Yesterday I turned 22 (+5). Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate with me!!! It was definitely a day filled with the three things a woman wants most: chocolate, wine, and naked men!!!
1. Chocolate
In the afternoon Nadia and I met at Chocolate for Your Body. Nad got a regular mani and I splurged on a "chocolate signature". It's my party, I can splurge if I want to!
The manicure involved a cocoa scrub that made my hands nice and soft (and tasty I can assume), truffles (to eat, not for my hands), and coating my hands with a layer of chocolate.
for some chocolate flan and coffee. It was a cute place but, let me tell you, I have never before peed in a bathroom that had a urinal in it. Ew.
2. wine
After gussying up our nails and caffinating ourselves, Nad and headed over to Jen's place. In the time it took to walk from the car to her place, walk down the wrong pathway and get locked in the alley, I seriously felt like my hands were going to fall off. Luckily we finally found the way in to thaw off. Then Josh called and apparently the bar lost my reservation for 15. Fuck. Isla came and drove us to the bar and they were working on setting up our table. Thankfully they were still able to accommodate us.
The restaurant we went to was Volo Restaurant and Wine Bar and it was delicious. We had good wine, good food, good friends...
I tried some marrow bones and will never ever eat them again. Honestly, I really think all those chefs pretend they like such things to be all pretentious. But how can anyone like that crap? It had the texture of sandy snot and tasted horrible. On a better note the steak tartar was DEVINE and the duck confit was DEVINE. Josh and I also shared some Seared Yellowtail Tataki, but we still haven't decided what kind of citrus was pickled.
15 people showed up, which was totally awesome. Sarah came and, despite the fact that she hardly knows me, she completely gets me because she gave me a pink sparkly dragonfly and a Victoria's Secret gift card (pink, dragonflies, and VS are three of my very favorite things). Chelsa from work came and brought a friend. Rob and Chris and Aimee showed up despite having to be at a party in Milwaukee later that night. Meredith and Isla and Jen and Alina and Jenny and Adam and Nadia and Josh came too!!! Jen gave me a cute Smurfette tee and a pink candleholder. And Nadia gave me what she described as a "lame" present of a candleholder. It totally wasn't lame! But she said it was my fake present because my real one, a pink Rabbit wine opener, didn't arrive yet...In talking about this some people overheard pink rabbit and assumed it was something else...
Josh showed me what he really thinks of me by getting me a bottle of Bitch wine.
The label is PINK and, well, I am a bitch, so it's only appropriate.
Honestly I did not expect anything from anyone, I was just happy people came out during the zero degree weather!!!
My wine was yummy too. I was bad and ordered whites then proceeded to order a lot of red meat. But ohwellz. I had a lovely white wine flight. Then I had a Gewurtztraminer. Later I also had a yummy muscado d'asti.
They brought me a yummyyummy flourless chocolate cake with mint ice cream and everyone sang and I got to make a wish on my candle, which is always my favorite part, because I wish on just about everything you can wish on.
3. naked men
After the wine bar I bid adieu to a few of my female friends and all of the few guys left and the remaining chicas headed to Annoyance Theatre. We hung out at the bar there and played the game of Memory that I found on the shelf. Did I ever mention how much I suck at Memory? Ask me exactly what a certain person said to me at a certain time and I can probably repeat our conversation word for word. Ask me to remember where the little black boy is and I go blank.
After a couple rousing rounds we headed into the theatre for SKINPROV and the perfect night of entertainment to get your mind off of the fact that your best guy friends all ditched you for another party and none of them even bothered to call to wish you a happy birthday. But who cares about that when you've got drinks and half-naked men!!!
We beat the rest of the crowd into the theatre for prime first row seatage. The show was basically a bunch of men improving scenes and taking off all their clothes. They ended the first scene by all taking off their shirts. A couple short scenes later they paired up for small scenes that each ended with "Let's take off our pants." By the end of the show (and some taking off multiple pairs of underwear) we were left with g-stringed and jock-strapped men and a whole lotta nakedmanass.
After the show we headed back out to the annoyance bar to talk with the guys, still walking around shirtless. They got me a couple of shots and I ended up having both a buttery nipple and a pussy shot on them. The one naked man told us that he'd sucked more cock than anyone else there...and then introduced us to his lovely girlfriend.
We stuck around until they closed, drank some drinks, chatted up the bartenders, then headed off to Uptown Lounge...mostly because it was just around the corner and fucking freezing.
The bar definitely wasn't my cup of tea. Mostly because I hate talking to people I have absolutely no interest in. And because every three minutes the waitress came up and asked us if we needed anything else. We stayed out till about 4:30, well past the text message the guys sent to say their party was over.
All in all my party was totally awesome and I am so happy that everyone came who did! I have tons of amazing friends and I am glad they came out to share my night of turning 22+5!!!
Today was our departments Christmas party. Yes, yes, I know that Christmas was a while gone by now, but we're busy people damnit.
So a bit after noon we took the rest of the day off and headed to Quartino for lunch. We had three pizzas (I ate two: one topped with bunches of fresh spinach and one with a slab of spicy but yummy sausage), Italian "sliders" (a small sammich of fresh mozzarella (made in house) and tomato), nice pillowy gnocchi and green beans, and a sulumi platter of Duck Prosciutto, Bresaola, olives, artichokes, cheeses, and a few spreads. Yumyum.
When they brought out the dessert menu I was told that since we were also celebrating my birthday that I had to order dessert so I got some yummy profiteroles stuffed with chocolate sauce and vanilla gelati. When they delivered it everyone sang Happy Birthday. But then the restaurant staff brought me a cup of gelati with a candle so they sang again. I passed around the cup but was ordered by the boss to eat my whole dessert myself. Done and done.
After lunch we headed to 10 Pin for some bowling. It's a cool little place (I actually always expected it to be bigger) with a nice (but expensive) martini menu (I had a yummy peachy keen martini) and giant screens of music videos playing above the lanes. The first round sucked. I came in dead last. The second round I had the second highest score. I attribute that to the fact that for that round the scoring screen had turned to PINK. The next round we did a face off of marketing vs. pr with the losing team having to buy Starbucks for the department. Alas, marketing lost :-( I was horrible that round. The next round I did better (because the board was now a different shade of pink), but we still managed to lose again. Ohwellz.
2007 was both the best and worst year you could ever imagine. OK, so definitely not the worst year ever, but at the same time I feel kind of shitty that I didn't suck it up and accomplish the two biggest things on my list. I'm still living with the parents and I'm still single :-( Other than that though I had one of the most amazingly awesome years you could ever imagine! Thank you so much to everyone who helped make my year so sweet! Highlights definitely include Nadia and Bryan's wedding, the Illinois road trip, Warped Tour exhibit at the Rock Hall, the Krystal Square Off, meeting Kurt Halsey (and him recognizing me!), and meeting Pat Bertoletti (and him remembering me!). Oh! And the Kwik-e-Mart...and my birthday...and skiing...and cicadas...and well...I guess a whole lot more!
Despite the fact that this year I also completed my masters in writing, I think i probably can sum up the year best in the 10,328 photos I took...
(Don't worry, I didn't really post here all 10,328 photos. But sorry they go so fast, I had too many!)
For those brave ones, below the cut is a recap of my "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" 100 in 2007!!!
In the last month of 2007, I completed eight more things, bringing the grand total for the year to 55 and surpassing my goal of doing half! I had wanted to try and shove a few more things in, but I have felt pretty sick over the last couple of weeks, so I didn't get to everything I had planned. Still, I'm pretty happy with the fact that I actually completed my goal this month!!!
Here's my December:
4. Pick a hair color and stick with it
I've been a blonde the whole year...and haven't even dyed it since early August!
25. See Second City
Unless something goes terribly wrong (knockonwood) I'll be going tonight!
28. See at least 3 plays
I saw Good Boys and True this month and two plays last month!!!
30. See plenty of Opera
I saw Doctor Atomic one and a half times this month and with that I officially saw a whole lof of opera (though not nearly as much as I could have seen)
38. Watch The Science of Sleep (looks interesting)
I rented it yesterday and watched it last night. I'm not sure yet what I think about it. Honestly, I have no idea what happened and have no idea how it ended but I still thought it was interesting and amazing. But don't ask me to tell you the plot because I don't know what happened.
59. Learn google analytics
Eh, I learned it enough this year so I am officially crossing it off the list.
85. Bake once a month
This month I baked a buche de Noel and it was damn purdy.
90. Make a ginger bread house
I never said it had to be a good gingerbread house.
Stay tuned for the year-end recap and my new plan for 2008...
I think I am in contention for the worst gingerbread house ever made.
See, I lack the two qualities necessary to succeed in the gingerbread world: patience and precision. My dough was too crumbly. I didn't bother to try to make even, straight pieces. I didn't bother trying to make a slanted roof. I burnt the gingerbread. The icing was too runny.
The melted Jolly Rancher windows came out surprisingly nicely.
Trying to put it together I just kind of held the pieces in place and dumped as much frosting as possible over it in hopes that something would stick.
I just spent my entire day on this damn thing because the weather is too crappy to go anywhere and someone cancelled the ski trip I was supposed to be on right now.
If it survives until tomorrow I might try to decorate. Might.
28. See at least 3 plays
When did I get so laxidasical about theatre? It took me eleven months, but in November I saw House's "The Nutcracker" and "The Sparrow." Two down, one to go.
30. See plenty of Opera
So I missed Caesar :-( But I saw Die Frau :-) Four hours of opera is definitely plenty of opera :-) But I know I will see one more this year!
65. Finish my masters
Donedonedonedonedone...I hope. I don't technically have my diploma. But I got a B+ in my last class!!! Totally awesome grade for hardly putting forth much effort!
79. Go to Las Vegas
Been there, done that, will certainly do it again...
83. Knock off at least a few of the following Illinois Attractions:
j. The Golden Pyrimid House
Aint it purdy?
85. Bake once a month
This month I baked an apple tart.
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?
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.
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!
My day at the Krystal Square Off.
a report by Val Bromann
Yes, we drove ten hours to Chattanooga and ten hours back to Chicago to watch people eat hamburgers for eight minutes.
Yes, we are weird and wacky and insane.
Yes, it was totally worth it!
The whole event started at noon with "Free Krystals, games, etc. etc." We had to check out of our hotel by 11 and had nowhere else to go, so we arrived around 11:30/11:45. We saw some people in Krystal Fan T-shirts so we went to scope out where we could get some. Nad and I bought red ringers that say "Official Fan of the World Hamburger Eating Championship." Bryan got a yellow one that said "Future Champion."
The T-shirt lady showed us where they'd be giving out free Krystals. We told her that we'd never had any before and then we'd driven the ten hours from Chicago just for the contest. She mentioned that she hated White Castles.
We went and stood in line for Krystals, where we started to determine that it seemed that we were the only people there who did not live within a 2-mile radius of the event. Are we really the only crazies in the world?
So we got our Krystals. A Krystal Lady came up and took my pic because I'd put on my t-shirt and had my burger. We told her our story about never having had a Krystal before and driving all that way. And she gave us free posters! Score! She then pointed us in the direction of the Krystal Confessional where Nad and I got a video taken of us trying our burgers for the first time (see previous entry)
Shortly after coming out, T-shirt lady came and tracked us down with another Krystal person. She asked us if we really drove all that way just for the competition. Yes, yes we did. We came, of course, to cheer on our hometown Deep Dish hero!
They kind of thought that was awesome...and then kind of gave us free V.I.P. passes. !?!?!?!?!?! WHAT?!?!?!
We were kind of totally shocked!
That basically meant that we got to go way up in front of the crowd and watch in the press area. SUPER AWESOME because that meant not only did we have great seats, but we didn't have to worry about trying to find and save seats at all!!! And we'd be right there in the action! And maybe even get drooled on or something!
Nadia and I were seriously the giddiest little clams you would ever see in your life. EVER!
We wandered about collecting more awesome Krystal stuff. We got a free t-shirt, thunder sticks and pompoms! We watched the competitors being brought in convertibles (except for Sonya...how did she not get a convertible??) And then stood in line to get autographs but were only able to maddeningly score Joeys.
We went and tracked down the woman who gave us the passes and she let us through the ropes and told us where to go...which ended up being just us and the press. Seriously, I don't think any of the other VIPs knew that they could come around and stand right up front...
First were the bunnettes, then the amateur competition, then the National Anthem...and then...the MAIN EVENT (only slightly delayed due to live bowling coverage...)
All the competitors were introduced...then they were off! And my oh my can they eat!!!! and eat. and eat. Actually eat is the wrong word. Consume? Devour? Absorb? Ingurgitate?
It really was the Joey, Pat, Bob show..."Humble" Bob Shoudt was mighty impressive at chowing down burgers...especially for a vegetarian
:-)
And Joey "Jaws" Chestnut was...amazing! Seriously! I don't know where all that food goes! And then...and then...in a history making, record-shattering moment...he hit 100!!!! 100 burgers in less than eight minutes!!! Holy processed cow meat!
The Krystal Square Off was an absolutely amazing battle and ended with Joey "Jaws" Chestnut in first (103 Krystals), "Humble" Bob Shoudt in second (95 Krystals), and "Deep Dish" Pat Bertoletti in third (94 Krystals). And I can't even begin to describe how defeated Pat looked (especially since just a few weeks ago he defeated both Joey and the great Tsunami Kobayashi at Chicken Wings).
:-(
It was an amazingly awesome contest. Those eight minutes were completely worth 20 hours in the car...
Afterwards we hung around and got pics with a couple of the eaters, including Mr. Joey Chestnut himself.
Then we went and got a picture with Pat. He asked if we'd met before and said he knew he'd seen me before. (he most likely remembers seeing our crazy selves at the Jalapeno eating contest, although we were too chicken to go up to him there). :-) He also asked "You didn't come here just to see me, did you?" "[yescauseyourehot] nono, for the whole event!"
Truth be told, the original mission of the trip was to see Kobayashi in action. But alas his jaw injury had kept him away :( Ohwellz. I am so happy that we went anyways!!!
So we let Pat go because he had to catch a plane to Chicago and we had to drive to Chicago.
And then we drove to Chicago.
And that is a very long drive. (but did I mention that it was totally worth it?)
I woke up at 5am on Saturday morning surprisingly awake. I think it was kind of like when you're a kid how you can wake up on Christmas morning before anyone else and be completely ready to go. Except instead of waiting for Santa Claus I was waiting for Joey Chestnut and Pat Bertoletti. I showered and packed up my car then went to pick up Nadia and Bryan.
Before 7am we were already on the road to Chattanooga for the Krystal Square Off, the only Major League Eating sanctioned hamburger contest, and one of their top two competitions. The Square Off is held in Chattanooga, Tennessee, 600 miles away and a nine and a half hour drive.
The drive was boring and fun and beautiful and crazy all at the same time. The road signs wanted us to play pong but we determined that may be a bad idea. We also determined that there has to be some sort of street called neutralville between the neighboring towns of brownsburg and whitestown.
At about one or so we made it to our first destination: Cave City, Kentucky. Cave City is an anomaly of a town that is basically my idea of heaven. Our first stop int he town was Big Mike's Rock and Gift Shop and Mystery House. We wandered the gift shop for a bit and then purchased our $1.06 admission for the guided tour of the mystery house...
The first room we went to was full of posters. You know the things: the sentence that has an extra "the" that you completely ignore, the drawing of the two hands drawing each other, the staircases that you can't tell which way was up, etc. etc. Pretty basic everyone's seen it stuff...
The next room was blacklight posters. A room filled with blacklight posters. That was all. They glowed. It was psychedelic or something.
And then on to the good stuff...
The next room was freaky deeky awesome. There was a water fountain and the stream of water ran UPWARDS. And there were pool balls on a ledge that fell UPWARDS and stayed there. And there was a chair that balanced on the wall and I sat on it and was like floating. And the whole room felt like I was going to topple over because it was on weird gravity-defying angles. It was hard to even stand in there!
The next room had a little house thingy and when we went in depending on where you stood you looked either really short or really tall. And then there was a ledge that looked like it was completely on an angle, but in reality was the only thing that was perfectly straight across so when you stood on it you felt completely in balance even though it looked lopsided and you were toppling over everywhere else.
Then it was on through a hall of portraits...those things that look normal at first but then change to look all freaky when you pass...and that was that. The most awesomest Mystery House ever! Totally worth the buck admission. We tipped an extra buck to our fourteen year old tour guide Alex and headed on our way.
We were going to go to the old decrepit wax museum...but it was closed...perhaps permanently :(
We passed by the KY action park (mmmhmmm) but did not go...
We stopped at Dinosaur World, which is kind of a park like Jurassic Park but I don't think the donos are real. We didn't feel like paying the $10 admission though...
Then we stopped by Wigwam Village. It's a motel...where all of the rooms are wigwams. Seriously, these babies have real beds and cable TV and everything. And are shaped like wigwams. I am so making JoeJoe take us canoeing or something around here sometime so we can stay in these :)
Then after it was a quick bite to eat and we headed off to Tennessee, Georgia, Tennessee (silly directions)...
The views through Tennessee are awesome...but we especially loved the runaway truck ramps going up the mountains...
By about seven we made it to Chattanooga and our wonderful Days Inn! Ideally we would have stayed across the street at the Sheraton (they sponsored the Krystal Square Off and so we assumed they hosted all fo the eaters there) but in the interest of saving $100 we opted for cheap motel. Once there we basically passed out for a bit watching a crappy movie. Then we walked a couple of blocks to Sticky Fingers BBQ for dinner. The food there was amazing. I got a pulled pork/half slab combo with Tennessee whiskey bbq sauce. The meat completely just fell of the bone. I picked it up an the bone was completely dry. And it wasn't fatty at all. That's a rib!
We were thinking of doing something afterwards but we were all pretty much exhausted so we went back and called it a night. Needed to rest up for the Krystal Square Off and the long, long drive home...
1. Sometimes you tell someone that you drove ten hours to see the hamburger contest. And then sometimes that person finds someone else who gets you VIP passes to go stand all the way up in front with the press.
2. Sometimes records are broken.
3. Sometimes your favorite eater kind of remembers seeing you before :)
4. Sometimes you seriously have what may be the best roadtrip ever. :)
Recap, pictures, etc. to come later.
For now, it's 2am and I just got home after driving the entire 10+ hours (damn constuction) from Chattanooga...zzzzzzzzzzzzz
When you hear the whistle blowin' eight to the bar
Then you know that Tennessee is not very far
Shovel all the coal in
Gotta keep it rollin'
Woo, woo, Chattanooga there you are
So Chattanooga choo choo
Won't you choo-choo me home?
Chattanooga choo choo
Won't you choo-choo me home?
Yup, I'm in Chattanooga! But I doubt I'll see much of it :) Driving 10 hours Saturday to get there...watching an eight-minute hamburger-eating contest on Sunday...driving ten hours back :) but it's so worth it!!!
Watch the Krystal Square off on ESPN at 1:30pm central on Sunday!!!
Saturday I hit up the pumpkin farm with the girls...Adam counts as one of the gils because he carries a purse.
There were tons of superneat things to do like pig races, hayrack rides, singing chickens and a petting zoo.
We went to a little haunted house...Adam and I managed to get completely lost in it and accidentally leaving through the wrong exit. Oops. Jenny didn't make it past the door.
We saw the absolutely most innapropriate witch statue thing ever.
Seriously, it kind of just held its broom pole with both hands and vibrated. And then from the back all you saw was the broom head with smoke coming out. Now that's creepy.
We saw lots of animals including a Zedonk and kangaroo. The kangaroo was sleeping so the kids around us just started throwing their carrots on top of it to try to wake it up.
Then we searched out the perfect pumpkins. Adam and Jenny looked around until they found the perfect one...but then found an even perfecter one. Nadia just wanted a baby one. I chose this one:
simply because I liked the curlycue funny stem. I go for character over perfection :)
Statesville Haunted Prison
After the farm I bid adiue to the girls and headed off to Statesville Haunted Prison. I didn't bother to invite Nad or Jen because I figured their answer would be no anyways.
Of course, I got there way before anyone else, so I staked a place in line. The plan was to be there a half hour before it opened and I was already pretty far along in line. Finally Joe and Alina showed up and then Emily and her crew.
After paying our $30 admission (yes, I said $30) we went in...and then Emily realized that she'd forgotten one of her friends was still coming. Luckily for only $10 more dude with megaphone let him bypass that first line. Yes, I said first line. After getting chased by really scary stilt man we headed off to yet another line...where we proceeded to wait. All in all we were in line for about three hours. Yes, I said three hours. A bunch of scary dudes came around being all scary like and a dude with a chainsaw was chasing people around. At first they were scarier, but after three hours you just kind of got used to them. We did however see chainsaw guy chase people to the point of one running into the rope fence and another guy falling, summersaulting and his friend then tripping over him. Hilarity. At least chainsaw man was nice and helped them to their feet.
At one point I totally almost made out with a zombie because he started wagging his tongue at me so I just started doing it back.
Finally we made our way to the front and then were carted off into a prison cell. Then we were brought into the prison. It was the scariest haunted house I have ever been to. But also totally cool. There were a bunch of people per room and some of the rooms were basically pitch black and sometimes you felt like you were in a car wash and had to squeeze between foamy rubber walls and sometimes you had to crouch down really small to squeeze through the rooms. And there were killer klowns from outer space.
Emily, Emily's friend who I can't remember the name of for the life of me, and I made a little chain of holding onto eachothers sweatshirts.
It was totally awesome though.
When we got out the line was about 5 million times longer and considering it took us three hours we figure those who were there will get in at about Christmas...
Sunday
Bromann Park
Sunday afternoon I met up with Alina at her apartment. We grabbed some sandwiches and headed over to Bromann Park.
So, I had no idea that this place even existed until about a year ago when I googled my last name, despite the fact that it's apparently been around since the 70s. I'd never been and Alina wasn't too far so we decided to go!
It's a really cute little park. Although I think they just redid it, so I am curious as to what it looked like before. There was a little swing set and a little play thingymabob and some picnic tables. Alina and I had some girl talk and ate our sandwiches. It was a funfun afternoon and I still can't beleive I have a park named after me Shush you, it was named after ME!!! :- )
BBQ with MattyK
Later MattyK had some people over to his house for bbq and top gear watching and rafting photo viewing. MK took like 4 pictures. I guess I baklanced it out with my 200+ :)
I had steak but made a sammich out of it. He didn't yell at me for turning the steak he worked so hard on making into a sammich but said it was a good idea. :)
I have not seen Top Gear in like three years because I am never invited over to watch it. It was funny because they redid the make a car work on both land and sea experiement and actually made it to France! It was funny. I said that already.
I had ice cream in my coffee but MK would not let me have it in my wine.
Then I made him play me Rhapsody in Blue and My Funny Valentine.
Bah, it was a slow month...(well, in terms of the list...I mean I DID take a trapeze class, go to Hollywood Boulevard twice, see Pat Bertoletti win a jalapeno contest AND attend a ball...)
19. Go to Millenium Park
I figure it's safe to cross this off my list since I have now been there once on my own, once to take wedding photos, and once to see a concert...but next summer we are all going to tromp in the fountain :)
30. See plenty of Opera
I saw La boheme :)
34. Go to Renegade Craft Fair
Done and done.
78. Go to a baseball game
Go Sox!!! (and hot dogs!)
85. Bake once a month
Corn bread.
91. Chicago Wine Festival
mmmpinkwine.
Poll:
Should I do another list for 2008??? If so, how many items should be on the list? What percentage of that list should I have to complete?? (This year I had 100 on my list of which my goal is to complete 50.) Should it be a completely new list or contain the things that I don't finish this year? Any suggestions for things you want to see val do???? Leave your answers in the comments!!!!
Except I kept comparing it to RENT because I haven't seen boheme in a long time so was never sure of all of the crossovers.
I cried though, but what doesn't make me cry I guess.
But it is really very good (sorry I am too tired to think of better adjectives).
I woke up at six to get to work an hour early because I had a ton I needed to get done. What we learned today was that when I wake up really early I forget things like how to shower. Seriously I stood in the shower trying to figur out what I was supposed to do. If you were there you'd have laughed at me. I guess you would have also seen me naked (because I at least remembered that step).
The rest of the day...we're not going to talk about that...
La Costeña "Feel the Heat" Jalapeño Eating Challenge
Amazingly, Nadia had this Sunday off. Also amazingly, we have the same stupid sense of what is fun in life. So, we took off to celebrate her independence (because she is Mexican) at the "Feel the Heat" Jalapeño Eating Challenge at some park I can't pronounce in some area of the city.
We totally proved our giddy twelve-year-old fangirl status by bypassing the alcohol and food and music and staking out the eating contest way early and giggling an awful lot and following around contestants (but mostly because we figured that they would be going to the right place).
While waiting at the La Costeña booth Nad says "Just look for the mohawk!" and then not 2 seconds later we look up and, low and behold, Pat Bertoletti is heading our way...and then he stands RIGHT NEXT TO ME before seeing the people he was looking for. Did I mention he stood RIGHT NEXT TO ME? Did I also mention that I am a dork and can't believe that I got this excited about competitive eating??? And the eaters????
So once his crew takes off we follow them, because we assume they know where they are going. And then we held our position right in the front of the "crowd" (AKA, we were the only ones there besides, who we guessed were, Pat's family and friends...) And then we probably made fools of ourselves by giggling and staring and they probably totally knew that we were giggling and staring...but whatever.
Oh! And Pat was totally drinking straight from a bottle of Pepto-Bismol while hanging out. And that was kind of awesome.
Once the competition was about to begin (it started late, I heard later that some of the contestants had a hard time finding the place...it WAS hard to find) a crowd started to gather.
And then it was time to begin!
Ryan Nerz came out to do brief bio-interviews with some of the eaters...and boy did they come out!! (who knew that so many people would want to shove themselves full of jalapeños?!?!?! )
The lineup included Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas, Rich "The Locust" LeFevre, Hall "Hoover" Hunt, and Erik The Red Denmark...just to name a few.
Pat downed chocolate milk while being introduced, which is awesome, because you know I always think the best plan of attack to being able to eat a lot is to fill up your stomach beforehand...right?
Then everyone was introduced and the countdown began (in both English and Spanish)...5, 4, 3, 2, 1!
And they were off, within seconds pepper upon pepper (and plenty of milk) were being consumed...
And after a couple of minutes a couple of them totally looked like they were going to have a reversal of fortune (or at least like they had rabies).
And then after six-and-a-half minutes of the eight minute competition...THEY RAN OUT OF PEPPERS!!!!
WHAT THE HELL???
So...they had to cut the contest short. Which kind of bites (no pun intended) because as in any competition there is strategy, and to change the rules in the middle kind of muck things up.
But anyways...
We waited and waited with anticipation as the number of peppers consumed by each contestant was tallied up.
And then...the winners were announced for the truncated six and a half minute competition (It was supposed to be eight)...
In Fourth Place: Hall "The Hoover" Hunt (110):
In Third Place: Rich "The Locust" LeFevre (120):
In Second Place: Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas (141):
And...
In First Place...
Our Hometown Hero...
PAT BERTOLETTI!!!! (191)
Who is now, officially, the jalapeño-eating champion of the world!!!
Woohoo!!!
So, it was a totally awesome experience, and my first MLE event I watched live. I didn't get to meet any of them because I was too chicken and shy to go up beforehand, and then afterwards no one came out right away and we didn't want to wait too long.
But did I mention that it was totally, 100%, completely, amazingly awesome?
Renegade Craft Fair
After the contest (and a run...OK...slow long powerwalk to Babies-R-Us) we dropped off Bryan (I don't think I ever mentioned that Bryan came with us...eh, he's not important) and then headed off to Do-Division Festival and Renegade Craft Fair.
So, the do-division festival was kind of very lame. There was some not-completely terrible band with no one watching them on one end, and some god-awful techno crap on the other, and a couple of generic food stands and merch tents in between.
We got some food (I had some fried raviolis and a lemonade) then headed on to Renegade.
The Renegade Craft Fair was totally cool, and I don't think I've ever used the terms "kind of awesome" and "totally cute" so much as I did there.
Basically it's a more modern craft fair...you know, no doilies or anything like that, but IPod covers and two-headed sock monkeys instead.
My only gripe is that we got there at around 8ish and they closed at 10, but a bunch of people were already packed up and gone, or were in the process of packing up. Lame.
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
:-)
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.
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
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
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
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.
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...)
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 :)
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.
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.
Does it count as "going to a carnival" if you are all by yourself and don't ride any rides?
Does it count as "going to a concert" if you bail before the band even gets on stage?
So, sometimes you just want to hear the song that you wish to almighty was about you and cried a little when you found out it wasn't (despite the fact that your name is not, in fact, Delilah) sung live. Then sometimes a crappy band who thinks their the shit even though you've never heard of them breaks something near the end of their set, insists on fixing it to play their last song while insisting that everyone sing along (while insisting, of course, that people have even heard of them). Then they, of course, run late...Then you wait for AN HOUR AND A HALF for them to set up for the band people actually came to see (30 minutes in someone finally came to the mic to say they were having "technical difficulties," and hour in they finally decided to turn off the power on the stage to fix the problem, and an hour and a half in we finally bailed so we could make it to a movie (I have no idea when they actually made it to the stage)...And that is how Val did not see the Plain White Ts in concert :(
So the concert that I didn't see despite being there for longer than it should have lasted was at the DuPage County Fair, so beforehand while waiting for Nad and Bryan, I got me a corn dog and a lemon shake up...and maybe a funnell cake. That counts as going to a carnival, even though I didn't Tilt a Whirl. Eh, I'd probaby have thrown up a corn dog and a lemon shake up and maybe a funnell cake anyways.
We bailed on the concert before it even began because we had to catch us a 12:01 showing of The Simpsons. It was kind of awesome. And by kind of I mean really. And by really I mean stupendously. More so than the plot or anything I think it was some little tiny things that just freaking made it for me. But alas, I will not give anything away, because I don't do those sorts of things.
1. Thursday I went for sushi with Josh and Nadia. We were supposed to go to this one really good place but they were packed and had a ridiculously long wait. So we ended up at another sushi place a few doors down. Now, I have a theory here...If you are in Lincoln Park and one sushi place is packed and another is completely empty there is probably a reason... (I probably also shouldn't take restaurant advice from a boy whose favorite restaurant is Tasty Gyro...) We did have an excellent appetizer of teriyaki beef rolls. And I had yummy plum wine. But the waiter was a meany who would not bring me the plaid 3-legged pony I ordered (he said they were all out of the other types of ponies) and who sat on my imaginary friend. Mean mean waiter :(
2. I baked pudding. OK, OK, so you don't really bake pudding. But it counts. I then ate my pudding all alone by myself watching a movie with a former Dawson having a lot of sex. It was an enjoyable movie. The pudding was too lumpy (I am too impatient some times).
3. A horoscope I enjoyed: CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): If you were to get very quiet and tune in to all that's going on around you, you may realize that you're the thought that turns someone's lips into a bemused smile.
4. Yesterday I got a tour of the Civic for the first time. I kind of forgot that there was this whole other part of my company that I've never seen.
Things I learned last weekend...
...exit numbers correspond to mile markers (who knew!)
......google maps does not know the difference between a legitimate road and a rocky unpaved stretch of hilly gravel.
.........southern Illinois towns really have to get on labeling their roads with the county road number or at least the right name
ROAD TRIP MISSION: SEE THE ABSOLUTE STUPIDEST THINGS WE CAN FIND IN ILLINOIS IN 2.2 DAYS!!!!
DAY 1.
I managed to thoroughly impress JoeJoe with my roadtriping skills by not only showing up early but also bringing along goody bags (that included car games, snacks, and Simpsons pens). He then proceeded to eat all of the fruit rollups I brought him before we even reached Jen's House.
With Nad, Joe, and Jen in tow we left "Chicagoland" and headed off to the strange distant land called "Illinois."
WILMINGTON: GEMINI GIANT - SPACE AGE MUFFLER MAN
The Gemini Giant is a Muffler Man wearing a space suit and carrying a rocket that advertises the "Launching Pad" drive through that it is attached to. We stopped inside for some mini corn dogs (how did 3 of the 4 of us decide on mini corn dogs?), fries, and milkshakes. yummmmm. Great food and a great giant? What a way to start a trip!
NORWAY: AGRICULTURAL CRASH MONUMENT
So, have you ever come across a crashed airplane on the side of the road? Maybe it was an agricultural crash monument! This was a crashed plane on the side of a country corn road, just kind of hanging out. It was dedicated to farmers who lived "thru" the Agricultural crash of the 1980's. It's kind of graffitied up by now...but kinda neat.
PERU: WORLD'S LARGEST POT OF COFFEE
The "World's Largest Pot of Coffee" in Peru isn't really the world's largest pot of coffee...it's a sign for a chain of truck stops. I knew this, and it was a pretty pathetic site, but, as I told the crew, there was nothing else for over two hours, so might as well stop there!
That was it for Friday, so we drove a bit more to stop at a Super 8 in Wenona for a good nights sleep...We had a lot to get to! Surprise surprise when our hotel had a fighter jet parked in the parking lot! Add one more site to my list! (JoeJoe kept saying two for two, etc. as we went along...I don't think he believed that we'd find anything I wanted to see...he should learn to trust me more)
DAY 2
ARCOLA: RAGGEDY ANN MUSEUM
After a bit of driving (OK, OK a LOT of driving) we made it to our first stop of the day...Arcola! Arcola, Illinois is the birthplace of the creator of Raggedy Ann. We stopped by the museum, but since we didn't have much time, we didn't really have time to actually go through the museum. But we visited the gift shop! It was run by some very nice people who seemed rather devoted to the doll. And we signed a petition to get Raggedy Ann's (boyfriend? brother? Illegitimate love child?) Raggedy Andy into the National Toy Hall of Fame...you should sign the petition too.
ARCOLA: ONE AND ONLY HIPPIE MEMORIAL
Around the corner was the "One and Only Hippie Memorial." It, well, looked like something that should be memorializing hippies. It was basically a long wall along the train tracks decorated with junk. Very odd. Very odd indeed.
MATTOON: THE ORIGINAL "BURGER KING"
Now, where else would you stop for lunch on a roadtrip of oddities other than Burger King? Now, don't you worry, this wasn't just any old Burger King. It was the Original Burger King, and by that I mean it wasn't a "Burger King" at all! Basically this place had an Illinois trademark on the name "Burger King" before the chain came about, so they got to keep the name. Nice little local hamburger joint with much better burgers than that other place. And they had Chocolate Coke! And I at least thought it was delicious! We also totally got the four double cheeseburger and a half pound of fries special. Mmmmm.
CHARLESTON: WORLD'S LARGEST AND UGLIEST LINCOLN STATUE
Yes, it was tall. Yes, it was ugly. Very tall. Not as ugly though as I hear it used to be (a resort is being built around it, so I think the resort people had him painted and cleaned up...and maybe took the bullet out of his head...). He was very very very very tall though. And kind of awesome, because...well, who builds a gigantic president? This was one of very few sites where we saw other tourists.
GAYS: TWO-STORY OUTHOUSE
Yup, you read me...a TWO-STORY OUTHOUSE! Too bad they don't let you use it :( Or maybe not so bad. But it was once used and actually worked. But it's a TWO-STORY OUTHOUSE!
EFFINGHAM: GIANT CROSS
This is a giant cross. Yeah, that's about it. It is surrounded by plaques of the ten commandments. Each commandment had a rock that spoke affirmations or something. Jen sat there listening to commandment one for about twenty minutes before giving up. Who has time for that? We get the gist of it!!!
OLNEY: HOME OF THE WHITE SQUIRRELS
Olney is the home of the white squirrels. They have some weird breed of albino squirrels that live there, and not many other places in the world. But, after wandering the park, we could not find any. :(
METROPOLIS: BIG JOHN, GROCERY CLERK
Our first stop in Metropolis was not the most obvious. Before getting on to that, we stopped at the Big John to see the Big John. Those are a little-seen chain of grocery stores with giant men with grocery bags in their parking lots. He's kind of a cousin to the muffler man.
METROPOLIS: SUPERMAN STATUE
OK, OK, now it's time to see what Metropolis is really known for: Superman! In the town square they've got an area dedicated to the super hero who graces Metropolis. A giant statue! A museum (again, no museum, it was closed when we got there anyways)! A phone booth to run and change in! OK, so in the scheme of things it is kind of the most pathetic display you'll ever see...but for the purposes of our trip, I don't think you could find a better mecca of cheese! Top that off with the fact that it was 7oclock and there wasn't an open restaurant in site, and the only thing that was open was the kryptonite tattoo shop, and you have one perfectly stupid town!!!!
ALTO PASS: BALD KNOB CROSS OF PEACE
So...you kind of know you're in trouble when it's 9oclock at night and you realize that you next destination is truly in the middle of nowhere, through winding roads of vineyards and your directions stop before the point where you have to drive 4 miles up a mountain...and you didn't even think a mountain existed in Illinois. So, after much assuming because we could not find a single road that was on our directions, we finally found a sign that pointed to the road we needed to take to find the Bald Knob Cross of Peace (read: giant cross at top of mountain). I drove us in the pitch black through a tiny gravely winding road up the mountain. It was damn creepy. DAMN CREEPY! We truly expected to break down in front of a deserted house only to have someone run after us with an ax. Or for the road to just stop and for us to plummet down a mountain. Or some equally creepy horror-film in the making moment. The road was black and covered in trees and I could hardly see a damn thing. Finally (finally!) we realized that we were, in fact up the mountain, and saw the cross...way off in the distance in a place that looked like there was no way we could actually drive to. But with the sun setting behind it, and the sky a beautiful shade of purple, we trudged on. Finally (finally!) we made it to the cross! My camera was kind of wonky and would not take pics because it was basically pitch black by the time we found the cross. And there were these holes in the cross that made it sound like it was breathing. And there was this other couple who drove us but stayed a bit down the hill. And we thought they were murderers who were going to slash my tires and kill us. But it was beautiful to be up there. Amazing really.
After the cross we drove to Chester to look for Popeye and hotels. All the hotels there were either a booked Best Western or very creepy looking bed and breakfasts. And the whole town was very dark. And we'd had enough creep, so we backtracked a bit and went to a Best Western out of town that insisted over the phone that they were not a Best Western. So when we got there we were rather surprised to find that the sign said Best Western...and the soap and the keys and the everything...except the receipt the next day :)
DAY 3
CHESTER: HOME OF POPEYE
By the light of day Chester aint so creepy...unless you count that the town is based around Popeye because the creator was born there. We first found a little park with a statue to Wimpy. Then we drove to the Popeye statue, which was dangerously close to the "cross the Mississippi and no-turning-back leave the state bridge, thus ruining the only in Illinois roadtrip). But we found the Popeye just before the bridge! He was, well, Popeye. The woman at the gift shop near Wimpy told us that they plan on getting the whole crew of Popeye characters to join him in the coming years. We'll have to come back!
NASHVILLE: TINY CHURCH - THE TRAVELER'S CHAPEL
The tiny church was a little wooden church in the grassy alley behind a gas station. It was kind of cute and kind of out of place. Unfortunately they closed it off so we couldn't get inside, but I am still determined to marry JoeJoe there.
COLLINSVILLE: WORLD'S LARGEST CATSUP BOTTLE
WHO DOESN'T LOVE CATSUP!!!!! IT IS MY FAVORITE CONDIMENT!!!! The catsup bottle pretty much looked like the amount I normally take on my hamburger. It was a water tower made to look like a catsup bottle in honor of a catsup plant that used to grace the town. The plant isn't there anymore, but the catsup is!!!! YUM!!!!
ALTON: LIFE SIZE STATUE OF WORLD'S TALLEST MAN
At 8'1" Robert Wadlow was the biggest man ever! Even bigger than Scott! He was born in Alton in 1918 and he sold shoes because, obviously, he had big feet (hmmm, you know what they say about men with big feet.) They erected a statue (hehe, like my play on words there) to him in Alton. It is life-size so you can see how tall he really was. They also had a replica of his chair. I sat down and just kept sliding and sliding and sliding back. I thought it was going to eat me whole!
ALTON: LEGEND OF THE PIASA BIRD
On the side of a cliff in Alton there is a big painting of the "Piasa Bird." It basically looked like something Napoleon Dynamite would have drawn, with a legend to match. 'Nuff said.
LIVINGSTON: BEACH GUY AND PINK ELEPHANT
The beach guy was not a muffler man, but he was tall. And he made friends with a PINK elemaphant, so he's cool in my book. They stand outside an old high school turned antique mall looking all hawt. Did I mention that the elemaphant was PINK?
SPRINGFIELD: LAUTERBACH TIRE MUFFLER MAN
Another muffler man! This one carried a flag. Not as exciting as a rocket. We make sure to visit the most important thing in our state's capital. We have our priorities straight.
SPRINGFIELD: LINCOLN'S LUCKY NOSE
We did at least go to see Abraham Lincoln's grave. Of course, that was only to rub his lucky nose. But whatever. Lincoln has a very off color nose. Someone should blow it for him!
SPRINGFIELD: 30-FT-TALL SKINNY LINCOLN
Again, when in your state's capital it is always important to go to the things that really matter. Such as a tall skinny statue of our 16th president made to look as if he was truly Greg Brady.
LINCOLN: GIANT LINCOLN ON COVERED WAGON
On to Lincoln to see...more Lincoln! This time he is sitting on top of a large covered wagon and reading a book about law. Man, that men gets around!
LINCOLN: LINCOLN WATERMELON MONUMENT
AND NOW...TIME FOR QUITE POSSIBLY THE STUPIDEST THING POSSIBLE!!!! It was...a monument to Lincoln...that was...seriously and solitarily...a slice of watermelon!!!!! A SLICE OF WATERMELON!!! Isn't melon what you think of when you think of the president???? It had to do with him christening the town with melon juice or something. And I think it's the damn stupidest thing I will ever see!!!! Congratulations Lincoln!!! (oh, I also totally managed to lick it while taking this picture. It was kind of gross.)
ATLANTA: MUFFLER MAN HOLDING HOT DOG
Another muffler man! This one had a hot dog. He actually used to live a lot closer to me in Cicero but was relocated here in 2003. Nadia remembered him from her childhood in that area.
EAST PEORIA: ROOSTER IN A TOP HAT
We arrived in East Peoria only to see our rooster straight off the highway. He was a cock in a hat outside of a bakery that had really dumb hours.
We capped off our day in East Peoria at a Twistee Treat...an ice cream joint that was shaped like an ice cream. They had a damn good fake-strawberry shake. Mmmmmm. A perfect way to end the day :)
So, that was my road trip!!!!! I thought it was tons of fun!!! I hope everyone else did too. Or at least I hope they don't think I am too crazy for dragging them around the state to see a whole lotta crap. I was satisfied :)
I am proud of myself for being able to plan out a pretty awesome trip...and for driving the entire time! I don't think I would have/could have done any of this even a year ago. I'm really happy I was able to convince a couple of people to follow me around the state in search of stupidity...Maybe there will be more trips to come...there is so much stupidity left to see!!!!!!
1. I woke up really suddenly in the middle of the night and saw a red dot and my first thought was that someone was on my neighbors roof shining a laser pointer into my room. Then I realized that it was the light on my VCR.
2. I just applied to be the next Elvira. Although I think the deadline was passed anyways. I will apply to be on the Bachelor next month after I get my hair cut for the first time in a year. They don't let girls ont he Bachelor with messy hair.
3. I think I have packed more for a two day roadtrip then I did for a 3 week Europe trip.
4. someone on missed connections is looking for a girl in PINK ouside the Civic Opera House...the one day I wear blue!
1. What I ate at the Taste today (lunch + dinner) Row 1: Toasted Ravioli (Tuscany), Crawfish Boil with with Potatoes and Illinois Corn (Lagniappe)
Row 2: Catfish Nuggets (Dock's), Fried Dough with Strawberry Topping and Whipped Cream (Volare)
Row 3: Frozen S'more (Bobtail Ice Cream Company), Grilled Chicken and Vegatable Chopped Salad with Lime Dressing (The Grill on the Alley)
Row 4: Puerto Rican Steak Sandwich on Criollo Bread (Sabor Latino) and Pepsi (Beverage Booth), BBQ Buffalo Burger (Grazie! Ristorante), Saganaki (Costa's)
2. I am a rockstar of Hungarian Folk Dance
I went to a Hungarian folk dance lesson tonight. It was insanely fun but also insanely tiring. Those Hungarians sure know how to party. :)
3. Three anticdotes from the Taste today
a.) In Paris at Notre Dame I was kind of making fun of the people who were taking their pictures while facing the monument they were in from of (so they had a random background and not the monument). Today I saw someone having their picture taken while facing Buckingham Fountain.
b.) Have you ever played catch with a dog? While doing so did you ever, after throwing the ball a couple of times, pretend to throw it and the dog kind of went after it? Did you know that same thing works using a piece of bread and a flock of seagulls? Did you also know that that's the most hilareous thing you can ever do?
c.) I saw a homeless man eating a variety platter of cheese cake.
now we all know in Chicago, the fourth is truly clebrated on the third...
1. Lunch top: Italian Breaded Steak Sandwich (Ricobene's), Irish Curry Fries (Abbey Pub), Gazpacho with Avocado and Chopped Chives (The Grill on the Alley)
Bottom: Cilantro Steak Empanada (Vermillion), Pound Cake Pop Drizzled with Fig Vodka Butter Syrup and Chocolate (Polo Café & Catering)
3. Fireworks
I met up with Jen and Rory and some other peeps and then later JoeJoe and Alina...and then later later with Nadia and Bryan because cell phones kind of stop working when you are jam-pack surrounded by a million or so people all trying to use their cell phone.
The fireworks were coolcoolcool, but shortshortshort as always. Once the fireworks started all the idiots next to us cleared out because they realized that they could not, in fact, see the fireworks through the giant tree they were sitting behind...then a bunch of bigger idiots saw the new clearing and decided to start forming a line IN FRONT OF US WHO HAD STAKED OUT GOOD SEAT HOURS AND HOURS BEFORE because they apparently thought that a million other people just didn't notice this big empty spot. People are morons sometimes. We started a mutiny by not letting them through and this chick next to us almost got in a fistfight with this guy after scooting up to sit right in his path and kicking him so he couldn't get through. :)
All in all though, it was quite fun.
And then came the trek through the city amongst the biggest cowd you'd ever see in your life. Luckily we didn't take the el anywhere since there were apparently problems that left people stranded on it for hours. eh.
Afterwords most everyone ditched us and the rest of us headed off to Clarke's.
And I explained my new boyfriend plan...which is the most brilliant plan I've ever come up with. :)
For years this one place at the taste had goat and I tried it once and hated it. But mostly because it was smothered in extremely hot hot sauce and so all I could taste was burning.
This year a new place had goat too. It was not covered in sauce.
It was sour and rancid and icky.
In conclusion, Val should never try to eat goat again.
Here is everything I ate at the Taste today: Top: Sweet Potato Biscuit (C'est Si Bon), Prime Rib Quesadilla (Grill on the Alley)
Bottom: Grilled Wings with Pesto Aioli (Blu 47), Coconut Rice with Sauteed Goat (Bolat African Cuisine)
1. Scott had to explain to me why this wasn't a win. :(
I will never ever win a game of chess. Of course, it might help if I knew how the pieces moved. And maybe if I didn't cry when my ponies are eaten by the other team :(
I am proud of my draw :)
2. Well, Rich said I should apply to be on the Bachelor, and...well...he was the only one to vote on one of the shows I put up :( Although Chris emailed me with this one: The Search for the Next Elvira and I think I will apply for that too!! Oh! And look what may be coming to America! Count me in on that one!
3. Kobayashi has jaw-arthritis!!!! OHNO!!!! But he's still gonna compete on the fourth! This is going to be one monster showdown!
10. See a roller derby bout
Hell's Belles block the Fury from victory 54-50!
Double Crossers crush Manic Attackers 92-17!
and I was there!
11. Have a picnic
Picnicked at Ravinia with Nadia!
16. At least 2 Chicago summer festivals
Printers Row and Pride Parade! I don't know if either is technically a festival, but I choose to believe they were.
I saw the Hearty Boys at both:
17. Free dance lessons in Grant Park
I've gone three times! I learned East Coast Swing! Brazillian Dance! Salsa, Merengue, and Bachata!
26. See Naked Boys Singing
mmmhmmm
29. See at least 1 ballet
already crossed off, but I kind of saw more ballet at Ravinia :)
32. Go to at least 1 art show (other than Kurt's)
already crossed off, but I also saw Charlie's show!
36. Watch all the 80s cartoons I have on dvd
Watched the Secret of the Sword and a couple of She Ra epsiodes :)
65. Finish my masters
An A in tech writing and now only ONE MORE CLASS TO GO!
66. Develop a good "5 year plan"
hahahahahahaha...nope.
70. Develop a financial plan
Put most of my savings in mutual fund-like things.
Started putting the rest of my shorter-term savings in a higher-percentage online savings account.
Still need to close out my other bank account and move that money around, and once I move and figure out my expenses I will be able to put together a budget.
85. Bake once a month
Yummy lemon raspberry bars!
96. Skylark (because they apparently have good tater tots)
mmmm, and they most certainly did!
98. Go to the Taste of Chicago
twice so far...on opening day!
It takes 20 minutes to walk to Grant Park, and 20 minutes to walk back. Which leaves me with 20 minutes to chow down on: Top: Fried Ravioli (don't know where that was from, Jen had it left over), Pomegranate BBQ Chicken (Pars Cove Persian Cuisine)
Bottom: Mango Cumin-Dusted Fries with Tamarind Chutney (Vermilion), Fresh Pineapple Seafood Salad (Grazie! Ristorante)
2. SummerDance to learn Salsa, Merengue, and Bachata
3. The Taste for Dinner :) Top: Rum-battered Fried Tilapia Filet and Garlic-Mozzarella Cheese Bread (Polo Cafe & Catering)
Bottom: Mustard Fried Catfish (B.J.'s Market & Bakery), Strawberry and Mango Italian Ice (Mazzone's)
Yesterday...in not so many pictures
1. Went shopping in search of the perfect martini shaker. In the process I found for myself the perfect powder blue colander, or maybe three of them. I didn't buy them though...yet.
2. fucked it all up.
3. Called Mat back...three times. He didn't pick up.
American Idol posted their audition schedule. Chicago is no where to be found :( That means I have to pick a different reality show to apply for. Or, better yet...
YOU GET TO CHOOSE WHICH REALITY SHOW I SHOULD APPLY FOR!!!!
That's right. Television is teeming with mindless crap, why shouldn't I be a part of it??? You get to vote on a reality show for me to apply for. Whichever show gets the most votes will recieve an application from moi! Do you want me to see me shower? Do you want me to change my life? Do you want me to find the love of my life? YOU DECIDE!!!!
Here are your choices, leave a comment with your vote!
3. lunch with MattyK
I made sure to keep him off the topic of work, except when it came to making him promise to take me to vienna if he gets to go. He doesn't think his hair is as funny as I do. A knife is just as good as $50. Cutting chips with said knife is a bad idea, but I kind of already knew that.
4. victorias secret semi-annual sale.
I guess I shouldn't think of it as blowing $200, I should think of it as saving $150...right? Really though, it's the only time of the year I stock up on underwear. I won't share everything, but here is a pictoral of everything that has a butterfly on it :)
See that little black and pink lacy thing peaking out of the top?? Yeah, it's a kind of hot slip/nighty thing. Want to see more of it??? Come on boys, I know you do ;-)
5. Jazz with the Joffrey Ravinia Festival really has to work on the signage to get to their parking...because I most definitely was right there but then got lost for an hour. Good thing I was hella early. So after totally missing the exit to the free park and ride I finally found a lot and was bussed over to the site. For those of you who don't know what Ravinia is, which apparently is all of my friends, it's a big outdoor stage complex that shows classical concerts and such throughout the summer. The actual tickets to the shows cost $50 or something, but lawn tix are $10. And the lawn, while you can't actually see the stage, is kind of awesome because you can bring wine and picnic while listening to the concert. It's really quite a site because it's a big lawn full of people with their little citronellas glowing.
Nad and I went to go see Jazz with the Joffrey which was live jazz with the Ramsey Lewis Trio with the Joffrey Ballet performing. Well, we think the Joffrey was performing, but we couldn't really see (although I did manage to scope out the one spot in the place where we could kind of see a corner of the stage, and were able to see a couple of dance moves). It was awesome though. And we had a good night of picnicing (pasta salad, carrot soup, lemon bars, cheese, jam, tomatoes, and whole wheat pitas...oh and wine).
I also discovered that all it really takes for me to be attracted to a guy is a really awesome camera.
I also discovered that I can find my way home from Highland Park without needing a map (because sometimes Gogole Maps lies).
When I was in first grade the teacher asked for everyone who was right handed to raise their hand. Then she asked for everyone who was left handed to raise their hand. I raised mine to the latter, and the teacher questioned my choice. It turned out I was right handed but, unlike every other first grader in the class, I had never before heard either of those terms. That is the first moment I can remember where I felt as if I would never know as much about anything as anyone else.
I think I've carried this with me throughout my life. I never raise my hand in class because I always assume I will be wrong. I don't suggest things at work because I feel like my ideas will be stupid or that someone else would be more qualified to make a decision. I never have felt as if I could be an authority on anything.
Even when I felt "good" at anything there was always something in my way. I've mentioned millions of times that for half of my life (and still now) I wanted to be a dancer. It was something that I was good at and that I loved to do more than anything. But my joints never cooperated and I had horrible flexibility so despite how well I could dance I could never be a dancer.
In high school I took up acting, which again I loved and felt good at, but once I left the confines of my small school and saw what was really out there, I realized I was just a small fish in a big pond and never felt like I would be able to succeed.
In college I just picked a major and stuck with it. People are always amazed that I had the same major for all four years. But it wasn't because I knew what I wanted and went for it. It was because I really didn't know what to do. I was training, basically, to be in PR despite the fact that I didn't really like PR. I did have fun with marketing. Some of the times I felt best were when I was creating marketing campaigns for KCSA and Inline Insomniacs and I really saw them working. It was fun designing and strategizing. But that was small scale, and amongst friends, and when you only answer to yourself it's easier.
I still don't know what I want to do. I do like my job but is it what I want to do forever? What do I want to do???
One of my goals this year is to develop a "good five-year plan." In other words I want to figure out, once and for all, what it is I want to do with my life, and how I can get there. I don't want to be continually questioning my life. I just want to live it and be happy with where I am.
I am so scared that I will forever be wondering what I want to do instead of just doing something I love and that makes me happy.
I was talking with Nadia the other day and the subject veered off into careers, as it always seems to do nowadays. I told her that sometimes I think about how much I'd like to go to the CIA. And she said she did too. And then we laughed because it was funny that we both knew exactly what we meant by CIA (Culinary Institute of America - not Central Intelligence Agency). But then we agreed on the inevitable question that would come after that. "Then what?"
I could get a degree in baking, but then what? I like to bake but do I want to be a baker? How does one be a baker? And anyone in the restaurant industry works ridiculously long hours and do I really want that?
I am so afraid of that "then what." I've already spent ten years dancing to realize I couldn't pursue it. And four years on a worthless bachelors degree. And now four years on a masters I probably won't even need for anything.
I don't want to go through it all again.
The way I see it, there are four main problems: One. I tend to lose interest in things once I don't think I'll be the best. Two. I will have a masters degree, and $25 - 30,000 of debt in six months. Three. I feel that no matter what I do I will never be better, or even as good, as anyone else. Four. Even if I know what I want to do, I don't know how to go about doing it.
There are so many things that I love to do, but I never pursue them because I always assume that there are already so many people doing it and they all are going to be better at it than I ever will or that. Or I assume that there is no career in it. I love photography, I love web design, I love cooking. But then what?
And then there's the question of time. I hate 9-5. I hate sitting in a quiet office (seriously, I do my best work while sitting at my laptop on my couch with a movie going in the background). I hate going to the same place every day. I hate not having freedom. I want to be able to sleep in and do my work at one in the morning. I want to be able to pick up and travel if I so desire.
I know that for most everyone these are impossible things to do. But ideally, I would be freelancing and setting my own hours but not working crazy all the time.
But I have to figure this out. I have to find a way to be living like I want to live with a career I love and with the freedom and flexibility to schedule my life how I see fit. Here's a start.
Writer
Don't get me wrong here. I want to be a writer. But there is no career in it. I don't like writing marketing copy or interviewing people. I like to write about myself. I like to write memoir and essays and some young adultish fiction. I have succumbed to the fact that I will probably never be a full time essayist because, well, almost nobody is. I started writing because I have ONE story to tell. I think now I have more. But I am 26 and boring and know that there are people who have it much worse but somehow I think I can speak for us all and give us all a voice. I sometimes dream that my memoir will get published and that that will lead to being some sort of spokesperson and activist and all that. And I hope to at least get some things published. And maybe make a nice career out of it. But I am not a business writer and so it probably won't be a full-time career.
Editor
I don't know if I would really be happy being an editor. Mostly because I don't mind bad grammar. I feel like I could edit computer manuals or continue with web editing. I like this option because it would require no further schooling and could be done freelance which would save me the money and time of doing more schooling and could allot me the freedom and flexibility I need.
Photographer
I love photography. I love taking photos of everything and documenting life and sharing my world through photography. I don't, however, know what I am doing.
Lately a lot of people have been saying I should be a wedding photographer.
Nadia, Bryan, Jen and Adam tell me I should be a wedding photographer.
Nadia said that after showing my pictures to her co-workers they said she had a really good photographer and she had to tell them that I wasn't the real photographer.
After seeing her shower pics my sister said she should have hired me for the wedding.
It actually sounds appealing. a) I always wanted to be a wedding planner, but am not cut out for it, so I could still be involved in weddings. b) I could design myself a kickass website that would constantly need to be updated - satisfying my web design cravings. c) I love photography.
Obviously it would be a long process. I mean, at this point I don't even know how to take advantage of the manual modes of my camera. I'd need to learn the craft much more, somehow gain experience photographing professionally, invest in a lot of good equipment (I'd feel as if I'd need a couple good cameras, so that I have a backup in case something happens. Etc., etc., etc.
Web Designer
This is another case of something I love to do, but don't really know anything about. I love playing with my site and making new designs and learning new web-designy things. I love web design. But again, I'd need to learn a lot, take classes, spend money...And again, it's one of those things where I feel like I'm never going to be as good at as anyone else.
Baker
I like to cook and bake and sometimes think I should be doing that. I think I would like to bake over being a regular chef. There is just something calming and satisfying about making a big gooey cake. I also like to decorate cakes and such. The thing I don't like about baking is that in a lot of professional settings you always see the baker as the person who has to be up in the kitchen at the crack of dawn. I am not a morning person.
Food stylist
This is one of those random careers I think about but don't really know how anyone would become one. I've seen classes offered on it though and think I'd like to take them. Lord knows I like to take pictures of my food :) I think it would be something fun that would allow me to work in food without being a chef.
Part of me thinks that I might never be happy doing just one thing. Like maybe I should just learn everything and combine it all into a super career. Like I could be a wedding photographer who takes really good pictures of the food and has a really awesome website. Or I could have a small company that specializes in websites for restaurants. It could then combine food styling, web design, and photography and could be a one-stop shop where we could take all the photos for the restaurant, style the food, and put together the site.
And I honestly have no idea how I would "become" any of these things.
And I don't know where to start. I feel like I should start taking classes in photography and web design, but I don't even know how to go about that. Should I go to a community college or a specialty training center, or a real college? Or should I just say fuck it and not do a damn thing?
All I know is that I want to get to the point where I am no longer saying "what now?" "what next?" or "what if?"
Anyone want to tell me what I should do with my life?
Summer Slam!
Roller Derby! I made Jen come with me to see the Windy City Rollers roller derby because no one else was free :( It's a totally awesome sport in which a bunch of chicks who from a far look so tiny and young but look like tough women in the program skate around in a circle trying to score points and knock each other out. One of the girls scored two twelve pointers, which means she had to skate around and pass the pack fully twice and made it around again to score a few more. I keep thinking I want to do it myself...and then someone gets injured and I give up my dreams. All the skaters have wicked names like "Ava Sectomy" and "Lucy Furr." If I was a skater I think my name should be Pinky Swear and I'd wear hot pink skates. One of the girls had really cute lime green skates. Yeah, I'm a dork like that who covets skates.
I tok a couple of pictures, but they didn't turn out that well, 'cause I didn't want to bother others with my flash...
Summer Meat!
After the derby we headed over to the Parts and Labor Collective's show where CharlieD was showing some art. I wish I had a picture of his painting called "fin planning" to show to MK. The art show was held in some guy's loft apartment space and all the work was pretty amazing. I especially liked (besides CharlieD's of course) this mixed media painting with maps and some mounted books where the pages were bent and coming from the book (sorry for my complete lack of art terminology and being able to explain anything coherently). They also had meat and if you brought your own they would grill it for you. :) I also had a mini high school reunion because Jeff and Aaron were both there - more peeps I haven't seen since 1999. Everyone kind of assumed I was a dancer or something, which was weird. I probably should be.
Summer Heat!
Next it was on to the third un-air conditioned in 80 degree weather locale. It was another apartment in the same building where an after party was going on. I got to talk with CD for a bit and I ran into Nadia's sister. Kind of funny because Nad had dropped her off but decided she didn't want to go with. Not much else 'cause I'm not really a go to a random party and party all night kind of gal. So when CD left shortly after, Jen and I bailed as well. But I'm happy I got to talk to Charlie because he was busy on meat and/or door duty through a lot of his show.
So today starts the first day in what hopefully will be one phenomenal summer. It is officially my first of SEVEN three day weekends over the next 14 weeks!!! I can't wait, and I am determined not to waste them! (of course...a good chunk of this weekend has to be spent doing my last homework for the summer...or more likely procrastinating some more!)
ILLINOIS ROAD TRIP!!!
The date is set: July 14-15!!!
I'm going to drive around the state in search of the absolute stupidest shit I can find! Two-story outhouses! Pyramid Shaped House! A monument to Abraham Lincoln that consists solely of a watermelon! Who's in?!?!?!?!
WINDY CITY ROLLERS
June 16, July 21, August 25, September 15
A bunch of chicks on rollerskates chasing each other around and fighting??? How can you go wrong!
SUMMERDANCE
Thursdays - Sundays
Free dance lessons and live music in the park!
JAZZ WITH THE JOFFREY
Friday, June 22
If you love music: it will be great jazz music. If you love dance: There will be great ballet! It's the perfect event for one and all! Plus it's only $10!!!! You can't beat that!
BLUE MAN GROUP
I haven't seen this in years. I was supposed to go with Scott but Scott is a loser who decided to be a dork and go see this with other losers. :(
TASTE OF CHICAGO! PLUS 3RD OF JULY FIREWORKS!
Last year was the first year I've ever missed the Taste :( Overpriced food, hot sticky crowds, and a way too short fireworks display! hehe. But really, an awesome awesome time! I look forward to beer battered artichoke hearts, wings with pesto aioli, crab legs, mango cumin-dusted fries with tamarind chutney ...
General
1. Move out
2. Furnish, unpack all my boxes and decorate
3. Find a man (or twelve)
4. Pick a hair color and stick with it
5. Get a tattoo (or at least get mine touched up) 6. Stand up at my best friends wedding
7. Stand up at my sister's wedding
8. Audition for American Idol :) (or at least apply for one reality show)
Entertainment
9. Go to the top of the Sears Tower (hello, when is the last time anyone did that?)
10. See a roller derby bout
11. Have a picnic
12. Go to 10 pin
13. See the Christmas trees at the museum of science and industry
14. Go to the 80s dance club
15. Go to a carnival
16. At least 2 Chicago summer festivals
17. Free dance lessons in Grant Park
18. Go to Bromann Park
19. Go to Millenium Park
20. Go to a haunted house
21. See a concert
22. See fireworks on 3rd/fourth of july
23. Ride the Navy Pier ferris wheel
Arts
24. See Blue Man Group (I haven't seen them since HS)
25. See Second City (I've never seen them)
26. See Naked Boys Singing
27. See the Kurt Halsey Art Show at DVA
28. See at least 3 plays 29. See at least 1 ballet
30. See plenty of Opera
31. Go to at least 2 book readings 32. Go to at least 1 art show (other than Kurt's)
33. Go to MCA
34. Go to Around the Coyote
Movies
35. Go to the Music Box Theatre - Music Box Massacre (If they do it again)
36. Watch all the 80s cartoons I have on dvd 37. Watch 3 80s movies I have never seen before
38. Watch The Science of Sleep (looks interesting) 39. Watch every Hellraiser movie
40. Go to free movies in the Grant Park
41. Go to at least one midnight movie at music box
Pampering 42. Get my nails done
43. Take a bubble bath. 44. Get flowers from a boy ;-)
Entertaining:
45. Resurrect Valerie's movie night at least a couple times
46. Throw a housewarming party
47. Throw a wine and cheese party
48. Throw a pajama party
49. Throw a game night
50. Throw a Christmas party
Books:
51. Read ten Pulitzer Prize winning books (my goal is to eventually read them all) 52. Read A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius 53. Read A Million Little Pieces to see what all the fuss is about
Writing:
54. Write a good draft of my memoir
55. Edit that draft
56. Write an article and send it out
57. Finish a good essay and send it out
58. Finish a good short story and send it out
Web Design:
59. Learn google analytics
60. Learn Actionscript
61. Finish my website (so many little things I never finished) 62. Figure out what is wrong with the leave comments section on my website
63. Scan five old event's photos onto my website
64. Relearn basic php and mysql
Life and professional:
65. Finish my masters
66. Develop a good "5 year plan"
67. Apply to do freelance editing
68. Organize my recipe collection
69. Organize my photos
70. Develop a financial plan (MK help!)
71. Design a freelance website
72. Learn to use my ipod and get all my music on it
Sports:
73. Go golfing (at least to a driving range)
74. Learn to snowboard
75. Skate along the lake when it is nice out
76. Go ice skating
77. Go to a roller skating rink
78. Go to a baseball game
Travel:
79. Go to Las Vegas (I've gone every year for the last three years)
80. Go to Bengston's Pumpkin Farm (or a similar locale)
81. Visit a state I have never been to
82. See Takeru Kobayashi (Sheboygan Johnsonville Brat Fest?)
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
j. The Golden Pyrimid House
k. Statue of world's tallest man Food and Libations:
84. Go for a fancy tea
85. Bake once a month
86. Learn to make good soufflé
87. Eat duck fat fries at Hot Doug's 88. Go to Adobo for guac and margs
89. Try three different wine bars
90. Make a ginger bread house
91. Chicago Wine Festival
92. Go to half of the coffee shops that Time Out recommended in their coffee issue
a. Metropolis
b. Charmers Café
c. Lakeside Café
d. Café Ennui
e. Istria Café
f. Medici Bakery on 57th
g. Third World Café
h. Julius Meinl
i. Pick Me Up Café
j. Uncommon Ground
k. Intelligentsia
l. Ventrella's Caffe
m. The Grind
n. Beans & Bagels
o. The Perfect Cup
p. Swim Café
q. Atomix
r. Mercury Café
s. Muse
t. Café Mestizo
u. Jumping Bean
v. Kristoffer's Café and Bakery
w. Marshall McGearty Tobacco Artisans
x. Filter
y. Half & Half
z. Caffe de Luca 93. Sigara (Hookah Bar)
94. Moonshine for mohitos 95. Orange for brunch
96. Skylark (because they apparently have good tater tots) 97. Enter a recipe contest
98. Go to the Taste of Chicago
99. Get sushi
100. Freddy's Pizza in Cicero (Chicago Mag voted it Best Gelato in the city)
April has been brought to you by the lucky number 7!
4. Pick a hair color and stick with it for a while
--Dyed it blonde...again...it is looking a lot more natural!
26. See Naked Boys Singing
--I ordered my tickets!!
32. Go to at least 1 art show
--Yay for Gabriel!!!
37. Watch 3 80s movies I have never seen before
--The Gate - crucial 80s moment: playing record backwards unleashes the devil
--Girls Just Want to Have Fun - crucial 80s moment: dance off!
--Can't Buy Me Love - crucial 80s moment: entire school breaks into choreographed dance moves at school dance
39. Watch every Hellraiser movie
--Hellrasier - Jesus Wept
--Hellbound: Hellrasier II - He's ba-ack
--Hellrasier III: Hell on Earth - I remember watching this when I was 12.
--Hellraiser: Bloodline - every horror series has an obligatory movie that explains the origins and an obligatory movie that takes place well in the future. This one was both.
--Hellraiser: Inferno - detective crime movie. I think Pinhead was in it for 30 seconds.
--Hellrasier: Hellseeker - I remember seeing this before, but can't place where or when for the life of me.
--Hellraiser: Deader - my favorite part was when the reporter from LONDON bribes a landlord from ROMANIA with an AMERICAN $20
--Hellraiser: Hellworld - the one where Pinhead learns to use the internet.
51. Read ten Pulitzer Prize winning books
--Read "A Thousand Acres" (1991) - four down! I first read this in one day my senior year in high school. Not in one day because it was a can't-put-it-down book, but becasue I was a lazy student who put everything off 'till the last minute. I took a day off from school and sat in bed to read it all day for the test the next day. :) That said, it is an excellent book.
53. Read A Million Little Pieces
--Finished it today! Yeah, it sucks that he felt he had to make shit up. Yeah, it sucks that I really didn't feel his addiction. Yeah, it sucks that he for some reason capitalized a bunch of random words. So...other than that it was a decent book and I actually enjoyed reading it and actually cried. I read and skimmed over the smoking gun page that first accused him of lying (by the way, when did tmz.com replace thesmokinggun.com in the leak all the celebrity gossip before anyone else category? I mean, when is the last time smoking gun leaked anything??). The thing I found funny was how they kept saying it was so surprising that Oprah picked this book because it was so gruesome. Maybe I am immune to things from all the horror films I watch, 'cause I didn't think it was that graphic at all. :)
72. Learn to use my ipod and get all my music on it
--I got about 40 cds on it. but the cd player on my poor pinkie is broken and I haven't gotten around to taking it to get fixed yet. Also, MK still has a bunch of CDs that I left at his place over a year ago now. :(
73. Go golfing
--Nope, 'cause a certain someone never invites me :(
82. See Takeru Kobayashi
--Nope, but if I become a Bunnette I bet I will!
83. Knock off some fun Illinois attractions
--Planning an awesometacular roadtrip that may include some of these awesometacular sites!
85. Bake once a month
--Blueberry muffins!
88. Go to Adobo for guac and margs
--mmmm, guac and margs!
95. Orange for brunch
--mmmm, frushi!
97. Enter a recipe contest
--Entered my yummy Pineapple Chicken Pockets in the Pillsbury Bakeoff!!!
I haven't been able to bring myself to read my horoscope for the last few days. I normally read both Capricorn and Aquarius for Georgia Nichols and Holiday Mathis (as printed in the Sun Times) every morning. In fact, I'd hate going through the day without reading them. And now, for some reason I am terrified of seeing them.
***
Sanjaya is gone. :( I really wanted him to win.
***
I probably shouldn't post this. You probably shouldn't watch this at work. But it's funny.
:)
***
Still trying to be blonde...but I went well over a month without dying it! That's gotta be some kinda record!
I was scared that it would turn out too light, but then it turned out pretty dark. We'll see how it fades.
***
I rented and watched "Can't Buy Me Love" That makes 3 80s movies and another cross off my list!!! Of course, there are still so many to see. The last time I hung out with MattyK, which was like 2 months ago, he had mentioned something about Indiana Jones and I said I'd never seen it. They thought that was blasphemous or something. He should make me watch that. :)
So, I wanted to start knocking some things off my list. I am hoping that in the next two weeks to knock off five more. So might as well start easy by watching some movies...
I bought Hellraiser 2 earlier in the week (since I knew that none of the rental stores had that) and watched that. And tonight I wanted to watch Hellraiser 3...So I went to Blockbuster and nope, and Hollywood and nope, so I ended up going to Best Buy and just bought it.
While at Blockbuster I picked up Girls Just Want to Have Fun, 80s flick starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Helen Hunt which culminated in the quintesential dance off. Because my goal is to watch at least 3 80s movies I've never seen and this one had the same title as I named my year. So it was an obvious choice.
So I watched that and now am watching Hellraiser 3, and my boring old year continues. Who's betting that this one doesn't end in a dance off? My money's on Pinhead!
Speaking of movies...The Tripper sounds awesome! How can you go wrong with a serial killer who is obsessive over Ronald Reagan and goes around killing hippies!!! Anyone want to go?!?!?! Pleasepleaseplease?!?!?!?!
Speaking of the 80s...I can't wait for RadioStar on Friday night!!!!
March was a super slow month. New goal: finish 25 by the end of May.
March Update: 29. See at least 1 ballet
--Saw Romeo and Juliet!
30. See plenty of Opera
--Saw the Carmelites dress
36. Watch all the 80s cartoons I have on dvd
--I watched 12 episodes of Fraggle Rock
37. Watch 3 80s movies I have never seen before
--The other day I watched the Gate on On Demand...I guess that counts
39. Watch every Hellraiser movie
--I watched the first one!
51. Read ten Pulitzer Prize winning books (my goal is to eventually read them all)
--Finally finished Gone with the Wind! (up to 3!)
63. Scan five old event's photos onto my website
--Scanned 2 more! (up to 3!)
68. Organize my recipe collection
--I've scanned a ton of recipes...many more to go!
83. Knock off at least a few of the following Illinois Attractions:
--I started planning an awesome Illinois roadtrip! Who's in???
85. Bake once a month
--I made brownies
86. Learn to make good soufflé
--tried and failed
97. Enter a recipe contest
--I attempted some recipes for he Pillsbury Bake-Off
1. 24 finally started being a good show. They got a love story, it's all I ask for!!! Love not war! Kissing not bombs!
2. Tonight Nad and I went to pick up my bridesmaids dress (it now fits perfectly so i will be the perfect hot single bridesmaid!) I told her that i want to do my hair like this for the wedding:
I think she's OK with it...as long as I don't wear a headband.
3.faeriewingtips: wtf? my computer just told me "a running program is incompatible with your color scheme"
Glitterbot: okaaaaaay?
Glitterbot: apparently, even you comp thinks that pink is too much
4. Chris Sligh was voted off tonight. He was my early favorite but I haven't liked him lately. His singing went downhill, he got way too full of himself, and he stopped being funny. Go Dolittle!
5. You know what sucks??? When you spend over a month reading a thousand page book only to get to the end and it be really sad and not happily ever after. :( books make me cry. I guess the ending fit though. Other than that Gone With The Wind was an amazingly good book and probably one of the best I've ever read. I think I am kind of partial though because, sadly, I saw a lot of myself in Scarlett.
1. I made a vanilla souffle today. It didn't really rise and tasted like scrambled eggs.
2. I did not win the HGTV Dreamhouse so I will not be running away to Winter Park Colorado :(
3. Sometimes when I am really bored I look at menus from fast food places in other countries to see what I can get that is different. If I was in Italy right now I could be eating a Las Vegas Lover. :)
4. This is the third weekend in a row where I have not gone out. In fact, over the last 3 weeks I have only seen friends once. :( I need friends.
5. I brought all my blankets and sheets down to the basement to wash about 5 hours ago. They never made it into the washer. I guess that is better than if I had put them into the washer and forgot about them.
Still slow to cross anything off...but I have officially finished four items and have started on a bunch others. Once I snap out of it and force myself to stop being so damn fickle I will be able to cross off a bunch more. Here is my update for now though...
Valerie's 100 in 2007:
General
1. Move out
2. Furnish, unpack all my boxes and decorate
3. Find a man (or twelve)
4. Pick a hair color and stick with it
--I've died my hair blonde three times and it's not changing :(
5. Get a tattoo (or at least get mine touched up)
6. Stand up at my best friends wedding
7. Stand up at my sister's wedding
8. Audition for American Idol :) (or at least apply for one reality show) Entertainment
9. Go to the top of the Sears Tower (hello, when is the last time anyone did that?)
10. See a roller derby bout
11. Have a picnic
12. Go to 10 pin
13. See the Christmas trees at the museum of science and industry
14. Go to the 80s dance club
15. Go to a carnival
16. At least 2 Chicago summer festivals
17. Free dance lessons in Grant Park
18. Go to Bromann Park
19. Go to Millenium Park
20. Go to a haunted house
21. See a concert
22. See fireworks on 3rd/fourth of july
23. Ride the Navy Pier ferris wheel Arts
24. See Blue Man Group (I haven't seen them since HS)
25. See Second City (I've never seen them)
26. See Naked Boys Singing
27. See the Kurt Halsey Art Show at DVA
28. See at least 3 plays
29. See at least 1 ballet
30. See plenty of Opera
--I've seen one and a half operas this year so far :)
31. Go to at least 2 book readings
32. Go to at least 1 art show (other than Kurt's)
33. Go to MCA
34. Go to Around the Coyote Movies
35. Go to the Music Box Theatre - Music Box Massacre (If they do it again)
36. Watch all the 80s cartoons I have on dvd
--I've watched the first six episodes of Fraggle Rock :)
37. Watch 3 80s movies I have never seen before
38. Watche The Science of Sleep (looks interesting)
39. Watch every Hellraiser movie (I've already seen all the F13s, Halloweens, Elm Streets, and Childs Plays)
40. Go to free movies in the Grant Park
41. Go to at least one midnight movie at music box Pampering
42. Get my nails done
43. Take a bubble bath 44. Get flowers from a boy ;-)
--Thanks Josh! Entertaining:
45. Resurrect Valerie's movie night at least a couple times
46. Throw a housewarming party
47. Throw a wine and cheese party
48. Throw a pajama party
49. Throw a game night
50. Throw a Christmas party Books:
51. Read ten Pulitzer Prize winning books (my goal is to eventually read them all)
--Read Middlesex (2003), The Fixer (1967). Currently reading Gone With the Wind (but I will never finish it!) 52. Read A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
--Done!
53. Read A Million Little Pieces to see what all the fuss is about Writing:
54. Write a good draft of my memoir
55. Edit that draft
56. Write an article and send it out
57. Finish a good essay and send it out
58. Finish a good short story and send it out Web Design:
59. Learn google analytics
--I installed it and look at it every now and then. Not very exciting.
60. Learn Actionscript
61. Finish my website (so many little things I never finished) 62. Figure out what is wrong with the leave comments section on my website
--MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!
63. Scan five old event's photos onto my website
--I did one!
64. Relearn basic php and mysql Life and professional:
65. Finish my masters
66. Develop a good "5 year plan"
67. Apply to do freelance editing
68. Organize my recipe collection
--I've started to work on it - but I have a lot of old magazines of recipes and a really stupid plan for them :)
69. Organize my photos
70. Develop a financial plan (MK help!)
71. Design a freelance website
72. Learn to use my ipod and get all my music on it Sports:
73. Go golfing (at least to a driving range)
74. Learn to snowboard
--Nope, but I learned to ski
75. Skate along the lake when it is nice out
76. Go ice skating
77. Go to a roller skating rink
78. Go to a baseball game Travel:
79. Go to Las Vegas (I've gone every year for the last three years)
80. Go to Bengston's Pumpkin Farm (or a similar locale)
81. Visit a state I have never been to
82. See Takeru Kobayashi (Sheboygan Johnsonville Brat Fest?)
--Stupid sister planning her wedding the day of brat fest :(
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
j. The Golden Pyrimid House
k. Statue of world's tallest man Food and Libations:
84. Go for a fancy tea
85. Bake once a month
--January: Oatmeal Raisin and Chocolate Peanut Butter Surprise cookies
--February: Superfantastical Super Bowl Cake!
86. Learn to make good soufflé
87. Eat duck fat fries at Hot Doug's
88. Go to Adobo for guac and margs
89. Try three different wine bars
90. Make a ginger bread house
91. Chicago Wine Festival
92. Go to half of the coffee shops that Time Out recommended in their coffee issue
a. Metropolis
b. Charmers Café
c. Lakeside Café
d. Café Ennui
e. Istria Café
f. Medici Bakery on 57th
g. Third World Café
h. Julius Meinl
i. Pick Me Up Café
j. Uncommon Ground
k. Intelligentsia
l. Ventrella's Caffe
m. The Grind
n. Beans & Bagels
o. The Perfect Cup
p. Swim Café
q. Atomix
r. Mercury Café
s. Muse
t. Café Mestizo
u. Jumping Bean
v. Kristoffer's Café and Bakery
w. Marshall McGearty Tobacco Artisans
x. Filter
y. Half & Half
z. Caffe de Luca 93. Sigara (Hookah Bar)
--Went, and quite an awesome place!
94. Moonshine for mohitos
95. Orange for brunch
96. Skylark (because they apparently have good tater tots)
97. Enter a recipe contest
--I've started prepping to enter the Pillsbury bake-off
98. Go to the Taste of Chicago
99. Get sushi
100. Freddy's Pizza in Cicero (Chicago Mag voted it Best Gelato in the city)
At lunch today I found out the most depressing news I've ever heard. The love of my life, the man I hoped to spend my entire life with, the man I've been pursuing for the last six years...is getting married. :( He said that if I had gone to lunch with him yesterday, it might have been me. :( anyways, congratulations joejoe and alina! despite the fact that it's been my lifes mission to break them up, i do truly love them together and couldn't be happier for them. I guess I have to oficially move on from Joe :( But, then again, they're not married yet ;-)
oops...I meant to post this:
:)
Nad and I went to Sigara tonight and so I officially have four things checked off my list. I had a yummy
Raspberry stoli and 7up and we shared a "Serenity Now" (Jasmine and mint) hookah and a cheese plate. The hookah was really good and smooth and not as strong as I thought it would be. A lot of the time I didn't even know I'd gotten anything until I was actually blowing out the smoke :) The vibe of the place was really cool, we sat on pillows around a little table and there was a belly dancer going around. I will definitely go again :)
Highlights:
- hookah condoms
- discussing what it would take for jenny and I to get in a fist fight at Nadia's wedding.
- remembering the one "fight" Nad and I ever got in :)
- "When are you and "..." geting married?" (I love Bryan)
- Bryan "what's a fig?" Nadia "It's what they put inside of a fig newton"
I had a demitasse of Turkish coffee, which is amazing if you don't mind the texture. I don't normally like black coffee, but this is thicker so you don't need the cream. When I finished I read my grounds (even though you're technically not supposed to read your own) and saw:
- a duck, which means I have money coming in.
- mushrooms, which means a journey is coming.
I really hope both are true.
I need to buy myself an Ibrik.
It's a month in and I've done pathetically little on my list. It's OK though because most of the stuff will probably happen over the summer and I'm sure I can have some weekends where I knock off about 5 things :) The only thing totally checked off so far is number 44, thanks to Josh who brought me flowers for my birthday! I still will gladly accept flowers from any boy who wants to give them to me though :)
Valerie's 100 in 2007:
General
4. Pick a hair color and stick with it
--I've dyed my hair blonde, twice...but it won't cooporate
Movies
36. Watch all the 80s cartoons I have on dvd
--I've started season one of Fraggle Rock (not a cartoon cartoon, but it counts)
Pampering 44. Get flowers from a boy ;-)
--Thanks Josh!
Books:
51. Read ten Pulitzer Prize winning books (my goal is to eventually read them all)
--I read Middlesex
52. Read A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genious
--halfway through
Writing:
54. Write a good draft of my memoir, 56. Write an article and send it out, 57. Finish a good essay and send it out, 58. Finish a good short story and send it out
--I've been writing a lot more :)
Web Design:
59. Learn google analytics
--I looked into it for work and installed it on my own, nothing too exciting but it will hopefully be cool for my work's website
62. Figure out what is wrong with the leave comments section on my website
--I spent some time with this one and am still hitting a wall
Life and professional:
67. Apply to do freelance editing
--I started drafting a letter to a publisher
71. Design a freelance website
--I started one for someone at work, but I am being really slow becasue I never feel like working when I get home
72. Learn to use my ipod and get all my music on it
--I've gotten some songs on it
Sports:
74. Learn to snowboard
--Not yet, but I learned to ski!
Food and Libations:
85. Bake once a month
--I baked Oatmeal Raisin and Chocolate Peanut Butter Surprise cookies in January
--I have already started on my first baking project for February
that's right, I'm off for a weekend of skiing in (fill in the name of town) Michigan. I think it's called Boyne Mountain. I dunno, I just go, I don't plan. Since JoeJoe wanted to go to work today too, we are heading off together later than the rest. Yay I get to go! Boo, I get to die a tragic death skiing!
:( Did I mention I've never skied before? At least I'll look cute in my pink ski pants, and pink fleece, and pink thermal underwear...
I am so glad that birthdays still excite me. I still get that giddy feeling all day just waiting to go out and celebrate. :)
So, yesterday I turned a big ole 26. And a big ole thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate! We went to my fav little wine bar Parallel 42, which I went to for the first time a year ago for my last birthday. It was a ton of fun! So many people came too! I think it was the biggest turnout I've ever had besides my infamous 21st. We had a Jenny, Adam, Nadia, Bryan, Josh, MattyK, JoeJoe, Alina, ScottyMcHotty, Wilkey, Plecki, Andrew, and Jen. Woohoo! I was especially excited to see JoeW and Plecki because I haven't seen either of them in forever.
I started out with the flight of French whites. Basically because a glass of one cost $8 and a flight of three (which were almost a full glass each) cost $8. Best deal around! All of them were mighty yummy too! Then I had some Rosa Regale, which was a mini bottle so I got 2 glasses out of that. And then I tried another wine...it was a dessert wine, and damn yummy...this was MK's reaction to it...
I'm too sweet for his blood :) So, yeah, I didn't have a lot to drink at all ;-) Especially since I sure didn't have any wine at work before I came to my party :) shhhh. I'm sure everyone will vouch for my loopyness after drinking. :)
I also had a hot date for my party ;-)
Hehe. Get it...it's a date...wrapped in bacon and stuffed with blue cheese with apple cider sauce. Yummy. Me and my girls also shared a warm cookie with ice cream. Delicious.
Josh brought me flowers because he knew I wanted flowers from a boy...
He also brought me chocolates and didn't bring his girlfriend. Me thinks he's trying to tell me something ;-) hehe.
Nadia and Jenny both got me oven mitts! Hehe. They rock because I wanted new oven mitts, and I like them both. Nad got me an apron to match the ones she gave me and Jen got me a matching kitchen towel. I'll be doing some good baking!
After we wined for a few hours most everyone called it a night so me and Poulin headed to a little Irish pub near my house so we could girl talk and such where this weird guy wouldn't stop hitting on us. Even after Jen first told him we were there "together" and then later after she showed him her engagement ring.
The night was tons and tons of fun and I am really happy so many of you came out for it! I love all of you guys, thanks for making my birthday so amazing!!!
1. I looked at an apartment, but didn't like the location.
4. I dyed my hair blonde, but it didn't do anything.
36. I watched the first six episodes of the first season of Fraggle Rock (not technically a cartoon, but it counts as part of this goal)
51. I am halfway through Middlesex (2003 Pulitzer Prize winner). I also made a list of the 80 books that have won the Pulitzer and picked out the first 10 that I will read.
52. I bought a copy of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
54.-58. I've kept up with writing at least 300 words a day :) Worked a bit on the memoir, a random YA novel, an article, and some essays.
67. Started drafting a letter to a publishing house to ask for an editing test.
71. Started designing my first freelance website.
72. Uploaded 18 CDs onto my Ipod.
74. Started looking into localish places to go for snowboarding, unfortunately everything is closed right now because it is too warm.
Last year's theme was Valerie's Best Year Ever, and what with going to Europe and all, it's going to be a pretty tough year to beat. So, to try to make up for that, I have devised a list of 100 things to do in 2007. Now, I have pretty much succumb to the fact that it will be nearly impossible to complete all 100 things on this list since that would be about two per week, since there are technically well over 100 things on the list, and especially since a few of the things probably will fall on the same day. So, while I will strive to do as much as I can, I've determined that I will be successful if I can do at least half of this list in 2007. :) That aint a bad goal if I do say so myself.
I also applologize that some of my list is rather boring (65-71 for example) but I have to balance the party with a little order.
If there is anything in particular that you want to do with me (or for me, hehem#44hehem) leave me a comment and let me know!
Oh, and since last years goal was to have 12 hair colors, I figured that obviously this years goal should be to have 12 men :) hehe
So, may I present...
Valerie's 100 in 2007:
General
1. Move out
2. Furnish, unpack all my boxes and decorate
3. Find a man (or twelve)
4. Pick a hair color and stick with it
5. Get a tattoo (or at least get mine touched up)
6. Stand up at my best friends wedding
7. Stand up at my sister's wedding
8. Audition for American Idol :) (or at least apply for one reality show) Entertainment
9. Go to the top of the Sears Tower (hello, when is the last time anyone did that?)
10. See a roller derby bout
11. Have a picnic
12. Go to 10 pin
13. See the Christmas trees at the museum of science and industry
14. Go to the 80s dance club
15. Go to a carnival
16. At least 2 Chicago summer festivals
17. Free dance lessons in Grant Park
18. Go to Bromann Park
19. Go to Millenium Park
20. Go to a haunted house
21. See a concert
22. See fireworks on 3rd/fourth of july
23. Ride the Navy Pier ferris wheel Arts
24. See Blue Man Group (I haven't seen them since HS)
25. See Second City (I've never seen them)
26. See Naked Boys Singing
27. See the Kurt Halsey Art Show at DVA
28. See at least 3 plays
29. See at least 1 ballet
30. See plenty of Opera
31. Go to at least 2 book readings
32. Go to at least 1 art show (other than Kurt's)
33. Go to MCA
34. Go to Around the Coyote Movies
35. Go to the Music Box Theatre - Music Box Massacre (If they do it again)
36. Watch all the 80s cartoons I have on dvd
37. Watch 3 80s movies I have never seen before
38. Watche The Science of Sleep (looks interesting)
39. Watch every Hellraiser movie (I've already seen all the F13s, Halloweens, Elm Streets, and Childs Plays)
40. Go to free movies in the Grant Park
41. Go to at least one midnight movie at music box Pampering
42. Get my nails done
43. Take a bubble bath
44. Get flowers from a boy ;-) Entertaining:
45. Resurrect Valerie's movie night at least a couple times
46. Throw a housewarming party
47. Throw a wine and cheese party
48. Throw a pajama party
49. Throw a game night
50. Throw a Christmas party Books:
51. Read ten Pulitzer Prize winning books (my goal is to eventually read them all)
52. Read A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genious
53. Read A Million Little Pieces to see what all the fuss is about Writing:
54. Write a good draft of my memoir
55. Edit that draft
56. Write an article and send it out
57. Finish a good essay and send it out
58. Finish a good short story and send it out Web Design:
59. Learn google analytics
60. Learn Actionscript
61. Finish my website (so many little things I never finished)
62. Figure out what is wrong with the leave comments section on my website
63. Scan five old event's photos onto my website
64. Relearn basic php and mysql Life and professional:
65. Finish my masters
66. Develop a good "5 year plan"
67. Apply to do freelance editing
68. Organize my recipe collection
69. Organize my photos
70. Develop a financial plan (MK help!)
71. Design a freelance website
72. Learn to use my ipod and get all my music on it Sports:
73. Go golfing (at least to a driving range)
74. Learn to snowboard
75. Skate along the lake when it is nice out
76. Go ice skating
77. Go to a roller skating rink
78. Go to a baseball game Travel:
79. Go to Las Vegas (I've gone every year for the last three years)
80. Go to Bengston's Pumpkin Farm (or a similar locale)
81. Visit a state I have never been to
82. See Takeru Kobayashi (Sheboygan Johnsonville Brat Fest?)
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
j. The Golden Pyrimid House
k. Statue of world's tallest man Food and Libations:
84. Go for a fancy tea
85. Bake once a month
86. Learn to make good soufflé
87. Eat duck fat fries at Hot Doug's
88. Go to Adobo for guac and margs
89. Try three different wine bars
90. Make a ginger bread house
91. Chicago Wine Festival
92. Go to half of the coffee shops that Time Out recommended in their coffee issue
a. Metropolis
b. Charmers Café
c. Lakeside Café
d. Café Ennui
e. Istria Café
f. Medici Bakery on 57th
g. Third World Café
h. Julius Meinl
i. Pick Me Up Café
j. Uncommon Ground
k. Intelligentsia
l. Ventrella's Caffe
m. The Grind
n. Beans & Bagels
o. The Perfect Cup
p. Swim Café
q. Atomix
r. Mercury Café
s. Muse
t. Café Mestizo
u. Jumping Bean
v. Kristoffer's Café and Bakery
w. Marshall McGearty Tobacco Artisans
x. Filter
y. Half & Half
z. Caffe de Luca
93. Sigara (Hookah Bar)
94. Moonshine for mohitos
95. Orange for brunch
96. Skylark (because they apparently have good tater tots)
97. Enter a recipe contest
98. Go to the Taste of Chicago
99. Get sushi
100. Freddy's Pizza in Cicero (Chicago Mag voted it Best Gelato in the city)
There are also a few more things I hope to do that haven't made the list, either because they are places I've already been and just want to go back, or goals that will be hard to keep track of. For instance I want to go back to chicago pizza and oven grinder (they have the best salad dressing and bread in the world) and plan to try to write 300 words a day, and also plan to attend wedding showers and bachelorette paties galore!
