The nature of an obligation; compulsory
Time for my obligatory update of the week. hehe. ;)
Finally got some time with Large this week – went to Penny’s Noodles for dinner, walked around wicker park and watched movies and worked on the Greatest Expectations website for a bit (soon to come ~ a blog!) which is very exciting! …she’s just in the brainstorming process now, so I wont ruin the surprise by telling you everything about it. And P.S. congrats to Large for how far she’s come in the wedding/events industry in just about one year. It’s been a lot of work and I know she’s been trying really hard to get everything just right for her brides! I’m so proud to see my friends doing well.
Yesterday I went to Bridget’s Typography class and was very impressed with the student presentations as I tried to give some good feedback and suggestions to their work….then I headed over to Mirror Mirror to get my hair done (it was good to see Jessica H….haven’t had a proper hair cut in about 3-4 months.) She said I did a pretty good job of cutting my own bangs though. haha. :)
Then Bobby met up with me and we took the train to the Old Town Art Festival to meet up with Justin and Mandy…it was just a quick couple of hours, but with all of our busy schedules I’m just glad we got to see each other and kinda get the update on each other. Congrats to Mandy on her new job!!! There were some great artists/art pieces/photography at the Art Fair and I wish I had tons of cash to buy everything I wanted…but we just did some window shopping and ate some awesome bbq pork sandwiches! Yum! Its one of the most popular art festivals in the city though, so it was super packed. Allison Roadruck showed up right as we were leaving but it was nice to get to chat with her for a bit too!
After that we headed back over to Bridget and John’s place for a very nice and relaxing bbq on their back porch….met the neighbors and Sachin also showed up which is always a delight…it was soooo nice outside and as always the food was amazing! Bridget made a citrus and avocado salad that was really good and we had chicken and roasted veggies…and watermelon for desert!! YUM!
Today we’re just resting up because yesterday we were up so early and didn’t get to bed til real late. Plus, I love relaxing. ;)
In the next days and weeks we are REALLY looking forward to a number of things: 1. Kurt is visiting in 3 days ~ yay! 2. Orbit slumber party and Mario Cart extravaganza at Lee’s place on Tuesday (well, that is more me than “us”, but you get the idea). 3. Orbit office party at Uncommon Ground in Wrigleyville on thursday. 4. Nell and Bryce’s wedding reception next weekend!!! 5. July 4th weekend – Amy and John will be here! Yay! Can’t wait!!
Finally, the family meets!
So I know I’m about a week overdue on updating you guys about last weekend AND didn’t write anything about my birthday yesterday yet…but I’ve just been busy doing all kinds of things so I haven’t had time yet. If you didn’t know though, last weekend Bobby’s brother Lenny and mom Suzie came to visit and so did my parents! We did all kinds of stuff, went to the Shed Aquarium, the Architecture Tour, to a bunch of restaurants and bars and walked around the neighborhood and did a lot of relaxing, talking, and drinking coffee. :) I think everybody had a good time and got along great so I’m so happy about that. I’m also happy Bobby got to spend some time with his brother and mom – he’s always happy when he gets some quality time with them. Lenny left a few days before Suzie and we wish he could’ve stayed longer. My parents brought food and wine and birthday cake and it was all really great. I’m really happy with how last weekend turned out. I had lots of fun! Here are some PICTURES FROM THE WEEKEND that Lenny took!! (Check out Lenny’s other pictures too, he is an awesome photographer!)
Yesterday was my birthday and Jess took me to get a manicure at Pinky Nails early in the morning before her big wedding event (which I hope went really good!) and then Bobby and I made lunch at home and talked and actually ended up going out to the burbs to try and sell the car, but didn’t work out…then came home later on and rode our bikes all over the city and down to Navy Pier and there were some fireworks going on, so that was a nice surprise. :) Riding our bikes in the city seems to be one of our new favorite things to do…it’s always interesting and we always see new things we’ve never seen before.
Today I’ve been hanging out with Bridget – we went to Feast for lunch (which by the way had a delicious spinach and pear salad – YUM), got pedicures at Pinky Nails and went shopping for plants and pots for her and John’s garden…. Tonight we are making BBQ’d salmon and corn on the cob and sitting on the porch to enjoy the fabulous weather. Yay!!! Bobby is working all day in the burbs or I’m sure he’d be with us. :( Too bad he has to work!
Anyway thanks to everybody for the birthday wishes and gifts. My nails are looking good all around! You made my day! Hope everybody had a nice weekend!
Last Night
Last night was fun…we went to Clybar with a bunch of people for Sachin’s 28th birthday party. We hung out there with everybody until about midnight and then went over to Mark’s house for my boss Andy’s birthday bash…people were wearing wigs and hula hooping on the roof and I believe I got a policeman’s hat and was wearing that around…can’t wait for the pictures (note the sarcasm << got that one from you – The Dawes). Anyway today Bobby and I are getting plans together for next weekend since our families will be in town. Yay! I think its gonna be great…I just have to figure out all the food, do a serious spring cleaning to the apartment, and figure out what/where everyone wants to go. We’ll have a full house…but it’ll be nice since we don’t often have lots of house guests.
Thought I’d include an updated picture of us, since I haven’t posted any lately. :) Hope everybody had/is having a great weekend! I’m going for a bike ride.
UPDATE: There are 485 photos floating around at work of my boss Andy’s birthday party…couple of embarrassing/funny ones of me too! …I’ll upload some later….but here’s one more for the road – bobby, rene, and me with a policeman’s hat on…haha. :)
Rush Hour Chicago
So this weekend, in addition to 1. going out Friday to Dylan’s to meet Bobby’s co-workers (who all – strange yet hilarious – decided to wear matching t-shirts and blazers), 2. hanging out at Bridget and John’s place Saturday with Amanda and a new friend Jen from the UK, 3. going to a kickass Cubs game in the freezing cold yesterday, and 4. having a big pasta dinner at our place with J.Win and Mandy last night…we made it a point to head over to Sandro’s Photography Studio in Ukranian Village for a 
Rush Hour Tasting on Saturday evening – we were VERY pleasantly surprised.
There was a performance with violinist Jasmine Lin and cellist Clancy Newman – such a great pair. This was one of the coolest concerts I’ve been to in a long time. I wouldn’t say I’ve ever been a huge classical music fan – but in the same right I was pretty much blown away by the talent and emotion displayed by these two human beings and their instruments. This event may have changed my mind. :)
Experiencing a concert like this in person is really intense and satisfying. It’s like the two artists were having a dramatic conversation or interaction with music. I could hear anger and excitement and love as well as soft whispers and loud shouts. It was seriously really cool.
And all the money raised on Saturday funds Rush Hour Concerts every Tuesday of the summer at St. James Cathedral in Chicago. If you have a free Tuesday, you should check it out…we’re glad we did. (Big thanks to Rebecca Levy – president of the Fanfare Committee for inviting us.)
Living the Life
So today I was typing back n forth with Kurt on IM, like we do every day (almost seems like he’s right next door or down the street ~ ahhhh the sweetness of IM)…anyway I was telling him that last night I went to Rene’s place for taco night and all the girls from work came and we drank margaritas and talked and played cards until late and tonight after work I was going to meet up with my good ol’ web editor friend Nicolette (that I worked with for two years at SAIC) at the Lovely Bake Shop. I was saying how I was gonna finish up some stuff and bike over there since it was such a nice day out, and he said “Well aren’t you just livin’ the life?” and I was like “huh?”
But then after a couple seconds I got it….and I AM living the life. I’m designing websites by day (which I must say is pretty much what I’ve wanted to do with my life), I’m going to themed dinners with co-workers (next week is Italian night at Libby’s), I’m doing yoga with Tracy Von Kaenel once a week, I’m meeting old friends for coffee and buscuits (and corn chowder), and biking to and from work….and although things are non-stop…life is good and interesting and I’m happy. This is like a 360 from last year in the burbs, working corporate, having no social life, sinking into my couch with depressed thoughts and no motivation.
My heart is happier today and that feels awesome.
And I hope you all are finding happiness too, because you deserve it.
Computer Dating
Bobby and I got invited to this RD659 wine and cheese party last night to meet our new neighbors. It was held at an Supreme Art + Frame shop down on Randolf Street across from the development. We invited Jess and Sang-woo to come with us since they are still looking for condos and might have been interested in this property too. There was wine and cheese and obviously a character drawer…which gave it a bit of a carnival feel, but hey who cares it was fun. Below is a pic of Bobby and I with our beloved computers. haha. I think it looks alot like Bobby but not much like me. I like my cartoon yellow hair though. It rocks!
Colorado Update
So just got back from Colorado on Sunday night…had an awesome time with everybody…it was so nice to see Amy + John + Graeme (haven’t seen them in forever!) Everybody had fun skiing except me, haha. I ended up sitting it out the whole weekend with a pinched nerve in my shoulder. The sharp pains started happening on Friday and gradually got worse and then Saturday they were still there but they were fading. I felt like a bit of a lame-o but I had fun drinking beer and periodically hanging out with everyone as they came down the mountain for breaks. We went to Vail on Friday and A-Basin on Saturday, In Vail we met this so-called famous bull rider champion, John Baker, that supposedly was having a million dollar winning streak. (See above photo with weird guy with big mustache. haha.) He was nice and we all hung out with him that evening thinking he was really cool and interesting, but then we got back to Frisco and googled him and found out we had been punk’d. Couldn’t find his info anywhere, so he was obviously pulling our leg. WHAT A WEIRDO!
Made for a funny story so I’m satisfied with that. haha.
Saturday night and Sunday we were in Denver…had a crazy dinner at The Corner Office Denver including things like Lobster Mac n Cheese and Chicken and Waffles….”World Comfort Food” its called. I also might add that my Coors Light was very tasty. (Guess you had to be there to think thats funny.) haha. After that we came home and played guitar hero and talked til the early hours of the morning. :)
Sunday I had my first ever Bloody Mary and then we hit up a Rockies game in some very nice weather which was lots of fun. Afterward sadly we had to head home. A big thank you to Amy and John for their hospitality and lodging. We had a great time and hope to see you guys in Chicago this summer!
Oh yeah P.S. I’m going to upload my photos tonight and I’ll update this post with a link to them. So check back for more pics. :)
Lucky Bean Tree
I went out to IKEA with Bridget today since she was looking for an outdoor table and some curtains and I got this Lucky Bean Tree…it is so cute! I just googled it though and found out it can get to be really big. Crazy…I guess I might have to get a larger pot than the one I bought today.
This weekend was Lance and Casie’s wedding in New Orleans! So sad we couldn’t make it, but Bobby had to work all night on Saturday night (midnight to 9AM)….boooo! I’m excited to see pictures, I hope everything went really well and they are happily married. I’m sure it was a fun party, knowing Lance!
So, Friday night, unexpectedly I went to the Long Room with Rene, Lee, Barrett, Bridget and John and ended up going to Swig in Wicker Park after that to meet up with another co-worker and friend of mine, Jessica Schoolman and her boyfriend Chris. That bar ended up being way more expensive than I thought, but I did have a fun time and they have awesome tater tots. Then Saturday morning after Bobby worked all night he came home in a strangely good mood and cooked my breakfast! yay! Eggs, toast, grits, and coffee! His big work weekend “deployment” went better than expected and he told me all about it. :)
Then we went to help Mandy move the rest of her furniture over to Winget’s place. It was so cute, Justin got Mandy roses with a little note that said welcome home! I’m so happy they are happy, I really like Mandy too. :) Then they took us to lunch at Blackie’s Bar & Grill for some delicious burgers and came home for a much needed nap. I just love sleep when I need it so bad….that nap was awesome! Bobby slept until 7:45PM and then I woke him up so he could experience “Earth Hour” with me and turn off all the lights for an hour and do our part for the environment. We actually went for a drive to see if we could see any difference in the city skyline….and it did look dimmer but I think there were a lot of people that didn’t know about it and didn’t participate. Still Chicago decreased it’s electricity usage by 5% over that one hour (8-9PM) which is equal to 840,000 pounds of carbon dioxide not being emitted into the atmosphere. So good job Chicago…but from the looks of it, we could’ve done a tad bit better….
Then today I went to IKEA in Schaumburg with Bridget and braved the masses (I swear that place is like the suburban vacation spot on the weekends…it was a traffic jam at every corner) but we had a great time and found some good stuff! I’m ofcourse in saving mode because we’re buying the condo so all I bought was my Lucky Bean…but I was really holding back. IKEA has so much cool stuff that I want!
It was a really nice weekend! yay! I’m really looking forward to this Friday…going out to Colorado to see Amy + John and do a little skiing (although I’m still just as terrible as the first time I skied.) I may need to take a lesson this time, instead of just taking pointers from Bobby. I can’t seem to find the “free as a bird” feeling everyone else seems to have on the slopes. I”m more like a scared little chicken hopping around and falling and getting upset. haha. We’ll see how my skiing goes…if all else fails I’m sure it’ll still be a really nice weekend to hang out and talk and catch up with old friends. :)
I’m gonna go watch some serious TV and then hit the sack. Goodnight ya’ll.
Happy St. Patty’s Day + Happy Easter!
We didn’t do anything Easter-specific today …ya know, like color some hard-boiled eggs and hide them. We didn’t buy any chocolate bunnies or Cadburry eggs. We just woke up today and hung around the house….which I seem to be very interested in doing on the weekends lately. I really like having “us” time and “me” time. Maybe that’s lame, but I guess I’m ok with that. ;) Anybody do anything special for Easter? I assume my family back home is having a big lunch/dinner to celebrate and going to church together. I can see my mom rushing around with all the food and drinks and smiling really big. Wish I could be there with them!
As for last week, it was just a big work week with lots of design meetings that went surprisingly well. :) I get a little stressed when I know design presentations are coming up but my project managers usually take most of the stress off of me…they’re positive and well-spoken….one thing I hope to get better at with more practice.
We went out on Monday for St Patrick’s day (Isn’t that Kelley + Ryan’s 1 year anniversary!? – wow, time flies!) for some green beers with my friends from work – Rene, Jessica, Libby (and her finance Casey), and Bobby miraculously showed up at the end of the night to join us. Ended up at Howl at the Moon and got to see Jess for a bit. Lance was there too which was a nice surprise! I got a big foam hat and a bunch of beads and danced around a bit…ate some awesome chicken + cheese quesadillas. As you can see in the pic to the right – Bobby is also looking stylish in his foam hat, paired with his complimenting green soccer jersey. hahaha. I think it was a good night had by all…I’ll post some pics on myspace here in a minute. :)