it's like, totally awesome 80s, yo!

so like, for this year's halloween, we like, totally decided to be like so totally 80s!!!

the evening started off at amy's awesome apartment where she had made dinner for us and had plenty of treats! i arrived to start the evening with a rather awful case of 'cab' sickness... ugh, it was terrible... i was hot, sweaty, nauseous and trying not to hurl... luckily amy was there to give me an ice pack and some salty chips and eventually a beer and a vodka lemonade. it took awhile, but thankfully, i was able to rally and get my 80s on... phew.

andrea and betsy rocked the jock clique

i needed help with the teasing of my hair, so autumn who decided to be called amber that night helped me out. we decided we were the mean girls clique and amber was a hairstylist.

we also had amy, the sweet innocent dancer, beth, the cheerleader, and andrea,

erika rocked the rocker 80s chick and we allowed her in the mean girls clique for her uncanny ability to secure cigarettes, booze, and drugs (make believe folks, not for reals!)

the lot of us: erika, sarah, me, betsy, andrea, amy (not as innocent as she appears!), autumn/amber, and beth cheering in front! not pictured were two gals not sporting the 80s garb: jamie and haley. also not shown was stephanie who was not in costume and had to leave early as it was her bf's law school reunion and she had stopped by to say hello.

mean girls clique: me, autumn, sarah, and erika. i wish i'd had some lime green or hot pink leg warmers instead of boring black... oh well. also not pictured, i had a jean jacket to go with my ensemble.

 after making sure we had some like totally awesome pictures at amy's house, we all headed to the bar, Joe's on Weed St. It's not a normal hang out for us, but they do throw a heckuva party on occasion such as their annual kandy kane ball. it's a big venue and i've only been there when bands were playing on stage... and it's fun. with plenty of bars so there isn't that super crowded and can't get a drink annoying thing going on... and plenty of space to dance. 

that evening featured the cover band: wedding banned. as explained on the website: we skipped the ceremony and started the party! Wedding Banned is a musical experience, a show, an event and something you will not forget. Like a bat out of hell from Gas City, In., Wedding Banned has become the hottest party in the Midwest; playing all your favorite hits from the 80's, 90's and beyond. (i might've copy and pasted the description).

true to their claim, they rocked the place with awesome sing a-long songs that we all know and love. we rocked out, drank up, and generally just showed our 80s flair. thankfully all cab sickness had dissipated by the time we left amy's and didn't return, thank god!

the party flier

i wear my sunglaaaaaaaasses at night!!

sportin' some shades with my gal amber!

this costume cracked us up: it's hard to see here, but this guy is a breathalyzer machine and he's holding the tube you're supposed to blow in to. ewwww and yet, hilarious.

pretty sure the band was all dressed up for halloween too, but since i'd never seen them before i can't confirm...

they were hilarious... and so inappropriate at times!

during the show, the band handed out cards to several of the girls... i wish it was clearer, but the front says "roses are wilted, violets are dead, halloween is here..."

and this is what the inside read! we all cracked up!

well in to the evening, we got our groove on... we were dancing machines: betsy and andrea in front, me, autumn, amy, and erika in the back.

over the course of the evening, the group got smaller and smaller, but autumn and i hung in there and stayed til the end cause we were having a blast! it was a super late night and i was rather tired (though not hung over) the next day... and trying to get my hair un-teased and all that blue and purple eyeshadow off was pretty tough... i might still have a tiny bit left over still!!

brruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuce!!

A few weeks ago on Sat, Sept 8th... Bruce Springsteen came to Wrigley and rocked it out!! The evening started out with a few beers at my house beforehand and then we walked over to Wrigley which is less than a mile from my house.

Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuce!!! at Wrigley!

Sarah, Jamie, Erika and me in the nosebleeds... but that was ok cause the tickets were only 60 bucks (including taxes!) and happened to be under the overhang... which came in super handy later...

So it's hard to see in this pic, but the sign says "we were born to brew" and I kinda love it.

The view from our seats... please note the overhang at the top of the pic

Bruuuuuuce! Did not disappoint! Except that he didn't do Born in the USA... my only complaint.

Rockin' it out!!

Erika and Me!

So, the rain started and it poured. Poured. And everyone got soaked. Well, everyone in the expensive floor seats and Bruce and the band for that matter. But, he kept playing! For like an hour in the rain! And even when the lights came on, Bruce kept playing!

a year ago...

just over a year ago i moved in to my new place. a year ago mom, dad and my aunt ellen came to stay for the weekend. my place was a mess. boxes and stuff everywhere. i didn't even have cable set up yet. the movers had literally been there a week before. and i hadn't even been there a full week as i went to muncie for a celebration and the re-naming and dedication of the ball state university art museum in honor of my great uncle david owsley. the four of us drove back to chicago together.

all of us made a trip to target that first night. we bought some pillows and sheets and an air mattress for dad to sleep on as i didn't have any furniture in my third bedroom yet. ellen stayed on my pull out couch. mom and i shared my room as we typically do.

mom and ellen helped me empty boxes and dad helped break them down. dad and i would carry the broken down boxes and other recyclable materials down all 5 flights of stairs (60 steps... mom counted them once). dad and i drove to the nature center where there is a large recycle bin and deposited all of that cardboard. i still remember how gorgeous the leaves on the trees were that day in lincoln park. i took a picture. but i can't find it at the moment.

dad helped hang my many pictures as mom and i and ellen too decided where they should go. that was always dad's job when he visited or moved. to hang up the heavy stuff i didn't know how to or couldn't do by myself. or didn't want to do... dad would meticulously measure and hang in just the right place centered on the wall. sometimes if mom and i left dad to hang on his own, the picture being hung would be too high on the wall. dad was tall... and he put it where it made sense to him. mom and i would always feel bad when we'd have to tell him it was just too high.... but being the patient man he was, he'd always rehang it where requested.

this happens to be a pic of dad hanging my one picture in the kitchen. pretty sure i did a post about this awhile ago now that i think about it... 

 

 

it's hard to believe this all happened a year ago. there was no cancer clouding our days. that we knew about anyways. that stupid tumor was probably growing at this point. but dad seemed so healthy that weekend. and just fine. and none of us knew the ride we were in for. none of us knew that by thanksgiving our lives would be so very very different. how fast a year goes by.

i was watching parenthood tonight. i skipped last week's episode and probably should have skipped this week and well, probably should just quit watching altogether for that matter. for those of you who don't watch the show, one of the mom's was diagnosed with breast cancer last week. they told their daughter away at college this week. and while i wasn't away at college, i was away... here in chicago. and i remember getting that phone call. and i remember thinking, nah. can't be. mom always worries too much. i just saw dad. he was fine. but then the call came that it was indeed cancer. and here i was so very very far away. and scared. and upset. and having no idea what to do, but knowing that i really really just needed to go home. and i can't remember if i got a flight out that night or the next day... but i think it was that night. and there was still nothing i could do or that mom or dad could do... but it just felt good to be together. and on parenthood, at the end of the episode, the daughter comes back home from ny to the bay area. and it just brought back so many memories.

NY, NY

I went to NY on a last minute, let's go have a different experience trip! My Aunt really wanted to see the US Open and invited Mom to join her... after loads of back and forth, Mom decided she was in! And then my Uncle jumped on board and wanted to go too. Mom didn't want to be a third wheel and so she asked if I might want to go... um, a trip to NYC?! Yes, please!!

So, plans were made to go to NYC for a super quick trip and to see the US Open... my aunt and uncle used their timeshare type thing (the same company from the Costa Rica trip) and we stayed at a place on 60th and Park. Lovely two bedroom condo! We all got in late on a Tuesday night (day after my roof labor day party) and then went to the Open on the next day. I had hoped to get together with a friend Tues night, but after delays and getting in... it was just too late for anything but going to bed.

After some delay due to pouring rain and a crappy forecast, the four of us headed to Queens for the Open. We took the train...

Which happened to be Jim's first NYC subway experience. He usually always walks or takes a cab in the city. Had to commemorate his first subway experience!

Walking in to the complex... and it's a huge complex with many courts and goings on.

the ESPN booth and the reporters giving their report

We had ridiculously good seats! Ellen picked them out and we were right smack in the middle behind the chair ref and only a few rows up - row E.

Not many people seated yet as it would pour, then dry up, then rain more, then dry up... back and forth, back and forth. Oh my... every time we thought we'd get to see some tennis, it would rain again. They dried the courts and brought out the ladies to warm up at one point, but then the darn rain came down again and that was that. Thankfully, we were able to finally start the tourney around 1ish and the rain managed to stay away the rest of the afternoon.

Mom, me, Ellen and Jim in our seats.

Maria Sharapova... she's 6'2 - who knew?! And stunning.

Sharapova vs. Bartoli... It was a huge battle and Sharapova barely came out on top!

Sharapova signed some balls after the match and tossed them to the crowd. Please check out that guy with the crazy pants next to her... no idea who the heck he is, but his style is awesome.

After the Bartoli v. Sharapova match, it was time for Andy Roddick vs. Del Potro from Argentina. Here's Andy!

 I caught Jim taking a nap here and there. It was a rather long day, but still! I'll give him a break... he's 70... but I did have to take a pic and send it to my cousins and give him a bit of a hard time!

Andy! Andy! The crowd was so behind him.

Del Potro... Holy moly ladies, this guy is HOT. HOT. Did I mention he is hot?! He also won the match - but Andy gave it his all. It was so great to watch!

Pippa was even there! She's in the yellow dress in the box.

Del Potro was such a class act. He gave his interview after winning and then lauded Andy and allowed Andy to give his emotional farewell speech.

Foreboding weather, but thankfully the rain stayed away. Andy was giving his farewell, retirement speech and was tearing up... it was so emotional and really cool being there for it.

Andy on tv being interviewed.

Jim's second subway ride! With Ellen next to him.

I was supposed to meet up with my childhood friend, Heidi, in Brooklyn after the match, but I was so tired, exhausted, and headachey that I just wasn't able to go to Brooklyn and meet up. It had just been such a long, long day.

The next day, all of us went to some art galleries. Ellen is interested in fine art these days so we wanted to see what was out there. We even had a guide to the galleries. However, the very first gallery we went to, happened to have a young artist on display and the very first room we walked in to happened to have this huge picture (above) that we had no idea what the heck was painted, other than it said in huge letters "widowhood" which of course threw mom and made her cry and really upset her. Thankfully, we ushered past that and went behind the scenes where we had a private meeting with the art dealer (who was hot, btw). Thankfully we didn't see any other upsetting art work that day... it was just so unexpected. and shocking. and probably not the best thing to see when it's only been a little more than 3 months.

That evening, I was able to meet up with my friend Meghan for some tapas and sangria... and then she joined me in meeting up with my old high school buddy, Ken. He literally just moved to NYC like 2 weeks before. We met up and had a few beers and caught up on everything... and then it was time to head back to the hotel... and the next morning, it was time to leave. Such a super quick, way too short trip as I definitely did not get to see everyone and that stunk... I definitely needed more friend time, but at the same time, it wasn't my trip and I kinda had to follow what the others wanted to do too. So, I need to make a return trip to see all the friends and spend more friend time together.

BSF Ball.

The Big Shoulders Fund (BSF) Ball was held on Friday, Sept 28th at the Adler Planetarium and all the cool kids were totally there (well, ok, not alllll the cool kids, but a lot!). The mission of the Big Shoulders Fund is to provide support to the Catholic schools in the neediest areas of inner-city Chicago. I have several friends who are really involved with BSF and so supporting this charity while getting all dressed up was a no brainer!

Beth, Me, and Erika before heading to the Planetarium. Erika hosted us at her awesome gold coast apartment for some champagne beforehand.

Amy, Haley, me, Beth and Jamie: in Erika's fab apt - it's hard to see, but that's an amazing bay window behind us!

So, this pic looks similar, but it's different cause our hostess is in the picture, right in the middle in her fab silver sparkly dress: Haley, Me, Erika, Beth, and Amy. Please note our lack of shoes... we told our picture taker (ahem, Jamie) to get above our feet, but alas, here we are barefoot. I mean we had to save our feet for the actual event, right?!

Leslie, Sarah, me, Erika, and Megan in the super awesome purple dome room

Leslie, Erika, Catherine, Megan, Me, and Haley

Andrea, Me, Jamie, and Autumn: yep, we're stars.

Such a great group of girls and I feel so lucky to call them friends: Haley, Jamie, Amy, me, Andrea, Catherine, Beth, Erika and Sarah

Yes, basically the pic above, but hey, another angle! And aren't we cute!? I mean: gorgeous and stunning! Jamie, Amy, Andrea, me, Sarah (in front), Catherine, Beth, and Erika