Why Not?

Post-meet, M and I went to brunch. After food and a few mimosas, we decided it was too pretty to go back home. So, we strolled down towards Michigan Ave.

As we walked by Sprinkles, we realized, it was the first time either of us have ever been by it when there was not a line out the door. So, we decided, why not? We had to share a cupcake. I guess neither of us are cupcake people because while good, there is no way either of us would stand in line to get one.

We ducked into 900 N. to comparison shop Lulu but got suckered into MaxMara by a sale sign. MaxMara is not a store I normally shop. But, on sale, its almost affordable for really nice clothing. So, why not? M and I tried on what seemed to me like the entire store, all of which was chosen by the shopper, not us, while sipping free prosecco. Definitely my idea of how to shop.

We wondered down to the new All Saints store. Have to say that I don't get it. To me, it looks like it falls into the H&M and Zara genre but their prices are definitely NOT -- dresses seem to average $300 there. But, the store still had the new-car smell and everything was merchandised well so it was fun to look around.

We decided to take the longer, but lake, route home. The sand at Oak Street was actually hot, even though it was probably only in the mid-to-high 70s. By the time we were getting up to North Ave, M decided that it was a good idea to jump in the lake. What's the point of living so close to the lake if you can't jump in it every once in a while? It would probably be a five minute walk home in soaking clothes. (Mind you, not really a good idea since it was only 62 and she is on antibiotics for a sinus infection.) I decided why not? We both climbed down a ladder, fully-clothed, and swam a bit. We definitely got some weird looks on our five minute walk home that we totally deserved. But, why not? It was invigorating.

Winner.

Well, my question has been answered. Compared to the average person on the street (or splashing around in the pool), I'm a good swimmer. Compared to people who do masters swimming, I'm weak.

The best part of doing the meet was when I walked out to my car to head to the pool, bright and early Sunday morning. M had decorated it, high-school style, with signs.

We have now decided that if we ever do some sort of race together that we have team colors -- black and turquoise, based on my nail color this week.

Once I got to the pool in the suburbs, I knew almost immediately that I was WAY out of my depth (so to speak) in this. There were people wearing their state masters team shirts, the Razr suit (or some cheaper version of the serious-swimmer-suit), talking about how they sandbagged their times to be seeded in certain heats. They were doing dive starts. I was not even sure which lane was which and have never done a dive start in my life. Honestly, I should have cannonballed in -- it would have been funnier at least.

The race was not awesome. I was not used to swimming in a pool that length (50 meters, as opposed to my usual 25). The pool was clearly not usually configured at that length so the lane stripes on the bottom were kind of hard to see. I actually got disoriented on my turns, even though I was not flip turning. My time was way slower than what I expected and I just did not feel good.

All that said, I am a winner. Again, the beauty of being the only person in your age group.

Carb Loaded.

My mom called me on Saturday afternoon to wish me good luck on my swim the next day. She half-jokingly asked me if I was going to carb-load that evening. Now, a 1500 totally does not require carb-loading. It's no marathon. So, I told her no. At least not intentionally.

But, I did end up carb-loading. On Saturday night, M, her mom, and I went to see Super 8. I was a little hesitant to see the movie because I knew it was sci-fi and that's not my favorite genre but it got good reviews so I went. And, I'm glad I did. The movie has everything a summer blockbuster should -- explosions, fear, emotion, etc. On my left was a guy who talked to the characters in the film, advising them to drop their guns or telling them they were dumb. On my right, I had the bonus entertainment of M -- its sometimes more fun to watch her watch a movie than watch the actual movie. At one point, her mom and I said that maybe we should have gone to see Bad Teacher or something because Super 8 was really an emotional rollercoaster for M.

I have trouble going to a movie without getting the delicious movie theater popcorn. Thankfully, M's mom also loves movie popcorn. We shared a giant tub, including butter. We both believe that if you're going to eat it, you should do it up right. It is not as if it ever started off healthy. And, I also feel the need to cut that popcorn salt with twizzlers. M came prepared with a two pound bag for all of us to share. Popcorn + twizzlers = carb-loaded. Dinner of champions?

Bits.

1. When I entered my upcoming swim meet, my goal was to not come in last in my age group. Depending on how you look at it, I can already predict that I will meet that goal. Call me an optimist but since I'm the only woman in my age group, I'd say I'm the winner.

2. I've noticed a trend of people taking an already well-known phrase, tweaking it just slightly, posting it as their status and calling it a their-name-ism. I would never say, for example, "LP-ism: when life gives you limes, make mojitos." I can't decide if doing that is hubris or ignorance, to think that they really came up with that basic idea and phrasing -- around for ages -- is original to them.

3. Today is the first official day of summer. It is 9:00 am, 77 degrees and ridiculously humid. Definitely summertime-Chi.

Never Say Never.

I cannot remember what motivated me to add the Justin Bieber documentary "Never Say Never" to my Netflix queue. I like documentaries. And, I think I remember hearing good things about the movie. I don't know. I forgot about it until all of the sudden it was at the top of my queue and in my mailbox.

Once you, as a 32 year old woman, have what is essentially a concert tour DVD of a 16 (17? I don't know, young) year old boy in hand, if you're not insane, you're at least a tiny bit embarrassed. I think the not-insane caveat is important because (1) there were some clearly adult women in the movie who were screaming and crying like the pre-teen fan girls; and (2) I recently read a story about NKOTBBSB fans who never grew up -- women in their 30s who have their offices plastered with pictures, t-shirts, and articles regarding their boy band of choice. Not normal.

But I digress.

After a very random and late Friday night out and full day Saturday, I was happy to lay low on Saturday night. Thankfully, M and my friend K, who was in town visiting, were of a similar mode and invited me up to hang out and have some pizza. I brought Never Say Never with me. It is MUCH better to watch that movie with a group. Here are some takeaways:

1. Unlike the heart, you cannot transplant vocal chords.
2. Boyz 2 Men, probably at their height of popularity around the time Justin Bieber was born in 1994, is now singing backup for Bieber. It was just sad.
3. We have Usher to blame for Bieber's penchant for sagging pants, vests and hoodies. My guess was that Bieber was trying emulate Usher's style. But, I learned that Usher actually sent one of his stylists to Bieber to style him.
4. Will and Jada Pinkett Smith seem like really great parents. When Jaden's first-ever performance got (surprise!) moved up, they seemed to drop everything to get a helicopter to be there to see it.
5. Taylor Swift has to be a little pissed that the fangirls have co-opted her hand-heart gesture. Of course, it is actually incredible that it took until the past few years for someone to use that regularly. Surely the Beatles or Elvis or someone should have come up with it.
6. It bears repeating that unlike the heart, you cannot transplant vocal chords. That seemed to be the vocal coach's go-to phrase. Every time she got any camera time, she reminded us.

P.S. I just heard that Bieber is the second highest paid celebrity under 30, having made $53 million last year. Kid is doing a whole lot of something right.

5K.

I have never ran a 5K. I'm pretty sure that even though I've been on 5K charity walks, I've never walked a 5K (although, to be fair, I've certainly walked more than 3 miles before, just not as an organized activity). So what made me decide that I would do a 5K swim in Lake Michigan, I really can't say. I do not think I have ever swam 5K continuously even back when I was a swimmer. I certainly haven't done it recently. Hell, my personal best of continuous swimming was 2.5K.

Until today.

After boxing this morning, I planned on doing a long swim, thinking about 2500. My arms were tired from the boxing, but for some reason, I was feeling the water. I got to 2500 and thought, well, let's swim two miles (3300). I was still feeling just fine so I figured, what's another 700, for a nice even 4000. By the time I got to 4000, I was getting tired and hungry. But, I had a Finding Nemo moment, with a little voice telling me to "just keep swiming." Plus, I checked the clock and had about ten minutes to end on an even number in the water. So, I ended up swimming 5000. I certainly did not swim it quickly but now I know that I absolutely can do it and have the next three months to work on doing it both in the lake and faster.