Looking Back at My 20's

Guys, I turn 30 next week. I'm not dreading entering the next decade of my life, but I can't help but wish I would have done more or accomplished more. It's this feeling that led me to take a look back at each year of my 20's and remember what I did. Thanks to social media I was able to piece together most everything (with only a few details missing).

The Year I Turned 20 in China (2006):

When I was 19 I got the amazing opportunity to study abroad in Shenzhen, China. I met a lot of great people, studied Chinese (and then forgot it months later), and learned that no matter how much I try to convince people that I'm Korean they will always think I'm Chinese. 

The Lost Year - 21 (2007):

2007 was the year I couldn't find many posts or pictures. That sounds terrible, right? I'm of legal drinking age and then I just disappear. The truth is I was way too busy to drink or have much fun at all. After getting back from China I started full time at Bradley, worked a full time job and a part time job, and slept very little. Probably the best parts of my 21st year were spending time with friends and meeting my niece.

The Year I Became a Grown Up - 22 (2008):

After graduation I got my first real job, literally cashed in all my savings and moved up to the Chicago area, and spent the first weekend crying in the hallway because I locked myself out of my apartment and didn't have $50 for the "lock out" fee. I don't have many pictures of this time, but here's one that my Mom took during a graduation party.

The Year I Realized I Lived Next Door to Chicago - 23 (2009):

I finally got over my fear of using public transportation and actually did stuff in the city in 2009. Ironically, this was also the year that I was held at gunpoint on the L, but didn't realize it until after the would-be-robber couldn't get my purse and then ran off at the stop. I started driving to the city after that because I figured if I would get ripped off it would be by the City of Chicago's ridiculous parking fees and not by a kid trying steal my purse only to find $17 and a library card.

The Year I Met Bryan - 24 (2010):

This is the year I decided to stop worrying about everything and enjoy life more. And a lot of great stuff happened.  I met Bryan, travelled to Italy and Greece, and went to Lollapalooza for the first time.

The Year I Lost My Mom - 25 (2011):

A lot of things happened in 2011 and when I turned 25 but the only thing I think of when I think of 2011 is that my Mom passed away. I can remember the last conversation we had. I remember she was supposed to come visit the weekend before Thanksgiving. I remember where I was when my Dad called me to tell me what happened. I remember Bryan driving me down to Peoria. I remember my brother calling me and asking, "What happened?" I remember writing a list of everything I had to do. I remember staying up late to write the eulogy. I remember when they closed the lid. I remember that it was cold and windy at the cemetery.

The Year I REALLY Became a Grown Up - 26 (2012):

Looking back now I really think 2012 was a test from the universe. It was like, "Get through this year and you can do anything." It's amazing what you can accomplish when you have no other choice but to do it. I'm sure this happens to everyone after they lose someone, but 2012 really forced me to make the most of every moment and cherish every person in my life. Plus my friend Emily made me the world's coolest birthday cake.

The Year I Went to London and Paris - 27 (2013):

2013 was a good reset year. We had sold my Mom's house, my Dad was on the road to recovery, and Poe was living with us. As selfish as it sounds, it was a good year to refocus on my life instead of managing an estate. I got to travel, run my first 5k, and I started this blog!

The Year I Was a Superhero - 28 (2014):

This was definitely my overachiever year. I ran 12 races, travelled like crazy, and went on the best Midwest road trip ever.

The Year I Got Married - 29 (2015):

It's hard to top 2015. We took a lot of trips to celebrate getting hitched and spent time with friends and family.

Oak Park, IL

San Francisco, CA

Asheville, NC

Bloomington, IN

Chicago, IL

Peoria, IL

Albuquerque, NM

San Francisco, CA

Fairport, NY

Forest Park, IL

Las Vegas, NV

Loretto, KY

I've learned a lot about hard work and spending time on what's important in my 20's. I got married! I had the opportunity to travel all across the country and internationally. I made new friends, had adventures with old friends, and spent quality time with family. I don't know what my 30's have in store, but I'm excited to find out!

Life After Gringotts: The Bill Weasley Story

Is there any other Sunday that sparks such debate, anticipation, and excitement than Oscar Sunday? Move over Super Bowl Sunday - it's time for the Oscars! (Guys, seriously, football isn't even in the Olympics. Well, football as we Americans know it.)

Since January Bryan and I have made it our mission to see as many nominated films as possible. We spent our anniversary weekend living in an AMC theater downtown seeing films like The Revenant and Spotlight. Because what else says, "I love you" like watching Leonardo DiCaprio being mauled by a bear?

Leo, Spotlight, and Mad Max were the big winners of last night's award show, but when I look back at all the movies we've seen I think there's one guy who totally won in the 2015-2016 season: Bill Weasley. I mean, Domhnall Gleeson, but I'm going to refer to him as Bill throughout this post because once a Weasley always a Weasley. Every time we watched a movie Bill Weasley was there. It was like magic. There was Bill falling in love with a robot in Ex Machina. We saw him again as he was falling in love (this time with Saoirse Ronan) in Brooklyn. He made Molly proud by serving his country in The Revenant. And he even supported the dark side (Sorry, Harry) in Star Wars.

If I had to sum up all the movies we saw into a theme it would be: Survival. Think about the crappiest thing that's ever happened to you, a loved one, or the world and then make a movie about it. It's no wonder that I cried during every Best Picture nominee. 

Here's my thoughts on the 2016 Best Picture nominees (from my least favorite to most favorite):

1. Bridge of Spies (#8):  While I can appreciate the costume and set design, I think this movie overall was just okay. I was surprised to see it listed with these other movies for Best Picture and extremely surprised when Mark Rylance won for Best Supporting Actor, but then immediately felt bad for saying that out loud after he gave a very heart-warming speech.
2. The Martian (#7): I'm just going to say it - I hate movies about space. I also hate movies where only one actor is in the majority of the scenes. No one is that interesting. I need more than one person (or a volleyball) to stay interested in a movie. With all that being said, I didn't hate this movie like I thought I would. 
3. The Revenant (#6): This movie is like flipping through a really bloody issue of National Geographic magazine. I desperately needed subtitles every time Tom Hardy's character said anything, but I may not have been able to read them since my eyes automatically shut every time someone got attacked by a bear, killed by an arrow, or raped by a tree. Oh and there was also that part where Leo crawls into his dead, bloody horse to stay warm. Oscar well-deserved. 
4. Room (#5): After I read this book a couple years ago I remember thinking, "God, I hope they never make this into a movie." The book was such a terrifying concept that I think the story itself is more compelling than the actual individual performances in the movie. 
5. Mad Max: Fury Road (#4): Just when you think the most violent movie of the year is going to be The Revenant you watch Mad Max and see someone's face ripped off. The only way I know how to describe many of the characters from this horrifyingly beautiful movie is as a combination between everyone on Sons of Anarchy and the Reavers from Firefly (and thinking that now I'm guaranteed to have nightmares tonight). The costumes, hair, makeup, set, and stunts were amazing. All the technical awards it won are well-earned. As a side note: if our world ever does end up like this and I'm still alive someone please kill me, but in a non-face-ripped-off kind of way.
6. The Big Short (#3): This was Bryan's favorite. I think that has to do with all the death metal Christian Bale listened to throughout the movie. I actually thought Steve Carell's performance was great in this movie and gave me flashes of every time Michael Scott got upset on The Office. This movie will be also be added to our "Reasons We Don't Want to Own a House" list. 
7. Brooklyn (#2): Definitely the sweetest movie of the year and a much needed breath of fresh air after watching movies like Mad Max or The Revenant. Saoirse Ronan's performance was magical. What she can convey with just a look is crazy for someone her age (or anyone's age for that matter). When she was sad, I was sad. When she was happy, I was happy. When she got food poisoning on the ship to America and had to go to the bathroom in that bucket, I stopped eating my nachos. 
8. Spotlight (#1): This was the movie that I cried that hardest at. Mark Ruffalo was robbed for Best Supporting Actor. Did it remind me of All The President's Men? Sure, but I think it's an important story that needed to be told in this exact way. Plus, Stanley Tucci. Need I say more?

Celebrating Our First Anniversary with Obscene Amounts of Movies and Food

Jack: What's the traditional first anniversary gift?

Karen: Oh, let me try to remember. Uh... For my first anniversary, I got... a million dollars in cash... Paper! It's paper.

I'm just going to say it. The first year of married life is easy. You spend so much of your time celebrating throughout the year that it's like your birthday or New Year's Eve every day. People care about your relationship and say wonderful things about it every time they see you.

We celebrated our first anniversary last month with a weekend alone in the Chicago. Looking back I think it's a perfect way to start Year Two. It's no longer about having other people celebrate your relationship, it's now our job. And celebrate we did. Since the traditional first anniversary gift is paper, and Bryan refused to give me a million dollars in cash, we decided to give each other movie tickets, anniversary cards, a book of pictures from our first year together, and a piece of paper with a list of the five places we want to travel to next.

The day we got married we went out to breakfast and then went to the movies (we saw Whiplash). Every January it's my goal to see all the Academy Award Best Picture nominees. I love that our anniversary weekend falls right in the middle of award season because we'll get to watch great movies together every year. We still have one more movie to watch, but I plan to write a post just with my thoughts from the eight films soon.

Read on to see how we celebrated our first year together and what four things I learned along the way. Fair warning for all those who are hungry before reading this next part. There are a lot of food pictures. If you're one of those people (like me) who needs to eat before they go to the grocery store so they don't buy everything in site, you might need to grab a snack before you continue.

Got your apple? Okay, let's continue.

1. Love means never having to say we don't have time to watch six movies in one weekend:

Seriously, I'll have more to write about all the movies we saw, but the major highlight from this part of the weekend was that I cried at some point during every movie and learned that Bryan has NEVER CRIED AT A MOVIE. You never stop learning things about the person you married. 

Horrible picture, but here we are during Day One of the Oscar marathon. We might be the only people who pick a hotel based on how close it is to a movie theater.

2. Your anniversary dinner is just another time to say, "I do." 

Do you want to order that? "I do." Do you want some more sushi? "I do." Do you want to order enough food for our table, that table, and the other table over there even though it's just the two of us? "I do." We enjoyed an amazing dinner at Sunda in Chicago, which is described as Creative Asian Fusion. I think it's important to select a restaurant that can also be used to describe yourself. It was the best meal I've ever had.

Crispy brussels sprouts salad

Escolar "The Great White" - escolar, truffle shavings, and potato chip

Oxtail pot stickers

Lobster and wagyu

Spicy "Tail of Two Tunas"

Street corn - grilled corn, sambal coconut cream, toasted coconut, pandan leaves. Full disclosure - I ate five out of the six of these. 

3. Sometimes you can celebrate like you're on a gameshow. Other times you can just order yourself a drink at the bar and call it a night.

Last year when we got married we may have gone to Binny's and shopped in a Supermarket-Sweep-everything-is-free-(it wasn't)-because-we-got-married kind of way. This year we decided to tone it down and hit up one of our new favorite spots for cocktails to toast the end of Year One and beginning of Year Two.

The Typical Cat at Sable is delicious. It tastes like a refreshing lemon/lime-ade. You forget there was alcohol in it until you have to get up and remember how to walk back to the hotel.

4. When you're not in Rome and still craving Italian - go to Eataly.

After walking outside our hotel we discovered that we were staying very close to Eataly. We spent the last day in Chicago roaming around the store looking at all the different food, books, and wine. I was a little confused how the store was set up because there seemed to be tables every where, but I didn't know if we could just sit down or if we needed to see a host somewhere. Was it one host for the whole place? Or did different sections have different rules for that? Tough questions to answer when you're starving with food all around you, but you can't eat it. Now I know how Dumbledore felt that time when he and Harry were in that cave and he was so thirsty, but he couldn't drink because the water kept disappearing. Like our Hogwarts heroes, (spoiler alert) we too found our way to what we needed. We asked for a table at one of the host stands. No inferi fighting required. 

I could totally eat all that. That would actually be a fun game to play at Eataly. Look at the food displays and see how much you could eat of it. 10 points if you can eat it all. 5 points for half. And -2 points for none of it. Any negative scores in your group will help weed out the people you don't need to be friends with anymore.

Bryan - 10 points.

Housemade pappardelle with mushroom

This was the special pizza of the day

Of course we ended our time at Eataly with a couple truffles to take home