Om Sweet Om

As per usual when life got busy, my blogging activity went down... imagine that!  I have been busy preparing for the move which has been impending for quite some time but is ACTUALLY going to happen this week. The guesstimated move date is currently Saturday morning! I even locked down a place yesterday! 

I spent the Memorial Day weekend in Chi-town, it was jam packed. I drove to Chicago on Thursday and made good use of my time seeing everyone possible in the next four days. I was able to attend the beautiful wedding of a past co-worker and had an amazing time catching up and dancing with all the Halfers (we all worked together at Robert Half). I hadn't been to a wedding in awhile and it was difficult at times but who knows if that will ever change. My brother is getting married in July and I am standing up in it so it was nice to get a wedding in before that one. 

The remainder of the time I caught up with friends from all different phases of my life. I had such a great time going out to eat, sharing drinks, and having lots of laughs. The couple I stayed with in Australia were also in town! We shared many stories about Matt which is always nice to do. 

I also made it to a yoga class at my old studio, CorePower Yoga. Just like old times it was a strong powerful vinyasa flow class in a deliciously heated studio. I felt at home and realized how much I missed their style. I am considering doing one of their trainings as they also have studios in SD and this only reconfirmed my interest. In true yogi style, this is the place I felt the most at home during my visit. It probably didn't help that I was bunking with friends and in hotels all weekend, it was strange to not have my own place to stay in a city that I not too long ago called home. 

After visiting Chicago and even though I missed the city and my friends dearly, it again reinforced my decision to move to San Diego. I love it there but it's time to move on. And that's exactly what's happening in three days! 

I was very very bad at taking pics this weekend and posted the few I took below. Alright off to pack and by pack I mean lay at the pool with my friend and her kids all day ;) 

Me and the Beautiful Bride, Holly

Two Hottest Widows EVER!

Me and the Lovely Ladies of Robert Half... what a fun group of coworkers! 

namaste

Melissa 

A Chicago I Never Knew

NPR is my favorite radio station especially on longer drives. As I drove home from the airport on Monday I tuned into my favorite NPR program, This American Life. I subscribe to the podcast and found an older episode to listen to, Harper High School, Part One.The program is broadcasted in Chicago so the city is frequently a topic of discussion. This particular episode and the following episode, Harper High School, Part Two, tells the story of the high school's staff and students during the course of the school year. Harper is located on the South Side of the city in Engelwood and is plagued by gang violence. Last year 29 students were shot at and 8 were killed. This is not the Chicago I knew. This is a Chicago I barely heard about. Violence is so commonplace on the South Side that it is rarely mentioned on the evening news. If this were to take place in a suburban middle class high school it would be national news. This is an everyday reality for these students. It was an eye opening story for me and also one of those stories that leaves me confused and wondering where I even begin.

The links to both stories are below. I would also recommend subscribing to the Podcast through Itunes. After doing a quick internet search to find the links to the episodes, I found a follow up article sharing that Michelle Obama visited the high school on April 10th to further her campaign to end violence amongst the youth in Chicago. 

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/487/harper-high-school-part-one

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/488/harper-high-school-part-two

Namaste,

Melissa