I have now been to 16 states. That’s not many I suppose in comparison to other world travelers, but I’ll take it. Plus, I bet you’ve never been to South Dakota. I have; that was pretty cool. Anyway. Over the weekend I went to Aspen, Colorado with five of my friends. Random trip, but it was probably one of my favorites. Now, I should note that I didn’t go to Aspen because I am an avid skier and I couldn’t wait to hit the slopes and crush some fresh pow. (I learned how to speak in snowboarder language, hence my wicked lingo.) In fact, I have never skied or snowboarded in my life; I’m more of a lay by the...

It was Sunday morning and this girl was in dire need of a great restaurant, with a great brunch to end off my weekend. After a few recommendations from friends, and searching Yelp, I decided on Bongo Room in the south loop of Chicago. Strangely enough, it wasn’t the incredible meal (which I’ll get to shortly) or the coffee bar to entertain us while waiting that made the experience, it was our waiter, and hopeful new friend, David. Jessie and I sat down after hanging out at the coffee bar for about a half an hour. Normally we would be I would be on edge that we had to wait, but there was no place to be and the bar made the wait...

My recent dismissal from writing has not been due to a lack of falling in love. In fact, I have fallen in love with an abundance of difference things; people, food (obviously), nature, the world. My mere 3 week absence is mostly blamed on being too busy to sit down and let my thoughts and experiences unravel on the keyboard and into a story; something that I’m typically keen to enjoying. The reoccuring feeling of having too much going on physically and mentally is something that I plan to address in 2013, as I aim to focus on making time for things that make me happy, and to stop and smell the roses, for  a lack of a better...

Today I was very productive. And it made me feel good. It feels good to accomplish something, and to cross something off that t0-do list. For me, my tasks were minimal, but I still feel GREAT. For example, I made my Target run. I only needed three things (toothpaste, floss and new lip balm.) (Apparently I am concerned about my dental hygiene this week.) I ended up buying those three things, PLUS: a combo pack of my favorite toothbrushes, travel size lotion, travel size hairspray, shoes and a skirt for work. Oh, and mints. Although the receipt exceeded my original intentions, I am confident in my purchases, and feel as if I now have...

Dear Mystery Man at the gym, You are very cute. I’m usually not into the whole cliche story of “I met this really cute guy at the gym..” but for you, I would be into it. We’ve made eye contact a few times, including today. I wonder what you thought about my very red, sweaty face. Maybe you were thinking like, “wow this girl really knows how to work the stairmaster!” Or, you were more like “yikes.” I’m going to go with yikes, but since you made eye contact I’ll add some upside to the possible negativity. You have tan skin, and long-ish brown hair and your physique is great....