Puddle Jumping

The rainy, chilly afternoon clashed with my need to get stuff done. 

You know the weather's bad when there are no lines at Aldi. 

Between grocery shopping, work, and an interview, my wellies were on and off all day. 

Luckily Joe made massaman curry to warm me up when I finally made it home for the night. 

Now let's hope it gives me the strength to tackle tomorrow's trip to the DMV.

They only babble who practice not reflection.
-Edward Young

Shivering

Where did summer go tonight? On the bright side, my lettuce looks peppier.

Balcardening

I live in a city. And I like fresh veggies/herbs. Something had to be done. 

Thank goodness I have a little balcony space. 

  

Where I plan to spend every breakfast until October

Homemade upside down strawberry planter

Old dresser drawers make perfect window boxes
 for two kinds of tomatoes.

The lettuce doesn't like me so far.
But the basil and I are in love.

Volunteering

I did a little volunteering at the Chicago Canine Rescue Beer Tent on Sunday. I figured that since I sling beers for a living, I may as well sling 'em for charity too. The Chicago Canine Rescue is a really great organization. They encourage volunteers to walk in and just take a dog for walk around the hood. It's a fun, easy, commitment-free way to lend a hand, and it results in super happy pups (not to mention you get one-on-one time with an assortment of adorable dogs). Surely there aren't many shelters in which the dogs get walked and loved on three times a day. When we finally pull the trigger and get a dog, this will be my first stop. 

Anyways, the hot hot heat at the Belmont/Sheffield Music Festival ensured scores of beer guzzling, sun-burnt patrons to keep us busy, and it didn't hurt that the tent had a spot right by the stage. As such, I learned that you must be drunk to enjoy a few solid hours of Journey covers. Unfortunately, we couldn't drink. So I had a polish instead. All in the name of a good cause, I suppose.

   

My kind of charity.

Kite Flying

 Last weekend we went to the Montrose Harbor Kite Festival and oh.my.god it was satisfying. It was as if we were visiting a magical hill of happy children, each leading their little flying pets across the perfect sky. And we got to fly our parachuting Hulk kite. Joe and I asked ourselves why kite flying was such a rare treat when we were children. It's a free outdoor activity, something parents usually covet. Why weren't we headed out for the windy hills every weekend? After taking twin three-year-olds out for a fly later a few days later, I've realized that it's because kite flying is a pain in the ass. No wonder my parents never wanted to take us - it's the adults that get stuck winding it in, chasing it down, and fixing it after the damn thing crashes into the dirt one too many times. And now I'm the adult. Crap. Well, I will continue to kite fly this summer (especially since I found a butterfly kite in our storage space last night), but every weekend? Nuh uh.

"Remember how awesome the summer of 2012 was?" says future me.

Among all the other stuff I do, I am also studying philosophy (because thinking about stuff is nearly as fun as doing it!) School can really inhibit my ability to do other stuff, so I intend take full advantage of my summer break. This means doing stuff...TO THE MAX! Lucky for you, I also like sharing, so you can check out what it is that I'm doing.