Pizza Night

So, while thinking about ‘Pizza Night’ I thought about ‘Pizza Knight’ which would be a cool, medieval themed pizza place that everyone would love.  I can picture it now.  Let me know if you are in?

Tonight we went to Blaze pizza – which is a new modern, hip-cool Subway-esque pizza restaurant where you stand in line and order from the menu or assemble your own pizza by walking along the counter and choose what toppings you would like.  This is part of the appeal, for me, because I have the most fun choosing flavor profiles.  I may enjoy this part even more than eating the pizza.  That said, Keaton just told me tonight it may be his favorite pizza ever.  I think where some of that love comes from is the love shared at Blaze for Keaton.  He gets the extra friendly service.  There is a guy working there near the oven and he recognized Keaton and today he said, “Hey Keaton, good to see you back!”  It’s pretty cool (and even though Keaton’s name is written down for him to call when the pizza is ready) it is still that added personal touch that makes the place memorable and fun.

I like a veggie slice and here’s why: mostly it is a good way to balance the cheese.  We had mozzarella, feta, and goat cheese on our pizza.  Also, I’m not incredibly overly fond on meats to be honest.  Keaton, on the other hand, loves the meats on his side of the pizza.  Has anyone called it a Meat and Greet pizza – because someone should.  He chooses just about every meat they have: Pepperoni, sausage, meatball… almost all of them.  This is another reason I don’t order the meats because I can steal some from his side of the pizza if need be.

Now the ingredients that makes me both friends and enemies is: Pineapple.  I love the sweetness with the spicy and savory all mingling together.  Pineapple and red onion is pretty ridiculously yummy.  It also adds color and looks pretty – which is not my goal when assembling a pizza… but, well it isn’t my main goal.  It is considered when I assemble a pizza.

I am a fan of the blood orange lemonade at Blaze as well.  It’s fruity and sweet and sings in harmony with the classic red pizza sauce, zucchini, olives and whatever else that is green that I might throw on there.

Tonight, we sat on the patio.  Another fun element of Blaze is the music.  We always find a song we love.  Tonight it was ‘The Good Life’ by Weezer.  I should probably make a weird face that my son knows the song line by line but really, I think I’m proud instead because the song is really very awesome.  Keaton is grooving to the song and we decided to chat about our favorite Weezer songs.  I said I didn’t think he could guess my favorite Weezer song.  He said he thinks he could guess it correctly.  He asked, “Is it, ‘you take your car to work, I’ll take my board?’ Yea actually it is.  It is Surf Wax America and I asked, ‘Do you know why that song is my favorite?” and he said… after a pause and some contemplation, “because your band covered it.’  Amazed because (even though I should constantly brag about this and talk about it all the time) I don’t think I do.  I haven’t mentioned that for a very long time and if I told him about it I don’t even remember when I would have told him.  I said, ‘that is amazing.’  He said, “I listen.”  Which is a brilliant response and I’m very proud.

Okay so I can end with this: go listen to ‘Surf Wax America’ now and you’ll go to bed happy tonight.

Just The Way You Are…

Some would say there are Beatles people and there are Rolling Stones people.  Either you are a fan of one or the other.  I think, for the most part, this is fairly true.  I’m not saying you can’t like both.  I think ‘Paint it Black,’ for example, is brilliant.  I am also partial to ’19th Nervous Breakdown’ and consider it a tremendous rock song.  Still, I’m a Beatles girl.  My dad used to listen to Breakfast with the Beatles on Sunday mornings, filling the house with the glorious sounds of the Fab 4 played on a small radio perched on top of the refrigerator in the kitchen.  I went to London with my brother in 1997 and walked across Abbey Road.  We visited the set of ‘Hard Days’ Night’ and we saw Sir Paul McCartney’s knighting ceremony all on the same day.  I named two Yorkshire terriers and one Siamese cat after Beatles references (Penny, Lucy and Lennon.)  There was quite an impact.

I was thinking of a similar theory that may apply to Billy Joel people and Elton John people.  I grew up with the Piano Man.  He was practically part of the family.  My older brother played Billy Joel songs (any and all albums at any and all times of the day)… As his little sister, I would hear the bass lines and choruses through the wall that separated our rooms.  Definitely not dismissing Elton John because, I too, am a fan and I can get into a particularly good mood listening to some fantastic Elton John/Bernie Taupin songwriting. Still, I grew up around Billy.

Most of my happiest memories of mom were listening to Billy Joel songs.  Driving to the zoo, baseball games and around St. Louis in the summer singing to the top of our lungs singing along.  The sound of the train whistle that opens ‘Allentown’ and the motorcycle ripping out it’s tires in ‘You May Be Right’ characterized the musician as not only being a singer/songwriter/piano man but also a story teller.  The ‘Angry Young Man’ touting of a time in the past when he fought for his ‘pointless point of view.” Could’ve been you or me.  By the way, if you haven’t listened to ”Angry Young Man’ lately – please go do it now.  Like, right now, check out You Tube and search for it.  If you want a version from the past 10 years try a live version from Shea Stadium because it’s flawless.

Even though she wasn’t the best at remembering accurate song lyrics, my mom would belt out, ‘Honesty’ like it was as sacred as a church hymn, and quite frankly, in our house, it probably was. The ballads like ‘Just the Way You Are,’ which my mom said was her favorite. Stay with me like a warm blanket and represent true beauty.

I had this group of friends who liked a lot of the same things.  We were into the Lollapalooza line up and Billy Joel.  It was like this guilty pleasure that wasn’t guilty at all.  We all got together and saw Billy in St. Louis.  I remember griping out ticket prices because we were broke but we bought them anyway.  I don’t remember sitting close but we were together and when the lights dimmed and the chopper sounds were heard surrounding us as ‘Goodnight Saigon’ played, we realized there was no price to be placed on a performer like this.  Tears in our eyes, swaying and being in the moment while the crowd stared in awe.  I can’t forget it because I had never known a concert in my young life like this one.

I spent the summer at Penn State after I had graduated college.  I didn’t have a job yet and I spent my time meeting new people and hanging out with my boyfriend at the time.  We would go out to bars and listen to local bands.  We would stay up too late playing card games and sometimes get out for really terrible pizza.  It was called Acme Pizza and, to this day, I would not confirm that was the name of this pizza place.  I just know it was somewhere on campus and it was packed until all hours of the night.  We went one night, after the bars, and waiting in this compressed, tiny place for a slice.  As we waited and the crowd grew weary and somewhat obnoxious, Billy Joel’s greatest hits started blaring from all corners.  I was like – yes.  I want this.  I want terrible pizza and Billy Joel songs sung by a crowd of random strangers who all want this same thing.  ‘Big Shot’ came on and we sang more than we actually ate pizza.  Oooh-woah-ah-oooh-ohohoh.  You didn’t want to go home and you didn’t have to go home.

Years later, I’m with Mason, and we are in Cleveland, Ohio.  We took a summer trip there to see fireworks on the 4th of July and to visit the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.  We also went to Chef Michael Simon’s restaurant, ‘Lola’ which, to this day, goes down as the best food I’ve ever eaten in my whole entire life.  After dinner at Lola, we walked around the downtown area and found a cute t-shirt shop.  As we leafed through t-shirts and other apparel, I overheard, “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant’ play.  “A bottle or red, a bottle of white’ and as it started, I knew I would have to stall and keep folding t-shirts in the shop because I would have to hear the entire song before we left.  It’s not a short song either, it’s over 7 minutes.  I think Mason may have caught on and I picked out something to buy near the last verse.

That brings us to this year.. Mason bought us tickets to see Billy Joel at Wrigley Field.  I’m almost out of my mind about it.  We are celebrating our one year wedding anniversary and what a way to celebrate.  That will require it’s very own post.

Breakfast Love.

Breakfast is brilliant.  It is a time when you can eat cake first thing in the morning.  It is also this type of cuisine that allows for a glistening hollandaise and extra crispy bacon.  You can order a classic breakfast of bacon and eggs, waffles, crepe or soufflé.  Breakfast is something I have especially fond memories of as a kid.  My dad made biscuits and gravy from scratch.  To this day, there isn’t a recipe I have tried that is better.  My dad used to wake up earlier than everyone and lure you awake and out in the patio to have breakfast together.  I think it is a big reason I stayed in town and went to college at Southern Illinois University which happened to be located within a five minute drive from my parents’ house.  When friends came over to visit, they would stop by for breakfast.  If we had plans for the day, it would start with breakfast with my parents.  They were pretty amazing.

I still love breakfast and it has become this thing that my family loves to do now.  We will stay home and make vanilla Greek yogurt pancakes or go out and have something yummy to go with coffee (which is also a fine perspective, in my opinion and another reason why breakfast is fantastic, because coffee.

Saturday morning I researched (googled) some breakfast places in the Chicago suburbs as we needed a stop before heading into Comic Con at Rosemont.  I searched for nearby towns to Rosemont as we feared it may be too busy at the Denny’s near the convention, for example, and it may be best to find a place to eat nearby or maybe somewhere in the middle of the trip.  I found Elmhurst, Illinois and OMG Brunch & Boutique.  I didn’t tell my husband the entire name of this place because I think he would have made a face when I said ‘& Boutique’ so I left that part out.  I called it OMG Brunch… went over fine.  Later, I found out while there, the ‘Boutique’ part likely came from a shelf over in the corner of the restaurant by the door where there were a few tank tops, sweatshirts, and other various handmade goodies for sale.

The place was somewhere in the middle of our trip.  It was cute (as one would expect) and there wasn’t a wait (which is another concern we have when getting out for breakfast at 10am)… There was funky art on the walls and a diverse menu.  I loved it (based on appearance alone) I could imagine myself riding up on my second hand bike and having breakfast by the window on a rainy day.

Mason had the classic breakfast (his favorite, also sometimes known as ‘grandpa’s breakfast’ or ‘the traditional.’  He didn’t love that the bacon had so many monikers in front of it and he couldn’t have just ‘bacon.’  He mentioned that I choose fancy places that exclude people like him who like normal food.  I don’t disagree with all of this statement.  I disagree with the sentiment, maybe, but, for the most part, I do think the fancier menus should include items that could be appealing to anyone and everyone.

Keaton ordered the chocolate chip pancakes.  I ordered the asparagus benedict.  I’m weird with the benedict because I like eggs poached hard – which, technically, doesn’t make sense because the hollandaise is made with egg yolk so why? & huh? I just like the eggs poached this way and it is really great when they are done just perfectly.  I like the texture, they taste better, in my opinion.  It’s just a thing.  Keaton’s pancakes were adorable.  There were 5 or 6 all stacked in an astute manner with a side of syrup.  Mason’s classic breakfast looked pretty delicious too.  There were scallions on the scrambled eggs and they looked to be quite peppered… but he wound up liking them.  I think he liked the bacon too.

The benedict was so good.  There were tiny asparagus wrapped in bacon a top potato pancakes and that was topped with my two perfectly poached eggs, rather drenched, in that glistening sauce.  hearts.  I’d go back.  My biggest complaint is that our server was TOO nice.  She was very kind and overly sweet and truly I think that is just fine.

I like diner breakfast food and I like breakfast food served on decorative plates with fluffy eggs and smiling service.  I just really like breakfast food.  Terrible breakfast food exists but this wasn’t one of those places.

Monday.

Monday started out on the wrong foot.  I had this stress start kicking in early because Monday was the evening of open house for middle school and I didn’t feel very prepared.  I didn’t have Keaton’s school supplies.  His dad had them.  I also have the perception that I don’t know how to do things like organized events before the first day of school.  I wouldn’t say it is something I excel at, that’s all.  I can achieve.

I have a better idea, now, of how successful I can be after this past Monday.  We were running late and there was a huge downpour.  I was soaked and we stopped at home.  We need snacks, we need dry clothes and this event is an “Open House.”  From what I recall based on past experiences of the words “Open” with “House” next to it, I believe it means you can show up when you are able to do so.  I receive a call and I’m told this is an event that you can’t just “show up whenever you feel like it.”  We must have different past experiences of what an Open House is.

I have to say that during all of this time.. The wrongness in being right.  The rain falling down and making us question everything… My son was a bright spot in this day.  He tends to always be incredibly supportive and funny and amazing.  I look at him and feel like something is missing from myself, at times, because he outshines me on a daily basis.  I bought a Twenty One Pilots tshirt over the weekend and we both wore Twenty One Pilots shirts to Open House even.. per his approval which was a resounding Yes!

The supplies magically get dropped off.  My next instructions were to ‘figure it out!’  So, we did.  My son and I headed over to the middle school to join the Open House.  Not to our amazement, there was no specific time to show up and no one acted like we were late.  In fact, everyone on staff and the PTO table was so incredibly kind.  I kind of wish I was in middle school again because this group of people kind of rocked… This is great news because this is the school my son will be going to for the next three years so, it’s good to know.

We waiting in line at the office to print a schedule.  I am texting Mason to let him know about all the things that happened in the last hour.  We were carrying a giant bag of rather heavy binders, paper bundles, notebooks and things one shouldn’t hold for a prolonged period of time.  It was kind of messy but also kind of just fine too.

Why was finding a locker so difficult? We walked from one side of the building to another.  I finally overheard another parent talk about the area where the lockers were and we headed in that direction.  We get to my son’s locker and we see.. his arch nemesis from last year.  I joke… but I don’t both at the same time.  This particular student wasn’t a good friend to my son.  Not only that, he punched him in the face on the bus, probably twice.  I don’t have good feelings when I see him or hear his name.  So, when he stepped out of the shadows of the locker area where we were to move in and said ‘whatdoyaknow?’  My son and I turned the other direction.  Nope.

So, I took care of that.  That’s no way to start the new year.  I think we figure out, more so when we mature and start figuring out things, we can’t be friends with everyone nor do we need to or want to be.  I can speak from personal experience because I wanted to be liked too.  I didn’t want to not have a friend, by choice.  This, on the other hand, is a good choice to make.  Friends don’t punch friends in the face.  No one that had the authority to make this change had any issues with it so, it was taken care of and (hoping) all is well.  It will be well.  I think it should be great.

We met a few teachers.  We didn’t see many of my son’s friends, which is too bad because his friends have parents that are my friends and I could have also benefited from seeing some friends that day because (wow I felt alone.) Anyway, didn’t matter – we made it.

We drove away and picked up some DQ because that kid deserved a Blizzard.  As for me, I put Bob Marley on the turntable and sipped a smoothie.  I really needed some time to wind down after that whirlwind adventure.  I think, actually, it has been taking me a good part of this week to resume back to feelings of normality.  I don’t know if I have reached that.

 

Kale Puns.

This is a Kale-Sa-Dilla.  The Kale-Sa-Dilla is composed of, well, kale, red pepper, avocado, goat cheese and mozzarella cheese getting cozy together with the help of a toasty flour tortilla.  I sautéed the red pepper first and added the kale.  The kale doesn’t take long to prepare because you just want a slight warm wilt you don’t want to shrink it until it is even more bitter an inedible.  The avocado gets warm in there too but I add the avocado the same time I add the cheeses because you don’t want much cooking to take place with those things.  They are wonderful just barely added rather last minute.  The texture on the outside has to be crispy.  The flour tortilla is the best for this.

I think kale is pretty amazing.  It is widely hated across the country and I tend to not open up about my adoration for kale because I get 1. chastised 2. blamed 3. judged… and other negative words that come from actually liking healthy food.  Granted, this particular food is a super healthy food.  People are tired hearing about it, I’m sure.  I never ate kale until maybe five years ago, maybe less.  Have the world been hiding kale because of the expected backlash?

It doesn’t bother me enough to request it be grown in our garden out back.  We didn’t know, however, the kale would grow like mad.  It is abundant.  I am attempting more and more uses for it because we have so much of it.  My husband doesn’t eat it – so it’s on me.  I have been having a good time coming up with new things to put it in.  I made a kale pasta with fusilli last week.  Earlier this spring I made a Guac-Kale-Mole that I found to be absolutely fantastic.  It seems the recipes with the Kale puns are the most loved.  I think the kale puns help.

The Guac-Kale-Mole was super easy and adjustable, which is something I like about guacamole, in general.  You can make it however you want.  You can add things and leave out things and make it your own.  For my Guac-Kale-Mole, I used avocado, fresh limes, cilantro, salt, pepper, olive oil, kale, and I think that’s it.  I bought some pretzel rolls from Trader Joe’s toasted them and used this Guac as a spread for the crispy pretzel roll slices.  loved it.

If you have any fun ideas on what to do with kale – before it all goes away and the season ends and we can no longer just go in the backyard and pick it whenever we want… I’d really like to know about it.

 

Let Me Explain

Being a petite type person, my best clothing selections are usually in the juniors department which can be bargain basement prices where the garment falls apart in a week or extraordinarily expensive fun sweatshirts that have fun, silly words on them that make me happy.

Coffee. Sunday Afternoons.

Truly, at least, two of my favorite things in the world.  I could argue I like Saturday afternoons better because Monday is further away than it is for Sunday, however, look, it’s very close.

I didn’t need the sweatshirt. I have hoodies and numerous sweaters.  I have long sleeves like the kind in cardigans that take me through the work week.  This sweatshirt can’t even do that.
It does however, make me feel happy.

Does my happiness cost $80?  The answer to that is: Sometimes, yes.  In fact, I think it is a small price to pay for happiness, quite frankly.

I wasn’t looking for this sweatshirt. Which is partly why I found it so appealing. I liked just bumping into it (while rifling through the clothing rack at Von Maur ) almost by mere happenstance.

We need to treat ourselves every once in a while.  I did put back the grey tshirt I also took into the changing room with me that was also, coincidentally, coffee themed.  I put that back.  I decided to be all in on the sweatshirt though because well, I couldn’t put it back.

Let’s face it.  Adorable, right?  Does the total cost add up to like 16 lattes? Probably.  I haven’t talked about the softness factor though and I am quite confident when I say it is one of the most softest things I’ve allowed my hands to touch.  When Mason came home from the grocery store I modeled the sweatshirt for him and asked him to guess the cost.  He didn’t guess it correctly… four times lower and incorrect.  The softness factor won him over (in my mind) he did agree with me it was very soft.  He also agreed with me that he can’t judge this particular purchase because he has made purchases that may have been made regardless of cost or logic or logical cost.

I’m not writing this to justify this purchase.  It is to say that happiness, matters. Being comfy cozy and feeling amazing, matters.  Having a non-judgmental husband, matters. YOU matter.  Just buy the damn sweatshirt.

 

This Weekend in Food

My husband is very kind by granting me dinner reservation wishes (pretty much) each and every date night weekend and beyond.  Because I have such an affinity with dressing up and dining out, I’m usually the one who selects where we go.

We went to Café Italia on Friday night.  We tried it together for the first time in the Spring.  I think it was the Spring because I remember wearing a cardigan and jeans or long pants so it wasn’t yet warm. We fell hard for these amazing icy martinis.  Our favorite became the lemon drop made with their house made limoncello.  There is some sort of magic in this glass.  We have been known to order more than one.  I like the pomegranate one too if I want to change it up a bit – I sometimes go that route. The lemon drop goes with anything you order.

The appetizer was the arancini.  I ordered this and gave the ‘trust me’ look while the server validated my choice by saying it is their best seller.  First of all, fried.  There were just two giant fried balls with a side of marinara.  Inside, rice, cheese, meat and a few peas.  The peas were confusing because there were only 3 or 6 per arancini.  They seemed like an accident.  I ate all the peas.  My husband won’t eat anything green.  This appetizer was fun.  I wouldn’t let anyone take the plate away.

Entrees were chicken parm and the salmon.  I hesitated ordered the salmon, somewhat, because at café italia shouldn’t you order pasta or something?  The arancini counts plus I like salmon and the server said it was his favorite.  Is that real when servers say that?  It’s my favorite?  I don’t know.  It was great though, he was right.  The chicken parm was gigantic served with a small amount of pasta.  The salmon was quite lovely sitting a top a pea puree with arranged and assorted roasted vegetables adorning the place around it.  My husband points at the plate with his fork every once in a while asking what that is or this… doing his best to never touch it.

Tiramisu and dark chocolate gelato for dessert to share.  This was all as wonderful as it sounded.  The classic tiramisu with layers and layers of deliciousness.  We did well.  I like Café Italia but I really go back to the icy martinis as the true stand out.  They are just the best things this summer.

Saturday night was date night part 2.  I’m lucky to be able to choose to go out two nights in a row, sincerely.  We are lucky.

I chose Epiphany Farms.  We hadn’t been in a while… at least since early May.  Epiphany is somewhat beautiful and strange.  The strange part is from the uneven service and atmosphere which is a mixture of uppity cold and accommodating and warm.  This d can leave you feeling confused and happy… which, honestly, may be my default emotion now that I think about it.

Epiphany Farms is Farm to Table and the menu is touted as the best in town.  I wouldn’t disagree, in that, I can’t think of a time I have been disappointed with my order, ever.  I wore a dress and Mason looked top notch.  We drank a current cosmo and an old fashioned respectively.  The old fashioned is fashioned with a large ice ball that takes up so much of the glass the actual content of the glass with beverage is really maybe slightly over half a glass.  So you order two or three at $11 a piece.

I started with the heirloom tomato salad.  I tend to choose a salad when there is something interesting on the menu and this fit.  Yellow, red, small and smaller tomatoes with fresh mozzarella.  There is a light dressing and scattered cucumbers curled throughout.  It was delightful.  To me, it is a palate cleansing extravaganza.  Totally dug it.

We did get bread too.  it is two kinds of house made bread.  House made butter as well which you just want to find more things to put on – they take away remaining butter and my heart squeaks out Noooooooo.  It’s really so very good.  Just thinking about it now I could probably eat a tiny spoonful of butter.

The entrées were filet minon and duck.  It was duck confit which is my favorite way to have duck, really… It falls apart and you don’t have to work to hard to eat it.  It’s very tender and efficient that way.  The side included a rectangle of polenta.  Mason and I were both somewhat puzzled about the polenta.  The description said – grits.  I was thinking grits and then didn’t think about polenta potentially being grits – kind of, right?  I mean, it is a cornmeal which is gritty?  Anyway, it was polenta.  The crispy edges were amazing.  My dish was perfect.  It is something I probably wouldn’t order anywhere else.

Dessert was chocolate soufflé.  I have this to say about that… Not every place is worth the wait for soufflé.  Mason and I ordered the chocolate soufflé at other places around and we can’t find one that compares to Epiphany Farms.  Plus, the first one we had there was the day after our engagement.  I think there was sparkles in our eyes as we tried the chocolate soufflé there for the first time and I don’t think that memory or moment will be forgotten.  We also had Pokémon to catch so Mason set a lure (or whatever) and we waited for the soufflé.

Here’s the thing though.. I think nothing of spending 2-3 or 4 hours in a restaurant if it feels right.  I love staying out, eating and talking and just having a good time.  Saturday, it was the Pokémon and the soufflé that kept us out but that is okay.

The chocolate soufflé didn’t disappoint.  There were strawberries and ice cream on the side.  There was some sort of custard or sauce that was pourable next to it in an adorable tiny pitcher or carafe.  Mason and I have become experts at properly destroying a chocolate soufflé and we did.  Loved it.

Another thing I re-discovered this weekend: Chambord.  It’s like old school meets new school meets cravings for sweetness.  Mason picked up a bottle of Chambord for me for later and I think it taste like Valentine’s Day.

I promise you this.  The next post will have pictures.

Physical Therapy

August of last year, in the most lazy fashion of all, I scooted by rolling chair using my left foot.  I pulled the chair with my foot and pivoted it enough in my wedge heel to ‘tweak’ my IT band area on the left side.  When it happened, I knew something felt weird but didn’t really investigate too much after being told to rest it, ice it, elevate it, and basically wait until it goes away and feel better.  It did.  I moved on and stopped worrying, temporarily, about the pain and the possibility of it coming back.

I didn’t feel anything in the left leg or knee area for the next several months.  Soon after the injury I got married and we went to Jamaica.  The holidays came and went and as the spring time approach I became more active.  In April I started jogging and in May we decided to attempt several bike trails.  This is when the leg pain came back.  I complained about it, almost daily.  The pain would be an annoying 1-3 level that was just enough to let you know it was still around but not enough to keep me from doing anything I wanted to do.  I felt apprehension, however, and I never had to think twice about going for a run or a bike ride and that was bothersome.

In some amazing twist of fate, my husband told me to get it looked at my a medical professional.  What a breakthrough!  Honestly, I don’t know why, it seems, I’d rather struggle day to day then find out what it going on and do something about it.  It is almost like I don’t want to know what is wrong and maybe if I ignore it things will just change and one day it will be gone again.

I saw a nurse practitioner who was in the office for the orthopedic doctor I have seen in the past.  She couldn’t find anything wrong with it, per se, but did recommend a MRI of the area since I had been dealing with it for such a long time.  I shopped around because, wow, and MRI is not cheap.  I found a place that, I think, was within my network for insurance and took to time to have that done.  I thought I had an MRI done before but I didn’t.  When I went in I was asked if I had to use the bathroom because it would take about 45 minutes.  What?!?! I had no idea.  This was proof I have never had an MRI before.  It was a little creepy.  The guy who assisted was really very nice.  He kept me updated when the set of pictures were being taken to let me know how long and how many and what to expect.  It felt like a really long amount of time listening to several really terrible repetitive songs I hated.

A few days later, I was able to get my results and discuss with the orthopedic doctor what I should do.  Thankfully, the results weren’t terrible.  There was fluid showing around the IT band (I didn’t even know what an IT band was until this year.)  The bones and muscles all looked to be in tact, however, and there wasn’t really anything else that came up in the results to allow for too much concern.  the doctor asked if I was a runner.  This made me feel incredibly lazy but I said I wasn’t a runner.  IT band syndrome is something runners apparently suffer from after much time of working out over the years.  He suggested I take 4 weeks of physical therapy.

Here’s the thing about physical therapy. It isn’t that I don’t like it.  I do.  There is just so much time that can go into it and a lot of ambiguity as a result.  There is a lot of not really having an idea if it is working on not especially I the beginning.  I found a physical therapist and met with her a week or two later.

She is great.  After our discussion and she was able to learn more about me she was able to diagnose, somewhat, what she thought might have happened to me.  As she watched me perform several leg lifts and squats she said I have a tendency to shift to the right side.  It is likely I have had this tendency my entire life.  This is something subtle that one wouldn’t even truly know how to look for even if you wanted to do so.  She suggested that because of the tendency to shift to the right – it is likely, that when I scooted my chair with the left leg I ‘tweaked’ my IT band.  Now, when my knew turns inward, which is the comfortable tendency at this point, I hurt.  The goal is to retrain my leg to become straight in movements like leg lifts and squats.  when I bend my knees to remain straight and try not to move it inward.  This was probably the best thing I’ve heard regarding the injury that far surpasses any other type of speculation.

We began the physical therapy and have been meeting now for the past three weeks.  My fourth week will be next week and I am doing my best to do all of the steps assigned to me (rather than the steps I would like to do and skipping the ones I don’t want to do.)  It’s weird I found out the therapy is less effective that way.

That is where I am with that.  Some days I feel amazing and I don’t even know it was ever a thing that hurt.  Other days the leg is screaming and I can’t tell if it is physical therapy soreness or just me being a slacker and not keeping up with the routine.  I decided to try to be more consistent with it and actually follow the medical professional’s advice this time.  With the squats and glut moves, I am hoping I become more toned and achieve some sort of body sculpting in the process just to make believe there will be other benefits to the time put into this.

It is kind of boring.  That said, it would be a fantastic solution if, indeed, it works.  So far I feel pretty good about it.  I have to remember to carve out the time, which can be difficult, especially on days with work and days with Keaton when I am expected to do so much.  Still, I’m trying to be accountable and treat myself as much as possible…

 

Welcome Back…

So, here’s what happened… I miss writing songs and blogs and being creative.  I took a unceremonious leave from sharing but unsure what was holding me back from it.  I think I let the sad feelings and the angst and the pains take over and start to forget who I am every once in a while.

I was thinking about this dress hanging in my closet.  The dress in this picture.  I thought of the first time I wore this dress and took this picture to send to my, boyfriend now husband, Mason and asked him what he thought of the dress.  He didn’t say how he felt about the dress and instead he responded with: “I love you.” This thought is what set me free.  At least, it made me remember what it feels like to be the uninhibited me that hides in the face of fear and that constant willingness to please others me that stands in at almost every given opportunity whether I really want to or not.

I went upstairs to this window nook where absolutely nothing was happening to the computer desk.  There wasn’t a chair or lamp.  My laptop wasn’t even housed there.  I cleaned it up and decided to team up with my husband and put together a work space that actually works.  This would be something conducive to me wanting to write again and maintaining that motivation to keep sharing.

The week followed with stumbling across a podcast, per a Pinterest listing of ‘Podcasts for Self Improvement’ and found: “Raise Your Hand and Say Yes.”  Loved it and I am still in the process of loving it.  I feel like each topic was made for me (and/or others who can relate to me so very well that you start to feel less alone and feel encouraged and incredibly apt.)  I’m listening to one episode after another and my thoughts of cleaning up the work space and getting organize and ready to blog again only become more reinforced.

My friend, Emily, randomly says hello via electronic means as I finish an episode of the podcast mentioned above.  She begins with ‘here is what you should write about in your blog…’ which is both bold and energetic enough to get my attention.  Emily is incredibly sweet and thoughtful.  She told me she enjoys the way I share my experiences.  How kind.  I really enjoyed hearing about how she really enjoyed the way I share my experiences.  We chatted for a bit about other things I can add.  This would include more pictures, maybe some food reviews like the restaurants I go to and the food I attempt to make.  She mentioned how I could write what I do day to day and share my perspective.  Talking to her truly brightened my day and made me feel like it must be time to try this again.

Friday night we picked out a chair (at Office Depot – and by the way, you can buy postage stamps there, feels like a revolution.) Saturday, we chose string lights to hang over the window and above the desk.  These are the while lantern lights that provide a nice, cozy atmosphere.  I bought new candles.  I placed the tiny specialty glitter jars near the new lamp and we brought out my guitar and amp to keep my desk company.  The laptop was set in place on the desk and the chair was assembled by my husband – I am very appreciative of this as I have never assembled a chair before or would I put much effort into doing so unless I totally had to and had no other choice then maybe… That said, I am deeply appreciative for the chair purchase and assembly.

So, I’m back.  It feels good.

As far as the dress goes.  It still hangs in my closet.  I can count the number of times I’ve worn that dress as well.  I wore it in Cancun.  It was our last night there and we danced to a cover of Footloose on the top of our hotel… Now I’m thinking about vacation.