Whirlwind of a Week

I can't believe last Saturday was the 4th of July. I also can't believe that week 10, of my 14 week semester, flew by and ended yesterday. While I have a lot of work that I want to/need to get stared on, if I don't blog now, it will take me forever when I do, or a lot of the details will be left out.

After work last Friday night I went over to my friend Marissa's for a barbecue. Marissa and I went to Northwestern together, but she does not keep in touch with many Chicago NUs, so I didn't really know anyone there. However, I befriended a girl named Katie, and we bonded over the fact that neither of us works at Deloitte (where most of the attendees work). I decided to ride my bike to the bbq, and while everyone fussed about me going home "late at night," it really is liberating to speed past all of the cars while riding your bike on a cool, summer evening. :)

Saturday, the 4th of July, was spent with Dominique and Kesha and Kyana's family on the South side of the city. Good thing I started eating meet again recently, because they were serious meat eaters over there: hamburgers, hotdogs, chicken legs, duck and ribs. Even the potato salad had seafood in it. Dominique and I had talked about seeing the fireworks downtown, but friend of the family ended up being in town. Since I didn't know of anyone else going downtown to see the fireworks, and I didn't really feel like fighting the crowd, I decided to prepare or our party and just have a relaxed night to myself. I cleaned and organized my apartment as I baked some caramel corn. Sunday started with Zumba: always a delightful start to the day, followed by final party prep. (I baked a new recipe of 7 layer bars, and they were a hit!) While most of my friends were out of town for the 4th, I was able to have a good handful of friends stop by on Sunday.

All in all, the weekend was okay. After spending last year in Paris, and the year before in San Francisco, you can say that I might have had high expectations. I am lucky to have a good number of friends living in Chicago, but it seems that so many were out of town.

Monday began my crazy busy week. After all of the from the weekend, I decided that I really need to make working out and eating healthy/avoiding sweets a large priority. My goal was to make as many 6AM classes as possible at the gym. Also, when I started school, I told myself that I was going to focus on school, but somehow I have a lot of side babysitting jobs and take any opportunity I can to work. Here was the week:

Mon: Sculpting, week prep, Anatomy 10-12, Student Council Meeting 12-1, Biology 1-5, work 5-9:30, bed

Tues: 6AM Pilates, a little reading and studying, 10-12 Tai Ji, 1-4:30 h/c &hilight, 5-8:15 apt hunting w Emily and Karen- SUCCESS! (We will be living in Lincoln park in a couple of weeks. :) 8:30-11 Yoga training

Wed: slept in a little, 10-11:3yoga, studying 1-4 Anatomy, 4-6 Research, 6-9 Foundations of Chinese Medicine, CRASH- bedtime!

Thurs: 6:30 Spinning, 9-12 FCM, 12:15-3:30 babysitting, 3:45-4 presentation at PCOM, 4-7:15 unexpected work in the clinic for someone who was sick. Getting home by 8 was AMAZING!! Kesha was going to come over to finish my h/c, but I ended up going over there. Amber and I had the chance to walk for a bit first.
I always forget how much a haircut can make you feel different. I added some blonde back in and got some hilights and side bangs. I love it! I don't think it could have come at a better time. I was so tired and didn't feel like going all of the way home, so I crashed at Dominique's. She had to catch a flight this morning, so I headed out with her around 7. I went to the gym for a little and got ready for acupuncture and work. I officially signed my lease and headed over to babysit.

I definitely got a lot done this week, but it wasn't necessarily related to school. I didn't write this above, but I biked to and from my hair apt down on S. Halsted. (I think it was over 6 miles each way.) Tomorrow I am going to something called a sweat lodge with some of my classmates (in Dekalb). It sounds really interesting, and I like to force myself out of my comfort zone. Honestly, I am a little freaked out though. I will be going in this small, very hot lodge, in which I have only a very small amount of space for myself. It is is meant to be a humbling process in which each person pushes theirself and their boundaries to let go, not have judgments. I'll have more details after tomorrow.

Time to study!