Romantic Ride

So after the Bears game last night we started walking back to our car, parked some two miles away. We decided to walk along the lake, after all, it was a perfect night with a slight breeze, a clear sky with the moon reflecting upon the water.

As we started our trek, we walked past a bicycle taxi. You know, those things that remind you of rickshaws, except instead of someone pulling you as they run, they bike. On a whim, Drew and I decided to hop in. Despite being ridiculously overcharged, the ride was absolutely lovely and was a beautiful way to see the city at night. We not only saved our shoe soles, but we also were able to cuddle up together and enjoy a beautiful evening and pretend that we didn't have a care in the world.

"Oh, Sunny Santa Fe Would Be Nice..."

So our labor day weekend will be spent in Santa Fe. I've never been there nor do I know much about it. From what I've heard there is a lot of art and good food.

Any of you been there and have suggestions as to what should be seen or done?

Life Lists

So I was reading this in the NYT today. You know, a list of things that you want to accomplish before you die or reach a certain age? I don't have one but it seems like it could be a good idea if only because it may clarify what my true goals in life are. However, knowing that it is all the rage to make one makes it less appealing. But I've never been one to buck social trends so who knows, perhaps I will compile one.

Do any of you readers have life lists?

True Story.

It was a dark and stormy night. Seriously. Dark. And. Stormy. I had spent a half hour earlier in the day in the basement due to the imminent threat of tornadoes. But that had passed and I was hanging out on the couch perusing the Internet while debating whether I should have leftover lasagna for dinner even though I had also had leftover lasagna for lunch. Drew was out acting as NFL commissioner for his fantasy league.

Ding, ding, ding.

That's the alarm system telling me that one of the three doors in the house has opened. I can see two of the doors from where I'm sitting and neither of those are opened. That means it is the third door in the basement. Great, someone is coming in to rob or kill me. So, now I'm freaking out and my first instinct is to shut off the lights. Like that would make them think I was not at home anymore. I then go push the little door lock on the door knob because that will keep an intruder out as long as they aren't traveling with a bobby pin or have the strength to push open a basically hollow door. I start to pace.

The silence from the basement is causing me to panic. One would think the lack of sounds would be comforting but it's not. Wow, I think, I really wish I had a baseball bat right about now. Instead I grab the largest knife out of my knife block and head to the basement door, Caper in tow. I swing the door open and brandish my 7-inch knife, ready to scare the bejesus out of whoever is there.

No one attacks me. In fact, no one is on the stairs. I switch on the light and descend down.

Holy S***.

The basement is frickin' flooded. Again. There is water everywhere. EVERYWHERE.
And then I freak out. And by freak out I mean sobbing and practically hyperventilating while trying to slosh my way through all the water in an attempt to get things off the ground.

Oh, the joys of home ownership.

It's Cool. We're With the Band.

So it was a long busy weekend with lots of guests and many outings and things going on. So I'm tired. My brain is not functioning very well, despite the almost nine hours of sleep last night. So a brief run down of the last week:

1) Drew finished with the interns. Yay! We celebrated the end by seeing a funny show at the etc stage of Second City.

2) For one brief night we were literally "with the band." And that was awesome. First time on a tour bus as well. Not sure I would last long with such small beds and six other guys always around. Nonetheless, it was fantastic to see Jon and how much of a success his band is.

3) Ate waaaaay too much food at Buca's at a birthday celebration for Roger. But yummy yummy. Actually the buttery green beans were my favorite. That's healthy, right??

4) Saw Superbad. It was good and it was funny but I can only handle so many penis jokes in a 90 minute period. Overall, Knocked Up was much better.

Despite all the busyness I still managed to finish the Sunday New York Times actually on Sunday. If nothing else, I did accomplish that.

As My Witness

So I am just going to put this out there for the all the world to read with the thought that having other people know what I'm trying to do will keep me honest and dedicated.

So, I'm trying to be good and exercise. Like regularly. I would really like to lose the weight that I have put on in the past two years or so. It's been hard to do this while at home during the day because food is just so accessible and I like nothing more than a tasty snack.

So, while I have been doing pilates twice a week for a year, I really need to mix it up with some cardio. So here is my plan that I am one week in to. Elliptical 5-6 times a week for 25ish minutes, working up in time eventually. This time is really nice now because it is basically the length of one episode of a sitcom. Last week I breezed through How I Met Your Mother, which was surprisingly funny and entertaining.

Also, I bought I pedometer and am going to try and walk 10,000 steps a day. Why 10,000? Well, because that is the number that deems me to be living an "active" lifestyle, according to some website out there. Plus, I figure that pushes me to take Caper on a good long walk every day, so we both benefit.

So, that's it folks. It hasn't been too painful so far. My hamstrings are a little tight but otherwise all systems are a go.

So That's What These Shoes Look Like

Back in college, in the dorm rooms, they had these small mirrors in which you could easily see how stressed you were by counting the number of zits on your face but good luck seeing how your new back tat looks. So I along with every other college freshmen (or at least all the girls) made our first annual trip to target and bought the $9.99 long mirror and then used a lot of duck tape in an effort to get it to stick to the wall. This type of mirror served me well throughout college, reassuring me that pajama pants looked fine when running out the door for a 8:30am German T.A. session and finally convincing me that tennis shoes look fine with jeans (I had some severe issues over this for a while).

So in preparation for getting married, there was the discussion as to where I should get ready the morning of the wedding. My parent's house was the obvious first choice, however they didn't have a full length mirror. And there was no way I was going to get dressed in a gorgeous gown and not be able to see what I looked like. So, my dad ended up buying and installing two full length mirrors and all was well.

Once we moved to Chicago into our own condo, I was so excited because our bedroom had a large closet that had mirrors on both sections of the sliding doors. This along with the exposed brick in the hallway was one of my favorite features. It was perhaps a bit sad when it turned out that the majority of my wardrobe while living there would be either hideous white scrub pants (never a good idea, never) and a startling green polo shirt or a pair of blue scrubs. There is really not much you can do with those outfits to liven them up.

When we moved into our house last year, I was so excited for all of its wonderful features, that the lack of full length mirror never occurred to me. However, it has now been over a year since I've seen my feet in a mirror. OK, I won't lie. When I really want to see how my shoes look with my outfit, say for example when I'm going out for our anniversary or attending some crazy work function with Drew, I will stand on my bed so I can see how my shoes and skirt or dress look together in the mirror over my dresser. I can then combine that image with the image of how my top half looks and make a relatively good guess as to how it all works together. However, standing on a mattress in two-inch heels is rarely a good idea.

Which is why I'm so excited that yesterday this arrived in the mail:Thanks Pottery Barn! You've made all my dreams come true.

#3

My third fantasy follows very closely along the theme of the first two. Open spaces, away from the masses and the stress, peace. Apparently, I'm feeling a bit cooped up without even realizing it.

I think it would be an interesting and fulfilling experience to spend a season on a farm. Not some big farm that encompasses tens of thousands of acres, rather more of a "mom and pop" farm, with a variety of animals and a couple hundred acres of corn, soybeans, alfalfa, etc. I'm not really sure what alfalfa is but I'm pretty sure the Midwest grows a lot of it.

Despite my deep dislike of getting up early, I would like to have the experience of rising before dawn and doing chores such as feeding the cows and pigs, collecting eggs, grooming the horses. I know you all probably think I'm insane right now, but I think briefly working with animals would be very interesting. How I would manage the insects and mice that most assuredly live on farms is unknown, but I'd find a way.

Maybe this farm would be a part of a Co-op and I would finally learn what exactly that means. Plus, I could actually learn the uses for all the various farm equipment that costs almost as much as our condo.

Picking sweet corn and then biting into it a mere 15 minutes later sounds simply divine. Follow that up by a salad from the grand and diverse vegetable garden. Mmmm. I wonder if working with animals would make me turn vegetarian??

An essential part of this fantasy is the presence of a horse that I could ride. I have a strange fondness for horses and riding. I didn't do it much growing up, but I did go to Circle R Ranch with my Girl Scout troop once. Two things stand out in my memory of that trip. 1) A fellow girl scout fell out of the top bunk bed, while sleeping. No one really understood how that happened. She wasn't hurt. 2) My horse's name was Buck. Seriously. How is that a good name for a horse that you are going to give to a 11-year old to ride? I never got bucked off, but while waiting to cross over the highway, Buck did decide that he had waited enough and decided to cross the road without his friends and while he did this the saddle carrying me slowly fell towards the ground. That was a bit scary.

I do have fond memories of horses. One was in Hawaii where I went riding on the beach. It was my sole goal for our entire trip and it was fantastic. Also, Drew and I went in Arizona two Thanksgivings ago. The trail guide led us to this old road and said we could let our horses go (the rest of the trip the horses had been walking with a little bit of trotting). I was bit worried at first because trotting is a literal pain in the ass. But get a horse up to a gallop or a cantor (I don't know the difference) and it is completely different experience, similar to shifting into fifth gear. Smooth, powerful, a bit out of control but absolutely thrilling.

So, in other words, I would like to have a horse to ride in the afternoons. In my head I picture something similar to a stretch of land that runs alongside highway 35 going down to Northfield. There is a little creek that twists and turns and several large trees along side of it. There is a large open field off to the side and there are dips and valleys to a small degree, which I imagine in the springtime are filled with wildflowers. Perhaps I would suddenly keep a journal in this fantasy and I would write down my thoughts by the creek as I took a break from riding.

In the evenings I imagine there might be bonfires and smores or perhaps some bocce ball and a walk down the gravel road at sunset. I think I would also like to have a swing that hangs from the large tree in the back. I could swing for hours.

Spending my days with these various activities for a few months sounds like a great escape as well as something I will never get the chance to do. But it is fun to dream. Thanks Bladio for giving me a reason. Umo and Watie, what are your fantasies?

Musically Inclined

Our weekend was primarily spent at Lollapalooza, the huge music festival now being held annually in Chicago's Grant Park. It's a three day thing, with music starting at 11 in the morning and going until 10 or so at night. Drew, being a major music guy, has been talking about going to it for the last two years, so this year I finally got the hint and gave him the tickets as a present.

I didn't know most of the bands, but the ones I heard were pretty good. Plus, one of my favorite groups, Snow Patrol, played and seriously rocked.

Overall, I had a good time although I found that I did not fit in well with the rest of the crowd goers, except for the fact that I was white (it was a bit depressing how non-diverse the crowd was). But I may have been the only one not drinking liquor. I declined smoking a variety of substances. Also, I did not have at least three visible tattoos. My male companion was not displaying his brand of boxer briefs because his shorts actually fit him. We both had shoes on and relatively clean feet. I had on sunscreen.

Needless to say, I was completely entertained with people watching. Among the thousands of people roaming the grounds, we saw a bunch of clever t-shirts that made us laugh and I kept track of them so I could share them with you.

In no particular order:

* Pickles are cucumbers soaked up in evil
* World's Best Lover
* I (heart) hot moms
* Don't drink pee
* Spin the Bottle Regional Champion
* McLusty
* DJ's scratch their 12 inch
* Eat Oysters...Get Lucky
* I'm not with stupid anymore

Countless Times

Hard to think that just a few days ago, I had only great things to say about the Mississippi River. I'm not feeling so friendly towards it today after the bridge collapse in MN.

Many of you are probably not too familiar with the city of Minneapolis, let alone the I-35W bridge that crosses over the river. This bridge is a main thoroughfare into downtown and to the University of MN. This is a bridge that my best friend travels over everyday to get to work. This is the bridge we used to use to visit my grandparents and the one my parents use often to visit their close friends in Stillwater. This is the bridge that a caravan of buses traveling to my church camp drives over several times each week. This is the bridge my dad traveled over yesterday morning and the one my mom was going to be on early this morning.

Thankfully, my family and friends are safe. I've not heard of anyone known to me that is injured or dead. Still this sort of event makes you wake up a bit and realize that despite how safe you may try to be, there are some things that are totally out of your control. And that scares me.