Better with Time

i like to say i get better with age. like a fine wine. buuut...after existing pretty much nonstop for 9 weeks...sometimes 12 hrs a day or mas...i fear that my fine wine may be turning into prune juice...shriveled plums turned into puree used to assist regularity. doesn't that sound super attractive? haha it's time for a break i'd say.

One Time Yet Again

so this one time i went with some friends to see a show in good ole san fran. one of my friends went to college with one of the musicians so it was fun getting to meet him and the band he was touring with. it was like hanging out with some new friends. sometimes i think performing musicians are intimidating...in the coolest sort of way of course. but still...a bit intimidating. i suppose in my old age i have become more bold as to talk to them though. ANYway, i remember that night chatting with the drummer from the band finn riggins for a short while. (u should check them out if u haven't heard of them before. they are really fun to see live.) i'm not gonna lie i thought he was a cutie...and i was actually talking to him. it was a little awkward perhaps at times but mostly just fun. at one point he said he was going to get a drink and asked me if i wanted anything...i said no thanks because i didn't really want anything to drink at that particular moment. (later, i was told u aren't supposed to say no if u are enjoying the convo....but i didn't know that!) anyway, after he left to get a drink we didn't get to talk much after that.

fast forward.....dooooooooooop...

so today i am looking at their music myspace and realize they have up some new pictures. i decided to take a looksy and realized i turned down a drink from THIS guy:

good one shan....good one.

Oh Roomates Oh Rrrrrooom

meet us on a friday night when exhaustion has taken over and u will get some pretty freaky interactions with keziah and i. i have this video i have been trying to download from this very night so u can experience a bit of it, but NO it doesn't let me. keziah whom i affectionately call keh-zie or keziuh is recently engaged.

here we have the four roomies and i on my birthday...well the day before. they planned me a surprise dinner with some close friends. it was cute...and fun. i was definitely taken by surprise. all four of us are so different that sometimes it is hilarious but at the same time, we work really well together. perhaps random roomating is one of the best ways to go...or perhaps i am just blessed and random roomating should not be a lifelong philosophy. i mean really, what if i went so far as to say random spousing. althoughhhh....it has worked for many people. betrothal.

Can We Say Sal?

i made a trip to whole foods yesterday. i needed to make a bank deposit nearby and had been craving some almond butter so decided i'd stop in. i need to be eating more protein. and iron, but anyway...

so i'm walking down the isles of the wonderful but expensivo delight that is whole foods when i came upon some canned tuna and salmon. i thought some canned sal on salad or with crackers sounded kinda good so i picked up a can. i have usually only seen salmon in cans similar to tuna cans, ya know, small. however, there was a can the size of a can of say kidney beans for a similar price so i figured, why not get that one? economy size. i should have read the entire label.

by the time i got back to my apt i had walked about 4 miles; having in my system no more than an apple and a piece of bread. some sally sal sounded pretty good. so i opened the can...and to my HORROR i found spine and skin and oh my goodness i thought i was going to have to give up fish! haha! i proceeded to sift through the can of mushy, spiney, skin meat thinking to myself that the can shoulda said SOMETHING about what i was purchasing. not just ready to serve. HOW WAS THAT READY TO SERVE? eventually, i finished separating all the body parts and had some fish, but with mixed feelings of course.

i really should have read the entire label before this morning because had i, i would have seen this:

in case the blurr is too blurry for ur reading, it says:"this product is made from wild salmon and contains skin and bones which are both nutritious and completely edible." hahahaha. economy size?...shannon u are such a freak.

A Plethora of Pictures

slowly but surely i am able to keep adding pictures. i dunno why but the computer decides after a picture or two that it no longer wants to upload any more fantastical images. haha. oh well. so from the top to bottom:

*here u have the roomies a roomie bf doing some stretching after i having led them in some different core exercises. i learn lots of different exercises and sometimes the roomates let me instruct them. it's fun for us both. they are doing the cobra stretch...but not everyone should try that at home. u can do it with ur forearms on the ground as well so ur back doesn't need to bend back as much.

*the snowy building is part of campus. when i get some better pictures i can include more. all the brick is nuts it's so pretty

*one of my jobs is working at the YMCA with kiddies. i get off of the paulina stop on the brown line. it is pronounced, paul-ii-nuh. i have a friend who works for the CTA on that stop (chicago transit authority=CTA). his name is zoltan, it's hungarian, but he goes by bill. on the really cold days he lets me stand in his little booth by the heater to warm up. nice friend.

*the brick building is my apt complex. i live on the 1st floor. i never have lived in an apt where u walk inside a couple doors, then go up some stairs and reach ur door. it's pretty cozy. one day i made some vegetarian chili....well...WAY TOO MUCH on accident, so i walked up the stairwell to both the 2nd and 3rd floors and delivered a tupperware of chili to our neighbors. we are all girls on our side of the building and i have developed some dear friendships with some of them. i like enclosed apt living...good times.

Cardio Kick

dear cardio kick,
i love the way u make my muscles burn and my back sore. please be my friend forever. when i thrust that upper cut into the hand puncher things understand that i am letting u know i am serious about our relationship. it is not one to be toyed with. cardio kick do not be jealous when i take other fitness classes and use other equipment. i am merely attempting to strengthen myself for our next rendevous. oh cardo kick, u are a gem.
love, shannon

Oh Blustery Day

temperatures below 0 degrees. crazy wind chill factor. the result.



oh and yes trina. i am ninja.