Answering My Questions

I am following up my last post where I asked you questions with my own answers to my questions.

1. What are some of your hobbies?

Blogging and traveling. I feel like my hobbies are always changing, but these are two that I will hopefully always continue to do!

2. How long have you been blogging or reading blogs?

I have been blogging for almost 4 years. I have been reading them for about 5! I don’t even know how I got into blogging. I think I randomly decided to start one, but I’m so happy I did!

3. If you could only eat one thing everyday, what would it be?

I would say blueberries or rice with cottage cheese if I am eating at home, or ramen if I have to eat at a restaurant.

4. Favorite vacation spot?

I would say I like Miami the best for vacation. The weather is great, the drinks/food are delicious, and there are fun places to adventure to. I also feel like beaches are the ultimate vacation spot because I always associate beach vacations with relaxation.

5. Dream vacation spot?

Australia or Argentina. I feel like Australia is somewhere I would want to live. I watch so many people on YouTube who live in Australia and it looks awesome. Argentina has been at the top of my list since high school. We talked about it in Spanish class a lot, and that sparked my interest. Hopefully I will get to visit these places someday soon!

6. What is one thing that always makes you happy?

Podcasts– you are probably tired of hearing me go on about podcasts, but they have had such a positive impact on my life.

7. What is your go-to coffee/tea order?

I have a few different ones depending on where I go, but a matcha latte is my usual order! If I’m craving a coffee, I love to get a caramel latte with almond milk.

8. What is your biggest goal right now?

Starting a podcast is my biggest goal right now. I have a mic and ideas, I just need to get all the technical aspects figured out.

9. What motivates you the most?

Being happy and feeling proud of myself.

10. What is your favorite way to relax?

A yummy meal with Connor, my favorite face mask, and a TV show!

11. If you could move anywhere, where would you move?

I would move to Arizona or Utah. I would love to move out West to explore that part of the country more. I feel like nature is something I miss a lot because I live in a big city, so being out West would bring me closer to so many cool places!

12. What is the best advice you have ever been given?

This isn’t necessarily advice, but it’s something my science teacher told me in 7th grade. She told me the world was my oyster. I like to remember that I can do anything I set my mind to. Nothing is impossible and set backs should never keep me from chasing my dreams or reaching my goals. I feel like there are so many other pieces of advice and encouragement that I have received over the years. Maybe I will do a post on that some time!

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Questions For You!!

I was thinking about this post while I was making a bagel for Connor today. I thought about how I always talk about my thoughts, my weekend, etc. in my blog posts. I would love to learn more about all of you, so I thought it would be fun to put some questions together for you to answer in the comments, or even in your own post!

1. What are some of your hobbies?

2. How long have you been blogging or reading blogs?

3. If you could only eat one thing everyday, what would it be?

4. Favorite vacation spot?

5. Dream vacation spot?

6. What is one thing that always makes you happy?

7. What is your go-to coffee/tea order?

8. What is your biggest goal right now?

9. What motivates you the most?

10. What is your favorite way to relax?

11. If you could move anywhere, where would you move?

12. What is the best advice you have ever been given?

Feel free to answer all of the questions or some of the questions! I will share my answers in my next post.

Thanks for following along with all of my random posts– blogging is one of my favorite things that I do each week. I look forward to posting and reading all of your posts. I hope you all have the best day!

No Room for Negativity

My levels of positivity have been all over the place the past few years. There was a period of my life where I don’t think I experienced an emotion other than pure happiness. There have also been times in my life where I wasn’t so positive. Overall, at this moment in my life, I would say I am positive person. I like to see the bright side. I like to see people smile and succeed. I like to make the best of any situation. I try not to stress about little things that won’t really matter the next year, the next day, or even the next hour.

I have been a “real adult” for over 6 months now. Things happen. Life happens. But what I am 100% sure of is there is no room for negativity. There is always something to be happy about or grateful for.

A few weeks ago I went to the doctor because I hadn’t been feeling well. I now have $400 to pay for my appointments. Yeah, it’s not my favorite thing in the world. I would much rather save that money or go on a trip, but I am happy that I went to the doctor. I am thankful that nothing was wrong and that I am healthy. There is always a positive spin on things.

If I am feeling grumpy about waking up early to go to work, or something along those lines, I try to think of it differently. I have a job. So many people don’t have jobs and would love to wake up and head into work. I am so grateful that I have the chance to improve myself professionally each day. So yeah, every work day isn’t going to be perfect. I’m not going to jump out of bed every morning, but what I can do is try my best and smile my way through life.

Being grateful and seeing the good is so important. It has made me an even happier person. I truly believe that smiling and being a positive person spreads so easily to others. For me, at this time in my life, there is no room for negativity. I always want to have a reason to be happy.

Tips to Create Positivity in Any Situation

1. Step away from a negative situation: take a walk, workout, get a coffee, put your headphones in to enjoy a podcast or music, etc.

2. Slow down: rushing around and feeling like you are in a big hurry can make you stressed. I know if I am in a rush to get to work and something gets in my way, I can get annoyed or frustrated. When I feel this way, I slow down and take a longer route to work.

3. Smile: having a smile on your face puts a smile on someone else’s face. Spread the happiness!

4. Create a list of goals or a to-do list: even after a “bad day,” seeing the progress you made toward your goals, or crossing things off your list will give you a boost of happiness and accomplishment.

I Have Been Waking Up Earlier and Staying Up Later

Per usual, I’m a bit off schedule on my blog, but we all know I’ll make it up for the missed posts at some point. I feel best about my posts when I feel inspired to write them! I like a schedule, but I also like writing my thoughts as they come to me.

I am sitting on the couch watching Game of Thrones with Connor right now. He told me I had to watch it with him, and I actually really like it! Connor is almost always right about tv shows. Plus, I feel like everyone loves this show, so I should have known it would be good! Anyway, I am sitting here thinking about my life, especially my sleep recently.

Lately, I have been staying up later– 10pm or 11pm. This is late for me as I like to get to bed around 9pm. There were even some nights where I would be dozing off by 8 or 8:30pm. Along with staying up later and not being as tired, I have been waking up earlier, naturally. I usually try to get up by 6:30am. The past couple weeks I have been waking up at 6am, or even earlier.

I have to say, I kind of love it. Aside from the fact I am sometimes not tired when I force myself to go to bed, I feel more energized throughout the day. I am starting to think I have been getting too much sleep!

I feel like I am back to my sophomore year routine where I stayed up so late (much later than I do now) and woke up so early (had to get a long run in before my 8am class). Of course the college schedule was a bit more extreme, but I also didn’t have a full-time job. Anyway, I am feeling more energized lately, so I am going to see how this new routine works out for me! Also, I am craving coffee more than matcha lately, so that could be part of the reason I’m super energized.

Are you an early bird or a night owl? Have you found your perfect amount of sleep? Do you prefer to start your morning with coffee, tea, or something else?

Indiana Dunes Adventure

Connor and I went on a little adventure on Saturday. The past couple of weekends have been more low key, so we wanted to get out of the house and do something. The weather wasn’t perfect. It was rainy and windy, but the temperature wasn’t too bad! We set out for northern Indiana at about 11am.

We had a couple destinations in mind: the Indiana Dunes (the newest National Park!!) and an outlet mall in Michigan City. We started at Mt. Baldy, a super tall dune at the Indiana Dunes! It was closed off, but we were able to take the trail to the beach. It was really pretty. The water was frozen over, but it was such a nice blue color.

After pulling off to Mt. Baldy, we headed to the outlet mall. It was only 2 or 3 miles away, so it was a quick drive. We went to some stores, but left empty-handed. The outlets weren’t as good as I remembered. I would go sometimes when I was younger and love all the shops, but I wasn’t as impressed this time around. I was pleased with the sample I tried at the Lindt chocolate store. It was a white chocolate blueberry truffle and it was so yummy!

We grabbed lunch at Jimmy Johns and then headed to the main beach at the Indiana Dunes. It was $7 to enter and no one was there except two other people (understandably since it was cold and rainy). We walked along the beach and considered running up the dune. We opted not to since the ground was wet. Overall, it was pretty, but the dunes are definitely better in the summer.

The rest of our day and weekend was fun, but that sums up our time at the Indiana Dunes! I am excited to go back in the summer. The only downside is how crowded it is, but the crowds are worth the warm weather and sunny days!

The Best Parlor Pizza?

If you’re a local to Chicago, you have probably heard of Parlor Pizza. It’s a restaurant that serves pizza, drinks, desserts, and yummy cocktails. It isn’t my favorite pizza place, but I think it’s a really fun place to go!

There are actually three of them in Chicago. One in West Loop, one in Wicker Park, and the newest location is in River North. It’s definitely one of those restaurants that falls into the category of “instagrammable.” It had a neon signs, murals, and of course, the food.

I was at the River North location the other day, and decided to do a blog post about all three locations. I have been to each and think there are two clear “winners,” depending on the season.

To set the scene, all restaurants have the same menu, at least from what I can tell. The prices are honestly a little high. The appetizers are each like 15 dollars on average. Drinks are around 12 dollars (I don’t think this is terrible for Chicago and they are decent size drinks). And the pizzas are in the range of 12-20 dollars each. Keep in mind they are smaller pizzas, coming with 6 slices. There are typical pizzas on the menu, but also some fun ones using different meats, veggies, cheeses, and even honey. My favorite pizza is the “Cheesus, Mary, and Joseph.” If you ever end up at one of the locations, I recommend that pizza the most!

Now onto the locations: I visited the West Loop location first in August or September. It was super crowded and I ate inside. The actual location was cute. There are murals, like the classic pizza wings to take photos with. There is a patio area, but I didn’t get to enjoy it because it was so crowded. I feel like all locations tend to be crowded, but for some reason I think this location seems smaller.

The Wicker Park location is one of my favorites, but specifically for summer. I went in October, so I did eat inside, but there is a huge patio area. The actual restaurant is cute and there are murals, of course. I think the environment at this location is best for summer. So if you visit during the warmer months, I’d recommend the Wicker Park Parlor Pizza.

My most recent visit was to the River North location. It is new, so I imagine they had ideas on how they wanted it to be. I personally loved this location. The bar area was big enough where you could enjoy a drink while you wait for your table. The place seemed huge, especially for River North. And the murals and neon signs were really cute. I’d say this is the best Parlor Pizza for the winter months. There really isn’t a patio area, but it’s really spacious for the colder months when you don’t want to be outside!

Have you been to Parlor Pizza? Which location did you go to, or do you have a favorite? What is your favorite pizza in Chicago or beyond?

Happy

Happy Thursday! I started writing this on Tuesday night, but I fell asleep haha! Anyway, I feel like I have been very happy lately and I’m so thankful I can say that. Life is never perfect, but feeling content with my life and the things I am doing is a really good feeling.

I was skeptical about moving to Chicago at first. I knew I loved the city. I had a great summer here the year before I moved here officially. I had a lot of friends coming back to work at the company I am at now, so that was comforting. But I really didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life.

I wasn’t sure if the job I took would be the right job for me. I wasn’t sure if Chicago was the city for me. There was just a lot of uncertainty. I wanted to make sure that I was happy.

I am so thankful that I moved here. Chicago is such a fun place to live. I have a nice time at work each day. I think the most important thing about my job to me is my coworkers and the friendships I have built with them. Going to work is so much more fun when you know you’ll get to see your friends.

I guess what I’m saying is you should always do things that are outside of your comfort zone or that you might not be 100% certain about. I am so happy I gave Chicago a chance, took a job here, moved in with Connor, and lots more.

I am excited to see what I’m up to in a year. As long as I’m happy and healthy, I know I will be content with where I am. Of course I want to be successful at work and in my hobbies. I want to travel a lot. I want to do so many things. But most of all, I always want to be happy!

Thanks for reading this random post. I am happy to have all of you sticking around to read about my thoughts, adventures, etc. If there are any posts you want to see, let me know!