Hours

24 hours from now I'll be en route to Mexico.

72 hours from now this whole bar exam debacle could be behind me forever. Or it could be just beginning. Again.

I've been so busy this week with work and babysitting that I haven't had too much time to think about it. It's been nice to be busy and distracted. But 24 hours from now those distractions are all gone.

Fingers crossed for sunshine.
Literally and figuratively.

Our hotel has wifi, so I'll post either way as soon as I know.

Thanks for all the good thoughts. They're much appreciated.

The Good Wife is back!

The Good Wife is one of my absolute favorite shows on television, and the season premiere was last night... I don't watch a lot of TV but I always make sure The Good Wife is DVR'ed...

It's a legal drama, so there's the obvious appeal... and I looooove Julianna Margulies and OMG, two words: Will Gardner.

 

RAWR.

I also love it because it's set in Chicago so it's fun to see them talk about Chicago landmarks, Chicago politics, etc.

Last night I got a text from my mom who was watching the episode live:

Sure enough... the bar that my roommate bartends at in Boystown got a mention on the show last night!

From Chicagopride.com:


Toward the end of the season 3 opener, Archie Panjabi's Kalinda and Kelli Giddish's Sophia cornered a suspect inside a gay bar.

"If you are looking for a more discreet gay bar, I'd try Scarlet on Halsted," Sophia told Tariq, a gay Muslim student accused of killing a classmate in a fit of passion.

"I'd try Sidetrack," said Kalinda

"It's too leathery," rebutted Sophia.  


 An excellent start to season 3, can't wait for more.

Oh and my other new legal drama obsession? Suits.
OH HELLO HARVEY SPECTOR, HOW YOU DOIN?

Just a few more days!

Had such a great time in Champaign this weekend.... was so great to be back on campus, see my friends who live there, tailgate on a perfect day, and see an Illini victory (even though it was an UGLY victory, it's still a win!).

Now I'm back in Chicago for three days of working and babysitting, and then we head to Mexico on Thursday! Super excited, except for this....

 

Hopefully it's like Hawaii when it rains for like 15 minutes every afternoon and then clears out? 

I've been to Playa del Carmen/Cancun several times before and it definitely has not rained more than once per vacation... so I'm less than pleased about this.

Silver lining - I've been eating the house down for the past month, so not having to don a bathing suit might not be a tragedy. Ha.

I-L-L

Heading to Champaign for a wedding reception/celebration tonight for the friends who got married in Kennebunkport last month!

Can't wait to see everyone and check out the old stomping grounds... Including meeting baby Thetas!
And tomorrow - tailgating and going to the football game to see the RANKED Fighting Illini play!

Not to mention, this time next week I'll be waking up in Mexico!!! Hooray!!!!

I've got a suitcase full of orange clothes and I'm ready to go... I-L-L!!!

Thoughts on Troy Davis

Sometimes our judicial system gets it right... and sometimes we get it wrong.

And yesterday? We got it so so so very wrong.

I spent all day hoping for any last minute reprieve for Troy Davis, obsessively refreshing cnn.com and the AP news app on my phone, but no such good news came.

I don't oppose the death penalty for moral reasons... as a matter of fact I have no problem with the other execution that happened last night... (White Supremacist gang member who dragged a black Texas man to death). If anyone deserved to die, it's that guy.

But Troy Davis?
Even a little bit of doubt is too much doubt when you're dealing with the ultimate punishment.


I oppose the death penalty because we so often get it wrong.


How can we continue to get this so wrong? How can INNOCENCE, the only thing that SHOULD matter, not matter when we decide to take a persons life?
How can all these judges and prosecutors look past the fact that all these people recanted, and stand by the conviction?

Not to be one of those bloggers who turns a tragedy into a story about themselves, but today more than ever I know that this is what I was meant to do. If I fail the bar exam again this time, I take it again, because this is the fight I was meant to fight.
I am going to fight for the Troy Davis's of the world. And there WILL be another Troy Davis.

So does anyone actually know someone who passed the bar exam on the third try?

Because I'm beginning to think it doesn't happen.

I am just sick for all my friends I've made via the blog and twitter who have found out over the last few weeks that they did not pass their state bar exam for the third time.

This is such an awful awful process.

I hope the next week lasts forever.. Just let me keep leaving in denial.

Sent from my iPhone

Another Monday...

Another pair of ripped pantyhose.

This is getting to be really expensive.

Reminders

Coming up on two-ish weeks until a) MEXICO TRIP! and b) Illinois bar exam results.

Saw this on Tumblr the other day... it's exactly the kind of reminder I needed. 

Just because life hasn't gone exactly according to plan, doesn't mean it won't be a success.

Wardrobe Building

As I've been working so much lately I've been actually wearing my "work wardrobe" for the first time in a long time. It's fun but I'm quickly realizing I need to expand my suiting collection ASAP.


While perusing Nordstrom.com yesterday, I came across these:

They're a mere $575.00.
If you're looking to get yourself a pair, you can get them here. 

And please please please send me a picture.

Elle Woods Wednesday

Another Elle Woods update!

Doc says her liver levels aren't yet where he would like them to be, but they're not deathly bad either.

Mom reports that she's the most peppy she's been in months, which is very good news!

Peppy enough to open up her food container and help herself to a snack. Busted.

How quickly we forget...

I'm currently about 3 weeks away from bar exam results.
My stomach dropped just typing that. It does every time I mention it or think about it.

About a week before the bar exam in July I called my mom, crying, saying I just couldn't take this test again, I couldn't study any more, I couldn't do it.

And now here I am mentally preparing myself for what happens when I fail again.

I caught myself this morning saying "studying in January and February was a lot easier than the summer. I could do it again."

How quickly I've forgotten just how awful preparation for that test is.

Weekend in Dallas

Had such a great weekend in Dallas!


Got to see a beautiful friend get married in a beautiful ceremony and had a blast at the reception

Got to hang out with friends from high school

 

Got to dance with a high school boyfriend (ha!) (I promise we are friends now, even though it doesn't look like it in this pic... we only dated for a couple months!)

Got to see a high school friend who is now a blogger friend... 

Got to hang out with my Elley

and Got to meet my friends new baby girl! (she's so cute I wanted to steal her)

Oh and Elle said that the baby was okay with her.

And now I'm back in Chicago and back to reality, and not too pleased about it.
Boo.

P.S. We're now less than a month away from bar results. Vomit.

Shaved Belly Elley

Off to Dallas for the weeked for a friend from high school's wedding! (yup, that's three in a row! Big recap post coming next week!) Can't wait to see my Ellebaby!

Doing well

Email from my Mom:

This is pretty good.  Denise is the supplier that furnished our granite in our house.  We had her come out on Friday and look at the granite on our bar.  I was gone dropping Satin off at daycare.  It was Elle's first day at home.

Apparently there was a breakdown in communication between Denise and Dad.

Denise called this morning...."How's your daughter?"

She's great.

Really?  Your husband told me she had her spleen removed.

I start laughing.  I said our daughter's DOG has her spleen removed.

She said, "OH, your husband told me you almost lost her, and I thought he seemed very calm"

I replied, Elle is doing very well.  Thank you for asking!

Lol. 

 And now for some pictures of Elle and Satin checking out the pool at the parent's house...

 

Yes, we're all crazy dog people. Excited to go home tomorrow and see the girls!