Jan 7- Today I finished Anna Karenina. It was a long journey, and I'm glad I saw it through. I really enjoy long novels that take the time to develop the characters. The ending of this book reminded me of Franny and Zooey because it ends with a main character having a sort of epiphany. I am starting "Everything is Illuminated" by Jonathan Safran Foer now.
Jan 8- We had my birthday party tonight! It was an Asia-themed party so we had homemade seaweed soup and homemade sushi-yum! Then we went to a Karaoke place where we had our own room. It was very fun. This is a picture of Greg and Nick singing Karaoke together.
Jan 9- Our apartment building's water went out. When we turned on the faucet brown water came out. So after work we had a small bite at a bar close by and brought home cups of water :)
Jan 10- I mentioned before that Alex and I were starting to run together again. We live really close to Lake Michigan so we've mapped out a route that leads us down by the water. At the furthest point of the loop, by the water, we can look back and see the Chicago skyline. It's really beautiful. This is a pic of me running.
Jan 11- Our friends get together weekly and have community dinner. Alex and I hosted it this week. There ended up being a lot of snowfall today so not too many people were able to come but we still had fun. Everyone brought a burrito topping and we made burritos. And Hannah made bread pudding for dessert. I kept the recipe :) This pic is of Hannah, Greg, Joe and me sitting down to dinner.
Jan 12- Alex got me Rummikub for Christmas. We learned how to play it tonight. We played 4 times in a row and I either won or tied every game :)
Jan 13- Alex and I have been working hard to pick up hours for work. In addition to hours at Starbucks I've been babysitting here and there. Alex and I babysat Jocelyn tonight. She sat and watched Hockey with Alex for a few minutes while I tried to get some dinner together for her.
Jan 14- We babysat again tonight! This family is especially fun because they have a dog and everyone knows how much Alex and I love dogs :) This is Snoopy, Alex and little Myles. Myles is very energetic like Elijah and very talkative like Hopey. We had a lot of fun together.
Jan 15- Alex's mom gave me these pots and seeds for Christmas. I planted them not too long ago and they are already sprouting. They grow taller everyday. Fun to watch. I read this book called Seedfolks after I finished Anna Karenina. It's a very short Young Adult story but it's all about a community garden. I'm getting really into the idea of gardening now.
Jan 16- I worked downtown today. The store I worked out is right in the middle of a lot of high-end shopping. I walked past the Marc Jacobs store and this is a picture of what was in the window display. The purse says "Mini MJ"! I would get it for Coco but I don't even want to know what it would cost. It would be so perfect though!!
