Wiping the dust off my poor blog!

Oh my poor neglected blog!! It's been so long that Blogspot even fell off my "top pages" on my home screen.

Lots of good news to report! Most importantly, I got an internship/front desk position at an AWESOME AWESOME gym called TeamiFit in River North! It's a small facility that teaches lots of group fitness classes and has one on one circuit training programs during the day.  To start off I'm just going to be working the front desk since I'm not certified to do anything else, but said they can discuss a training program for me to become a trainer and/or group fitness instructor once my certifications are in place!!  SO exciting!! This place seems really great too.  It's small and independent, they have an adorable yorkie that walks around like it owns the place, they have a lot of really dedicated members and their class offerings seem so fun! I can take as many classes as I want for free so I'll definitely be getting my kickboxing and zumba on!


I'm scheduled to take my NASM Certified Personal Trainer exam on March 7th at 12pm!! The countdown has begun.  I just took the practice exam this afternoon and scored 86.67% (you just need above 70% to pass) but I had to guess a little more than I would have liked, so I have some more work to do.  I'm about to spend 4 days by myself at my parent's house in Michigan while they're on vaycay, so I should be fine.  

Alright, it's grub time.  I'm going to play in an organized dodgeball league tonight!! It's my friend Jeremy's league but he's out of town and I'm just playing as a sub, so I literally will know no one.  It should be fun...or just really awkward.  Plus I haven't played an organized sport of any kind since...6th grade? I think that's right.  But it's time to put this "athletic" body I now have to good use! Hope I don't get too many bruises...

 

I have a job! :-) but, you know, I have a job :-(

Sorry for my absence blog-o-sphere! It's been a little cray-cray up in here this week.  Only have 20 minutes before I've gotta start getting ready for WORK, so I'll be brief.

I've started training for my NEW JOB!! Woot woot.  Waiting tables at Lion Head Pub in Lincoln Park.  Tonight is my last night of training.  Here are the pros and cons for time save-age.
PROS:
*Having a job
*It's a 15 minute walk door to door from my home, making the late night end time not so bad when you don't have to catch a bus/train
*Very relaxed environment, people seem pretty cool
*High-volume on weekends
*I can wear jeans and tennis shoes, (HUGE PRO!!!)
*Really good drink specials, really easy for my friends to come visit me and eat/drink very cheaply
Cons:
*umm...having a job...I'm SO behind on my TV right now
*working until 2:30 weeknights, 3:30 Saturdays is going to be very hard to get used too since in my ideal world I'd be in bed at 11 and up at 7
*Really good drink specials means someone can sit there for hours eating and drinking and have a $10 tab, so if I make money it will be based on volume, not sales.

Plus, Jason is working the auto show every day the next two weeks so I haven't been able to see him at all and our apartment currently looks like a tornado came through (feel lucky I'm writing for you people instead of tending to the massive pile of clothes in my room), but once I'm done training I'm only working 3-4 nights a week and Jay and I will have more or less the same hours, so things should be back to semi-normal.

Other mention-ables:
Only 3 chapters left in my NASM course book!! I see the light at the end of that tunnel.

I haven't run outside since before the snowstorm and I'm getting REALLY sick of running on the treadmill, though I must admit I've made some break-throughs with my speed training/hill work.

Officially told the other bar "no" for the euchre night.  Even if I don't get scheduled at Lion Head on Tuesdays, I honestly don't think I'm gonna want to spend my night off from working at a bar working at a bar.

Ok, that doesn't even scratch the surface of all the thoughts in my head right now, but I need to make some dinner before I head out (tonight is my first night working until close...the #1 thing I'm nervous about is how hungry I'm going to get.  Stocked up on Luna bars)

Later gators.

SnOMG!! Snowpocalypse!!

SO in case you haven't heard, it snowed a little bit in Chicago this week.  My biggest inconvenience was that our cable and internet was out for like 36 hours.  Not too bad considering some people got stuck on Lakeshore Drive for 12 hours in their cars or on buses!! I can't go longer than like 3 hours without eating, so I would have probably eaten the stuffing from my car seats if it was me.  Luckily all I really had on my schedule for the last few days was studying, baking some banana bread for a friend, cleaning the bathroom and napping off some really horrible PMS, so it all worked out ok.  The gym was closed yesterday (so was every single other business in Chicago) so I had to do INSANITY again, but it shouldn't mess up my training schedule too much.  Speaking of running...

AS OF FEBRUARY 1ST AT MIDNIGHT I WAS OFFICIALLY REGISTERED FOR THE CHICAGO MARATHON!!!! 10/9/2011 BABY!!!!!

Wooohooo!!! Trying not to think about it too much since I have two 8k's to train for in the mean time and I'd like to run FAST for 8k. Totally different from my goal for the marathon, where I just want to FINISH with all my limbs in tact and a smile on my face.  I don't have to actually start marathon training until June, so I'm trying to put the running part of it on the back burner for now.

However, I do have to start the fundraising part of it!!  I have 8 months to raise at least $600 for my favorite Chicago charity, PAWS Chicago!! I'm going to be sending out some personal messages to friends and family probably next month asking for donations, but if YOU would like to start the ball rolling, here's my personal fundraising page:

http://pawschicago.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=451667&supId=318525784

PAWS is an awesome NO-KILL animal shelter here in Chicago.  They rescue dogs and cats from animal control who would be euthanized and let them live out their lives in a state-of-the-art facility until someone adopts them.   Oprah gets all her doggies from PAWS and I of course got the love of my...SAWYER PUT THAT SOCK DOWN! Sorry...the love of my life, Sawyer Soyjoy Soybug Smith-Pachella from PAWS.

One more exciting bit of news, JASON BOOKED THE CHICAGO AUTO SHOW!!! This is super exciting.  The restaurant was super cool with him taking the time off to do it too.  Not only is it BIG MONEY, it also gets him in with the Chevy people who will hopefully book him for many more shows in the future and MOST exciting of all, he gets issued a pair of skinny jeans for his uniform.  HAHAH!!! Can't wait.

Every time I sit down to do a blog post I'm like "gosh I really don't have anything to write about today" and then I end up writing a ton! Sorry!!

SAQ, TFL, NASM, 401K, KMK...was this song in Hair?

Hello Bloggy blog readers! Just vegging out here on this lovely Saturday afternoon.  Done with my studying for the day and I thought I'd write an update.

I'm officially in training for my first 8k now ( I'm running in 2 of them 3 weeks apart, March 20th and April 10th).  Doing prescribed runs every day plus strength training and cross training.  I'm following a version of this schedule: http://www.halhigdon.com/8K/8kintsch.htm with a little extra milage in the first half, since I'm used to 20-25 miles a week. I need better ideas for the "cross training" days.  These days occur once a week (I did the first one yesterday) and I'm supposed to do 60 minutes of cross training.  It's supposed to be a relatively easy day in the training cycle, unlike what I actually did yesterday.  I jogged an easy, slow 2.5 miles in the morning, then some friends came over and we did the INSANITY pure cardio workout...NOT easy.  Insanity is one of the Beachbody DVD programs (like P90X) that is all cardio/reactive training/SAQ training based.  It was basically 40 minutes of plyometrics and SAQ training (that's Speed-Agility-Quickness) and while it was a really good workout, probably not so much for what is supposed to be a rest day.  I need something that's a little nicer to my joints after the almost 25 miles I ran this week.  Once it gets nicer out I'll definitely do some bike riding but I need to figure out some other cross activities in the mean time.

I'm trying to be nicer to my joints and muscles all around.  I can't risk an injury after all this time I'm putting in to training.  My joints are still ok but I've been having crazy tightness in my TFL and calf muscles, especially on my left side.  AHHHHH OMG the TFL!!  I'm in pain now just thinking about it.   I ordered a foam roller from Amazon that should be arriving in the next couple of days and I've decided to start getting massages at least once every other week.  There's a little place called Resonance Massage and Bodywork , a fantastic Chinese-style walk-in massage spa just a couple doors down. If you go before 2pm you get an extra 10 minutes, so for $30 you can get 30 minutes on the table.  I'm definitely willing to spend $30 every 2 weeks for a massage! (says the still unemployed girl)

Ohhhhh, employment.  I went to 5 open server calls this week plus e-mailed a lot of resumes via craigslist, haven't heard anything.  Every time I fill out an application I feel like I lose a teeny tiny bit of my soul.  I think this week I'm just going to follow my friend Chris's advice, I'll print a stack of resumes and hit up all the bars where I want to work right at opening time, hoping someone got fired or quit the night before.  It means facing a lot of rejection and needing a whole lot of luck, but I'm generally good at both those things.

Right when I got home from Michigan after Christmas I submitted for a bunch of server jobs and actually got called in for interviews on 2 of them! I realized that since I still had 4 weeks of my show left at that point it would be silly to go into an interview without any weekend availability so I was like "oh, I'll just hold off until after Kiss Me, Kate.  It should be just as easy then!" Yeah, uh huh.

I keep occasionally checking the fitness section of craigslist jobs in addition to the food/drink service section, just for giggles.  I can't wait to apply for these personal training jobs! Most of the smaller, independent gyms don't even require previous experience, just NASM certification and "a passion for fitness!" or "enthusiasm to get started in the fitness industry!" and they ALL come with health benefits, educational opportunities, 401k...401K!!!! Ohmigosh I will feel like a real adult.  At my current pace I only have 2 weeks left before I finish the text book/course book, plus I figure another 2 weeks of flashcards/studying/practice tests and then I'll be good to take the certification exam at the beginning of March!  Man oh man I just hope that there are still jobs then.  March/April is when everyone starts worrying about swimsuit season and joins a gym, right? right???

Ok, gotta clean the apartmetn and walk Sawyer before I leave for my show.  ONLY 2 SHOWS OF KMK LEFT!!! I have a feeling that this is what the last couple miles of the marathon is going to feel like.

I will be unemployed forever

OMG friends. So I went to an open call for servers today at Casey Moran's across the street from Wrigley Field.  They put a craigslist ad up that they're hiring for cubs season, so I thought I'd stop by with my resume, and swing by a couple other Wrigleyville bars while I was up there.

I had some errands to do around Clark and Belmont, and then I thought I would walk up to Casey Moran's.  The call started at 5pm and at 4:45 I started walking up from Belmont. Right then the sun set, suddenly, the temperature dropped like 10 degrees and it snowing that crappy horizontal snow.   Of course since I was job hunting and wearing a cute outfit I was wearing my cute italian-made banana republic not-meant-for-chicago-winter coat and not my bring-it-on-mother-nature heavy-duty puffy, shin-length Lands End coat.  Flimsy Anne Klien leather boots, not Uggs.  I finally walk past Wrigley and see the bar...with two giant OHIO STATE flags flying in front of it.

I believe I've previously claimed that I would never, ever, even in the off season, even if it was free and came with free caviar, sit down for a DRINK at an Ohio State bar.  I will honestly walk to the opposite side of the street even if I have to walk PAST an Ohio State bar.  I was thisclose to turning around but I couldn't feel my toes at this point so ok, I'll fill out an app, give them my resume that says "University of Michigan, Ann Arbor" on it in two different places and go.

It is 4:59.  The open call is from 5pm-7pm. There is a line of 5 people to get in the door and pick up applications.  Every single table and bar stool is occupied with people filling out applications and the line to turn in the applications, meet the manager and get your picture taken literally wraps around the entire restaurant.  There were easily over 150 people there.  At 4:59.  Cool.  Blah.

At least after the HOUR spent there I sucked it up and went to the other bar hiring down the street.  Of course I'm sure EVERYONE ELSE did too.

I'm sure this is in no way a unique story.  I've heard that there's some kind of economic crisis going on or something.

Blah. Blah. Blah.  Ok I'm almost halfway done with this glass of wine and the letters on the screen are starting to spin a little (yeah, I don't really drink much any more).  Time to make some dinner, put on my snuggie and watch idol.

Unpacking the ole' apron

WHOOPS, went a whole 4 days without blogging.  My bad.  Not even sure what I've been doing this week because I'm behind on my studying too.  Seriously what the heck did I do this week? My brain really has turned to mush from all this anatomy memorizing and working out.  Probably also from watching American Idol.  Steven Tyler's shrieks are liquifying my brain matter.

Ok so I know one thing I HAVE done this week is make progress on the job search front.  I definitely, maybe, probably have a job one night a week at an awesome little bar in Lakeview/Roscoe Village hosting a Euchre night! This is going to be pretty awesome.  I MC the weekly tournament at The Waterhouse Tavern (RIGHT off the Paulina Brown Line stop, great location), give out prizes, mingle with the players, give out shots when people successfully go alone (my idea!) and get paid for it!! Pretty baller.  The only catch is that I have to bring a lot of people in for it.  This shouldn't be too much of a problem. Just from my first facebook message I sent out I had over a dozen people tell me they were interested.  If all those people bring a partner that's 24 people, not including whoever I can attract from listing it on brokehipster.com, drinktown, local tourist, etc.  The girl I met with said they just had to work out the details on their side and would let me know when I can start next week.

Of course I'm going to need something more than once a week, so I'm gonna go to some open calls at some Wrigleyville bars next week too.  Everyone is starting to hire for Cubs season so I should be able to find something.  I'm strangely very excited to start cocktailing again! Mostly I think I'm excited to have some cash in my wallet, but I honestly have a lot of very fond memories of the ole' Comic Strip Live waitressing gig I had back in NYC.  If I can find something that awesome again that would be so amazing.  Cross your fingers!!

Only two more weeks left of Kiss Me, Kate! Still enjoying it when I'm there but also SO ready to move on.  When this show opened I hadn't even had my Thanksgiving tofurky yet! Now it's almost time for Superbowl chicken-less chicken wings! That is a long run and a lot of fake meat.

A Confession and a Plea!

Ok guys, I will now confess to you one of my deepest, darkest secrets:  I was always a horrible student.

I was able to keep this secret for so long because I managed to get pretty close to straight A's in high school and A's with a few B's in college but this really had nothing to do with being a good student.  My M.O. was to do the LEAST amount of work/studying as humanly possible, take every academic shortcut along the way, and hope my quick wit and extraordinary b.s. skills could fill in the rest.  I almost never studied for exams, I never underlined or highlighted a single text book and I mastered the skill of writing English papers on books I had never cracked open (Just to be clear, I also never plagiarized or "cheated" in the academic-code-of-conduct sense of the word, it was b.s. but it was always MY b.s.) I think I had to learn these horrible study habits due to the fact that I've always been a terribly slow reader, possibly had undiagnosed A.D.D. and, ironically am a total, anal-retentive perfectionist when it comes to things I really care about.  These three things made actually putting a lot of work into school nearly impossible, so I just didn't.

Whew! That feels so good to finally get off my chest after all these years.  Ok, but now we get to the real problem.  

I am now studying for my NASM Personal Trainer Certification Exam.  Not only do I have to pass the exam in a couple months, but I also really would like to retain this material long-term so that I can be a successful trainer.  The material is definitely not brain surgery, a lot of it is common sense but it does require a whole lot of memorization of anatomy and movement science terms as well as mathematic formulas for program design.  I have a big ole' text book and work book, as well as some pretty great online resources (computer flash cards, DVD presentations, practice quizzes and exams) but what I don't have is any method on how to learn this stuff.

I'm on chapter 6 of 18 right now.  So far I've been reading each chapter, outlining the information in a notebook in my own words as I read along, then watching the DVD presentation and doing the workbook assignments at the end of every chapter.  I thought I was studying really well but then I started practicing with the computer flash cards that cover chapters 1-6 and kinda freaked out because I feel like I didn't get anything right and haven't retained anything.

So all my friends out there with your advanced degrees and your academic prowess, HELP ME! How do I get this stuff in my brain and keep it there long-term? Any advice is much appreciated.  Thankssomuchoknowbacktostudying.