount of time shopping, then Emily took me to tea at The Drake for my birthday. For those that do not know, The Drake is a very iconic, beautiful hotel in Chicago. Very delish.

Tomorrow is my 24th birthday... not exactly a big number. Birthdays definitely don't mean that much to me anymore, but none-the-less, I refuse to spend it at the office. So Mark and I are both taking the day off and running around the city doing fun stuff. :)  Can't complain.

This week, the stars have aligned and not only is Breaking Dawn coming out, but The Hunger Games trailer will be out (insert major thirteen-year-old-girl-squealing). Yes, I am a huge dork.

I am really looking forward to going home for Thanksgiving next week, even if it requires a ten hour drive each way. It feels like we haven't been home in so long, even though it was only two months ago. I'm worried that the longer I'm here the more often I want to go home. I don't like to feel like I am missing out on things, and since all our family is there, I definitely feel like that a lot. However, I do love Chicago, and not being here anymore would be really sad. (Please note that I made this statement before winter). It's hard to believe we have been here ten months and will look for a new place soon. Time does fly when you're having fun!

Hallo-weiner circle (yeah - only Chi people will get that)

After a particularly mind-numbing week and a half I am trying to be positive and hope that I can be... for at least the rest of the week.

Last week was just a slow week in general, and my flare-up with my back did not help things much. Plus I have some sort of weird insomnia going on where I can't fall asleep til at least 1am, and wake up inexplicably at 5 or 6am. I am running on fumes at the moment.

I spent Friday night and part of Saturday laying down and getting some rest. Also got to catch up on my reading list. I cranked out "the Wedding Girl" and "The hunger games" all by last night. Woo. So Saturday night, instead of being the cool kids like we used to be (sort of), Mark and I didn't do anything Halloweeny, and opted for a nice dinner at an intimate restaurant. To be honest, that was better in a lot of ways. Dressing up and going to bars kind of takes me back to my college days, and somehow I feel like I'm too old for it, or over it, or something. Of course I did get sad that I didn't dress up and go out when I saw all my friends cute pictures.

The next morning, we drove around Lincoln Park in a semi house-hunting kind of way, and then met up with Emily and Mike for brunch. It was nice because we went to one of the Original Pancake Houses here, and that was a nice reminder of home. Even though the decor looked absolutely nothing like the ones back in Maryland, it made me feel a little less homesick.

So I was kind of a party pooper this Halloween, but on the bright side- Bella did dress up. And she was the cutest Chicago-style-hotdog ever.

It was fun last night handing out candy to the adorable trick-or-treaters... even if we only got fifteen of them. They were all in love with Bella and her outfit, and one cute little four-year-old kept saying "I love his hot dog!" which was really cute/funny. I love the kiddies.

Certified D.V.M.?

I had another very short work week this past week...only three days cause of the Jewish holidays. Win.

Unfortunately, my poor little Bell has been sick for over a week, and I spent a lot of the time back and forth from the vet's office. She has/had pancreatitis, which is not the same as it is for humans, just a more intensified stomach bug that basically is caused from the pancreas. I feel like I've been to vet school with all my new-found knowledge on the canine digestive system. Mark and I had been planning on taking a mini trip to Madison, WI this weekend, but we decided to postpone til Bella gets better. Luckily, she seems to be doing better now. Here she is playing Twister...

C'mon... how cute is that?

Anyway, Mark and I spent most of the weekend in relaxation mode; we watched some good TV, went to dinner and saw some friends. The place we went to dinner is called Bridge House Tavern, and it's one of my new favorite spots in Chicago. It is so cute and intimate, and right on the river. Plus, the food/drinks were good. Definitely going back there soon.

This week should be pretty busy with work stuff, but hopefully we can do something Halloween-ish over the weekend. I am going to be Sookie from Trueblood, Bella is going to be a Chicago-dog (hotdog), and Mark, well, he probably won't dress up. We may only be wearing these costumes for a little while, but the pictures are totally worth it.

Happy Halloween!

I'm-a-pumpkin-pickin

Well the last week or so has been quite eventful. I had a three day week last week since I work for a religious organization, and buh-da-da-dum... I have another three day week this week! This has given me some fun extra time to relax and try to get better from my millions of ailments. This past weekend, I did some good shopping, went to a girls' night wine and dinner party, and was all over Chicago seeing people. Not to mention, Mark and I drove out to a pumpkin patch. That is one of my favorite fall activities, so I was really glad we were able to go this year.

I love being able to act like a kid, while watching millions of kids. Yes, it is slightly weird for a grown woman to love the pumpkin patch, but that's me. Unfortunately I dropped the ball this year on going to the Renaissance Fair, so that will have to wait til 2012.

Poor Bella has been sick for the past week, she has some kind of stomach bug. So sad. It just so happened that my back, and Mark's ear infection decided to make a relapse at the same time. Awesome week for the fam. Anyway, we are probably going to go to Madison this weekend, for at least one day, since Mark and I have an extra day off from work. I'll keep you updated if we make the road trip.

Three things I'm excited about this week:
1. The lovely fall weather
2. My pretty new purchases from J. Crew
3. I only have two more days of work this week!

Not a vacation, but home

Last week Mark and I got to go home for the second time since being in Chicago. We had a late night flight back to DC on Wednesday, and it was way more complicated than I would have imagined. For those of you who do not know, I have been very fearful of flying in the past. Over the last two months I have been working on curing my phobia and I really think it is working well. My stress for the flight actually stemmed more from the fact that Bella was flying with us. It was her first time flying, and she did NOT like being zipped in that carrier. Luckily, unless we were being yelled at, we let her head peek out from the bag, and she was okay with that.

The few days home were completely exhausting. Thursday, we went to Rosh Hashanah services, saw some friends, and went to dinner with Mark's family. The next day we saw more friends and my mother-in-law hosted a giant dinner of extended family. Sorry fam, but we will not be doing that every time we go home, it is just too stressful.

 Bella was very excited to see her best friend Lily again!

Saturday, Mark and I spent the entire day driving to and from Harrisburg, PA for a high school friend's wedding. The wedding was beautiful, the bride and groom are very cute together, and we got to see friends, so that made it worth the trek.

Sunday, we saw more friends and had some more family time, then flew back to Chicago at night. Busiest four days ever (or at least I say that until we are home for Thanksgiving). Still, there is something to be said about being at home.

But for now... back to the grind!