Pictures Finally!

IMG_0014
Originally uploaded by nicoleballet

Last night I was a machine and made Lauren's house-warming present! I love it! I think these are my favorite Amy Butler fabrics. The pattern is from her book In Stitches.

Even though I measured like four times, I messed up the width of the ties and had to adjust the waistband accordingly, it should be thicker, but Lauren will never know that ;).

"Joe take a picture of me in my apron!"

"It's not for yooooou."

"Dang it."

I'm attached.

Berfdays!

Last night we had our birthday celebration for Joe's mom and sister. We went to Brasserie Jo's on Hubbard and Clark. After a very interesting cab ride in which the cabbie babbled on about politics in Chicago, blah blah blah and Joe entertained him by agreeing with him, we got out of the cab and the cabbie said to Joe, "If you see me again, don't get in my cab." ??? I was thoroughly confused after Joe had a 15min. bonding experience with this whack-a-do. Guess he was expecting more of a tip? Chalking it up to the cabbie crazies gods.

Brassier Jo's is a French classic Cafe style up-scale restaurant. We had a great time there. On the whole, the entrees were mildly disappointing. The shrimp bag? A novelty. Joe's dad got the best one, the skate wing with brown butter. Nobody does brown butter like the French mmmm... If you go there I recommend the appetizers and most definitely the DECADENT desserts. I had chocolate overload after one bite, but I have a sensitive sweet tooth. Chocolate tends to taste bitter to me if it's really rich.

And my presents were big hits! I was so glad! Joe's sister really liked her pinboard and the best part-the fabric covered button push pins. She even said she was going to take it to work and use it there! I was so flattered. Joe's mom seemed really thrilled with her needle case too.

Presents!

Although I haven't blogged all last week, I have been crafting it up. Unfortunately, I have already given away or wrapped everything I made!!! Sorry, I really need to be better about taking more photos.

I embroidered five onesies for a baby shower my mom's going to on Friday. The expectant mother is an accomplished violin player who we've known for several years. Her father was my teacher and a friend. I don't know her very well so I made some that were more girly/typical and then some that were more unusual. I finished them up on Sunday morning and my fingers definitely hurt today!

I also finished birthday presents for Joe's mom and sister. His sister's pin board came out looking awesome, but what a pain in the butt! Staple guns = no fun. I will be thinking twice before deciding to do another one of those. Her tote bag came out looking spec-tac-ular. I have the ladies at Quiltology to thank for that. Their Berninas spoiled me rotten. I think she'll like her gifts if only for the fact that I used Heather Bailey and Amy Butler fabrics and she's very into textile designers. I was actually thinking of just getting her some fat quarters for her birthday, but this was more fun. Maybe I'll do that for Christmas.

For Joe's mom I tried out some of Amy Butler's patterns from her sewing book that I've been eying, a needle case and a drawstring bag. I made them out of this orange Belle Amy Butler fabric.


My final verdict: twill tape sucks. In the future I will avoid it or find some higher quality tape. The only kind I could find was polyester and I think cotton would look so much better. The drawstring bag I will definitely make again. It was so easy and who doesn't need a little bag to tote things to the beach or to go work-out?


Finally, I made t-shirts to cheer on my mom as she ran in her first triathlon on Sunday! That's right, my mom is an acclaimed athlete!! She ran in the Naperville Sprint Triathlon and made it in under her goal time of two hours! I'm so proud!

I'm really going to have to update this post with some photos of at least the patters or my inspiration!

Currently working on"

-Apron and matching towels for Lauren's house-warming party. With this fabric (which will be so hard to cut because I really really love it):
-Finishing up a teeeeeeeny detail on Kate's birthday present
-Re-doing Kelly's birthday present because I broked it. booooo.
-Making a non-gay bag for Joe to tote his work stuff in
-Maybe... MAYBE something for myself???

Did you say cupcakes?

Oh my gentle Jesus!

Stand aside cupcake cupboard because now there is the CUPCAKE COURIER!!!!

Olive's Birthday Present

Olive's Birthday Present
Originally uploaded by nicoleballet

I mostly worked on Kate's birthday present tonight and it's almost finished!!! I think uit looks really good so far and I'm hoping the things I'm adding to it make it even better. We'll see...

Since I can't show pictures of her present, I thought I'd post what I made last night. I actually made three hair thingies with teeny bunnies on them, but the third has "mysteriously disappeared". When I got home all of them had gone missing and I had my suspicions of the culprit. Suspicions were confirmed when I found one "coincidentally" on the kitty scratching post. I'm sure that was an accident ::ahem:: MEW. Mew has a sick obsession with hair things and one of these days I will find him playing with the last hair thing.

BONUS KITTY PIC!

There was a sale at Borders

Projects!

Projects!
Originally uploaded by nicoleballet

I had another sewing class tonight. Here's a glimpse of my 'homework.' No Kate, it's not your birthday present. Sorry, I'm keeping that one under wraps. This one has some of my favorite Heather Bailey prints in my favorite colors. I love the modern paisley print. The wallpaper-esque print is so fun in those bright colors.

So it's official. I have way too many projects going on at one time. Let's see:

-Heather Bailey fabric project
-Kate's bday present
-Crochet hemp twine basket
-Embroidered onesies
-Pin Board for Adrienne

Seriously, I've started something for all of these. The one I finished tonight was for a friend's little girl, some hair thingies and a big pin with her first initial embroidered on it. It's really cute, I'll upload some pics later. Yes I came home from being crafty and got more crafty... while watching Top Chef, another obsession.

I promised myself I wouldn't watch this season but after seeing the article in the Red Eye this morning, how could I not?? Dale Levitski is a contestant and I just have to root for Chi Town!! Come on Dale!!! Unfortunately, he was in the bottom 3 in the first round!!! NOO!!!! I have two things to say in his defense: #1 How can blue cheese with beef be too strong a flavor for an amuse busch? And I saw that signature move with the herb utensil! Very Alinea/Moto/Trio. Going back to what you know, just stick with it man! #2 I really really hope his whole downfall in the elimination challenge was just lack of knowledge about alligator. Please please please. At least he didn't get any negative comments about the monk liver.

BONUS KITTY PIC!!

Mew was more of a fan of the sewing machine 'accessories'

New Japanese Craft Books from Mitsuwa!

New Japanese Craft Books from Mitsuwa!
Originally uploaded by nicoleballet

I went to MITSUWA JAPAN STRIP MALL!!! on Saturday and it was a gold mine! I spent over an hour there browsing. Finally I narrowed it down to five books with the things I'm most interested in now: quilting, sewing, tote bags, crochet, and embroidery. I think my favorites are the natural cord crochet book and the quilting book. There are a ton of ideas in there that I'm going to have to try.

Check 'em all out. The natural cord crochet one is one of my favorites. I love these! They're so summery when usually crochet reminds me of winter. I can totally see a beach towel poking out of them or gardening shears, or knitting. I like the bold colors next to the natural colors, they really pop. I'm definitely going to be experimenting with these guys.




























It's pretty obvious why I got the embroidery one yes? Some of the designs in here are pretty intricate, I'm not sure if I can pull them off, I guess we'll see...










Pleats! These will be so cute for summer and at work. Gotta work on those sewing skillz first though.











The quilting book is also one of my favorites.
I have a ton of ideas! Like:





































Cute handbags galore in the next book. I really like these tote bags, they're really versatile.













Time to get to work!

Happy Hooker Scarves

Happy Hooker Scarves
Originally uploaded by nicoleballet

A little transition from crochet to embroidery. I made the pinkish scarf yesterday at Joanie's. My mom made me the green one some time last year. I think hers is better... the gage is more even and it's a softer yarn. Also, after I made the analogy of mine looking like raw hamburger meat out loud I just don't know what to do with it now. Nobody wants hamburger meat around their neck. I've been meaning to try this pattern for so long, maybe I just need to invest in some nicer yarn and try again. Oh well.

Here's a little crochet change purse with a felt patch that is embroidered that I made for my friend Aimee for her birthday. I like the lotus a lot, so cute! Inspired by Amy Butler's lotus pattern fabric.

Embroidery is a lot of fun! Especially after I got Jenny Hart's Stitch It Kit! There are loads of fun ideas in there. I'm still wrestling with the whole embroidered pillow thing though, I don't think I'll go there. But the next big project I want to do would be a skirt with some pretty flowers. Here's some embroidery craziness:

Ryan's Redneck Onesie
So cute! It didn't take me too long to do this guy. And I was happy to see it's actually going to fit the growing boy!



















Guess who this one is for
Embroidering on t-shirt, stretchier material, was really hard. Ryan's onesie was definitely a learning experience. I tried to use wax paper as a stabilizer but I don't think it did a very good job. For Olive's I switched to, believe it or not, glad wear cling wrap. The wrap stuck to the fabric well enough and I think I got much much better results! My stitches look much more even.






And finally a little sumthin for my hubby. An apron with Red Kitty Blue Kitty. The original pattern had the kitties with big bows, so I put a triangle of felt between Jenny Hart's iron on pattern and the fabric so that they didn't transfer. Then all I had to do was extend the lines on the backs of the kitties.
I love their widdle pink noses.






CRAFTY WEEKEND AGENDA!!!!
Heading to MITSUWA JAPANESE STRIP MALL!!!! I've been hit with the Japanese craft book but and I have to head over there to see what they've got before I go crazy on EBay. I'll let you know if I find anything chock full of crafty goodness.

After MITSUWA JAPANESE STRIP MALL!!!! I'll be heading up to my favorite corner of the Earth that helps me get everything done, Elston and Diversey. I love it, JoAnn Fabrics, Home Depot, Target, PetSmart and now Strack and Van Til, some kind of uber huge grocery store?? I can get all of my errands done in the same freaking place. This is especially awesome when you live in a city where on the weekends people turn into blood hungry psycho drivers.

On my shopping list for today:
-I may be purchasing a sewing machine! WEEE!!!
-Canvas/linen/cheap fabric to practice with
-Button covering kits
-Pins
-Seam ripper
-cork
-MDF

I have a few projects in the works... And I leave you with:
BONUS KITTY PIC! They're all tuckered out from a hard day on the course.

Crafty

My sad sad blog. My sad sad unupdated blog. So, ballet has come and gone with my wedding. It makes me kind of sad that I've dropped it, but I'm moving on! Trying new things! Exploring! Ballet was an excellent discipline, but the nagging perfectionist in me was starting to get a little disappointed in myself and I couldn't really enjoy it as much as I wanted to.

Anyways, I have been keeping myself busy, contrary to the non-existent updates to this blog. Joe's night hours leave me with a lot of time myself and lately I've been getting crafty. I think it started with crochet... moved on to embroidery... and now sewing. I'm starting to mix all three and see what I come up with.

Wednesday night I went to my first sewing class since 6th grade. After class I got into a discussion about my craft blog obsession with the teacher of the class and she said, "I think to have a blog you need to be a stay at home mom with at least two kids." Sad, but true. A lot of the crafty projects I see online are snazzy cloth diapers, teeny dresses, and doll quilts. I get absolutely no use out of these three things. Okay maybe the diapers.

I went home after staying in the fabric store for 2 and a half hours babbling about my craft blog obsession with the idea to share some of my crafty projects online. Far from perfect, but I like them enough to give to people so there!

Today's installment: Crochet

Here are some purses I made for my mom and mother-in-law for Mother's Day

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Originally uploaded by nicoleballet

This one I gave to my mother-in-law.

Inside:
Here's the one I made for my mom:

Inside:

Both patterns are from "Stich n' Bitch: Happy Hooker". The fourth grader in me is saying I should underline that book title. Why do you never see book titles underlined anymore? Is that taboo now?

Future crochet ideas in the works:
-Happy Hooker scarves (skinny and scalloped edge) and bunny slippers!
-More handbags Futuregirl style
-Hemp crochet baskets (hopefully I can find the Japanese craft book that I've seen online)
-Eventually I'd like to tackle crochet stuffed animals.

Next post! Embroidery! OOOOOOOOOooooooooo!

The End of Xmas

Last night Joe and I finally took down the ole Xmas tree. Sure it's been like four months, but who's counting? Of course this took persuasion on my part, which was so very different from anything else I've asked Joe to do... oh wait, oh no, I meant the OTHER Joe. The one that does stuff without me asking? You know, the one that exists in a parallel universe where mayonnaise makes me thinner?

So Joe goes to take the tree out to the trash (it was a cheap-o fake one that we both decided we just don't have room to keep), and I finish packing up the ornaments. Of course this whole process took like 20 minutes but we insist on delaying it for months on principles.

I open the door to the bathroom to grab some windex to clean the excess of festive Jesus glitter from our glass table the tree was sitting on, and BAM! There's the Christmas tree all lit up. I see it just as Joe goes, "BWA! YOU'VE BEEN CHRISTMAS TREED!" Which definitely scared the Ba-Jesus right out of my Ba-Christmas.

Fridge: Pre and Post Joe

After searching through my photo library with the intention of making a kitty montage, I came across some old pictures of my fridge that I used for a previous blog post: Ghetto Food Fabulous.

So now that Joe's been living here for ::gasp!:: seven? months now? dang... OUR fridge looks a little sumpthin like this:


Let's take inventory.

Old fridge contents:

-One plastic container of old grated Parmesan cheese
-Two containers of deli sliced honey ham mmmmm yum!
-Four bottles of water, one open
-One teeny thing of jell-o left over from when I was being a super cheap skate and decided to fill tiny gladware containers with jell-o
-One half filled thing of salsa
-Horse radish from when Joe made bloody mary's... six months ago...
-Pickles?
-Another half eaten jar of salsa
-A very old jar of Miracle Whip, but I don't think that stuff goes bad
-One seedless cucumber
-My leftovers and lunch for tomorrow in the gladware
-Half an onion
-Part of a garlic thingy that used to be whole but I had to throw half of it away because it started to sprout
-Asparagus
-Half a bag of pre-mixed spring greens

New Fridge Contents:

-Freshly bought grated parmesian cheese including a wedge to be grated
-Two containers of lunch meat
-Bottled water
-We ate the rest of the salsa last night, but a jar of cheese dip remains
-Bread and Butter pickles
-Milk
-Chicken Stock
-Eggs
-Jalapenos
-Goose Island beer sampler... mmmmmmmm goose island beer sampler
-Regular coke
-Homemade twix bars (obviously not homemade by ME)
-Some sort of meat from the butcher plus bacon
-Homemade pasta sauce
-Assorted jellies
-Garlic
-Some black stuff in a tupperware container??
-Turkey somethin or other

My Life is Over, Apparently

Last Friday I went for tapas and sangria with some amigos! It was muy divertido. Afterwards, we headed out to a local bar. Part of our group left leaving me and my friend Lauren. We stayed because my hubby told me he was on his way there with some friends. While we were sitting at a table, sipping on some cheap beers, a guy in a What Would Chuck Norris Do t-shirt starts hitting on us.

WWCND: So... you guys still in school?
Me and Lauren simultaneously: ugh... nooooo, why? How old are you?
WWCND: 29.
Me: Really? Normally guys who are 29 don't bother asking that question.
WW: Naw naw, seriously I'm 29.

Oy. It was pretty much downhill from there, but at least he was entertaining. He claimed to have majored in Engineering in undergrad, and then gone to law school and now he's a personal injury lawyer. I can't make this shit up people. Anyway, turns out he's just buttering us up for his friends! Yes, he was a gen-u-wine bar fluffer. It was weird. So naturally I told him I was married and Lauren has a boyfriend. He was a good sport about it, some guys get all offended or whatever. He introduced us to one of his friends standing nearby anyway and his friend got one sentence out before he declared to him how I was married. Which, I do not care being called out because I am and I'd rather not put up false pretenses.

So this guy looks at me and with a straight and very serious face says "So what are you doing at the bar?" What am I doing at the bar??? What does it look like I'm doing? I'm enjoying a beer with a friend while getting buttered up by your fluffer friend over here. And now I can see why you need him because you are apparently void of any and all people skills.

I apparently had one too many because it virtually ruined the rest of my night which I spent thinking up better things to say back to void people skills guy than what I did say which was "I'm having a few beers with friends." What I could/should've said:

"What are you doing at the bar?"
1."Well I know what YOU'RE doing at the bar."

2."You're right, I should be at home having endless hot sex with my husband, but instead I'm talking to jerks like you."

3."Trying to pick up guys since my husband's out of town. HAHA! Oh no, that's what you were hoping I'd say isn't it?"

4."Drowning my married life sorrows with crazy amounts of drinking. Woe is me... woe."

5."Hoping Girls Gone Wild will show up. I'm determined to get on their Desperate Housewives edition."

6."Shopping for sperm donors. We're having trouble conceiving and we figure this is cheaper than invitro."

7."I'm sorry, all I heard was 'blah blah blah I'm desperate'."

8."Apparently attracting assholes."

9."I have this weird disease where if someone doesn't make a jerkass comment to me every hour I die. Thanks for filling the quota."

10."Hoping my husband doesn't catch me because then the whole 'fake pregnancy' story is totally blown!"

RANDOM KITTY BONUS PIC!

Quittin Time

Survey: What do you think would be the most amusing way to quit your job? Add to these suggestions in the comments section.

Suggestions:

A. Any time anyone asks you for anything say 'no'.

"Nicole, will you forward this email to so and so"
"No."

"Nicole, are you going to answer that?"
"No."

"Nicole, can you tell me - "
"No."

B. Give yourself a pedicure at your desk.

C. Start wearing questionable t-shirts to work like: "My parents beat me & I turned out fine." or "Gin and Jews" or "Mojitos, mo' problems."

D. Walk past a conference room, double over like you're going to puke, dry heave, stand up, wave, carry on.

E. Put up various pictures of yourself with random drunks at bars, top optional, cross-dressers preferred.

F. Show up at the Holiday party and offer to get everyone a drink. The next day at work ask for your money back and insist it was a cash bar.

G. Make up things about your department/specialty and insist you're right.
"Why would I ask for an 80MVA transformer, clearly I said 80GVA."
"Isn't that really big?"
"Well then how do you explain how an ipod can hold 80GB??? HMM?? OBVIOUSLY a transformer is more powerful than an ipod. Jesus!"

H. Start commenting under your breath about everybody's outfit.
"Cannot beLIEVE she thinks those colors go together."
"What?"
"What?"

I. Insist the printer is broken. Always. All four of them.

J. Start calling your boss a catchy nickname like "Butch" or "Kid" or "Speedy."

K. End all sentences with a religious connotation (not necessarily yours).
"The document went out today Praise Allah!"
"The computer, God Bless it so, keeps fucking crashing when I'm on Excel, sweet baby Jesus."

L. Interrupt all work-related conversations to talk about your cats. No it doesn't matter if you really have cats.
"So we're going to have to get these out by -"
"OH MY GOSH that reminds me, so last night I was about to go out and Fluffy and Spotty were all like 'mew!' and I was like 'mew?' and they ANSWERED ME!"

M. ???

Letters to George

Every have that one co-worker that always picks at you? And it seems like no matter what you say or do the situation never gets better and never goes away? You just keep getting completely whack-o emails and there's no way to remedy the situation!

If only you could just tell your co-worker off!

Well do it! VENT! Write your 'Dear George'.

Dear George,

No I will not make out with you.


Dear George,

Drink the Kool-aid.

Cheers!


Dear George,

Late at night, when I'm in bed, naked, I think of you...


...dying in a fire.
Sweet Dreams!


Dear George,

I'M A REPUBLICAN!


Dear George,

Hey! Know what I like? Kittens!
Know what I don't like? YOU!


Dear George,

The common loon (Gavia immer) is a bird found in Northern Michigan and other parts of the US / Canada Border.

The office loon (Psychovia Georgimmer) is a loser found in the front office.

Both should be shot upon visual contact.


Dear George,

I love it when you talk dirty

Thinking of you!


George,

I know I can help you, but first we have to test your thetans.


George,

I think of you when I clean my toilet, you're both full of sh*t!


Dear George,

You know when you're a kid and you're parents get divorced they tell you it wasn't your fault? They lied.

Come on! Give it a try! Write a Dear George!

*Special thanks to Joanie for her contributions ;)

It'll make you feel better, I promise!

Crazy M

I haven't posted in a while, so I thought I would this morning with some amusing stories about my podmate.

I work in a cubicle with three other people, and the girl across the corner is a little wacky. For instance, she'll blurt out personal questions during total silence. One day I was sitting at my computer, back to her and I hear, "ARE YOU HAVING KIDS?" What if I were barren??? Not to mention that's none of her business. Okay, whatever, a little strange.

Last week she let out a loud burp followed by "Excuse me!", and then burped AGAIN and said, "ExCUSE me!" and then started laughing hysterically. Seriously, laughed for quite a while everyone else just kind of sat there awkwardly. So she's a little socially inept.

She'll also count out drawing numbers, out loud, hundreds of them. A little annoying.

So it really didn't surprise me that today she comes in and she's got the sniffles... awww... She decides to do what any other person would do, stuff kleenex up both her nostrils. It's hanging out for everyone to see. Hotness.

I guess she just kind of adds to the wacky atmosphere here at the office.

There's the whistling guy. Thankfully he's stopped since I've asked him, I've given him credit for that. He's made such amazingly condescending comments to me like, "I guess you're not just another pretty face" and "Good job, I'm proud of you!" when I'm speaking in Spanish to someone.

I think my favorite is the guy who uses outdated emoticons in everything. EVERYTHING. Every email even to our client! I practically peed my pants when I saw the following message in a conference room:

"Room Reserved for 11/9
and 11/10 :>/"

Yes, he wrote out the colon, carrot and backslash.

I could go on about some others, but right now I think these are my favorites.

Happy Halloween!

Joe and I had a loverly Saturday. We stayed in, as evidenced by my blog post on a Saturday night. In my defense, it is freeeeezing outside! So this morning (or rather 2p.m. otherwise known as 'Joe and Nicole morning' time) we walked down Clark St. to see if the farmer's market was open. It wasn't. Pretty uneventful. But we stopped at Oven Grinder's and got some amazing pizza. They bake it in bowls with the crust on top so when you flip it over it looks like a mushroom cap full of goodness. I just ate my leftovers.

After the pizza, we went to the lovely local grocer's and picked up, among other things, a pumpkin to carve. Yea! I haven't carved a pumpkin in a really long time. Joe's idea was to, "make it a mew mew." I did the ears, a couple whiskers and Joe did the rest. Here is our finished product:

No, it's NOT a mouse!

I think we did an excellent job even with our limited artistic ability. In fact, I guess we did TOO good of a job because Bear is terrified of this thing. TERRIFIED. I was trying to take a lovely Halloween family photo and he was having none of it.

It's gonna EAT ME!!!

His little paws are gripping my arm with a death-like vice. Despite several attempts to warm bear up to Pumpkin, our new cat, not even treats could get him up on the table. The closest he got was me holding him on the edge of the table. He was very upset. Who knew black cats and pumpkins really don't get along??

LIE

Clarktoberfest?

The street I live on (Clark St.) is organizing an event this weekend. It's called... CLARKTOBERFEST!!!! What is it, you ask? I dunno... no seriously, I can't figure it out. I have no clue what exactly will be going on at Clarktoberfest. As far as I can tell, these are the nifty things I have to look forward to that Clark Street is celebrating:

Increased sidewalk area
Snowplowing services on said sidewalks
A clean-up crew has been hired to pick up garbage and debris on Clark Street every Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday (does this include the homeless? just askin'...)
Decorations were provided on the street poles for the holidays (oooooo faaaancy!)
Power washing of the sidewalks

So I know what we're supposed to be excited about, but still, wtf is Clarktoberfest?? Maybe the poster will provide clues...

Hmm.... sot here wil be joggers and dogs eh? Interesting...

From the website: "Clarktoberfest will kick off on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. on the patio at Ranalli’s on Clark (2301 N. Clark) with an unveiling ceremony, during which the Clark Street SSA will officially make public the new Clark by the Park logo. The Clarktoberfest festivities also include sidewalk sales, live music, food samples and other giveaways, such as Clark by the Park-branded tee-shirts and dog treats, walking maps, and coupons."

Ooooo! Logos. Snazzy. I hope they're giving away commemoral Clark St. t-shirts. (OMG I was totally joking about the t-shirts, and I just re-read that section and saw them... wow. Clark St. REPRESENT!) And I am all about food samples. Not too crazy bout dog treats though.

Continued: "Clarktoberfest also marks the beginning of a marketing campaign aimed at reducing storefront vacancies and alerting Chicago residents to the variety of shopping and dining opportunities available on Clark Street."

I have to say there is a crazy amount of storefront vacancies on the street. Quizno's didn't even survive! (To its credit, there's another Quizno's four blocks away on Lincoln, so it might not have been the best idea to put a new one there, but whatever.) Just recently, I saw some of my favorite crazy cheap jewelry stores are going out of business. Who knew that closing at 3 during the week would do that? On a more serious note, I found out this morning that Tower Records is liquidizing its stores. There's a Tower Records that occupies the entire second floor of my building. I consider them to be my favorite neighbor. They don't ever make any noise at night and they didn't complain when my toilet overflowed (I thought the water had gone down when I flushed it again, it was an OPTICAL ILLUSION I TELL YOU).

Then there are the stores I think should be out of business. Like my cleaners that used to be next day... and has mysteriously stretched to an unbelievable four days! Or the five or six sushi stores on the same two blocks. I am loyal to my Sushi Para Too and their $16.99 all you can eat special. There are two Indian cuisine restaurants with a Mexican place inbetween them. The wine bar??? I have no idea if anybody ever goes there because the windows are tinted. Finally, the one I really don't get, Rose's Perks. This place recently opened up very close to my home and I can't, for the life of me figure out what it is. There's a picture of coffee, but there is no coffee sold there. The inside is painted a deep purple and a neon green, but there's two seating chairs and a coffee table that look like something out of grandma's house. So what's in there, you ask? A collection of crap that looks like someone pulled it out of their attic and decided to try and sell it. She should rename her shop Garage Sale.

To Clark St.'s credit there really is no reason why these stores should be going out of business. It's a busy street and it's in a great location. And here I'm referring to the stretch of Clark from Armitage to Diversey. There's a high school right there, and DuPaul is directly west, with the Fullerton beach access directly east. Lincoln Park Zoo is blocks away! Maybe the problem is the rent? This is possible seeing as the majority of places that I do see vacant are managed by the same company. They have loads of great places that would make me cry if they went out of business (my staples in order of importance):

1. Sushi Para Too... do NOT take away my sushi, I will die and God knows Brandon will never come to visit me again.
2. The Golden Cup, I neeeeeeeeeeeeeeed their pancakes at 2p.m. on Sundays
3. Ranalli's, pizza until 5a.m.!
4. Walgreen's, it's just essential
5. Hema's Kitchen, gotta get me some curry
6. Galway Arms, I really don't go here to get some ecclectic Irish food as much as I should
7. Express, it's practically in my basement. I get to know about their sales before anyone else.
8. Dunlay's, goat cheese pizza and spinach artichoke dip are awesome
9. Weiner Circle, this is many people's favorite, mostly I just like to laugh whenever I see the sign and a line out the door at 12a.m. on Fridays.
10. PAWS, I just like seeing the kitties! mew mew mew

Anybody have any other favorite Clark St. stores/restaurants?

Chi Town & Other Randomness

How much do I love Chi Town?

THIS MUCH!

This morning, while waiting for the bus, I saw a man, aged around 60 in a plaid shirt, overalls riding an adult-sized tricycle down the sidewalk. Yes, a tricycle. It was blue. I believe it had a basket. I looked for cameras, saw none. Now, I'm used to seeing dogs in strollers and all that, but an adult man on a tricycle?? Get a motorized Rascal like everyone else your age you crazy whack-a-doo!

p.s. He definitely had his gray hair tied back in a pony tail too.

Other random thoughts:

Halloween!!! J's par-tah is at the end of the month and I am so damn excited. So excited every time I read her 'Bring your own booooooos' part of the invitation I laugh hysterically. Tee hee.... boooooos, CLASSIC.

Thanksgiving!!! Officially going to Pittsburgh for the holiday. Bringing my new hubby (HUBBY!) with me. I cannot wait to see the fam, especially our new addition, Kelly's new baby Ryan!! And I know he is just dying to see the nasty, horrible blanket I'm making him. It started out as a good idea, but alas, it has died. Will post pics later. Am thinking of keeping it and putting it over the arms of my couch so that the cats rip that apart instead of my apolstery. I think that's much better than bringing it with and saying "Hey look Kel! I can instantaneously make your baby cry! Look at this! Yep, the monkeys face looks like it's been beaten in, tis true."

UPDATE:

Why does my monkey have only one ear?? AND NO BODY?!?!?!?

WHAT'S on my head??!!!

When Santa got dirty and drunk, the monkies took their revenge...

He tried to hide under some garbage...

But there was no escape!!!!

BONUS KITTY PICTURES!!!

LOVE LUMPS!

AH! Two-headed cat!! They're guarding the trap door.... to my heart... awwwww!!!

Overheard in Nicole's House

Too Many Pepe le Piu Cartoons

My mom: Bryan, are you going to take Spanish or French this year?
Bry: French
M: I don't know, it's really hard and both Nicole and I can help you with the Spanish.
B: No it's not! You just put 'le' in front of everything. Le I am le going to le speak frances.

AIM Conversations
How much?

Nicole82: Ok bye! I love you!
Nicole82: THIS MUCH!!
Ross89: I love you too!
Ross89: this much

Ah the Computer Illiterate

Mom41: Hi, it's your mom.
Nicole82: Yes I know, hello.
....five minutes later...
Mom41: Bye! love, Mom

Wait... Did I Just Tell you...
(At dinner after a couple glasses of wine)
Mom: So the baby shower was a lot of fun?
Me: Oh yah, we had a great time even though the weather was awful and nobody came.
Dad: It's nice that you got to go though.
Me: I know! There are so many baby showers going on! Kathleen's, Kelly's, a girl I work with. There must be something in the water, I'm drinking bottled from now on.
::laughing::
Me (thinking): Wait... did I just tell my parents that Joe and I are...

Denial
Me: So I know I've told you guys it's a possibility that Joe will move in with me after his lease is up. Well, we've decided that's the best thing to do so he'll be moving in at the end of the month.
Mom: hmm... Well make him help you paint this place!
Dad: What? You're worried about the PAINT?

A Little Awkward
Joe: Thanks so much for helping me move this mattress.
Dad: Yah Nicole said she doesn't like hers any more and that yours is a lot better.
Joe: Yah she does...
Dad: Uh-huh...
Joe: ummm...

Blaaaaaaaah

I haven't been to class for a while now. I have just been a little crazed with wedding stuff going on and some snags that have come up. Joe's moving in all of his stuff tomorrow into OUR place! He moved all the important stuff on Tuesday (read: computer and laundry). Since he doesn't start work until 2p.m. he gets to stay in OUR bed all morning. Which makes me want to skip work all the time just so I can get in some good nappin.

Joe's slowly trying to win my kitties over. He said Fenster's been jumping into bed to sleep with him. Which doesn't surprise me because Mew-mew is a giant whore. He's getting worse too. People come over, he comes into the room to see what's up and starts the whoring. Typical whoring strategy begins with making enticing 'mew' sounds and rubbing his face on everything and anything. Manusbear's strategy is limited to me only. It consists of running in front of me into the bedroom, jumping on the bed, laying down with his back to me and then looking back over his shoulder coyly "Wanna pet me? eh? EH? I know you wanna! Look at my lovelumps! They're ADORABLE!" And then turning into a croggity old man. "I can't believe you jostled me slightly by laying down on the bed! Oh!? OH? FENSTER wants some attention?? Well FUCK THAT! I'm going to go lick myself in front of the balcony where all the neighbors can see!"

Little did Joe realize that when he moved in he adopted both a whorey man and a grumpy one. OH! And don't even get me started on the guinea pig.