Day 30: Success

I got a little "behind" on my 30 Days of Thankfulness postings this time around, and it's easy for me to get down on myself, but ultimately, my goal of being more mindful each day was achieved. Even if I wasn't posting, I was always making sure to think of what I was especially thankful for that day and snap a photo of it. I do this exercise to stay mindful of what's going on in my life and to appreciate the small things, so even if I wasn't officially posting each day, the main goal was still being achieved.

This round of 30 Days came about because I had been feeling a bit tired and unproductive and felt myself complaining a lot more than usual. Even towards the end of this 30 days I was till feeling tired, unproductive, and in a bit of a funk then suddenly on day 30, everything seemed to come together.

I had been putting a lot of positive energy in to myself as well as out in to the world, and it was finally showing. Ultimately, Tuesday was a really great day.

The morning started with a great morning workout; my first in weeks. I even had a good, deep belly laugh during Pilates. The kind that makes you feel full of life, and I knew right then it was going to be a good day. My notion was right, and when I stepped in to work, I had a dream project literally land on my desk, and I spent the day researching and writing about one of my favorite topics, nutrition and vitamins. Then I had an amazing dinner at Girl & the Goat (and even met Stephanie Izard!) and rounded out the day by hanging out with one of my favorite people in the world.

I was happy. I felt inspired. I felt loved. And it was a really great day.

These past 30 days have been a great lesson in the great opportunities and experiences that can come from mindful, hard work and positive energy.

My life isn't perfect and I don't live in a snow globe of glitter and rainbows, but I am truly thankful for the progress I've made in my recovery from destructive thoughts and behaviors and the positive path I'm on right now. 

On day 30, I am thankful for my amazing Tuesday. This could have been any old Tuesday, but instead, it was one of the happiest and most blessed days of my life thus far.

Day 29: Plants

I know the tomato plants have had quite a few spots in my 30 days of thankfulness, but they are seriously so interesting, and I can't seem to get enough of them. They are now legitimate plants and it's really exciting to come in each morning and see how much they've grown.

Between my plants and watching a lot of Planet Earth, I keep finding myself thinking and saying, "Nature is so cool."

Day 28: Pool Time

Growing up, a lot of my friends had pools but we didn't have a city pool, so I got really excited (like a 5 year going to the pool excited) when I got to go to a Chicago city pool on Sunday. I managed to stay away from the kiddie pool though and enjoyed this view while reading instead.

Day 27: Photos with Alicia

A few weeks ago, I asked my friend and neighbor, Alicia, to take a few headshots for My Piece of Sunshine. She is a film major with a passion for photography, and I was excited to replace my "about me" photos I took over two years ago. I wanted photos that were fun and really "Jessica" for the blog, so we threw around a few great location and outfit ideas but ultimately decided on Lake Michigan and my favorite yellow dress.

What began as a walk to the lake for a few headshots, however, ended up as a stroll with great conversation and a full-blown photo shoot. 

I just met Alicia in May and have slowly been getting to know her, so it was really nice to get some one-on-one conversation time on our walk to the lake and during the shoot. I love connecting with people and have felt that easy yet genuine connection building with her. Today really helped me connect with her even more, and I'm so excited to be good friends with another neighbor.

If our great chat time wasn't enough, she then blew me away during our photo shoot. I won't lie, I love being in front of the camera, taking direction from others of what looks good, and just goofing around, channeling everything Tyra taught us (smile with your eyes, be fierce, you know ;). 

We took many of photos and I've only seen a handful so far, but Alicia did a great job of capturing that "Jessica-ness" I was looking for. Below are a few of my favorites, and look for these around the blog from time to time. They'll be popping up in a few places :)

Thanks Alicia for your friendship and my beautiful photos!

Check out her link for more photos and some of her short films.

Day 26: Tomato Sprouts

Even though we just planted the seeds a few days ago, one over-achiever already sprouted. It was very exciting to come in to work and find a sprout, and we sat around oogling over it for a bit. And then it grew a crazy amount in just a few hours. I can already tell this 'garden' is going to be a fun adventure.

Day 25: Art Institute Field Trip

Thursday evening, we took a post-work field trip to the Art Institute to see the Impressionism, Fashion & Modernity exhibit. It was a traveling exhibit exploring the focus on fashion by Impressionist artists. It was a great mix of paintings, prints, photos, and clothing such as dresses, fans, shoes, and corsets.

I love escaping to the Art Institute and Thursday's adventure was no different. I'm thankful to live in a city with such a great art museum and coworkers who humor my love of organizing field trips.

Day 24: Reading at Lunch

One of my favorite things to do is sneak away from the office during lunch to read outside or in one of the many seating areas of the Merch Mart. I'm not always good at remembering to, but this week, I began reading a book that completely captured me, and I made the effort to step away from work. 

I love getting lost in a good book for the hour. It leaves me feeling refreshed and ready to jump back in to work.

Day 23: Adventures in Gardening

I can't take any credit for the latest adventure in my office, but I'm sure glad I get to take part in it. A few weeks ago, Amanda decided she wanted to try growing vegetables in the office, so we began researching options. She found the AeroGarden and was feeling really inspired, so she purchased one and seeds for fun varieties of grape and cherry tomatoes (who knew you could buy seeds on Etsy?!).

The final pieces of our gardening adventure arrived this week, and Amanda officially planted them yesterday. The AeroGarden both waters and provides light for the little plants, so now we get to sit back and enjoy watching them grow. I'm excited to watch the process and hopefully enjoy some delicious tomatoes!

Day 22: Lunch with Jackie

Sometimes in life we are blessed with friends you're so close with they may as well be family, and for me, one of those people is my beautiful friend Jackie. She has been living in Chicago for the summer, but thanks to busy schedules on both our parts, we were only able meet up a few times. Even though we're both busy people, the important part of our friendship is that we ultimately make the time to see one another.

We met in junior high, became good friends in gym class. grew closer in high school, have had plenty of times of disagreement, but at the end of the day have been there for one another through it all and genuinely care for one another.

I treasure her beauty, brains, hard-working attitude, honesty, and friendship. I always love catching up with her and am so thankful we were able to meet for lunch yesterday. We've had many years of friendship, and I'm excited to see what life has in store for us in the future.

Celebrating at a graduation ceremony senior year of college.

Enjoying a friend's wedding last summer.

Indulging in some vodka lemonades at the Roma vs. Zaglebie Lubin soccer game last summer.

Catching up while home for Thanksgiving last year.

Enjoying ourselves at a Labor Day party this year.

 

Day 21: Lolla Day 3

Day 3 of Lolla had a little different game plan than Days 1 & 2, and it was all about taking it easy. We lounged, actually sat quite a bit, hung with friends, and danced around to the last two shows. We heard another day's worth of great music (Lianne La Havas, Tegan & Sara, alt-J, Vampire Weekend, and Phoenix) was led around by our fearless leader Jake, and wrapped up Lolla 2013 on a positive note.

Day 20: Lolla Day 2

After a Day 1 late night dinner and restful night of sleep, we were ready to take on Day 2 of Lolla. 

It was a full day of standing so we could have a good spot for Eric Church and The Lumineers, but thankfully, we started the day with delicious veggie burgers and portabella tamales from River Valley and Sweet Leaf tea. After our stomachs were properly prepped for the day, we headed to the stages to see Ben Howard, Courtyard Hounds, Eric Church, The Lumineers, and Mumford & Sons.

I'm not too proud to admit that after all the standing, my body gave out, and I left the Mumford & Sons show early. The day was a great one, though, and I'm excited to see what Day 3 has in store.

*Photos top to bottom: Veggie burger & portabella tamales from River Valley; Peach Sweet Leaf tea at Ben Howard; Ben Howard (swoon); Home sweet home; Courtyard Hounds; Tada, Kat, Me & Jackie; Eric Church; People as far as the eye can see; Skyline lovin'; Lolla 2013 hat; 6th row at The Lumineers; The Lumineers; Tech at The Lumineers; Mumford & Sons

Day 19: Lolla Day 1

It's festival season, and yesterday was day 1 of Lollapalooza here in Chicago. There's not too many other shows with as good of a view as Lolla, but half way through the day I was feeling a little disappointed in some of the shows and pretty old after standing in the middle of a group of high school students for one show. 

Thankfully, The Killers completely killed (*pun intended) their role as a headliner and put on a truly rocking show reminding me exactly what Lolla means to me. Singing at the top of my lungs and not caring because the people to my right and left are doing the same. Dancing around like no one cares because they don't. And feeling my whole body pulse with music filling it with adrenaline and pure joy.

*Photos top to bottom: Emeli Sandé kicked off the day with an amazing show; Skyline love; Taking a quick snack break; Jackie, Kat & me; Father John Misty with someone from the crowd's unicorn; Us with the Austin trailer trying to win tickets to ACL; Austin trailer again; The bags of recyclables from half of day 1; Imagine Dragons; The Killers ending the evening on a high note