Thursday, July 31, 2008

5 years later

This time 5 years ago I was drunk in a bar somewhere in Manhattan wearing cute jeans. (I remember that fact due to the photos that exist) The next day movers came and took my stuff out of my shared apartment. A few hours later I was on an airplane heading to Chicago.

I had no idea what to expect. I found an awesome apartment and had my same job just in a different city. I had no car, no sense of direction, no clue about what was ahead of me. I lived in a hotel for a month because the movers had the good fortune to have two flat tires one in Ohio and the other one in Indiana which delayed me getting my stuff. I moved into the apartment a few days before Labor day.

I scoured car reports and asked my friends what to buy and did the comparison shopping. Then there I was at a dealership signing what was at the time the biggest check I have ever written (this was nothing compared to the down payment on the condo!) and driving away in my first new car.

It is strange to look back at that time. In less than six weeks I decided to move to Chicago and then I was there. I had to get used to a different place, a place that was so out of my comfort zone. I barely knew where the grocery store was but I knew where IKEA was. The first few months were very hard, I missed NY so much. I missed my friends. It was a bit tough but it made me a lot stronger.

So as of tomorrow it will be five years since I moved out to the midwest. Here is where I found my home.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

I am NOT spoiled

On Sunday we had to attend the BF's niece's seventh birthday party. Thankfully it was just family and not the overly sugared pack of unruly children that often plagues these events.

Well of course the birthday girl was eager to open her gifts and when she came to ours she opened the card and slammed it down with a shrieks of "I am not spoiled!" See the card that was picked out has a Happy 4th birthday motif and it was not realized until I was wrapping the gifts. So I found a card that I meant to send to a friend with a picture of a dog on it that said "Enjoy being spoiled and adored on your special day." So that is what triggered the outburst in which all eyes were on us. Thankfully, her mom read the card outloud and the looks dissipated.

Later her uncle (the BF) explained what the card meant and how there was a difference with being spoiled and being a spoiled brat. It went over her head as most things do at that age!. But now at least her sister can identify the difference between a spider and insect. Ahh progress...

Friday, July 25, 2008

TGI home

I like working from on on Fridays.

I can wear yoga pants and "not work appropiate" tee shirts
It allows me the opportunity to sleep in an extra hour
I can take a :pet the random beast break"
I am saving wear and tear on my car
I am saving on gas
I am not subjected to mindless chatter at work

But the best reason, the greasy spoon a few blocks away makes a killer burger!

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

My thoughts

My thoughts are with Deb and Erin who both lost loved ones.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Sunday night already

Another weekend has come and gone...it is Sunday night and the prospect of work is just so unappealing.

I got my hair trimmed on Friday and then it was humid and rainy so it is not so salon-y.  Damn Chicago summer.

Yesterday, I met up with another blogger for dinner at this tapas restaurant that is one of her favs (and now is on my "Must go back" list".  It was so yummy.  I actually ate some olives and I am not an olive fan.  I could have eaten them for days.  The we talked non stop for a few hours and had so much fun. .  I think we almost closed the restaurant down!  Just like it is nice to have made another friend just by blogging

Today was a lazy day, I stayed in my pjs all day.  But I made these lasagna rolls that were so amazing.  Oh and I balanced my checkbook and cried.

My student loans are going to be the death of me.  It is sad that the cost of education is not something that the government thinks is important.   I am trying to figure out how to make the payment and have some money to save.  It is frustrating.




Thursday, July 17, 2008

So there was this monkey

I had a dream that I went a jungle/tundra tour and I was chased by what was called a "Blood Faced Monkey". It was awesome!

Why am I happy about that you may ask, it means that I slept for most of the night without being subjected to the kitty tantrums of late. He has been really annoying these past few weeks when he jumps on my nightstand and starts to bat my alarm clock around at like random hours of the night. Then he gets bored and starts to scratch my closet doors to get any sort of attention. If that is not enough, he will jump in bed and patrol the middle, sniff us, lick us and then finally lie down near our hands so he can try and get a pet. And then repeat!

He grew resistant to the water bottle. Until I heard about lemon juice, apparently cats are not fond of the smell and the taste. So I put a tablespoon in our sprayer and when he acted up he got sprayed. This time he did not look at me like "whatever lady", he actually was started and did not like it. Granted it took a few more tries over the course of the past few nights and the BF had his nerf gun at the ready. After a while it started to work.

Last night, we went to bed and he curled up on the top of my pillow and slept like that for hours. I had to get up to go to the bathroom but then went back to bed and so did he. It was heavenly.

So I welcome being chased by monkeys....well in my dreams only. Unless you are a 30 year younger Davy Jones.

Disclaimer...I know now that I have had the put this out in the universe, tonight may be another story.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Food TV is my drug

We are Food TV junkies. (I can hear all of you gasp in shock!)

But the worst thing is to watch a program and crave what they are making regardless if you are eating dinner while watching said program.

Alton Brown is the worst. I was watching Good Eats and he was making cinnamon rolls, it was ten at night and I wanted cinnamon rolls, my mouth was watering. So what was the first words out of my mouth on Saturday morning when I woke up...cinnamon rolls.

We ended up going out for breakfast and we ordered some cinnamon rolls but they were not very good and they did not look like the ones Alton made. We were a bit disappointed.

Now I blame Alton with the need to make them oh and the pretzels that he made the other day...

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Vacation...holiday...

The BF and I are in the midst (abet delayed) of planning our vacation. This is the first time in a few years that I can actually go away during the summer. When I was in grad school, I took summer classes and by the time they were done I had two weeks before the fall session began.

Last year was my bro's wedding so heading to NY and having a heavy dose of family drama was our vacation. Although we did sneak away to Lake Geneva last year and of course the cruise in December. But we want to get away during the summer, especially the BF who has been busy at the job-o and as a result is getting a wee bit stress-o.

When we started to think about vacations in oh January we had a huge wish list. In fact, we were planning on heading to Paris until the Euro came and whooped our ass. So then we decided that we should stay in the North American region. Then we decided San Francisco would be awesome...so we looked at what we wanted to do, where we wanted to stay and how we would get then and then looked at our budget and they did not match. So that was shelved.

So then we decided that the Mid-West is not so bad after all but maybe Toronto. We planned on driving and that would only be like 7 hours. So we decided to investigate...the city was also our of our budget.

Then the BF announces that he wants to get back to nature. (Me not so much) But then we thought Jackson Hole....again too much.

So we finally decided on heading up north to Door County for some R and R.

We are going to "check in" the dog at a new dog hotel. I am very pleased with this development as the last time we went away we were fleeced and the dog got a sore on her nose. They have people on staff 24 hours (unlike the vet), she gets her own area with a nice cozy blanket (If we want we can upgrade her to a suite where she can watch animal planet 24/7), she gets to play with other dogs, go out for walks, and will get groomed before she heads home.

The cat we are not sure about yet. We are only planning on being gone for a few days so we can leave him plenty of food, a clean litter box and his water fountain (yes he has this) he should be okay. But he needs love and pets on the head so I am not sure how I feel about this. We can also check him in the hotel but he and Yukon won't be together and he did not react well when he was in his carrier when we moved. We suspect it was because he was crated at the shelter we got him.

So we shall see, hopefully I can get days off.

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

9:31

My four day weekend is sadly over and it is back to the grind.

We had a very relaxing and no stress weekend. Friday we went to the 'burbs for a BBQ at the BF's dad's house. There were tons of food and we ate and ate and ate. We saw some fireworks on our way home but the best part was that we found a parking spot when we got home. That is a praise worthy event worth shooting fireworks!

Saturday was errand day. The cat has gotten oblivious to the water bottle so we had to get something more. When he gets sprayed he takes it as a shower and starts to bathe rather than stop doing what he is doing that got him sprayed in the first place. We got a nerf gun (although I am not sure about using it). It has his red target light which turns out, attracts the kitty, We have been playing with the light and watching Chaplin chase and attack the red dot. As of last night it disappeared under the bed....he is still looking for it. Good times.

We also went to see Wall-E. It was a cute movie and we had fun with it. We strolled around Evanston for a bit and then headed home.

But the monumental thing we did this weekend was to buy this:

Yes, we have a Wii. the BF was on line bright an early on Sunday and was one of the lucky 30 to get one. It has been fun for the two of us and all day on Sunday we played the few games that we got. Now I want (yes *I*) want the Wii fit! But we did go out to enjoy the sun. We took Yukon to the beach for a nice long walk. She loves her long walks and it got us out and it was a beautiful day to do that. The Lake was a beautiful shade of blue and it water was cool but not cold.

Yesterday we played official hooky (we both had vacation days so it was not like we called in with a fake cough). We went to The Chicago History Museum. On Mondays it is free so we went and spent a few hours wandering around. I really had a good time because it was when we left that I realized how sore my feet were. Afterwards, we went to the Spice House in Old Town and did not leave empty handed.

So overall we had a very good much needed relaxing weekend. I wish that I had taken a few more days but we have planned our vacation for August so that will keep me going!

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Top of the list

So as of yesterday Chicago has the highest sales tax in the country...10.25% Bigger than NYC and LA!

Bastards!

But then again I have not shopped for anything other than food and gas.