Boredom on the Horizon....

Emily is going to Europe to visit her sister for two weeks.

I am inconsolable.  What the FLOCK am I supposed to do while she's gone?  AHH.  All of our lakeview byobs are going to not hit their monthly sales because of this.  I need to find a 'rent a friend' website for this half-month (half a month?!?!  ARGH!!).  Like 'bag borrow steal'.  Do these websites exist?  Can I create one and make some money maybe?

Hmm.  I shall explore this entrepreneurial opportunity.  We all know I'm about to have some time on my hands.  Sigh.

Michael Scott....

The show will die without him.  NBC, please respect that and let it go out with a bang, instead of a painful, dragging extra season.

All This Talk of Crushes....

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the hottest one of all?

How could I forget you, my lovely?

Murder Mystery Dinner

So I did the Murder Mystery Groupon (as my loyal readers know). 

www.themurdermysterycompany.com

I was cast as an 'importer/exporter' (they knew my love of Seinfeld upon first glance); Emily was cast as the gold-digger. 

Emily won!  She guessed whodunnit.  I am so proud.  She really has a future with crimestoppers or Dateline.   Watch out, Chris Hansen.

Anyhow.  I definitely found this to be a fun experience.  I would recommend having a drink before showing up, if you are the type to do so, because one needs to get into his/her character quickly.  That, and being under the influence is a potential set-up for a defense if one finds herself charged with a heinous crime. 

All in all, I recommend it.   Definitely worth the $30 groupon. 

Some Other Old Friends

Recently, my mom was going through old basement stuff for an upcoming garage sale.

As many of my blog readers know, I was not a 'dolls'  girl.  I opted for stuffed animals and various other alternatives instead, one of them being the above.  I had a collection of troll dolls in all their mid-90s glory.

My mom wanted to put them up for sale, however, I knew a) no one would buy them and b) I couldn't quite bring myself to part with them.  I know they will never be collectors' items (beanie babies, anyone?  oh yeah, I have a load of those, too!!!).   But they are a piece of my childhood.  Sigh.

Anyone else out there collect troll dolls?  Are they still sold anywhere?  Is this just bringing flashbacks of Mimi from the Drew Carey Show?    

A Few Words on Skechers Shape-Ups

If you are wearing these shoes, please do not expect to be taken seriously or respected by anyone.  In fact, be grateful if you can walk down the street in these and don't get shoved into to locker somewhere.

Let's cut to the chase - these shoes make wearing crocs seem dignified and brilliant.  I don't know why, exactly. Partially, it's how they look.  Maybe it's a little in the name - in wearing these, one is advertising to the world that he or she needs to 'shape up'.  Which is normally fine.  There are plenty of running/exercise shoes out there that one can wear without receiving a second glance, and there's no shame in mentioning one's trying to cut out an extra ten pounds.  But something about these is ridiculously mockable.

That, and I question if they actually WORK.  Are these in some way better than your typical walking shoes?  If so, how come no one thought of them before.  That, and even if so, why not just buy regular walking shoes in the first place?

This reminds me of when Skechers released 'roller skates' about 6 years ago.  I remember contemplating buying them, but when I tried them on, I could hardly even skate around the store in them.  They were super cute, but they didn't work, and for that reason, I imagine, they were very short-lived.  Did anyone out there buy the Skechers roller skates?  Will shape-ups disappear as quickly?  Listen, I love Skechers as much as the next gal, but they are not utilitarian shoes by any means.

Your thoughts?

Irony Alert

Copied from an unnamed source:

"We are looking for someone who can think outside of the box without relying upon “industry speak” and buzz words."

Is anyone thinking inside the box anymore?  Maybe there's some good stuff there that's getting missed.  I believe I've written this post before, but it deserved a revisit.

(I should mention, additionally, that the writer of the initial post on the unnamed source is a self-proclaimed 'cutting edge firm'.)

The Next Hit Reality Show...

According to my good friend Eric (alias Bobo, alias Sausage King, alias PPC):

Battle of the Bloggers.

Please let me know how I can become a part of this show.  Or, how I can go about creating it.  That might be better.  I call being Simon Cowell.

Boy Crush

Mark Kanemura.

I was lukewarm to him at first.  That is, back when he was a contestant on Season 4.  I think others shared my views  because once he and his partner Chelsie Hightower split, he ended up in the bottom a couple times.  They never really showed him doing his own thing.

However, he's back as an 'all-star' this season (anyone know the reasoning for them choosing this format this season?!) - and I have fallen in love with him.

Anyone else out there share my love of Mark Kanemura?

No Comment

  

 

Today's art project is brought to you by the letter J.

I should be embarrassed. 

My Favorite Article of Men's Clothing

Cufflinks.

I love them.  They are a little tiny piece of flair, and not the kind you find at TGIFridays.  It's a way to see who isn't really the uptight, serious business man he appears to be.  Kind of like the 'business in the front, party in the back' concept associated with the mullet.  It's a little way for one to show his personality - I feel I know more about a man when looking at his cufflinks.  A man who wears cufflinks cares about his appearance.

Anyhow - am I the only woman out there who finds cufflinks to be a total turn on?  They are like the antithesis of zubaz....

Another Old Friend....

So I ran into Heimlich, the caterpillar from 'A Bug's Life', while out for a happy hour this past Friday.  It was good to see him.  Here is a closer shot of his face.

We All Need Something to Celebrate

Happy flag day!

Something to Work Toward...

A wine cork chair, courtesy of the Old Town Art Fair.  All righty kiddos - let's grab our Lolita glasses for 'step 1' in this DIY project.

Addicted to Groupon

So I am going to a 'Murder Mystery Dinner' event.  I really hope I get picked as the culprit.

How did I find out about this?  Well, let's just say one part Emily, one part - you guessed it - Groupon.

Groupon has become insanely popular in a short period of time.   Sidenote:   anyone notice that Groupon is really just the ever-so-slightly cooler/more modern version of QVC (aka the home shopping network)?   Down to the very details of the 'this many bought' count on the side.  That, and the 'this many minutes/seconds left to buy'.  It's really uncanny if you think about it.  The most serious similarity - we might be getting some kind of a 'great deal', but 95% of the time, we wouldn't have been buying these completely random things in the first place. 

I'm not going to think about that right now.  I'm looking forward to my murder mystery dinner.

Girl Crush Alert

  

Allison Holker.

Ok - sorry - I know, another SYTYCD post.  Sorry. 

But love her.  LOVE her. 

However, there isn't much information on her out there.  Her Wikipedia page kind of sucks.  I know she recently had a baby - how old is the baby?  Who is the baby-daddy?  Is he still in the picture?  Hopefully we will all learn more now that she's part of SYTYCD, Season 7....

Anyone else love her?  Anyone else know more about her and what is up with her?

Call Me Martha Freakin' Stewart

I made wine cork coasters.   All the 'ingredients' are pictured above.   It was quite the fun project.  The most fun part of the project is acquiring the wine corks - I recommend doing it the old-fashioned way.

Anyhow. 

Sidenote:  I am not sure how well these coasters WORK.  Like, for their intended purpose.  They are a little wobbly.  Not all wine corks are created equal.  They are not all the same size.  Maybe I did something wrong and could have done something more to balance this out.  I dunno.  Martha would probably yell at me if she were here.  Regardless, I like them.  I might morph them into a wine cork-corkboard instead - time will tell.  Updated to come. 

Mambo Grill

Ok, I am upset.

One of my all time favorite restaurants in Chicago, Mambo Grill, appears to have closed.

Actually, this may have happened a while ago.  They pulled one of those 'closed to relocate' deals, but then never relocated.

Well, I am inconsolable.  This was one of the best restaurants in Chicago.  Nutritious and delicious - or at least the latter.  The one thing I didn't like about it was there were some great things on the lunch menu that couldn't be ordered for dinner.  Otherwise - spectacular.

Does anyone out there know more about Mambo Grill and it's fate?  Am I wrong?  Will it reopen?  Please help?!

So You Think You Can Dance - Tyce DiOrio

Ok - I promise not to inundate everyone with SYTYCD posts.

However, just a couple words on Tyce DiOrio.  I'm not going to talk about his douche factor.  Or the fact that he could, potentially, be kind of hot.

Does anyone remember there was a brief reality show called 'Fame', with Debbie Allen as the host and Carnie Wilson as a judge?!  Does anyone remember Tyce was 'THE SPOILER'?  Basically, they had all their selected contestants, then in the final weeks, they brought in one unknown talented participant to possibly take the title away from the front-runners.  Anyhow.  He was a total bust (I am embarrassed to admit I completely and totally watchde and remember this show) - he was brought in, hammered by the judges and didn't make the next week's selection.  However, it was more his lack of vocals that hurt him - the judges all commented that he was one of the best dancers on the show.

Anyhow.  Does anyone else remember this show?  Does anyone else remember Tyce being on this show?  Your thoughts on Tyce?!?!

Slow News Day....

Is anyone else out there having trouble with the new updated safari?  For me, the update came through around this past Tuesday.  It will not work for me.  It is giving me a LOT of trouble.  I do not have the time or energy or desire to go stand in line at Apple and get this fixed.

I am pissed.  All I know is that for the past couple days, I have had to use firefox.  I am an apple person.  I don't do 'firefox'.  Once you go Mac, you never go back.

Can anyone help me get safari back?!?!

"About Me"

So, recently, I read over my own blog's most recent post from the perspective of, say, a potential employer or someone who doesn't know me well but is trying to get a feel for who I am.  I know I have covered this 'what would a stranger think of me from reading the blog' topic before, but I wanted to recap.

So anyhow - I read my blog from a stranger's perspective.  Here is what I deduced about 'the writer of this blog':

--I am obsessed with dating/analyzing relationships
--I am obsessed with facebook
--I am obsessed with American Idol and Lee DeWyze
--I am obsessed with food

Well, some of this is true, and some of this isn't.   I am actually not obsessed with things pertaining to my personal life.  I just think it's an easy topic to talk about because it sparks interest amongst my 'audience', that, and there's always something to overanalyze.

Anyhow.  This is very far from a complete list of 'me'.  There are a lot of websites, like facebook (there we go again) where there's an 'about me' section, and then there are the requiste bitching of 'it's so hard to describe oneself, blah blah blah'.   So, here is my attempt to list off other things important to me:

My family & friends.  Dance.  Dance class.  Byobs (actually I have an unhealthy obsession with the lakeview byobs).  Lakeview/wrigleyville.  Nail polish.  Fancy wine glasses.  Wine.  Riesling.  Shoes.  Sex and the City.  Seinfeld.  Friends.  Cherry coke.  Coach products.  The DVR.  Journalism.  Writing.  Sleep.  U of I.  Figure skating.  Gymnastics.  Lake Michigan.  Seafood.  Apple products.  Dogs.  Collies. 

More to come.

Dear readers - anything I'm forgetting?

Missed Connection

Should I post one?


I find the concept of them hilarious.  Who came up with the idea?  Someone who watched 'Sleepless in Seattle' too many times?  Maybe I'm naming the wrong Rom-Com - I have seen my fair share for sure, but my movie vocabulary is limited.

Anyhow.

Many of my friends are encouraging me to do so.  (I should also note that many of said friends are not single - most from long-term relationships.  Many of said non-single friends are VERY excited about hearing about my dating life - some might say they are 'living vicariously' through me, or miss the excitement of a first date, or something to this extent, however, I am confident this is really just for their amusement moreso.)

As I say, anyhow.

I expect nothing to come from it.  And I will (seeing that Craigslist is involved) be uber-careful.  So, I started to post - however, as I began to post, I got an initial denial - it was too similar to a post already up there.  Yep.  You see where this is going.  So I responded to the post that I'd like to think is about me (Carly Simon-style), then I posted my own.

Update to come. 

Kat's Bridal Shower

I get out once in a while...that being, when my friends get married.

The bride to be, looking beautiful.

delicious food

quite the view from Mary's apartment - most notable - the Sun-Times building

I have engagement envy, simply because I want to own this Lolita glass

The prize for getting the most questions right on the "How well do you know the bride & groom" quiz - a guacamole maker!    I won!   I'd like to thank Kat for having a Kladda tattoo on the small of her back and Brian for starting every joke with 'do you know where I can find?'

My gift!  A spice rack!  To help keep the spice in their marriage!!!

A conversation between the bride & MOH - you want me to wear WHAT?!

SHOE ENVY

a dance party broke out

Sidenote:  Yes, I am aware that this blog has turned into a picture book lately.  

Once in a While, I Act Domestic....

I made the black bottom cupcakes with the most delicious (and easiest) cream cheese frosting.

For No Particular Reason.

Hello, Old Friend....

So, in the very near future, I'm going to need to be using a 'number 2 pencil' (no mechanical pencils allowed!!).

Does anyone, students aside, use these?  That being said, do students use them for anything but tests?  Pencils were once a staple of everyone's school supplies (and probably, once, work supplies) - is the pencil getting phased out?

All I know is this - when I read 'must have number 2 pencil (no mechanical pencils allowed)' I did a double-take.  And, I had to go out and buy said pencils.  And a sharper.  And, I don't anticipate having to use them again any time soon.

Hmm.  Your thoughts?  Any pencil enthusiasts out there?  Any pencil loyalists?  Will it one day be gone?  Will people miss it?