Café Con Monica

Tuesdays @ Two!

{1} 
When I see women in tiny dresses and 4-5″ heels on Sunday morning I like to play the “Coming Or Going” game. Are they at Starbucks because they need caffeine and haven’t changed clothes yet or are they going to church dressed for night at the club? I can’t tell..but it is fun to guess. I’m jealous I can’t be out in 4-5″ heels without breaking my neck.
{2} 

This past Saturday was the Women’s March and I feel like the last few months have been a real struggle with my activist minded friends. I believe in the cause, I understand the message and I understand feeling the need to march and protest and have your voice heard. I just don’t want to participate. I find other ways to participate in the movement that are more in line with my beliefs. BUT the whole point is that it seems like you can’t believe in anything without it being labeled. Why do I have to label myself a “feminist” in order for me to have an opinion? 
It is a constant contradiction to argue for women and at the same time as putting them down for not doing what you think they should be doing…isn’t it? 

On Gratitude…

So my teacher introduced us to a Gratitude Grid, since a lot of my coursework is online or hybrid classes I don’t get to interact with many of the other students often. The staff got together and decided to do a Gratitude Grid on Flipgrid to allow for people to talk about ways they can show gratitidue and things they are grateful for. Its been fun to see some of the other videos. I haven’t posted one yet because I hate making videos of myself but I thought I’d share some of the prompts!

– Share a video of the food you are most grateful for
haha I love food. I am self proclaimed foodie so talking about all the food I love isn’t hard. BUT sitting there and thinking about what food I am most grateful for is not as easy. I decided on avocados. Random but true. I absolutely love avocados on things, in things, and by themselves. Not only do I love the way it tastes but I love how much it helps my hair & skin and body in general when I am eating enough of it.


– Share one way you can show gratitude today.

I think the most simple way is to just say Thank You. We forget that we don’t always have to do something extra special to show someone we appreciate their effort/time. So just saying Thank You is huge. 
 – Who is one teacher that you have had that you are forever grateful for? Why?
Ooh man. I feel I am fortunate in that I had some amazing teachers growing up. The one I am most thankful for is actually my High School English Teacher  Mr. Downing. He is a former basketball player and you can actually read an article from the Chicago Tribune from a few years ago that talks about him. Let me tell you, I always loved reading and writing but he was the kindest and most inspiring teacher I had in High School and is probably one of the top reasons I finally decided to become an English teacher. 

– What is one small pleasure you are grateful for? 
Hmmm…I think I would go with time. Time is the thing I am most grateful for because we often are so busy and working so hard and getting things done and there just isn’t enough time. Also, I recognize that I am privileged enough to have time because I can afford it. Time to do whatever I want is so important and necessary for my mental health. 
So those are some of the prompts. I might just suck it up and post a few videos on the grid…have to comb my hair first though! 
  
Answer some of these, let me know what kinds of things you are grateful for!  

On Meetup…

I have previously mentioned in posts my love of Meetup.com but today I thought I’d get a little more into why.

A little backstory:  The thing about living in city like Chicago is that there is always ALWAYS something to do but when you only have a handful of very close friends who have busy lives like your own then you can’t always find someone to do those things with you. Then you have the usual friends getting into new relationships and disappearing until they step back from the honeymoon and realize they don’t need to eat, sleep, breathe their SO. I originally found meetup because of just that…a combination of friends in relationships and a real need to get out of my apartment.

Its super easy to join and just search for the kind of groups you are looking for. I am a member of all girl groups, couples groups, co-ed social groups, movie marathon groups, monthly dinner groups…etc.

You may recall my super awesome 80’s NYE party? I made an event on meetup for that and had quite a few people show up to party with my friends and I!

** While typing this post I realized I never posted about my 80’s NYE party! So expect that soon.

Or the even more awesome holiday cookie exchange I do every year?  Posted the idea on meetup and it blew up to about 60 girls! I actually had to cut the list and start charging $5 a girl so that we could rent a space to have it.

This is just the group that was left at the very end

I did start a couple’s group back when The Boy and I were doing our thang. We had many brunches, bowling nights, ice skating, and even toured a brewery & distillery with the group. After we broke up I was so not in a place to be running a couple’s group so someone else took over for me. Now I have joined a couple, though I am not sure I am ready to be running one again!

So if you are new to your area or just want to explore your city and make some new friends I highly suggest Meetup.com!

** this was not paid for or  sponsored in anyway by Meetup.com, I just really like using it!

FOLLOW

@cafeconmonica

[instagram-feed]