The Roundup

I'll admit it, guys. I've gotten pretty bad at blogging.

I no longer take pictures of every animal I see, meal I eat, or walk I take. My creativity and inspiration is faltering, sapped from my body by the number crunching I do all day. I only blog once a week and when I do hit publish, it's a weekend update that no one finds interesting besides my mom and fiance (hey, you two!). But whenever I find myself in a blogging rut, I remind myself that I started this blog for me and that's the way it'll stay.

So, here is a quick rundown of the last couple weeks:

- I saw Hozier in concert with my coworker and her daughter. The show was at the Lawn at White River State Park and you truly can't beat the venue. The view of the city from the stage is gorgeous and they hand out lawn chairs to everyone in attendance, a bonus for old people like me. There is also a small fenced-in area in front of the stage where you can stand, dance, sing along, puke, or whatever suits your concert-going fancy. Dawes opened the night nicely, but Hozier was definitely the main event. Unlike many other popular artists, his voice sounds exactly as it does on record and I loved singing along with my favorites all night. If you haven't heard "Work Song," I highly recommend it. The live experience was much better than I expected. Here was the setlist:

Angel of Small Death & The Codeine Scene
From Eden
Jackie Wilson
To Be Alone
Someone New
It Will Come Back
In a Week
Illinois Blues
Like Real People Do
Arsonist's Lullaby
Sedated
Take Me to Church

Cherry Wine
Problem/Regulate (Ariana Grande/Warren G covers)
Work Song

- I had an upper endoscopy. I'm still waiting on the results of the biopsies, but nothing looked fishy to the doctor, which is great news. They put me in "twilight" for the procedure, which was interesting, but I had no side effects from the medicine aside from being super groggy. So, I'm back at square one, trying to figure out why I feel so lousy all the time. On the plus side, Mommles came to town to act as my personal chauffeur and I got her to stay for four nights. It only took some light arm twisting and a strawberry long island from Kilroy's...

- We've had a few other special visitors in the last week. My dear college friend, Spazz, came by one night for dinner at Elbow Room, some women's World Cup action, and general catching up. It's amazing how some friendships pick up right where they left off, despite the time and distance. Jenn and Paul also came for a night and we spent our time exploring a hidden Indian market, eating extremely spicy vegetarian Indian food, walking on the canal, and playing Scattergories. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world when I take a step back and truly look at the friendships I still have from all different stages of my life.

- Other highlights included: "The Works" from the 50th Annual Strawberry Festival on the Circle, a new season of Orange is the New Black, roasting our own s'mores on the canal, my first swim in our apartment pool, the thousands of lightning bugs that hover around the canal at night, renewing our lease for another year, Vince Vaughn on True Detective, feeding ducks on the canal, blueberry lemonade, more World Cup viewing parties, a quick jaunt through crowded Familia Fest to hear some authentic Mexican music, and thunderstorms as I fall asleep almost every night.

In other words, summer is finally hitting on all cylinders and I'm just doing my best to soak it all up. I'll also try my best to be better at blogging, but there are no guarantees now that the pool is finally an option.