Bokeh

I learned something new today...

Bokeh:  In photography, bokeh is the blur, or the aesthetic quality of the blur, in out-of-focus areas of an image, or the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light.    .....according to Wikipedia

I use this technique in my pictures sometimes, but I am such an amateur that I never knew there was a term for it, or even paid much attention to the fact that I do this. It just happens sometimes.

I wish I had time to take a class for fun... on the use of my camera.  I guess I could read up in forums or websites or whatnot... but a real class would be more fun... but also more expensive.

Maybe I will start making assignments for myself!  For $Free.99.

In the future... I will try to fulfill assignments for myself...

       ... Take pictures of things that are green

       ... Take pictures of things that are triangular

       ... Take pictures of shoes

       ... Take pictures of love

       ... Take pictures of sad things

       ... Take pictures of wind

       ... Take pictures of heat

       ... Take pictures of imperfect things

       ... Take pictures of reflections  

Have any other ideas?

a peek into my night

Currently...

... home alone

... with a bowl of fresh cut pineapples

... eating a bag of chocolate rice snacks

... listening to a playlist made by a boy who loves me

... writing notes to friends

... content.

adorable

best darn strawberry ice cream

Things are happy in mini vacay town...

My three days off have been spent well since I arrived in Champaign to visit Jay.

It is the middle of the night and I am wide awake... all thanks to my ever-changing sleeping schedule... so why not blog?

I got here Wednesday... 

...and walked straight to Jay's freezer... and ate his delicious homemade ice cream.  No joke, hands down, the best strawberry ice cream of my life.  I wish I could share it with you via internet.

Thursday...

...went to lunch with Jay and his friend Neil at a local favorite... Black Dog Smoke and Ale house.  I personally prefer Lil Porgy's Bar-B-Q ... but that's just me.  Both have really good sauces that they douse their pulled pork/chicken sandwiches in. Yum.

...after lunch? Napped all day. A truly glorious thing.

...went to dinner with Jay at Merry Ann's Diner ...a cute, local diner. Quick and yummy.

...had a couple beers with friends at Blind Pig Brewery (voted one of top 50 places in America to have a beer... by the good people of Beer Advocate ... and I agree!)  I had a flight... instead of one beer... I had three tiny glasses of different beers for the same price as one beer.  I had the Curtis Orchard Hard Cider... Two Brothers Ebel's Weiss... and the brewery's own Belgian Tripple.  ... I recommend them all!

Friday... today...

... while Jay is at lab... our friend Toni and I are going to go to my favorite bakery that I cannot even remember the name of.  It's some hole-in-the-wall... with the most delicious cheese danishes.  I hope she loves it as much as I do!

... then we will attend the sale at the Urbana Library.  They are selling a bunch of old books.  Toni was an English major in undergrad (now in Law school)... so she is going to just love this sale. I just love the smell of old books, so I will get my fill of fantastic old book smells... and I will definitely buy some fun books.

... then come dinner time we are all going out to eat... 

... then tonight... The 35th Sweetcorn Festival! Yes, it is as fantastic as it sounds.  Live music, fun foods, and lots of yummy, delicious, Illinois sweetcorn. YUM. Pretty excited.

I just love visiting this town. I drive through campus and gawk at the kids. They look too young to be in college. I cannot believe I looked that little when I was attending the university!  So much has changed... but many more things have stayed the same. I love reminiscing of all the ridiculous things I did in college as I drive past my old dorm on 4th street... past my favorite pub on green street... past the lecture hall where Jay and I met in Ecology class (nerds, I know.)... past the stadium where I watched our football team lose time and time again... past my old apartments where I formed many fun memories with my room mates... oh college.

Mini vacations are the best!

The sun is up!

Last night WAS better. (refer to previous post)

The sun is up. The sky is blue. It's beautiful. And so are you.

(*Beatles reference* if you didn't know that I'll punch you.)

Today is a great day!

-I had a great night at work last night!

-I am visiting Jay tonight after I sleep today!

-Jay made me homemade strawberry ice cream!

-I just at a Spinach Florentine bagel with Jalapeno Salsa cream cheese from Einstein! ...yes it IS as delicious as it sounds!

-The temperature outside was 67 degrees... so nice and cool and not humid!

I love love love being in a good mood.

Spreading the smiles :)

To add to the fun and good mood... here are fun pictures from my friend, Lauren's bachelorette party over the weekend...

Theme?   ... pink... black... mustaches!!

@#!%&#@#!!

Since I cannot sleep when I am all worked up. I will take to blogging to vent my frustrations.  I had an awful/horrible/ridiculous night at work... one of my worst nights in a looong time. 

Fact:

-I am sick of doctors who are rude/impatient/mean to me when I am just trying to do my job.

-I am so tired/frustrated/annoyed from my shift at work that I want to cry/scream/punch someone all at the same time.

-I have to be back at work at 7pm... and really I just want to sleep for 10+hrs.

-I just want a giant ice cream sundae right now... or a Taco Bell cheese quesadilla.

-I almost feel like crying, but know that once it starts it cannot stop... and then I wake up with puffy eyes and I look more Asian than I already am.

-I have no idea if I actually did a good job at work last night, because there was too much to do in so little time.

-I want to eat, but I am too tired/lazy/exhausted to go downstairs and make something... plus I already brushed my teeth.

-I feel bad/sad/disappointed that I wasn't the best nurse I could be to my patients.  I will have to do better tonight.

... on the upside... I am visiting Jay 3 days... starting tomorrow... I so need this.

Mother Nature's Son

I went to the Chicago Botanic Gardens last week with two of my best ladies... Franke and Manda.  The place is gorgeous. It is insane how many flowers and plants are able to grow in the crazy climate of Illinois.  The gardens are beautiful.  The land is separated into different gardens with pretty paths going from each garden. They have an English garden, a Japanese garden, a vegetable garden, a bulb garden, a circle garden, a rose garden, and so many more.  I have come to the final conclusion that roses just are not my thing. The rose garden was my least favorite.  I will let the pictures do the talking from here on out, so amazing how mother nature can bring us such beautiful things to look at...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is Manda... I just got home from dropping her off at the airport. She is moving to Oregon and claims she will start a blog when she gets there. I will see to it that she follows through. Ta Ta Manda! 

Shoe Therapy

I bought another pair of shoes.

They. Are. Beautiful.

I saw them when I bought my new brown boots, but I told myself not to buy two pairs of expensive shoes in one day.  So, of course, I just waited for a new day and went back and bought them! Duh!

Unfortunately, when I shop this much (I also bought three dresses, three button ups, a belt, and earrings... yikes!) it means something is wrong.  I use shopping as therapy.  Shopping is a way of making myself feel good when I am not feeling so good.  

My dilemma is quite personal, but in the end it sums up to this... long distance relationships are awful.  You are never happy enough, because you can't be with your lover as much as you want to be, but you would never be remotely happy without them in your life.  Conundrum. Lose lose. 

... so I went shopping... and it really did make me feel better.  

boots

Dear Steve Madden Boots,

I am glad you have come into my life.

I am sad that your sister boots from seasons ago are now falling apart. 

I am sad to see them go.

They treated me well.

They were comforting to my soles.

They were Steve Madden Boots, too, quality and stylish.

Now, new boots, you are going to replace them.

You and I will go on many adventures together.

You will be paired with dresses, leggings, and cardigans.

You will be worn atop my skinny Express jeans.

You will dance me through life.

Your heels will give me the extra inches I love to have now and then.

You and I will be best friends.

Thanks for joining my shoe collection.

Love,

      Rachelle.  :)

Summer Exhaustion

Is it possible to be tired of having so much fun?
I am physically and financially exhausted from summer time. Every minute of every day has been planned out to the max.  I can't do it anymore! 

Since I last wrote I have been busy celebrating many things:  

-My friend, Harry, is moving away to Iowa to go to Pharmacy School.  We celebrated with giant margaritas on a Wednesday.

 Me and Harry

-Another friend, Manda, is moving away to Oregon to train to be a Waldorf teacher. We celebrated with a keg and blended drinks.

 Me and Manda

-Another friend, Lauren, turned twenty-six last week. We celebrated with Francesca's Forno in Wicker Park and cocktails in the city.  I really recommend this restaurant. Delicious.

Lauren and me.

So. Fun. So. Tired.

I can't deny that I am having a blast, but when the temperature starts to fall and the leaves are ready to turn orange hues, things start to slow down. I am ready for this.  I will have time to breathe, time to visit Jay, time to work out, time to collect and center myself. 

I also love to wear cardigans, scarves, and boots.  My fall outfits are my favorite outfits to wear.  Lots of layers, earthy tones, jeans, and boots galore.

 Scarf... Boots... Pea Coat!!!

One of my favorite yellow cardis!

Jay and I pumpkin picking... scarf... hoodie... jeans! 

I love fall clothes!

On a random note...

I had a meeting with my manager and director of nursing since I last wrote.  It was a half-way-through-the-year-to-touch-base kind of meeting.  One question I was asked was... "Do you like your job?"  I never really thought about it, but yes! Yes I do.  It is weird to say that. Most people (I think?) do not like their jobs.  I mean, if I had to choose between working at my job and not working at all, well shoot... I would pick not working.  Since I want to be a contributing member of society... and not a bump on a log, I do have to work and my job is a great one.  My hours are backwards (working night shift) but I love working three 12-hr shifts.  I love getting full time benefits and only working 36 hours a week. I also love the amount I get paid... for right now (being a single lady with no mortgage).  The commute is 25-35 minutes which is 1/3 of what Ashley M drives.  Can I complain? I am job-satisfied.

Back to my summer scheduling...

coming up...

-Chicago Botanic Gardens with some of my best friends on Thursday

-Pink and Black Glam Mustache bachelorette party on Saturday

I'd always rather be at the cabin

Cabin Trip #2 has come to a close. Sadly.

The weekend was filled with...

~Delicious food... tacos. salsas. guacamole. cookies. hummus. fresh cut veggies.

~Fun friends.

~Golf Cart Rides

~Ice Cream Social... I scream, you scream, we all scream for butter pecan ice cream.

~Mosquitos.

~Camp fires.

~Pomegranate Hookah

~Sleeping through the rain.

The group... minus two.

Playing around with light and my camera...

Hookah

finding the time

Took a cycling class today and it was so refreshing to finally get back into the swing of things! Ever since I started grad school in June, working full time and being a student full time has taken all the time and energy out of me.  Now that my body has adjusted to my crazy sleep schedule and I finally have my priorities in order, I am finding the time slots where I can squeeze in exercise.

I really enjoy group fitness classes, because you really can't cop out.  I mean, you can, but I feel like people will judge me... "look at her, she's a lard-o and can't handle it", so I never leave early and I always try really hard.  If I just go to the gym on my own, after 30 min I am bored and want to leave.  Group fitness keeps me engaged and motivated and seeing everyone around me get into it gets me going as well.  Cycling is especially fantastic, because they turn out the lights and you are in your own little bubble. You get to control how fast you go and the resistance on your bike.  

After cycling, my friends Ashley and Franke met up with me and we did yoga together.  It felt super good to stretch my body after cycling.  All three of us came to the realization that our cores are out of shape.  My legs and arms have the strength for the most part, but my core is what is lacking.  I have no balance, which in turn means my core is unable to keep up. 

So, hopefully I can stay motivated and keep this up, because I need to remember how good it feels to exercise, especially to stretch.  As long as it is not running, I enjoy exercising.  I just hate to run. Loathe it actually. Me and running? Enemies.

plush 'staches

Craft time!

My friend Lauren is getting married in October.

For her bachelorette party, we are going pink and black glam... with mustaches!  Ashley and I took it upon ourselves to make the mustaches for the event.  We expected this task to be easy and fun, since we both like to craft... little were we wrong.  

Foam board is the bane of our existence.

We bought felt, glue gun sticks, embroidery floss, dowel rods, and foam board (to support the flimsy felt).

We hadn't really thought it through, because once we were home to start the project, we didn't realize how insanely difficult it is to cut foam board.  Foam board is paper on both sides, but a layer of styrofoam in the middle.  Whoever created this madness should get punched in the jowls. 

After cutting through the foam board (I swear my hand is sore from this task) the project went a lot easier.  

We just cut the mustaches out of felt, hot glued 2 layers of felt with the mustache-foam board skeleton in the middle, hot glued a dowel rod in between the layers, and then used embroidery floss to finish the product. 

They turned out so well!

This picture doesn't do them justice.

And every mustache is different.

monies and vacays in my future.

I came to the realization at work last night (as I was looking at my pay stub online) that...

1) I do not make as much money as I thought I did.
   ...  When I originally got my job I thought I calculated my yearly salary correctly, but I guess not! I was about $5,000 off! That's a whole semester of grad school money! Luckily, my salary is a perfect amount for my current life. I am able to pay my bills (cell phone, car insurance, health insurance, dental, vision, gym membership), pay my grad school tuition bills (no debt yay!), and still have money for playtime and savings.  Hopefully all the hard work I am putting into being a full time student and full time nurse will pay off and I will make almost twice as much as I do now.  Although the nurse practitioner I want to be probably gets paid on the lower end, since I want to work for the public... public health... Planned Parenthood... instead of at an OBGYN type of setting.  I need to remember money isn't everything... but having enough of it makes life a whole lot easier! I swear I am not that materialistic. I just want to afford a nice house, reliable cars, and enough to go on sweet trips all over the world every year like I have already been doing since I was a kid.

2) I need to take vacations!
   ...I  have accrued 103 Paid Time Off hours since last September! I need to use them! In one year of work I will have only used 12 hours of Paid Time Off for my friends' wedding coming up in October. Other than that, I have not taken any official vacations days! Mostly because I only work 3 days a week, so I just schedule my mini vacations around my work days.  And... because for my trip to Ireland, I was lucky enough to have someone switch shifts with me and then I didn't have to use any vacation days.


... To remedy my need to vacation... I have already planned two trips for next year... 

FEBRUARY: a trip to Oregon to visit two of my favorite people who are moving there this month.  Katie will be moving to Corvallis and Manda will be moving to Eugene.  I plan on being in Oregon for an entire week! Yay. That means lots of snowboarding.

MAY: a trip to VEGAS with as many ladies as I can gather.  All my friends are excited! While I know not all of them will be able to go, at least 5 of us are a definite yes, which is a party all in itself!  Every additional lady added to the bunch will just be a bonus.  My one requirement is to see Beatles Cirque du Soleil.

I am thinking I need to take a small trip this fall or winter... South Carolina to visit Justin, my marine biologist friend, and Christina & Peter my nursing school pals? Perhaps? :)

Baby JD

My cousin, Joelna, and her husband, OJ, had a baby boy on July 10. 

His name is Jacob Dylan. 

I will call him JD.

He was born 4 lbs, 9oz.  17.5 inches.

He was 5 weeks early.

When we visited him he was 3 weeks old.

Technically, he still should have been inside the womb.  

He is teeny tiny.

And precious.

And makes funny noises.

I love him.

 baby JD

he looks like a doll.

i couldn't stop staring at him. he is beautiful.