tax time

I love doing taxes.  I still remember the first time I had to do my taxes, all handwritten on paper, and all so fun.  The excitement of filling out tax information and waiting for the final calculation of how much I over payed is sheer joy!

laundry

I woke up this morning in a panic when I realized my dream was not real.  I imagine the 10 minute dream that my laundry was completely finished had me smiling in my sleep.  I woke up without an alarm at 10 am feeling well rested and happy, but then it dawned on me that I had to do three large loads of laundry without the aid of Philip.

Bailey is so needy today.  When I was washing the dishes she would not leave me alone, forcefully pushing her head against my leg.  She must need food or water, I thought to myself, but those were both full and her litter box was fine.  Even the usual splash of water couldn't keep her away for more than a few seconds.  Crazy Cat!  She must want a puppy to play with :)

8:21am

I got a call this morning while still in bed (my day off) and all I remember is that there was a man of asian descent on the other line yelling at me, "you left your pillow here, at cleaner".  I know of no pillow, but in my daze I said, "oh, from a long time ago?", and he was like "yes, long time".  So naturally I said I would come pick it up.  When I went to the cleaner that I always go to, to pick up my sweater the woman there had no idea what I was talking about.  so no pillow there.  Then I just know figured out that I left Philip's pillow at the dry cleaner up north of here around two years ago.  Good to know they are on top of things!  I don't want it anymore, so they can keep it.

sale

J.Crew Rocks!  I got some sweaters, some ties, and my favorite patchwork tartan sleep pants.  So warm and fuzzy.

24 days till closing...

24 days and counting till our closing date. When we made an offer on this place we did a 60 day close, because we can still use our apartment through the end of March, but now we are just getting eager. In the first week from when we saw the place we made and offer, went under contract, gout our loan finalized, and even saw the first bit of our title work... and now we just have to wait till the week of closing do some more last minute things.

We were able to go see the condo unfinished another time to choose paint colors a bit ago and below are fun photos from that day. Notice how busily I am measuring the space to start shopping in my head for all the fun things we will need!

This first pic is of the actual kitchen (unfinished)...


and here is what it will look like when it's finished.


View of the living room from the kitchen...


Kitchen pantry hallway...


Hallway leading to 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a parking spot :)

where are the good jeans?

After Philip and I dropped off our Rabbit to get detailed this morning we headed to North Michigan Avenue to do a little shopping for ourselves. Sadly the only things we left with were a bagel, a panini, and two small coffees from Einstein Bagel. Nothing at Sonoma in our budget, Lulemon has cool things but c'mon Philip...downward dog knickerbockers?, J.Crew was way too overwhelming and while that vest looks REALLY hot, $98 was quite a stretch. We walked through Filene's basement and after 5 minutes I felt like Karen from "Will & Grace"... "Honey, what is this place, where am I, how did I get here?". I'd like to not spend too much money on Jeans, but even the CK ones looked disgust. Moving on to H&M, we were welcomed by black, black, black everything in the lobby... black must be back. Excitement over jeans lasted about 10 minutes, then when we came to our senses we threw them back on the shelf and made a dash for the exit. An obligatory stop at Pottery Barn royally annoyed Philip, but made me feel good about my store! Our last hope was Express, where we actually tried on several pairs and even admired how they fit, but let's be honest... if I'm spending that much on jeans, they better be freaking amazing. So to cheer us up we crossed the street to the Apple Store and pretended like we might actually buy something. All this and still at home by noon.

holiday's a coming

The holidays are coming so quickly that we may not even realize when they are actually here and when they are gone. Retail business over many brands that people are already having insane Holiday sales. Like Old Navy was having a 40% off Outerwear sale and it's not even cold yet. Yesterday while walking through J.Crew, I couldn't help but notice their massive piles of warm weather clothing on sale already. Holiday music traditionally starts playing the week of Thanksgiving, but some retailers who are desperate to get people in the mood have been blaring Holiday songs on busy days to push their merchandise out. There's so much Holiday product everywhere that I think some people have forgotten about Thanksgiving. Ode to the Turkey is out and Hurrah to the big green tree is in.

laundry, dishes, and petty fights with Bailey...

Today was very eventful. Having two days off in a row in the middle of the week means two things. 1. That I have to work all weekend and 2. This is my weekend all by myself. So in order to not feel like a total loser, I try to get as many errands done as possible and not sit on the sofa all day watching my dear Tivo. I started my morning by getting up with Philip, bright and early... well, after he left I went back to bed, but soon after I got ready and went to Jewel to sign up for "Pay By Touch", got quarters and went to the laundromat to do 3 loads of laundry. Why waste time sitting at the laundromat watching my clothing spin when I can get so much done at home in between those cycles? So I began doing the dishes and ran back to dry, then ran back to do more dishes, and so on. Leftover rice and beans for lunch...yum!

I decided to hop on the Halsted bus and take back a lamp to CB2 which was missing hardware! SHAME! No worries, we got a nicer one anyway. Bought tickets at Steppenwolf for a show that one of our friends is starring in, then foolishly took the North Avenue bus East and the Clark Bus north, to Best Buy on Clark. I bought myself a SD adapter, so now I can finally put music on my phone. Waited for the Broadway bus Northbound to drop me off right by my building. I do love the Broadway Bus...

More.... I got our rug back from the dry cleaners, and btw... It's not as clean as I had hoped, maybe there is no hope for my Shag. Remembered that I hadn't folded the laundry.. damn! Spent forever doing that, then decided it was the perfect time to try on all my pants and long sleeve shirts to sort through the big ones that i don't need. What fun that was!

So now, I'm sitting waiting for Philip to get home, smelling the deliciousness in the crock pot and watching the uneventful evening news. Oh, btw Bailey and I are happy right now. We only had 3 little fights today, but it's all cool.

ode to couscous

Have you ever been grocery shopping and running errands over the lunch hour when your stomach is grumbling and every fast food restaurant you pass looks amazingly delicious? As I was in that predicament today shooting past the door of Trader Joes after leaving CB2 and passing all the "good" fast food restaurants on Addison Driving home, the only thing that stopped me from giving in to the grease pits was the thought of making some good old 7 minute couscous at home. I love couscous because its easy to make and you can mix anything with it. Today I made it with sliced hot dogs, edamame, sesame seeds, and sesame oil. Yum Yum!!

haircuts,bad service, and groceries

Philip and I woke up early this morning to get a head start on our Saturday activities. We went to Gabby's Barber shop to get our haircut. We walked in to a full waiting room and a long list of about 20 names before us. When you walk in, you have to write your name on the chalkboard and if you want write the name of the barber that you want to cut your hair. Philip always requests the same barber every time, while I just take whomever is first available. So, instead of waiting in the room the entire time we went for a walk down Clark. On our southbound journey as we came out of Hanig's shoe store a dog was running down the sidewalk and right into the street. Her owner was following behind with two other dogs on leashes. The running dog kept going in and out of the street in front and behind cars. After many failed attempts to get her dog back, a stranger volunteered to hold the two other dogs on leashes as the owner chased after the run-away. I was so nervous that something bad was going to happen that I had to walk away so as to not witness anything.

On our way back to the Barber Shop, we stopped at Baladoche to get some coffee. On our last visit to Baladoche we were overwhelmed by the happy manager and upbeat customer service. This time, the happy manager was not there and the two girls working in the place were AWFUL. We waited about 5 minutes while they slowly shook sugar on other people's waffles before one of them even acknowledged us. When she finally did, I ordered our two coffees and paid for them. Then we waited a few more minutes while she forgot to get our coffee and then she came back and asked if she could help us. I was like" I already paid for two coffees" and then she magically remembered and got us our drinks. I wasn't so much mad as I was sad thinking about these poor people who think that they are doing a good job.

Anyway, so we made it back to Gabby's, got our haircuts and then bought yummy groceries at Trader Joes.

sickly old me

I'm sick again, with some horrible throat infection, no doubt Strep Throat. Last night was the worst. I had so many different meds in my body, my poor stomach couldn't even handle it and sometime in the middle of the night.. up it came... mostly the awful tasting NyQuil. I woke up feeling depressed knowing I couldn't call in sick to work because I was the only key holder opening and there was no one to call sick in to. How awful:(. So I pulled myself out of bed, took an extra warm shower and took the bus to work. I made tea to take along and drank it all. Philip and i don't really buy coffee on a daily basis anymore like we used to, but I figured being sick was a great excuse to spend 2 dollars on an extra hot white tea. Oh how it felt so good. How joyful that it was "Re-forecasting Thursday", because I got to spend an hour in the office re forecasting payroll and sales and adjusting the week's schedules to it. It was nice to sit down for a break. Anyway, I think these antibiotics are finally kicking in... my uvula is shrinking back to normal size and I can actually swallow more that liquids now. Oh the joy of being sick!

CTA problems again

The CTA is facing more budget issues.... check out this website to read about it all.
http://www.savechicagolandtransit.com/

the holidays have begun

Yesterday at work, I was discussing the our Holiday 1 floor-set which goes up the last Sunday of October.  One of my co-workers said, "so you mean the 28th, like before Halloween?".  I, of course with a smart grin said, "yes... many boutique stores already have their trees and ornaments on display".  In all reality when I step back to think about it, it really is quite crazy!  As I looked through my department photo book, and excited myself with the new product, packaging, and "natural theme" I couldn't help but stop and think about why the holidays on the actual holiday have begun to mean less and less to me.  By the time Christmas is here, I'm so tired of seeing red and hearing "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" that it's just a nice day off to rest.  In no way should you take this as a "David is turning on the holidays blog", but simply a blend of excitement and tiredness for the next two weeks of October which catapult in to 8 weeks of holiday shopping and then the meaningless cycle of work as January comes and the fiscal year ends.  So, watch out people... Rudolph will be here before you know it!  Are you ready?

Orchestral sing along

Yesterday, Philip and I attended the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's free day of music downtown, specifically attending the sing along.  Literally the entire concert hall was filled with people from all walks of Chicagoland including the surrounding suburbs.  The Civic Orchestra of Chicago played familiar tunes that we hear daily in TV advertisements and in movies while we happily sang along using the legally photocopied sheet music.  There were two choirs who either performed independently or sang along with us.  The sounds from the sing along were not as joyful as a hymn sing at GC, but it was good fun all around.

it's really hot in here

It's 86 degrees outside. It's Sunday October 7th. I removed our window air conditioner weeks ago when I thought the summer heat was gone. See where this is going? It's October and its still hot and my apartment is thus hot making me not so excited. Philip brought me breakfast in bed this morning, then we watched episodes of "Flipping Out" on his laptop, then we ran to the gym because we were late for Philip's class and when we arrived we realized the instructor didn't show, then we ran up inner lake shore home. Eventually, we finally washed the dishes and had a snack to eat. I'm sitting hot in the living room wishing for an autumnal breeze to sweep through the window, but nothing comes at all.

"sadurday"

left work sick today :(
sat and rested around home:(
watched grey's anatomy:)
had 3 swigs of tequila straight from the bottle:)

Check out this funny from the Colbert Report...

sourdough or bagels?

I was awaken this morning by my dad calling from China. He said he was using me as a guinea pig to see if his internet phone was working before he called actual business customers. Nonetheless, it was nice hearing from him and fun to chat. Thank goodness for this early wake up call as it allowed me to have a very productive morning. I made two dozen bagels with onions, sesame and flax seeds and may I say, they are quite delicious. There are only 22 left on the counter. I've come to realize that baking sourdough bread or any bread for that matter is very easy and so fulfilling. There's nothing more relaxing than kneeding dough and watching it rise and then tasting the your product with your very essence in it, made with your hands. Maybe this shall become a new hobby, hopefully without adding too many carb-enduced pounds.

kittens gone... bailey's back

Last night was our first without the adorably hyperactive kittens and as I tried to fall asleep I was astonished at how quiet it was. No bags being drug around the house or rocks being dug out of the plant pot and kicked around, no pitiful meow's begging for who knows what and no fights between Bailey and the kittens. Peace and quiet was so surreal. While I am happy that they are back with their original mother, I must say I will miss the adorable cock-eyed "fatty" and "blackies" puny meow begging for fun. On the other hand Bailey is back to normal! She is happy and smiling and sleeps on our bed again. She is also probably bored out of her mind which drives her to play with us more. This morning I woke up to her pushing her forehead into my nose in order to get it scratched and then later licking my forehead...weird! I think this is life number 3 for her!

living yeast

I've taken up baking bread... sourdough bread in fact, and with my very own natural sourdough starter. After a week long growth I made my first loaf and am committed to making bread over and over until I find the perfect sourdough for me. I got lazy last week and added a bit of yeast to one batch.. bad idea, the natural way is much better.