The move, part I

Tom and I are slated to move to another apartment tomorrow but are only partially packed. With things as they are, I'm staying home today to pack up all the crap and get rid of what we don't need to move. Technically, most of this stuff is mine anyway (mine in the sense that I purchased them BT, before Tom, or they were given to me as presents - As always, my things are Tom's things, and his mine. This is how I get to claim partial ownership to the ps2, so it's all worth it) so I feel a special responsibility for it. However, I am starting to regret not getting into buddhism. I sure could use less possessions.

We're moving to an awesome apartment really close to the Sulzer regional library and lincoln square. While we're going to miss our old neighborhood, it'll be nice to be closer to a lot of places we go to on a regular basis. The only contact info that is changing is our address, and we're not even moving out of our zip code, so if you want it shoot me an email.

So anyway, I'm packing today. We get the keys later tonight and will be moving stuff that we don't want the movers to move, like the glass top end tables and Tom's (but also mine, see above) mirror. Yes, we're getting movers that will basically load all of our shit up in a truck, drive the truck to the new place, and unload all of the shit - up the 3 flights of stairs - so we don't have to. And it'll be worth every penny.

I'm sure we'll find some wireless access from which to update everyone, so check back.

Oh yeah, and we'll have 2 bedrooms now, so come visit us :)

06.29.06 8:38am(10 comments)

NO EDWARDS FOR YOU…

Today, John Edwards is speaking at LAF's 40th anniversary luncheon. The event sold out, which is good, but also left no seats for staff to attend. A few people were able to score tickets from various firms who had extra tickets. I was not one of those people. Two Americas indeed...

06.26.06 1:26pm(5 comments)

Tech Support Stories - the kerybmoaryd

This is an email I received this morning and it totally made my day:

Hi Kristy,

I appeary tuo bme fhavninvjg kerybmoaryd isstues. (as evnidenced bmry tuhis e-bmail). Nora stugjgjesuted tuhfatu I ask ryou fhory a vnew kerybmoaryd. Please fhelp atu ryout earylisetu covnvevnience.

Sivnceryelry,

Liavne

06.23.06 10:36am(10 comments)

These are days…

Seriously, this last weekend was *incredible*. It was a weekend, like any other weekend, but just so indescribably fun. I mean, I'm still in shock at the sheer amount of fun we had this weekend.

Friday, Tom and I were going to picnic in the park, but it was hot... so hot. So Tom stopped by the TJ's on his way home and picked up picnic fare which we enjoyed from the air conditioned comfort of our living room while watching Shultze gets the blues, a very atmospheric, cinemagraphic type movie. Cute.

Saturday we got up early, ran to target and lane bryant, and headed home to prepare for the cubs game. We met up with our friend Chris at a pizza joint close to Wrigley (but not that close) for some beers and food before the big game. Once again, it was hot, so Tom and I planned ahead and brought large bottles of water with us. The game was against tigers who, unlike the cubs, are doing well this year. And there were a lot of fans from detroit, heckling in the crowd. And you know Tom, he had to heckle back. After a brief scolding for threatening to dump a beer on the detroit fans in front of us, Tom said "well - what are they going to do? Get unemployed at us?" Classic Tom :) Of course, the cubs lost, but we had a good time none the less. It's *really* hard not to have fun at Wrigley.

We came home, cooled off, and prepared for a "1959" theme party that my friend Lura and her boyfriend were throwing. Tom and I got all dressed up and rushed out of the apartment to realize that neither one of us looked at the directions before we left and we also left the platter with the chex mix on the kitchen table. Well, we winged it and fortunately were able to end up at the party relatively unharmed. Lura and Ryan had this huge spread with appetizers from Lura's grandmother's 1952 Betty Crocker cookbook and a large table with booze of all descriptions, mixers, and garnishes along with recipes of drinks popular in the day. I started out with an old fashioned, moved to manhattans, and then ended up drinking the "1-2 punch" made of limeade, vodka, and light beer. Believe me it was good. They had a great mix of music, copies of headlines from the day on the wall, and a nice little patio where Tom and I could go hang out to beat the heat. We ended up leaving a little early, because of the long day we had, but it was a really great party with really great booze, food, and people.

Sunday we slept in, played with the puppies, Tom did some laundry, and I made some of the best black bean soup from the America's test kitchen 'cooking light' cook book. Go buy this book. It has to be, hands down, the best 'light' recipe book I've ever owned. I mean, the thing doesn't contain a bad recipe, and as a matter of fact, everything I've made from there has been incredibly tasty. And it's all low in calories (or lower than normal recipes)! Including this awesome black bean soup to which I also added chipotle peppers with adobo sauce to spice it up a bit. I garnished with avocado, cilantro, red onion and a slice of lime with some of Chicago's best corn tortilla chips on the side and Tom and I feasted.

Later in the evening, Tom and I grabbed our Elvis Costello tickets and hopped on the Ravinia metra train. After examining the dates on the tickets, I came to the realization that Elvis Costello was playing the previous weekend. After resisting to tease me about the mix up, Tom and I resolved to give Ravinia a try regardless and hopefully they wouldn't be playing anything sucky. It's too bad that we missed Elvis Costello, but I was in no shape to go see him last weekend anyway. So we got there after a short ride on the train to find, after purchasing our lawn seats, that it was jazz / big band night,with 3 different bands, one playing the music of Quincy Jones, and another with an appearance by Ramsey Lewis.

Tom and I ate on the patio at the restaurant there and had a truly incredible meal - crab cakes, baked goat cheese and marinara, Tom had salmon, I had halibut, and some really fantastic sauvignon blanc to wash it all down. It wasn't cheap, but I'm glad we did our first Ravinia experience this way. We'll be better prepared next time. The weather was perfect, so Tom and I took a stroll around the grounds and found a good spot (next to someone with a citronella candle) to lay out our blanket and take in the music. We were sitting next to this small group of older people, a gentleman and two women, who would, on occasion, get up and dance. This old guy was just about as good as fred astaire, no joke, so it was a lot of fun to watch these people. I'm convinced that after Tom and I learn to dance we'll be like those old folks in 40 years. After the music was over, we packed up our blanket, got on the train, and headed home.

Check out Tom's pictures

06.20.06 7:37am(1 comment)

All things grow, all things grow

Every so often, I have one of these "I'm so happy with where I've ended up" moments, and as I sit here with two sweet little doggies sleeping on my lap, I'm having one. Usually these things correspond to the climactic crescendo of whatever indie rock song happens to be on my ipod at the time corresponding with the train coming out of the merchandise mart stop and over the Chicago river, with the sun shining, blue skies, sitting at the right spot on the train to see both sides of the river, getting a real glimpse of how magnificent Chicago really is. But this morning is simple; just the dogs on my lap, Tom in the shower, slowly waking up in a mostly clean apartment, drinking really great coffee that also benefits the homeless, reading my various daily links before I get ready for work.

My only regret is not having done this sooner.

06.14.06 7:39am(7 comments)