Tag: Outback Steakhouse

Making College Fun

Making College Fun

Even with a lot of work to do, I still find time to do enjoyable activities. Studying is important, but having downtime is just as important. I don’t work well when I’m stressed because my mood and motivation go down and nothing gets done. Therefore, I’m going to write several of the things I’ve done thus far since school started and things I hope to do in the month of October do de-stressing and have some fun.

Things that I have done:

1. I went to a Cubs game. They lost 2-1, but the game was still worth it. My boyfriend and I sat four rows behind home plate, the weather was perfect and the game wasn’t boring. Even though I’m not a baseball fan, I had a great time because I completely focused on being at Wrigley Field with someone I love spending time with instead of thinking about work, classes, or actually getting stuff done. It was really nice to give my brain a night off and not have to think too much about the stressful aspects of my life.

2. I’ve gone out to dinner about once a week. Since school started, I have gone to Outback Steakhouse and Bakers Square, and discovered Five Roses out in Rosemont, Moretti’s in Edison Park, and Rogs in Schiller Park. These places are out of the way for most Loyola students, but there are many delicious places to go out to eat in the area. Some of my favorites are FoodLife in WaterTower Place, Elly’s near Lincoln Park, and Pete’s near the Granville Red Line.

 

Things I Look Forward to Doing:

  1. I’m going camping this weekend. I’m really excited because I’m going to Milwaukee, WI tomorrow with my boyfriend and some friends. I’ll be spending a lot of time fishing, sitting by a campfire, gazing at the stars and hopefully doing some hiking. Smores and tents, here I come!
  2. I hope to finally do a corn maze this year. I’ve never done one so I would love to finally make that happen.
  3. Go to Fright Fest at Six Flags and go to the haunted houses. I’ve never gone to the haunted houses at Six Flags and I would love to see if they scare me because thus far, the only haunted houses that terrified me were the ones I went to when I was 12.
  4. I’m going paint balling at the end of October. I went once when I was 13 and I had a lot of  fun so I can’t wait to go again after all this time.
  5. Potentially go to a pumpkin patch and carve pumpkins. The last time I carved a pumpkin, the nice word to describe what it looked like is interesting. This year, I want to try again and really make a pumpkin that can look worthy of sitting outside on the front porch for people to see.
All That’s Left of Summer Is Some Blogs

All That’s Left of Summer Is Some Blogs

We’re back in session for the 2013/2014 school year! Who’s excited? Even if you’re not, I hope you aren’t too upset that summer is over. Summer was nice, but my favorite season is Fall so I’m happy that school has started up again.

There will be plenty of time ahead to blog about this semester, so I’m going to tell you all a little about what I was up to this summer.

Most of my summer was spent working at XSport Fitness as front desk staff. When I wasn’t working, I spent time exploring the outskirts of Chicago with my boyfriend. Before May, I mainly knew Chicago as downtown and what I passed when I was on the different CTA lines. I rarely saw Chicago west of the Kennedy Expressway. This summer though, I finally got past my unintentional boundaries.

Aside from exploring more of Chicago by driving around, several of my favorite discoveries included the following:

1. On a clear day, the Chicago skyline can be seen from Bensenville out near O’Hare Airport

2. Harlem Irving Plaza– to people that frequent the “HIP”, this may seem lame, but other than Watertower Place and 900 North, this is the only mall I’ve seen in Chicago. I love going to malls because they are all so unique on the inside, and the HIP is no exception. I didn’t see much of it, but I liked that to get into the mall, you go through an entrance where you take an escalator down from the outdoor parking lot.

3. I learned to fish in August and took several trips for fishing. I went to Fox River, Lake Michigan and Utica, IL. It’s a very quiet and peaceful activity that took me outdoors for some fresh air, even if all I could catch were logs. One of these days I’m hoping to catch a real fish instead of just feeding them my bait. Maybe tomorrow!

4. Country music- I’ve listened to country tunes for years and have some of my favorites bands and musicians, but listening to county music on the radio day after day really made me listen to it and appreciate it more. My iTunes has greatly expanded due to the extensive list of country songs I added to it this summer, like one of my new favorite songs, “I Want Crazy” by Hunter Hayes.

5. I went to quite a few restaurants and small food places this summer that opened up my taste buds. My healthy eating unfortunately came to a halt at the beginning of summer because there became too many temptations for me to pass up. Several places that were new to me were Longhorn Steakhouse, Roma’s, Twin Gyros and Outback Steakhouse. I tried lots of delicious food, some that I’ve had before at other places, and some that were completely new. One of my new favorite treats, courtesy of Roma’s, is Watermelon Italian Ice- delicious!