a year in review

One year ago, we were unpacking boxes and reality was setting in: I was officially a Chicagoan. I literally can’t believe a year has passed since then! I still feel like a transplant in a lot of ways, but every once in a while something jumps out at me and I realize maybe I’m a little more settled than I think...

...Like how I’m not interested in driving basically ever (I just love the train/bus/biking way too much)...

...And then there are those Sharp As and Os that come out of my mouth when I least expect it (Sometimes I actively repeat words in my head afterwards in the non-Midwestern way just to make sure I still can)...

But I think the biggest change that’s occurred, aside from my making new friends, getting a new job, starting a new life with my new husband—you know, little things—was finally appreciating Fall, Winter, and Summer in their true forms. Sidenote: Texas pretty much owns Spring so let’s not worry about that one.

Fall

Ummmm September & October are freaking amazing. I’ve never seen trees turn like that. Of course by November it’s freezing BUT…for two glorious months you live in a giant vat of orange, yellow, and reds. And you play tennis and drink lattes and wear scarves and watch football and anything is possible.

Winter

The novelty of snow distracted me all the way into February. It's always so white! And boots are fun! And fires are warm!

Then I just got angry. Thank God it wasn’t just me—everyone was pissed off by April when it kept freezing and snowing and sleeting and raining and my favorite: freezing-snow-sleet raining. The worst part was, everywhere else in America (and by that I mean, in Texas) it was already on the verge of Summer. However. There’s something to be said for the fact that it snowed on Christmas and we could drive to a ski slope and we witnessed a blizzard and played in giant six-foot snowdrifts. There was certainly no confusing that I was, in fact, experiencing a real live winter.

Summer

And last but not least, sweet sweet Summer. The heat of Austin summers never really bothered me, but I still can officially say I’m a Chicago Summer Convert. Nevermind that Spring completely blew us off and went straight from 45 to 75 degrees. BUT THEN IT STAYED THERE. I think we had one week’s worth of 90-degree weather, and I played tennis on both of the hottest days so that means it was only fake hot. It was pretty sad not to spend time at the pool, but then again that’s because there were so many other awesome things to do outside like be outside all the time. I started a new gym membership and went about six times because I could just run outside instead. In the summer! Everything’s been so lush, and so breezy, and just…I can't say enough. All I can say is - this is totally what makes all eight million people stay put for the other nine months of the year. I get it.

I'm already excited to look back in another year and see the new changes we embarked on, see whether I feel like I can call the city home, and most importantly, see if anyone from Texas punched me in the face over a cAn of pOp. Here's to Chicago!

chop it off

I rarely get my hair cut. Case in point, the last time I saw my hair stylist, I didn't even know she was pregnant...now she has a three-month-old baby. Zing!

The good thing about never going to the salon is that it's a BIG DAY when you do go! My hair has been medium-to-long for a while now...like almost three years. Not only is that a long time to see the same thing in the mirror every day, but it also means I've wasted hours upon hours trying to style this mane. It was great for the summer because I could easily throw it into braids or a bun, but wearing it down (God forbid, wavy) was starting to take an inappropriate amount of my attention.

so much hair.

I've always wanted to do Locks for Love and never had enough hair, so this was an awesome opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. I decided to chop it on Saturday and went in on Sunday. Boom goes the dynamite!

awkward picture at my desk. go with it.

We cut off a full 10 inches (and then some, to clean it up), but the angle in the front helps it not look all that short, which is awesome! I'm a little scared to see what happens when I try to go wavy since I looked like a Schnauzer this morning before I straightened it, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there, right?

perfect little thursday

Last week I flew into Austin for our annual Girls Trip, this year to Lake Conroe outside of Houston. We ended up delaying our drive until Friday, which left me with one glorious free day in the city. I had a few plans and Megan's car, but I had no expectations for the day turning out as awesome as it did. And it was so simple.

Step 1: Taco Deli breakfast taco at Cafe Medici. Two of my favorite things wrapped into one.

Step 2: I realized I had some free time, so I zipped (because everything in Austin seems so ridiculously close now that I live in this gigantoid city) over to Remembrance Gardens, where my dad and grandparents are buried. For those of you who haven't been there, it's a beautiful, lush garden with plaques interlaced among the foliage, so it doesn't feel like you're in a cemetery persay, just in a beautiful serene little oasis in the middle of the city. I really enjoy going there, and it was great to have a little unexepected quiet time.

Step 3: Having coffee with Amanda at Mozart's, right on the lake. Now we're getting three things I love all wrapped into one.

Step 4: Going downtown to see my old bosses' new office and then enjoying Mexican food for lunch. I make it a point to catch up with these guys everytime I'm in town, because they were such a huge part of my life for three years. Hanging out with them is always so refreshing!

Step 5: Meeting up with Emily at Town Lake for stand-up paddleboarding. God bless a teacher's schedule! It felt ridiculously hot by that point (107, not including heat index) and getting in the water was ah-ma-zing.

Step 6: TCBY. They don't have this in Chicago. I can't talk about it.

Step 7: Dinner at Vivo - two quesos in one day!

Step 8: Hitting up Red River with Mego and Jenilee. Loved ending the day with two of my best friends and a bunch of hipsters.

Step 9: Knowing that I'd wake up to a trip with 9 of my favorite people. Sleep tight indeed.

The whole day, while packed with greatness, was super laidback, and I truly felt joy from encountering so many of my favorite things about Austin in one impromptu day. Fortunately, my day of awesomeness actually didn't make me sad to return to Chicago. Instead it underscored that these cities are two very different animals, and while everything I loved about my perfect little day in Austin couldn't be re-created in Chi, the exact vice versa would be true as well. And getting the best of both worlds isn't a bad gig at all...

cross one off

One summer to-do that I was really craving was camping. We tried exploring a local state park on our anniversary, but it happened to be chock full of tweens looking like they got lost on their way to Gadzooks. Nature fail.

Fast forward to 4th of July weekend - I had a few days off work and decided on Wednesday that we must go this weekend but of course I had no time to deal with logistics, so Brian put on his Good Husband hat and spent hours researching local campgrounds before settling on Governor Dodge State Park, four hours away outside Madison, WI.

Getting a good campsite is critical and the odds aren't in your favor: you could be too far from the bathrooms; be directly next to them; have no shade, no privacy, no grass, no flat surfaces, or the worst upon worst - no place to hang a hammock. For some reason, a random person happened to have made a video on YouTube of all the campsites, so we actually got to choose our site based on a photo, which is nothing short of a miracle. All the shots were taken during the winter, so we were pumped to arrive at this lush little cove:

Other highlights from the weekend included:

Discovery of American flag Budweiser cans.

I feel pretty confident that I'd never had an entire full-bodied Budweiser before that weekend, and yet it took me approximately one second to be converted in the beer aisle at Walmart.

Brian: We're getting that American flag beer.

LB: Ew, what? No Brian that's dumb. And gross...Wait, the cans have flags on them? It's not just the box?...Okay yeah we're totally getting that.

Realizing we forgot utensils.

Nothing makes you feel like a badass more than making bacon-egg-and-cheese breakfast tacos with only foil and a pot. Somehow this assured me that I might survive if I was ever left to die in the woods (totally irrational from all angles).

Playing beer die with a rock wrapped in foil.

Because why not.

post-sink

Hammock, smores, sparklers, lightning bugs, raccoons attacking our cooler, and all things camp-ish.

Geocaching.

So one day we wanted to go hiking but didn't really know how far we wanted to go or where we wanted to end up, i.e. the perfect recipe for a little geocaching. There was only one cache that looked like it was at all near us, so we struck out on a trail and tried to head in the right direction. The problem is, the GPS will tell you exactly how far away you are if you go in a straight line, but when you're in the woods, you have to make some educated guesses about which trails are going to get you where you want to go. And there's obviously no guarantee you're going to find it, if you can even get close.

After about an hour of hiking we were getting discouraged, and I suggested we go 15 more minutes before turning back. Low and behold, we reached a separate trail leading to a cave: the perfect spot to hide a geocache! So we got to a huge rock formation, and the GPS said 90 feet in front of us. We walked around to the other side, and the GPS said 90 feet in front of us. I would say we obviously had no choice but to climb on top of it, but that wasn't obvious to me at all. What was obvious was that we'd wasted a lot of time and now were getting mixed signals from the GPS and had zero indication that this thing was actually going to be on top and were thinking about climbing up something that I wasn't sure could be climbed up. By the time I'd finished processing all that, Brian was in a cheerleader booster position waiting to hoist me up...sigh.

After a little scrambling we made it to the top, and the GPS said it was only 16 feet away. That's about as accurate as it gets, so I started looking while Brian totally lost interest altogether (p.s. this is by far the most fun part - how can you just give up at the end?!). After a couple of minutes, I noticed this:

Upon closer inspection.
Jackpot!

Okay, now I know this story could not have possibly made you as excited as I was to find this thing, but I was STOKED. It's just so cool to go out looking for you don't even know what, and then two hours and one rock formation later, to find an ammo box hidden behind a rock! It contained the usual tchotchkes, a guide of local poisonous plants (thanks?), and a one-sheeter about the history of the park. Nothing too exciting. BUT we also got to see this awesome view, which we never would've stumbled upon on our own. Accidental exploration is really the best thing about geocaching anyway.

Overall, I got my camping fix and thought it was a great way to spend the 4th of July! Cheers for the USA!

the little things

In May, we went to Austin for Ashley & Sean's wedding in Austin, and even though this is a belated post and I'm 99% sure she doesn't even read this blog, I had to share some of the photos that captured what a beautiful job she did on this wedding. (We all know Sean had one job: show up on time).

Planning a wedding is such a roller coaster. It's so joyous, and so exciting, and SO TIME CONSUMING. To be able to really see your vision through to the end is just about impossible. You have an idea of the theme, vibe, color scheme, whatever, and the next thing you know, in-laws, budgets, timing, and stress get in between you and your concept...if you even have a concept to begin with.

But Ashley did. And even though I know those challenges reared their ugly heads, she stuck to her vision, pushed through late nights crafting, and created the most beautiful vintage-chic wedding I've ever seen!

Some details:

A 50s inspired luncheon

Hand-sewed bunting (which reappeared on the pedicabs)

Mason jar vases

Favors

Centerpieces / Tablecloths

Parasols

Handmade cake topper and awesome floral arrangements as the bottom layer

And of course, the dress and the suit

I just loved every second of it. As someone who's obviously planned a wedding, I could see little pieces of Ashley's vision everywhere I looked throughout the weekend. It took her so much work, but all the special touches made it an unmistakable Fric 'n Leitch extravaganza.

summer? is that you?

Chicago finally flipped the switch to summer (who needs spring?!) and I'm loving it like I a fat kid loves cake!

Summer in Chicago means:

• ring game on the deck...don't forget to check in on foursquare
• biking on the lake path
• 3 out of 9 seedlings surviving - praise baby Jesus, we might get a sprig of cilantro by the time this is all said and done!
• lightning bugs
• PRIDE
• Bossypants
• visitors! if Brad had stayed one more minute my diaphragm would've caved from too much laughing
• the Cubs
• Thirsty Thursdays at work (4 p.m. themed happy hour, did I pick it right or what)
• using our masterfully-manipulated-grill from the neighbors
• leaving the windows open
• beach volleyball

Still on the summer to-do list:

• making a friend with a boat
• swimming
• being hot enough to swim
• camping
• leaving work before 7 not that I'm complaining about being gainfully employed
• securing a 30% seedling-to-plant turnover rate

Let's please also have a moment of silence for Austin summers, which involved leaving work every day at 5, at least one happy hour with friends a week, the CoPo, and it being too hot to even think about growing something.

.....

Now, back to awesomeness here.

rosemary lane in the house

The amount of work looming over my head should prevent me from doing any writing right now, but I'm coming off such a lovely weekend with Jackie and Katie and thought there's no time like the present to post about it!

Their trip was relatively last minute, but thanks to a new slew of vacation days gifted to us to use over the summer, I didn't have any problem taking off Friday afternoon to enjoy the phenomenally beautiful day! The girls came in the night before, so they spent the morning getting some coffee and walking through the neighborhood, and then ventured onto public transit to come meet me at work - what city girls!

Deep dish pizza, Giordano's

the bean, Millenium Park

after watching about a hundred teens take

prom pics in front of Buckingham Fountain, we needed our own

great table for drinks at the Signature Lounge

(where Brian and I got engaged)

the view!

with our beach v-ball courts in the distance

After all that on Friday, we finished off the night with sushi and some ring game on the porch. PHEW!

Saturday was less touristy, with a delicious stop at the coffee shop, more local shopping, frozen yogurt, a rainstorm & TV, Thai food, a patio bar, and multiple bunny sightings on our walk home (what in the WORLD are they all doing here???).

sporting some local 312

Unfortunately Jackie left early on Sunday, but Katie and I enjoyed brunch and more walking and shopping before she had to leave. Oh and this gem:

Ginger Twin from our super local brewery, Half Acre

8% discount if you're a ginger.

10% if you have a red beard too.

25% if you have a twin.

50% if you are ginger twins.

Presumably 100% if you're that dude on the bottle.

Another highlight of the weekend was getting to randomly meet up with two friends in town!

Sally in town for work!

KT's high school friend Matt in town visiting his boyfriend.

This boy makes me giggle, always.

The weekend was so fun because it gave me a great reason to check out new places, walk a ton, enjoy the amazing weather, and truly be happy to say that this is where I live!

As our three lives continue to shift and naturally take different courses (most specifically, courses that don't involve us all living together, taking classes together, and constantly knowing every detail each other's lives), it's so great to have a couple of days to just be in each other's company with no particular "activities" driving the interactions. Weirdly, I really loved just sitting around and watching TV because it felt so normal, and sometimes it's hard to get to just do nothing with each other when we get so little time to spend together. Sometimes those little moments of nothing add up to everything, don't you think?