Friday Night at Home…
:) Just wanted to say hello tonight – I’m having a really nice night. Listening to John Mayor live (thank you kurty), drinking a glass of merlot, making garlic mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli and fillet minion (seasoned with chopped onion and garlic). Bobby just came inside from fabricating a metal frame for a digital sign in the backyard. It smells so damn good in here and I still have 10 minutes on the fillets. Just smelling all the good smells and smiling. Wanted to say hi. Hope everybody has a nice night.
Oh, and for those of you who don’t know Justin Winget has a blog. It is here: http://www.justinwinget.com
Bobby sent me flowers at work!
And the message said, “Just because I love you so much. Love, Bobby”. Isn’t that sweet?!
The Violet Hour
Last night after seeing the Sex in the City movie (which was fabulous and unexpectedly very long) with the girls from work, Libby and I decided to check out the Violet Hour and have a cocktail or two. Neither of us had been there and I had never even heard of it. It’s right in the middle of my neighborhood but I never knew it was there because its disguised by a very abandoned-looking wood paneled exterior and a yellow light bulb, and it’s hard to find the entrance. It seriously looks like there would be nothing behind the front door, but when opened there are these beautifully luxurious curtains that you walk through to get to the host…he took our IDs and we went through another set of large draperies…it’s a sight to see once you get inside too…these very tall backed chairs, low lighting, sparkling chandeliers, candle lights and VERY pretty and delicious drinks. It looks like a cross between Alice In Wonderland and a very swanky club. We were pleasantly surprised by the story of the unicorn on the menu and the fun choice of music. It was definitely something I would recommend to people looking for a different experience. We had a great talk and laughed a lot and said goodnight. :)
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!
Condo Update!
We picked out our condo finishes on Monday night! yay! It was fun….much more fun than I had thought it would be. I originally thought it would be intimidating and Bobby and I would be having a hard time deciding on stuff, but it ended up that we have close to the same taste and were able to agree on everything. Unfortunately, we didn’t bring a camera so that we could take a picture of all the samples that we ended up going with….so bare with me and try to imagine. he he.
First of all, we settled on bamboo floors (similar to this link) that are a golden color with a cool linear textured look. We are doing Caesar porcelain tile in the master bathroom and in the 2nd bathroom we’re doing Colonial Caesar – a lighter/natural color…..the tile on the walls inside the shower and tub will be White Ceramic Subway tile and the countertop in the master bath will be white Carrara Marble (not the sink style but the marble style). We just stuck with the standard stainless steel appliances in the kitchen that come with the unit because if we upgrade those we’ll do it ourselves…but we did choose some Wenge Woodline cabinets (similar to this look – yet the grain is vertical in our place) and Cohiba Brown granite (though this link doesn’t do it justice – it is actually very iridescent and shimmery in the light) for the countertops and island topper.
Anyway that’s the gist of it though we did pick sinks and carpets and shower doors and other misc. stuff, but I don’t want to bore you. We are so excited and impatient right now…we still have like 8 months til the place is finally complete, but I’m sure it will all be worth it!
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.
Sweet Caroline…lol
So Good So Good So Good from missshellie on Vimeo.
Bobby and I went out with Bridget + John last night to a little Mexican place called “El Taco Veloz” and happened to sit down right as the Karaoke guy started to sing. I think everyone thought I was a little insane cause I was dancing and singing along in my seat…but it was pretty hilarious and hard to ignore….we were sitting directly in front of the speakers and it was so loud we couldn’t hear each other talk. Damn the food was good though, yum! I think that might be our new spot…used to be Aurturo’s on Western but this new place is just 3 blocks away from B+J’s house…and I think the food is better. DING.
Replenishing Body Kiosk – London Design Museum
Bobby and I went to the Design Museum today in London…in South Bank (near the Tower Bridge) and it was so awesome…wayyy better than the Tate Modern. :)
This design work was created by Ross Phillips, head of interactive at SHOWstudio, the online fashion broadcasting company, founded by Nick Knight.
It was inspired by the fact that the human body is made up of 60% water, used a 25 section, touch screen video grid where visitors were invited to make a one-second video recording of a close-up section of their body, which was added to a constantly moving, composite video portrait.
Stuck in Bloody London ;)
Bobby and I got up this morning thinking we were going to the airport and were surprised to find out that our flight had been canceled due to weather…and that there weren’t any flights to Chicago until tomorrow. Although it’s not so good for our pocket books…we did get to stay at a cooler hotel in a different part of town and we got to go to the Design Museum, which I was really sad we had missed. It was raining like crazy today so it wasn’t as fun walking from the tube…but it was well worth the wet walk.
There were lots of really amazing designed objects/furniture/fashion but our favorite at the museum was this interactive video installation. I’m going to post a video of that above this post if you want to watch it. Basically you could hit “record” and choose a spot on the screen and you’d record a one second video of yourself that would be placed on the projected screen. The coolest part about it is that you’re little video stays there until someone comes in behind you and chooses that same square to replace you. Until then, you really are a part of that art work. :) You can see in the video (that I’ll be posting next) that Bobby and I are doing some silly stuff…it was really fun!
