Reviews!

Whew! Haven't done this in a while! On the agenda - Glogg, Beaujolais, and Leverage.


First off - Glogg!! (and Beaujolais)
Glogg is a swedish winter drink, which is very much like mulled wine, but without as much of the cinnamon flavor. Mom came up a few weekends ago and we tried it out at a Christmas festival in Lincoln Square, and then while shopping found it at a cooking store, so we both bought a bottle. I've seen it both with the alcohol already in the bottle and without. Without, you can mix with red wine (beaujolais or merlot), vodka, or brandy. Me and my friends did it with the Beaujolais and the brandy. It's very sweet and you heat it up so it's very nice for the winter. The lady that sold it to us recommended Beaujolais to go with it because it's fruity, but not too sweet. She couldn't think of another wine that would work, but based on that description, I think merlot would work just as well. The Beaujolais that I bought is Louis-Jadot and it's pretty good. Not very tannic at all (that biting-puckering feeling you get when you drink red wine) but also not too sweet. So if you have a taste for red wine - very good, if not you probably wouldn't like it.

Leverage is a show on TNT that I just watched for the first time online. Think Ocean's Eleven on TV with a lower-profile cast and set in Chicago, which might be part of the reason I like it so well. Also, I love Timothy Hutton, who is the main character. My dad used to not like shows about thieves (or anyone really) getting away with their crimes (he hated Chicago, the musical, not the city) and in this show, they only target corporations or very rich people that have done wrong (think Madoff or Enron), so you don't even have to feel guilty about rooting for the thieves. Anyway, I've only seen the premiere, but I like it quite a bit, especially if you ignore the subtext that says that corporations and big business are evil. I don't really think that's what they're going for. The cast is fun and I like all the actors, which is rare.

I probably won't post again until after Christmas. I leave on Tuesday to fly out to Oklahoma to visit Michael & Christine & Abby for the holidays, so wish me luck with this lovely weather we've been having!

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Meet Santa's Newest Little Helper

She's currently plotting to kill me in my sleep.

Pictures!! Finally!!

Ok, I don't have that many, and not really any good ones of my hair cut at all, but here's what I've got in no particular order:

A horrific picture of me, grandma, and my haircut:
Leftovers. Let's see if I can identify starting at the top left going right, then the second level left to right, etc.: Mozzarella in a bag, Veggie dip, pumpkin roll on top of the veggie dip, chocolate milk, no idea, stew maybe, stuffing, pea salad, Murphy's Stout, turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, cherry coke, cream cheese that expired in 2007, swedish meatballs, rice, devilled eggs, raspberries, brie, cheddar cheese ball, butter, cucumber, cherry cheesecake, leftover beef. Appetizing, no?

Aunt Jan and Babette:

Grandma and Mom:

Grandma and Aunt Jan:

Yummy chicken sausage and veggies cooked in the pressure cooker that totally stresses me out because I expect it to explode in my face at any minute:

Dinner Thursday night, cheese, wine, and fruit. We are sophisticated, non? It was a bit of an around the world - Italy (Mozzarella), Germany (Gouda), France (Brie), Ireland (Dubliner). Oh and White Zinfandel (California?) and Pinot Noir (France) and Cheeseball (Marsh)

The Spread:

The picture I bought at the Charity Event:

Izzie really really loves Dad's blanket:

No, really.

I swear I'll post a couple of pictures soon. I just found the charger to my camera, so I'll post pictures after Thanksgiving.

Anyway, I was talking to Laura and Nikki this weekend and realized that I probably haven't told anyone this. Barack Obama and his transition team actually work on 38th floor of my building everyday. Most people I've told that to, it's because I'm venting about the new security that goes along with all that. They put it in place the day before the election, so either they were really confident of the outcome or they were trying to be safe. Last tuesday, word was that John McCain was also in the building. There is pretty much no way possible that we would ever see any of them, the way the building is set up and the security. There are never news vans or videocameras outside because he comes in a motorcade down onto a ramp that goes into the building (or so I assume). They shut off the roads when the motorcade is coming in and out. He lives in Hyde Park, which is only about 5 miles South of us. So they've put barricades up all the way around the building so that you can't actually get up to the doors except by showing your ID at the barricade at which point they let you in. If you don't have a federal ID (which is the way we used to be able to get in with no additional security measures) you have to have some proof of your business there. The passport office and immigration are in our building so that makes for fun times. Then we ALL have to go through the metal detectors. Oh, excuse me, that is everyone except the people that are allowed to carry guns - DEA, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement, formerly the INS), FBI, although they have no real reason to be in the building. The first couple of days there were up to 1 hour long waits to go through the detectors, but they've added 2 and gotten the hang of it. The elevator bank up to where the President-Elect is has it's own metal detector with a privacy screen (which really makes me wonder what's going on back there). We used to be able to keep our coats on and put any food or drink on a table, but now everything has to go through. At least we get to keep our shoes on. So as I'm writing this, I'm kind of wondering if I'll be contacted by the FBI or something telling me to delete this. Hm. That would be bad. Anyway, I'm not telling you anything that about 500 other people already know. What's really annoying is the whole barricades and only one exit and one entrance thing (on opposite sides of the building). Mostly just because it's freaking cold outside and having to walk all the way around the building to get in sucks. Also, our regular security guards, who we all know, are all on duty, but so are some ICE officers, and they aren't always too nice. Anne calls them Ice-holes. :) So yeah, I totally understand WHY they have to do this, but it just sucks that it has to be my building that I have to go to work in everyday. You know, this is my life. It's not like I'm a tourist to the White House, where it's a one time thing that's expected. We're talking 3 or 4 times a day through the metal detectors. And the best is when you get behind someone that actually works at the building and has already done this a hundred times and STILL doesn't know how to go through the things and get their stuff off of the conveyer and everything. It's aggravating. But it's kind of a weird feeling to know all these Super Important People are in the building all the time. But for the most part I think we're all waiting for it to be over.

Nothing much going on...

I feel kinda icky. Have felt kinda icky on and off for about 5 days now. It started on Wednesday, just being really tired all day long, then I felt just off that night. It's just been really subtle - headaches, nausea, no appetite, and sometimes a little woozy/dizzy. I told Mom tonight that I was ok with having no appetite because normally I always have an appetite :) So none of that is really strong. I had a migraine Friday night, but that went away w/ some medicine. And I think the nausea is just being caused by not eating, which for my stomach is not an option. Ask Nikki, she knows. :) It's all just so faint that I don't really want to go to the doctor, I just keep expecting it to go away.

Other than that, I have nothing going on. I went to a charity art auction on Friday night, then went to go hear my friend's friend's brother's band play. I've heard them before, but this time we had to sit through an atrocious band before hand and it just wasn't worth it :) So I left about halfway through. Then I went to a birthday party last night. I'll take a picture of the picture I bought at the art auction whenever I get it back from Katie. :) Anyhow, just thought I'd post an update since I don't update this often enough.

I guess one more thing. I got the 3rd season (Volume 1?) of Dirty Jobs last week in the mail and I've watched it all since then, some episodes more than once. But anyway, one of the episodes was filmed at Fair Oaks Farms in Indiana! It's a super farm (dairy) off of I-65 at exit 220. It's entirely energy self-reliant at this point. It uses the cow poo for fuel and they have enough of it that it fuels the whole farm! They showed them milking the cows and birthing some calves. It was fun to watch partially because I drive by it every single time I go between Chicago and Indy, but also because Dad inspected that farm as it was being built and I remember him telling me about the milking machines and how they worked. During the birthing segment (which was fascinating and really ewwey) I kept thinking that those vets (there were at least 4 of them, just on that segment of the show - I can't imagine how many they employ full time) had probably gone to Purdue or that maybe Nikki had seen their pictures on the wall of the Vet school. Silly, I know, but it's fun to watch something that you have a connection to, even if it's that tenuous. :)

Oh, and I chopped off my hair. I'll post a picture as soon as I have a decent one. It's pretty cute if I do say so myself :)

Happy Halloween!

My Halloween costume. Zoom in on the picture and read it, you'll figure it out. What I lacked in effort, I made up for in cleverness, I think.

Me, Bill, Kitty, and Anne

Beth and her old roomie, Tara
Bill as "Don", i.e., as a schmuck.
Natalie, Beth, and Jil went as Brett Michael's girls

Anne as Uma Thurman's character in Pulp Fiction
Kitty as Sarah Palin, referencing the Obama "Lipstick on a Pig" comment, and Father Tim
I put this one on here, not to embarass my friends, because it's a terrible picture, but to show you what an awesome job I did on Anne's eye makeup. Ok, maybe to embarass them a little, except they don't read my blog. Anne is naturally very blonde and I had to keep convincing her to go darker with the eyebrows, eyeliner, and mascara, in order to match the wig.
Uma putting stars on my check at my apartment

Mike Rowe & Oscar the Grouch

Stick around for the pig bath at the end. It's eerily reminiscent of some of the jobs he's had. I have to say, regardless of my immense crush on him, I think Mike does a really good job on Sesame Street!

Facebook

Sorry for the lack of posting (again), but I have recently discovered facebook and for a while there it was taking up all my time :) Which, of course, the reason that I didn't sign up for facebook for a while was because I knew I'd get addicted to it, but I gave in to peer pressure and now here I am. Wow. It's like drugs. So add that to my serious serious lack of internet connectivity at home, and there you have my no posting. And possibly some grammar issues. Anyway, everyone say a prayer for my mom and michael, christine, and abby because they're ALL sick. :(

yearbookyourself.com

I don't think I can adequately explain how much it looks like i've stuck my face on my mom's senior picture.

Sorry!

Sorry about the lack of posting. Apparently when the temperature dips under 60 degrees my DSL stops working. I'm only slightly kidding. It hasn't been working for about 3 weeks, and before that I was traveling.

So I have been doing stuff, but haven't been taking pictures. I spent last weekend at my Mom's hanging out with Nikki and Tyler and then this weekend I went to Valpo for Homecoming. Sorry I'm not more interesting!

Pub Quiz

I will buy a drink to whoever can tell me what book this is from.  OK, only the first person.  And Michael's not allowed to answer.

A quote from one of my favorite books in honor of my grandparents house being torn down in order to build a bypass:  

"Bypasses are devices that allow some people to dash from point A to point B very fast while other people dash from point B to point A very fast.  People living at point C, being a point directly in between, are often given to wonder what's so great about point A that so many people from point B are so keen to get there, and what's so great about point B that so many people from point A are so keen to get there.  They often wish that people would just once and for all work out where the hell they wanted to be."

Jersey Boys!!!

On a whim (like, bought the tix the night before at 10:30pm whim) Mom and I went to go see the musical Jersey Boys. It's the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. You would recognize most of their music. It was so so so good, probably partially because I grew up on the oldies, but still I think anyone would love it. The acting was superb, we got the understudy for Frankie Valli, and he was a fantastic actor and obviously a great singer, but he overdid the falsetto sometimes. :) Think the song "Big Girls Don't Cry", and you'll understand. The guy that played Bob Gaudio, Drew Gehling was my favorite. He had a killer voice, and he was kind of adorable too. We had a fantastic time. Here are pics from that and just walking around Chicago.


Characters left to right: Nick Massi, Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, and Tommy DeVito
Actual Four Seasons, starting at the top, clockwise: Bob Gaudio, Frankie Valli, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi






Random Adorable Child

The Bean





And then on Sunday we laid out on Lake Michigan.



Edited: Oops! Forgot to mention my major clutz moment. Now, normally, as most of you know, it's mom that's always tripping over concrete and falling off trolley cars, but apparently it was my turn. Today (Sunday) we were shopping and as we were walking down the sidewalk to get something to eat I tripped on a ridge in the sidewalk and just went down. I hit it hard and didn't have time to catch myself w/ my other foot so I think it went something like my knee hit first then both my wrists (and the sore one is none too happy about that) and then I rolled to help distribute the impact. There was absolutely nothing going through my mind except "Oh Crap", so I can't say I had the presence of mind to roll, I just kind of did it. But me and Mom agree that that probably saved me from some bad injuries like a broken wrist or hitting the concrete with my face. So really I just have a skinned elbow, a badly bruised knee, and a scrape on my foot and probably a dozen bruises. Tada!!!

Pickles

Other tags considered: "Kamaflawge: Ur doin it wrong", and "I iz stelthy hunter". Couldn't really come up with a good one for this.

Thanks for adopting me!

I believe this was taken the day they adopted her (oops, him).

Doggie Sundae Toppings

Sniffle

So I've been recording most of the Olympics on Tivo and watching them the next day lately. So I watched Misty May and Kerri Walsh win the Gold and then I was watching the very end and they were showing who won the...um, weightlifting? medal, I'm not sure what it's called. And they guy that won is from Germany and he lifts it up, holds it with a huge smile on his face and then lets it drop and just collapses in sobs because he knows he won the Gold. I'm getting a little teary at this point, but wait, there's more. At the medal ceremony he holds up, with his Gold, a picture of his wife who died last year in a car accident. She had started a savings account so she could join him in Beijing. And that made me cry. So I thought I'd share.

huh.

No, seriously, who buys this stuff?

I'm looking for a shower curtain, and I went shopping today. After trying about 18 stores I finally gave up and started looking online. And that's what I found.

LOLGeneral

LOLCali

Fun Day

So I have some random stuff to post. Today and tomorrow is the Chicago Air & Water Show, the 50th Anniversary. So we kept getting to see the Blue Angels go over the city. I didn't go down to the Lake, so I didn't actually see the show, but you'd hear it coming from time to time. So I got my camera out and took a few pictures and a video. I went down to Clark & Diversey to go shopping (which is about 3 miles South of my place and closer to where the show was) and I parked on top of the building and took some of my pictures and video from there. I was only 3 or 4 stories up, but it was a good vantage point because the planes kept going over. At one point, the noise shook everything so hard that it set someone's car alarm off. So watching all of that actually made me woozy. I think it had something to do with being up higher than the ground, but at one point during the video you can hear me say Oh My God because they just went so high up and it was making me literally dizzy. Yes, Michael, literally, not figuratively. I finally went down to go shopping because my legs were a little weak.

This is my view from the rooftop:

SO, when I went shopping I got Izzie a new litter box to try and get her to stop tracking quite so much litter out of her box. It kind of looks like an igloo, it's interesting.

Unfortunately, they did not have it in this lovely shade of purple (if they had, I would've gotten it). They had a really ugly gold and "seafoam". We got seafoam. As the cat goes up the steps, which you can see then it turns and the litter is to the right. Supposedly, the stairs and the little turn helps keep the litter in the box instead of on your floor. We'll see.