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Valerie's 100 in 2007:
35 36 down...a million to go...
7. Stand up at my sister's wedding
27. See the Kurt Halsey Art Show at DVA
40. Go to free movies in the Grant Park
66. Develop a good "5 year plan"
- I don't know if it's good, or if it's a plan, but it is what it is.
73. Go golfing (at least to a driving range)
81. Visit a state I have never been to
Ohio!
100. Freddy's Pizza in Cicero (Chicago Mag voted it Best Gelato in the city)
Substitutions:
So, I made plans to go white water rafting on October 12...and this happens to be the date of both Around the Coyote AND the Music Box Massacre:( So, alas, I will not be able to attend either. I believe it is unfair to not be able to cross these off because I will be out of town doing something even more dangerous and fun, so I am allowing a couple of substitutions (it's my list so I give myself permission)...
34. Go to Around the Coyote
This will now be substituted with
34. Go to the Renegade Craft Fair
35. Go to the Music Box Theatre - Music Box Massacre
This will now be substituted with
35. See a movie at midnight opening night
Oh look! I already did that! :) I went to see the Simpsons at midnight when it came out :) so...
35. See a movie at midnight opening night
:-)
Dear homeless people,
Please do not beg me to give you money with a Starbucks cup.
McDonald's would be OK.
Love,
Val
***
Dear hotlinkers,
Please do not hotlink images from my site.
It is a shady thing to do.
If you do I will change the photos to this. (nsfw)
Love,
Val
p.s. that image is used when I am being nice.
p.p.s. No Rob, I do not want to see worse pictures I could use.
***
Speaking of Starbucks...girl just gave me a pumpkin latte with no espresso in it. It's just warm pumpkin milk. :(
Yeahyeah, it's time for "Val frets about her future" post.
This time, though I have made a decision. And that decision is that there is no way I will ever decide, so I just have to pursue everything. I have to just stop putting off taking steps towards whatever I want to do and just start taking steps towards everything. :) :(
I have decided that I am going to be a writer/web designer/photographer. I am also going to be a food stylist, but that is only in conjunction with the photography and web design. And maybe an editor, just 'cause.
Thing is that I like my job. And I think it is just going to get better and better over the years. But at the same time I want more freedom to travel and set my own hours and not put on pants if I don't want to...
So, here are the steps I plan to take over the next five years (You'll probably better off not wasting your time reading this)...
Writing
In a few months I will have my Masters Degree in writing. What does that mean? Absolutely nothing. I don't plan on taking any more formal classes in writing. I will continue to keep my eye out on things though and hopefully take a seminar or two in young adult fiction and memoirs (hopefully in another country...) I also plan to actually try to get some things published.
Steps:
- Work on essays and short stories.
- Work on them some more.
- Research markets.
- Send them out to magazines and journals.
- Get rejected.
- Hopefully some day get published.
- Continue to work on the memoir/novel.
- Research agents.
- After gaining some publishing experience and having a finished, polished draft, send out to agents.
- Pray that all my hard work pays off.
Photography
Every other day someone tells me that I should be a photographer. That I should hone my skills, try to show at galleries, or be a wedding/pet/anything else photographer. Truthfully (as if you couldn't tell already) photography is one of those things that I love to do and have consistantly loved and never gotten tired of for a long long time now. So yeah, it probably is time that I started to take it more seriously and see where it takes me. Even if I don't make a career out of it, I can probably make a nice side job or at least just really nice prints :) I looked around and think I might check out this place: The Chicago Photography Center". They have a free 1.5 hour intoduction and then a few classes. Ideally I'd like to really study it, like at the program at Columbia College...but I will most likely never have the time or money or pacience to get another Bachelors Degree
Steps:
- Take the free intro session at the Chicago Photography Center.
- Take begginning/intermediate/advanced classes in photography.
- ??? I don't know exactly where I'll go from there. But I will definietly go somewhere.
Web Design
Web Design is another passion. But really, I don't know what I'm doing. I need to hone up on my HTML/CSS/Dreamweaver skills. I need to learn some languages that will make my sites more functional (java, php, mysql...). I need to really learn all Photoshop, etc. have to offer so I can create better images. I love the web editing I do now, but I'd like to do more...
Steps:
- The first step is to brush up and really master the basics: HTML and CSS. I know the basics but really need to learn them. THe good news is that I think I will be able to swing taking some of these classes on my company's bill and even during a work day for professional development.
- The next step is learning things that will build off of that, like php, mysql, java, photoshop, flash. All of those I know the basics of, but again, I'd like to be more advanced in them.
- Hopefully at this point, between honing my skills and gaining experience at Lyric, I'll be able to really start looking into working on freelance projects.
- From there I want to start learning even more advanced applications to create really amazingly awesome and functional websites.
Culinary Arts
So I have always loved to cook. I don't want to be a chef or a baker or anything though. But I would like to incorporate my love of food into my career. If you haven't already noticed, I love to take photos of my food. This got me to thinking that I could have a specialty of creating websites for restaurants, and could be a one stop shop of creating the website and also styling and photographing the food. I also would like to tone my basic culinary skills.
Steps:
- Go through a certificate program in the basics of culinary arts
- Attend the 2-day session on food styling at the New School
- Attend the 7-day food styling course offered in Chicago.
(this may be more of a longer-term thing, and not right away)
Editing
I don't really have a plan for editing, except as it being a supplement to my other work...and something that can be done freelance. I am going to start apllying for editing tests for computer manuals. We'll see how that goes :)
So, this is my massive 5-year plan. If you read this far I'd be shocked. I guess it's not really a 5-year plan since I don't have any timelines or anything like that...It's more like a bunch of goals Val has that will hopefully make her get off her butt and do stuff so she eventually won't have to do stuff anymore. But I say this is official.
We'll see how this goes.
Wish me luck...
1. Whose bright idea was it for me to take the train home after work and immediately turn around and drive back to the city?
2. I finally made it to the Chicago Outdoor Film Festival for the last movie of the year: Sound of Music with JoeW and Meredith (by "with" I mean I saw it with them, not that they were starring in the film).
3. Meredith makes good curry chicken salad. JoeW is a dork.
4. There is no better setting for a movie that in front of the Chicago Skyline (minus the drunk idiots).
5. I got lost ON LAKE SHORE DRIVE. How in the hell is that possible? The entrance to 55 just disappeared. I swear.
6. If you exit LSD in Hyde Park you are taken immediately into an apartment complex parking lot. I swear that too.
So yesterday, Scotty finally got me pinned down on his mattress and on my hands and knees in the bedroom...
OK, so maybe they accidentally smushed me against the wall while moving the mattress and I was vacuuming and cleaning spider webs off the baseboards of his bedroom...but still...
:-)
So, I spent most of yesterday carrying val-sized objects (mostly pillows and the drawers of the big furniture) to Scott's truck and forming the number one Polish cleaning service in the midwest with Cynthia. Now Scott's apartment is empty, his truck is packed, and he is on his way to Seattle. :-( I'll miss you Scotty McHotty!!!!
(of course, I am happy that I now have an excuse to visit my dream city: the land of rain, coffee, seafood, and grungy boys!)
My day on Saturday ended up with me putting 180 miles on my car without leaving a 20-mile radius of my house, seeing people I haven't seen in a while, people I've never met before, and someone I know I won't see again for a long time...
Charlie
First up was the Benton House Meme festival to see Mr. CharlieD. I haven't seen Charlie in a while (after not seeing him in a ridiculously long while) so when he said he was showing some of his art at Bosley Park, I was there.
I headed over there around 11:30...When I got there it looked kind of empty and small, and I thought maybe I got the time wrong and got there while they were still setting up, but it was just a very small festival.
There was some live music and a puppet show and a few artists. And I talked to Charlie and Jeff and force-fed Charlie a Twinkie because he was hungry. And then the puppet show booth collapsed and while I was worried and crying that the puppets were still inside and might have died, Charlie was hoping they did :( meanie.
MORE PICTURES FROM THE FESTIVAL HERE!
Scott
Around 2 I had to leave because it was time for the Whatever Annual Scott and Ken BBQ. I got to the yK house (home of MattyK, BobbyK, and ChrissyK) a few after 3 (I tried my damndest to be late) and KarryK opened the door...
Kari: Mathew's not here
Me: I know...is Scott here?
Kari: Scott?
Me: He said that he's having a bbq here.
Kari: Oh, yeah, I just found out about that.
So I arrived to the house and Kari was the only one there and hadn't even known that there was going to be a bbq thrown by people who don't live at that house at that house. Oh wells. So I called up Scott and he was on his way and chatted with Kari who just got her license but does not yet own two cars (she must be adopted).
Scott finally came (yay!) and then KennyK (who doesn't actually live at the yK house) and Becca...then Andy and Rob and Cynthia and her boyfriend who I always forget his name when I sit down to type.
Scotty is leaving today to live in Seattle, so it was his going away party :( tears.
The BBQ was superfun, but alas I had to leave after a few hours (and NO BBQ!) and head back to the city...
MORE PICTURES FROM THE BBQ HERE!
Kurt
I've been a fan of Kurt Halsey for about two years. I love his art (see the index page of my website to see the picture he drew of me after I won a livejournal redesign contest for his fan community). It's not necessarily "complex" work, but it's cute and emotional, and pretty much sums me up as a person (so I guess by that theory it is way too complex...). So, when about a year ago, I found out that he was going to be showing at a gallery in Chicago, I marked my calendar right away.
I've passed by the gallery in Lincoln Park a few times before but had never been in. But now I braved hectic Bears traffic and LPParking (I actually found a plum spot just two blocks down the street!!!) and headed for DVA Gallery.
When I got there I heard that Kurt's plane had just landed and that he'd be there shortly. It gave me some time to wander, mingle, and check out the art!
It was a 2-person show with Kurt and Julie West (there are some pics of Julie West stuff in my photo gallery, it was pretty nice stuff!). I loved the Kurt work (fortunately, as I cannot afford it, there was nothing I felt I needed to buy...and as much as I kind of wanted to...I didn't want to buy something just to have it). It was really interesting to see it all so close and in person. You notice so much more detail and can read the words and really see the linework.
Finally Kurt arrived and attracted himself a nice crowd. I waited in line to meet him. He recognized me! I had sent him pics when he drew me and it was awesome that he remembered me from those! It was awesome to meet him in person and he seemed smaller and quieter than I expected him to be. I didn't bring anything with me but he was nice enough to sign a postcard and take a picture. H really is a great artist and a great guy who is so nice to his fans. It was great to meet him and check out his work up close!
Since I was heading back to the burbs anyways I offered up a ride to a girl I met since she lived in Downers (and when I asked she told me she was not an ax murdered...it's always good to check these things out)...
MORE PICTURES FROM THE ART GALLERY HERE!
Scott (again)
Since I was then already in Downers I called up Scott and he said they were still at the yK house so I headed back there to catch the end of the Bears game (which wasn't even a real game...)
Afterwards we played some guitar hero...
Me (trying to adjust the strap on the guitar): I can never figure these things out. Am I making the strap shorter or longer?
Rob: But isn't that how bra straps work?
Me: Yes, and that is why my bra is always either way too loose or way too tight.
I did OK on my easy version on Cherry Pie with Rob...then later I went with ChrissyK (after he showed me that I was holding the guitar all wrong) and totally sucked it up. We were playing some song called Jessica (which apparently is the theme song to Top Gear?) and for the first part of it he was carrying the entire song because I missed almost every note and the game finally stopped us completely...twice. After that I was kicked out and KennyK took over for me. But then I went back and did Chris (semi-)proud by at least getting through the next two songs :)
Then everyone started leaving and Scott started gaming, so it was time to go home.
On the way home I managed to totally get lost (I wasn't paying attention and thought the I55N entrance was the S entrance and didn't feel like turning around, so I just continued on random streets until I finally hit the street I needed), heard a dance remix of Hey There Delilah, and almost hit a deer.
(p.s. the three links for photos go to different photo galleries)
"what's in the basket? Easter Eggs?"
"What's in the basket?"
"clothes."
"what's in the basket? Easter Eggs?"
"What's in the basket?"
"clothes."
"what's in the basket? Easter Eggs?"
"What's in the basket?"
"clothes."
This is stuck in my head. Seriously, that snippet of conversation is completely stuck in my head and just repeats and I will never get rid of it. Why? Because I watched "Basket Case" last night and I threw the DVD in while I was still working on something else. So, the opening screen, which played those snippets of dialogue over and over, was on for a good ten minutes in the background...
p.s. if you have never seen Basket Case (you may have, it was a horror night movie once upon a time) watch it. It is awesome.
More news:
- Jane Magazine has ceased publication. They are trying to shove Glamour down my throat. It stopped being good when Jane left anyways I guess. :(
- I cried at a car commercial yesterday. I mean actual sad weepy tears.
- The people who run the metra are morons sometimes.
- I bit off all my nails.
- I saw a woman at McDonalds complaining that all the iced coffee is just regular coffee poured into a glass of ice. (mind you, she wasn't even paying for this coffee, she had a free coupon). Seriously lady, it's McDonalds. What did you expect, a magic iced coffee cow???
- I just took four hours to make a batch of homemade twinkies...and probably spent about eight times what a box would have cost. But I have homemade twinkies :)
- I bought a DePaul sweatshirt today because it was pink...later I looked at the tag and it says it is red :(
Every time Rob starts a fantasy baseball team he posts all of their pics in his blog. I am following suit. Here is my 2007 Fantasy Competitive Eating Team!!! (yes, they have a fantasy competitive eating league...and yes I found four other people to join with me! I love my friends!!!)
Joey Chestnut
Currently the number one ranked competitive eater, having beaten Kobayashi on the Fourth of July hot dog competition. Also kind of cute :)
Bob Shoudt
#7 ranked eater. He is a vegetarian and will only eat meat in sanctioned competitions.
Dale Boone
#16 ranked competitive eater...maybe. Looks like he may have left ifoce, which means I am totally screwed on this pic. Damnit! Time to trade for whatever is left. Claims to be a direct descendent of Daniel Boone. (fuck it, I dropped him for Pat Bruss...but I can't find any pics of him, so Dale will stay here...hopefully Joey will do so well that he will make up for it...).
Hall Hunt
#9 ranked competitive eater. He's eaten 20 grilled cheese sandwiches in 10 min. and 33 Krystals in 8 minutes.
Juliet Lee
#10 ranked competitive eater. One of very few women in competitive eating, and Juliet has been coming on strong!
Jason Erb
#34 ranked competitive eater. I don't remember why I picked this dude. I think it is because he's been competing lately so I figured I figured that he'd at least compete at a qualifier.
Russ Keeler
#20 ranked competitive eater. At this point it was just looking for whoever had the highest rank :)
Friday:
Nadia picked me up and then it was off to Cleveland! OK...sort of... First, we took a pit stop at Freddy's (it was basically on the way). Nadia indulged her childhood memories of thick pizza squares and some limoncello gelato...I got myself a fried artichoke (YUM) and some pistachio gelato (DOUBLEYUM).
Then we headed to the city to pick up the boys (Bryan and Jim) and swap cars and then we were finally off!...But not before driving around the city for about 20 hours and stopping at the Skyway McDonald's (I'd never even known that that place existed until earlier this year. It's a McDonald's...smack dab in the middle of the highway. And it's kind of scary.)
So then we were finally off to Cleveland! On the way we discovered the great musical stylings of cereal (otherwise known as a promotional Halloween CD from General Mills that was in the car for some reason...catchy stuff), sang aloud to Kelly Clarkson (at least Jim did), utilized ghetto mapquest, stopped at a gas station that accepts cereal as payment, and ate some symbolic cheetos (because I wouldn't let anyone eat anything orange on my roadtrip).
Then we finally made it to Cleveland!!!!
We checked into our hotel and asked the desk clerk for suggestions on anything that would be open at 11pm in the somewhat-deserted at that time of night downtown area that would still have dinner. The guy rattled off a few places but he was hard to understand because of his "off Cleveland accent" (aka, Jamaican). Then some random dude told us he'd take us in his limo. Nad and I declined and Bryan whined but we weren't about to get into some random dude's random limo.
We walked a couple of blocks and came across the restaurants that we think the Jamaican dude was telling us about, but, surprise surprise, they were all closed.
Luckily one of the places that looked like it was just going to be a bar and was open turned out to be a restaurant and so we ate and watched some Sox. I had a yummy steam and cheese and mushroom and onion sammich on garlic bread with cheesy bacony fries (because I'd left my bird seed in the car). The garlic bread made it. Then we wandered back to the hotel, stopping to check out the guitars (like the Chicago cows) and Jacob's Field, which was kind of right there in the open.
Saturday:
Saturday we headed out bright and early to go see the thing we actually went to Cleveland for in the first place...THE WORLD'S LARGEST RUBBER STAMP!!!!!
Ok, OK, so maybe it wasn't the entire reason for going to Cleveland...but I think it's awesome!
So after we pondered the greatness that is THE WORLD'S LARGEST RUBBER STAMP we headed off another block to see what I guess technically was our whole reason for going to Cleveland: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!
We basically went because we wanted to see the Warped Tour Exhibit. There was a Clash exhibit there too, which made it even better.
The Hall was pretty oddly laid out, but we got to see a lot of neat things (sorry, no cameras were allowed, so no pics for you :( ). I liked it a lot because music photography is some of the most interesting photography you can find. I love it.
The Warped Tour exhibit was cool, especially the Lisa Johnson photography and some of the really random things they displayed (I especially liked the hair clippers used to keep the mohawks coming!)
Other hall highlights: Michael Jackson's rotating glove, Madonna's wardrobes that look really well made compared to others, wondering why the Monkees weren't featured :(, wondering why the hell they had a special music of Ohio exhibit until we realized we were in Cleveland, Pink Floyd Wall, weird mesmerizing TV installation, the Hall, the Clash, hearing everyone who commented that they never knew the Clash had more than one song, what may be the World's biggest Hot Dog, Fries, and Coke (The hot dog was actually used to fly Phish into a concert once)...
All in all, it was a pretty fun museum!!!
After the museum we headed back to the hotel to grab the car and then took off looking for the "house with the leg lamp in the window" and we found it!!!
This was the house that they filmed "A Christmas Story" at. It's apparently in Cleveland! Technically they just shot the outside scenes there. But some dude in California bought the house for over double its market value and fixed up the outside and did what he could wit the inside to look just like it did in the movie. He also paid over double what the house across the street was worth to build a gift show and museum. Crazy.
It was kind of neat though. They fixed it up with everything from the leg lamp in the window, the turkey in the oven, the BB gun in the corner, soap on the ledge, and a Red Ryder comic on the bed.
I can't believe I paid $7 to see it, but it was totally worth it I say!
After the museum we wandered the market a bit, grabbed some yummy coffee, and went on a Brewery Tour of the Great Lakes Brewing Company! I've never been on a brewery tour before...not like I like beer, but it was still interesting. Especially since it was a small 25-person operation and not a giant beer conglomerate. They gave free samples (technically we had to pay a quarter to abide by the law). Notyum.
We did dinner at the Great Lakes Brewing Company restaurant. Nadia and Jim both partook in the beer sample...For $10 they got 4-5oz. samples of all nine beers that they had on tap. Since I do not like beer I ordered a Coke, but I wanted beeryness so I go the Stilton Cheese Soup that was made with beer (YUM) to go along with my Pretzel Chicken (I think there was beer in the mustard sauce too).
Jim said that I look like Luke Wilson. Which then resulted in the following conversation:
Bryan: She looks like Helen Keller.
Nadia: Do you even know what Helen Keller looks like?
Jim: Helen Keller doesn't even know what Helen Keller looks like.
We capped it all off with chocolate chunk ice cream that was also made with beer (SOOOOOOYUMMMMM), who knew beer could give ice cream such a good taste!!!!
Sunday:
Before heading back to Chicago, we decided to check out the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. We saw Dinomasaurs, and stuffed creatures, and glaciers, and earthquakes, and butterfly photography and Balto the Wonder Dog.
There was some dog training demonstration going on where they had doggies doing an obstacle course right in the middle of the museum. Of course, the doggies were in a smaller space and much closer to the crowd than they were used to so some of them got distracted. Like one who instead of going through the tunnel decided to come say hi to us, and then went into the tunnel, paused for a few moments, and then came back the same way. Toofunny.
Anyways, they museum was literally filled with dogs wandering around. Odd.
What we really cared about though: Jewels!!!
I picked out all of the pink stones that would be appropriate to include on my future engagement ring. They are all in the photo gallery. Gentlemen, take note. :)
One last note: On the museum and rest stop, etc. there were signs on the window telling people that they are not to bring guns inside. Umm, thought that was a given! Who knew!
So, that is Cleveland in a rather large (dare I say World's Largest?) Nutshell.
PICTURES HERE
All this energy calling me
Back where it comes from
Its such a crude attitude
Its back where it belongs
All the little kids growing up on the skids are goin
Cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks
Jumpin gene genies, moody james deanies goin
Cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks
Cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks
Mama knows but she dont care
Shes got her worries too
Seven kids and a phony affair
And the rent is due
All the little chicks with the crimson lips go
Cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks
Shes livin in sin with a safety pin
Shes goin cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks
Cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks
I got some records from world war two
Ill play em just like me grand dad do
He was a rocker and I am too
Oh cleveland rocks, yeah cleveland rocks
So find a place
Grab a space
And yell and scream for more
Cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks
Cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks
Cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks
Cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks
Cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks
Cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks, cleveland rocks
Three! four!
Three! four!
Three! four!
Ohio!
1. I liked Windows Live Mail because it let me apply a pink color scheme to the interface. I like Windows Live Mail even more because they changed the pink color scheme to be even pinker!!! Before it was more reddish, now it's true pink!
2. I like berries and cream Starbursts because they remind me of Bonkers, one of the best candies ever.
3. I've turned into a single sneezer. I miss being a double sneezer :(
4. How my money is doing after two months:
Citibank Savings Account: up $55
Mutual Funds: Down $650
5. Number four made me cry for a while.
WEDDING PICS ARE UP!!!
PICS HERE!
Notes on captions:
1. I did not caption them at one in the morning, so they are not interesting.
2. I don't know people's names, so I avoided labeling people.
3. I gave up captioning all of them and so they all say the same thing.
Happy Birthday Cynthia!
(Please note: this is not Cynthia...I just thought it was a good photo)
Yesterday was Cynthia's birthday party! It was a Russan/Polish/Star Wars theme (I say Star Wars because that was what was on the Happy Birthday sign). We ate some very weird tasting "cookies," looked at photos from Cynthia's trip to Russia, listened to odd Russian hiphop/teen bop/dance music, and played with the horseys. One of them had only one eye (Hood asked me later if it granted my magic wishes, but alas I did not ask it to) and the other one tried to eat me. It bit my hand while I tried to feed it (even though I swear I kept it flat) so then every time I tried to feed it from then on I just ended up screaming and dropping the carrots all over whenever it came near me. :(
We ate some bbq, and drank some frozen wine. It actually tasted pretty good...despite the fact that it had been in the freezer for way too long and froze. I had to listen to technical explanations of the molecular composition of it or whatever (seriously Scott, can't things just happen without you having to give a scientific explanation of it???) Oh, and everyone liked my strudel. :)
and it was fun.
More pics here.
Jenny: Adam tried to kill me.
Adam: That's right, I stabbed her.
Last night Nadia and I finally made it over to Jen and Adam's new house. It's a pretty sweet townhome overlooking a golf course (or so we're told, as it was night and we couldn't see much outside). It's a really nice place aside from the outdated light fixtures and the mirrors behind the bed (left over from the 60 year old couple who used to live there...ummm...gross.
We went to Bakers Square for some pie shop special and then played pool where we did Reegers versus non-reegers and then married women versus non-married women (Adam qualifies because he is not a married woman).
There was a sign in the pool hall for a new cherry beer by Sam Adams, and the bottle on the sign clearly said "Made with real cherries and cherry." Anyone know the difference??? (actually, I looked it up and it's supposed to say cherry flavoring, but that is not what it said.)
Anyways, Congratualations Jenny and Adam on your fabulous new house, and on a wonderful year of marriage! Happy Anniversary!
--------
1. Instead of showing file names, my computer keeps showing Chinese characters
2. I promised him that this would make the blog...I totally randomly ran into Brian C. on the street the other after not seeing him in forever and a year. Sometimes Chicago is the smallest city in the world.
3. I hate when you sit down to watch a movie you've never seen before and then realize that you've seen it before.
4. I made a massive apfelstrudel (seriosuly, I was afraid that my kitchen was going to explode).
5. You know you are insane when the one-hour photo place says they will call you when your order is done...and hey don't call for twenty-four hours...not because they forgot you, but because it seriously took them that long to complete your order.
Congratulations Jennifer and Dale!
Friday
After getting my hair and nails done it was off to the city to check into the hotel and head to the rehearsal. The hotel (Hyatt Regency Chicago) was pretty sweet, but very very crowded...but we had a damn nice view of the river.
We got to the rehearsal a bit early and the woman there wouldn't let us in, so we met up with Jen, Dale, and some of their friends at a bar down the street, where I had a delicious bellini.
Once the start time was finally nearing we all headed over to the mansion and started rehearsing. I guess there isn't much to say about a wedding rehearsal except that we rehearsed a wedding.
Afterwards we ate a lot of pizza and salad and cannoli and got even more jewelry from Jen (I wore five times as much jewelry to the wedding than I normally do), then we called it a night.
Before bed, Nat and I went to explore the hotel...which definitely looked more exciting on paper. We did, however, see some other celebration going on in one of their ballrooms where everyone was wearing a ridiculously large hat costume. No clue.
Saturday
Saturday Nat and I got ready while watching American Gladiators. Then after being bored just waiting around we headed to Jen's hotel room to wait for the other bridesmaids. Finally everyone started to arrive in their fabulously individual little black dresses (we each got to pick our own dress, the only rules were black, knee-length, not shiny). Then the photographer came and we finished getting Jen dressed, met up with the boys, and set off for photos!
Now the photographer...well...kind of bugged me. She kept telling us to smile and laugh and look at the camera so we'd look happy. So she got a lot of pics of us being fake. But then when we were actually talking and laughing and having a real good time, she didn't take pictures. And then for most of the pics she had us throwing our hands in the air doing jazz hands or wave or something stupid. I mean, couldn't she have taken some pictures of us being natural? Or just pretty? Or taken the hint that we weren't ta-da-hand people? Whatever, I'm sure they turned out fine.
So, we went and took pics at Millennium Park, by the river, and by the Field Museum (I didn't get any pictures of any of these, because I wanted to be camera-less in the pictures.) Then, just as it started to rain, we headed off to Glessner House.
We all piled into the conservatory to freshen up, look down the windows at people coming, put together our bouquets (we just took a couple calla lilies and tied them together ourselves), and try to fasted Jen's 99 cent ebay veil to her head. Then we went out and took some family pics and then lined up for the ceremony.
The ceremony was beautiful and sweet and I really liked the minister while she was ministering (even though she was a bit of a complainer while she wasn't). We set it up so the groomsmen all walked out first, then all the bridesmaids (since there were more bridesmaids then groomsmen it would have been awkward to try and pair up).
The ceremony was outside in the courtyard, and it rained a bit, but it wasn't too bad and no one seemed to mind.
After Jen and Dale were officially married, we got to eat! (my favorite part as always, food!) There were some yummy appetizers of pigs in a blanket and stuffed mushrooms and an olive oil bar of different breads and different flavored oils. Yum! And, of course, the bar! (Just beer and 2 wines...but wine is all a girl really needs).
We were all entertained by the musical styling's of the "Wandering Endorphin" Although he stood and played his guitar. I was kind of expecting him to wander.
Towards the end of cocktail hour it started to rain a bit more so everyone piled inside for dinner (luckily that was set up for being inside anyways).
Dinner was a pasta bar, where basically you picked your ingredients (I had shrimp, veggies, green fettuccine, and alfredo) and they cooked it for you right there. It was totally yummy.
The maid of honor (Nat) and best man gave their speeches and we found out that Dale is a break dancer! Who knew!?!?!?!
By that time the real photographer had to go ( :( ) but that meant that I had to step in and become official.
So then it was time for cake cutting, first dancing, and PARTYING!!!
We moved the dancing outside. It was still raining and the dance floor was wet...
and dresses got pretty muddy...
But WHO CARES!!!
So we rocked out in the rain to Jen's iPod, danceddanceddanced, and tried to convince Dale to break dance.
It was an amazing wedding and a superfun day and I am very happy that Jen asked me to be a bridesmaid (even though I always told her that she was too old to be mine) and I'm happy to now have Dale as a brother (finally, someone else in the family who can appreciate things like the Simpsons).
The next morning I made Jen toss me her bouquet in the hotel parking lot, since she didn't want to throw it at the wedding (and if she had thrown it, it would have completely fallen apart).
So...after being a bridesmaid three times in this past year, I finally caught the bouquet. :)
(still more pics to come...but there are so many it's going to take a few more days until they are ready...)
Congratulations Jen and Dale!
My oldest sister got married this weekend! I now have a brother!
:)
I, of course, took a million and a half photos (especially since for most of the reception I was the official photographer), so it may be a bit of time before I can post them, and the recap.
For now I will just say that it was a beautiful wedding full of fun, love, and dancing in the rain :)
but that's a given...
manicure.
pink, of course.
my first ever.
she gave me a hand massage.
i have purdy nails :)
haircut.
my first in a year.
i know everyone else likes it better short, but i like it long.
last night I dyed my hair while chugging most of a bottle of wine.
Valerie's 100 in 2007:
General
8. Audition for American Idol :) (or at least apply for one reality show)
OK, so I won't be your next American Idol :( It's not my fault that they aren't holding auditions in Chicago this year, and that I refuse to travel. I may, however, be your next Elvira...OK, definitely not, but at least I applied to be. (p.s. I will still apply for the Bachelor, but I am waiting till after I get my hair cut)
Entertainment
15. Go to a carnival
So what if I didn't ride any rides? I saw some cows and ate a lot of carnival food. Funnel cake, corn dogs, and lemon shakeups are really the only reason for going to a carnival anyways.
17. Free dance lessons in Grant Park
I am so a rockstar at Hungarian Folk Dance!
21. See a concert
So, I didn't see the Plain White T's :( But I did see a crappy opening band! That's something...I guess...
22. See fireworks on 3rd/fourth of july
Is it happy or sad news that I was in this country for the fourth of July???
Travel:
83. Knock off at least a few of the following Illinois Attractions:
a. World's largest Catsup Bottle
b. World's Tallest and Ugliest Lincoln Statue
c. World's Largest Pot of Coffee
d. Giant Lincoln on a Covered Wagon
e. Effingham Giant Cross
f. The Gays 2-Story Outhouse
g. The Leaning Tower of Niles
h. Ahlgrim's Funeral Parlor and Mini-Golf
i. The Hubcap House (sources say this no longer is there, so I couldn't see it, Heather disagrees)
j. The Golden Pyrimid House
k. Statue of world's tallest man
Food and Libations:
85. Bake once a month
July: Pudding (yeah, yeah, it's not technically baked but same diff.
89. Try three different wine bars
I went to a place in Downers for a work thingy MK was having. It was a wine bar. Ummm, I don't remember it's name :(
98. Go to the Taste of Chicago
Yeah, I crossed this off last month, but in July I went SIX MORE TIMES!!!
99. Get sushi
I wasn't so impressed with this sushi thing...but mostly because I wasn't so impressed with the place we went :( Maybe a nice fancy schmancy place or something not filled with old IKEA furnishings would be better.
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