What? You didn't think I was going to skip a year of going to Vegas, did you??? Maybe I'll win big this year...fourth times the charm...

I have managed to pack all my stuff into the tiniest suitcase. And for my "personal item" managed to fit both my camera and laptop into my normal purse. I kind of rock.

The last time I was in there, I had everything and nothing figured out. I keep trying to figure out what goes after that sentence. I'm not quite sure.

Posted by valry at 10:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I wish a naked golden man would come up from my fire pit

Monday night Emily and I went to see Die Frau ohne Schatten. It's a four-hour long German fairy tale opera about an empress who ventures to the human world to procure a shadow so that she can bear children. I got an amazing pair of free tix, right in MF1!
The production was absolutely beautiful. I particularly liked the falcon who came down in a big lighted box and when the emperor came flying down on a flying horse. Oh, and the naked golden dude. He was fun. I also liked the falcon's "theme" music, although, sorry Strauss, it kind of reminded me of what they'd play on a very special episode of the Brady Bunch when something is about to go terribly wrong (see episodes 73-75 where a tiki idol Bobby finds in Hawaii curses the family.) (p.s. I should probably be fired for saying that.)

The production was very very long though, and after an eight hour work day it's tough to stay awake. My head was definitely bobbing through parts of it, but I made it through!

Wait, so you're fine with the fact that she can fly but you can't buy that the homecoming game is basketball?

Tonight I went to see The Sparrow with Alina, Joew, and Meredith. Raggedy Andy and Andra were supposed to come too, but dropped out of the party at the last minute.

The play totally rocked my socks off.

It's about a teenager who returns to her town 10 years after her entire class died in a bus/train accident. We then later find out that she can fly and has magical mystical powers.

During intermission JoeW expressed his distaste because the homecoming game they portrayed was basketball and not the traditional football. I pointed out that this he couldn't buy, but he had no qualms with the fact that the main character could fly...

I absolutely loved the show and highly recommend it. I think my favorite part of all was when the guy who eats his tie gets together with the girl who eats her hair. I was gunning for them as the perfect couple from the beginning of the show.

They had very interesting ways of portraying scenery too, like picture framed houses, and they incorporated video. At times it was a bit too Carrie or a bit too Beetlejuice, but who cares. It was awesome.

Still to come this week: Zumanity and Penn and Teller!

Posted by valry at 12:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Oh have you seen the muffler man,
The muffler man, the muffler man?
Oh have you seen the muffler man,
Standing in the rain?
Oh yes I´ve seen the muffler man,
The muffler man, the muffler man!
Oh yes I´ve seen the muffin man,
Standing in the rain!

***

Sunday Em and I took a road trip. OK, so I am not sure if it really counts as a road trip if the whole thing takes less than twelve hours and you go no further than 45 miles away from home...but it was a damn fun time and we saw many Chicagoland wonders...

Mr. Bendo
I picked up Emily around 10 and we wound our way around Chicago to find our first destination. It's good to know that I am not the only one who reads Google Maps maps completely wrong and get confused. Our first stop was about a mile west of Humboldt Park on Grand and Pulaski: Mr. Bendo. This trip was all about the Muffler Man as we saw a few of these babies. This one was curious to me because his one arm was down instead of both being (as tradition dictates) out in front.

Giant Wagon
We then took off down Grand further into Elmwood Park to find the Radio Flyer Factory and a frickin huge wagon! It was huge! Being Sunday it was, unfortunately, closed and gated off, but we parked in the strip mall across the street to take pics.

Leaning Tower of Niles
Then it was on to Italy...errr...I mean Niles...for the Leaning Tower of Niles! This replica of Italy's Leaning Tower of Pisa is roughly half-sized (94 feet vs. 177 feet) and leans about 7'4" off plum (Pisa has a 15 foot tilt) and sits in front of a YMCA. Being holiday season the tower was decked out for Christmas in garland and bows. Purdy. Considering I was too food poisoned to want to take a train ride to the real thing last summer, this made a nice substitution.

Lincoln on a bench :(
This bench unfortunately doesn't exist. We found the place it was supposed to be but the Mr. Lincoln was not there.

Trout Fisherman
Somehow Abraham was MIA but a random fisherman statue in the overgrown woods does??? Of all the things I didn't expect to find, this was it. This large statue was left over from an old mini golf course that used to be on the property. Now they are building condos around it, so who knows if it will still be there for long...but it looks pretty safe and sound for now!

Wadlow's Shoe?
Square Deal Shoe Store in Des Plaines supposedly has a pair of Robert Wadlow's shoes on display...If you remember the Illinois road trip, you will remember that we saw a Wadlow statue and that he was the world's tallest man. You know what they say about the feet on a world's tallest man...The shoe store was closed but they had a giant shoe in the window. It looked a little new to be Wadlow's though, but I am not sure...we will return to investigate some other time.

McDonald's Museum and Store No. 1
Des Plaines is also home to the first McDonald's! While the restaurant no longer sells food, it's been restored to its original glory and houses a museum...which, unfortunately, is only open during the summer :-( We forwent eating at the working regular ole McDonald's across the street and instead ate at...

Choo Choo Restaurant
The choo choo is a tiny little diner. What makes this stop road trip worthy? Going through the kitchen and all around the counter is a toy choo choo train that delivers your food. How rocking is that? Em and I secured spots right at the counter so we could watch it in action. They had a really yummy chocolate shake and a good cheeseburger. And a train! And I even saw the train almost catch fire once! Awesome.

Muffler Man :(
Apparently in Mount Prospect about seven years ago there was a muffler man. Apparently it no longer exists.:-(

Shoe Tree
A couple pairs of shoes does not a shoe tree make. We drove down a long road in Highland Park in search of a shoe tree (a tree that is covered in hanging pairs of shoes. Emily finally spotted it and said that it only had a couple pairs on it. Since there was a car tailing me, we decided to press on.

Ferris Bueller Garage
Does this garage look familiar?

If you have ever seen a small independent art film called " Ferris Bueller's Day Off " it should. This is the garage where they kept and crashed the fancy car. It is on someone's house in Highland Park. Because it is November and there are no leaves it made it easy to see. Finally, one point for the chosen day!

Muffler Man and Bessie the Cow
Another muffler man AND a cow statue! This one is at Lamb's Farm in Libertyville. This is actually outside of the place we buy our devil dogs from. We were a little confusled at first because we say the cow, but not the muffler man. Turns out that the cow is even bigger than the man. We didn't get too close because they were kind of closed. But I'm sure I will return some day.

Big Man with house :(
Who'd have thought with three year old directions that said "on Grand Avenue in Gurnee" that you wouldn't be able to find a giant man holding a house...

Golden Pyramid House
"The largest 24-karat gold-plated object ever created" is the private home of a rich Armenian garage builder and his family. Seriously, this is someone's house. And right next to it on either side are normal looking houses. The place looks kind of run down and like it is maybe under construction...I don't know when it was built, but I know it was a while ago. It also started snowing while we were here. Who expects there to be snow when visiting the pyramids?

30-ft Tall Cigar Store Indian
After the Pyramid we hopped on the highway back to pick up MattyK (who had finally finished working...seriously, that boy needs to stop spending all his damn time working and start spending more time with me...I am way more fun and interesting than finances) and see a few more sights closer to the city. We waited as he changed out of his suit then hopped back in the car for more adventure. The next stop was a big ole Cigar Store Indian in Oak Lawn.

Muffler Man - Bunyan
This muffler man in Evergreen Park was very very shiny. That is because he was painted in Du Pont Chroma base auto paint after having a weather-related accident.

63rd Street Indian
Imagine the scene: you are on the south side of Chicago...in the lane going straight...look up...notice that the Indian you are looking for is on that corner...so you slide into the turn lane...end up turning as it's going to red...pull over into an unpaid metered space, partially in a tow zone...get out to snap a bunch of pics...and then notice the cop car on the corner who then turns and slows down next to your car...as MK put it "they just gave me a look like I'm the guy forced to hold his girlfriends purse and smiled like they understood." hehe. Anyways. So this Indian was creepy. Mostly because he had big white eyes that made him look blind...all while advertising a vision correction center :-)

Large Kielbasa Sandwich
This was just a Kielbasa on a fast food sign. Not too exciting because it is neither freakishly large nor edible. Next.

The Spindle
I've seen the Spindle a million and a half times but MK has never seen it (how can a guy so obsessed with cars never have seen this???). Plus they are trying to take it away from me and build a Walgreens which is just blasphemous, so I try to go and pay my respects as often as possible.
The Spindle is probably better known as "cars on a spike" or the "car-ca-bob". It's at Cermak Plaza in Berwyn and had a starring role in the movie Wayne's World. It also rocks. I will miss the Spindle terribly when it is gone. At least I got to share in someone else experiencing its wonder for the first time (and got him to agree to go back during the day some time...you are going back damnit!). :-)

Piece
For dinner we headed back to the city for pizza at Piece. MattyK wanted a boring ole mozzarella, tomato sauce, and sausage pizza...But then the rest of us ate a pizza topped with olive oil, garlic, mozzarella, mashed potatoes, and bacon. Yes, a mashed potato pizza! Brilliant and yummy and I think it was a perfectly fitting food to cap off the day.

MORE PICTURES HERE!

Posted by valry at 7:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

1. I am now only responding to the name Master Val. I worked hard (OK...I at least kind of put some effort forward) to get my masters. I deserve a title.
So...my papers were due by 5 on Sunday...I turned them in at noon on Monday. Believe me at 5 on Sunday I had hardly even started. Isn't it great ot know that I gained absolutely no study skills in FOUR WHOLE YEARS of grad school? Technically according to university policy we couldn't be required to turn them in before Tuesday, so I'm all good there. The papers still sucked. But I am done. So I don't care.

2. I finished half of my Christmas shopping this morning. It was actually the easiest shopping I have ever done. All of the stores had no crowds and twice the staff.

3. I had to go to work yesterday (boo) but they sent me home early (yay). It is really hard to do your job anyways when the design company you deal with constantly is closed. I got out early enough to catch up with my sisters to see Enchanted. I thought it was very good except the almost end didn't make any sense.

4. Apparently any movie trailer will make me cry unless the movie has Nicolas Cage in it.

5. Have you ever gotten drunk dialed in the middle of the night? I think I got drunk facebooked the other night.

6. Next week I am seeing Die Frau ohne Schatten, The Sparrow, Penn and Teller, and Cirque du Soleil.

7. This is where Emily and I are going tomorrow.

Posted by valry at 12:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Posted by valry at 11:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Turkey: Brining

Homemade Apple Tart: Baked

Update - 12:30pm, Thanksgiving Day
Turkey: unbrined, stuffed, coated in herbed butter

Update - 5:00pm, Thanksgiving Day
Turkey: Beautiful

Posted by valry at 10:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Happy Birthday Andy!

Last night was Andy's thirtieth bithday celebration at the froggy bar. Because I was early and determined not to always be earliest, I walked around a couple of stores before heading to Hugo's Frog Bar to meet up right on time...of course the one time I am not early everyone else has already been there for half an hour and is finishing eating :(

It was fun, especially since I never see Chris and Aimee and Robert(pronounced the French way) and KennyK anymore since Scotty is gone. (tear.) Oh, and since we always get massive amounts of choclatey goodness on peoples's birthdays. :-)

So Andy is older and I met his swell gal (I have to now use old people terms like "swell" and "gal" around him) and some others who I have never met before and ate a crab cake on a bun.

KennyK's new ladyfriend brought up a good "hypothetical" situation about if you borrowed someones laptop and saw a file on the desktop with your name on it, would you open it?

I would be good and say "nope," but who are we kidding? I am a terrible snoop... :)

Pictures Here!
although, I'm afraid I did not live up to my reputation because I only took a handful and am not very good at taking pics in very low light without blinding people to death...

Posted by valry at 8:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Didn't kids used to wait impatiently to see Santa Claus at the end of the Christmas parade and not some Disney Channel star?

Saturday Emily and I headed over to the Mag Mile Lights Festival. We arrived early to catch a Sister Hazel show. Of course, most of the people there didn't even know who Sister Hazel was and were all tweens lining up to see Corbin Bleu (who apparently is a star of High School Musical). The concert was pretty neat because I surprisingly know Sister Hazel songs (I never know who sings anything!) and they did play the one song I knew was by them and really like despite never actually hearing it on the radio - champagne high (and it seriously took me forever there to figure out how champagne the drink is really spelled...).

After the concert we got our picture taken with a piece of cheesecake and then headed to the Hershey store (aka the entire other end of the mag mile) to get some cupcakes and cocoa. Despite getting regular sized ones the cupcakes were huge and I got frosting in my nose and the cocoa was of course yummy until the powdery finish (and, of course, nowhere near as good as mine. Have I ever mentioned that I make the best hot chocolate in the whole wide world?)

Then we headed back to the other end of the mag mile to check out the Nutcracker window displays at Macy's (sorry, I don't care if I sound unChicagoan...but I think those people who are still protesting the change from Marshall Field's need to give it up already.)

I loved the windows...but then again I am still a ballerina at heart. :-)

After that we staked out a spot almost two hours early to watch the parade. We were surrounded by a bunch of kids who couldn't care less about anything in the parade except for Corbin Bleu. There was one twelve-year-old girl who was fanatic. She reminded me of how I was (am?) when I was that age though. She was convinced that she was going to marry Corbin in the same way I was (am?) convinced that I was going to marry Zack Morris (please note: I did not say I wanted to marry Mark Paul Gosselaar...I wanted to marry Zack Morris.)

The parade had a Disney theme because, you know, when you think Chicago, you think Disney! Right? It was kind of fun to watch all the lights light up, the hilarity of the kids, the sickly looking whale puppet, etc. etc. It's also fun that at events like these everyone (OK, everyone but the pushy parents who insist their kids have the right to go up front because they are small) is pretty friendly and talkative. Some fun conversations ensued:

Kid: Who is Sister Hazel?
Emily: It's an adult band.

Woman: Who is on the float.
Emily: Chip and Dale.
Woman: The Chippendales?

Kid: I'm gonna faint.
Me: If you faint you will miss Corbin.
Kid: You're right! I can't faint!

Me: How is it that that four year old has a boyfriend and I don't?
Emily: Val she's four, adult relationships are more than just sharing Twizzlers with someone.
Me: I want someone to share my Twizzlers with.

After Santa flew by we met up with Joe and Alina and went to some bar which I think was just called "The Bar" for dinner. Joe and Emily got bacon beer that came with a side of bacon. Awesome. I got a yummy pulled pork and sweet potato fries and raspberry beer. Afterwards at Joe and Alina's I made them watch the KSO they Tivo'd so I could point myself out on TV...let me tell you, it is so much easier on their 50,000-inch widescreen.

Joe and Alina called it a night and Emily and I headed over to Charlie's art show on the west side. It was fun as always and there seemed to be a lot more people there. I played some bouncy ball with Jeff and talked to Mike (who I couldn't tell if he was being aloof or didn't know who I was), tortured the man who was growing out of Charlie's stomach and bought some pocket paintings from Charlie which cost $2 a pop but will someday be worth millions.

**PICTURES HERE!!!**

Posted by valry at 2:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

A couple days ago I scored some ridiculously priced tickets (cheap price because it was a preview performance + half-price Hot Tix discount = $10 tickets) to see House Theatre's Nutcracker at Steppenwolf. Since it combined the forces of two of my favorite theatres had to be a damn good show. I scooped up two and hoped that Alina would take up my offer to go...and luckily she did. So last night we headed off to Steppenwolf for the show.

I actually haven't been to Steppenwolf since I interned there many moons ago (2002) which is a damn shame because I love the theatre so much (hence why I wanted to intern there in the first place). I actually hadn't seen House since 2002 either with their big breakout "The Terrible Tragedy of Peter Pan." They kind of have this tradition of taking classic stories and showing them from a completely different standpoint, and this Nutcracker was no exception.

Long story not-so-short: At a Christmas eve party a family learns that their son Fritz died in the war. Cut to the next scene, a year later. The daughter Clara has gone a bit nuts over the last year, doesn't eat, talks to her dolls, and is convinced that rats are living in the walls that are prepared to attack. Of course, no one believes her...until her Uncle Drosselmeyer comes bringing her a new toy to help her: a Nutcracker with a striking resemblance to her dead brother. In the night, all of the toys come alive and prepare to battle the rats. Clara then wakes up each morning with her parents finding her, surrounded by her toys, tearing apart the kitchen, digging up her brothers memorial in the backyard, or scouring through the attic (with slit wrists from a "rat attack") leading them to believe that she is even worse off and has tried to kill herself. In the end Clara makes it behind the walls to face off against the rat king, defeats him and leaves her toys behind to protect them from future invasions.

Oh, did I mention there was also a small pit orchestra? And it was a musical? And it was definitely not the ballet we all know and love? And that there was a monkey and a giant fuzzy wuzzy bear? And that it was kind of awesome?

It was a very good show and very...different. But at the same time that is exactly what you expect.

Things that turned me off...
1. I really hate watching people who aren't really dancers dance on stage.
2. It was really hard to hear some of the actors singing/talking over the music. But I am deaf.
3. If memory serves there was only one sung song in the first act, which made it very confusing as to if it was a musical or not (there were several in the second act).
4. Parts of the ending were a bit anti-climactic.

All in all though it was an excellent show, and I'm looking forward to seeing House's "The Sparrow" in a couple of weeks!

Posted by valry at 8:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

1. Word to the wise: neverevereverever say "I haven't screwed up at work in a long time."

2. "1,100 Reported Dead as Cyclone Hits Bangladesh." I read that headline and imagined a giant Cyclopes terrorizing the town. Then I realized that it said "Cyclone" and that I am probably going to hell.

Posted by valry at 1:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

1. I am officially a master. OK, not officially because I still have to turn in two papers over the weekend and I still won't get my diploma until March because I am a slacker who missed the deadline. But I never have to go to school again! Joshua, who is apparently my only friend, met me at the wine bar to celebrate. I had lots of wine and raspberry beer. All you people who didn't come celebrate are bad people :( (insert valsadnoisehere)

2. Krystal posted my pictures!

2. I really need to stop impulsively buying Steppenwolf tickets.

3. Seriously, how is it that everyone else I know is seeing opera and I am not?

Posted by valry at 12:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

1. I still haven't heard whether I have November 30 off of work...I do however have a plane ticket for that morning :-)

2. I am a sucker for guys in glasses. I am tracing this back to the fact that many guys will wear contacts during the day but then have on their glasses right before bed and in the morning, so it automatically gets your mind thinking about sleeping with him.

3. I am so incredibly screwed. But at least after this week I never will feel this way again :-)

4. I really need to stop working and start seeing operas.

Posted by valry at 10:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

1. Prettiest necklaces ever.

Sofia Masri

Poopsie by Sofia Masri

2. I think Lyric Opera should sponsor an IFOCE event. How much Opera Cake can you eat in eight minutes?

3. !!!!

4. I think I need to date a graphic designer, simply so I can make him design me stuff. Wasn't Jen supposed to be on that?

5. Why, at the Starbucks, when there is no one else in line and only one person working, do they still write your order on your cup?

6. I have officially bought and wrapped Christmas presents for one person. I have not even thought about what to get anyone else.

7. It is really hard to get anything you want to get done done when your back is out.

Posted by valry at 4:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

1. I carved my pumpkin tonight! Yeahyeah, I know...Halloween was a week ago. But I carved my pumpkin damnit!

2. I have never claimed to have any artistic ability.

3. I have officially been at my job for a year. It doesn't feel like it. I think I need to start decorating my cube.

4. What's the most innapropriate thing you can think of to watch on TV while running on a treadmill?

5. Advice seriously given to me by my financial advisor:

- (in response to me inquiring whether we could get the pink part of the pie chart to be larger) "I regret to inform you that you probably don't want the pink part to be the biggest. You're much better off pretending that it already is, or using that old rhyme that first is the worst, second is the best."

- (in response to me wanting to retire in a year) "save every dollar you earn and win the lottery"

- (in response to me accusing him of stealing my money) I'll probably use it to fly to acapulco or something

- (in response to me telling him that he's a bad financial advisor) "No I'm a good one. Invest in cars!"

Posted by valry at 8:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

What do you get when you put two scaredy cats on top of the tallest building in the United States???

A bit over a year ago I was in Austria talking to CanadiaJason(eh) and he was asking me about Chicago and where I have and haven't been. He brought up the point that we never really do the touristy things that our cities are known for. I've been to the Sears Tower before, but not since I was probably eight or so.

Heather has never been to the Sears Tower at all, so, since she was in town, Emily, Heather, and I headed to the top. It was really fun...except for having to wait in 50 different lines and the penny pressing machine eating my fifty-one cents. But Chicago looks so different (and equally as awesome) from above. It also wasn't nearly as scary as I remember it being. :-)

Afterwards we headed over to Macys and Michigan Avenue for some shopping. At the Macys FAO Schwartz we discovered "Giant Microbes"...So everyone expect me to give you herpes or mad cow or lyme disease for Christmas. We found burgers at some little local bar because they didn't have a line. We visited Heather's coat and my ring. Then we headed back to Emily's to watch Monster Squad and chillax (and learn Heather's trying on clothes song) before grabbing sushi at Wakamono where I discovered I love sushi if it is good sushi (coughnomoretakingmetocrappyplacesjoshcough). They gave us a free appetizer of inari - we had no idea what it was but it was of the tastiest things I have ever had...turns out its a pocket of deep fried tofu stuffed with rice, it's really sweet and really tasty. I got a soft-shell crab maki and it was amazingly good. Half of the pieces were like normal sushi, and the other half had the tentacles all poking up, which made for a quite amusing experience of trying to stuff the whole thing in my mouth, because once it was in I had very little room to chew.

Then we headed over to the Schoolyard to catch the end of the Illini Game (we won!). We met up with Emily's coworker who, surprisesurprise, happened to be friends of friends with John. Small world...but I guess being in an Illini bar it's not soooo crazy to run into people you know. Once the game was over the bar cleared out a bit and we watched crazy extreme sports, sang out loud to Bon Jovi (twice), and tried to avoid having a dance off with some old guy who didn't understand what a dance off was. Emily and Heather's friend Adam joined us...hilarity ensued.

I called it a night around 2:30, but then in the cab back to my car had the most confusing moment ever when I looked at my phone and it said it was 1:30, and I swore it was later and felt lame. Then I got to my car and saw that it was 2:30 on my car. And then I finally realized that there was a damn time change. This upset me because time changes are my favorite moments of the year. There is no more surreal feeling than watching a clock go from 1:59 to 1. And I missed it. But who really cares?

PHOTOS HERE!

Posted by valry at 6:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

1. He changed from single to in a relationship on myspace. :-(

2. If I had to go see a naked magic show, the least JoeJoe can do is go see an educational Australian nature program.

3. After spending the night with the travel channel as they profiled Fiordland followed by Anthony Bourdain boar hunting in New Zealand...I have decided that I am accompanying Joe and Alina on their honeymoon...

4. Does rare food (rare as in hard to find an expensive, not as in undercooked) taste so good because it tastes so good or because people are pretentious?

5. I stole this pic from Emily. I think it pretty much sums up the friendship between MK and me.

6. I thought my homework sucked, but for two of the four humor shorts I turned in, my professor said they were amongst the best in the class. (p.s. the other two sucked)... Since I probably will not do anything more with this one, thought I'd share:

In light of the positive responses Chicago has received to increasing the smoking ban to include public beaches and parks, government officials are now weighing other options for increasing the ban. The anticipated ideas include raising the laws banning smoking from within 15-feet of office buildings to 150 feet from offices and 1,050 feet from beaches, parks, gas stations, hotels, schools, and houses. Other suggestions include banning smoking altogether from churches, firehouses, gas stations, libraries, and any rooms with "room" in the title (bedrooms, living rooms, bathrooms, and dining rooms would be banned but basements, attics, kitchens, parlors would still be OK, as long as they are not within 1,050 feet of an entrance).

Posted by valry at 7:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

General
18. Go to Bromann Park
I have a park?!?!?!

20. Go to a haunted house
Best haunted house ever.

Arts
24. See Blue Man Group
That show is still as awesome as ever...except for the caking me in banana part.

Life and professional:
72. Learn to use my iPod and get all my music on it
I'm still iPod inept and still have a lot of songs to add...but I now have more on there than just "Like a Prayer."

Travel:
80. Go to Bengtson's Pumpkin Farm
Done and done.

81. Visit a state I have never been to
This was already crossed off with Ohio, but now I can cross off Tennessee and Kentucky as well!

82. See Takeru Kobayashi
So, it's not my fault that he has a jaw injury and couldn't compete :-( So, no I won't be able to cross this off of my list this year :-( I did however see Joey Chestnut pound down 103 Krystals and Pat Bertoletti swallow like a bazillion jalapenos. That counts for something!

Food and Libations:
85. Bake once a month
S'mores Bars!

Posted by valry at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)