life will be...

so much better when i'm done with grad school. i only have about 32 more classes to get through and 3 comp exam questions and then i'm done. 2 more classes next week, my finals, one class over the summer for 5 weeks, 2 in the fall, then exams. i seriously can't wait; i'm so done with it. these are the things i plan to do when i'm done:

1. be spontaneous - i can't ever do anything on the fly these days because i'm usually bogged down with assignments and reading. i can't wait to live more spontaneously!

2. relax/being lazy - i miss it.

3. reading for fun - i have a pile of books i got for christmas that have not been opened because i don't have time to read them.

4. enjoy the city - i really miss going to free days at museums, using my shedd membership, trying new restaurants, visiting the zoo, going to the green city market and all my other favorite city things.

5. cooking proper meals - i'm definitely on the grad school diet these days. i've been trying to stick with salads for class but when i'm stressed i definitely want things like chipotle and dr. pepper and pop chips.

6. have more money!!!! - even though school is "free" for me b/c i work here, i still pay student fees, have to buy books and get taxed on tuition.

7. regaining clarity and peace of mind - especially now with 2 classes, i'm very foggy all the time. i can't wait to not have to think about organizational communication anymore.

8. working out more regularly - when i'm not in school i get into a great work out routine and hit the gym atleast 4x a week and i love it. i'm lucky if i get there 2-3x a week now and it's usually for a shortened workout.

9. PLAN OUR WEDDING!!!! - i haven't really gotten to dive into wedding planning because i've been so busy with school. i can't wait to have about a full year to enjoy being engaged and plan all the fun details together!

10. being a better friend and fiancee - taking 2 classes for the first time has really been crampin my social life. i can't wait to spend more quality time with the people i love.

life is so much better....

in the new apartment! rob and i are loving the new place so much! it's so awesome to have a full sized comfortable couch to lay on together instead of the tiny love seat we had in my old apartment. we love our huge windows on the front of the apartment that let tons of light in and showcase the huge, beautiful trees just outside our door. when it's cool enough to open windows it lets in a great breeze and you can hear the leaves shaking. it's fantastic! we love having a giant sized kitchen that allows us both to be in it at the same time without stepping all over each other. we love going grocery shopping together and cooking for each other. still can't get over having a washer & dryer too. we really love that there is not a stompy foot giant living above us anymore. and we keep talking about going out for drinks in the new hood because there are so many places to check out and i know as soon as we do, it'll make us love life in roscoe village even more!

*very happy in our new home*

wedding update!

rob and i have just started planning things for the wedding but it's still coming together slowly. we saw one venue a few weeks ago that we had already been to and weren't super impressed. but this weekend we went to 2 that were awesome!!! the first one was gallery 1028 on goose island. the coordinator was a PRO and we really clicked. the space is all exposed brick with a cool wood plank floor. we really loved the layout and the vibe but they have a lot of crazy extra fees we weren't into. still a possibility. we got a quote from their only caterer option yesterday and it was partially what we wanted (comfort food) and partially not. i wasn't too impressed. then we went to architectural artifacts further north. it's an antiques store with a large atrium for event event spaces. it's pretty awesome! we loved the look and feel but the staff was pretty weird....they also require security and insurance which adds up quite a bit. but the pros outweigh the cons there and we really love it. most importantly - they have a ping pong table we can use. what more could we want!? i'm going to floating world gallery on thursday and we are scheduled to go see prairie production this saturday and a new leaf on sunday. after that, we should probably have a winner but we have about 2-3 more possibilities if needed. i can't wait to have our venue set so that we can begin planning all the fun little details like decor and invites!

we're also getting our engagement pics done on sunday. it's supposed to thunderstorm and we're going to the lincoln park zoo. i do have a super cool 60's style clear bubble umbrella we can use as a prop but not if it's down pouring. fingers crossed that it's ok for the hour we're shooting! fingers crossed that we don't look completely idiotic...i have faith in the photogs we've selected though. check em out! - http://stofferphotography.com/index2.php.

weekend highlights!

i had an awesome weekend but it definitely went by too fast! on friday i had a great workout and grabbed some groceries before getting on the train. i accidentally got on the purple line instead of the brownline and ended up in evanston :( whoopsie. when i got there, i hopped on the redline and rob picked me up. i laughed the whole time. i'd normally get super mad but i was in a good mood and just decided to roll with the punches. we drove to half acre brewery to pick up a growler and then to great lakes pizza to get a very gourmet pie. we headed home and enjoyed our dinner and then our friends molly, hogan and his girlfriend lindsay stopped by for some beers and to check out our new place. it was the perfect relaxing night. on saturday i had to get up early to volunteer at casa central for our annual day of service. we were painting two rooms...i suck at painting. i eventually was able to move on to an organization project - much more up my alley. afterwards tara and i stopped by a charity bake sale for some delicious treats that benefited the homeless. after i got home i watched a sex and the city marathon and sort of did homework before going to see something borrowed with tara, mary and colleen. we loved it! i think chick flicks are stepping up their game. it was much better than i expected. afterwards we went to birds nest to see tara's mechanic's band play - there was a cover so we just listened from the front of the bar and grabbed some beers and wings. we hit up another bar before calling it a night. i had such a good time and definitely needed a fun night with my girlfriends! on sunday i got to spend the day with my mama downtown. we went to macy's to look at registry options and fell in love with a variety of housewares. registering will be so fun! then we grabbed a quick bite before going to the joffrey ballet. we've gone several times together and it's always such a treat. it was beautiful and we really loved it. afterwards we did some shopping and then parted ways. it was a great day! i couldn't believe it was already sunday night and time to start a new week. i'm realllly looking forward to this weekend and i can't wait for it to be friday!

enjoy the beautiful spring weather everyone :)