Four days??

We only have four days until Christmas?? How did THAT happen??? I must've dozed off...

Fortunately, I think I'm mostly ready, although I'm refraining from wrapping the few presents I'm taking to Texas until after I GET to Texas. Don't want the nosy TSA agents unwrapping my gifts to make sure that jar of Play-doh isn't a plastic explosive. (Did you know that? Modeling clay looks like plastic explosives when it's run through an x-ray machine... probably best to just go with Legos...) Actually, no one is getting any Play-doh this year. I kinda miss Play-doh... that was fun stuff...

We leave for Austin tomorrow afternoon... so, since our weather today has been exceptionally gray and gloomy, I've had my tree lights on all day. I figure I should enjoy them as much as I can today, since it's probably the last day before Christmas that I'll get to admire my tree-decorating handiwork. (Not that it takes much of a talent... :))

(Pay no attention to that box by the table... it's a telescope -- eventually we'll actually set that thing up somewhere so we can more easily spy on the neighbors... haha! Kidding! Sort of...)

I only half-UNpacked from our trip to Vegas, so I'm already half-packed for Austin. But I suppose I should go busy myself with the final planning and packing I need to take care of. The cats are going to be sooooo annoyed with us for leaving again... :)

Randomtastic...

1) I made copious amounts of cookies over the weekend, which are now boxed up and ready to be distributed to the cookie-deprived masses. (The "cookie-deprived masses" being Eric and Faisal... can two people constitute a "mass"??) And I am ashamed to say that I've accidentally eaten about five-sixths of the copious amount of cookies I made, so there are only about five left. (Eric and Faisal -- you each get two and a half cookies. You're welcome.)

2) On our way back from Las Vegas, I ended up behind possibly the slowest people to ever go through airport security. It was a sixty-something (I'm guessing) couple from New York City (they were very chatty with the TSA agents), who required no less than EIGHT plastic bins for their random personal items. Just when I thought they'd retrieved their last bin and I'd attempt to reach for the ONE plastic bin I needed, they'd grab another one. I've never seen people go through airport security with so much stuff -- they had coats and sweaters and scarves and shoes... bags and belts and hats... necklaces and bracelets and watches. They each had about fifteen layers of random accessories to remove before they were finally ready to go through the body scanner. The only good thing about this was that they were causing such a back-up in the line that by the time the TSA agents got to me, they were herding people around to the plain old metal detector to move things along more quickly.

3) I was quite happy to get back to Chicago after several days in Vegas -- not that Vegas isn't fun... but the last day we were there, it suddenly hit me that even though Christmas was less than two weeks away, there was nothing very Christmas-y about Las Vegas. Here in Chicago, the buildings are lit up red and green, the trees on Michigan Avenue are outfitted with white lights, random decorations are everywhere, and holiday music is piped into every store. In Las Vegas, things seem to stay relatively the same all year round -- the lights on the Strip are always bright... the music in every store seems to be geared toward dancing in a club... random decorations are few and far between. In fact, our hotel didn't even HAVE holiday decorations -- we stayed at the Cosmopolitan, which was a really nice hotel, but perhaps trying a bit too hard to be "modern." (Or maybe I just like modern every time of the year except Christmas... :))

4) For some reason, Rick has been added to the subscriber list for a magazine called "Black Enterprise." It now comes in the mail regularly. He has no idea why he's been receiving this magazine lately... but it's probably for the same reason I've been getting "Asian Small Business Monthly."

5) We're getting ready to head down to Austin for Christmas. I would lament the fact that I have no chance of having a white Christmas this year, except Chicago has been sorely disappointing in the snow department this season. I woke up to falling snow a couple days ago (which may or may not have resulted in some sort of happy snow dance in my living room... yeah, let's just say it did NOT result in that...), but after about an hour, the falling snow retreated into billowing flurries, which faded into nothingness... And since it's been rather warm (for December, at least), the snow that DID manage to fall didn't stick around.

6) I'm off to eat lunch and then jump on the treadmill for a while... I ate FAR too much in Las Vegas... I'll be burning off those calories until January...

What happens here...

Supposedly stays here... but what if you were unlucky enough to have a room in a hotel with bedbugs, and the bedbugs hitched a ride back to your house in your luggage? Would THAT stay here? I mean, is the "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" concept truly magical? Because that would be pretty awesome. But I have a suspicion that it's more ad campaign than magic...

Fortunately, our hotel does not have bedbugs. It DOES, however, have a great view of the city, which I have documented with many pictures. (It also has a great view of the airport, and I've spent much time mesmerized by the flights of the departing planes... I'm a little obsessed...)

I took all of these pictures from our balcony:

I'm still not quite used to being on Pacific time, so I'm thinking a bed will be in my near future... hope everyone had a good weekend!

Too much noise...

I'm finishing up packing for our trip to Vegas this afternoon. I did NOT get a good night's sleep last night, so I can't necessarily say I'm looking forward to a day of travel... but hopefully I'll feel better after a cup of coffee...

I was up late packing and planning for this trip, and when I finally got to sleep, I couldn't get my mind to shut off long enough to sleep well. I got up around 2:30 to use the bathroom, then attempted to fall back asleep. Piva jumped up on the bed and curled up next to me... our white noise machine was set to "thunderstorm," which is just the sound of falling rain accompanied by an occasional sound of distant thunder... as I started to get comfortable -- with a purring cat curled up next to me and the calming sounds of the white noise machine lulling me to sleep -- I was startled (actually, "startled" isn't a strong enough word... more like "forcibly ripped from my peaceful state) by a huge BANG somewhere outside. It was like a cross between a loud clap of thunder and the sound of a bowling ball falling into a dumpster from a five-story height.

Piva shot off the bed to find a good hiding place, and Rick and I both got up and searched the cityscape outside for clues to the origin of the sound (an explosion? Did a transformer blow up? It definitely wasn't thunder -- too cold and clear... Did someone literally drop a bowling ball into a dumpster outside???), but everything looked totally normal -- a few random middle of the night cars on the streets... nothing on fire... nobody screaming or running... no sirens... all the electricity seemed to be working.

But after hearing that mystery sound (and how is it possible for a mystery sound to be so loud?? A sound that loud should have some kind of OBVIOUS source...) it was impossible to fall back to sleep very quickly. I was wide awake for the next half hour, anxiously waiting for another loud bang... eventually, I started to think that it may have been some sort of isolated incident, and perhaps it was safe to stop listening so intently to nothing in particular. But it was at least another half hour before I finally dropped off again...

And of course I woke up about fifteen times after that... I told Rick this morning that he should walk up and down the halls of our building and ask anyone he sees if they know what the loud sound was last night. I mean, honestly, I'm not only seriously curious about what could've caused that noise, but I'd like to know if I should ever expect it to happen again. If last night was "Drop Your Old Bowling Balls Into the Dumpster Five Stories Below" day, I'll have to remember this date so I can expect it next year...

But for now, I'm off to finish packing... and to find coffee... lots and lots of coffee. See you with Las Vegas pictures soon!

What? More random stuff?

1. Yes. Yes, it IS another blog post full of random stuff.

2. There are only 19 (19!!!) days until Christmas, and I have far too many things to do. Even more than I would usually have to do, since Rick and I, in our infinite wisdom, decided that this would be a good time to take a small vacation and head to Vegas this weekend. We're also heading down to Austin for Christmas. Which means that I really need to have most of my gift shopping completed this week. Because when we get back from Vegas, I will be using all my free time to bake cookies for Eric... :)

3. It has been far too cloudy here in Chicago this last week. I wouldn't mind it so much if the cloudiness was accompanied by snow... but, save for one little ten-or-fifteen-minute flurry a couple weeks ago, we've had NO snow so far this season. It's just been cloudy... cloudy, dark, dreary, depressing. I need sun. Or snow. I'll take either one...

4. So last year at this time, I was attempting to stretch out in my cramped 600-square-foot apartment (which, by the way, only had one wall of windows and tended to stay dark most of the day)... and now I have a corner loft condo with 14-foot ceilings and tons of light. Ah... much better. I remember that everything in that little apartment was so dry -- walking across ten feet of carpet would build up crazy amounts of static electricity, and I was constantly getting shocked. I tried to counter the dry air with a makeshift humidifier -- I kept a big pot of simmering water on the stove all day, hoping that the steam would make a difference in the tiny space. I think it actually DID work... but of course the same kind of thing wouldn't be practical for my new place. So far, we haven't had super-dry weather... but I'm sure, just like snow, it is inevitable...

5. I just happened to look outside my window, and could've SWORN I saw snowflakes... but now I'm not sure. I think I'm having winter-wishful-thinking hallucinations...

6. Could someone tell me who came up with this year's Starbucks holiday campaign?? In case you haven't seen it, the tagline is, "Let's Merry." Let's Merry??? It sounds like an advertising campaign from Japan that was haphazardly translated to English. Let's Merry Happy of the Fun Santa Day! Maybe it's just me...

7. I think that's about all I have today. Now everyone go to Starbucks and enjoy a cup of merry...   

Random...

I just saw a comment on another blog, referring to the amazing sight of a jar of cookie-flavored peanut butter, and the commenter said that she "literally died and went to heaven" when she saw the picture. This is a bit of a pet peeve of mine -- "literal" means LITERAL. It means that whatever you're talking about, it actually HAPPENED in reality. In this case, it means that the commenter ACTUALLY died and went to heaven. This person is now dead. Dead because of a picture of a jar of peanut butter. How tragic and strange...

Anyway... look at this picture:

It looks like a big pile of bedding and towels ready to be washed, right?

But look again:

See anything strange?

How about now:

Yeah, Piva decided it would be a good idea to burrow into the middle of the towels and hide for a while. Needless to say, I didn't get my laundry done in as timely a manner as I had hoped... I still haven't re-made the bed. But c'mon -- I couldn't just evict her from that cozy little hideout, could I? She looked so comfy... and I suspect that she felt like all those towels were good camouflage to protect her from crazy Riff.

I have eaten approximately 4,376 Christmas cookies today. And I've already been informed by several people who were also in possession of my cookies that I need to make more. More cookies will be coming, adoring cookie fans!! (By the way,  I really appreciate that so many people like my cookies... maybe I should start charging for these things... Or at least Eric -- I should charge Eric. :))

Okay, while I'm on my Christmas-cookie-sugar high, I should go make the bed that still needs to be made...

Is it just me?

Or does it feel like this year FLEW by? Like even more quickly than usual? I mean, it seems like just a couple weeks ago that I went downstairs to the Whole Foods in our temporary-apartment building and bought the necessary ingredients for Christmas cookies... I can remember mixing up the dough in my tiny kitchen, in preparation for a night of cookie-baking and Elf-watching with Eric. I don't think that first batch lasted more than a day... I made more cookies a few days before Christmas in our rental condo -- we'd JUST moved in, so boxes were haphazardly strewn about the condo, and half of my kitchen utensils were still missing. But I made a point to find what I needed to make cookies -- because Eric never would've forgiven me if I'd used the "I can't find my rolling pin" excuse for neglecting to make more cookies...

Last year, because of our moves and the fact that we were far from settled, I didn't even THINK about putting up my Christmas tree. All of my holiday decorations were in storage, and even if I'd bothered to find them, decorations of any kind would've served as nothing more than extra clutter in our already cluttered condo. But THIS year, we have our own place, and although I can definitely do more to de-clutter (especially since Rick decided to build a new computer and there are now random parts/boxes in our living room... ohhh so many random boxes...), at least we have a bit more space and a nice tree-appropriate location in front of the windows overlooking our balcony.

So yesterday, we trekked over to our storage unit down the street to look for boxes of Christmas stuff. We have a history of needing to find seemingly unimportant (and usually very small) things in our storage unit... so many bad memories... don't remind me. But in the course of searching for Christmas stuff, we serendipitously came across something I've been looking for since we moved up here -- the magnet for my treadmill. It's attached to a bungee cord, and you're supposed to wear it on your wrist while you're on the treadmill -- the point being that if you fall off, the magnet disconnects from the treadmill and it automatically stops. I never actually wear it... but the treadmill won't START unless that magnet is in place. And since I was unable to find the magnet, I couldn't use my treadmill when we first moved into our new place. I tried to find a refrigerator magnet or something that would trick the treadmill into thinking the magnet was there, but I couldn't find one that was big enough. Fortunately, dad has the exact same treadmill, and he was nice enough to bring his bungee-corded magnet up so I could use it for my treadmill. And dad DID manage to find a suitable magnet to replace the cord -- but now he can actually have the real magnet back.

And we also found the Christmas stuff, in case you were wondering. I just finished putting the tree up, as Rick reminded me that this is actually the first Christmas that Riff has seen a tree. I braced myself for an onslaught of curious cat hijinks, but surprisingly, it was Piva who was the bigger nuisance. (Although Riff HAS already managed to knock one of the ornaments off the tree...) I also realized that I need about two more strings of lights for my tree... it's looking a little sparse. Oh well -- no way am I heading out to a store this weekend, so I'll just save that for next year...

 

Onward...

One year ago today, Rick and I pulled our car into the parking garage of an unfamiliar building on Superior Street. The car was full of only what we absolutely needed (which turned out to take up EVERY available space within the interior), and, unlike every other road trip we'd taken to Chicago, we did not end the night in a a fluffy-duvet-cocooned hotel bed at the Sofitel. No, instead, we carted our car-sized load of things up an elevator to the 20th floor, and opened the door to our tiny -- er, COZY -- 600-square-foot temporary apartment, where we attempted to find space for our pared-down possessions and spent the first of many nights on a much-too-hard-and-too-small bed...

Since that day one year ago, so much has occurred:

We moved from one temporary place to another. Our condo was still small, but the view made up for it:

We survived our first Chicago blizzard and celebrated with Caribou coffee!

Our attempts to purchase not one, but TWO downtown condos fell through, leading us to believe we'd never find a place we really loved. And then, just as the lease on our temporary place was about to end, we found THE condo -- it may not be absolutely perfect, but it covers most of the bases: tons of light, cool loft design, great exposed brick and cement, decent view, more square footage than either of the other places we tried to buy, and a great location. (The cupcake store that just opened across the street doesn't hurt the appeal, either...) And everyone -- especially Riff -- is very comfortable here...

Mom and dad bought their own downtown condo so they'd have a place to stay for all their visits up here. Which turned out to not only be great for them, but great for those of us who need a place to park, or do laundry, or have impromptu pizza parties as well... (have I mentioned that my mom and dad are awesome?? :))


And then, of course, there's this guy:

Over the past year, we've tried new restaurants; learned the best routes for driving from one side of the city to the other; hung out with new friends and spent more time with old ones; fell asleep with window-rattling street-paving trucks just outside our building; discovered that having everything we need within walking distance is pretty darned cool and convenient; marveled at fireworks and sunsets and skyline views; eaten more Indian food than we ever have in our lives (YES!! :)); and have still barely scratched the surface of all this city has to offer.

Bring on year number two...

Tuesday random stuff...

Today IS Tuesday, right? I had to think about that for a minute before I wrote it...

Well, mom and dad have been introduced to Connor, and I don't think Rachel and Eric will ever be getting him back. If they want to see him again, they'll have to have another baby, so mom will switch back and forth. Otherwise, mom is going to be holding him indefinitely...

I have decided that I really need to order some throw pillows and maybe a table runner from World Market. I need to get this condo looking more "put-together" than it is now. I will excuse myself for the fact that the box containing the Christmas tree has been sitting by the hall closet for a couple of months... because we'll actually be using that in a few weeks, anyway. So I can SORT of justify the fact that I haven't bothered to drag that box down to storage -- I'd only have to drag it back up again, anyway. But there are still so many other areas of the condo that need to be straightened up or spruced up or tidied up or otherwise up-ed... I figure throw pillows and table runners are a good place to start...

Speaking of Christmas -- as usual, the Christmas commercials on television started way too soon. I think I even saw a few BEFORE Halloween this year. And don't get me wrong -- I LOVE the Christmas season. But when it seems to last for a quarter of the year, it sort of makes it seem less festive and special. I wish advertisers could hold off until at least a week or so before Thanksgiving. Personally, I think that's a good point to start the immersion of holiday songs/decorations/food/etc. (Although I have to be honest... I HAVE listened to Christmas music a couple times lately when I've been on the treadmill... but I've been tempering it with a good dose of Indian music and random pop tunes. Come to think of it, my workout playlists have been quite eclectic the last couple weeks...)

So the other night, Rick and I were sitting on the couch watching TV, and apparently an accident occurred a block away at the corner of Ohio and Orleans -- we somehow managed to miss it, even though we have a clear view of the intersection. But we heard the sirens of an ambulance and a firetruck, which stopped alongside the accident to offer assistance. It looked like a cab ran a light and broadsided another car. Someone from the back of the cab was loaded into the ambulance, a few cops and firefighters stood around and talked for a few minutes, and then everyone dispersed -- leaving the two damaged cars sitting on the side of the road for the tow truck. Well, about an hour later, we heard MORE sirens, and ANOTHER ambulance and firetruck stopped in the exact same location -- we're guessing that someone saw the disabled cars on the side of the road, assumed the accident had just occurred, and called it in. I couldn't help but laugh -- I could only imagine the reaction of the emergency workers when they peered into the cars, only to find them empty. Needless to say, after that, a police car with flashing lights was parked next to the accident until the tow truck arrived...

Well, I'm off to work out... where I'll possibly be listening to Christmas music... but maybe not... :)   

The Day Which Must Not Be Named...

My friend Nick has an unusual fear (not that I can talk -- I have plenty of rather bizarre phobias myself...). He absolutely can not stand to look at the clock when the time reads 11:11. According to Nick, this is simply because it's the only time during the day when all four numbers on a clock can be the same. And I'm not sure what's so scary about that, exactly... but again, who am I to talk??

So it would stand to reason that years and years ago, when 2011 seemed miles away, I wondered how Nick would handle today's date -- 11/11/11. Because if one minute of 11:11 on a clock is bad, how much worse must it be when an entire DAY is comprised of that single number? Twenty-four hours of the somehow-for-some-reason evil number... calendars everywhere proclaiming its existence, newspapers shouting it out like a headline, the internet rife with superstitions and stories of its perceived significance. What would Nick do on such a day??

Well, for starters, he blocked his Facebook profile so those of us who know of his aversion to the Time and Date Which Must Not Be Named wouldn't be able to inundate his wall with posts. I'm also fairly certain he turned his phone off, even though I, personally, haven't tried to call him. But anyone else who has attempted to call him today has been met with nothing more than a voicemail message. Silly Nick... 11/11/11 is harmless. Everyone knows that the world will be ending on 12/21/12.

Besides -- historically, GOOD things have happened on this day. For instance -- Faisal was born!! Probably sometime back in the 50's... but he WAS born on 11/11. And how can it be a horrible, scary day when this was the day that one of my very best friends arrived on the planet? How can it be evil when we have an excuse to head out for a great dinner (and hopefully some kind of chocolate for dessert)?? A day that gives you a chance to eat chocolate is NEVER a bad day...

And there's no doubt that the world became a better place when Faisal showed up... without him, there's a fish and chips restaurant in Lincoln Park that would be out of business... Rick and I would still have an entire storage unit filled with unused stuff, instead of extra cash... I may have never discovered the wonder that is British chocolate... my iPod would be decidedly lacking in awesome Indian music... random strangers wouldn't be offered help with heavy suitcases or unwieldy boxes nearly as often... and I'd have one fewer person who still talks to me even after I demonstrate my obvious bouts with insanity. In short -- Faisal rules. And, therefore, so does 11/11.

But for some reason, I don't think Nick will ever agree with me... :)

Welcome to the world...

Just got back from meeting my new nephew, Connor. He arrived about three weeks early, and only weighs in at 5 pounds 4 ounces... but he's healthy and strong and can already make a touchdown sign with his arms, so he's obviously a football fan. He's pretty awesome.

He's even tinier in person than he looks in pictures... and it occurred to me, as I was holding him, that he only weighs about half as much as Riff... (Eric suggested we put a little saddle on Riff and let Connor ride around on him... and Riff is so laid-back that he MIGHT actually allow that...)

I kept patting his hair... I couldn't help it -- it's so soft! And he has so much of it!

 Okay, Lisa... Step. Away. From the baby hair.

Connor has already requested that I make him cookies... although I have a suspicion that his dad will be eating them. But still -- how can I refuse? Besides, I wouldn't mind some cookies, myself... and I figure "Connor wanted cookies" will be a great excuse to make cookies in the future... right? :)

I am a creepy cupcake stalker...

But who can blame me? Every day, as I innocently look outside my living room window at the cacophony of city life on the street, I can't help but see them: rows and rows of adorable little cakes, which taunt me with their billowy frosting and high sugar content. So close, and yet, from my condo vantage point, unattainable.

I mean, really -- look at them:

Look at them!!!

How am I supposed to resist them?

Okay, so I couldn't resist them forever.

We happened to be walking up out of our parking garage into the lobby of our building at about 6:50 tonight, and looked through the window across the street at the cupcake store, which is only open until 7. But the great thing about living across the street from a cupcake store that closes at 7 is that you can leave your condo at 6:50 and still make it to their door with plenty of time to spare.

 A chocolate cappuccino for Rick...

And chocolate/vanilla for me...

We haven't tried them yet, but hopefully they aren't TOO good. It's one thing to stalk cupcakes from afar... but it's much different to invite them into your home on a daily basis...

So scary...

Did everyone have a happy Halloween? :) I'm actually not much of a Halloween fan, myself. I only tolerate its existence because it's the gateway holiday to the Thanksgiving/Christmas season. But in general, I find it rather annoying... not only because of the mixed messages we send kids ("Don't ever take candy from strangers... Unless it's Halloween, in which case, you should knock on their doors and demand it!"), but also because the television airwaves are clogged with horror movies and shows about haunted landmarks. I almost watched a show tonight about "the scariest movie moments ever!!!" or something like that... but then I decided it might not be the best thing to watch when Rick is in Minneapolis and I have to sleep alone tonight. (Well, alone save for my over-protective cats, who will, no doubt, curl up on either side of me and keep watch until morning...)

Instead, I opted for a show on the science channel about the myriad of bacteria, fungi and mites that inhabit our bodies on a daily basis. I know what you're thinking -- how could that possibly be LESS scary than those scary movie moments?? Um, yeah... it wasn't. In fact, this show will haunt my dreams tonight. IF, that is, I manage to fall asleep, now that I'm thinking about the millions of mites who are living in my mattress and pillow and waiting for me to tuck myself in so they can feast off my skin cells...

I was slightly worried about Halloween in a condo building, because I wasn't sure what the protocol was... would every kid in the building be running up and down the halls, knocking on every door? I never have any candy, so I wouldn't have answered... but it's not like I have a porch light to extinguish, to signal my non-participation (although according to my mom, this tactic did not work very well for her tonight... :)). And I wasn't looking forward to hearing knocks on my door for hours on end. But the other day, when Rick and I took the elevator (a rare occurrence, actually, because we're only on the third floor... but we happened to be loaded down with grocery bags...), we noticed a sign describing the "voluntary trick-or-treat" they'd organized for the building. Anyone who WANTED to give out candy could get a pumpkin sticker from the front desk and put it on their door -- that way, the kids would know to only knock on doors with pumpkins. I thought that was a great idea -- and quite effective, as I did not have one stray door knock tonight...

Although I have to admit, as I peruse Facebook and read about various friends' forays into their neighborhoods for trick-or-treating, I feel a pang of nostalgia for those plastic, orange, candy-collection receptacle pumpkins... how they would transform -- from an empty, hollow shell, to a seemingly endless pile of sugary variety. Every day would bring a new assortment of sweet treats... and an occasional reject (Black licorice? Yuck... Gum? Boooooring... And don't even TRY to pass off fruit as an acceptable Halloween giveaway...).  But now, as an adult, there's really no chance of procuring piles of random candy for free.

Maybe I'll just head over to that cupcake store tomorrow. Right after I scrub off the bacteria, fungi and mites, of course...

   

A few random odds and ends...

I've been a bit of a blog slacker the last couple weeks... but if you'll notice, I am still going to end this year with more posts than I've had in the last three years. Which I consider a small victory. A strange victory, to be sure... but a victory, nonetheless.

So what's been going on the last few weeks? Well, I've finally decided to reveal to the world that I AM a vampire...

I actually TRIED to fix the glowing eyes in this picture, but apparently there is some kind of incompatibility between iPhone pictures and the photo software on my computer. The light reflecting off my huge pupils is bright enough to use as emergency illumination during a blackout... Anyway -- this was dinner with our friends Doug and Julie a couple weeks ago... and I believe it was the same day Rick decided to try an iPhone for the first time. Consequently, the following pics were all taken with an iPhone...

Have I mentioned that my little brother is about to be a dad??? That's crazy, seeing as I still have memories of us playing "let's jump off the four-foot-high porch while holding a blanket to see if it'll act as a parachute..." (I mean, c'mon, that was a fun game... and no one ever broke an ankle, so it's all good...) We went to a baby shower for Eric and Rachel last weekend:

Little bitty Yankee shirt...

Little bitty Rutgers socks and onesie... Yep, this kid is already a sports fan. :)

I think Eric really liked this little light-up seahorse toy... and since he's still afraid of the dark, that'll come in handy...

Last weekend we also had the chance to finally try Cite, which is a restaurant on top of Faisal's building. I've been wanting to try this place for a while, mainly because I miss the awesome city views I had at my last condo -- and Cite is on the 70th floor, surrounded by a circle of floor-to-ceiling windows. I could've gone up there to stare out the windows all night, and I would've been content...

I love this picture, because the lights inside the restaurant were reflecting off the glass, and they kind of make it look like aliens are landing in Chicago...

I guess that's it for now... hopefully I can be a better blogger throughout the month of November (which is sneaking up on me at a frighteningly swift velocity...). Have a good weekend, everyone!

My dad is MacGyver...

Mom and dad are in town for the next couple weeks... which is great, because that means we get to eat out a lot, and mom will probably bake pies. Oh, and it's just nice to see them, too. ;)

It also means that there are extra people around to help with various errands and tasks -- and when dad is in town, I especially like to think about anything that might need to be fixed... because I am convinced that my dad can fix anything.

Take my vacuum cleaner, for instance. I was cleaning the house a few days ago, and pulled out the vacuum cleaner to take care of the floors, but realized there was a problem -- the handle was stuck in an upright position. My vacuum is designed so that the handle is supposed to easily pivot backwards with very little effort -- but no matter how hard I tried (and I didn't try TOO hard, because I didn't want to break it), the handle wouldn't budge. It seemed to be stuck on something, but my own cursory examination of the vacuum revealed nothing out of the ordinary. Not that I'm a vacuum expert... I doubt that I would recognize anything "out of the ordinary" on my vacuum cleaner... unless it suddenly sprouted arms and legs or a raccoon jumped out of the hose...

My first thought was, "I bet dad could figure this out." It seemed like one of those puzzles that an engineer would consider a challenge -- I pictured my vacuum cleaner lying in pieces on the floor... a deconstructed project with a simple solution.

So, when mom and dad dropped by my condo yesterday afternoon, I pointed out my badly-in-need-of-a-good-vacuuming carpet and the unfortunately useless cleaner sitting in the corner. Dad immediately went to work, attempting to figure out why the handle was stuck, searching for the cause of the malady, removing various parts of the vacuum, wondering why there was a raccoon in the hose... (Okay, still no raccoon in the hose... but that would explain so much...) My mom and I were able to tear him away from the vacuum cleaner long enough to eat lunch at the deli down the street, where he did a quick search on his phone for a solution to the stuck handle problem.

By the time we got back to the condo, he was armed with information and ready to tackle the fix. Within five minutes, he'd used his Swiss Army knife to dislodge the handle... and, in lieu of WD-40 (although I offered olive oil and Pam spray), a tube of Chapstick proved a serviceable remedy to keep the mechanism sliding freely. A Swiss Army knife and Chapstick. All you need to fix a plethora of problems...

Like I said, my dad can fix anything. :)

I'll have to start adding an extra mile to my daily workout...

When you move into a new place, there are certain criteria to use to help you determine if you've found a decent location. Is the neighborhood relatively safe? Is it convenient to work or school? Is there a grocery store nearby? A drugstore? A Starbucks? A Caribou? Are there plenty of restaurants around?

We've been fortunate enough with our location to answer yes to all of these, but this morning, I added a new question to the list: Is there a cupcake store literally thirty paces outside your building door???

YES!! (Well, there WILL be in about five days...)

Ever since we moved into this place, I've been staring wistfully at the empty retail space in the building across the street, wishing someone would rent out part of it for a grocery store. There's a ton of empty space over there, and plenty of room for something cool like a Whole Foods. And while I don't mind walking the seven or eight blocks to the Jewel Osco down the street, I'd love something more "specialized" close by for days when I realize I just need that ONE thing that I forgot to get, and hey! I can just run right downstairs and pick it up! (I guess I got sort of spoiled those few weeks we lived in our temporary apartment with the Whole Foods right in the building... that may be the only thing I really miss about that tiny little box of an apartment... :))

Well, still no Whole Foods... but this morning I noticed a UPS truck parked outside in front of one of the smaller empty retail spaces. I spied like a voyeur... er, rather, nonchalantly glanced at the storefront, and realized there was a woman sweeping inside. She helped the UPS guy carry about six large boxes into the building, and that's when I finally realized that SOME kind of store was about to open in that space.

And then it finally dawned on me that the big banner hanging in the window of the store WASN'T just an advertisement for a cupcake boutique about a mile away across the river (which is what I've been assuming for the last month)... it was also the announcement of that cupcake store's NEW location, which happens to be right outside my front door! (Cue excited happy cupcake dance...)

So now I'm quite sure we made a great choice when we purchased this condo -- a Starbucks cappuccino AND a cupcake within a five minute walk of my abode? I think that's about as good a location as any. :)

The 'burbs...

I just realized it's been more than a week since I posted anything... you guys must've thought I'd fallen off the face of the earth. (Strange that none of you emailed me to ask if I needed help reentering the earth's atmosphere... I mean, if someone falls off the face of the earth, you have to assume they're in orbit somewhere, maybe hanging onto a random piece of space junk, and will, eventually, plummet back to terra firma just like that satellite a few weeks back...) Actually, I don't know WHERE I've been... I guess I have been at a loss for words...

But today, I have a few PICTURES, so I can keep the words to a minimum. :) Rick and I drove out to Naperville this afternoon to check out the autumn color -- we don't have many trees here in our immediate area. Although the trees in the Office Depot parking lot are looking quite pretty:

I think we're still around a week away from the peak color-viewing time (although some trees are already BARE at this point), but it was nice to get out into the suburbs and see some foliage and look at all the nice houses (there are some BIG houses in Naperville...).

One of the "already bare" trees... made even more barren-looking by the usage of black and white photography... :)

Oh yeeeaah, THAT'S what suburban neighborhoods look like... I'd almost forgotten. :)

This was my favorite -- it was in the middle of a cemetery, and I kinda wanted to go inside and get some pictures of the tree alongside some of the headstones... but I didn't want to be disrespectful to anyone who might've been at the cemetery for a reason. So I settled for a shot of the tree next to a lamppost...

And can someone please tell me -- WHAT is "brain respiration"??? (This was a yoga studio, so I'm guessing it's some kind of silly term someone made up to allude to the indescribable existential oneness of spirit, mind, and body that can only be achieved by harnessing the power of the brain through sun salutations and a perfect warrior pose...)

Okay, that's all I've got for now... I suppose I should go allow my brain to breathe for a while...

Changing of the seasons...

Happy October, everyone. I'm happy to say, that even with the chilly weather we've had lately, I managed to wait until October 1st to turn my heat on. Okay, to clarify -- I waited until it was October 1st in Asia (thanks, Faisal :)). In reality, I broke down yesterday morning and finally flipped the switch on the heater, because when I ventured out to the kitchen to make breakfast, I realized my hands and feet felt like ice... It was either accept the fact that summer is really, truly over and turn on the heat, or spend the entire day huddled under a blanket. The heat won, and I am now willing to accept the arrival of autumn. This year, by the way, is sort of flying by at an alarmingly fast pace. Wasn't it just Christmas? Have we really been here in Chicago for almost an entire year??

Sometimes, I forget that this used to be the view from my condo:

Ah, amazing downtown view, how I miss you. And yet I love this condo about a million times more than our rental, so I can deal with the loss. :) Besides, the view here isn't HORRIBLE. Just last night, in fact, as I was making dinner, I looked out the windows and suddenly realized the setting sun was casting an amazing orange-pink light on the buildings, and I ran to get my camera (which was flashing with a low battery indicator, but I managed to snap a few photos before it died).

Unfortunately, in the time it took me to finish chopping whatever vegetable I was chopping, wash my hands, and grab the camera, the light changed -- it was much more impressive when I first noticed it. But at least it made me realize that I should probably keep my camera handy around here, just like I used to at the old place.

Besides, with the way time is flying by, apparently Christmas will be here in about two minutes, and I'm sure I'll have pictures to take of snow and lights and trees. I should start making my shopping list...