Wednesday, September 08, 2010

Is that your poker face?

This may have been my most memorable Labor Day weekend ever. There were several factors that played into this. 1. It was the first one I had off since I started working in retail 6 years years ago. 2. Philip and I accompanied some friends to hang out with their friends in Detroit. 3. We saw LADY GAGA in concert!
The highlight of the weekend was Lady Gaga, but I'll get to her in a minute. The rest of the trip was awesome. It was so nice to get out of town with fun people and not be in charge of anything. We just rode along and did whatever was happening. It was almost like a mini vacation, relaxing and fun. By the way, when I say Detroit, I really mean one of the several suburbs around the city and I never knew which one I was in. Ever. We left for Detroit on Friday evening right after work. I didn't really know how long it would take to get there.. and it took longer than I thought... but I enjoyed every minute of being the passenger. We arrived late that night and hung out with good wine and chats.
On Saturday, we got up at a leisurely time, watched the most recent Project Runway on Tivo, then went to a local orchard to have apple donuts. These are not apple fritters as I assumed they might have been, but were in fact donuts with apples in them, which were even better that they sound. Our next stop was the local mall for last minute wardrobe ideas and lots of window shopping all over the place then off to a late lunch at Panera, where the cashier at the sight of six stylish yet casually dressed men, asked if we were from Canada. I'm taking that as a compliment. I do love those Canadians. After a quick stop at the "store" for champagne and red bull, we were off to the house to prep for the pre-party and get dressed.


We went with a group of 12 people total and decided to roll in style with this seemingly wonderful stretch limo, which turned out to be a bit of a letdown with a failing music system and not so helpful driver, but nonetheless was hip hip fun!

The view from inside. You know when you pass a limo on the highway and always stare and try to see who is inside? Well, you can't and it turns out that you look pretty stupid to the people on the inside. Note to self: do not stare at limo, unless it might be someone famous inside :)

Before the show started it looked pretty empty, but those holes filled up quickly as Gaga took the stage. Our group had a private suite where we had a private bathroom, sofas, tv, bar area and 12 seats right outside. The freedom of moving around and hanging with people added to the experience and made it amazing.

"Is that your Poker face?"
This pretty much sums up how happy everyone was all night long.

After the concert, we reloaded ourselves into the limo and headed to a local bar where we ruled the place. It was not packed when we arrived and our group was the hit of the hour, or at least we thought we were. The highlight there was when songs from Glee came on and the crowd went wild. We arrived home sometime later and hit the sack.

The next morning when we all crawled out of bed, or in my case the air mattress on the floor, packed up and headed to Cracker Barrel for brunch and then headed out of town. On the way home we swung by the outlet malls in Michigan City and then made a final stop at Hacienda for dinner to round off the weekend. So amazing!

Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Gaga

We went to lady Gaga this past weekend. It was awesome! Stories and pics to come. Watch out...

Friday, August 27, 2010

Picky?

I've worn the same brown shoes to work five or more days a week for well over a year. I love them dearly, but recently it has come to the point where I need to retire them a few days a week. I think they are still In great shape and go with everything, right, however partnered with my poor posture and sole tread I decided to begin the search for new shoes. It has been a long 6 weeks of searching... Seriously. Philip almost refuses to go shoe shopping with me anymore because, as he puts it, I am a bit particular. In my mind, if you're gonna drop $100 or more on shoes, they better be comfortable, look hot, and last a long time. Our joint search started at a shoe store in Andersonville where I tried almost every brown dress loafer style in stock, and one oxford that I did not even ask for. I felt so guilty after having someone help me for so long that I just bought the pair that I hated the least. I work in retail and I know how it feels to help someone who walks out empty handed. The very next day, less than 24 hrs later, I returned the heavy clunky unattractive shoes. After several trips later to DSW, which btw is somehow overwhelming and under exciting , other local shoe stores and even a few in Kokomo, Indiana, I am still shoeless today. Cut to a few hours ago and Piperlime.com, which I have always had a secret love for, but never used. After virtually searching all the mens shoes in size 13 and brown, I narrowed it down to this pair below.

Now I will wait around a week or so and hope that they fit well and are comfortable... I don't think I have the patience or energy to start all over again.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Indiana

Philip and I , along with Franklin are in Indiana visiting Philip's parents for a few days. We are sitting outside on a lawn chair under an umbrella stairing at the intersection of a corn field and a soybean field spread out over acres of rich land. While I could never live in a place as rural as this, there is much to appreciate in the relaxation and quaintness that it offers. I always look forward to our short trips here full of food, family time, and so much relaxing. It is nice to get out of the urban oasis that Chicago is every once in a while and just be in a place where life is different.
Franklin doesn't know what to do with himself. He has a house full of carpet with space to run his crazy laps far bigger than back home and a yard with what seems to be unlimited grass to rub his head in and rollover. He has had that, not so attractive, crazy frenchie face for well over an hour at this point from overheating his poorly designed but adorable body. Ringo, the older and wiser resident yellow lab doesn't seem to appreciate Franklins antics and attempts to alarm him into "play mode". He just lays there waiting for some diversion of the attention and hopes for a dog rub.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

I love Zoku

I first heard about Zoku at a work conference in Phoenix over the summer. I was immediately intrigued. It is a Popsicle maker that freezes juices right in front of your eyes in as little as 7 minutes. Every time I mentioned this to Philip he ridiculed it completely. Long story short, Philip saw a video on how to use it and wanted one. I got it for him for Christmas and it has been in use nearly every day since. We keep the unit in the freezer all the time and bring it out to make fresh Popsicles with an array of fruit juices and nectars. Today I decided to try to make a yogurt pop, so while shopping I saw a bottle of Blueberry Kefir, a smoothie drink, and snatched it up, rushed home and made my very first non fruit juice pop. It was delicious and froze super fast. Below is a photo of my Kefir pop and our trusty Zoku. If you are ever over, don't forget to ask to make your very own pop!

Monday, January 18, 2010

expressway

I never drive the expressway to work. I always take city and suburban streets and love that I don't have to get on I-94. One of my favorite things on my route to work is the drive thru Starbucks where most of them know my drink by heart :) Anyway, after work I had to go to a store in the city and the best way to get there was to take 94. So off I go with my back seat full of boxes blocking my rear view sight. For some reason I think West is the right way to go. I think the suburbs had me turned around. West goes to to Wisconsin and I definitely did not want to go to Wisconsin. I think quickly and get out my handy new GPS and before she gets all started up I get off at the next exit thinking I could just turn around. Wrong. That exit went East and no U-turns were allowed. Anyway, my GPS kicks in and starts yelling to me in her very nice British voice, "turn now...recalculating....go .2 miles and turn left....turn now....recalculating" and on and on. Still going the wrong way I turn into a small mall parking lot to turn around. I finally make it on the expressway going the right way and make it into the city. One would think I don't know my way around, but I think I'm too comfortable that I don't even pay attention anymore. Now I know. Pay attention.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

the death of a tree

Tomorrow is the last day to get your Christmas Tree recycled in Chicago, and yes, we still have our Christmas Tree standing. At this moment Philip is un-decorating the tree while singing Christmas Songs and whining about how Christmas was only 3 weeks ago but feels like forever ago, followed by some statement about how much he loves Christmas.

Luckily for me tearing down Christmas decorations is not as important as putting them up for Philip, when every ornament I hang is constantly scrutinized for proper location. Decorating tends to work best when we each do something when the other isn't home and then the other "fixes" it when the first isn't home. I think we are down to a system now.

We hope to get this tree to Margate Park by tomorrow so that the city can mulch it and continue beautifying our parks and wherever the heck else they put thousands of Christmas tree mulch. I figure this little donation will save me a dollar down the road somewhere, right? If we succeed we will have made ourselves a bit greener than last year when we missed the cutoff date and had our tree in the house into the beginning of February. I vaguely remember dragging the carcass through my condo hallway to the back door and sometime later purchasing a saw to hack the poor thing into pieces small enough to fit into our dumpster. I remember vaguely as if it was a bad dream that should have never happened.

So back to un-decorating I go and to greenifying Chicago a tiny bit more.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

chores

Today was very productive. Even though Franklin and I slept in till 10am, I got many things done that I have been putting off. I immediately went to the gym and rand for a good 40 minutes while watching a show on those handy little TVs. It was so warm today (40 degrees) that I was very comfortable outside for short periods in my gym shorts. After leaving the gym I decided to treat my salt covered car to a top to bottom wash. I remember when I was a child washing cars with a pressure washer. I now prefer credit card accepting automatic car washes with undercarriage sprayers. Sitting in that confined area while being sprayed by multiple nozzles is very relaxing.

Off to the vet to pick up more food for Franklin. If you are unaware, he is on special vet food because he has food allergies. This is very normal for Frenchies and finding a way to balance his belly has become a normal part of our lives. I love it that when I walk in there is an assistant that always remembers me and says, "hello Mr. Taylor".

After lunch, I decided to jump into cleaning our condo. You would be amazed to see the amount of pet hair the vacuum picks up. Recently, we finally bought a real mop to replace the silly sponge one we had been using which finally fell apart. So, I mopped all the wood flooring from front door to back and boy what a difference it makes.

I figured while I was in a cleaning mode, why not "treat" Franklin to a nice warm bath. He was very good throughout, but lost it a few times near the end when he was getting blow dried. I think he thinks that it is a game and he jumps up and down as if he is getting ready to play with a small animal. Very cute while rather annoying.

Now I am sitting with a clean Franklin on a clean sofa in a clean room. A rarity around here, but very nice.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Birthday Dinner

Philip's afternoon appointment was cancelled so we had time to go out for a quick dinner to celebrate. Indie Cafe has always been a favorite of ours for three main reasons: It's 2 blocks from our house, the food is amazing, and it is super affordable. So naturally, for a nice dinner we chose to go there. I had Scallops wrapped in bacon for an appetizer with hot Oolong tea and for my main course I had a Cape Cod Maki roll and ,my favorite, a Sweet Potato Tempura Maki roll. I don't know who thought of deep frying sweet potato slices and wrapping it up in rice and seaweed, but I think we should be friends :)
Philip got me a customized Starbucks card for Christmas. Le t me tell you, it may have been one of my favorite gifts. Anyway, two of my favorite perks are free soy milk with drinks and a free drink of your choice on your birthday. Today is my birthday, so I made a special trip to the Starbucks in Andersonville just to get a special drink of my choice. Naturally when you are getting something free you go all out, right? So I got a Grande Soy White Mocha and gave him my card. I got my receipt and noticed later that I got free Soy Milk, but was charged for my drink. Was I supposed to tell them and the entire lounge that it was my birthday? Anyway, I sent a friendly little message to customer service and assume that they will make right. Check out my cool card below.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

cheesecake

Today was not my birthday, but because I am not working tomorrow one of my associates who always makes something for people on their birthday made me, from scratch, a New York Cheesecake and on the side cherries and sauce to top it off with. As I poured the cherries on my cheesecake and tasted it I was shocked to realize that they were cooked from fresh cherries and not from a typical jar as so many people do. It was deliciously amazing! I only took a small slice to start so I wouldn't stuff myself, however I found myself sneaking back every once in a while to get an extra slice. Tomorrow is my birthday and luckily I have the rest of that cheesecake with me to celebrate.

Monday, January 11, 2010

chinese food is my favorite food

My boss took me on a surprise lunch outing to an undisclosed restaurant. As we pulled into the Evanston city parking spot and got out of the car I was still unsure of where we were going. There were several restaurants across the street. I glanced at each and secretly hoped that we were going for Chinese. We entered Joy Yee's Noodle Kitchen to my delight. The modern dining room was filled with hexagonal metal chairs in a stunning gunmetal finish. The enormous menu was filled with multiple options and coordinating photos. It was overwhelming, but very exciting. We ordered "make your own" chicken spring rolls, Mongolian Beef, and Spicy Mongolian Green Beans. As we sipped our hot tea the food began coming out. The portions were huge but very enticing to the eye. The actual taste was even better. To top that all off our fortunes were very true:) On the ride home we took what I will call the scenic route back to the store. Enter Vertigo. All in all it was a delightful trip and I definitely recommend it if you are in the neighborhood.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

TB

As often happens, Philip called me right as I was leaving work to let me know that he wanted some Taco Bell for dinner. When I started driving to work one small thing that made my day was a drive-thru Starbucks on the way to work. One small thing that made Philip excited was that I passed a Taco Bell every day. He soon began phoning every once in a while to request a quick pick up of a chalupa or gordita on my way home.
Recently we began trying to let go of the many extra calories that we ingested over the glutenous weeks between Thanksgiving and New Years by watching our calories and eating healthier. Thus, I was surprised when he wanted some TB... however he had prepared himself and chosen a few from their website with low calories. As I pulled up to the window I ordered what he wanted and a few things for myself not even thinking about how unhealthy there might be. When I got home and added them up, I realized that my three items made up 70% of my daily calorie allotment! Boy, did they taste good. So, farewell TB...I shall have no more of you during however long this health kick lasts.

Saturday, January 09, 2010

work fury

My first day back to work after 4 long and tiring ones off was rough. I was out of sync and not quite ready to dive back into it. To make matters worse, I walked into what should have been a complete masterpiece but as I walked throughout realized that things had fallen short a bit. I remained calm on the outside but was a furious mess on the inside. I wanted to scream at someone and cry at the same time. There are far more important things to worry myself over, so I'm letting it go... until Monday at least.




Friday, January 08, 2010

driving home...

After a 7 hour journey, I made it home to Chicago today. With my handy new GPS, I had the authoritative voice of Samantha to comfort me every time I needed to continue route. A few hours in, I decided to see what other options were available and switched to a British male and later female voice. There's something very comforting that comes with the accent. The trip was fairly uneventful. There was a stop at a faulty ATM, then a good one that charged way too much, a foolish stop at McDonalds for a steak bagel and a hashbrown as well as Hardees for their Crispy Curls (there's something about deep fried potatoes that I simply cannot resist), and filling up with cheap (in relation to Chicago prices) gasoline. I even uneventfully made it through an intense lake effect snow band in NW Indiana that slowed traffic down to 20 mph with nothing in sight.
So here I am at home again with a messy house and two pets to mind. Back to reality.

Thursday, January 07, 2010

snow, fudge, amish

I am currently sitting in a recliner in Ohio while visiting family. Today is supposed to be a day of relaxation before I head back to Chicago tomorrow. However, I constantly find that I cannot be completely relaxed for several reasons. One of them is the impending snow storm that I will have to drive through tomorrow. It just started snowing here and is supposed to be throughout the entire day today and most of tomorrow. I love snow, but seriously!

We are supposed to go out to lunch soon. I hear rumors that Wendy's is the first choice.

My mom bought sweetened condensed milk a while back to make Belizean Fudge, but didnt get around to it, so this morning I rrose to the sweet occasion. Turns out we didn't have sugar, so I had to go to the store across the street, "Town and Country". I spent many summers running in and out of that store renting videos and buying ice cream, but I completely forgot how country it really is. The sugar was twice the price it should have been and was rock hard and the check out screens (the most modern technology in the store) had flashing images of quilting books that you could buy from their quilting part of the store. Anyway, fudge making begins. 4 cans of sweetened condensed milk, 4 cups of sugar, 4 Tbs of butter and 45 minutes of stirring over a hot stove. Sounds easy, right? Well, turns out that it was supposed to be 2 cups of sugar and I forgot to mix the vanilla in towards the end. Oops! It is still deliciously edible, but you might need to drink a glass of water when you eat it to balance the sugar level.

There are lots of Amish around here and there is a wonderful little Amish store out in the country where you can buy bulk goods, meat, and cheese. I went this morning with my cousin and as always was thoroughly excited. As we were walking the aisles and I was beginning to fill my basket I asked, "They take credit cards, right?" and my cousin looked at me with an astonished face and said, "no". Luckily my mom had sent $11 dollars with me to get her something which I didn't get for her and used for myself. Some Swiss cheese, sweet bologna, and trail bologna. I think my outfit was a bit too worldly for the female Amish cashier as I noticed she kept looking at my shirt and scarf.
Interesting side note: On Facebook, you can choose Amish as your religion, so all you Amish using computers and the Internet.. there you go.