Monday, February 27, 2006

Listing the week

How does time go by so fast? ugh!! The good news for you lucky readers is that I have been feeling guilty about not blogging. Sooooooo.. there's a chance that i might actually stick to this thing for more than... well.... however long i've stuck to it so far. So here's what you've missed out on.

Last Monday: Finally went to check out the kick boxing class that i have been talking about joining for like half my life (or half a year... whatever) It was a really interesting class. It was a little different from what i was used to in Costa Rica. It seemed to be a good class though. Karen came with me and we both left eager to come back and actually participate in the class.

Tuesday/Wednesday: Tuesday was uneventful (i think, that was several days ago, i don't know) Wednesday night i went to Will's for Hag night. It was a much calmer hag night this week. Just me and Will. He made yummy chicken and awesome twice backed potatoes!

Thursday was all kinds of fun! It was Plankiest's b-day! (ok... I can't call her Plankiest.... henceforth Plankiest shall be.... Quitter. She used to work with me, but she quit.) We went to one of my favorite bars, Average Joe's. It was Quitter, one of her other friends, her sister-in-law, and me. We hung out, played pool, had a few drinks and just had a good time.

Friday: After work i went to pick up Pop Tart (my little sis). I got there and she informed me that Dad had taken mom to the hospital, because she had chest pain. GREAAAT!!! That's what every girl loves to here. Dad eventually called and said that everything was looking ok. Shorty (my baby brother who is probably about a foot taller than me) and i convinced Pop Tart to make us dinner while we waited for them to get home. She decided to make taco salad. The only problem was, she started making everything before she realized that we didn't have everything she needed. So, I grabbed Shorty and either bravely or stupidly handed him the keys to my car (he got his learner's permit a couple days before) and climbed in the car to head to the store. He did a pretty good job (i didn't realize at the time, but it was his first time driving on a road, not a parking lot). He enjoyed it and I lived.... so think it was a success! Mom is fine. She had been on some steroids for a nasty infection that had worked its way into her lungs, and apparently didn't react very well to it. But she's all good now!

Saturday and Sunday Pop Tart and I spent cleaning, and Sunday the boyfriend's parents came over and his dad helped put in the toilet and pedestal sink for what will soon be our downstairs half bath.

Today was back to work followed by FINALLY going to kick boxing. This time Karen and I actually participated. It was a great workout. Still very different than what i was used to in CR, but the sensei was focused on proper form which i think is important. I think i'm going to join! I had a good time and it looks like Karen is going to join with me, so that will help keep me motivated. Quitter said she wants to come check it out too, even though she bailed on us tonight. QUITTER!!! Some kind of blahblah about quality time with her husband. WHATEVER!!! Ok that was mean. Love you Quitter!

Now i'm sitting at home watching CSI: Miami while Oscar happily chews on his bone. So, i get quality time too! With the DOG! I feel like a suburban house wife. If only I lived on Wisteria Lane.

Monday, February 20, 2006

Friends, Food, Furniture and Ikea...

... and no, Ikea and furniture are not the same thing.

Friday after work i came home and starting packing my self and the boyfriend (whom i haven't come up with a nickname for yet) for our trip to Chi-town. WOOHOO! As i finished packing one of my aunt's accountants pulled up with a van full of furniture for me. They were gettting rid of it and planning to give it to Goodwill, but then found out that i needed furniture, so they gave it to me! YEA!!! I now have bedroom furniture! Of course, it's still sitting in the garage... but soon i'll have bedroom furniture in the bedroom! AMAZING!

So I go pick the boyfriend up from work and we head out on our journey to Chi-town. We get to Beana's (again not really her name, i just really like this nickname thing. Henceforth only Oscar shall be refered to by his real name...it's just more fun that way) new apartment (which is AWESOME) and her boyfriend, the Actor, (an old friend of mine, I introduced them... go me!) shows up and we all settle in for a nice evening. We order Gino's Pizza which is fabuloso and a tradition for us when visiting the windy city. It's Chicago style pizza, deep dish, tons of toppings! YUMMY!

The next morning Beana made pancakes and bacon for breakfast... I heart her! The Actor had to go to work and Beana had practice for a competition for school. So we didn't get to spend as much time with them as i would have liked, but it was still great to see them. The boyfriend and I took our time getting ready in the morning which was nice, and then ... off to IKEA!! En route we had to make a stop off at Jamba Juice, my own personal smoothie heaven. We don't have Jamba juice at home, so it's a special treat when i visit places that do have it. (Though, i've heard a rumor that we might be getting one. Though Jamba juice close to me = bancruptcy)

So... for those of you who have never experience Ikea, it's basically the Disney World of home shopping. It's HUGE! I can't begin to count the number of languages I heard spoken there. They have a little cafe in the store with many choices for food, so you don't have to leave and come back. They have escalators for your shopping cart!!! BRILLIANT! the boyfriend and I walked around for several hours (yes it's really that big) and while we didn't purchase a lot, we got some great ideas.

After many hours of shopping it was time to leave the home store wonderland. We headed up to the northern part of Chicago to meet some more friends that we hadn't seen in way to long. We ended up going out to eat at this awesome place called Tapas. It's spanish cuisine and it's basically a bunch of small appetizers. It's best to go in a group and then everyone orders a couple things and shares. It's a little pricey, but i really enjoyed it. Again, wish we had a place like that back home.

After dinner it was time to head back home. I drove part of the way, but ended up being too tired and letting the boyfriend take over while i'll passed out in the passenger seat. We got home and crashed and then did basically nothing all day the next day. He slept into the afternoon and i layed on the couch watching tv and dozing in and out. It was pretty nice. We both eventually got up to go out to dinner. It was our "valentine's" dinner. He made reservations and one of the up scale steak houses in town, but i decided maybe we should save it for another time since we spent a little more than planned in Chicago. We ended up going to an italian place downtown that was really good. they had fantastic fried mozzarella cheese (so unhealthy) I had a chicken and crab fettucini and he had some kind of bowtie pasta, followed by creme brulee for me and cheese cake for him. Again... lots of yum going on here.

Afterwards we went to pick up the pup from Will's (he had been dog-sitting while we were out of town) Oscar was very excited to us. He's such a cute puppy!

I guess that pretty much sums up the weekend. I'm hoping to go check out a kickboxing class tonight. Tomorrow i'm off to Cincy for press check for our new catalog. Should be interesting. More on that later.

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Day 2

No! Not all of my post titles are going to start with "Day..." I'm just not feeling very creative right now and this is day 2 of me blogging. Fascinating isn't it?! Yeah, 'bout as fascinating as this day. I had a meeting this morning for work. Guess where it was? Yep! STARBUCKS!!! GGGGRRRRR!!! Stupid stupid Starbucks! But, i didn't pick the meeting place and my coffee heaven would have been waaaay out the way for the person i had to meet. UGH!

After my meeting at the evil place i met my aunt for lunch and then returned home to finish out my work day. After work i went over to Will's apartment for hag night. Yes, that's right hag night. Will (who is obviously gay) has fag night on tuesdays, so it seemed only appropriate that we have hag night as well. All of Will's hags came over for dinner. Well of 3 us anyway. And, in reality, i'm the only real hag. The others are just in training. (I can't even keep a straight face as i type) And no... his name's not really Will, and mine isn't really Grace. Karen's name isn't really Karen either. We don't have a Jack and i haven't yet come up with a good nickname for our third hag. Will says i should call her Squigy. I don't really know how he came up with it, but since i'm not really feeling creative, i think it's gonna stick.

Anyhoo, Will made dinner and the four of us ate and chatted. It was fun. It was nice to have intelligent conversation with people from very different walks of life. Well, somewhat intellegent anyway. Now i'm home watching CSI (love that show) even though it's a re-run. Re-runs should be outlawed. Well, not really. I love that they play re-runs of Friends and Sex in the city. But I know those are going to be re-runs. I'm not waiting on the next intruiging plot line. I want new shows!!!! When are sweeps?!?!

Wow... i'm bored reading my own post. I think that means i'm done.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Day of Discovery

So I've tried this whole blog thing before... several times... and it's been totally unsuccessful. so now i try again. Why? Don't know. But here goes... you're in for a ride!

So today I had to go to my little city's Wastewater Management place to pay my bill cuz i'm a dork and forgot to send out the check... which of course was due TODAY! So i load my adorable puppy, Oscar, (btw, puppy = 75 pound golden retriever) into the car and make the 10 minute trek there. Now... I just closed on my house in late November and haven't really ventured out to explore the little suburb that i now inhabit. I mostly venture out to the big city for fun. My 10 minute trek to pay a bill proved to be a FANTASTIC adventure.

Discovery #1: We have a ghetto! Seriously, i live in a rapidly growing suburb that most people consider to be one of the nicer areas around here. But we have a ghetto! It's not a terrible ghetto. And in reality... not a ghetto at all... but it's faaaaaaar from the communist cookie cutter suburbia my casa exists in. You may be asking yourself... so you have a ghetto... who cares? Well really... probably no one. Not even me really. I was just fascinated. That's all.

Discovery #2: We have coffee shop... and it's NOT STARBUCKS!!!! WEEEEEEEWWWWOOOOOOOHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO YESYESYES!!!! I'm sure at a later date (assuming i actually stick to this blog thing) there will be entire post (or more) dedicated to my utter disdain of Starbucks (and Wal-mart). But for now, let's stick to the Happy! This lovely little shop (We'll call it my coffee heaven) consisted of 2 small rooms and 2 larger ones. The large room in the front had tables and chairs, a few couches, and a couple computers with internet access. Then there was a tiny room (more like a butler's pantry) that had all of the self serve coffee. Then came the small room containing the counter, floor to ceiling shelving lined with bags of different types of coffee beans, and a giant machine that i can only guess was a bean roaster... Maybe? On the other side of what i'm assume was a giant bean roaster was a door that led into a larger room that had several tables and chairs and a few more computers. The girl behind the counter looked like she was all of about 16 years old. I waited in line and ordered my Venti white mocha latte and started to head back to the car. As i was walking out i couldn't help but smile at the thought that i was getting yummy coffee and it wasn't from Starbucks!! And it wasn't even Starbucks brand coffee!!! AH VICTORY!! I walked out, closed the door and turned to read the flyers posted on the door and window. That's when i saw it! the GREATEST bummer sticker EVER!!!!! "Friends don't let friends drink Starbucks!" And the celestial choir began singing... well, not really, but i did do a little song and dance inside. (At least i hope it was inside). Yea for my coffee heaven!

Discovery #3: I feel like there was a discovery #3, but i don't really remember it. Anyway.. it was a happy day!!