When life hands you $5...find a good happy hour!

If you're keeping track, a lot happened since my last post: my twin sister's wedding, a family vacation, the start of a new job... You know, big (and good) things...

Here are just a few photos:

(Okay, so there were ten photos instead of "just a few" - oops.)

But this post isn't about all of that; though, it very well could be. I'll save that for another time. Instead, I thought I'd share something fun a friend and I have started doing since I got back from all that summer stuff...

I thought figuring out a 8-10 day road trip each summer was pretty brilliant on our part, but that only happens once a year. What if we could do something fun (yet strategic) on a weekly basis?

Enter rotating happy hour. Half off burgers on Monday? Awesome. Taco Tuesday? Wonderful. You get the idea - my friend and I have started meeting up once a week (a different day each week) to find some of the best happy hour deals on food and drinks in our neck of the woods.

Truth be told, we haven't been disappointed yet. Here's what we've tried so far:

Monday special: Dos Tacos (half off burgers & fries with the purchase of a beverage) - In case you were wondering, the burgers were delicious, and, perhaps surprisingly, margaritas do pair nicely with this food option.
Tuesday special: Rocks (3 for $6 tacos, 1/2 priced cocktails) - Though the tacos are small and limited to three choices (that you can mix and match or go with the same choice for all three), they were quite tasty.
Wednesday special: We had to skip Wednesday this week (and next), so the jury is still out on this one (obviously).
Thursday special: Diag Bar and Grill ($5 classic burgers & side, $5 cans and bottles) - it's hard to go wrong when you can get a hearty and yummy meal (and adult beverage) for less than $15 (including tip) in Chicago. #winning

And that's the extent of our HH adventures to date. But don't you worry, there is more to come - in a few months' time we will have found the best HH places from Lakeview to Downtown.

Sometimes, life requires you to mix it up a little. So, cheers to the adventure and fun to come!

Love Lives On

"Life has to end. Love doesn't."

(The Five People You Meet in Heaven)

"Death ends a life, not a relationship." 

(Tuesdays with Morrie)

"When someone is in your heart, they're never truly gone." 

(Tuesdays with Morrie)

There tends to be a theme (and quite a bit of wisdom) in Mitch Albom's novels...perhaps that's why I find myself drawn to them so much.

It's been hard not to think of his books recently in light of a few things...

First, I literally just finished re-reading The Five People You Meet in Heaven, and I pre-ordered the sequel coming out this fall. Without giving too much away, the main character, Eddie, goes to heaven and meets five people who help him look back on his life and make sense of it. It is such a great reminder of how each life affects so many other lives. (In that sense, it's similar to "It's a Wonderful Life," but I digress...)

Second, with my sister's wedding coming up (and with my graduation from grad school having just passed), it's hard to celebrate such momentous occasions without any of our grandparents who played such meaningful roles in our lives growing up. I know they would be beaming with pride and joy.

Third, after I got back from my roadtrip out west, my dad called with the news that my great aunt (Marg, the Great) had passed away. I took the news harder than I expected, and when her birthday card was returned in the mail unopened and with the words "no longer lives at this address" scrawled on the envelope, I realized that in all of the times I had gone to see her, I had taken it for granted that there would always be one more time...but there wasn't.

No one seems to like to talk about death. It's scary to think about one's own mortality or the mortality of people you love. But without recognizing that, I think we leave a lot of things unsaid, a lot of phone calls unmade, a lot of visits made grudgingly. And it seems that every time we may learn this lesson, we put it to the side, and we have to learn it all over again the next time. (At least, that's been the case for me.)

The good thing in all of this, though, is that my family is pretty good at telling stories - "Remember that time when grandma..." or "Your grandfather always said..." And so, they live on.

Love lives on.


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Sorry to seem like such a downer today - it's just something that's been on my mind. To end on a happier note, though...

My sister came to see my new school (and to help me lug some boxes of books and such up the stairs to my office)...and to make her first trip to The Original Rainbow Cone.

Later in the evening, we joined up with her fiance and some other friends to see "Waitress," which is playing downtown till Sunday. Funny and full of energy, I highly enjoyed it. (It was definitely a good call to watch the movie (non-musical) and jam out to the music (Sara Bareillis!) beforehand.)

Finally, since grad school is officially over, I have had time to stop and smell the flowers. It's good to get some breathing time before the final preparations for my sister's wedding...

I get by with a little help from my friends...

Back home (in my apartment with no air conditioning), I can finally breathe and let the past 25 months (or 3 years, same difference, right?) sink in. I won't shy away from the fact that it was challenging, but I wouldn't trade the experience for the world.

And, in addition to God, my classmates, professors, and family are the ones to thank for that...


PLC 1: Always remember to PLC like a champion today...and never follow Phil.

We just weren't complete the first week...

My prayer partner:

My roommate (3 summers running...):

My ACE housemate (now in the program one year behind me):

Our amazing Holy Cross priests:

annual t-shirt unveiling

My 29 classmates:

Room 210 for presentation day - love these guys!

ACE 15, now RLP 15 :) :)

all graduated!! :D

My family:

Now it is time to look forward to what the future holds...may God bless all of us as we continue our endeavors as Catholic school educators and leaders!