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. :)
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. :)
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. :)
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.
:) happy
Hiii…London is awesome. It’s been about 24 hours now that I’ve been here and I think we’ve almost seen everything. haha. JK. We just happened to get a little lost last night after Bobby misplaced his blackberry and ended up trekking all over the place. It’s so cool here, so much to look at. Last night we had dinner at this little greek place and had some fish-n-chips, hummus and flat bread and some kind of yummy beef skewers…oh and then chocolate cake that was sooo delicious!
…then we took the Tube to London Bridge and then the bus over to Piccadilly Circus…took a bike trolley around and somehow lost Bobby’s blackberry in the process (even though the bike trolley was so fun it kind of had a bad ending with us losing the phone and walking about 2 miles back to where we started to wait for that trolley driver to come back to home base….although we never saw him again.) This led to a very long walk home since it was late and the Underground trains had closed. It was a LONG walk but we saw so much cool stuff in the process and since alot of people weren’t out it felt like London was all ours (especially near the Bank Station Tube Stop (check out the myspace pictures)…nice peaceful and quiet walk all the way home – just really enjoyed it.
Reheated Royale: La Brochette
I must say: This is quite possibly the most beautiful + delicious re-heated food I’ve ever had…my leftovers from Casey’s birthday dinner at La Brochette! Thank you to Bobby for his arrangement on the two small salad plates. ;)
courtneyreagor.com
So last night Bobby and I went out to dinner with my friend Libby, her fiance Casey and like 18 other people I’ve never met (most of them from Toledo)…we went to La Bruchette (a Mongolian Food BYOB on Ashland/Blackhawk Ave) and it was really good food and fun times. There was like a massive amount of food and wine and everyone was so cool. One of the things I wanted to make sure to check out was CourtneyReagor.com…one of the girls brought a card for Casey (since it was his birthday) and the illustrator that made her card was this Courtney person…so I just looked her up and she has some pretty interesting and funny illustrations on her webpage. Ya’ll should check it out! :)