i love LA

As many of you already know, I spent some time in Santa Monica from the 17th - 23rd of sept. i had so much fun staying with the very awesome sarah lyman who was an excellent host. i flew in late thurs and sarah and i met up with coley for a dinner and drinks at la grande orange. it was such a yummy place. sangria was fantastic! on our walk there, we saw something rather unusual: a porsche suv had driven straight over some parking bumps and into the window. as in half the car was sticking inside the store! of course we went to take a closer look and laugh at what an idiot this guy must be! on our walk home, we saw this strange lawn art... so of course i had to climb in and see how big it was!





while sarah worked on fri, i explored main street shops and parked it at starbucks for awhile. i also sat at the beach and in the park by sarah's house for some good reading time. that evening, we went to dinner at the galley with her friend, tori. at dinner, we met a new friend and sarah was forced to dance with him. at the moment i'm not remembering his name, but he was there with his brother and they were SM locals and had even gone to high school with catherine.
and then it was time for ben and jerry's and a movie back at miss sarah's place. we were wild women that night!


on sat, i experienced my very first jewish holiday - yom kippur- at catherine's parents' house. it was a gorgeous day and it was so nice to meet her family and see her, matt, and lucy! after our visit, we left to go to glendale and meet up with sarah and dave. i must tell you all that their new kitchen and flooring choices are fantastic! i'm super impressed!! from there, we went to whole foods and picked up wine and food for our trip to the hollywood bowl. we took the shuttle bus over which didn't do so well for poor sarah's car sickness, but we did make it there it one piece and then we set up for a picnic. sandwiches, chips, and wine. lots of wine! then it was time to head inside and see pink martini! to be honest, i'd never heard of them before even tho sarah mac says the motley used to play them all the time. more wine was consumed and the music was great! i had such a fun evening! we then had to take the shuttle back to the car... poor sarah l again did not feel so well! we got back to the car and 3 of the 4 of us had perhaps consumed a little too much wine (nah!) and insisted that a trip to the jack in the box would be a great idea. pretty much if it was fried and on the menu, we ordered it. sarah s, dave, and i scarfed down mozzerella sticks, chicken tenders, fries, tacos... and then i felt sick from eating so much fried crap. but it sure did taste good going down!! after many laughs and a great night, sarah l and i headed back to SM.

on sunday, sarah and i went to yoga. it was so hard! and i left super sweaty. there was one chick in the class who said she was on class #2 already that day and that she did yoga like 5000x a week. you could tell - she was ridiculously good!! we then went for bagels and rested for a bit back at the apt. and then we made the trip down to visit higgins. he's moved back from park city and is now in hermosa. he and a couple partners have opened a yogurtland and plan to open 5 more in the so cal area. we drove all the way down there (i had no idea really how far it was, oops) but we got to hang out with higgins and that was fun. the store had just opened a few days before and he said it had been packed every day. there were tons of people there when we went too. we tasted all of the flavors and then made higgins buy us our yogurts. mine was yummy! vanilla with peanut butter cups, reeses pieces, and sprinkles. we weren't allowed to have the fruit b/c there wasn't much left and it was the most expensive. but all in all it was cheap - for both me and sarah i think we only spent about 3 bucks.

on monday, i spent time at starbucks (shocking, i know). and then i decided to head to the beach and read for a bit. so nice outside!! and then i decided i'd try to give sarah some space that night as i know how tiring work can be and sometimes i know i just need my own time so i thought i would try and give her alone time. i walked down to 3rd street promenade and i have no idea the last time i was down there, but it'd been years. i wandered in and out of the stores, but didn't buy anything. i really didn't want anything either. so then i found a borders and wandered around in there for awhile looking for business school books and another book to read since i was going to finish my book shortly. i spent quite a while in there, but again found nothing to buy. how disappointing! i couldn't even find a single book to get! and then sarah called me around 615ish, i think and asked what i wanted for dinner and that she would be coming home soon. well, boo... last week she'd gotten home about 530 so i was thinking she'd get some alone time. but alas that would not be the case as she still wasn't even home. so we ordered thai and i headed back to her house. she so graciously offered to pick me up and i said i'd start walking towards home and when she got close to call me. so she picked me up at the gas station which is right off of the 10 on 4th st and we drove back to her place which is only a few blocks away.

on tues, i spent too much time at starbucks (i'm such a regular now) and then catherine and lucy came and met me! yay! after some snacks and hanging out there, we went over to catherine's new house and met with the landscapers. i got the grand tour of the new place and it is SO super cute!! it's going to be a wonderful place for them! i can't wait to see it once it is all finished and they've moved in. so while catherine was with the landscapers i got to play with lucy who is beyond adorable. i had so much fun! catherine then dropped me off back at sarah's and i then decided to head down to the park to get some more reading in. i love that park! so do the homeless, but whatever. i laid down on the bench and read and hoped that people wouldn't think i was homeless too for lying on the bench seems to be what the homeless were doing!


boo, not sure why i can't enlarge this picture and have it not be so fuzzy... but this'll have to do... for now


and on wednesday, sarah and i packed up the car and headed up to SF for a couple of days! road trip!! since this has gotten super long, i will do another post about our drive and SF!!

me-x-i-co!

well this post is slightly overdue, not unlike most of my posts... as most of you know, i went to playa del carmen with my mom for a week starting aug 24th. we stayed at the same resort we have a timeshare for, but since it wasn't our week (we traded something for this week), we weren't staying in our unit and we only had a 1 bed/1 bath and small kitchen. like a small fridge and microwave and toaster. anyways, the resort seemed rather empty - my mom said at one point that it seemed like their were more employees than guests! we did go there the week that most US kids were heading back to school so no surprise there. we went sunday-friday so that i could be here for my saturday runs. however, 3 days before leaving i got the good news about the stress fracture in my heel. awesome. so i dragged myself all the way to cancun with that big hideous boot and purple soft cast. i met mom when i changed planes in houston and off we went. she'd been upgraded (she's an elite member of continental) and being the nice momma she is, she gave it to me so that i would have extra room for the boot. there were a bunch of empty seats and even one next to me, but they wouldn't let her move up. mean airlines!! what do you have to do to get upgraded these days?!

sunday we explored the resort. monday we went to the pool. my soft purple cast and all. it was hot. we ate lunch by the pool. went back out by the pool. mom swam, i watched. that night, i was able to remove the purple soft cast in anticipation of our fun tuesday tour that had been planned.

tour day: tues
picture explanation: on the zipline on the bottom right was one of the girls in our group, helen. and yes, that is me ziplining with my boot. yes, you may laugh.

zipline/canoe/free water swim & diving

the zipline was fun, but it was super short. there were two that we got to do. it was fun, but not something i need to do again there. i hear from my parents that hawaii has amazing ziplines. from where the zipline ended, we took a canoe and explore a cave and then canoed over to where we had started the zip line. and then we went to the fresh water pool for some swimming and cliff jumping. not as scary as it sounds...said cliff was maybe 15 feet. there was another couple in our group that was super nice and they decided to jump off and so did i. mom said hell no. the first time i jumped, our tour guide (who was probably younger than me) said to dive in... i said oh absolutely not! and went feet first and getting a ton of water up the nose. awesome. the second time i actually dove head first! the couple also did the dive - they did it first - and then i did. i should know to just go first as back in the 4th grade i figured my friend had dared me, but she went first and was fine so i did it and landed in the er with a bunch of stitches in my chin. i digress. i dove a couple more times and that was a blast.

snorkeling the cenote - dos oyes

after the zipline, it was time to go snorkeling in a cenote which is an underwater cave. it was super cool. a bunch of scuba people go there as well as snorkelers. we had flashlights and swam through some pretty low ceilings.

lunch at la buena vida in akumel

then it was time for lunch - thank god. i was starving! the restaurant was in this little town called akumel and it is such a cute pretty place! if you are in the cancun/playa area, you must check it out. the lunch place was casual and we ate at a table on the beach. food was yummy. i had their special tacos and i definitely could have kept eating them.

snorkel in turtle area

after lunch we got in a boat and went to snorkel with the turtles. mom gets seasick and this boat was no exception. lucky mom! fortunately she didn't pollute the water. we went snorkeling and saw a lot of big sea turtles. very cool.

snorkel in lagoon - yal ku

this was by far my favorite spot to snorkel. there were tons of fish to sea and it was a combination of fresh and salt water so in some spots it got super cold and then in others it would be pretty warm. there were so many different kinds of fish and the water was gorgeous. it was clearly more of a locals spot as there were local families hanging out and cooling off in the water. our guide said this was one of the best places b/c it hadn't been spoiled yet by commercialism and too much tourism like xel ha.

after that final snorkel, it was finally time to head home...everyone was exhausted! it was a super long, super fun day.

wed:
spa/beach/playa - shop & dinner

we relaxed. and that's about it. we both had spa appts in the morning and then in the afternoon we sat on the beach. for dinner, we went in to playa to see the city and eat. there were some cool shops and loads of junk and i swear if one more guy trying to sell me something asked if my boot was from too much tequila i was going to punch them in the face. seriously, you're not clever, i've heard that 17 times already. that and hairbraiding. no. i do not. want. braids. ever. i think 26 people asked me that.
*not actual numbers... totally exaggerating... but not by much.

thurs:
spent thurs, well, went back to the spa (there was a special so i got a facial and massage - 1 each day) and then went to the beach. the beach is awesome. beautiful, white, sandy, big, quiet. and the water is warm and pretty calm. we tried to go to playa again for dinner, but as we were getting in the van (the hotel provides a shuttle service) it looked super dark and like rain. by the time we got to town 10 mins or so later, it was pouring complete with thunder and lightening and we decided we'd stay on the van, thank you! and not get soaking wet just to eat dinner. so we ate back at the restaurant where they knew us by name (told you, not many people to remember - esp ones in a big black boot). i'd brought 16 candles so after dinner we watched that. mom had never seen it and i hadn't seen the non-tv version in a very long time - i forgot how much was censored!

and then on friday... we had to leave. i would have been so content to stay and sit on the beach and play in the water some more.... but alas, back to chicago i went.

resale?! awesome.

i've been cleaning out closets and trying to get rid of stuff. stuff i don't wear, don't want, doesn't fit, etc. and the other day i happened upon a resale shop on armitage. i went to armitage originally on a mission to find a dress or top on super sale to wear for kyle's bday party which was to be at a club. clearly i needed something new. anyways, bcbg is a usual stop b/c they generally have good stuff for 50-75% off. i ended up finding a top there... whatever, it was 75% off...but not the point of this story. this story involves the new resale/consignment shop i found a few doors down from bcbg. i popped in and asked them their rules for bringing things in and found out that all new accounts receive 20 bucks and when items are sold it is a 60/40 split. they told me that offer was good for that day and the next (a friday). so i went home and gathered all the bags o' stuff that had accumulated in my guest closet and hauled it back over to the armitage shop. they counted all of my items and then said b/c i'd brought in enough stuff, i got a 75 gift certificate!! what!? allright! the catch was i had to use it by sunday. ummm, ok! so i looked around and found a black coach purse in great shape that is very work-ish (so i'll be ready if i ever get another job!)and then i located a jean jacket. it said size 2. i thought yeah, right. i tried it on anyways. holy crap, it fit!! i think the size was a lie.... anyways, it seemed like it was totally meant for me and the price was reduced by another 30% and since i'd been wanting a jean jacket for a long time i snatched this up along with the bag and spent my 75 bucks. i admit, i went over, but it only cost me an additional 20 bucks. 20 bucks for a coach purse and paper denim cloth jean jacket! and i got rid off stuff that i'll still make some money on! yay!! i kinda love this new shop!!

i'm in LA!

hi everyone!

i'm in LA. bunking with miss sarah lyman. i flew in on thursday evening and it's been fun ever since. i'll do some posts about it in a bit, but first i want to catch up on old ones... i have loads to catch everyone up on!

snow patrol & u2

sunday, sept 13th at soldier field.

kyle and i were supposed to go to the concert together. however, things came up and she had to be in louisville instead so she found alice to come with me instead. alice and i met up with mark and a bunch of his friends prior to the concert at his place which is not far from the stadium. we had a helluva time trying to find his place b/c his actual address is not the driving address. grrrr. so needless to say we walked around a lOT looking for his place and all the while i hauled my boot around. we finally got there and enjoyed some pizza and beer and then it was time to head on over to the stadium.





snow patrol opened for u2 and they were so good. alice and i had floor seats while the rest of them all had seats elsewhere. our tickets were the middle tier in terms of price, but it turns out that ours were way better than theirs and they paid almost twice as much!! b/c we were on the floor we were able to maneuver around and find a good spot to settle in: right up against the fence separating the super pricey floor seats and the cheapies that were us. the whole show was such a blast!!

trying to leave the stadium left something to be desired... first it was like squeezing a blimp through a hole the size of a watermelon. herds of people trying to move and being directed by fences out of the stadium. then just trying to get around the museum, figure out where the heck we were supposed to all be going and then finally going thru the tunnel, over the bridge, and pretty much thru the woods... i mean it took me literally more than an hour and a half to get home. it should have been 30 mins tops. so that... that needs much improvement. and it's not just during concerts this happens - i went to a bears game last year and it was just as bad!

funny funny

oh good grief... this was so so so me!!!!!

How to write a paper in college/university:



1. Sit in a straight, comfortable chair in a well lit place in front of your computer.

2. Log onto MSN and ICQ (be sure to go on away!). Check your email.

3. Read over the assignment carefully, to make certain you understand it.

4. Walk down to the vending machines and buy some chocolate to help you concentrate.

5. Check your email.

6. Call up a friend and ask if he/she wants to go to grab a coffee. Just to get settled down and ready to work.

7. When you get back to your room, sit in a straight, comfortable chair in a clean, well lit place.

8. Read over the assignment again to make absolutely certain you understand it.

9. Check your email.

10. You know, you haven't written to that kid you met at camp since fourth grade. You'd better write that letter now and get it out of the way so you can concentrate.

11. Look at your teeth in the bathroom mirror.

12. Grab some mp3z off of kazaa.

13. Check your email. ANY OF THIS SOUND FAMILIAR YET?!

14. MSN chat with one of your friends about the future. (ie summer plans).

15. Check your email.

16. Listen to your new mp3z and download some more.

17. Phone your friend on the other floor and ask if she's started writing yet. Exchange derogatory emarks about your prof, the
course, the college, the world at large.

18. Walk to the store and buy a pack of gum. You've probably run out.

19. While you've got the gum you may as well buy a magazine and read it.

20. Check your email.

21. Check the newspaper listings to make sure you aren't missing something truly worthwhile on TV.

22. Play some solitare (or age of legends!).

23. Check out bored.com.

24. Wash your hands.

25. Call up a friend to see how much they have done, probably haven't started either.

26. Look through your housemate's book of pictures from home. Ask who everyone is.

27. Sit down and do some serious thinking about your plans for the future.

28. Check to see if bored.com has been updated yet.

29. Check your email and listen to your new mp3z.

30. You should be rebooting by now, assuming that windows is crashing on schedule.

31. Read over the assignment one more time, just for heck of it.

32. Scoot your chair across the room to the window and watch the sunrise.

33. Lie face down on the floor and moan.

34. Punch the wall and break something.

35. Check your email.

36. Mumble obscenities.

37. 5am - start hacking on the paper without stopping. 6am -paper is finished.

38. Complain to everyone that you didn't get any sleep because you had to write that stupid paper.

39. Go to class, hand in paper, and leave right away so you can take a nap.

bleacher girl here...

on sunday the 30th, a bunch of us got together for another cubs game! not sure how many that makes this summer, but i can tell you that i've been to a lot. which is good. like i've said many a time...if you have never been to a game, you must put it on your to do list. in any case, my friend, katie's, parents were in town and had bought 12 bleacher tickets for them and various family members. unfortunately 6 family members were unable to go, so katie offered them to us at cost. i of course said, yes. in attendance: katie, her parents: anne and scott, her cousin, gabe, her friend, sarah (i met her the night before), sarah's friend whose name i don't recall, our friends: sonny, mark, and her brother, alex, with his wife, diane - who btw, is an olympic athlete in track!! i was just slightly impressed :) the 12th ticket was sold to scalpers in case you were doing the math.







the game itself was a lot of fun. we got there early b/c in the bleachers, the seats are first come first served and i knew i wanted an aisle for that big boot of mine. (please note boot in pic) we secured a couple rows of seats in the right field and got started with some beers. the day couldn't have been better: warm, but not hot. although i must admit, i did get burnt b/c i was dumb. i waited too long to put on sunblock. oops. at one point someone pointed out that mark cuban was sitting just to our right. for those of you who have no idea who this is, he is the dallas maverick's owner and at one point it was rumored he might buy the cubs. we ended up losing the game to the mets, but it was still a great time.

btw, sarah: mark is the guy in the top pic far left.

nicole's celebration

august means birtday time for nicole... we celebrated on sat 22nd on her rooftop and the building's party room. before heading over to her house, alice and i enjoyed a scrumptious home made dinner by sonny! afterwards, we walked over to nicole's place which is just a short jaunt. she had a marvelous spread of food. seriously, if you can think of it, she probably had it!!


there was so much food... and i ate a lot of the sweet stuff...brownies, cupcakes, cookies, mini fruit tarts...oh i was weak. oh so weak. whatever. anyways, it was a fun night, but i was not allowed to drink too much or stay up too late b/c i had to get up super early to leave for mexico - i think i had to get up at 430 or something stupid. but in any case, it was a fun party on the 36th floor or something like that with beautiful views.

newest addition to the complex

the darling family that lives in the duplex below me just made an additions to their family. ryan joined sadie and maureen and dave. their unit is 2 floors and 3 bedrooms so their place is much bigger than mine. ryan is 3 weeks old now and sadie must be getting close to 2 by this point...i can't remember when her birthday is, but she was a baby when i moved in and that will be 2 years ago this oct! can you believe that!? anyways, enough about me... check out the cute family!

big sister sadie who might have the sweetest blue eyes, little brother ryan and mommy maureen:


and here's sadie and ryan with their dad, dave.

kitties kitties kitties

pyrrh says hi:


mom says all 4 of the kitties were hanging out, but that zoey declined to have her picture taken as she said she looks fat in pictures. to which my mother said, well porko doesn't mind having hers taken... porko is poor myrrh who loves to eat. all the time. she has gained about 8 pounds under mom's roof. we've never had a fatso in the house so mom is trying very hard to get her to diet. she's abt 14.5 pounds and always always hungry. but she is so cute! that's zach the burmese and pyrrh is up top there with him:


in these two, my very sweet boy was playing with his shadow. or maybe he was trying to see what i was up to on the calendar and when/if i would be leaving him anytime soon. he hates when i'm gone for too long.

air and water show

the air and water show is an annual event in chicago that takes place over a weekend and lasts pretty much all day. this year on sunday, aug 16th, mark invited me, megan and alice out on his boat to see the show along with a few of his friends. the Chicago Air & Water Show is the largest spectator event in the United States and the longest ongoing show of its kind in north america and this year marked the 51st year. unfortunately the weather was threatening rain all day and it wasn't all that nice out, but we went out on the boat anyways. we got to see a lot of cool planes and stunts in between all the rain and then we had to head in around 4 b/c of super dark/bad storm warnings. we got back just time before the real downpour and thunder/lightning stuck...phew! here are some photos from the show. one of mark's friends has a super duper nice camera and telephoto lens and these are mostly from his camera.



btw, thank you devon for telling me about picnik! it makes picture loading/sharing so much easier!! now, how do i get the pics to show up bigger on here?!

boating on lake michigan

wed, the 5th: kyle and i went out on mark's boat with him and his friend, trevor. who are mark and trevor you ask?! good question. mark is a guy i went to culver with - kind of. he's an alum as well, but he's 10 years older than us. he's a super nice guy...but he has a super big crush on me and i think he's a fun guy to hang out with, but i'd rather be friends... anyways, he invited us out on the boat with him for drinks and the fireworks that night. trevor is mark's friend who was visiting. we all had a blast! we got out there around 7ish and had lou malnatti's pizza, watched the fireworks, and then went down the river per kyle's request. kyle and trevor then jumped in the water - i was so not that brave. and by 2:30am, we headed back in and docked the boat. it was a very fun night!

me and kyle:


the beautiful skyline:


awesome fireworks!


fireworks!


trevor and mark at the helm:


trevor holds the rope in the canal to get us on to the river - b/c of the height disparity, you go in to the lock and they raise and lower the water depending on which direction you are going: to the river or back out to the lake.


kyle and mark: notice the rainbow of water spray...we went underneath that a few times - it was so fun!


me and trevor after going under the ark of water spray:


late night swimming: