#52 & #37 of 101 in 1001- Camping with Friends and Wine Tasting

This is part of my list of 101 things in 1001 days...Camping with friends and go on a wine tasting!

In June Tommy and I had a fun trip with friends! By now, you may have seen it on my Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Snapchat (I'm big into social media you guys) We all loaded into cars and took the loooong drive to southern IL to go camping! We went with the campy ringleaders (Emily and Joe) and some of their friends that we have met a few times through the years.

Of course, as we were loading the truck and the mini camper, it was pouring rain! After getting everything together, Tommy and I rode to the campsite in Joe's huge truck (huge) with their friend Kyle and their doggie May. When we got there, it was super dark, and we had to unload things by the light of the truck. Luckily, Emily's parents were there before us and set up tents for everyone to share. We were able to hang out around the fire, and then went to bed :)

For breakfasts on the trip, we had fire roasted pancakes, bagels and cream cheese, and like, scads of clementines. We also had snacks to munch on all day, and so.many.coolers.

                                         

                         

On the trip, there was tons of room for activities. We went on multiple hikes, my favorite one being the day we got lost of course. We drove a ways to this beautiful place full of what Illinois basically calls mountains. They were tall cliff like rocks that were flat on top (for the most part) so you could climb them and take amazing insta-worthy profile pics, which is basically what we did. We are Millennials after all- if you don't have a picture of it on Facebook, it didn't happen so....

                                           

Some of them were easy to get to with a trail leading up to it. Others were not as easy and required some spidey like skillz. Most of those types of rocks I opted out of climbing, but I got some good pictures!

                                         

                                                            There's a person in there...

After the legit rock climbing adventure, we decided to eat our packed lunch, which was super fun and felt like middle school, and go for a walk on one of the designated trails in the park. I made Tommy and I wear sunscreen (obvi) and tried out my new Coola sunscreen! I have to say, it is totally my new favorite brand. It's super light, has great coverage, and since I bought the unscented spray, I didn't get a headache from the smell. That's pretty good for me guys! 

Okay, back to the walk. We found this trail not too far from our car, and thought we would take the 3 mile route. It looked like nice and flattened, and we even saw some people on their way out as we started. Then it began to get muddy... had more and more trees...and got confusing because there were other trails that jutted out from the main one we were on and not always maps to tell you about the other route. 

As we got deeper and deeper into the forest, we saw a ton of cool stuff! There were huge flat rocks, and slopes with a beautiful winding river below. We took some time to explore, and kept walking further down the path.

The next five pictures are actually a different day of hiking, but they give you the idea of what we saw on the trail....also, keep reading, but I was a bit too scared to be whipping out my phone to take pictures....

                             

                           

                                                                     I climbed it to the top!

                                   

We actually started to pick up the pace a little bit at this point because we didn't have a ton of light left in the day, and it felt darker under the cover of the trees. Also, we hadn't seen people in a while, and the trail started to become harder to follow. At one point, we crossed the river on slippery rocks, stepped over some huge fallen tree trunks, annoyed some bees that stung poor May puppy, and walked past a large snake that was partly covered in leaves but too close for comfort on the trail. It was then that I basically freaked the fuck out and we all decided to turn back on the trail. 

We walked pretty fast- like more than a stroll, but less than a jog. Powerwalk? Sure. We powerwalked the entire way back, including the arm swing (mostly on my part though...lol)

And we made it back to the parking lot before it started to get dark, but MAN was I tired! Like, I've run three half marathons, but I can do a two mile POWERWALK hike in the woods. lol

All in all it was a fun hike. I made sure to get a sweaty AF picture after we got back to the car because memories. Here it is, don't we look adorable?

                 

Most of the camping trip was hanging out, playing cards and bags, drinking, and lounging in the youtubed hammock near the fire. Everyone else decided to go kayaking, and Tommy and I hung back and laid in the hammock and read/took naps. It was so nice!

                          

A whole other day we decided to go wine tasting at Blue Sky Winery near the camping grounds! There are a bunch of wineries down there I guess, who knew? We tried a few different kinds of wine, sat on the patio outside, snacked, and enjoyed the beautiful day. We also went on a short self guided illegal walking tour of the vineyard, and even tried some grapes (which I don't recommend- they were too hard and tasted gross, lol) I took a bottle home with me to save for a special occasion in the future

                             

The trip was basically everything a camping trip should be: little to no showering, campfire smores, bonding, and hiking with friends. Oh, and spiders. And sore backs from too many nights of sleeping on the hard ground. And being so, so, hot because it's summer in IL. 

                                                       

                     Pictured: me sporting the "not showered" look, which I rocked most of the trip, lol. 

YAY! Can't wait for next year!

This week

So. Many.  Feels. Right now.

Wednesday was the LRC holiday par-tay! We started the night at Road Runner sports. If you haven’t been there, you should probably visit after reading this post. They are pretty great! I knew there were there in Deer Park, but I had never really been inside until I went to running club. Then LRC had an event there, and I decided to go and check it out. They have a friendly staff that is pretty helpful. You can even pay to do this thing called, “Shoe Dog” where you run on a treadmill and they video tape your stride. Then they determine the shoe that works best with your stride! DUH right? They also give you inserts (which I think was included with the price of the service) to put in your shoes for running. They are semi-custom fitted. I have been using mine, and they have been fine!

Anywho, we were back at Road Runner for our ugly sweater party! We all wore ugly sweaters, vests, and holiday themed items of choice. I chose to wear the sweater of the season- the "MEH-rry Christmas" Grumpy Cat sweater that I made! Another guy in running club glittered his beard…which, I mean, is amazing. He won the best dressed contest and got a free pair of shoes! So that rocked.

They also had beer, wine, and little snacks for us to munch on while we mingled and shopped. VIP members of the store (a membership you buy for the year) got a pretty good discount on everything in the store, which I took advantage of and got a new pair of running shoes!

WHAAAAAAT? I know, I know. You’re probably thinking, “Amy, normally you wait until you’re getting shin splints and in pain before finally getting a new pair of shoes. Then you blog about how stupid you are!” Yea, well, I’m 27 and like, and adult, or whatever so I’m planning ahead. Also, Instagram helps me know when to buy new ones because you know I’m all over it with the new pair I get. Word.

I also bought another pair of Nike socks- in purrrrrrrple :D

Then we headed over to the Village Tavern in Long Grove. I had never been there and it’s right in the cute part of town so that was fun! We had the longest table ever, plus a smaller table for the LATE PEOPLE. Heh.

Eventually we pulled all the tables together and did our white elephant gift exchange! It was super fun, and since we had a lot of people, there were all different kinds of gifts. I also saw probably the biggest can of beans I have ever seen in my life….and also admired all of the Star Wars gifts. I’m surprised there were not donuts, or that there weren’t more bottles of wine!

I ended up getting a blowhorn, that got stolen by LAUREN (goddammit), but I’m cool with it. The opportunity to open a wrapped gift is just fabulous, so I chose a new gift and it was a blue model car and a Kenny G CD (Merry Christmas mom!)

I gave a chocolate Santa, an N*Sync Christmas CD, and a framed picture of our fearless founder Mike. Because, running club shenanigans. Also, I figured who wouldn’t want a framed picture of Mike?  And this one was all Christmasy because he was wearing a Santa hat, so boom. Jill ended up with this gift, and I’m pretty sure she’s in love.

After a few Fistmas beers, laughter, candid conversation, and the token group photo, I peaced out. I had school the next day after all, and me + little sleep + Christmas week = mean teacher.

Thursday we had our final Secret Santa gift exchange during our Christmas lunch! We had AN HOUR for lunch, which is a gift in itself, to eat and mingle. Everything was delicious, and it was fun to find out who had been secretly giving you gifts all week. For my gifts I got: cookies and chocolate, two Christmas scented candles, lotions, and a scarf and gift card to a nail place that I LOVE in AH J I was way spoiled! Thanks Loretta!!

Then, after school, I went to a kickboxing class with some running ladies. It’s always a good class- you super work up a sweat, and it’s fun! Also, it’s nice that it’s down the street from my house right in Libertyville. I feel like I have to go back for a yoga class sometime, even though I’m a crappy yogi, lol.

It’s been a hard, tiring, and excellent week you guys.

Thank goodness for winter break!

P.S.- None of these pictures were mine- they were all from the people who went to the event and tagged me on Facebook!

Taylor Swift- July 19th, 2015...#87 in my 101 in 1001

So this happened, and I never blogged about it. sadface. I actually wrote this post a while ago, leaving it in the the "Draft" phase of writing where it was dying a slow death until I just noticed it now. It has received ZERO revision, other than this paragraph. I like to live dangerously.

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Those seconds in the upper right corner are how many seconds of Snap Chat I sent....lol

More Concert snaps :)

Ok, highlights:
- Went to dinner with friends before and had a beer
- Visited Colleen's then-apartment and had a road beer (Yay! Thanks Colleen! Miss you!)
- Walked to Soldier Field with Kelsers and our road beers (though techinically I THINK she had wine...)
- Realized that I've only been to Soldier Field for concerts and races...We need to go to a Bears game one day!
- Got a sweet, sweet light up bracelet
- I bought a t-shirt, Kelsey bought beers, and we found our seats
(If you're counting, we are tipsy by now...)
- Sang along to EVERY SONG
- Jumped up and down with glee every time my bracelet lit up. (duh)
- Got asked three times to stay out of the aisle, whoops.
- Snap chatted waaaaaaay too many videos of myself and Kelsey singing along with our #bestie T-Swift (sorry friends. Truly. So sorry.)
- Took 25 minutes to leave the venue
- Stole a cab from someone named Melissa (or something? Sorry Melissa!)
- Missed our train by 3 minutes
- Begged our wonderful boys to come pick us up at 1 a.m. in Chicago at a taco place
- Had a pretty fluent conversation in Spanish with the fine people that worked at said taco place
- Snap chatted some more (again, sorry)
- Had a blast with Kelsey, and loved every minute of that night!

Next time: costumes. Happening.

Adam

I saw my "friend" Adam again today. It's been about 4 months since I last saw him. He was doing his usual thing- sitting on the corner in front of Walgreens with a sign that said, "Need work for food and gas", only this time he was wearing socks on his hands and was dressed in an old jacket that was zippered up to his chin. Adam was also sitting on a rusty old tool box.

If you can't imagine the picture of him that I am attempting to describe to you, it's probably like the pictures of people on the street that you have seen before, only he is right here in Libertyville. I was fortunate enough to speak with him a little bit about his situation last time I saw him, and I wish I could give him a job that would really set him up on his own.

But I don't have a job for him, and the most I've had for him in the past is a sandwich and a water bottle from Jewel.

This time that I saw him, I gave him a gift card to Subway, which I'm not sure why I didn't think of that in the past. It's perfect because it's right next to the spot that he frequents, it allows him to go inside somewhere warm, and he can get a variety of stuff there that he might like.

Homelessness in this country is a real problem. I am fortunate enough to know a lot of different people, this man included, and his story is tough. All our stories are tough, but some people have it tougher- and not necessarily due to an alcohol or drug problem. That stereotype has given the homeless a bad rep, just like any stereotype does.

So maybe next time you see someone who is homeless, you give him or her some clothes, or a sandwich, or maybe you internally decide to say a prayer or a well wish at another time....it's a start.

Serial Season 2

https://serialpodcast.org/

SERIAL  SEASON 2 HAS STARTED!!!

If you're like me, you listened to Serial season 1, fell in love, and have become the obsessive ex-girlfriend now that the show is over.

Well fear not crazioactives....season 2 is here!

Now, it's not about Adnan, Asia McClain, and the cell phone towers conspiracy. It is a completely different mysterious story that needs to be heard America.

LISTEN HERE for ffffrrrreeeeeeeeeeee!

And let's chat about it along the way loves ;)

Running with Toys

This weekend was the LRC Toys for Tots run!

Most of you who read this blog know who the LRC is, but if not, check out the website here (and come run with us!)

There was the normal scheduled run at 7 am with dogs. Our fearless leader's dog passed away recently, and this run was in memoriam of her. She was so sweet and will be missed by the club! Runners brought their dogs and although I didn't go to that run, I feel like I did thanks to Facebook uploads. woot. Y'all have cute dogs!

At 9 am was the Toys for Tots run. I wore my token "Meowy Christmas" sweater and one of my many cat hats, mostly because the FB invite said "festive" sooooo duh. Also, I realized that I hadn't shared my "ugly" cat christmas sweater with these fine folks yet. Here was the sweater's debut last year:

After the run, I went to a place called Hansa Coffee Roasters with a few LRC friends, specifically a sweet sweet man named Chris that introduced me to the place for the first time! (He also was a student at the school I teach at. Small world) Thanks Chris! I got a honey latte with ALMOND MILK (Thank you Jesus...you hear that Starbucks?) and it was very good. Might be my new drink, and I think it's a local biz, soooo 😍. They also had a lavender latte on the menu that I want to try. I'm all things lavender since Maui. 

Anywho, the cat sweater was purchased for an ugly Christmas sweater party that my fine fine friends Kyle & Kelsey put on every year. I found it online (typical) and got the cat ear headband from Target's dollar spot around Halloween 2014 (typical squared). Thanks Taylor Swift for making this a thing.

I'm pretty stoked to share this year's ugly sweater with you, but I must wait until it's first appearance at K+K's party! We went all out this year. Not only did I actually MAKE the sweater with supplies from the Hob Lob, but my husband also made his! He doesn't do shit like that, but apparently he was feeling the Christmas spirit this year.

I also fully expect to wear this sweater to every ugly sweater themed anything forever and ever amen, even though I already have ideas for next year {Insert silly face emojii here}

Tommy's sweater is PERFECT for this specific party f.y.i.  Can't wait!



UPDATE:
Now that the annual party has come and gone, here are our sweaters:

 Plus a few other good snaps:

K herself

K himself

Little 'ole ussie. 

Flat Kyle with 3D Kyle- that's a nice face you might say!

The inspiration ....

P.s.- if you don't who Grumpy Cat is, go home. Just leave. We can't be internet friends anymore. NO. 

Oh yea, and this happened....which I couldn't NOT take a picture of for Laura, so I hope I don't get arrested or whatever!