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So despite the fact that my financial advisor has done nothing but ignore my repeated requests for a meeting and has hardly made me any money, his company somehow was named best mutual fund company on the planet or some lie like that. If they are doing so well, then where's my money?
It's apprently going to buy pizza, that's where. Tonight there was a little shindig at Giordanos. We got free pizza and salad and soda all you can eat. I promised my advisor that I would eat enough to make up for all the money he lost me but in reality I only ended up eating one piece (Sid, how are we ever going to finish a 29-inch pizza if I can't even eat more than one slice?).
Anyways, Em and I pointed out that I was now so poor I had to buy a shirt with holes in it. This was after she thought I was wearing shirt that was showing my naked boobs.
The contact form wanted information like what our emials are. I filled it out to make an appointment to talk about my options for planning for disability :)
Really though I shouldn't be so hard on my advisor. He is the best financial panther ever. Ever. He's so smart and talented and nice and wonderful and handsome and sexy. (I hope that makes up for me being a total jerk and ruining everything. I feel terrible :'( )
So I have been kind of sick this month which means I didn't get to cross too much off of this list, but I did get to stay in bed and watch a lot of TV, so now almost all the TV and movie related ones are crossed off or started :) But alas, the points don't add up to much :(
39. See two other musicals
I saw Jesus Christ Superstar!
54. Go to a coffee shop at least twice a month to write
Twice this month!
58. make a list of everyone I know's birthdays
Finished!
61. Watch all the seasons of 24
I watched season one and am two episodes into season two. Yay for Netflix!
62. See 5 Dario Argento films
I watched Inferno the other night.
66. watch the final season of Joan of Arcadia
Done. It makes me sad that this show is gone though. I will never see if Joan beats the forces of evil.
67. Watch 3 Fred Astaire movies I have never seen
Watched Funny Face...it had a song about the color PINK!!!
99. Eat a Chicago style hot dog
I did! I did!
110. See a concert (a real concert)
Flogging Molly!
117. Get flowers from a boy
half a point for the flower from my Valentine ;-)
February total: 5
January total: 13
Total Points: 18
one.
Anyone want to buy a bootleg copy of Eugene Onegin? hehe, just kidding of course.
I am officially a professional videographer.
I filmed the opera Eugene Onegin yesterday. This is now part of my job.
I think I have a fairly decent eye when the camera is still, but I am no so good at moving it around. I kind of felt like a mom videotaping a dance recital. I guess it's OK though since I'm not really filming to use the whole thing, we'd for the most part just be slicing together shorter clips.
At one point I accidentally hit the button that stopped recording in the middle of an aria.
And then there was the time I opened a cough drop and looked up and realized that the character I was filming had completely walked off screen.
oops.
Yeah, don't book me for your weddings any time soon...
p.s. did I mention that I've never even touched a video camera before in my life?
two.
Don't forget to Donate Now to the valsicle fund! I'll be frolicking in Lake Michigan this Sunday in support of the Special Olympics. $1, $5, $10...anything is graciously accepted!!! $75 more and I get a Chicago Polar Plunge towel. OOooohhhhHH.
Jesus Christ Superstar
Saturday morn I met up with Emily and we shared some microwaveable eggplant and watched a part of Planet of the Apes. Is it sad that we both got "Dr. Zaius Dr. Zaius...Dr. Zaius Dr. Zaius...Dr. Zaius Dr. Zaius...Dr. Zaius" sung to the tune of the song "Amadeus" in our heads all day? No, but it's sad if you don't know what that's from.
After bumming around for a bit we hopped on over to the Loop to meet up with Joe and Alina, freshly back from their honeymoon and Josh, freshly back from babysitting a junior high lock in all night to see Jesus Christ Superstar.
I've always loved the music from the musical, so we bought up some cheap seats to see it. We caught up on all the honeymoon goodness and squeezed into the tiniest seats ever of the Cadillac Palace. The musical was alright. The songs, as always were really good, but I think I'll stick to the movie. The stage was pretty sparse and the movie, being shot out in the desert was visually more appealing. We did, however, get to see the real Jesus. OK, so not the real real Jesus, but the real guy who played Jesus in the movie. Apparently he has made a career out of playing this Jesus. Why the hell not? I mean, he has the perfect Jesus scream. (You really need to know the soundtrack to know quite what that means). Seriously, when I go to heaven I expect for Jesus to be standing there and for him to let out a 70's rock yell. That would be awesome.
At the end of the show Jesus got hoisted into the air. I was kind of hoping he'd fly out over the audience like they do in Peter Pan. No such luck though :( Ohwellz.
Aria
So, it's apparently Chicago Restaurant Week (which I never would have known about if Andy hadn't sent me the link). So since we were going out to the theater, I decided to make reservations for Aria because it looked awesome and was pretty close to the theater.
After wondering about, losing the street, thinking we were somehow on top of the street, we finally found it and headed in. We got there about 45 minutes before the reservation and 15 minutes before they opened but they said we could sit at the bar and they'd let us in early.
At the bar I tried a pomegranate cucumber mojito which was good and definitely one of the most interesting flavor-combinations for a drink I've ever had. After sipping some drinks we were seated and ordered up. Me, Joe, and Emily got the restaurant-week special and Alina and Josh decided to create their own specials.
First, let me tell you, the restaurant had the most insanely long silverware you will ever see. Second, their food was pretty damn good.
We started out with some complimentary naan bread (not to be confused with non-bread) with a bunch of dipping sauces. The "white stuff" was the best.
The first course was the farmer's market organic salad, (organic greens, herb crusted montrachet, shaved fennel, oven roasted tomatoes, marcona almonds, green goddess dressing) which was pretty spicy but really yummy. The goat cheese slices were creamy and delicious.
Our entree was the pan seared fillet of walleye pike with herbed gnocchi and brown butter sauce. I've never had pike before and for that matter I have never had a crispy-skin fish before and it was amazingly good.
They also gave us some complimentary potatoes: roasted with a white sauce, sliced with cheddar, sweet with whipped cream (some of the best tasting sweet potatoes ever). YUM.
I was happy when I saw the dessert would be carrot cake. I would say that carrot cake is one of my all-time favorite desserts, but who am I kidding? Carrot cake frosting is my favorite dessert, in fact, one of my all time favorite desserts and the carrot cake is really just a means to an end. So I was kind of disappointed when it was just a little round of carrot cake with a honey drizzle. It was OK, but I really crave that frosting.
But enough about my dessert, let's talk about Alina and Josh's dessert. We spotted it across the room and Alina knew she had to have it. It was what they dubbed chicago's "best" chocolate cake and says it serves two but would really feed a developing African country for a year. No joke. This thing was huge. And they ate almost all of it...and made sure to take the leftovers home :)
Time Machine
The bus Emily and I took back to her place was a time machine. No joke.
Now the question...did it take us back in time to 1988 or to the future of 2088??? You may never know!
Glasscutters Benefit
In preparation for our big swim in Lake Michigan next weekend, Emily organized a fundraiser at Redmond's where for $20 a person you got well drinks, sodas, wine, and beer from 9 to 12 and $5 would be donated back. Awe-some.
So we headed over and gots to drinking. OK, so everyone else gots to drinking and I decided to stick to Sprites after an amaretto and after a red headed slut when i determined that drinking too much after pounding down cough medicine all day way pretty much a stupid idea.
So we partied it up, I met Liss who is also polar plunging with us, and Sean who kept trying to grind on me while I wasn't looking and offered to buy Alina and I drinks (I called him out that it's easy to offer when they are free) and Josh#563 who is a cameraman (so I picked his brain for advise on my new videography job...he said to just push the red button) and who stole my Sprite (the waitress thought I had ordered it for him and not moi, and he thought the waitress was just giving it to him...then I sipped it and told him he better not drink it anymore because I was sick...)
I rocked out to Bon Jovi even though I suppose I could have been at a Bon Jovi concert at that very moment. I dunno though, he is the best singer ever to rock out to in a bar, or in my car, or in my underwear in my bedroom, but I dunno if it would be the same in concert...
Anyways, Around 1ish I decided to call it a night since my cough was starting to bother me. I was going to sleep over at Em's but instead decided to go back home and sleep in my own bed. So I stole her spare set of keys to get break into her apartment and grab my stuff I left there and shared a cab back with Joe and Alina.
We had another crazy lost something moment when Alina couldn't find her keys. We basically tore apart everyone's coats looking for it. They turned up in her armpit. No joke.
So...yeah...it was a looooong day (especially when you count out trip back to the future) but it was tons of funfunfun. This, of course, left me to a lazy lazy Sunday of finishing the first season of 24.
Pictures here!
(of Saturday, not of my boring Sunday...although don't forget what I said about how I watch 24 ;-) )
Piano guy one: I have a Bon Jovi song here I can play.
Piano guy two: Wait, I have a Bon Jovi song too.
piano guy two starts to play "Living on a Prayer"
Piano Guy one: That's the song I have. I have five dollars for it.
Piano Guy two: I have two dollars for it.
Piano Guy One: That makes nine dollars!
For the record I paid $5. For the other record, I think I was the only person at my table to get a song played.
So my friend Chelsa from work won a happy hour party at Howl at the Moon which is this totally kick ass piano bar. I dragged Em along and met up with Chelsa and the rest of her friends there. We got in free, got a free taco buffet, and got our first two drinks for only a dollar each (after that drinks would have been cheap too, but I gave up as I'm still kinda sickly). I got the most wine I've ever seen in my life for a dollar.
The band played songs mostly that I know, or at least pretend to know (I pretend to know the words to a lot of songs) so there was much singing along.
Alas, Chelsa is sick, and Em is sick, and I am sick, so all of us ended up calling it a somewhat early night.
***
So, you know how I'm always getting mistaken for being 16? Yeah, well, I guess I am now also mistaken for being poor...
Here's how this one went down.
I leave the bar and hop in a cab. Immediately I start rummaging around my purse for cash. If you know me at all you know that a) I have a pretty damn big purse (because I usually keep a book in there and often my huge camera) and b) I really don't use a wallet. Seriously, I have never found a wallet that works so my money just kind of floats around loosely in my purse.
So...I get in the cab and start searching for money. I find a couple of $20s and a $5...well, the $5 turned out to be a ripped in half half of a $5 so that wouldn't do at all. I really don't want to give a $20 and ask for change since the ride is sure to only be $5. So I start rummaging for singles that are all wadded up in the bottom of my purse. I find plenty of those. The cab driver drops me off at a far entrance which seems odd, but whatever, it's closer and cheaper. So I hand him seven 1 dollar bills (about a $2 tip in there too, which is pretty decent). "It's OK," he says "If you can't afford it OK. You keep."
"Ummm, no it's OK."
"You sure? You can't afford?"
"NO, I can afford, bye."
Seriously, what the fuck?
1. No one planned a trip to the auto show this year :-( I really wanted to go too because I wanted to see the new production Challenger because I really want one. This makes me sad.
2. This game will make my LIFE!!! Seriously, I plan on buying whatever game system it comes out for. It better be for Playstation so I can buy Guitar Hero as well :)
3. Netflix keeps recommending for me an instructional video on the kama sutra.
If I ever leave this world alive
I'll take on all the sadness
That I left behind
If I ever leave this world alive
The madness that you feel will soon subside
So in a word don't shed a tear
I'll be here when it all gets weird
If I ever leave this world alive
So when in doubt just call my name
Just before you go insane
If I ever leave this world
Hey I may never leave this world
But if I ever leave this world alive
So seriously, how many concerts can you go to and say "Man, that accordion player is kind of pretty hot"? And how many times can you say that about both the main band and one of the openers???
Anyways...
Last night was the Flogging Molly concert at House of Blues. Nad and Bryan picked me up and off we went. On the way there I got a call from JoeW: "Are you going to Flogging Molly tonight???" "Ummm, yeah...are you?!?!?!" "Yeah." I guess he saw on my Facebook that I was going and he and Meredith were going too. Awe-some.
The three of us get there a bit early and I waddle through snow over from the parking garage to the theater in short sleeves because I didn't want to bother with my coat. Luckily it was only a short 2-block walk and the line was moving quickly when we got there. We grabbed some drinks (why do they bother to take your id outside and give you the over 21 bracelet if they're just gonna ask for your id at the bar anyways? Odd.) Then we wandered about looking for a spot to stand.
We staked out a good spot near the entrance so we could watch for JoeW/Meredith and Emily/Tyler who were also meeting us there.
The first band up was Dusty Rhodes and the River Band who were a'right but not spectacular (they did, however, have an accordionist which was pretty damn cool). The second band though was uberawesome: The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band. Who'd have thunk that a band that consists solely of a guitar player, a drummer, and a chick on a washboard would be so rockin'. On top of that throw in songs about how his mom makes the best fried potatoes ever (does your mom's potatoes have a song written about them?) and a song about how they randomly saw the girl's cousin on cops and you have one of the most awesomest bands ever. Ever. Nadia and I are so starting a band where I play the accordion and she plays the washboard. We are so calling it Smurph Pornografy, which was the name we came up with for our fake band in seventh grade (oh god, I shouldn't write that because I'm now guaranteed to get random creeps coming to my page googling smurf pornography...)
Anyways...
After they finished there was a long ass break that at least allowed some catching up with Joe and Meredith and Emily and Nadia and Bryan. And then, finally, Flogging Molly started!!!
I've never seen them live before but they are definitely one of those bands that is even better live. There is some music that is just absolutely boring in person, but these guys are something serious. Not only is the music amazing, but the crowd and the performance is amazing as well. Even the new tracks from their upcoming album which I haven't heard yet were so easy to get into (and seriously, Float...my new favorite song).
The music was spectacular and the only sucky thing was being right in the path of all the drunken idiots who needed to clear the floor (seriously, in the middle of the first act, at 8pm, there was a guy so wasted he couldn't move on his own...and there was a guy who got pissed at me for not moving out of his way after he kept asking me to move while standing behind me...dude, it's a CONCERT with loud music, I can't even hear myself).
Anyways...
The concert totally rocked my socks. You seriously can't go wrong with a night of Irish punk rock pub songs.
Afterwards Nadia and Bryan and I headed to Clarke's because we were ravishingly hungry because none of us had eaten in over 12 hours. I got a yummy potato, cheese, bacon, egg creation with some toast and we all ate entirely too fast then basically passed out. But whatever, it was an awesome concert and an awesometacular night.
She says I'm okay; I'm alright,
Though you have gone from my life
You said that it would,
Now everything should be all right
She says I'm okay; I'm alright,
Though you have gone from my life
You said that it would,
Now everything should be all right
Yeah should be alright
Josh on why it was OK for Will to bake him cookies:
"But he hasn't had a date in nine months."
Me on why it was not OK for Will to bake him cookies:
"So, that means he hasn't done other things with a woman in 9 months, does that make it OK for him to do those with a man?"
***
Last night we went to the Ram bar and not the goat bar and I got a peach tea thats one of those danger drinks and got an alien ice skater plate and ate bacon cheesey garlic sour cream chips that were yummy because Josh needs bacon.
***
Jack Bauer doesn't seem like the type to go for all these women with no hair. That's all I have.
***
Sometimes you go to Caribou to write and put at the top of the blank page a simple question: "Did he ever find that remote control?" And 183 unanswerable questions about your life later, you leave either more confused or more clarified than ever.
1.
Aw, my Valentine gave me a flower :)
2.
Haha, my eight hour 24 marathon totally trumped Walter's six-hour marathon. I win in patheticness!
3.
Thank you to all my anonymous message leavers! Y'all made me so happy :) I'm sure I secretly love you too!
1. Yesterday my boss sent me home early because I think he thought I was dying. My cough was pretty terrible. I was supposed to go to see Falstaff with Emily but I cancelled because not only did I feel lousy but felt that whoever was sitting enxt to me who'd have actually paid upwards of $150 to see the opera probably wouldn't be too happy with me coughing int heir ears for three hours.
2. I stayed home sick today and spent the day watching the first 8 episodes of 24. I started at 9:15 and finished them by 3:15. I really can't take Dennis Haysbert as president because no matter what he says I translate it to "blah blah blah switch to Allstate." Now I am attempting to finish the last six episodes of Joan of Arcadia before bedtime (with, of course, a break for American Idol). After "commercial breaks" joan of arcadia doesn't tell you how much time is left in the episode like 24 does. That annoys me.
3. Cheer me up by leaving me a Valentine's message.
1.
So basically this is what happens. Everyone is all "Ooooo, 24, best show ever, I'm so excited." Then as soon as I start watching it with everyone they're all "24 sucks, It's so bad, I don't care anymore." As Hood puts it, at least I don't have to go back on my creed that I refuse to watch anything quality on television...
Of course, this leaves me with my goal of the year to watch all the seasons of 24. Which I'm still gonna do, but I'm doubting anyone wants to watch any of it with me. :( If anyone does, let me know! Did I mention that I only watch 24 naked??? ;-)
Anyways.
This brings me to another point. I finally decided to stop bumming off of my sister and sign up for Netflix for myself so I wouldn't have to order 6 seasons of the show through her. This option is less free but I get my movies much faster. Which brings me to another point, you can be my netflix friend!
Seriously, my queue is almost only 24 right now. I promise that once I am through with the show it will be more diverse. And by more diverse I mean filled with crappy horror films.
Oh, and someone totally has to watch the Indiana Jones movies with me this year.
2.
I knew it would happen. As soon as I get a Garmin, look what they come out with.
A PINK Garmin.
:'( I'm going to cry.
3.
God do I feel like crap. Sorry if this entry is a wee bit sporadic. I'm kinda feeling sickly.
I guess you can call me un-Chicagoan and probably un-American while you're in it. You see, I am one of those people who dresses their hot dog as such:
Yes, yes I take a little hot dog with my ketchup.
In fact, I had only, to my recollection, ever eaten a hot dog once before that wasn't just and only smothered in ketchup. (That time was in L.A. when I went to Pink's and got a humongousaur chili bacon cheese dog.) And, in fact, I refuse to even order a hot dog in Chicago for fear of being looked down on for ordering it with "just ketchup."
The anti-ketchup thing isn't just a Chicago thing though, it's an American thing. I mean, I might as well get a side of French fries instead of Freedom fries and just call it a day. While every area has a special way that makes a hot dog theirs the one thing almost everyone can agree on is that if you order ketchup on a hot dog you might as well be a communist.
In Chicago, a hot dog is basically Vienna beef topped with a salad: mustard, onion, neon green relish, celery salt, tomato, peppers and a pickle spear. But I hate mustard. And I hate relish. And I certainly hate peppers. And, quite honestly, I just plain like ketchup. But, I suppose, you really can't knock it 'till you try it. So I made it one of my missions for the year to, finally, after 27 years, try a Chicago-style dog.
Josh and I hit up a place in Wrigleyville tonight that was recommended by his friend. We each got ourselves a dog, some fries, and a Coke, and dug right in.
So...it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Despite the fact that I hate all the ingredients they still kind of worked together. And despite the fact that I normally hate any crunchy plus soft combos it was completely edible. I still didn't like the peppers because peppers burn my lip and taste all hot and sour. At least this place cut them up though; I couldn't bite into it if they were whole. All in all though, I ate the whole thing and, I guess, it was kind of tasty.
So maybe, every once in a while, maybe I'll order myself a Chicago dog. But, who are we kidding. I'm a ketchup kind of girl.
So at the wedding, Jeff pointed out that he thought Glen looked like the dude from Ace of Cakes. Personally, that's all I think of when I watch that show, so it was kinda awesome to find someone who thought the same without any prompting. Of course, all y'all know what that means, right?!?!?!
Photo comparison time!
Which one is Glen and which on is Ace of Cakes's Geoff????
I just signed up to do the Polar Plunge with Emily. Why, you may ask, do I, the girl who has been known to wear a sweater to the beach in 80 degree weather, want to jump into the freezing cold waters of Lake Michigan? I dunno, but I told my twin Heather that I'd do it if she did it...(DO IT HEATHER! DO IT!!!!)
Not only will I be splashing around in coldcold water, I'll also be raising money for the Special Olympics.
Wanna help out? Donate here!!! $1, $5, $20...any amount helps!!!
p.s. here is me in high school on the beach in as much clothing as possible.
Isn't a donation of any amount worth it to see this girl jump in to freezing cold water?!?!?!
Congratulations Joe and Alina!!!
The Ceremony
I think weddings teach me that I either need to go to church more often or never go again between...
...joking with Julie over the church's really big organ.
......waving at people from across the room.
.........always forgetting that you're supposed to say "peace be with you."
............completely forgetting what to say when you're offered wine and taking forever to even be able to get the wine in my mouth.
Saturday was pretty cold and the snow was still on the ground from the day before which made for a kind of chilly church but a beautiful winter landscape. Joe always really had a knack for planning rafting trips during really heavy rains, so was it really any surprise that his wedding date would be during really heavy snow?
The ceremony was held at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at Notre Dame. The church really was absolutely gorgeous from the beautiful organ (yes, yes it was huge), to the detailed painted ceiling. It was a good call to not try to decorate with flowers and pewbows as the space really didn't need anything more. After many false alarms (every time the music stopped everyone would get quiet and wait) the ceremony began.
Joe came up with his mother, the bridesmaids came up in their gorgeous purple dresses (I totally have the exact same dress in a lighter shade of purple, I so could have worn it and blended in). What was odd was that when the bridesmaids started walking down most everyone stood up. Maybe I am wrong but I always thought you only stood up for the bride. Ohwellz.
Alina looked absolutely amazing. She was so beautiful.
The ceremony was really nice as well. The priest did a whole joke about how it being groundhogs day shouldn't "overshadow" the events of the day. He even seriously used air quotes which was pretty rad. I don't mind having the full catholic mass at a wedding, the only thing I find odd with Catholic weddings is that they do the whole ceremony, then have the mass, then at the end you finally get to kiss. I dunno, I think I'd be mighty anxious!
But finally a few songs later, a few prayers later, a few communions later, a few well wished later they sealed the deal and were officially Mr. and Mrs. JoeJoe.
The Reception
So, within the course of the reception, I managed to...
...lose my earring.
......shatter someone's glass on the dance floor.
........."drool" on Jeff's shoulder.
............catch the bouquet.
...............find my earring...luckily unharmed.
..................wear my high heels the entire night.
We drove back to the hotel then shuttle bused it to the reception at the country club. Joe and Alina hooked everyone up with nice big busses to go back and forth so that people didn't have to drive which was pretty sweet.
Once we arrived it was time for wine and appetizers and mingling. The hors douvres were quite tasty. I especially liked the little potato-filled mushrooms...and the asparagus and goat cheese in puff pastry...and the beef crostini...mmm.
I am quite surprised at just how many people I knew there: from good friends to new friends to KCSAers to insomniacers I haven't seen in quite some time. Between the six tables worth of people I knew it was quite the night.
After the cocktail hour I settled into my seat at the awesome table and watched as the bridal party was announced and as Joe and Alina shared their first dance. JoeJoe danced!
After some speeches (Glen gave a very wonderful speech), some Isla setting herself on fire, some salad with yummy red pepper dressing, steak, chicken, potatoes, crispy sweet potatoes, broccolini, and sorbet it was time to get the party started!
The rest of the night could basically be filled with one word, repeated for emphasis: dance, dance, dance!
There was a real band and it totally rocked because they played a decent mix of oldies and newbies and it was all totally danceable. They even played Shot Through the Heart. So I danced with my girls and with Mikey and with Glen and with Jeff and with Scotty and with MattyK and with Andrew and with Dave and with Brian and with Doug because I'm a total playa like that.
At one point I completely lost my earring but later I was able to find it right next to the dance floor totally unharmed.
At one point I accidentally knocked a glass out of someone's hand while we were dancing and it totally shattered.
Once the bouquet toss was announced I took my spot in the front. Everyone else will say that I wrestled everyone for it, but It hit my hand, fell at my feet and I grabbed it, I swear no one else was running for it. Maybe they all heard when I pathetically said I hadn't had a date in forever and let me have it. Isla tried to argue that I dated the Canadian but we never went on a date, we just slept together.
So I am apparently getting married next. Any takers? It's probably bad luck to try to marry the guy whose wife tossed the bouquet so I guess JoeJoe is out of the question...
More dancing. More dancing. And did I mention more dancing? And did I mention that I managed to do all of this dancing in heels for the entire night?
Alas, the night finally had to end...only forty minutes after the last bus was originally supposed to leave. Everyone was having way too much fun to leave any earlier!
So we boarded back on the bus and bid adieu to the happy newlyweds, Joe and Alina.
After Party
Sometimes at bars Val learns...
...that she is really slow at picking up on things.
......what Pepsi really means.
.........that there is yet another song about her.
............that sometimes people ask you to watch their drink and never come back.
Emily and Julie called it a night when we got back, but I really wasn't tired and felt like going out so I joined up with Jeff and Mike and Sarah and Sid and Dave and we headed to a bar across the street. The bar was pretty crappy but whatever. I ordered a Pepsi and tasted stronger than any alcohol I would have ordered. Weird.
I had earlier promised Dave a lap dance if he got me a drink at the wedding. It was probably a pretty stupid move seeing as the drinks were free. But I hadn't wanted to leave the dance floor. Anyways, so he kept trying to cash in and also tried to get me to give him a "Pepsi," which apparently doesn't mean the soda.
Jeff and Sid bought the song "Valerie" from the juke box from me. I had never heard it before and it wasn't until the explained it that I realized what Reel Big Fish means, 'cause I'm kinda slow like that.
At some point Dave left for the bathroom and asked me to watch his drink. He then disappeared for a very long time and finally returned but had another drink.
There was also this weird guy who was talking to people in the bathroom and Lindsay thinks you should think of anal penetration while in the bathroom. Just sayin.
After a couple hours at the bar we decided to call it a night and headed back to the hotel, figured out how to get into the hotel, and called it a night.
Photos Here!!!
Friday
After work I met up with Emily and Julie downtown and we headed off to South Bend. Of course, not before having to scrape massive amounts of snow from Emily's car. By massive amounts I mean massive amounts (seriously, it was falling into the windshield the whole way to Indiana and we were still finding snow when we left on Sunday). Soon enough though we were on the road with only a slight detour to a cemetery instead of the hotel (damn Gertrude finding Josephs Lane and not St. Joseph Street).
We checked into the Marriot, dropped off our stuff then headed across the street to Fiddler's Hearth (Fisherman's Wharf) where everyone else already was. Joe and his family were there along with most of the groomsmen and some others. Alina was out elsewhere with her bridal party, giving me the perfect opportunity to try one last effort to steal away JoeJoe. Alas, he was dead set on marrying Alina and so even the roofie I slipped into his drink didn't work (just kidding...of course...I swear...)
It was a good night out of drinking with friends and listening to Irish music and drinking beer mixed with cider and berryjuice and celebrating Joe's last night of freedom. Alina and her crew finally came and joined us and she was just glowing and happy and excited.
We made JoeJoe take a shot like thing (I forget what those drinks are called that you drop something into something and it tastes like chocolate milk.) MK had a raspy voice but it sounded sick raspy and not sexy raspy and he wouldn't believe me. I met up with Josh (there are now way too many Joshes in this journal) and Angie who I have not seen since their wedding five or so years ago). There was an Irish band and Irish dancers. And Mr. Meier picked up the tab, so there was much much fun to be had.
Joe and Alina called it a night and headed back to their rooms (sleeping in separate rooms, of course). And the rest of us stayed out at the bar until close. Back in the hotel Mrs. Meier was in the lobby handing out goody bags filled with water, tissues, and a yummy wedding-cake shaped cookie. Some of us headed to Sid and Sarah's room to continue drinking random beers (citrus, chocolate, weird foreign whoknowsits) and watch TV. Including Groundhogs Day which I have never seen before but was highly appropriate considering it was groundhogs day.
Finally, we all called it a night and awaited the morning where we would all gather to see whether JoeJoe would see his shadow...
I truly wish you nothing but the best for your marriage.
Full recap of their amazingly awesome wedding, complete with tons and tons of photos, hopefully, tomorrow...
So, I'm all packed for the wedding...I have my ladder, duct tape, rope, bride costume...
Be back on Sunday...wish me luck in breaking up this damn wedding and becoming Mrs. JoeJoe!!!!
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