Thursday, 20 October 2011
Day 93 - Living Single
I watched the funniest episode of Living Single this morning! It was the one where Regine is dating the father and son, and Kyle agrees to help the others in the stock market. Since I had to be at work at 12:00, I was not late today. I thought that my thick sweater and scarf would be enough protection against the cold and wind, but I was mistaken. Not only was my umberella flipped inside out, my forehead was throbbing like I had been hit with a hammer. Walking to work was not as bad as walking home which was East, right into the weather madness. I don't know why the wind is so angry, but it is.
Day 92 - Best Optometrist
I have not seen my glasses in 21 days, so I decided that I needed to get another pair. I made an appointment at Wal-Mart and headed out there this morning
Day 91 - Overslept
I was about an hour late for work this morning, because I overslept. I called as soon as I woke up, but when I got there, no one really seemed to notice.
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
Day 90 - Going with the Flow
For Lauren's last day in Chicago, we woke up late and packed the car, just in case the day ran long, she could still get to the airport in time. Lauren (roommate) made too much food for breakfast, we reaped the benefits of eggs, sausage and banana pancakes. Our first stop was the Pilsen Market. Lauren and I were both expecting a Chicago version of Camden Market in London. Some food, arts, crafts and fashion would have been nice, but I guess it was too late in the day and too cold inside to warrant all that. The "market" had about 6 vendors, alongside the fresh produce and homemade jam, it looked like people were selling the contents of a less than fashionable old lady's attic.
We stayed there for about 10 minutes and then drove to Michigan Avenue to check out some more stores. I took Lauren to TopShop, H&M and the mall at Water Tower Place. We each found some pieces that we couldn't live without. We shared some Aunt Annie's pretzel sticks, and then decided to check out the Hancock Observatory, which was the next building over. We didn't want to spend the 15 dollars to go to the top, so we walked down the street to take pictures near the water where Michigan Ave crosses Wacker Dr, over the Chicago River. On our way we stopped at an architecture tour in the Chicago Tribune building. The tour was free and we were guided through the lobby and up to the executive offices on the 25th floor. The view was cool and we learned how gang rivalries and city politics played out in the actual building as well as within the paper.
Afterwards we took our pictures and realized that we needed to head back to the car. When we got there, I drove Lauren to O'Hare and we had our goodbyes. I found an old cassette in my glove compartment, so the ride home in all of the traffic was not as bad as it could have been. I made it home in time for the Amazing Race.
We stayed there for about 10 minutes and then drove to Michigan Avenue to check out some more stores. I took Lauren to TopShop, H&M and the mall at Water Tower Place. We each found some pieces that we couldn't live without. We shared some Aunt Annie's pretzel sticks, and then decided to check out the Hancock Observatory, which was the next building over. We didn't want to spend the 15 dollars to go to the top, so we walked down the street to take pictures near the water where Michigan Ave crosses Wacker Dr, over the Chicago River. On our way we stopped at an architecture tour in the Chicago Tribune building. The tour was free and we were guided through the lobby and up to the executive offices on the 25th floor. The view was cool and we learned how gang rivalries and city politics played out in the actual building as well as within the paper.
Afterwards we took our pictures and realized that we needed to head back to the car. When we got there, I drove Lauren to O'Hare and we had our goodbyes. I found an old cassette in my glove compartment, so the ride home in all of the traffic was not as bad as it could have been. I made it home in time for the Amazing Race.
Monday, 17 October 2011
Day 89 - All Smiles
We managed to wake up by 9:00 because we wanted to go out for breakfast. When we got to Yolk, in the South Loop, we had to wait 45 minutes to be seated. I was seriously doubting why we were sitting in the cold for this food, when there were 15 other restaurants in the area, but Lauren encouraged me to stick to the course. When I did see the menu, I was not disappointed, after much deliberation, I chose the "When in Rome" omelet, with mozzarella cheese, tomatoes and spinach. Lauren had strawberry crepes, they were good too. From there, we decided to leave my car and catch a bus back to Hyde Park to visit the Museum of Science and Industry. Unfortunately, the number 10 bus did not want to come for 30 minutes, so we went back to the car and drove to the museum.
I had been to this museum once before in 2007 with my mom, so I was excited to go again. This time, there were traveling exhibits surrounding Dr. Seuss and another called the Smart House. We decided to tour the Smart House, which is a 2-3000 square foot house that has been designed with the best of sustainable and eco-friendly materials and processes. It is all about recycling, reducing and reusing. For example, there were solar panels and a wind turbine that generated energy for the house. The windows were double and triple paned to better insulate the house. Water from the washing machine is recycled into the toilet water, the furniture is made of old tires and the kitchen cabinets are old chemistry closets from the university. Our tour guide was Milo, and he was so excited about the house, it was contagious, Lauren and I are thinking about how we can split the cost of a compost machine and share it across states. After the tour we wandered through the museum's permanent exhibits. We strapped in for a brainwaves contest, and I won. The headbands measured brain waves and that pushes a ball across the table. The person who is the most relaxed will be able to "push" the ball into the goal at the end of the table. Alot of people were watching us which made Lauren anxious, I cleared my mind and beat her in less than 5 minutes! We also looked at the genetically modified chicken, the airplane exhibit and the human body, rooms. All of the exhibits were hands-on and read and touched as many things as any kid that might have been a third of our age.
After the museum, we went home to relax before we would back downtown for dinner and dancing. We wound up watching Vh1's Top 100 songs of the 00's. Beyonce's Crazy in Love was number one. I put on one of my new dresses and Lauren let me borrow her black wedges. Lauren was just as fabulous in her new dress and tall boots. We drove to Cafe Iberico for tapas and sangria. Lauren and I had both been here before and were excited to get to the garlic shrimp and patatas bravas. The place was crowded and we had to wait 45 minutes to be seated. We ate and drank with joy. Marvin met us at the restaurant after a couple of hours and bought us dessert. Lauren and him had easy conversation and I could not stop smiling. Here I am a thousand miles away from "home" and feeling as loved and accepted as can be. Sometimes I feel cold and distant, but if I can count these two beautiful souls as friends, I must be doing something right. After a little while we left the restaurant and I told Marvin that we were going to paint the town on Lauren's last night in the city. He buttoned my coat, gave us a few ideas and told us to be careful, then we parted ways.
Lauren and I headed towards Division Avenue to find some bars/clubs. We wound up at The Hunt Club, which was packed and the DJ was playing the techno hits. We went upstairs to get drinks and check the place out. Within 15 minutes, we were approached by some suspicious looking characters. The shorter one asked if he could buy me a drink, I said no thank you. He stood next to us and started talking anyway. Wandi is from Cape Town, South Africa and he is here with the UniverSoul circus. What! He brought over his fellow acrobats and the Russians from the high flying trapeze act. I told them that the show was great, but they all got real quiet when I asked them about free tickets to Sunday's show. Lauren wandered off to talk to someone else and when Wandi and I disagreed about the negative impact of smoking, I escaped to the ladies room. When I got back to the bar, Ashley from Ohio bumped into me and insisted on buying me a shot in order to make up for it. Sure, chocolate cake shots for everyone! Ashley was out for her birthday with her friends Shrey and Vikram. We shared alot of laughs, they were so friendly! Lauren joined me we decided to migrate downstairs. She introduced me to some Czech guys that she met earlier, which was interesting.
We left the Hunt Club and walked across the street to another bar, but refused to pay a cover and kept on walking. By this time, the shoes were hurting my feet were! I just wanted to sit down somewhere. Lauren had her phone with the maps and insisted that another great club was right around the corner, I love her but I couldn't walk another block. I started walking towards the car, and she came with me reluctantly. On the street we ran into CanoPuerto Rico. We tried to ask them for directions, but they only spoke Spanish, and of course whenever I drink I am fluent in Spanish. Something about reduced inhibitions brings all of that high school Spanish straight to my brain. I was talking and translating, they offered to give us a ride and to their dismay, we had to say no. We met another guy in the street, while he was talking some women drove by and shouted, "don't do it girl, he already got 3 baby mamas". He swore he had no idea who they were, riiight. We finally made it to the car, by now it is 4:45 and we want McDonalds! We were waiting in the drive-thru line when an employee came out and switched the regular menu with the breakfast menu. We were upset, egg mcmuffins are not an adequate substitute for chicken mcnuggets. We just ordered juice and coffee and headed home. This night is definitely going in the hall of fame, top night!
I had been to this museum once before in 2007 with my mom, so I was excited to go again. This time, there were traveling exhibits surrounding Dr. Seuss and another called the Smart House. We decided to tour the Smart House, which is a 2-3000 square foot house that has been designed with the best of sustainable and eco-friendly materials and processes. It is all about recycling, reducing and reusing. For example, there were solar panels and a wind turbine that generated energy for the house. The windows were double and triple paned to better insulate the house. Water from the washing machine is recycled into the toilet water, the furniture is made of old tires and the kitchen cabinets are old chemistry closets from the university. Our tour guide was Milo, and he was so excited about the house, it was contagious, Lauren and I are thinking about how we can split the cost of a compost machine and share it across states. After the tour we wandered through the museum's permanent exhibits. We strapped in for a brainwaves contest, and I won. The headbands measured brain waves and that pushes a ball across the table. The person who is the most relaxed will be able to "push" the ball into the goal at the end of the table. Alot of people were watching us which made Lauren anxious, I cleared my mind and beat her in less than 5 minutes! We also looked at the genetically modified chicken, the airplane exhibit and the human body, rooms. All of the exhibits were hands-on and read and touched as many things as any kid that might have been a third of our age.
After the museum, we went home to relax before we would back downtown for dinner and dancing. We wound up watching Vh1's Top 100 songs of the 00's. Beyonce's Crazy in Love was number one. I put on one of my new dresses and Lauren let me borrow her black wedges. Lauren was just as fabulous in her new dress and tall boots. We drove to Cafe Iberico for tapas and sangria. Lauren and I had both been here before and were excited to get to the garlic shrimp and patatas bravas. The place was crowded and we had to wait 45 minutes to be seated. We ate and drank with joy. Marvin met us at the restaurant after a couple of hours and bought us dessert. Lauren and him had easy conversation and I could not stop smiling. Here I am a thousand miles away from "home" and feeling as loved and accepted as can be. Sometimes I feel cold and distant, but if I can count these two beautiful souls as friends, I must be doing something right. After a little while we left the restaurant and I told Marvin that we were going to paint the town on Lauren's last night in the city. He buttoned my coat, gave us a few ideas and told us to be careful, then we parted ways.
Lauren and I headed towards Division Avenue to find some bars/clubs. We wound up at The Hunt Club, which was packed and the DJ was playing the techno hits. We went upstairs to get drinks and check the place out. Within 15 minutes, we were approached by some suspicious looking characters. The shorter one asked if he could buy me a drink, I said no thank you. He stood next to us and started talking anyway. Wandi is from Cape Town, South Africa and he is here with the UniverSoul circus. What! He brought over his fellow acrobats and the Russians from the high flying trapeze act. I told them that the show was great, but they all got real quiet when I asked them about free tickets to Sunday's show. Lauren wandered off to talk to someone else and when Wandi and I disagreed about the negative impact of smoking, I escaped to the ladies room. When I got back to the bar, Ashley from Ohio bumped into me and insisted on buying me a shot in order to make up for it. Sure, chocolate cake shots for everyone! Ashley was out for her birthday with her friends Shrey and Vikram. We shared alot of laughs, they were so friendly! Lauren joined me we decided to migrate downstairs. She introduced me to some Czech guys that she met earlier, which was interesting.
We left the Hunt Club and walked across the street to another bar, but refused to pay a cover and kept on walking. By this time, the shoes were hurting my feet were! I just wanted to sit down somewhere. Lauren had her phone with the maps and insisted that another great club was right around the corner, I love her but I couldn't walk another block. I started walking towards the car, and she came with me reluctantly. On the street we ran into CanoPuerto Rico. We tried to ask them for directions, but they only spoke Spanish, and of course whenever I drink I am fluent in Spanish. Something about reduced inhibitions brings all of that high school Spanish straight to my brain. I was talking and translating, they offered to give us a ride and to their dismay, we had to say no. We met another guy in the street, while he was talking some women drove by and shouted, "don't do it girl, he already got 3 baby mamas". He swore he had no idea who they were, riiight. We finally made it to the car, by now it is 4:45 and we want McDonalds! We were waiting in the drive-thru line when an employee came out and switched the regular menu with the breakfast menu. We were upset, egg mcmuffins are not an adequate substitute for chicken mcnuggets. We just ordered juice and coffee and headed home. This night is definitely going in the hall of fame, top night!
Sunday, 16 October 2011
Day 88 - Vintage Shopping
Lauren and I got up bright and early to get the day started. We ate breakfast, cleaned up and headed toward the bus stop. We knew that we would have to take the bus, a green train and a blue train to get to the shopping district that we had read about. Wicker Park and Bucktown are neighborhoods in the western side of the city and they have an amazing assortment of vintage and thrift stores/boutiques. We must have walked through 10 different stores. I found a grey cardigan with buttons of varying sizes, it sounds crazy but it is my new favorite piece of clothing. I found a couple of dresses and a hat, all for much cheaper than mainstream stores. Lauren also went a little crazy and bought more than a few dresses and pairs of earrings. The icing on the cake is that all of the stuff is unique and bargain priced, there is no better thrill.
We had lunch at a Mexican dive restaurant. My carne asada burrito was not bad, not as good as Filiberto's in Phoenix, but it was okay. We continued to shop in an Aldo shoe outlet, an army surplus store and a giant wig/hat store. It was so cool to hand out with a like minded person. If either of us saw a store that piqued an interest, the other one agreed to go inside and check it out. More than once, I went into a store that I had no initial interest in and came out with a purchase. The turning point of our trip was our stop in the Verizon store. Lauren has been eyeing the iPhone 4S, and she seized the moment to upgrade her phone. I was happy for her because we can share iPhone tales, and because her old phone was a brick, it was time for her to join the smart phone revolution. From that moment on, I had to exercise patience while she checked and double checked directions and customer reviews for anything that we thought about doing.
We rested for a few moments and had a cocktail in a Wicker Park bar before heading back to Hyde Park. Our plan was to get back, order some pizza, relax and get ready for a late night out in the city. The trains were fine, but we wound up waiting for a bus for about 45 minutes, less than 2 miles from my place, it was pretty frustrating. We ordered the pizza and then took real naps. By the time that the food arrived, we felt better and went through the beautifying rituals. It was fun playing with make-up and swapping techniques on getting the best out of our equally curly hair styles. Lauren (roommate) suggested a few places for us to check out, but we decided to go another direction. We drove around on the north side for a few minutes but nothing looked good, so we went downtown.
I parked and we walked over to Excalibur. The people inside were very eclectic, we got in for free, and through the mist and laser lights, we sipped our little cocktails and looked around. After 45 minutes, we walked down the street and check out a few other more low key bars. We started to text each other instead of talking because it was so noisy. Nothing of consequence happened, it was just nice to be out and about with one of my best friends. Last call at the last bar that we went to was 4:00 AM, and we left right around 3:30. In any other circumstance, I might have been in a coma like level of sleepiness but I could barely sleep in anticipation for what tomorrow would bring.
We had lunch at a Mexican dive restaurant. My carne asada burrito was not bad, not as good as Filiberto's in Phoenix, but it was okay. We continued to shop in an Aldo shoe outlet, an army surplus store and a giant wig/hat store. It was so cool to hand out with a like minded person. If either of us saw a store that piqued an interest, the other one agreed to go inside and check it out. More than once, I went into a store that I had no initial interest in and came out with a purchase. The turning point of our trip was our stop in the Verizon store. Lauren has been eyeing the iPhone 4S, and she seized the moment to upgrade her phone. I was happy for her because we can share iPhone tales, and because her old phone was a brick, it was time for her to join the smart phone revolution. From that moment on, I had to exercise patience while she checked and double checked directions and customer reviews for anything that we thought about doing.
We rested for a few moments and had a cocktail in a Wicker Park bar before heading back to Hyde Park. Our plan was to get back, order some pizza, relax and get ready for a late night out in the city. The trains were fine, but we wound up waiting for a bus for about 45 minutes, less than 2 miles from my place, it was pretty frustrating. We ordered the pizza and then took real naps. By the time that the food arrived, we felt better and went through the beautifying rituals. It was fun playing with make-up and swapping techniques on getting the best out of our equally curly hair styles. Lauren (roommate) suggested a few places for us to check out, but we decided to go another direction. We drove around on the north side for a few minutes but nothing looked good, so we went downtown.
I parked and we walked over to Excalibur. The people inside were very eclectic, we got in for free, and through the mist and laser lights, we sipped our little cocktails and looked around. After 45 minutes, we walked down the street and check out a few other more low key bars. We started to text each other instead of talking because it was so noisy. Nothing of consequence happened, it was just nice to be out and about with one of my best friends. Last call at the last bar that we went to was 4:00 AM, and we left right around 3:30. In any other circumstance, I might have been in a coma like level of sleepiness but I could barely sleep in anticipation for what tomorrow would bring.
Thursday, 13 October 2011
Day 87 - Breakfast Feast
Finally a day off! I slept in until 9:30 and woke up to a call from Marvin. He wanted to meet me for breakfast. I told him that I needed to follow up on a few things and do laundry, plus it was raining, I didn't really want to leave the house. He said, no worries, I'll bring it to you! Who can say no to that. An hour later, I had the most decadent breakfast ever. Pancakes, French toast with blueberries, turkey sausage, veggie omelette, roasted potatoes, raisin bagel, corned beef and hash, and every condiment known to man. We shared everything, and some good conversation. I gave him a tour of the house and introduced him to Simba and Misty. He seemed a little thrown by the cat on the countertop (just like my aunt) but he said it was a small sacrifice for such a nice place.
My afternoon was full of laundry and Judge Judy. I had planned to follow up with some of the repositories that I want to learn more about, but I took a nap instead. By the time I caught up on my blog and put my laundry away, Lauren was home. We had a relatively good chat about her realizing the futility of chasing men, and she was going to be open to finding someone better for herself. At the same time, she wants to have a baby, so the "one" needs to come along very soon. Some things that I don't understand...I don't mind being a sounding board. I haven't told her about Marvin, I suppose I will have to eventually, but it is nice to have my little secret. Lauren made kale with ham and garlic, and gracioulsy shared it with me, it was pretty good. We watched Grey's Anatomy together and now I'm debating when to leave to pick Lauren (friend) up from the airport. Her flight out of Phoenix was delayed, so she should be here around 11:30..can't wait for the fun to begin!
My afternoon was full of laundry and Judge Judy. I had planned to follow up with some of the repositories that I want to learn more about, but I took a nap instead. By the time I caught up on my blog and put my laundry away, Lauren was home. We had a relatively good chat about her realizing the futility of chasing men, and she was going to be open to finding someone better for herself. At the same time, she wants to have a baby, so the "one" needs to come along very soon. Some things that I don't understand...I don't mind being a sounding board. I haven't told her about Marvin, I suppose I will have to eventually, but it is nice to have my little secret. Lauren made kale with ham and garlic, and gracioulsy shared it with me, it was pretty good. We watched Grey's Anatomy together and now I'm debating when to leave to pick Lauren (friend) up from the airport. Her flight out of Phoenix was delayed, so she should be here around 11:30..can't wait for the fun to begin!