Weekend Fun and “Country” Livin

April 1, 2015 / ktbuchs87

Whew! What a difference a good night’s sleep makes! Monday I felt like I was a zombie. I told Adam that it felt like I had never adulted before. Yup, grammar went out the window after running on like 5 hours of sleep. But it was such a good weekend that lack of sleep was quite alright. Let’s get to this past weekend shall we?

Adam’s mom and stepdad came into Chicago for the weekend. They hadn’t seen our apartment yet and they wanted to spend some time with us in the city. On Saturday we met them downtown and took them to the Maggie Daley Park and Millenium Park so they could see the bean.

We then walked down to Columbia College to look at a photography exhibit featuring photos from local high school students. I love looking at photography mostly because I wish I could take pictures as well as some of those artists! I’ll just keep practicing. We then hopped on the red line for a quick trip to Chinatown so Adam’s mom could get some green tea.

Then we took them to Eataly. I love Eataly and like taking people there so they can see the awesomeness. If you don’t know what Eataly is, then come to Chicago and I will take you there! It is a store/grocery store/restaurants/gelato/beer/nutella bar that was started by an Italian business man, Oscar Farinetti, and is more popularly owned in New York by chef Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich. It’s kind of like a grocery store with tasting tables. Each part of the store is broken up into sections like cheese, meat, fish, pasta, bread, etc. At each spot you can by those things but also order food to eat from those sections. After walking around the boys got some sandwiches and declared them the best turkey sandwiches they had eaten. Eataly was definitely a hit because food is awesome.

We then headed over to Old Town because we were going to a show at Second City and we wanted to take them to our spice shop before hand. The Spice House is another place that I love and I have talked about them before. We heard about them a few years ago on Alton Brown’s podcast and that is now where I go to get the majority of our spices. Karyn had a hard time picking out which spices she wanted to buy but managed to find a handful she wanted, and now I get to bring her both fresh bread from Eataly and spices when I go visit!

After a brief rest at Starbucks we headed to the theater and saw the Best of Second City. It was a great show and this improv troupe were on top of their game. Anyone who can write a jazz song about a stethoscope on the fly gets major points in my book. After the show we went to the Italian restaurant, Topo Gigio, for dinner. Again the food won the day and everyone loved their meals. I had a really good salad with walnuts, raisins, olives, cucumbers, and tomatoes. It was drizzled lightly with olive oil and was delightful. After dinner everyone went home to rest after our big day.

A rare picture where I look like a weirdo and Adam is normal. Ok not so rare.

Sunday we took them to one of our favorite local breakfast places, Ann Sathers Bakery. Surprise, surprise they loved it. It really is true, people who like food are the best people. Later that day Adam and the rest of them were going to go see Blue Man Group, but I was off to Sycamore.

My view for the next few weeks

That’s right, I’m coming to you from our former home town these next few weeks. I’m currently house/dog sitting for the family I used to nanny for while they are on vacation. It’s kind of nice being back out here and going to all the places I used to go when we lived here. Plus I get to play in a HUGE kitchen and I get to use their Vitamix.

My buddy here in Sycamore

Yes people, I get to pretend I have a fancy high powered blender for the next two weeks. It really doesn’t take much to get me excited. Just a $500 blender.

Do you see the clouds parting and hear the angels singing? I do.

So that was my weekend. It was fun and awesome and I’m glad I’m back into a semi normal routine! I will be bringing you some awesome new spring recipes plus whatever I decide to blend in the Vitamix, which let’s be real is going to be everything.

Have a great Wednesday and I’ll see you Friday!

A Few Tidbits

March 30, 2015 / ktbuchs87

This weekend has been an awesome whirlwind. Adam’s parents came into town and we spent the weekend with them giving them a little taste of Chicago. It was great.

I’m also coming to you from a “remote” location for the next few weeks. No, I’m not on some wonderfully tropical island sipping mai tai’s, but I am enjoying a massive kitchen so it’s pretty much the same thing.

This post has been super short on purpose. I have been awake since 1 am this morning and I don’t think that I will be nearly as productive today as I had hoped. Oh well, sometimes you just have to give in to multiple naps. I’m cool with that.

I will fill you in on all the details of my weekend and what’s going on these next few days in my Wednesday post. For now I will leave you with these funny memes and go sleep for a few hours…..

Keep It Simple Series: A Brief Announcement

March 25, 2015March 25, 2015 / ktbuchs87

Just a very quick video for you guys today with a quick announcement about this video series.

So please give me your feedback on these videos and let me know what you would like to see next. I want to continue to grow this blog and bring you the content you want and need to be healthier and happier!

Have a great Wednesday and I will see you Friday with a brand new recipe!

Not Moving and Spring Cleaning

March 23, 2015March 23, 2015 / ktbuchs87

While it might officially be spring, I am currently watching the snow fall out my window as I write this. Ah spring in Chicago: Where you’re more likely to have a white Easter than a white Christmas. Oh well, I will just pretend that it is warm and sunny out there and soon I will be sweltering in the Midwest summer.

I had the realization the other day that for the first time in about five years Adam and I are NOT looking for a new apartment and NOT moving. This might not seem that significant, but to me it’s huge. Every single year since I graduated from college I have moved to a new apartment. I have written quite a few times about our moving endeavors so if you have been with me for awhile you know how much I hate moving. It’s just the worst to sit there and pack up all your stuff, schlepp it all to a new place, and then unpack all your stuff. I am really enjoying this time that I am not searching for a new place, then visiting those new places, and then moving to a new place. It’s just the best.

I will move physically but I ain’t moving apartments

There is one good thing that came from us moving so frequently. Because I didn’t want to pack and move junk that I wasn’t using we always went through all our stuff and got rid of anything that we didn’t need or use. We would fill big black bags full of clothes to donate and load up are car with stuff that we hadn’t used in years and drive off to Goodwill to give it all away. It always made me feel lighter and happier to unburden our house with unnecessary things.

Even though we aren’t moving, this weekend I decided to go through all of our things and do some spring cleaning. It’s amazing how many things you accrue over a year and stash into closets and cabinets and then promptly forget. Even though we haven’t been in our place for a full year yet, there was still a pile of clothes and things that we no longer needed. Again it felt great to get rid of the weight of that clutter.

Get it? Clean up your food, but not with actual cleaners. Cheesy, I know

Spring is a great time to not only clear out the clutter of your life but clean up your health as well. It’s time to get tough and look critically at the food you eat. Are you eating more sugar than normal? Are you snacking on junk food rather than fresh food? Are your portions way too big? Are you eating mindlessly instead of really enjoying your food? Take a look at what you do for exercise. Are you really pushing yourself to the best of your ability? Has your routine become boring so you’re just phoning it in? Are moving in some way each day? Do you enjoy the exercise you’re doing?

Ask yourself these questions and make sure the choices you’re making are serving your goal and helping you lead a healthier life. It’s a good idea to spring clean your life every once in awhile to increase your happiness and success.

Get to cleaning out that closet as well as that fridge today! Have a great Monday!

Motivation Isn’t Constant

March 16, 2015March 16, 2015 / ktbuchs87

On the surface, motivation seems to be a simple concept. It is a drive that pushes us towards our goals. It’s good to have motivation. People want it and look for it in many places. There are motivational speakers, videos, books, podcasts, sayings, and workshops. Some blame the lack of motivation for not achieving what they want and some have such an overabundance of it that they want to spread it around to others.

I think motivation is a little more complicated than a simple drive that propels us to what we want.

There are many different kinds of motivation. There is the motivation to get started, to keep going, and even the motivation to stop when we need to. I think this is what can frustrate people when they want to become healthier. They think that all motivation is the same and they look at others who seem to have an endless supply and don’t realize that those people have to work just as hard to be motivated towards their goals.

I can tell you from personal experience that the reasons I am motivated to stay healthy today are vastly different than the reasons I was motivated to start years ago. It’s also a lot of work (and yes, even after all this time it’s still work) for me to stay motivated to keep pushing towards my goals. There are days where I don’t want to workout at all. I think about the run I have planned or the weights I have to lift, and I feel like staying in bed or watching TV instead. There are times when I just want to eat a whole cake by myself instead of the healthy meal that I have planned. I used to worry that those feelings and lack of motivation were a bad thing. I thought that I was giving up or failing and I felt guilty. I tried to shove those feelings aside and convince myself that I was constantly motivated and constantly being healthy.

Over the years I’ve learned that those feelings are just fine and in fact they’re normal.

I’m a human being and I am going to lack motivation at some points in my life. Motivation isn’t in an endless supply for anyone. Even those people who seem to have it day in and day out struggle to keep it going. There are going to be days when being healthy is the last thing on your mind, where working out is going to be at the bottom of your list, and getting whatever food you may find in your belly will be the top priority.

Don’t feel guilty like I did about that.

Motivation is meant to be renewed every day. It is meant to be strengthened as you go along. It’s normal for it to fade every once in awhile and it’s ok for you to have to work to get it back. That’s what makes you a human. I used to feel like everyone in my life would judge me if they knew how I felt on those days that I had zero motivation to do anything healthy. I was suppose to be an example of good health. I put myself on display through this blog and my actions and I didn’t want to let anyone down. I’ve learned that pretending to be perfect is a bigger let down to people than showing them I’m just like everyone else.

I have my good and bad days just like you have your good and bad days. The fact that I pick myself back up and get back at it is what defines me more than my occasional lack of motivation.

If you’re feeling like you’re a failure because you haven’t been as motivated lately, or haven’t had any motivation at all, stop. You’re a human and you are doing the best you can. You get start fresh every single day, so start today and strengthen your motivation for you and your health.