every day is another opportunity to eat, pray, love

A different perspective

A little change of pace this month - and by change of pace, I mean 100 mph for both my & Patrick (my car). ALSO A CHANGE of perspective which is babbled about at the end

Let’s Go Hawks

I headed back to two back 2 back weekends to see the Hawks in Kinnick stadium, and I must say I’m slowly but surely getting ahold of this whole tailgating thing…

The first weekend, I was able to sit in the new North end zone and let me tell you, that place is a GEM. The next weekend, my rents were in town and I followed their game day tradition, which ALWAYS included a pork tenderloin sammy (for only $5). Oh, and feel free to play a little Where’s Waldo :)
Being able to see the game from this angle has given me a completely different outlook on what I did for 5 years - I always knew I took it for granted, but never got to sit and admire all of the work that we did every day.

My family & my pseudo family…so thankful to have the most amazing parents & friends that a girl could ask for.

My babies who all have my heart

BESTIE'S BDAYS

I took an extra little 16 hour roadtrip to IC and was able to triple whammy surprise some of those that are the nearest & dearest to my heart. First off, surprised Trisha & Erin at Marquee, followed up by the bday girl, Brandee. Luckily, Trisha’s bday landed on a home football weekend, so we were all able to celebrate together. Our amazing friend, Rori, flew in from Oregon as well…needless to say, it was a great time.

“POTATO” LAND

This month, my company had their marketing planning meetings, which meant a flight out to Eagle, Idaho. Here’s a Lamb Weston potato fact for ya…EVERYONE says of course your HQ are in Idaho (you know potato land)…but ironically, majority of our plants are in the PNW, due to better soil.

Some highlights of the week (other than some AMAZING marketing planning)

  1. Axe throwing for the first time…I was hesitant, but I must say, I crushed it.

  2. Team building scavenger hunt…which resulted in my grabbing some highschoolers and building a pyramid

  3. One of the most funfetti cookies I’ve ever had at Stella’s.

  4. A casual team shot with my work wife, boss & boss’s boss.

TID BITS

One of the hardest things about the new city is finding your “norm” - I have developed some solid community but it’s all still so new that I haven’t quite gotten to my “people” yet…but hey, we are trying here.

A golden latte from Limitless - definitely a new favorite.
Lunch catchup session with my boy Robbie at the healthy little gem, Left Coast. I opted for the Montecito Hash, which was divine on the rainy day - poached eggs, yams, bell peppers, kale, spinach, cheese & toasted pepitas…YUM.
Church did a little Taco Tuesday photo shoot - community & guac, yes please!
One of the nights of girls mentoring, we went to this crazy cool bookstore, Semi Colon. The walls are plastered with graffiti, and in the basement there is a gallery. Needless to say I went back later that week and bought a couple books.
Finally snagged a date-night with my work wife, Megan. It had been a ROUGH week (and it was only Tuesday), so we opted for some happy hour sushi - it was a great decision.

PREPPING TO JAM OUT 

I am a MAJOR Alessia Cara fan, so when I found out she was coming to Chicago land, I knew I had to go. Thankfully, a new friend, Keara, was a fan as well and was along for the ride. 

We started off with a solid cup of caffeine and some R&R at Fairgrounds . I am still dreaming of this fireplace.
Both of us had Etta, on our list to try so the dinner spot was an easy decision. Started off with the focaccia, ricotta-honey & truffle - I literally stopped mid-sentence after having my first bite. Followed by old-fashioneds & the Etta Chopped - aka a fancy chopped salad with salmon, stracciatella (Trisha where you at?!), & everything bagel spice. One other note about Etta - the upstairs is SO CUTE.
Sidebar fun fact about me: As a kid, I was apparently very interested in bathrooms at restaurants (according to my family). I would say that this habit has stayed with me - I love seeing how creative some people get with the ambiance of a freaking bathroom. Etta’s wasn’t over the top, but I’ll just say I wouldn’t be mad if that was my bathroom someday.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Now Lamb Weston takes Halloween VERY seriously, and I…do not. Luckily, I had this unicorn onesie in my closet that I was able to pull out for the dress up. Our VP was the most perfect Dwight…who we then wrapped up in toilet paper during our luncheon.

CHANGE UP

Before —> After —> Some effort

FAITH

Two more bible doodles were complete. I geeked out hard over “Conquerer”, EVERY time that it is played, and my BEAUTIFUL God daughter, Murphy, was born into this world.



WORD VOMIT

Now I know this is technically a food blog…but let’s be real, it has taken a life of its own to encompass many many babbles. If I can be real honest with y’all, this month has been a hard one. The first 2/3 of the month went by in a blink of an eye - full of mini road trips, friend meet-ups, family hugs, work trips, memory lanes - full of it. But you know post-vacation blues? I had a sense of that…HARD. It had me reflecting on all of the things that I left. Now don’t get me wrong, I am very happy with my decision to move. I love experiencing a new city, where there is always something to do and places to go. I love my new job, constantly learning new things and finding ways to explore my talents. I am being challenged to grow within a new community that treats you like family - always there for you, but will also push you a little. But, with all of that - the bigger the city, the lonelier it can be. I am the epitome of someone who needs a lot of alone time, I also am one that loves to dive into people’s lives, but I am also very fear based. I can read people very well and know how to connect to them, but am fearful of being 100% vulnerable (outside of my normal 95% ha). I feel as though I am very good at giving love and being there for people - I have this sense of knowing when people need it, and just have to figure out how to give it. I was/am able to do this with my best friends, my “people” - I know so much of that goes into only being here for a short period of time - I know that this can happen, but it’s just something that I am craving. I’m trying to learn how to do this - with small groups at church, volunteering organizations, and Putting myself in so many opporTunities. But Sometimes it can feel like I’m scrambling. Scrambling to fill my calendar, fill my belly, fill my mind to avoid the feeling of being empty. What I’ve realized is I need to feel these things - I need to feel the empty so I know what I need. I need to stop constantly fEeling The Need to fIll up on things, so I can fill myself up with the goodness of God. I can fill myself up so much that it out pours to the others in my life. It’s not the easiest thing for me, but I’ve been able to see how it’s growing me, how He’s pushing me to be more courageous with myself. I’ve been really trying to dive into my RELATIONSHIP with Him and making that my priority - it’s a daily choice that has to be made every single day, and to be honest there are a lot of days that i don’T. But The side-affects are something else. When you start loving Him more, you start loving yourself more - because you realLy Start to comprehend that He created everything from the sunsets to you. He created you to be just exactly who you are - it’s a reminder of how loved you really are and that you can spread that love, his love, to everyone else. So im trying to take the pressure off of Me - and let him work through me - through the gifts that he gave me, through Loving people.

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Now who’s ready to exchange the pumpkin spice for pumpkin pie?

Rachael BedellComment