The Prodigal Daughter

Morrison-in-mono makes me seem like a creepy cat lady with all his kitten posts for me :)

I love him anyway.

And for the record, I’m an equal opportunity animal loverrr.

Took an hour away from packing to workout and then wind down with some yoga. I think (know) my hair looks worse now but I feel better - physically and emotionally. I just have to keep putting my 8 years worth of memories and junk into boxes and remember the end prize. Being back home, having morrison-in-mono with me everyday, and advancing towards my goal of opening my own restaurant. Its all so worth it.

On a semi related note - I’m having a sharp pain in my right hip when doing Uttanasana (really all forward bending poses) Working on my feet in a kitchen gives me a generally sore back. I have been seeing an acupuncturist regularly to correct this but haven’t been recently due to moving and being busy. Now, my hip pain is back with a vengeance. I can bend to about my waist before the pain is unbearable. If I reach back with my hand I can pinpoint the exact spot where the pain starts. This must change. Anyone have any suggestions?

so hey mr. jerkface who didn’t slow down & just laid on his horn while i was walking in the crosswalk at Diversey & Spaulding today you can EAT MY SHORTS.

thegreenurbanist:

IL HB 43 went into law on July 22. Effective immediately was that motorists in Illinois must stop for pedestrians in crosswalks. 

In the hierarchy of transportation it is always: pedestrians > bicycles/public transit > automobiles. 

This was prompted by a posting on the ATA’s blog ‘Aren’t we all pedestrians?’

I get so distracted when I pack. Its awful. I need to focus. But then I find old letters from my grandma & have to pause to read them. Then I find heinous pictures of me in braces & bad high school hair & have to pause to post them on Facebook. Anyway, the apartment is starting to look bare which means I’m actually putting stuff in boxes. Can’t believe the big day is almost here. So excited, so nervous.

On another note, selling stuff on craigslist was a terrible idea. People are idiots. I do not want to play email tag with you all day regarding a $20 dvd player. Buy it, or don’t. I also do not want to sell you my $200 bed for $20. Low ball city.

Whatevs. Back to boxes. Get ready morrison-in-mono, I’m coming home!

sound familiar? i thought so.

on a completely unrelated note: i think kim k is one of the most gorgeous women in the world.

my final week in the city I love. Chicago, you’ve served me well for 8 years but my heart is being tugged in other directions. Mainly, south.

In the words of Lupe - daddy raised me Chitown made me.

excited and overwhelmed at starting my life with morrison-in-mono

can’t wait.

as a professional cook i think i have more of an interest in the representation of food in art, media & culture than the average person. this is one of my favorite works by Rembrandt. not because i’m religious - i’m not. but rather, because i’m fascinated by the power people place on food. a single ‘apple’ is perhaps the most important aspect of the entire piece of art. that little piece of fruit supposedly changed the course of history for mankind. and, Rembrandt’s interpretation of this moment is gorgeous. i love the smirk on eve’s face.

food really is power.

hidden in the syllables of my name
are secrets about a mixed up girl
puzzle pieces not cut quite right
they fit together but not exactly tight
caught between a longing to save the world
and a desire to just sit and savor it
tangled somewhere in the second syllable
is the story of a girl who grew up too fast & who never grew up at all
i look and speak and act and behave as a woman
but inside i’m a nothing more than a puddle of crying toddler mush
some days I feel like a fat girl in short shorts
forced to walk around with everything riding up uncomfortably for the world to see
and other times its like I’m an old woman trapped in a pretty young body
out of touch with the world, wandering,
confused and feeling of the wrong generation
and then some days i think i couldn’t have been named more appropriately
you see, vanessa means ‘butterfly’
and i have emerged from a cocoon
a pretty little free spirit
ready to explore the world
and curled up in the intonation is the notion that i am who i am and nothing more
its implied that the path i walk is my own
the sometimes broken pieces make me who i am and i love this girl
crazy beautiful happy altruistic selfish
independent naive trusting impulsive achiever
vanessa

Anyway - check out her website & look at the brilliant portfolio. You can also find Lynn on Facebook & Twitter.

Tonight I am teaching my last class in Chicago before I move. Its a bittersweet moment. Teaching has become one of my favorite things to do and I really hope I’m able to pursue it back home.

The topic tonight is tapas and we are also making sangria. Fun food to cook and with 18 students I think it will be a good time.

Wish me luck…

random writers that have inspired me throughout the years in one way or another

Sara Gruen
Junot Diaz
Michael Pollan
Jonathan Kozol
Khaled Hosseini
Greg Mortenson
Edgar Allan Poe
Fredrick Neitzsche
William Golding
Natalie Babbit
Frances Hodgson Burnett
bell hooks
Andre Dubus III
David Sedaris
Joseph Conrad
Alan Watts
Yusef Komunyakaa

what is alive & what is living?
i have been alive without living. often.
have you ever had a moment where you just knew you were alive?
what about a moment when you knew you were living?
my blood always flows & my heart always beats.
i wake up.
i go through the motions.

& then a moment occurs 
& i feel something

sitting on a porch in the dark with friends old & new
the air is cool & its raining
we are laughing & there is love
& suddenly there is a shiver on my skin that has nothing to do with the weather
& i realize I am living

& I have everything in the world I could ever want
& I am alive
& I am living
& there is love
finally

The Chicago Tribune is doing a list of the top 100 companies to work for in the city. While interviewing one of the men helping to compile the list he commented on criteria for what makes the best workplace. His words went something like this:

“Obviously number one is pay and benefits. Why else do we wake up in the morning?”

Really… that’s the only reason we wake up in the morning? Money?

I wanted to cry. I wake up for a million other reasons. I wake up for passion & for love & for doing something I care so deeply about regardless of the fact it will never pad my pocketbook. I wake up because I believe in what I do. Imagine that if you can.

I’m so disappointed in my fellow man right now.

Everyone should be so lucky as to work doing something they love even if it doesn’t make them wealthy. Everyone should feel passion & fulfillment in their career. Passion beyond love of money & fulfillment beyond a big paycheck. Sometimes doing what you love means so much more than having things.

I feel sorry for everyone who wakes up in the morning solely for money & benefits.