"Here's to never growing up..."

I hate to admit it, but the new Avril Lavigne song really pumps me up.  Maybe it's the teenybopper sound she has or the way it reminds me of the NSYNC/Backstreet Boys era, when life was simpler, but it immediately cheers me up when I start to think about how serious things can be sometimes.

On a happier note, this weekend was a blast.  I disregarded my diet on Saturday and let loose--enjoying some Chick-Fil-A in Millenium Park with VS and later watching the Blackhawks game at a co-worker's place (which included both red and white sangria :) ).  I made up for it on Sunday when I walked approximately 4 miles from my apartment to my beach volleyball game, to our team after party and then back to my apartment, not to mention the calories I burned while playing said volleyball game.  It's really a pleasure to be back in the game, starting to be active again.  It has a tremendous impact on my outlook and my self-confidence.  I hope running will return to the mix in the same intensity as before, but I'm taking it one step at a time.

Besito,
A

"You'll be in my heart, from this day on, now and forever more."

I am eight months into being in the real world, and I have realized that the hardest part about working is the sense that time is really short.  These days, it often feels like I blink and a week has gone by.  When I was little, I never truly understood what people meant when they talked about time "flying". At that stage in my life, it seemed like it took way longer than 365 days to get from birthday to birthday, from Halloween to Halloween and from the end of summer to the start of the next one.  Now, I feel like hours and days disappear in a flash, and it has really alerted me to the importance of living with a purpose.  Of course, my job often gets in the way of doing the things that I ultimately would like to spend my time doing--laughing until I cry with old friends, spending quality time with family and making a difference in people's lives.  Still, I often replay a moment in which my brother gave me what has to be some of the most important advice I have received--"Don't let your job change who you are."  I have tried to make sure that being an attorney at Big Law LLP doesn't fundamentally alter my being, my outlook, my dreams, my personality, etc., but it's hard.  It's incredibly easy to be sucked into the mix, drink the Kool Aid and lose your sense of self.  Nevertheless, I have recently begun to reach out to my friends, near and far, to try to maintain the friendships I worked so hard to build.  In particular, I have really enjoyed the catch up calls with friends from high school and college, and I hope that I continue to get better and better at keeping in touch with these people.  I just wish that time would slow down a little (or that there could somehow be another 2 hours each day) so that I could spend more time doing the things I want to do and the same or less of the things I need to do but don't really want to do.  In the meantime, I'm keeping everyone in my heart and am taking a little time each day to reach out to the loving circle of friends and family that I am blessed to have.

Un beso muy grande,
A