My Lasik Story

I recently ended a long-term relationship with my glasses. I started wearing glasses as a freshman in high school and by college, I needed them all the time. I got contacts, but they irritated my eyes and weren't ideal for athletic pursuits. But I also couldn't wear glasses while swimming and I never owned prescription sunglasses. 

I've thought about getting lasik for probably 10 years. My prescription has been stable for that time, and it's not significant (-1.75). I finally went to get a consult to see just what all it would involve. I went to LasikPlus, which is a chain in my area. The surgeon at my local joint has done more than 68,000 of these procedures. When I talked to a doctor I know who had this done years ago, he said to just find a reputable place that's done a lot of these. I looked on Yelp and Google and Facebook and saw mostly glowing reviews. The negative reviews had to do with the payment plans or financing, which didn't much concern me.

My consult was very thorough - I saw several technicians and doctors who measured my eyes, tested my vision and took my medical history. After an hour of consulting, I was presented with two options: a standard Lasik procedure guaranteed for one year for a little less than $1,500, or the same procedure guaranteed for life for $2,800.

Even pre-op I'm adorable

The technician told me something on the order of 5 percent of people need a supplemental procedure, and that with a prescription as slight as mine, my odds were very small. I took the one-year guarantee because chances are if I need it again, it's still going to be cheaper to come out of pocket for it. I have a pre-tax HSA fund through work, which I was able to use for all of this. I scheduled my procedure for after the Ironman, because working out is not advised for three days after, and you can't swim for a week.

I was also given three prescriptions to be filled and brought with me to the procedure. Beware, if you don't get a coupon, one of the eyedrops is like $165 out of pocket. With the coupon, it's $35. I ended up not needing one of the eyedrops, but it was like $5, so no big deal.

I couldn't wear contacts for a week pre-op, and wasn't allowed to wear any makeup or lotion the day of the procedure. Brent dropped me off bright and early and was told to come back to get me in three hours, but that I would text him with a 20-minute warning.

I signed in, got a bunch of directions, paid and had my eyes remeasured to ensure accuracy. I also had to wash my eyelids with these special wipes, and they gave me a dose of Aleve PM. I was hoping for something stronger, but oh well. I also donned a hairnet and they put stickers on my chest indicating the numbers of the eye corrections I would undergo. My appointment was for 8 a.m. The surgeon showed up at 8:45 a.m. and the first guy came out of the O.R. by 9 a.m.

Before my procedure, I was moved into an office and given numbing drops. A technician explained my post-op meds and procedures and gave me coke to sip on so I wouldn't pass out.

The actual procedure took eight minutes, maybe. I was given more numbing drops and who knows what else. The first machine that I stared into had a red laser for me to look at. I believe this was the machine that created a corneal flap ... which is the nice way to say it cut my eyeball. I didn't feel it. What I did feel was a ton of pressure as the doctor held my eye open and in place. Next, they switched me over to the laser. It took 11 seconds of laser work on my right eye, and 16 on my left eye. During this part, your vision goes from white to black and you smell something ridiculously gross. It's not hot, but it is certainly the smell of cells being destroyed. It wasn't actually that different from the smell when I got laser hair removal.

Cleverly cropped out those fugly goggles

Then, there are more numbing drops and the doctor "sets the corneal flap." You see, there's no stitches. Just a little bit of your eye covering your cornea that was just reshaped by a laser. Hence why you have to be really, really careful to not touch or bump or get your eye wet in the first few days.
When it was over, a nurse moved me back to the office I started in and gave me my first round of eyedrops. On the first day, you get like 40 drops. No joke. The first is an antibiotic. The second is a steroid to reduce the swelling. The third is just lubricating tears. I had one round post op and then was told to do another when I got home.

A nurse put a pair of provided goggles over my face, and then sunglasses over that. I was shocked that they just sent me on my way after that and didn't help me into a chair in the waiting room. I was actually kind of shaky and weak after, but it subsided.

The drive home was really uncomfortable though. In spite of having my eyes closed and wearing sunglasses, everything was entirely too bright.

She came to my post-op because
they have hot cocoa

The key to recovering from lasik is to keep your eyes closed for at least four hours post-op, preferably six hours. Except, I was back in bed by 10 a.m. after sleeping a full night, so that presented a challenge. Also, I had a terrible taste in the back of my mouth from the laser and the drops, and my eyes felt too big for my head. I found out later, when I could open my eyes again and Brent read me the post-op instructions, I could have hit those anti-inflammatory drops every 20 minutes to make that go away.

Live and learn.

I think I slept maybe 90 minutes out of that time. The rest of the time I listened to an audio book and messaged Brent via Alexa about things I needed or were thinking of. It was actually a pretty relaxing day. When you wake up from your post-op nap, you need drops every two hours to keep infection and swelling at bay. I didn't feel hungry at all that day and skipped lunch entirely.

It was a Friday, so by the time the kids got home from school at 4 I was awake and sort of seeing clearly. Everything had a halo around it, and I had to close all the blinds. Being outside was out of the question that first day, and I had to wear sunglasses to watch TV because it was entirely too bright.

Ravinia must go on, lasik or no

Additionally, no one told me that having a burst blood vessel was entirely normal. I took one look at myself in the mirror and called the doctor back in a panic. It's been two and a half weeks and it's still there, but I'm told that's normal.

Still very red

The next morning, I woke up with perfect vision. I drove myself to my post-op check up and found out I have 20/20 vision now. I even went to a concert the day after. I had to wear sunglasses well into the evening because the stage lights were too bright, but it was '90s night so I wasn't even close to the most ridiculously appareled person there.

For the first week, I had to sleep and shower with goggles on. I also couldn't wear makeup for four days, and then could only wear new makeup around my eyes. I couldn't get water in my eyes for the first week, either. In addition to the post-op nap, the doctor said the other crucial bit was to not touch your eyes or the area around it for the first four days. Which proved to be difficult, and make sleeping really annoying. Sleeping solely on your back is harder than it seems.

Now nearly three weeks later, my eye is still red but my vision is perfect. I use gel drops at night, but otherwise, have zero lasting effects. I have a one-month follow up that I assume will go swimmingly.

Mostly I wonder why I didn't do this earlier.

Race Recap: 2017 Ironman Wisconsin

Six-word summary: Another PR, but time for time off.

It has been a hell of a summer, my friends. I have been off the grid for long enough that I feel a layer of guilt about my lack of blogging. I'll admit, my training for my third Ironman Wisconsin (2016, 2014) was lackluster. Last year, we went to Madison weekend after weekend to bike the course. We even had a stellar peak training weekend where we swam 2.4 miles Friday, biked 100 Saturday and ran 16 Sunday.

This year, I was a bit more slapdash. I loosely followed a training plan, working out 6/7 most weeks, and working up to a 100-mile bike ride, 2.4-mile open water swim and 18-mile run, just not all in the same weekend. I regretted signing up for an Ironman two years in a row. For me, it's too much. Training became another box that I feel guilty leaving unchecked (hence, why I am writing this recap two weeks after the event at 2 a.m. in a fit of insomnia).

But, practice does make perfect. We have the perfect Airbnb and decided that this year, we were staying Thursday through Monday. The first year, Alyssa and I did this in our Hipster Hideaway, and last year, I felt unduly stressed trying to pack up everything to get there by Friday night.

 
This year was downright leisurely. I spent most of Thursday morning packing up the car, checking our lists and organizing the trip. We drove to Madison and complete athlete check in in record time (not my only PR that day). We had enough time that I got my bike out to have the mechanics check it out. Good thing I did - the bike shop that changed my chain the week before put it on backward. I paid for a tune up after that because who knows what the hell else they screwed up. That evening, we took advantage of happy hour pricing and finally checked out Hopcat. The crack fries are amazing and during happy hour, a damn good burger is $5.95. I love Madison.

Friday, we tried to sleep in. We spent some quality time packing our transition bags and walking through everything we may need.  We dropped off our bikes and joined Mark for a short practice swim during which I tried on my brand-new goggles. They're my standard pair, but I bought a new one the week before to prevent a repeat of my first Ironman.

Saturday was more of the same. Lots of watching of Lost interrupted by only by dropping off our transition bags and walking around the expo. This year, I put all my hydration on my bike the night before. I noticed last year that it's surprisingly hard to find water in transition the morning of, and it's one less thing to worry about.

My favorite part of staying at an Airbnb (besides everyone getting their own room and more privacy), is we have a kick-ass kitchen. Instead of waiting around to eat and getting home later than we like, we made a metric ton of pasta for our assembled friends and family. We got dinner out of the way and turned in for the night at maybe 8:30 p.m. Unlike my current state, I slept well over eight hours for the week leading up to the event.

We awoke at 4:15 a.m. to apply sunscreen and body markings. Brent's mom bought us a new type of sunscreen that you apply the night before and the morning of that worked far better than my standard stuff. Zealios (they don't pay me, I just like the stuff), was my pasty skin's dream.

After that, we put on extra clothing and headed down to the Ironman Village. I pumped up my tires and got out of there ASAP to avoid the nervous energy.

Because this is the first year they've done a wave start for IMWI, I wanted to be near the beach early. Last year, I was sliding into the water as the cannon went off and I wanted to position myself to have a strong swim. I was headed down the helix at 6:15 a.m. for my 6:45 wave. I was at the front of the pack and got into the water with time to spare. You can no longer do a practice swim and get in the water 5 minutes before your wave starts, which I think was enough time.

I don't think the wave start did much to improve my state of mind. It just seemed less exciting. In fact, as the first non-pro wave, when the clock got to 6:45, Mike Reilly just said "Go." No cannon. Nothing. So off I went.

Every swim starts with a little panic for me. I don't know why. I get a little worked up about what happens next, and even with the wave start, I got kicked in the head hard enough to make my ears ring. I level out by the time I get to the first turn buoy, but I already knew I wasn't having the epic swim I did last year. My fault - I didn't swim as much as I should and didn't have nearly the open water swim experience I needed.

But all that didn't matter. I was really in my element by the time I got to the halfway buoy. I'd found a pattern and location in the pack that worked, and I was gliding along through the day. Out of nowhere, my goggles snapped right off my face into three distinct pieces. One arm shot out of the water and I started waving for help while the other hand clutched the remains of my goggles. A jetski tried to come over to me, but I was so far into the pack that they couldn't get close. I had to sidestroke over to them and try to get my very cold fingers to work in piece them back together enough to finish the remaining 1/3 of the swim. That happened right around 52 minutes in, so I knew my swim would not be the 1:10 I hoped for.

When I got to the second turn buoy after finding my bearings again, I was thoroughly pissed and over it. I forgot there was another buoy and thought I was headed for the beach, leading to more off-course swimming and general orneriness on my part.

I was angry getting out of the water. Why do I keep trusting speedo when twice their shitty goggles have kicked my Ironman day off in the most displeasing way? I looked like a monster coming out of the water and felt like it, too.

The wetsuit stripped was lovely and I was running up the helix in no time. I saw Brent's mom and asked her to hold onto the goggles so I could complain about it later. I got my bag in no time and was out of my swimsuit like three steps into the change room. I had a tough time getting into my bike stuff and felt a little clunky out of the water, but soon enough I was running barefoot through transition. My bike space was towards the end so when I got there, I sat on the ground and got my bike shoes on and away I went.

I hadn't even left the Alliant Center when I saw my first incident of some decked-out dude in all the gear throwing his bike into the bushes. Guess he was having a worse day than me.

I headed out on the stick towards Verona and settled in for the bulk of my day. Side note: This is a bit of an Facebook legend that people aren't sure is real, but I totally saw a dude without a seat, riding upright and passing me on a hill. His saddle was tucked into his bike jersey. If you believe the hype reported in certain circles online, he broke is seat post in T1 and rode the entire bike like that. One woman reports taking his bike from him in T2, and another said he missed a Kona roll down slot my 26 seconds. It's unclear if it's the same dude or if there are two mystery men with the same laughable problem, although there doesn't seem to be a debate that the dude/s finished the entire 112-mile bike seatless. I am not worthy.

This year, I didn't bother with a bike or a run special needs bag knowing we didn't not get them back last year. Instead, I had a PBJ sandwich and oreos in my jersey pocket and snacked anytime I stopped to pee. Which happened to by like three times. At least I knew I was hydrated.

Learning from my follies of the past, I took a bottle of some sort of hydration at every aid station and made it my goal to have space on my bike to swap out at the next station.

Weird fact: This year's Gatorade Endurance or Ironman formula or whatever they were offering stained my bottles the most vibrant shade of orange. I've never seen that happen, and it didn't taste that strong. I wonder what it did to my insides.

In addition to the gatorade and my snacks, I tried to grab a cliff mini bar or other snack as often as I could. I never ate a gel, but I did have probably four of those mini bars, so I was set.

It's always surreal on the bike because it's easy to lose sight of the fact that you're racing because it's such a long day. You don't want to go all out because you need to save your legs, but you can't zone out or it will take forever. I did bike up Barlow this year for the first time and wish I hadn't. My legs were toast for some time and it wasn't worth it.

As always, when I made it to the stick back, I knew I was going to finish my day. I made it up the helix and jogged into transition, which was mercifully shorter than my first transition. I was back out on the road in no time and caught Jess long enough to tell her why my swim was crap, then off I went around the square. I had no plan or strategy other than to try and run more this year.

I would run a bike, walk up a hill, run a bit, take some pretzels, jog a bit. Around mile six, I caught up to a friend and we chatted while she power walked through campus. When I went to take a job down a hill, she decided she'd rather keep up with me than run it alone. So that's how Andrea and I ended up spending many an hour traipsing through Madison and its outer trails.

I finally saw Brent as I settled into my second loop, well after taking a two-pack of Advil for a creaky knee. The gel caps are where it's at, friends. Insta-relief. I thought I recalled the aid stations having more food, but alas, I was many pretzels short of a meal worth eating.

As the afternoon turned to evening, the chicken broth came out and I had visions of warmer clothing. This year was unseasonably cool. I believe we reached a high of 67 that day (the following weekend was into the 80s, and today, it hit 95 on my dashboard during my evening commute).

I start dreaming of finishing well before the second loop starts, but this year, I was fixated on the idea of finally hearing Mike Reilly clearly say, "Kelly Stone, You Are an Ironman." It's been a long time coming and after such a not banner year, I wanted it more than I wanted this all to be over.

When we got to the square, Andrea motioned for me to go on to have my moment. It was everything I remember and everything I love about the long, miserable day and even longer training toil.

I crossed the finish line and was met by Brent's mom and Alyssa. They were both volunteering at the finish line collecting chips and were changing shifts as I finished right before 9 p.m. I felt pretty good finishing, other than very cold. Terri gave me her jacket and called Jess so I could retrieve my clothes. I collected my things and skipped the finisher's photos in favor of collecting some food and heading across the street to get my stuff from my friends who so lovingly collected it from race officials. Gear in hand, Alyssa and Jess and I craftily made it back to the finish line to get prime seats for Brent's finish.

We were in such a plum spot that I watched Mike Reilly eat a sandwich and took medal selfies with him in the background. When Brent made it across the finish line, we all headed to a nearby hotel to chill for a while. We opted not to go out to eat afterwards this year, and instead got more food at the finish line and went back to our Airbnb for showers and bedtime. I'd love to say I slept in until noon, but I was up fairly early. We made breakfast, packed up and drove home with our mountain of laundry, medals and pride still intact.

The fact that I managed to continue to take time off my PR in spite of training that left much to be desired makes me wonder if I'm holding back on race day or what. Maybe one day I'll have a summer where I can give it my all and really leave it out there, but this was not that year. I am abstaining from Ironmans for 2018 and will see if I feel the itch in 2019. For now, I have so much other stuff that vies for my attention. I'd like to return to the race when I've earned it and know I can make improvements on my performance.

The upswing is that the backpack and medal are better this year than all the others I've received, and I know I will enjoy running and biking more when it's not a mandate in my life.

Cost: $700ish (but who's counting now)
Time: 14:08:01 (a PR of three minutes)
Pros: Well-run race with tons of volunteers and premium everything: shirts, medals, swag, aid stations
Cons: $$$, sacrificing your summer, neverneding guilt/anxiety over not training enough, the roads are rough in spots and Barlow is a nightmare

Three Things Thursday

1. It's finally deck season! It's been well into the 80s this week and our air conditioning is getting a workout. We upgraded to a quiet model that's more efficient, which also means we can enjoy our deck while it's still cooling the inside. It's a great time to be alive.

2. Another awesome sign of spring and wonderful benefit of our new home is getting out to bike some miles. We found a PERFECT paved trail near us that I'm sure will get lots of use this training season. It's 13 miles long without traffic. We could easily park and do endless 26-mile loop as we get ready for Ironman Wisconsin. It's only an eight-mile ride there, too.

3. A final sign of spring: 3Floyds moved back the date of Dark Lord Day from ever-rainy April to May. It was all sun shiny skies and smiles this year, which was a first. We ended up staying 12 hours, resulting in a few sun burns, but festivals like this on days like that don't come around that often.

Three Things Thursday

1. We went to a party this weekend and while I did not get the memo, apparently I dressed in the crew uniform for the day. Dark pants, white top with lots 'o fabric. It's a thing.

2. And because our life is a nearly constant party, we celebrated Mother's Day with the small ones last night. It's apparently National Barbecue Month, so we destroyed a family platter with all the fixings. I think my favorite was the pulled pork, but who am I kidding, barbecue is life.

3. This may seem petty, but my new purse makes me extremely happy. It's a monogrammed Kate Spade bag that I waited months to buy. I waited until it was on sale and I had a coupon, because we're frugal and all. I've already gotten a few compliments and I like that it's customized to my new initials. Winning!

Lessons Learned from Our First Family C2E2

My mom noticed it's been a while since I updated my blog, so time to get back into the routine. My last month has included a family road trip, two business trips, a kitchen remodel, a holiday and a birthday. It's been a wild ride but stick with me on Instagram to keep up.

We've been meaning to attention the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo for a while and never got our act together. My sister goes every year for the duration and we keep hearing from people how fun it is, so this year, we finally bit the bullet and bought tickets for family day. Kids 5 and under are free, and passes for older kids are $10. We figured it was like taking them to a princess show or a theme park, but much bigger.
In actuality, it was somewhere between a nerdy swap meet and one of those kids play places you take your family to when the weather is -50 and everyone is stir crazy. We bought fairy wings for Z and a pikachu costume for B, which ultimately got returned because he wouldn't wear it.

The lines went very quickly when we arrived right when it opened, and we meandered through the stalls. We let the kids buy a few souvenirs, and we check out Family HQ. The conference puts together this little area with lego tables, giant lego statues, and some tables to take a breather and a snack at.


Bringing in our own food and water bottles was the greatest call ever. All that's available to purchase is crappy deep dish pizza and the only water is at fountains in the bathrooms in the middle of the center.

I also carried a backpack so when the kids inevitably decided to get rid of parts of their costumes or sweatshirts, I didn't have to carry it. Smooth move. I wish I would have worn a hat or something else distinctive because it's easy to get lost in the crowd when you're as small as I am.

What I wish I had done was tell them they each got $20 for souvenirs. Everything was incredibly expensive, and I wasn't about to shell out $30 for a stuffed magikarp doll the size of a sock.

The coolest part of C2E2, in my opinion, is artists' alley. There are a ton of very talented people, and they're all eager to show you what they're working on. It was especially fun for the kids to see how people made different drawings.


One thing I didn't anticipate was there were live animals at the show. A reptile rescue was there with a display of animals, and one of the handlers had a snake kids could pet. For a $10 donation, attendees could get a photo with the snake. Color me shocked that the more sensitive child who is afraid of things like spiders and scorpions (we live in Illinois) wanted to pose with the snake.

So based on all of this, I would suggest bringing the following to C2E2 if you're coming with kids:

• Water bottles
• Lunch and snacks
• A bright hat to get spotted easier
• Cash for souvenirs and photo opts
• A cell phone battery bank
• A backpack, not a purse, to leave your hands free

Three Things Thursday

1. It's unicorn this and unicorn that lately. Everything is rainbows. I did not go and get a Unicorn frappuccino because my sister said it tasted like sugar garbage and I didn't really want to be that person at Starbucks, but you better believe I bought these rainbow bagels at the grocery store. "For the kids." They liked them, but quickly realized it's just a bagel with food coloring.

2. It's almost grilling season! Brent smoked these ribs for Easter and they were amazing. I mean, check out that crust. It's drool worthy.

3. I'm going to keep the food theme rolling. I don't buy cinnamon rolls often because they don't have a long shelf life in this household and I don't need to be eating those. But, holidays call for cinnamon buns of fun shapes. I did hearts for Valentine's Day last year, so naturally, I did cinnabunnies for Easter this year. The best part is you get a portion and a half this way.

Three Things Thursday

1. A great way to recover from a marathon is a full day of yardwork. Six hours, 50 bags of mulch, 40 bags of rocks and three trips later, we have a very nice-looking yard complete with vegetable garden and a fresh set of perennial bulbs. We're good grown ups.

2. For the past few years, we've celebrated prEaster. It's like Easter, but the weekend before. I make bunny-shaped cinnamon rolls and we hide eggs. This is the bounty for this year's prEaster. I don't know how to adult without the dollar store.

3. Just looking through my photos, I realized that since the beginning of February, I have been to Texas, Wisconsin, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri and Iowa, and many places more than once. I'm at the tail end of a heavy travel schedule and can't wait to slow down a bit.

2017 Circular Logic Marathon Race Recap

Six-word summary: Awesome weather for my favorite race.

In the past four years of my life, virtually everything has changed. House. Job. Relationships. Goals. I have had few constants. But this race has remained. It's where I attempted a PR and we got engaged and made so many memories along the way.

This is the fourth year I've done the Circular Logic Marathon, a race of 26 one-mile loops in West Lafayette. Each year has been met with small changes and improvements to the course and logisitics. I'm loving how passionate the organizers are at creating the best hometown race possible that boasts an affordable entry fee and full support from volunteers. This is, however, the first year we've had great weather. Shorts weather! Last year (when we got engaged) I thought we'd get blown away, the year before it was 18 degrees and the first year, it snowed. Lucky us.


We've also gotten this race down to a science. We stay at a hotel that's very close to the park and allows for check out as late as 4 p.m. It's not fancy and it sure is a little weird, but that post-race shower makes it all worth it. We got up around 6:30 and had breakfast at the hotel before heading over to the start line.

Something we'll do differently next year is opt for an early start. We were at the park at 8:05, so we could have easily started an hour earlier. We didn't realize anyone could opt for the early start. The problem with the 9 a.m. start is that everyone who is trying to BQ starts then. With one third of the race field trying to qualify, that meant when we finished at a very modest time, it was as ghost town.


We dropped our labeled bottles off at the aid station and set up a box of odds and ends we might want throughout the day: Advil, gels, headphones, phones, keys and tums. Then we headed to the start with Mo and got to moving. For the first six miles, Brent's bib had the wrong name, so we had fun with that to pass the miles. We ran almost the entire first half and were starting to feel pretty worn out.

I took a Gu around 11 and then we started a regimented walk-run schedule soon after that. Mo kept time for when we walked and ran and around the park we went without much incident. By the 15-mile mark, we were far less chatty as it started to get hard. My left knee was bothering me, along with my normal aches and pains. Around 17, Mo and I both took some advil. When it kicked in by 19, we annoyed the crap out of Brent because we started to feel better just as he was feeling worse. Right around that time, we were surprised to see the Philips cheering us on. They were on their way back from Spring Break and stopped to see the end of our race. Their kids played on the newly constructed playground while we finished up.

Mark ran with us for the last 5K as the course emptied out. I felt pretty good at the end of this race, albeit tired and sore, and was happy to be at the deserted finish line. This year, the race organizers opted to eliminate finish-line food in favor of bringing in a food truck. However, one race participant was celebrating his birthday and handed us cake at the finish line. I also saw there were cupcakes someone brought, so there was plenty to go around.

We skipped the food truck and collected our stuff before a quick shower at the hotel, then met the Philips for our traditional post-race Chilis meal. We were spent, and I fell asleep in the car on the way home. Today, I don't have any chafing, but my left foot is killing me. It hurst on the sole towards the outside. Hopefully it's nothing serious, because Ironman training awaits!

Time: 4:40:20
Cost: $65 with a medal and shirt (It was under $30 without)
Pros: It's cheap, easy to get to and well-supported. The medal and shirt are great, and you're rewarded for each subsequent marathon with a charm on your medal.
Cons: The weather is really unpredictable. It's a boring course. A lot of fast people are trying to BQ, which makes me sad because I'm not fast anymore.
Will I do this again? Every year I can move forward.

Three Things Thursday

1. When I was at SXSW, I entered all sorts of contests, and I actually won one! Cuisinart partnered with Coolhaus to give away free ice cream sandwiches across from the convention center. I grammed a photo of my treat and viola, I won and ice cream maker and a signed copy of the food truck's cook book. I am in fat kid heaven!

2. We bought our house in late summer and aren't quite sure what to expect from the landscaping. Our HOA covered the lawn care, but we have no idea what might bloom this spring and summer. Our yard is currently a fun science experiment. I think these are daffodils and tulips, but we'll find out together in a few days.

3. On our epic road trip, one of the hotel lobbies had this sign. It warmed my heart.

Three Things Thursday

1. I totally recognize my content as of late has been light. I've also worked back to back conferences and am going on vacation, so it is what it is. This week's conference was in downtown Chicago and involved a lot of video and live broadcast. Both of these outfits were from Goodwill, and damn did I look sharp.

2. We've been trying to clean up our diets lately and I've realized it gets much easier with time. Even the kids are getting on board. I made this sheet pan chicken with chickpeas and tomato dish over the weekend. Initially, both kids refused to touch it. In the end, they loved the savory yogurt sauce that was served on top and ate the whole thing. I would consider this a big success.

3. I feel like I go through this with every holiday - I clearly need more decorations. But I also realize that more stuff = more to put out, clean up and put back. Ah, the choices.

Three Thing Thursday

1. My sisters and I went to Treat Yo'Self, which was put on by TimeOut Chicago. It was a blast. For $25, you got two drink tickets and unlimited tastes from a handful of dessert purveyors. There was also a DJ, fortune teller, hair stylist and massage therapist. I stuck with treats.

2. The small ones wanted to get a project at Joann's, so we tried sewing. We made pillows, a stuffed bunny and a sleeping bag for a toy. It was only slightly frustrating and they seemed to enjoy the challenge. Plus, I used my sewing machine for the first time in a year.

3. I went to SXSW last weekend (a whole post unto itself) and came home to this. I like the sad girl drawing at the bottom the best: