Burn It Down

First off, I would like to get all serious and mushy for a second and say THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for all the birthday wishes! You kids make me feel so loved! 

And secondly, as we’re finishing up the discussion about the birthday weekend, if you’d like to see a picture of the serious madness we were dealing with, check out Cait’s blog for a pic of the area that we were in. No joke- I expected to start seeing fish swim by as we were wading about in the streets.

Which really freaks me out because I hate when little fish suck on your toes… sick!

But anyway, my birthday ended up to be a great one. Thanks to everyone. And to this:Yesss… I’m so special I get two!

In all reality, this is one of the more awkward moments I have to deal with once a year.

I work with all guys. So imagine, if you will, what it’s like to be serenaded (unenthusiastically- but they’re getting better) by 25 guys in suits in a teeny tiny break room. You’d blush uncontrollably, too.

Whatever though- totally worth the cookie cake. It’s my favorite.

Even if it made me feel sooooo sloooooowduring my run after work. The legs were feelin’ HEAVY.

2.75 miles. That should counter balance the birthday eats. Uhhhhh… 

Whatev. I do what I want.

No, I did not have birthday plans. Yes, I’m totally ok with that. I birthday-ed myself out after the long weekend. In all reality, most of my birthday night was spent making birthday treats for someone else’s birthday.

Let’s see how many times I can say birthday in one paragraph, shall we?

Time to go off to start my day. Or at least continue it. It’s safe to say I started my day with almost burning down the kitchen. Had I known the toaster handle would get caught and my last piece of bread would start smoking, I may have watched it a little more closely.

At least it was a good reminder to check on the status of my renter’s insurance…

Stupid Tuesday.

 Anyway, Mon’s birthday is tomorrow and mine was yesterday, so we’re celebrating together tonight. And it’s going to be WILD.

There is not an ounce of sarcasm in that statement.

Or in that last one, either.

Nope…

Laters!

How Boring

Well I’m slowly getting back to normalcy.  What I consider “normalcy” anyways…Oatmeal for breakfast counts as “normalcy” and not just “boring”… right?

Yesterday I ended up spending a couple hours getting my car taken care of.  A new battery was necessary.  And while I was there I got my oil changed and brakes replaced.  Yep… my car was an expensive little baby yesterday.  Frustrating.  But necessary.  So I’m just not going to dwell on that.

Let’s dwell on happier things.  Like how sweet my friends are!  Check out how great Annie was to me for my birthday- after also coming out and celebrating AND baking for me!She gave me a present that is pretty much the runner/fitness junkie’s dream.  After spending a night checking out her gym, I expressed my interest in resistance bands.  So she picked up one for me!  Along with some new workout clothes!  I love the Champion line- and was a huge fan of the sports bra especially…

There was also a water bottle, but I forgot to include it because I may have already used it… oops!

Clearly, I loved it! 

And look what my friend Mary brought for me over the weekend:It’s a little cupcake kit with the cutest cupcake liners ever!  I really need to get back into the kitchen…

So after a long day at the office, I was definitely ready to get some movement in at the gym- and last night was my lasts long cross training session before the race. But the gym was packed!  Lately, I’ve been lucky to not deal with a crowd (and let’s face it- in my apartment complex’s weight room, 5 people is a crowd).  I got in elliptical and stairmill time (how boring normal) and then did some focus on the arms.  I’ve been slacking on the abs as of late.  And had planned to get up and do something about that this morning by doing a round of The Shred and abs.  But alas- my sleep seemed more important the first time my alarm went off this morning.

Maybe we’ll try that one again tomorrow…

Since I didn’t get to the gym until late last night, I also didn’t leave until late.  So what’s the quickest dinner I know?Veggie scramble.  How unbelievably boring normal of me.

But that’s ok.  Sometimes I’m cool with being boring normal. 

Have a good day, everyone.  Even if Tuesdays are generally lame, I hope for your sake that maybe it’ll be a little less boring normal for you! 

Murphy’s Law

Hey kids.  Sorry I’ve been missing for a few days.  I promise I’ll be back to normal soon! 

I had a great weekend with my college girls and friends downtown in Chicago this last weekend.  Pretty much everything that could go wrong did.  But that’s ok- it still turned out to be one of the best birthday weekends!

Here’s a quick rundown of what happened.  Feel free to laugh a bit, I know we did…

- My friends hit every single traffic jam in the state of Illinois to get here.  This put them over two hours behind schedule.

- We missed our first train into the city because of said traffic.  The train we did catch was a half hour late. Original plans were to get checked in at the hotel around 6:00.  We got to the room by 10:30.

- It rained like CRAZY all Friday night.  Any time spent on hair and makeup was pretty much wasted.  But we still had a great time.

- We ended up staying at Allerton Hotel after doing name your price on Priceline.  It was a GREAT location on North Michigan Avenue.  Although us three girls did get stuck  with one bed (when we requested doubles).  Good thing we really like each other.  And no one has horrible morning breath.

- We didn’t go watch the Cards/Cubs game in Wrigleyville.  But I did hit a sale on some  killer boots at Zara. 

- It was country night at Rockwood Place (our planned destination) on Saturday night.  If you know me, you’ll know how much I dislike country music.  We relocated quickly to Red Ivy before my guy friends also got there.

- My friend Mary’s toe was smashed and she may lose the toenail. 

- Do NOT open the mini refrigerator at the hotel without reading the sign.  You will get charged for doing so.

- Do NOT carelessly keep your clutch under your arm unzipped.  It will fall onto the dance floor and you will almost lose all of your prized possessions without even realizing it.  Thank goodness my friends are good at dance floor scavenger hunts.

- My car wouldn’t start once we got back to the burbs.  One of the reasons why I’ve been MIA- AAA coming to jumpstart it and tell you that you need to replace the battery does take more time than you’d prefer.

- I dropped my phone and a piece popped off again.  But I did find it back.  Phone still works (whew).

- My cable and internet weren’t working when I got home.  This leads to a very long phone call and arguing with the customer service rep that I can’t update my info on my account online because I can’t actually get online.  Idiot…

- Random weekends lead to random eating.  Stuffing five mini cupcakes into my face at 3:00 in the morning should be mentioned here… along with an unaccounted for number of Kit Kat fun size bars.  I’m trying to figure out how I can justify this as carb loading.

- Do not say “I don’t care, whatever shot you want to buy.”  It will lead to chugging an Irish Car Bomb.  Disgusting.

Anyways, that was my weekend in less than 500 words.  Trust me, it was exhausting.  But I loved every minute.  I have wonderful friends.  And I love them all very very much.  They are too good to me.  And kept me from diving into the birthday blues or a quarter life crisis.  Thank you all!

And here are a few pics for your viewing pleasure to sum up the weekend properly.   

Anyways, Happy Monday!  This is a pretty easy week (training-wise) because we are in the HOME STRETCH!  The Rock n’ Roll half is less than a week away!!!

Any tips for the routine I’ll be going through the week before?  Training/eating/etc?

Office Space Moment

When we celebrate birthdays in our office, it’s pretty much your stereotypical scene.  Everyone crowded into the break room- which was a bit balmy because it’s overcrowded.  Candles won’t light.  Off key singing.  Etc, Etc…

Is it weird I kinda like it?Yes, this year I switched it up by requesting cookie cake.  You guys know- I love me some cookies.  Can’t help it!

Besides- it’s my birthday weekend.  I can do what I want.  :pThese fellas made me smile.  And wouldn’t stay lit worth a crap.And check out our bling!  Woot woot!  These were from the second cake.  It was cute, too- and had ladybugs on it, but sadly it was massacred before I got the pic…

Either way, the cookie cake was delicious.  Like worth two huge pieces delicious.  No regrets. 

Until I got home.  I got jittery.  The coffee I had during cake time probably did not help make this issue better.  Do you know the feeling I’m talking about?  It’s uncomfortable!  And you know it’s from the sugar…

So before Mon and I went gallivanting off to the mall (I had a few birthday certificates I needed to use- but had no luck.  Woommmmpp woooommmp), I had a quick dinner:An asparagus wrap and some cheddar chips.  The teeny tiny pop chips bag was from the Fleet Feet Women’s 10k last weekend.  There were more that I grabbed.  Alas- they are gone.  Because they’re freakin’ delicious!  I knew I’d love them- hence the reason I never bought a bag when I first stumbled upon them.  But now I’ve ruined it.  I have fallen in love… oh dear.  Have you guys had these? Fantastic!

Yesterday was indeed a rest day.  Unless you count strolling the mall?    But I think I’m good today and ready to run!  Sadly (like painfully sad), I am sticking to the treadmill.  The rain outside right now looks extremely inviting.  But according to the weather, it’s a mean trick and will turn into thunder and lightning at any moment.  Granted, when have they ever been right when I’ve relied on the weather? 

Whatever, I’m not taking any chances…  At least I know I’ll be running during Regis and Kelly.    And that’s cool.  If I had been up earlier, I’m sure I could have gotten the outdoor run in.  But instead, I opted to sleep in until 7:30 (GASP!!!) and officially get my first 8 hours of sleep in WEEKS.  Well-rested…. this is what it feels like, huh?  That’s neat.

I’m going to go enjoy the rest of my random day off now.  Probably enjoy the running part, but I still have to clean before my friends get here and pack my bags because we’re off to have a little city getaway for the weekend!  Happy Friday everyone!

Fleet Feet Women’s 10k

So after my long weekend of fun and debauchery with my hometown girls, I did the unthinkable.  And got up at 5:00 on Sunday morning for a 10k at Montrose Harbor.

But I wasn’t the only one who got up that early.  Oh no.  My girls, Beth and Sarah, are just awesome and said they wanted to go with me to watch. Aren’t they fantastic?  Such troopers!  Sarah said they were filling in for my ‘rents.  I think mom and pops would be proud- they cheered for me very loudly.  Even before we started and people were standing around.  Yep… it was awesome.

This race was really up in the air for me.  I had no idea how I was going to do because we had been out and didn’t get back to my apartment until midnight because we had seen these kids:Rod Tuffcurls and the Benchpress.  They opened for Rock Candy at Durty Nellies on Saturday night.  And they were awesome.  Just their stage presence was entertaining.  But they could play- and sing- like none other!  We ended up groovin’ to everything from Third Eye Blind to Miley Cyrus, to The Little Mermaid Soundtrack to a song off of Forgetting Sarah Marshall.  Although I’m not sure how Aerial would appreciate their suggestive nature when it came to the line “down where it’s wetter”.  Pervs.  But I still loved them!  A few of my girlfriends from the suburbs had come out to play and we were all in agreement that we might have to become their newest groupies.  Good times…

Wait… what?  Where was I?  Oh yeah… the race!  So needless to say, after getting less than 5 consecutive hours of sleep for 3 nights in a row, I was exhausted to say the least.  And the Lou Malnati’s pizza and Goose Island draft is probably not the best thing to be sitting like a brick in my stomach.  I’m very competitive with myself and usually am such a baby about my pre-race routine.  But this was different.  I really just wanted one more solid race before the Rock n’ Roll Half in two weeks (oh my god…).  And I had friends in town and wasn’t about to not enjoy myself on Saturday night.  I figured I’d just treat it like I do any other 6-mile run.  Just take it as it comes.I put myself at the back of the 8:30 pace area.  If anything, I can just find someone with a solid stride and latch on.  We started and you can imagine my surprise when I got through the first mile in under 8 minutes.  Oh crap!  I’m screwing myself over waaaayyyy too early!  No good…  And then my second mile was at about 9 minutes and that was just waaaaayyyyy too fast.  I really am like Goldilocks.  Mile 3 was approximate 8:20 and that was just about right…

I kept the stride up and pushed pretty hard on the last mile.  When I came up towards the finish, I realized I was actually going to beat my last 10k time.Hence the goofy grin.

I finished in 50:40- an 8:10 pace.  This is amazing to me.  I’ll give my new shoes most of the credit, because I have no idea where I would have pulled the energy from. 

After I got through the finish and grabbed a couple waters (hey- free water is free water), I turned to find where I had seen Sarah and Beth as I ran through.  I couldn’t find them right away, so I just collapsed in the grass and figured they’d find me.  I was spent and could not go any further!I ended up placing 129/1460 overall and 9/110 in my age division- which I was more than happy about.  I don’t normally place as much importance on it, but this is my last race in the easier age category.  So I’m going to enjoy it while I still can.  Deal with it!

When I decided my legs were good to go again, we got up and got moving.  Breakfast was necessary.  A guy friend who shares the same interest in good food/restaurants suggested going to Over Easy Cafe.  So we raced there and got in without any wait- which was clutch in this case because my hunger had started to quickly attack and Beth and Sarah were yet to eat that morning.I got one of the Specials- The Sweet & Savory.  You can’t tell, but bacon was mixed into the pancake batter.  Oh yes.  A sinful idea for sure- even though I wouldn’t have complained if there was more bacon because you could barely even notice the extra flavor.  Everything was delicious and I am not ashamed to say I got through almost all of this before I gave up on the eggs.  Starvin’ Marvin… 

While at the restaurant, Beth and Sarah gave me a little birthday present. Like I said- sweethearts.    They even marked their favorite quotes for me.    What a way to start my birthday week!

Even though a nap was inserted into my day yesterday, I’m still a little behind.  This week’s going to be another crazy one in preperation for more visitors coming on Friday, but I’m going to do my best to insert a few more hours in a night.  I’m not as young as I used to be!  Aaaaahhhh!

Happy Monday!

…and I feel GREAT!

Hola!  How are we feeling this Friday?

I’ll tell you how I feel right now: Like Leslie Mann’s character in Knocked Up when she’s trying to motivate Alison to get up. 

“I’ve had three Red Bulls in the last 20 minutes and I feel GREAT!”

Yeah… like that.  I may have overdone it on coffee today.

I also just really love Leslie Mann.  She had some of the best one liners in the movies she’s in and you can’t beat her comedic timing.

As I looked at the calendar yesterday, I realized one slightly exciting yet anxiety-inducing thing.  My golden birthday is LESS THAN 10 DAYS AWAY.  Yep- I’m turning 25 on the 25th this year.  In all honesty, I thought I’d hit quarter-life crisis mode at some point and do something silly and rash.  That hasn’t happened… yet.  But I won’t rule it out.  I’ve been known to go off on random tangents. 

Either way, it’s going to be my birthday soon (part of the reason I have weekend visitors the next couple of weeks) and I’m never one to ignore a birthday.

Would it be tacky to register myself at Whole Foods for granola bars and a variety of nut butter?  Yes?  Ok… I won’t do it.  Or I’ll at least wait until Christmas. 

One of my grievances with the age change is it puts me into a new racing category.  Which, from observation, seems MUCH more competitive.  That could only mean one thing.  I’m gonna have to step up my game.  For reals.

Whatever though, let’s talk about something else.

Like the fact that I have friends here!  I picked them up after work at the airport and we’ve been gossiping and chit-chatting ever since.  Most of that we did while I was making dinner for my guests!Imagine how excited I was to find out we all have the same extreme appreciation for asparagus and zucchini!Every decent meal needs a salad, right?  We kept it simple with peas, cashews and feta.  And the main meal was my fav way to have chicken as of late- baked bbq.  Thrown in a wrap with avocado and mozzarella.  Totally delicious.

I got the two thumbs up from my guests.Helllloooooo Sarah and Beth!  After dinner, we ran out to grab a chick flick- finally caved and watched Remember Me.  I had been curious and a lot of you kids have said it’s worth a go, so we picked it up.  And it was a much better movie than I was expected.  I thought it’d be a mushy romance flick… not the case at all!  If you’re looking for a good girly movie (and maybe even a good cry), I’d say to check it out! 

We had a few glasses of wine, but that didn’t keep me from an early morning wakeup call…

I used to do the early morning workouts last year, but got out of the habit.  No idea why.  The workout room was empty.  And not a humid sticky mess as it has been the last few times I’ve gone.  Maybe a new way for me to switch it up when I go into the office later?  hmmm…

Either way, I did a semi-cross train day.  I ran 3 miles, focused on some arm weights, and hopped on the elliptical for 20 minutes.  All while catching the morning news.  My main interest is learning a little more about the Transformers 3 filming that is going on over the weekend downtown.  The gals and I plan to seek it out tomorrow and get our first look at a movie set!  And maybe a glimpse of Shia LeBouf?    Well… maybe not… but a girl can dream! (Especially now that Vince Vaughn has a baby mama- boooo….)

Won’t lie, though – my caffeine intake this morning has been somewhat alarming.  I partially blame the late night movie on that one.  And the 5:00 gym session.  Eek!

Gotta go, though- work is calling.  And I don’t have time to mess around- right after we’re going out to hit up a BYOB restaurant and see a comedy show!  (I seriously can’t wait to tell you guys about it because it looks it’s going to be scandelous… so get excited!)

Old Favorites

Happy 4th of July everyone!  I’m probably running right now as this is posting (technology can be so clever…), but I thought you’d like to be caught up on my weekend up to this point…

Friday night started with a cross training session in the workout room with Mon.  It wasn’t any Friday night, though.  Being as how it is now July, it is the beginning of my month-long birthday extravaganza! 

Just kidding about dragging out my birthday for a month… sort of.  Mon got a little excited and wanted to give me my birthday present early (my birthday isn’t until the 25th).  Plus, she knew it would go really well with my chosen outfit of the night:How cute is my new purse?!?!  Mon’s always the victim of my fashionably late appearances, mostly because I lack on the accessories and usually can’t figure out which purse will come the closest to matching.  So she’s helping me out!  I adore it! 

She me the present at the gym.  We got a weird look as I shrieked with happiness.

Anyhoo, we made our way to Big Shot in downtown Arlington Heights with another girl who just moved into our complex.  We thought we’d take her out and show her around for the night.  The piano player didn’t appreciate our art work as much as we thought he would.

Do you guys do the piano bars?  Favorite requests?  I’m always a fan of the ones that will play the random songs that aren’t typical for that kind of place- in my college town, they’d break out Sublime and Green Day after a certain time.  And I loved it!

A few rounds later, we took her to Gatsby’s to end the night.  It’s a favorite dive of ours that pours the drinks way too strong and stays open way too late.  (Which is why it’s our favorite.)

I welcomed back my normal breakfast with open arms:Wonderful.  Oh oatmeal, I learned I can live without you.  But why would I want to?

Since I’m racing tomorrow, I switched out my long run for a solid walk and yoga.  And pool time. 

Because I can’t stop yammering about Russell Brand and how much I wanted to go see Get Him to the Greek, we finally went tonight!  Mon and I decided it would be a good way to have a chill night.  And decided to visit an old friend…Sweet Tomatoes!  I really do love this place.  My eyes light up as soon as I walk into the door because of that magical salad bar.  Ahhh…Oops- how did that picture get on here?!?!?!  How embarrassing… yet accurate.

And because I just had to go there:What’s the 4th of July weekend without frozen yogurt?  A sad one- and we don’t want that!

Because we had extra time after dinner and before the movie, we took a stroll through Whole Foods so I could grab some water to throw in my bag for the movie (yes, I’m one of those people).  As we strolled to let our dinners “digest”, we also sampled various items throughout the store.  So yeah… the “digesting” was pretty much pointless.  And we just added to the issue.  Oh Whole Foods- this is why I usually avoid you!

The movie was fantastic.  I loved it.  LOVED it.  As a disclaimer before you run out as quickly as you can to see it- I have a precondition of loving Russell Brand like no other.  I think he’s just hilarious.  Sure, a little dirty in more ways than one, but hilarious.  Loved the one-liners.  And I’ll probably be using them the rest of the weekend.  So please go see it so you can catch what I’m saying…  

So yes, I am enjoying the holiday weekend so far.  Let’s see if it changes by the time I cross the finish line of the Frontier Days 10k Stampede…

I’ll catch ya later… have a wonderful Sunday!

My First Wrigley Experience

So as I probably mentioned earlier (I’m sure I did- so freakin’ excited about it!), Jaime and Scott were taking me to a Cubs game for my birthday. The game came this last Wednesday. Jaime and I got to duck out of work early in order to get to her house before traffic for the game became insane.

We changed into our cubs gear and waited until about 6:00 to head to Murphy’s Bleacher’s for their traditional hamburger and beer before the game. And yes, I wore a cubs shirt. My friend Adam has had quite the shit-fit about this one. He saw it in pics from when Christy and I went to the Rooftop. He was severely disappointed in me. And said I am not allowed to do so again. But I decided to wear the shirt anyways. I am aware I am a cardinal’s fan. But the Cubs were not playing St. Louis. I was simply attempting to blend in with my surroundings. And I had on red underwear. So really, it was like I was incognito…

Chuck had said earlier that he and Anne were probably going to the game. I told them to meet up with us at Murphy’s because their seats were not even close to where ours were.  So Scott navigated us through the back alleys of Wrigleyville until we came upon a side entrance of Murphy’s.  Good job, Scott- we completely avoided the mass of people beginning to appear in the streets.

Now I’ve started this new thing online that has a food and exercise counter in an attempt to keep myself working towards that elusive six-pack (just kidding, we’re more going for a “generally healthy lifestyle”) so I spent my free time that day working around what I was allowed to eat all day so that I could fully enjoy a Murphy’s burger.  Jaime and I split one, which was just enough.  Even though I really have no concept of portion control, so maybe a whole one would have been  ”just enough” as well.  I’m not really sure.  She warned me ahead of time they like to keep them a little pink in the middle (we’re both chicks who prefer them well-done).  And it was just like she said- but that’s ok.  I didn’t mind.  We found a spot at the bar to put down our beer as we noshed on grease.  (And yes, I took the beer into account for my day along with the burger)  Chuck and Anne showed up and we got to talk to them a little while.  Anne just moved up for a new job and Chuck is looking to buy a place in the city- so I had a lot of catching up to do.

Scott asked me if I needed a sippy cup for my beer.  I took that as it’s time to leave…  And just so you know, Scott- I am not usually the biggest of beer drinkers.  So I finished it (yea me!) and we winded down the alleys again until we popped out right at the gate.  We ran right into a guy dressed like a hot dog passing out coupons.  He was short and the suit consumed him, so we wanted to take a picture.  At first he tried to make us pay to take a pic with him, but we worked it out.  That was bullshit otherwise…  He made me nervous.  Little hands…  And when Jaime posed with him, he whispered “eat me eat me eat me” in her ear.  Reminded me of Sex and the City where Miranda gets harassed by a sub sandwich…

Jaime and Scott walked in ahead of me.  They wanted to take pics of my entry into the stadium.  So when I walked in and looked up, there they were- goofy grins, taking pics.  If they had been frantically waving, I would have sworn they were like my parents on my first day of kindergarten.  But I didn’t make fun too much- I was seriously excited about getting to see Wrigley.  So I appreciated someone helping me document the trip.

Our seats were three rows back in upper deck with a fantastic view of the entire field.  This was good to have.  So we could see every single play the Phillies made to completely stomp out the Cubs that night.  Seriously.  It was somewhat of a bloodbath. Scott even took his eyes off the game enough to make friends with the guy sitting next to him- a Phillies fan.  A crazy one at that.  His wife was pregnant at home on their anniversary.  Guess where this dude was…  I assume there was some sort of compromise for him to get to go to the game.  I also assume I don’t want to know what it was.  I did get to see some good stuff.  Foul balls came back towards us alot.  In every section.  But ours.  How cool would that have been?  First game I see AND I catch a foul ball?  That was also the night Johnny Macchione spilled beer on Victorino.  Classy guy that Johnny Macchione… 

We stayed until the end.  Not many people actually did.  But I wasn’t about to cut the night short.  I was hoping it would work to my advantage- traffic filtering out earlier so that by the time I got onto the road it wouldn’t be too bad.  It didn’t.  We slowly walked back to their street in the mass of disappointed and slightly intoxicated fans.  That’s when we ran into a group of four street performers playing the buckets.  I love the street performers.  We joined the crowd to watch and then Scott told me I should ask to play.  Then he said I should play.  I really wanted to, but was slightly embarrassed.  Those two both know how to push my buttons, so when they used the phrases “once in a lifetime” and “think about the story you’ll have for your first Cubs game”, I was in.  Scott tipped them, Jaime did some sweettalking, and one of the guys jumped up to let me have a seat.  I can’t play the damn bucket to save my life.  I can’t even begin to say how horrible I was.  The guy next to me was pretty nice- showing me how to keep the beat.  I picked up a little bit on that- on and off.  I was laughing so hard that even if I did start picking up the right tempo, it quickly stopped.  Can I blame it on all the beer?

I didn’t make it home until pretty late.  Work the next day was rough.  But worth it.  Even if I looked like a wreck.  All I had to say was “Cubs game” and they understood.  The worst thing was Jaime and I had been offered free tickets to a private Howie Day concert at Aloft hotel by the airport.  I’ll admit, I googled who Howie Day was.  I had no clue.  But I can say, I do know the song “Collide”.  And who can pass up a free show?  We almost did.  The last hour of work was spent weighing pros and cons of going.  But who can pass up a free show?  Even if you do have to google the artist?  So, also for the sake of being “spontaneous” on a pretty summer day, we went.  And I’m glad we did.  It was a nice hotel and we just spent a couple hours lounging around listening to music in a little patio area they had.  It was a small crowd.  So I felt special.  I spent a decent amount of time crushing on a boy and chatting it up with him.  Jaime and I both decided he was worth pursuing.  Wasn’t too happy to find out he had a girlfriend.  Unpleasantly surprised with that one.  But you  live and you learn I guess.  It was a fun hour of butterflies in the stomach.  Dang…  I guess I should have focused my attention on Howie Day instead…  Then again, maybe not.  The next day, a girl at work said he hooked up with a girl from her high school after a concert.  And then they stumble upon a blog about all the “moves” he uses to lure girls onto the tour bus.  What a man whore.

Anyhoo- back to the Cubs game.  I had a great time.  It was cute because Scott’s mom texted him during the game asking if i was enjoying myself.  Loves it!    I want to go again sometime soon.  But I may just wear neutral gray (as to avoid any more hostile comments from my friend Adam).  The End.   

My Feet Hurt. Part Two.

Before we realized my mistake... all smiles!

Laura and I woke up pretty groggy on Saturday morning.  I was a little nervous about how well I’d get through the night…  But I pushed for us to get moving.  I had to stop by the bank to cash a check.  I needed cash for the night- I hate only having a card when you’re at the bar.  It’s a mess and I’ve had issues with tips, cash only, splitting tabs, etc.  Cash was necessary.  So we did that.  Then, I tried to resolve my camera issue.  We ended up at Best Buy.  $40-50 for a new battery or charger (they weren’t sure what was wrong with it).  I said screw that.  I wasn’t even that big of a Casio Exilim fan anyways.  I’m a Canon whore.  I wasn’t about to put more money into a camera that I only kindof liked.  And, the pics were not always the best of quality.  So, on an impulse and last-minute decision, I bought a new camera.  And I love my new Canon Powershot Elph.  LOVE it.  Even though it wasn’t a planned purchase in the budget.  I’m making room.  I’m always that girl who has the camera stored in the purse.  Always.

Then, we looked for food.  We decided we really wanted salad.  Rockit reservations had been made for dinner and we saw the menu and knew what we wanted.  Something light was needed to balance that out.  Laura and I were in desperate search of a salad bar.  And got more and more frustrated as we visited a few grocery stores in the area and couldn’t find one.  Crabbiness set in.  Laura said screw it and went to Subway.  I said screw it and said I could eat something at home.  Both of us were disappointed.  It was one of those times where you really really want something and have your mind made up- and nothing else will satisfy you.  Or at least we thought so.  Laura got us both a cookie at Subway.  That made us feel better.  Working out also made us feel better.  Laura had been sick for a few weeks and hadn’t really been able to hit the gym, so she was reluctant.  I know how it is when you get out of routine, but I dragged her there anyways.  Afterwards, our energy level was way up.  Of course- Amy always knows best…

At 6:00, Annie came over and we were off to the metra stop.  We chatted it up until the guy came through to check/sell tickets.  Crap!  I forgot to put the cash I got out of the bank into my wallet!  ARGH.  What was even the point of going by the bank?!?!  Annie and Laura yelled at me for being upset about it- said I could hit them back if we didn’t pass by an ATM.  I have awesome friends.  So we continued to gossip some more, getting closer to our stop, and then it hit me- I didn’t have my id.  My id that I took out to cash a check at the bank was sitting right next to the cash I forgot.  Fuck.  I was livid.  Pissed!  FURIOUS.  How could I be such a dumbass?  Annie and Laura were much calmer than me.  Annie called The Central (location of my drink special) to see what we could do.  No luck.  But they did say they could delay the start of the special to whenever we showed up.  I called Jaime.  She was at Market Days.  But luckily, that meant she was only down the street from her apartment.  She was wonderful.  And let me borrow her car.  So we made our way to Jaime’s to turn around in her Beetle 10 minutes later.  Back to Arlington Heights we went.  I argued with Laura and Annie.  I wanted them to stay and still go enjoy dinner at Rockit.  Why should they have to suffer another hour of travel because I was the idiot?  But they refused.  I really do have a good circle of girlfriends.  Otherwise, I would have been bitching myself out the entire drive- probably becoming more and more angry with every mile.  But with them it wasn’t so bad.  I didn’t even mind driving Jaime’s little purple metallic beetle… it was a fun little change.

We got back a little before 10:00.  Let the drink special begin!  $25 for three hours- including various liquor that WAS NOT wells… gross.  While we were on the road, I made some calls and had Laura text people on my phone (hey- I was driving!).  I figured I had contacted almost everyone that I knew might be coming.  Success!  Since we missed our delicious meal at Rockit, we decided to eat at The Central.  As soon as we got there we ordered our food.  Starving…  And Annie ran to the bathroom.  She was a trooper and held it for over 45 minutes so we wouldn’t waste time.  I offered to stop, but she refused.  I have wonderful friends.

Annie broke out the brownies she had made for everyone coming.  She had actually broken out one for me earlier while I was in the middle of my panic attack.  They were delicious.  Carmel in the middle… yum!  When we got there, it was still kind of empty, but people started filing in soon enough.

We took up the entire front corner of the bar.  Friends from college… friends from the NW ‘burbs… friends from work… friends of friends…  Quite a few people!  And we had quite a few drinks- more than necessary.  We took it upon ourselves to turn the front corner into a dance floor.  Even my friend chillin’ on Evian decided to get up to a song or two.  Michael Jackson was heavy on the playlist.  Which surprised me- it’s been a month.  We’ve all had our time.  It’s no longer necessary to play him every five songs- as talented as he may be.  But whatever- I was just happy as long as I could sway/jump around to the music. 

My college friends and work friends seemed to play nicely together.  Luckily, no stories leaked.    Or at least none that I’m aware of…

Pretty much everything went well.  The manager even came up to me at one point and bought a crazy amount of shots for everyone because of the ordeal we dealt with.  Which was funny- because really, it was my fault.  But I thought that was nice.  And he was nice looking.  A winning combination.  My only problem came near the end.  Apparently the bartenders got a little rude to some of us kids with wristbands.  And they cut the drink special a little early.  Apparently the phrase “party’s over” was used right before my friend Annie was walked away from.  I wasn’t aware that was going on- or I probably would have insisted we leave and go to a different bar after the end of the drink special.  People kept coming up to me asking- and I said we should just stay.  There were way too many people to try to gather and move from one location to another.  So we stayed until around 3:00.  Not too many people complained.  The Central is a pretty fun bar.  Music choice is a very random one.  A few times I made eye contact with people and we had looks of, “Is this really…?  Seriously?  Omg, I forgot about this song…. and it has a beat to it…  interesting…”

Annie’s fantastic husband, Steve, had joined us after he was done with work and offered to take us home.  So after the lights went on and we all started getting herded out the door, we walked to his car.  Which, in stillettos, is quite a hike.  Usually I don’t mind.  Usually, the drinks take care of the pain.  But Laura and I did our massive walking tour the night before, ran around doing errands, worked out, and danced for hours- my feet were done.  But I didn’t say a damn thing.  I was grateful for the ride and wasn’t going to whine.  But once I sat in the car, I sighed a sigh of relief.  My feet were crying on the inside. 

One last test of endurance came when we pulled up to my apartment door.  There was a skunk.  Laura and I had to run.  We were not skunked.  But it killed my poor feet…

It turned out to be a good night.  I have wonderful friends.  Maybe being 24 won’t be so bad?

Who’s the Boss here?

Saturday plans (for my birthday) started out innocent enough.  We were going to a restaurant with a view on State street, then Venetian Nights (which I am a little sad I missed out on- but I’ll catch it next year).  Then, my friend called.  He was in town for his other friend’s birthday and wondered if Jessica and I wanted to do dinner and drinks.  I informed him it was my birthday weekend and I had visitors from out of town.  He said to invite them, too- the more the merrier.  Imagine how excited I was when he said our reservations were at ZED 451- I had seen this place on one of my many days playing around on metromix.  It looked crazy good…

We decided to take the Metra down again.  Sarah and Beth were really becoming pros- they had taken it down on Friday while I was at work and had spent another day exploring the city.  Lucky them- their teacher discounts got them a long way!  We arrived at Ogilvie and I had decided well before we got there we would cab it to our destination- we were all in heels and walking from bus stop to bus stop would not be ideal.  Lets be realistic about that one.

Our reservations weren’t until 8:15, and we got there pretty early.  From deductive reasoning, I assumed the drinks at ZED 451 would be a little pricey, so we decided to stop in the little pub a couple doors down and have one there as we waited.  Everyone else arrived shortly, and we joined them on the rooftop of the restaurant for a drink or two.  Then on to dinner… yummy.  I loved it.  Especially all the different selections of food to choose from- I had a little of everything!  My favorite had to be the salmon (not surprising).  We took our time with dinner and drinks there- it was good to catch up with my friend and for everyone to get to know each other.  The restaurant called a little party bus for us to ride to Crobar- the next destination. 

The Four-Man Wolf Pack for the Night!

Our driver got a little lost.  It was unfortunate.  But we took it all in stride.  As soon as we got to Crobar, we didn’t even wait for the bottle service to be set up.  16 shots were ordered.  Catching up was necessary.  On most nights, Crobar wouldn’t be my scene.  But Sarah and Beth really wanted to dance.  And the dance floor was a good one.  And I kind of liked it- it was my birthday and I was in a festive mood.  Although I made sure to stay close to where the bottles of Grey Goose were located. 

Underground was our next stop.  And our driver didn’t get lost this time.  But we were all winding down.  It had been a long night.  And there was a large group of us in a somewhat small and crowded space.  We didn’t last long there until it was time to go.  My friend had insisted on getting us a room at the hotel he was staying at so we wouldn’t have to leave early to catch the last metra home.  Us girls didn’t mind at all.  The Park Hyatt is gorgeous.

Once we got there, Jessica and I decided to take a trip out of the hotel to pick up some goodies.  We found a Walgreens across the street.  And we found what we were looking for and so much more.  We sat by a fountain across from the hotel chowing down on M&M’s and watching people walk by.  Two guys approached us looking for the  boss.  I told them I was unaware Rick Ross was in town for the weekend.  They didn’t get it.  I’m glad they stopped to chat.  Jessica and I made them take pictures for us.  Who knew you’d get a good shot not full of people on Michigan Avenue at 3:00 in the morning?

The next morning came too quickly for all of us.  The night had been harder on us than we originally anticipated.  Before we made the trip back to Arlington Heights, we had breakfast at Nomi, the restaurant inside the hotel.  Maybe a poor decision on our part- we were all still dressed in what we had worn the night before (we hadn’t planned on staying downtown!).  Stares were inevitable.  Everyone else looked classy.  And showered.  And possibly ready for church.  We were none of these things.  I did, however, appreciate the breakfast.  The perfect ending to my birthday night out.  I love bacon that much…

The cab took us back out to the ‘burbs so Sarah and Beth could shower and pack up their stuff.  There wasn’t much downtime until we were on the road again to drop them off at the airport.  When they got here on Wednesday, they said they wanted the real Chicago experience and to have a weekend of letting loose.  I think they got it.