my poor poor pot:
Friday, July 31, 2009
cooking update.
yeah, so i apparently am not as adept at this easy meal as i thought i was. i was cooking my rice and following the directions... the lid was on and i was waiting the 20 mins for it to be done when i start to see a lot of smoke... the smoke detector went off and i was wondering what the heck i did wrong?! apparently all the water evaporated and the rice was burning. let me tell you: rice stinks once it's burned. my house smelled disgusting for a few days after that. well, i soaked my pot... put it through the dishwasher, but alas it could not be saved (it was super old and pretty crappy hand me down anyways)... since that was my one pot, i now need a new one. but i'm not discouraged! i went to trader joe's and picked up some more fish - mahi mahi, tuna, salmon, and some orange something fish that sounded tasty - all in that premade and seasoned packaging. fantastically cheap and healthy meal.
my poor poor pot:
my poor poor pot:
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
lincoln fest!
on sat afternoon, the 25th, a bunch of us headed down to one of chicago's famous street fetivals: lincoln fest. it's located an easy walk or el ride from my house - about a mile. i headed over to megan's house first to hang out and then megan, trish, kristen, and i went to the festival around 4. our main purpose was going to see tyrone wells play. i'd heard of him before b/c megan is a BIG fan, but i'd never heard his music. he was a lot of fun! i really enjoyed it. i'm going to have to download some of his music.
upon getting there, we found kirsten better known as hawaii since he's well, hawaiian and a big guy. we were standing in line to get a beer when he comes up to us and tells us a fantastic little secret. the cvs across the street and within the fest confines was selling beers much much much cheaper than the 5 bucks the fest was. so we headed off to cvs and were happy to find a big cooler out front selling bud light, miller light, and some other shittier beers for 1.69 for better stuff and 1.09 for the cheaper stuff! and they were 24 oz vs a teeny red cup outside. so we bought our beers and headed outside to find out we weren't allowed to bring them in to the fest. we had to stay behind the fence. crap! but not too bad, the fence was rather flimsy and easily climbed through. later we learned to smuggle the beers in our purses. once we were on the street no one cared.
stuck behind the fence! luckily, it was easy to climb thru:
we watched tyrone and trish's boyfriend john met us with his buddy, danny. another one of trish's friends, jo, joined us as well and then trish's sister, heather, and becca joined so it was one big fun group listening to good music outside. it rained for literally less than 10 seconds and then it was done. quite weird, but whatever...
yes, tyrone is a white guy... he even pointed out that he's probably the only white guy out there named tyrone:
the whole lot of us:
kirsten aka hawaii and meghan with tyrone on stage:
the yucky muscle guy we had to take a picture of...
drunky boys: john and hawaii
once tyrone was over, we went to clarks for some drinks at the bar while we waited for the next concert we wanted to see to get started later (they have 3 stages going and acts all afternoon and evening on all stages). there, they had more cheaper beers and vodka lemonades. i wisely stuck to beer. once kyle got off work, she met us there too - it was about 8pm at this point and we were all sufficiently sloshed so kyle had some work to do to catch up.
we then left clarks and headed for the stage closest to wrightwood and lincoln which is the opposite end of where the tyrone stage was. it was packed. 16 candles was playing - an 80s tribute band and they were awesome! we listened to them for a long time. i have no idea how long they played... but it seemed like a long time and it was packed. we definitely had to maneuver around a lot of people. kyle got hungry at one point and convinced me (not too hard) to join her and get some pizza. so we walked around looking for food and found the carnival games... so we had to play! i beat kyle at the water horse race game and she then tried to win a coin toss game so she could get a big stuffed animal. i won a mini frog with flames on it as my prize. we got our pizza, stuffed our faces and made our way back to our friends.
some drunky apparently took this pic! megan found that ball and it made its way to all the bars too that night:
kyle tries to win a ginormous stuffed animal:
while i kicked her ass at the horsey race game! there's my frog to prove it!:
once 16 candles was over, we tried to decide what we wanted to do. john wanted to go to the dark horse which was north by about a mile and a half - clark and sheffield. so we started walking north. we would have taken a cab, but trying to find one was not going well. we had lost jo and hawaii by this point and then a big school bus passed by us - and we saw heather and becca on it! it was a big school bus taking people to durkin's bar on diversey. great idea, but not what we wanted to do.
then, as we were walking my dear crazy kyle came up with a fantastic idea. a bar - shot pub crawl. oh yes, i do mean going bar to bar all the way up sheffield, taking a shot and then moving on to the next bar til we got to the dark horse.
we hit up the first bar: mad river and went with a girly lemon drop. as soon as we were done there, we walked out the door and went right on in to the next bar which is next door, vaughn's. there, we had another shot...hmmm... i think we had an o-bomb there. or maybe it was reversed - o-bomb at first bar and lemon drop at the second. whatever. anyways, once that had been taken we were on our way again. we past by kirkwood because there was a line and we didn't want to wait for our shots. we then skipped matilda's (which is on the corner of my street) b/c it isn't a shot kinda bar. then we made our way to trader todd's just on the other side of belmont. (i know the streets don't mean much to those of you not familiar with chicago... but...) at trader todd's it was my turn to buy the round (we were taking turns - one of us would walk up to the bar, order 6 shots and so on). i went with the red headed slut and since this is truly a campy fun place, we decided we had to do them on the skis!! so in the middle of the crowded bar, we did two ski shots (3 on one, 3 on the other). i managed to drip some of the shot on my boob - awesome to have a spot right there, but i didn't really care at this point... we then left there and made our way to redmond's. there someone decided chugging a beer would be a good idea and so that's what we all had. believe it or not, but that was the hardest one b/c it was so much liquid to get down and we had to do it fast b/c we were all wanting to move on and keep the party rolling. once we were done there, we finally made it to our destination where becca and heather were waiting on us. i forget who's turn it was to buy, but the waitress suggested we try the tic tac shot... so we did. and it really did taste like an orange tic tac.
kyle feeding trish a pretzel:
megan and her pretzel (you know, dinner):
shots at vaughn's:
kyle and the frog:
trish, me, megan, and kyle at trader todd's:
no idea what goes on here, but that's our group:
trish, megan and me roaming sheffield on our way to the next bar:
we found these guys waiting at sheffield's - another bar we skipped b/c there was a line. they were awesomely dressed in 80s full on gear!
tic tac shot at the dark horse:
becca, kyle, and me...clearly towards the end of the night...
we hung out there for a while - i don't think i had anything more after that to drink but maybe... anyways, kyle and i decide we are tired and ready to go and that the bar was kinda boring. by this point it's about 11:30ish and we leave. as we are walking we pass by a liquor store and kyle starts to head in... i was all i thought you were going home and she says in classic kyle style: i am going home. i didn't say i was done drinking! and she bought a bottle of wine (which she said she never ended up drinking). then we made a pit stop at a pizza place and after that we parted ways as our houses were different directions - hers west, mine south. so we said goodnight and called it a day. a fun day!
upon getting there, we found kirsten better known as hawaii since he's well, hawaiian and a big guy. we were standing in line to get a beer when he comes up to us and tells us a fantastic little secret. the cvs across the street and within the fest confines was selling beers much much much cheaper than the 5 bucks the fest was. so we headed off to cvs and were happy to find a big cooler out front selling bud light, miller light, and some other shittier beers for 1.69 for better stuff and 1.09 for the cheaper stuff! and they were 24 oz vs a teeny red cup outside. so we bought our beers and headed outside to find out we weren't allowed to bring them in to the fest. we had to stay behind the fence. crap! but not too bad, the fence was rather flimsy and easily climbed through. later we learned to smuggle the beers in our purses. once we were on the street no one cared.
stuck behind the fence! luckily, it was easy to climb thru:
we watched tyrone and trish's boyfriend john met us with his buddy, danny. another one of trish's friends, jo, joined us as well and then trish's sister, heather, and becca joined so it was one big fun group listening to good music outside. it rained for literally less than 10 seconds and then it was done. quite weird, but whatever...
yes, tyrone is a white guy... he even pointed out that he's probably the only white guy out there named tyrone:
the whole lot of us:
kirsten aka hawaii and meghan with tyrone on stage:
the yucky muscle guy we had to take a picture of...
drunky boys: john and hawaii
once tyrone was over, we went to clarks for some drinks at the bar while we waited for the next concert we wanted to see to get started later (they have 3 stages going and acts all afternoon and evening on all stages). there, they had more cheaper beers and vodka lemonades. i wisely stuck to beer. once kyle got off work, she met us there too - it was about 8pm at this point and we were all sufficiently sloshed so kyle had some work to do to catch up.
we then left clarks and headed for the stage closest to wrightwood and lincoln which is the opposite end of where the tyrone stage was. it was packed. 16 candles was playing - an 80s tribute band and they were awesome! we listened to them for a long time. i have no idea how long they played... but it seemed like a long time and it was packed. we definitely had to maneuver around a lot of people. kyle got hungry at one point and convinced me (not too hard) to join her and get some pizza. so we walked around looking for food and found the carnival games... so we had to play! i beat kyle at the water horse race game and she then tried to win a coin toss game so she could get a big stuffed animal. i won a mini frog with flames on it as my prize. we got our pizza, stuffed our faces and made our way back to our friends.
some drunky apparently took this pic! megan found that ball and it made its way to all the bars too that night:
kyle tries to win a ginormous stuffed animal:
while i kicked her ass at the horsey race game! there's my frog to prove it!:
once 16 candles was over, we tried to decide what we wanted to do. john wanted to go to the dark horse which was north by about a mile and a half - clark and sheffield. so we started walking north. we would have taken a cab, but trying to find one was not going well. we had lost jo and hawaii by this point and then a big school bus passed by us - and we saw heather and becca on it! it was a big school bus taking people to durkin's bar on diversey. great idea, but not what we wanted to do.
then, as we were walking my dear crazy kyle came up with a fantastic idea. a bar - shot pub crawl. oh yes, i do mean going bar to bar all the way up sheffield, taking a shot and then moving on to the next bar til we got to the dark horse.
we hit up the first bar: mad river and went with a girly lemon drop. as soon as we were done there, we walked out the door and went right on in to the next bar which is next door, vaughn's. there, we had another shot...hmmm... i think we had an o-bomb there. or maybe it was reversed - o-bomb at first bar and lemon drop at the second. whatever. anyways, once that had been taken we were on our way again. we past by kirkwood because there was a line and we didn't want to wait for our shots. we then skipped matilda's (which is on the corner of my street) b/c it isn't a shot kinda bar. then we made our way to trader todd's just on the other side of belmont. (i know the streets don't mean much to those of you not familiar with chicago... but...) at trader todd's it was my turn to buy the round (we were taking turns - one of us would walk up to the bar, order 6 shots and so on). i went with the red headed slut and since this is truly a campy fun place, we decided we had to do them on the skis!! so in the middle of the crowded bar, we did two ski shots (3 on one, 3 on the other). i managed to drip some of the shot on my boob - awesome to have a spot right there, but i didn't really care at this point... we then left there and made our way to redmond's. there someone decided chugging a beer would be a good idea and so that's what we all had. believe it or not, but that was the hardest one b/c it was so much liquid to get down and we had to do it fast b/c we were all wanting to move on and keep the party rolling. once we were done there, we finally made it to our destination where becca and heather were waiting on us. i forget who's turn it was to buy, but the waitress suggested we try the tic tac shot... so we did. and it really did taste like an orange tic tac.
kyle feeding trish a pretzel:
megan and her pretzel (you know, dinner):
shots at vaughn's:
kyle and the frog:
trish, me, megan, and kyle at trader todd's:
no idea what goes on here, but that's our group:
trish, megan and me roaming sheffield on our way to the next bar:
we found these guys waiting at sheffield's - another bar we skipped b/c there was a line. they were awesomely dressed in 80s full on gear!
tic tac shot at the dark horse:
becca, kyle, and me...clearly towards the end of the night...
we hung out there for a while - i don't think i had anything more after that to drink but maybe... anyways, kyle and i decide we are tired and ready to go and that the bar was kinda boring. by this point it's about 11:30ish and we leave. as we are walking we pass by a liquor store and kyle starts to head in... i was all i thought you were going home and she says in classic kyle style: i am going home. i didn't say i was done drinking! and she bought a bottle of wine (which she said she never ended up drinking). then we made a pit stop at a pizza place and after that we parted ways as our houses were different directions - hers west, mine south. so we said goodnight and called it a day. a fun day!
the hole.
i had a hole. in my front yard. a nice large sinkhole. and it's gotten a little bigger since it first appeared a couple months ago. yes, a couple months ago... in any case, we've had owners' meetings to figure out what the heck to do. and a lot of things got floated around as possible solutions or problems. it's hard to explain. in any case, we were originally worried that the foundation was cracked (it wasn't - phew) and it turned out that after drilling a 2 foot hole in the ground floor which happens to be that unit's master bedroom all we needed to do was add some rocks that should have been there in the first place which would have allowed for proper water drainage. sure, ok. turns out it should only cost us 6-800 bucks. again, phew. the hole has now been fixed (within the last week) and sod placed back over the spot...grass is growing and it looks good as new now!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
updated: fresh air!
i've been allowing otis to come enjoy the fresh air with me on the balcony on occasion. he's only allowed on our floor and not to go up or down the stairs. he knows this. and he actually follows my rules! he loves feeling the fresh air in what fur has grown back from his shave... he's also slightly nervous out there - you can tell by the way he sort of slinks around that he's not quite sure what to make of all of this. when he's out, i generally sit and watch him to make sure he doesn't leave his designated area, but the other day he was being very good and i was very much in to my book so i took my eyes off him and he was just fine.
here's my good boy:
it's taken with my camera phone...i'll have to remember to bring out my real camera sometime.
i brought out the camera the other day...
he found some bug to stare at...
just chillin...
thinking about being naughty... but he stayed on his floor!
here's my good boy:
it's taken with my camera phone...i'll have to remember to bring out my real camera sometime.
i brought out the camera the other day...
he found some bug to stare at...
just chillin...
thinking about being naughty... but he stayed on his floor!
Monday, July 20, 2009
crazy busy body neighbor...
locations of incidents:
my alley
hanging out on the street: perments v guests
dog signs
closet day/street sweeper
i have a crazy neighbor who is the street's busy body. good grief. i will definitely go out of my way not to see this lady!!
first time: i'm in my garage and getting groceries out of the trunk when this lady starts talking to me about the trash cans - are those mine? um, no - they belong to the house in which they are behind. lady: oh well, they are always way too full and the lids don't close. and the other day i was back here when the trash trucks came thru and there was a rat 'thiiiiiiiiiiiis big'. you really need to keep those lids closed. me: ok, but they aren't my trash cans. lady: repeats herself. me thinking to myself: well, crap, how do i get out of this without being too rude. me outloud to her: oh, ok. yes, i understand. those rats are so gross (i've never seen one). her: on and on. me: finally got her to move on...
second incident: the closet guy was unloading my closets and needed about 10 mins with the truck outfront. it was a no park on the street day as the street cleaner was coming thru. ok. well, they'd already been thru. i saw it. the guy needed 10 mins. this same lady came by, saw my door open and the truck and yelled at me for blocking the st on st cleaning day and couldn't he see that the signs were posted? yes, but he needed 10 m ins. she goes on and on about how mad she gets when people ignore the signs. i'm rolling my eyes b/c this is ridiculous. then she says that she's calling the cops and he's getting a ticket. that'll teach em she says. uh, ok. to her i'm tired of being nice and trying to explain to her so i thank her for being so neighborly and i appreciate her understanding of the situation.
third: there are blown up photocopies of signs on all the trees on the street highlighting the dog pick up policy. i KNOW she's put those up. really? i haven't seen this to be a problem.
fourth: this is the best. i was walking home from a cubs game/bar and happened to walk down my street as opposed to the way i normally go on clark. i passed by this lady that at first i didn't recognize... then she starts talking and i'm 'oh shit, i know who you are'. no, i didn't say that out loud!! but she asks me what time it is and i figure oh, this is fairly easy. i say 6ish b/c i dont have my watch on and that's my best guess. she then asks me if i have a car "ummmmm, no?" and she says do you know the difference between resident permits and guest permits to which i had to say 'hunh?" as in what the hell are you talking about crazy lady?! she then proceeds to explain to me the difference and why don't cars understand around here that after 6 there either need to have a resident permit or a guest one. yeah, i know that. "ok, but i don't have a car'. she continues to tell me on and on the same stuff. yeah, i get it, but how do i get away without being too rude from this woman?! good grief. finally i'd had enough "well, i don't have a car, i don't park on this street, i'm a resident, and i'm sorry this seems to be an issue, but i can't do anything about it" and i continued on my way home.
see why i must avoid this lady?? she needs to find something better to do with herself!!!
my alley
hanging out on the street: perments v guests
dog signs
closet day/street sweeper
i have a crazy neighbor who is the street's busy body. good grief. i will definitely go out of my way not to see this lady!!
first time: i'm in my garage and getting groceries out of the trunk when this lady starts talking to me about the trash cans - are those mine? um, no - they belong to the house in which they are behind. lady: oh well, they are always way too full and the lids don't close. and the other day i was back here when the trash trucks came thru and there was a rat 'thiiiiiiiiiiiis big'. you really need to keep those lids closed. me: ok, but they aren't my trash cans. lady: repeats herself. me thinking to myself: well, crap, how do i get out of this without being too rude. me outloud to her: oh, ok. yes, i understand. those rats are so gross (i've never seen one). her: on and on. me: finally got her to move on...
second incident: the closet guy was unloading my closets and needed about 10 mins with the truck outfront. it was a no park on the street day as the street cleaner was coming thru. ok. well, they'd already been thru. i saw it. the guy needed 10 mins. this same lady came by, saw my door open and the truck and yelled at me for blocking the st on st cleaning day and couldn't he see that the signs were posted? yes, but he needed 10 m ins. she goes on and on about how mad she gets when people ignore the signs. i'm rolling my eyes b/c this is ridiculous. then she says that she's calling the cops and he's getting a ticket. that'll teach em she says. uh, ok. to her i'm tired of being nice and trying to explain to her so i thank her for being so neighborly and i appreciate her understanding of the situation.
third: there are blown up photocopies of signs on all the trees on the street highlighting the dog pick up policy. i KNOW she's put those up. really? i haven't seen this to be a problem.
fourth: this is the best. i was walking home from a cubs game/bar and happened to walk down my street as opposed to the way i normally go on clark. i passed by this lady that at first i didn't recognize... then she starts talking and i'm 'oh shit, i know who you are'. no, i didn't say that out loud!! but she asks me what time it is and i figure oh, this is fairly easy. i say 6ish b/c i dont have my watch on and that's my best guess. she then asks me if i have a car "ummmmm, no?" and she says do you know the difference between resident permits and guest permits to which i had to say 'hunh?" as in what the hell are you talking about crazy lady?! she then proceeds to explain to me the difference and why don't cars understand around here that after 6 there either need to have a resident permit or a guest one. yeah, i know that. "ok, but i don't have a car'. she continues to tell me on and on the same stuff. yeah, i get it, but how do i get away without being too rude from this woman?! good grief. finally i'd had enough "well, i don't have a car, i don't park on this street, i'm a resident, and i'm sorry this seems to be an issue, but i can't do anything about it" and i continued on my way home.
see why i must avoid this lady?? she needs to find something better to do with herself!!!
Saturday, July 18, 2009
call me chef.
i cooked two nights in a row. yes, two whole nights! ok, so maybe cooking is a little exaggeration, but i did not use the microwave nor did i eat cereal or a sandwich! plus it required pots, pans, oven and stove top. people, this is progress. for all you out there who are completely inept at the cooking thing, here's what i did.
1. go to trader joe's.
2. go to frozen section.
3. pick up seasoned tuna steaks
4. get jasmine rice
5. also pick up lobster ravioli - in the fridge section
6. return home
now.
thaw tuna in fridge. preheat oven. stick in for 12 minutes and flip once in the middle - that'd be 6 mins! :)
simultaneously, make rice in pot on stove. it takes a total of about 30 mins altogether.
combine on a plate and eat hot. it's delicious! and very hard to screw up seeing as it is already seasoned and it gives you super easy cooking instructions right on the package. and cheap too! 5 bucks for 2 big tuna steaks.
now for the ravioli. i ate that the second night.
1. pot on stove.
2. dump in ravioli.
3. cook for 5 mins and stir frequently
4. drain water
5. put in bowl with spaghetti sauce of choice
6. sit in front of tv and eat.
i didn't screw up either dish. sorry for the lack of photos. next time, i'll will do so! see? i cooked. quick, easy, and cheap. i'll be buying both of those things again for sure.
1. go to trader joe's.
2. go to frozen section.
3. pick up seasoned tuna steaks
4. get jasmine rice
5. also pick up lobster ravioli - in the fridge section
6. return home
now.
thaw tuna in fridge. preheat oven. stick in for 12 minutes and flip once in the middle - that'd be 6 mins! :)
simultaneously, make rice in pot on stove. it takes a total of about 30 mins altogether.
combine on a plate and eat hot. it's delicious! and very hard to screw up seeing as it is already seasoned and it gives you super easy cooking instructions right on the package. and cheap too! 5 bucks for 2 big tuna steaks.
now for the ravioli. i ate that the second night.
1. pot on stove.
2. dump in ravioli.
3. cook for 5 mins and stir frequently
4. drain water
5. put in bowl with spaghetti sauce of choice
6. sit in front of tv and eat.
i didn't screw up either dish. sorry for the lack of photos. next time, i'll will do so! see? i cooked. quick, easy, and cheap. i'll be buying both of those things again for sure.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
sunday funday: gay pride parade!
date: sunday (june 28th) was truly a sunday funday!
event: gay pride parade!
location: halsted st. (just around the corner from my house)
Note: i was going to put the pictures in a nice concise order complete with little comments. however, as you can see by the tons of pictures that would take a lot of time (which i have) and patience (which i do not have at the moment!)
first nicole, alice and i walked up to the southport corridor which is about 3/4 mile from my house. on the walk over, nicole was hesitant to come watch the parade - she was saying way too loudly that she didn't realize there were so many gay people in the world/chicago. uh, there aren't. there are straight people at the parade too. i love nicole but that was just slightly embarrassing b/c with so many people around, i'm sure someone was listening and she just sounded so ignorant in her comments. we decided to have brunch at sopo since they had a nice outdoor area. however, it was a little too hot so we sat instead, but it was still nice as all the windows were open so we still got the fresh air i was craving. kyle lives a few houses away and so she came and met us there. mimosa's were only 4 bucks so we had a couple of those.
after filling our tummies (or stuffing them), we walked over to waveland and halsted to watch the pride parade and meet trish, john, and her sisters. i don't even know where to start with this one!! all i can say is, it was a blast! i had a great time watching what i could see of the parade, all the crazy outfits, drinking a beer and someone gave me a jello shot. there were tons of people lining the entire parade route - it was crazy! once the parade was over, kyle and i (everyone else had left), walked down halsted to my house. we had to see all the crazy outfits! the scene and the happiness and the overall atmosphere was just awesome. i enjoyed every minute of it! so, from waveland to my house off of clark is probably another 3/4 mile. i live very close to the corner of halsted and clark which is basically the beginning of boystown.
kyle and i briefly stopped at my house for a potty and water break and then we decided to head over to north ave beach. great idea in theory, not so much in execution. b/c of the parade, we figured the clark buses were a mess so we walked over to catch the 156. only they weren't moving either. so then we decided to just walk. it is close to 1.75 miles from my house to north ave beach. and we were walking in our sandals. both of us were so ready to get to castaways for a beer - our legs and feet were just so done. once we reached castaways, we lucked out and found a table just as someone was leaving and plopped down.
it's a boat shaped restaurant literally in the middle of the boardwalk and it is only open in the summer. this is the best pic i could find and i didn't take any while we were there:
we each had a couple beers and then ordered some fries and chicken tenders. not exactly healthy, but quite tasty! once we decided to leave castaways, it was around 6ish - she decided to take the brown line and i decided to take the bus which is supposed to be pretty much a straight shot to my house and slightly closer than the el. the bus finally comes (probably after 10 mins and a weirdo guy telling me i looked the spring in the wind or some random comment...) and i get on. then the bus driver announces that they are rerouting the bus at fullerton. dangit! that means a mile walk - no cab for me as i had no cash and well, no cash in an atm to get either... so i was prepared to walk. then the bus driver announces that she is going up to diversey and then the bus will be rerouted. ok, well, slightly closer. i got off the bus and walked the half mile home just totally exhausted. i was falling asleep on the couch by 8ish and in bed before 10. it was such a fun day!
event: gay pride parade!
location: halsted st. (just around the corner from my house)
Note: i was going to put the pictures in a nice concise order complete with little comments. however, as you can see by the tons of pictures that would take a lot of time (which i have) and patience (which i do not have at the moment!)
first nicole, alice and i walked up to the southport corridor which is about 3/4 mile from my house. on the walk over, nicole was hesitant to come watch the parade - she was saying way too loudly that she didn't realize there were so many gay people in the world/chicago. uh, there aren't. there are straight people at the parade too. i love nicole but that was just slightly embarrassing b/c with so many people around, i'm sure someone was listening and she just sounded so ignorant in her comments. we decided to have brunch at sopo since they had a nice outdoor area. however, it was a little too hot so we sat instead, but it was still nice as all the windows were open so we still got the fresh air i was craving. kyle lives a few houses away and so she came and met us there. mimosa's were only 4 bucks so we had a couple of those.
after filling our tummies (or stuffing them), we walked over to waveland and halsted to watch the pride parade and meet trish, john, and her sisters. i don't even know where to start with this one!! all i can say is, it was a blast! i had a great time watching what i could see of the parade, all the crazy outfits, drinking a beer and someone gave me a jello shot. there were tons of people lining the entire parade route - it was crazy! once the parade was over, kyle and i (everyone else had left), walked down halsted to my house. we had to see all the crazy outfits! the scene and the happiness and the overall atmosphere was just awesome. i enjoyed every minute of it! so, from waveland to my house off of clark is probably another 3/4 mile. i live very close to the corner of halsted and clark which is basically the beginning of boystown.
kyle and i briefly stopped at my house for a potty and water break and then we decided to head over to north ave beach. great idea in theory, not so much in execution. b/c of the parade, we figured the clark buses were a mess so we walked over to catch the 156. only they weren't moving either. so then we decided to just walk. it is close to 1.75 miles from my house to north ave beach. and we were walking in our sandals. both of us were so ready to get to castaways for a beer - our legs and feet were just so done. once we reached castaways, we lucked out and found a table just as someone was leaving and plopped down.
it's a boat shaped restaurant literally in the middle of the boardwalk and it is only open in the summer. this is the best pic i could find and i didn't take any while we were there:
we each had a couple beers and then ordered some fries and chicken tenders. not exactly healthy, but quite tasty! once we decided to leave castaways, it was around 6ish - she decided to take the brown line and i decided to take the bus which is supposed to be pretty much a straight shot to my house and slightly closer than the el. the bus finally comes (probably after 10 mins and a weirdo guy telling me i looked the spring in the wind or some random comment...) and i get on. then the bus driver announces that they are rerouting the bus at fullerton. dangit! that means a mile walk - no cab for me as i had no cash and well, no cash in an atm to get either... so i was prepared to walk. then the bus driver announces that she is going up to diversey and then the bus will be rerouted. ok, well, slightly closer. i got off the bus and walked the half mile home just totally exhausted. i was falling asleep on the couch by 8ish and in bed before 10. it was such a fun day!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
my wedding dress.
ladies, i found my dream wedding dress: a reem acra beaded number! now, i just need to find a willing and suitable groom!! :)
you may be wondering where the heck this came about, and here's the story: last fall, susan, alice and i went to belle vie, a wedding shop on oak street to find susan's dress. i first saw 'my dress' then... it was on display on a mannequin and while i thought this is not something i would ever have thought would be me, i totally fell in love with it. so, when susan asked us to go back and check out some jewelry options for her at the store, alice and i did so. and what did i happen to see hanging on the rack as we looked around?! that's right, my dress. so... since this is my fantasy... i had to hold it up and have alice quickly snap some pictures (a big no no as you married ladies can attest to). the cost of my dream dress?? yeah, 10+k. i told my parents they had better start a 'wedding fund' for me!
with no further ado... my dress!!
you may be wondering where the heck this came about, and here's the story: last fall, susan, alice and i went to belle vie, a wedding shop on oak street to find susan's dress. i first saw 'my dress' then... it was on display on a mannequin and while i thought this is not something i would ever have thought would be me, i totally fell in love with it. so, when susan asked us to go back and check out some jewelry options for her at the store, alice and i did so. and what did i happen to see hanging on the rack as we looked around?! that's right, my dress. so... since this is my fantasy... i had to hold it up and have alice quickly snap some pictures (a big no no as you married ladies can attest to). the cost of my dream dress?? yeah, 10+k. i told my parents they had better start a 'wedding fund' for me!
with no further ado... my dress!!
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