Author Archives: yearoffunsarah

Mar 12 2013
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Chicago Specific Fun, Rheumatoid Arthritis

Day 169: Doctor Fun?

It’s not that I don’t like my rheumatologist, I really do. After a year and a half together, we finally understand one another and communicate better as a result. However, this does not mean that going to appointments are fun.

But today’s appointment actually was really fun. I think because we only had good things to talk about. He thinks I’m doing well. He thinks Europe will be great. He thinks I can manage my own prednisone if I need it on the trip. He gave us some “must sees” for Brussels because his daughter lived their for a year. I was in, the hubs was there, we all chatted and I was out in less than an hour. That’s probably a record for a specialty doctor.

The best part was I left feeling confident, happy and ready to conquer Europe (insert Charlemagne, Caesar, or Alexander the Great joke here)!

Mar 11 2013
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Friends and Family

Day 168: New Family

Midday today, I got the text that our friends’ son was coming home! They have been going through the adoption process for a while now and have been “live” (available for matches) for about a year. They’ve had some challenging times throughout, but seeing this new family tonight, I am convinced it was all worth it for the little man.

Here’s a list of all the fun things I did in the two hours the hubs and I were there:

1. met the boy
2. heard about our friends bringing the boy home
3. ate takeout around a kitchen island
4. toasted the boy’s health
5. talked about baby stuff
6. rocked the boy to sleep and then held him while he slept
7. saw my friends in an amazing new light as loving, happy dads

They were all fun, but number 7 was probably best. Number 6 was a very close second though.

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Mar 10 2013
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Food/Drink Fun, Guilty Pleasures, Solitary Fun

Day 167: I Love Chocolate

I realize I haven’t been committing to Guilty Pleasure Sunday. I guess I used to need the guilty pleasure every week but lately that hasn’t been the case. Though I have found a new food item to feed my chocolate obsession. It’s from Starbucks, an unlikely place to find a decadent treat. But find one I did. A thick, moist, chocolate chunk brownie. I think I’m going to have to put a limit on how many of these I can have in a month. Or a week. Danger.

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Mar 10 2013
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Chicago Specific Fun

Day 166: LTAB

Tonight, I witnessed some of the best performances and heard some of the most amazing arrangements of words I’ve ever heard. And they didn’t come from professionals. I went to the finals of Louder Than a Bomb, a high school slam poetry competition that takes place every winter.

For the last 13 years, high school teachers all over Chicago have set aside time in February and March to coach their LTAB teams. Over 110 teams competed in bouts leading up to tonights’ event. This Olympic style competition seeks to unite one of the country’s most violent and segregated cities through the power of spoken word.

Four teams compete in the finals. That means three individuals from each team compete solo followed by group performances. Teenagers write their own poems that must follow a few rules; no swearing, no homophobic or gender bias language and no racial slurs.

I find it so hard to express what an impact these young people had on me tonight. Their words and their passion showed a depth of understanding I’m confident I did not possess at their age. They took on the enormous subjects of race, violence, body image, rape, and more. Poets spinning truth for the audience and judges who, if you do not agree with their scoring, you can encourage to “listen to the poem.”

An amazing night filled with intelligent, confident youth devoted to the written and spoken word. Thank you to E for her work as a coach and for encouraging me to attend tonight. This was an experience I will not forget.

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Mar 08 2013
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Chicago Specific Fun, Food/Drink Fun, Fun for Couples, Nightlife

Day 165: Bistro Campagne

I am so full. So full of French cooking. It’s so good. Bistro Campagne is where the hubs and I go when we want to step up our date night. It’s a little pricier than our usual places but with such delicious food. I mean, it’s really worth it.

I started with cream of mushroom soup and the hubs with duck confit croquettes. For my main course, I had sole with couscous and vegetables and the hubs had boef bourguignon. We finished with profiteroles, pastry ice cream sandwiches covered in chocolate. Everything was so delicately prepared and had layers of flavor yet seemed so simple and clean.

They also bring hot and crusty French bread to the table for you to break yourself and cover in real butter. So, I mean, what could be better. Another delicious, highly recommended Chicago restaurant.

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