Making a Habit

Over Christmas, while I was face deep in a dip which consisted of Velveeta Cheese, ground beef and salsa, and holding a glass of wine in the other hand I read an article on Molly Sims. She said that as a challenge she wanted to see if she could work out everyday for a month in order to create a habit. After that month she said she can't miss a day without feeling off. Since I am only inspired and driven to do anything by celebrities I decided to test this out. So, starting January 1,2012 I told myself I'd work out everyday for a month and see how I feel afterwards. Some days were only about 30 minutes, some longer. Some days were a yoga classes, while others were in the gym sweating it out twice a day. I am lucky that I have a co-worker who has been pushing me as well. We have carved out an hour each day to work out during these long, cold winter days. And as of January 31, 2012 I have yet to miss a day!

 I have to say, after 30 days of working out and eating well (much better than those last few months of 2011, that was intense) I feel...... exactly the same. Each day, especially the weekends, was a total pain in the butt to make myself work out. I also don't really notice much of a difference weight wise. I haven't weighed myself yet; saving that for the grand reveal on Friday when it has officially been over a month. But with a goal of loosing weight through this experiment I have to say I'm a little displeased. I'm also not sure if a habit was really formed over this past month. Don't they take it takes 30 days (some day 20) to make something a habit? Who are "they" and why are "they" lying to me?!

Although I don't feel different and haven't noticed any weight loss, I am happy with this accomplishment and hope to carry it on throughout the year. I may have to mix it up in the upcoming months as I have a few weddings this year that are pushing me to get my butt in shape! Below is a picture of what I'm assuming I'll look like by June (a very realistic goal)

Chicago's Greatest Gift to the World: Food

Though America may laugh at the way we talk, joke about our professional sports teams (maybe next year, Cubs), and fear our winter's; one thing they can't deny is that Chicago knows how to cook, and eat!! I am luck enough to be dating someone who appreciates a good meal. No, that's an understatement; I am lucky enough to be dating someone who lives to eat and makes it a life's goal/mission to try all the great food this city (and the world) has to offer. Before dating Neil I enjoyed the basics, Italian, Mexican, Sushi, etc. however since Neil and I started dating I have been introduced to so many new types of food! Although some of these pre-date the "year of doing" Neil and I have been on a mission to experience so many of the amazing restaurants Chicago has to offer. We started by making a lot of decisions based on the Chicago 2012 Bib Gourmond list (http://www.michelintravel.com/what-is-bib-gourmand/chicago-2012-bib-gourmand-restaurants/). When this first came out we started checking them off left and right! It's been such neat way to see the city as well as try many different types of places.

NOTE TO READER: Food/restaurants will be documented frequently in this blog.

In the last 6 weeks or so, Neil has really stepped up his game! We've been to some unreal selections!! In late December we went to Longman and Eagle (http://longmanandeagle.com/) with Neil's fellow foodie, Nick. This was the most unreal meal of my life (at that point). They had this ravioli on the menu that changed my life. This was also the first time that I had bone marrow and sweetbreads. The sweetbreads here are the best I've had since! I HIGHLY recommend this place. They also have an amazing beer selection, my favorite was the Hitachino Nest White Ale, I think it's because of the cute little owl on the bottle! Love the environment here, super laid back, and as my boos pointed out, everyone who works there looks like Lumber Jacks (mmm hmmm)!

The following weekend we went to Boka (http://www.bokachicago.com)
with my good friend Mary Kate and her fiance Kirk. Boka was great! Very fancy inside, but the food was also great and unique. Similar to Longman and Eagle, we just got a bunch of plates to split. The scallops and the octopus really stood out to me at this restaurant.

After the New Year Neil and I went to the Purple Pig (http://thepurplepigchicago.com/) with Nick (mentioned above) and his girlfriend Becky. This was a fun and great meal. Being located right on Michigan Avenue I did not think this would have the amazing types of food and warm environment it did! They do not take reservations here, so get there EARLY or plan to wait. Which we did. We went across the street for a drink and they are great about calling you when your table is ready (very nice). It's communal seating, which can be a lot of fun. The stand out for me here was the pig's ear's. Sick, I know, but so amazing. I don't think there was one thing we ate that I didn't absolutely love. I would highly recommend this place and can't wait to go back. I loved the ambiance as well. It's a lot smaller than I thought it would be, but very cozy, especially on the freezing night we went!

For Neil's birthday we went to Alinea (http://www.alinea-restaurant.com/). Wow. First of all, before I get into the food, the experience is unlike anything I've ever done in my life. The website is similar to the restaurant, no sign up front, just the address. You walk in and even the hallway and doors are cool! They called us a few days before and asked if we had any food allergies, etc, which was cool. The food is all so amazing and unique. Each bite has a million different flavors! The bite that stood out to me was the hot potato/cold potato combo. Every course was presented in a different way which was super cool. The staff there was amazing. They were welcoming and presented each course with so much knowledge. This was definitely a night to remember! Below is a picture of the dessert that was plated by Grant Achatz. It was done on the table, amazing!











Last night, we went to Publican (http://thepublicanrestaurant.com/) which was really cool. I love the environment there. The beer was so great and our waiter and the whole staff was so nice and helpful with selections and suggestions. The plate that stood out to me was the pork belly. Wow. Can't wait to go back here in the summer time!

Some other places we've been lately:
Browntrout - I like the environment, not totally crazy about the food.
Hopleaf  - Words can't express how much I loved this place. Great food. Great drinks. Fun environment.
Lao Sze Chuan - Chef to the celebrity, Chef Tony strikes again. Very good!
Owen and Engine - Best fish and chips ever. Though I've never been, I imagine this is what it's like to sit in a London pub. Great for the winter too!

Children?

This weekend my 8 year old cousin came down to the city for a sleep over! Let me first start by explaining Cameron. He's a 40 year old in an 8 year old's body. He's insanely smart and hilarious. After hanging out with him for 15 minutes you forget he's 8 years old! He cracks me up. So I picked him up Saturday and we went back to my apartment where my boyfriend met us. I don't think Neil (boyfriend) and I had any idea what we were in for! Immediately Cameron brought out his comic book that he was writing and began to tell us the plot and where he sees the series going (which is very creative and a great idea).
We then moved to the movie Cars 2, which I loved, accompanied by a pre-dinner brownie (that's the role of the "fun" cousin, right?). After dinner we started up a Wii tournament, followed by some Disney channel shows. By 9:00 we were beat (I had Willow House training bright and early that morning, which was a bit draining and Neil had gone out till 3:00 am the night before. Another sign we are not yet remotely close to being ready for children)! However, we wanted to be "cool" so we let him stay up another hour, which actually turned into close to two hours. Neil slept in my room and Cam and I had a sleep over on the couch. All was peaceful at that point.
Then at 6:45am I hear some rumbling and moving around. Cam was up. Let me again state what a great kid he is; he sat there and read and worked on his comic book because he saw I wasn't totally up yet. He's so great! The morning flew by after Dunkin Donuts and Harry Potter. Thanks to my cousins Jim and Syd for letting Cam come down for the night! What a great time!!
Neil and I ended the night by an amazing dinner out followed by splitting a bottle of wine and not saying a word to each other. We learned to appreciate silence again.

Why the Year of Doing?

As 2012 approached I was thinking of the standard resolutions: loose weight (ha), be nicer to people, eat healthy, blah blah. I realized that each year I never really fulfill these resolutions and instead decided to just have this be the year of doing. Who knows how long this will last, but it's worth a shot, right?

The first item I decided to tackle this year is volunteering. Every year I say I am going to do this and it seems to fall through the cracks, which is a nice way of saying I get lazy. So to make it happen this year, I started by getting involved with a great organization called Willow House (http://www.willowhouse.org/). My good friend Katie worked with them and encouraged me to get involved. I am currently half way through training and looking forward to working with these amazing people going forward. So far I have learned so much and am looking forward to learning much more!

Next Saturday is PAWs orientation (http://www.pawschicago.org/) which I will be sure to report back on after that.

Another part of the "Year of Doing" will also be this blog. Again, how log I manage to keep up with this will be part of the challenge.

I think this year is inspired by a few different things:
1. I feel that it's time to start doing things that aren't 100% for me, weird concept, I know.
2. I never saw the movie, but I feel like "Yes Man" is a concept I'd like to embrace. Instead of saying no and finding reasons not to do something, I am going to push myself to say yes and do more.
3. James Franco. May seem odd to some, but my boyfriend and I always laugh at the SNL skit where they make fun of Franco for being so random and doing a million things at once ("I just like doing things!") So I think it would be fun to do new things this year and see if this changes my mindset.

To help you understand where I am coming from, below is the Franco clip
http://www.hulu.com/watch/213311/saturday-night-live-weekend-update-james-franco