What good is an apt without a pool anyway? Just sayin.

Warning. Long post ahead. Sorry. I find it entertaining. You might not.. haha...

Wow.. how to type this without going off? Yeah, well.. it's just gonna flow and we'll see what happens.. *sigh in preparation* Circa 2007, I noticed my a/c (window unit...love me some old buildings :/), was leaking into my stove. Yes. It's above my stove. I called the LL's and upon coming over, they decided it couldnt be the a/c and was likely from the recent storm somehow (?). Whatever. I've reported it a couple times since and each time, they come dry out the standing water and blame something else. Welp, folks, when my downstairs neighbor called them last night saying water was leaking into his kitchen from mine, I think we all know the issue had gotten larger. Not knowing he'd called, I walked into my kitchen this morning only to notice there was a lot of water..and a dripping sound.. I opened my cabinets under my stove and...my muffin pans, pots, everything..were FILLED to the brim with water. I gasped and got to work cleaning it up. Then I thought "Nope. I'm calling the LLs. They need to see this to believe it." I was CUHRAZY busy at work and needed to get there, so I did a super quick pick up job. (Think took down a bag of trash, vacuumed the area rug, put a couple cups in the sink that had been in my bed and bathroom..right).

The apt wasn't messy, but uh.. I have queen mattresses in my living room against the wall. B/c I'm awesome like that. haha! OOOR b/c my bed is at Eric's still needing the headboard painted. The rest of it is done. Then, I'll just make the switch and take my old full size bed to my mom's for the guest room or something. Anyway, the point is.. mattresses are in my living room. haha.. AND with my closet rampage, I have a couple bags still needing to go to goodwill and a box of wrapping paper I was going to take to mom's if she wanted it cause I have no place for it. In other words, the apt had some randomness it usually doesn't. And it's fine, but I really would rather get rid of all that before my LLs come over. Blah. It is what it is.

So, I called the LLs. And had to go to work. Pried myself away from my ever growing list of stuff and an exploding email inbox and drove home to check out the sitch at lunch. That's where I found Gracie licking the floor...as in some of the water that had leaked from the a/c unit. And my awesome LL had left the flooded cabinet's doors wide.open. so G's little body was exploring, licking, being a dog. My LL turned and saw me and here's about how it went:

LL: "Um.. you should think about getting your dog a litter box."

Me: Dogs dont use litter boxes, but uh thanks.

Him: Well, she got sick (and revealed the sickness on the floor under a paper towel).

Me: *gasped* Has she been licking up this water?! OMG! No wonder she's sick!

So then I was pissed. B/c he was MAD that she was sick.. like this was an everyday occurrence. STOP LETTING HER LICK DIRTY WATER, MORON. From there, he complained about the cost of having to get another window unit (but at least finally acknowledged that was the issue). And again, how is this my issue?

So, an awkward lunchtime interchange led me to put Gracie in her crate so she didnt have to deal with him anymore (note I didn't mean it the other way around). Back to work. Returned after work to find both my LLs here, installing a new a/c. So they'd been there all day. Awesome. *eye roll* I walked in and my LL said in an accusatory tone "I let G out of the crate and she went to the bathroom. Is that a usual occurrence? And I looked in your drawers for a leash but couldnt find one." I said "If she's sick, she will go to the bathroom. It happens. And drinking this water made her sick. You should have left her in the crate. And her leash is sitting here. On the table." (in plain sight.. but thanks for going through my drawers).

I saw Gracie and realized she was COVERED in her own sickness. :( Pooooor girl! She must have been really sick!! I picked her up and immediately went to bathe her. Heard my LLs whispering in the kitchen. I was so mad by this point I didn't even care. I called my mom and within ear shot explained the whole sitch and said I was bringing G over while mom, Eric and I went to dinner. Skipping ahead, I got ready to leave and had an awesomely awkward interchange where my LL told me she'd (1) cleaned under my sink and (2) done my dishes b/c they were in the sink. (There were like 3 dishes and she made me feel like an a-hole). I said "hey, I've been thinking about asking you if I can paint the bathroom...a very similar color.. still tan...but the current paint just looks like it's cracking in a couple places and has been affected by the condensation. Their answer: "Absolutely not. We have one paint color. That's what we use. You can use it if you'd like-be sure to buy (color here)." I said "Um.. nevermind. If you've got the paint, no need to for me to spend the money to make it look better. You guys can come do it." (I realize that was semi crappy, but I dont care.)

Anyway, I packed Gracie and myself and headed to mom's so Eric, mom and I could go to Oliveto for dinner and G could hang in the backyard at mom's to get stuff out of her system. :( (Ps Oliveto was really good!! I recommend!)

Long and short, Gracie's fine now. And I'm getting there. It's already irritating enough that my LLs are in my apt when it's not gleaming like Mr. Clean's bald head, but for Gracie to get sick and them to get pissy about it...and to get pissy about the a/c unit...and to be in my stuff ALL day...and to insult me for not having done my three stupid dishes when I've been so busy I can't even think straight.....I was just so frustrated I almost cried. haha...truth be told, I did cry.. I'm so lame...ha.. on the way to dinner with my mom while venting. Fairly certain I sniffled through a diatribe of things that were related and werent.. haha.. I just kinda unleashed the stress of thinking about buying a house, but not being sure and wanting to move and feeling like I should already own a house, etc etc etc... It wasn't ugly cry mode, but it would have been if I wasn't driving.. lol!

There are moments when mom says something that makes me think "You're awesome. Thanks for being my mom" and today was definitely one of them. I dont need to go off about it, but she made me feel better and made a lot of sense. And I stopped with the tears. And we got to Oliveto and she ordered us both mojitos immediately. It's moments like these that I realize she's not as off base as I too often accuse her of...

Anyway, I came home with Gracie, and we commiserated about the day.. Well..She looked at me and tilted her head while I talked. And I sat down to fill out my reunion registration. And I felt better. Why? B/c there was a question about what I've done in the past 10 years and I realized... I've done a lot. No I don't own a home...and felt pretty behind the curve with that mere hours earlier... but dangit, I went to law school.. and I passed the bar exam...and I left a bad, bad job...and I made some lifelong friends....and I haven't settled. I don't mean I havent compromised; but I haven't settled. And I got Gracie :) And I know who I am. And what I want in life. And all of a sudden, I felt pretty good... still frustrated, but a lot better. :)

So, I guess I talk to a lender.. and figure it out... :) Whatever I do, I know I'm OVER living here...not just b/c of today, but I've been over it and this was the kicker, I think... My apartment is really cute. It is. But, I moved in here right after law school. And I'm ready to move past that stage... I was just starting out and now I'm a young professional. Plus, I want a yard...and a driveway...and a washer/dryer....and central heat and air. I dont care HOW charming the place it, never do window units. My mom tried to tell me....*sigh* haha.. Okay, I've ranted enough. Thank you for your attention. And sorry for those 5 minutes you'll never get back.XOXO.

(I may have also eaten a fat piece of cake a coworker made and I brought home. FAT. That helped.)

WBW and the eye doctor...

While going through my closet during the clean-a-thon, I found some pics! :)

Below is Bid Day my senior year. They put this (uber expensive) sign thing in our yard and it was supposed to be really awesome and we were supposed to all love it. Sure it's cool and all, but it looks like a tombstone. It just does. Sooo our class kept calling it that like "Hey! Pic in front of the tombstone, everyone!!" The advisors didn't love that. Whatever. It was funny. Ashley was in her "I must growl in all my pictures" phase which still cracks me up! I have no idea what phase I was in given that I was hanging upside down.. haha..

Okay, I actually like this photo. My good friend, Kevin, who is now a bartender downtown, took this for one of his portfolios while he was in photag school... He came over to my apt during a snow day and a small group of us had a mini snowball war. I was in deep plotting mode here with a handful of snow... hahaha...

(See Gracie wandering below the photo and her teddy bear in the right...haha.. She amuses me.)

Hopefully Gracie and I'll get some better sleep tonight without her kicking me everytime it thundered. That was awesome and all, but...yeah.

So, in other news...my eye doctor is having me try out these new daily disposable contacts. They're apparently better than ever before, yada yada yada (lots of other things I should have been listening to). However, I'm 99% certain they're making me want to scratch out my eyes making my eyes slightly itchy. Arg. So much for that idea. And on that note, I find it so weird that she likes having convos with me while I have no contacts in.. about deep stuff.. politics, relationships, life... and I can't.see.sh*t. The whole thing is bizarre. She's really sweet and I love going to her.. but uh.. yeah. My personal fav was when she called in another lady from our church (my doc goes to my mom's church) and says "Jackie, you remember ___?" I wanted to say "I see a blob. So all I can tell you is ___ might have put on some lbs. That's all I've got for ya." But instead I smiled and was like "Oh, hi, how are you?" Comedy. The whole thing was comedy.

The List Keeps Growing...

...of things I feel like I need to do. (Note the 'feel like' versus actually need). In random order:

1. Print and frame some pics from St. Lucia. :)
2. Clean.my.apartment. I'm in this crazy organization mode so I dont even want to clean unless I can devote enough time to organizing, tossing, donating, etc my stuff.
3. Decide whether or not I want to think about buying a house. I look, see nothing I love, and get discouraged. I need to just get off my butt and go talk to a lender if this is something I want to do.
4. Paint my bathroom. It needs it. And I am tired of looking at it the way it is. And I like projects. So. Yeah.
5. Start showing my face at the gym again. Traveling does NOT do well for a workout routine or eating well. Arg.
6. Finish some work projects for my out of town meetings next week. (*insert me singing "On the road again...."*)
7. Take back a dress I bought that I didn't end up wanting. And a storage unit I bought for my closet which didn't end up fitting. Two easy tasks...no idea why I put them off....haha..
8. Attend the TU happy hour tonight!! Are you coming?! You should! I kinda have to go to touch base with some peeps about the homecoming project I'm helping with.
9. Go to the grocery store. With traveling a bit and being busy, this often falls by the wayside b/c things spoil before I can be home long enough to eat them! But, wow do I miss eating fruits, etc at home. :)
10. Put a check in the mail for my reunion. WHY on earth can't we pay online? That's so dumb. Just sayin. haha...

Off to a lunch meeting! Think about the happy hr tonight! Details are on my fb page since I just confirmed that I'm attending. Happy Tuesday, everyone!

FINALLY-last day in St. Lucia!!

No, I didn't forget (much to your dismay the vacation recaps are not over.. haha). This is officially the last day. :( So sad. I don't know what happened.. well, I do.. weddings, my bday, traveling, life... haha... I came home tonight at 6 something and passed.out. by 7 on my sofa. Dinner? Nope. Headache? Yup. Weird.

So, now I'm up and blogging. *shrug*

Okay, peeps!! Here we go... Day Seven. We got a late checkout-2pm. We were so bummed to be leaving! Here's our view from breakfast once again.. By this time, we didn't care that it was semi ridic expensive. We planned to just stuff ourselves..hah.. (and that we did.)

I made Eric take 10 more a few more self timed pics... This is also the only day the black bikini got any play. It was the least comfy of the ones I brought so whatever. It is what it is. It saw the beach.. haha..
We snorkeled again! Here's Eric walking to return our gear for the last time...
And a view of the hotel's beach restaurant. Like I've said before, they're in the process of remodeling so this is just one of a handful of restaurants on the property. Kinda cool... :)
Hey, I know! Let's take more pictures! I love that my hair is still a semi matted mess since we'd just snorkeled.. hah.. Whatev. After these pics, we swam out to that platform directly in front of me and hung there for awhile. Mind you, the ENTIRE time I was swimming there behind Eric (yes, I made him go first), I was harnessing my chi and saying "there are no sharks.. there are no sharks..." lol! (It's not as close to the other side as it looks here. We swam from where I was standing).
Awwww... :) Gah, I wanna go back... *sigh*
Okay...for some reason on this day, something in the water kept stinging us! haha! It was like 20 or thirty little instantaneous stings...but not bad enough to freak out or anything. It was just funny...Here's Eric after our swim back from the platform letting me know stinging hurts. lol!
Neither one of us want to go home.... Boo.
For some reason, the snorkel mask line stayed on my head HOURS after we were done. This was a typical thing for me, but uber bizarre... haha.. Oh, and this is my "I dont wanna go home" face...
Okay, let's rally the smiling for our very last beach picture in St. Lucia! Fabulous vacay!!
Checking out, we ran into this little guy... :)
It took me awhile to post this likely in part b/c I was sad it was the last official (let's face it; I'll keep posting) post about it. Easily the best vacation I've ever had-hands down. Eric and I were having as much fun on day one as on day seven! And even with an hour or so of sleep in total during our stay in NYC on the way back, we were still laughing and having a good time together! A tired time.. but a good time. :) The best part about a vacation is....well..everything. The worst part...wanting another one immediately upon your return. :)

I'm so excited to print some of these and frame them!! I needed to wait a little bit so I could better filter them or else miiiight have had a St. Lucia gallery in my living room b/c I was so excited about every.single.picture. :) (Still am, but reality is setting in that framing them all would be creepy and weird). The pics you end up loving from an event after some time has passed always amuses me...They're never all the same ones you originally love..or even noticed-at least for me. :)

I just linked all the blog posts here! I'm not gonna lie-it's more for me to stalk and reminisce and less b/c I think you're going to go read them again.. haha!

Day One.

Day Two.

Day Three.

Day Four.

Day Five.

Day Six. Part Deux.

Hope you had a great Monday!! I told my VP I was leaving for a couple mos for the Unit*d W*y thing and she was cool with it and happy for me! Awesome! You never know how someone will react when you tell them "hey, good thing we've built all this trust.. now I'm leaving for a few mos and handing everything off... seeya!" haha...

I guess we're under a tornado watch. *furrowed brow* Things that suck about apts: tornado watches...I'll never forget living in the TU apts when the sirens went off once, going on my patio and seeing ALL the non OK residents sprinting to the dorm next door where ppl were supposed to go! I'm seriously giggling to myself...It's not funny.. but we weren't really in the zone

Weekend Recap!!!

Yo! Hope you had a great weekend! :)

Friday, Eric and I headed to River Spirit Casino to hear a friend's band play. It was pretty fun actually-from watching people shakin their groove thing...to gambling with our free five dollar card they give you, it was a kinda quirky good time. (and side note.. I got FIFTEEN dollars b/c it was near my bday! woohoo!! However, we won nothing. haha!)

Can you see me in the below photo? Huh? Canya? haha.. Hope not considering I took it from the web. My camera was nice and secure in a locker the whole time, but I was indeed at Big Splash Saturday! Eric got some peeps together to embark on a Saturday waterpark adventure! There was sliding. Eating. Tanning. Wave pooling. And an injury. It wasn't me!! In attempting to find the best way to propel himself down the slide as fast as humanly possible, Eric hurt his foot. Like enough to have a fist-sized bruise forming today. Sheez...poor guy. :(

Fun things from Big Splash: joining the crowd in shrieking with excitement and waving our hands in the air when the waves started; seeing a nice gentleman...with a house arrest ankle bracelet. For real. We started calling him "prison break"; Eric's friend's money flying out of his pocket when he went down the slide..only to have the little kid after him land in a pool of money and think he won the jackpot! LOL! (til E's friend grabbed the cash..haha)...

Sat night=a friend's bday dinner at ITR south.. and here are the girlies!! (Top-Beth, Kristy, Linda; Bottom-Jenny, Marla, Sara, me). :)

And while I'm on this, I can't tell you how excited I am for an upcoming bday shindig! Kristy (above) has a bday coming up and we've planned to have a "Tool Academy" themed party! BAHAHA! Don't know what I'm talking about? Here's the show...The guys are already talking about the affliction shirts they'll be rockin...

...and as for the girls... picture the Rock of Love and you're on the same page... If you'd like to give advice on my outfit, I'm taking any and all! I'm sad b/c Eric will be outta town...so I'll have to be a tool all by myself. ;)

Anyway, back to the party... The sunset was SO.PRETTY. And my fab new camera was able to capture it way better than my old one could have! Happy! :)

Okay, so.. from there, I headed over to Eric's where we both were lulled to sleep on the sofa while watching the Soup. Woke up to some weird show about an underwater space station or something. I think. No idea. Nice. Anyway, this morning I got a pic of Crazy Cat. What is that, you ask? Oh..just the spawn of satan a mean, wild cat who apparently decided to have her babies under his neighbor's house and now won't go away. (The babies are no longer babies). The thing is.. she wont run off if you walk toward her, she just assumes the attack position and you become her prey as she hisses wildly. Um...terrifying much???Yeah. The bush is blocking her fangs teeth as she hisses to show her adoration for us...

From crazy feline to loving puppy, this is what I get when I walk through the door! (I hadnt even removed my glasses-obviously). Gracie's so awesome. :)

Okay, annnnd.. I have a confession. *nervous* I have one closet. Well.. one aside from my tiny bedroom closet. As in...a singular closet for ALL things storag-ey. But, if anyone has ever tried to open my closet door, I would make some weird stifled gaspy/screamy noise and divert them elsewhere... b/c this was my closet... Embarassing. I know. And I'm a clean person, people. *sigh* I'm like a TLC home improvement show's dream with this...And and and.. some of this was good intentions. Think bags of clothes to goodwill minus the actual trip to goodwill to deliver said clothes. (Excuses I know.. whatever.) Eric said it looked like a cartoon...like everything strategically, chaotically placed so it didnt fall out...(He was semi right). :)
I needed an intervention. So...with TLC on in the background most of the day (motivation, people!), I attacked the disaster formerly known as a closet. Tah-dah!!!
Hooray!! I found a rollie cooler, a bracelet I thought I'd lost, a cute pair of shoes (no idea), some old pics, warranties for every electronic device I own, graduation mementos, scrapbooking stuff...Lordy. Anyway, I plan to paint the bathroom next weekend! I cant do anything crazy b/c I dont own the place, but just make it look nicer without spending a ton. I DO want to move. I DO want to purchase a home. But in the meantime, an organized closet and a coat of paint never hurts. :)

Organizing feels so gooooooood when it's done. :)

Hope you had a fab weekend! :)

Good News!!

Soooo my boss asked me awhile ago if I'd be interested in a "loaned exec" program for an area volunteer organization. Well, it's a national organization (Unit*d W*y-don't want it to show up in search results). :) Basically, tonsa companies want to participate in the yearly campaign but don't have the staffing ability, etc, to run one on their own. Additionally, other companies need presentations about the campaign. And the campaign is HUGE-they need people to manage contributions and numbers, etc. So, local companies "donate" an "executive" to help during that time.

Sooo.. for 15 weeks or so, that's what I'll be doing this fall!!! I got selected from my company!! I'll be working there full time and basically won't see my desk for nearly 3 mos. That's crazy! I'll be super busy and likely have longer hours...but what an awesome cause and what an awesome experience! My boss actually did it a couple of years ago and I think she handled about 20 campaigns-personally! From public speaking to organizing campaigns to lotsa other stuff, it will be so cool!!

Always up for a new challenge and completely flattered I was selected out of some very qualified candidates!!

As for the reunion, thanks for your feedback, peeps! I think I've decided on Wicked...so I'll be hitting up the picnic at the school for sure. Still up in the air on giving up my concert tix for Eric to take someone else during Friday's reunion cocktail hour... We shall see...

Crazy travel for two weeks + good news on a Friday= Jackie ready to go home for the weekend.. haha! :)

I gave in....

...and saw Harry Potter tonight! I officially speak wizard. Have I read ANY of the books? No. Have I seen any of the movies? Huh uh. But, when Eric's friends invited us to go tonight, I thought "sure, why not!" haha! After calling Muggles "Puffins" or something getting briefed in the car, I was armed with wizard-potter-loving-information in my arsenal. I have to admit...pretty good! I even got teary! I kinda wanna read the last book (b/c hello.. I cant start from the beginning now...or can I??? Hmm...)

Thanks for all the fun comments on my Way Back Wednesday! I think I wanna start doing Not Me Monday, too... Depends how creative I'm feelin... ;)

Sooooo while in line for the movie tonight, Eric said "Dont forget August 1st is..." and I finished with "....my reunion." He was like "Are you kidding?" I said "Um.. no.. " He said "Well, that's the night we have tickets for Wicked." (as in...with his family). Crap. He felt really badly that he hadn't mentioned the specific date for Wicked before now or remembered about my reunion. It's not that bigofadeal, BUT now I'm left with decisions here, folks.. (1) go to my reunion alone..which sounds awfully fun *eye roll* (2) Go to the afternoon portion of the reunion at the high school instead of the night portion (I hadn't originally intended to go to the afternoon portion, so this is a tradeoff) (3) Skip the concert I got tix for on Friday night and attend both the cocktail hour AND the Saturday afternoon event.

This is a toughie here, peeps. I mean.. the Wicked tix were expensive...and Eric's fam got them...so we both can't bail on Wicked, that's for sure. And I really DO want to go to Wicked. I own half the songs already! I love musicals! And well... the people I want to be in contact with from high school, I kinda already am... (Love you gals!) and some of the people I'd love to see aren't even going. Blah. HOWEVER, it's a right of passage in my opinion. I mean.. right? Plan: text/email a couple people to see if they're going to either Friday's cocktail hour or Saturday's family day. If I can see a large portion of the people I want to see, I think I'd be a-ok with missing the evening deal on Saturday...

In other news, my boss text me tonight saying she has good news and I should call her. Kinda excited... wonder what it is!! (No, it's not a raise.. don't get your hopes up-I'm not. hahaha!) I was in the movie, so it has to wait... *nervous!!!*

Oh and to stick with the randomness, have you seen this? It's hilarious... Watch the comments he made after this video, too. I guess United tried to right their wrong. Commendable that he let people know that. And uh... I now definitely think Ohare's baggage people must all need anger management or something. (that's where my bag got mangled, too).

Weekend plans? Eric and I tossed around having a Big Splash day.... haha.. no really. Renting rafts and everything. He's got a small group interested, too! Are you? Lemme know!!

Oh and I mailed off my contest to my Chicago parking ticket! It included pics, a rather lawyeriffic letter..and I mailed it two days-certified! Yeah-yuh! After 7 days, there's an admission of liability. Well, we're just gonna ensure they dont act like it doesn't exist they receive it within 7 days. Cross your fingers, peeps!

WBW as promised!!

Okay, first, Eric and I ate at Gina and Guiseppe's tonight at the Riverwalk! Yum! I recommend-especially the strawberry mojito. Just sayin.

Okay, wow.. here we go. I went to mom's to get some photos so I can get them scanned in and sent to our reunion committee! :) These are all senior year of high school....Prepare yourself.

High school graduation! Blaze, Shawna, me, Tammy!
Josh and I were the November seniors of the month. I'm posting this b/c I've told some of you I really did think sweater vests from Abercrombie were awesome. As evidenced by my choice to wear it in said yearbook photo. Wow.

And those of you who knew me then already knew about this...Oh, and this was in my first car...it was bright green. I loved it! Before it got a little on the totaled side of things.

From my senior memories book, some senior photos... Note the hot lifeguard tan lines! haha!

...and I actually filled in every.single.page. of the book. I'm such a nerd. And I forgot I was StuCo TREASURER.. as in me...who hates dealing with money. I read that and thought...What? Bizarre! LOL!

A hemp necklace? Really, Jackie? Yeah. Nice.
I cannot believe my reunion is coming up.. but I'm so happy I've always had a photo habit b/c these are hilarious to look back on!!

Way Back...Last Weekend...:)

I'm gonna try to upload a real WBW post later tonight but have been waiting to upload the weekend pics, etc! Since I'm working from home today, I'm able to! Here they are!

The bride and groom were married on Friday at a local catholic church. It was a beautiful ceremony! I thought it was kinda cool they had baskets of loose lavender which people grabbed to throw. :) They did the same thing Blaze and Dave did-had an "exit" at the church so everyone could participate-instead of just at the reception (cause receptions can go kinda late, etc). I like that!!

Just arrived at Five Oaks... Eric's proving the place used to be an amusement park. Check out the old kiddie boat area behind them! I'd NEVER noticed and been there at least a handful of times! Crazy!
Tables were set up both inside and out-we picked an outdoor table. Beautiful setting!
The breeze kept blowing my dress and made me look prego in a couple pics. *nervous* haha! Here we are on take three...with Eric holding my dress behind us so it didn't blow again...(you can't see that part). Comical. :) (and I'm carrying my fun new handbag!!)
Carrie and me sitting in the little rockers! They'd rock all alone with the breeze and after dark, it looked a little creepy... haha! Oh and I was so proud of myself for my semi-summer-updo! Messy buns are in, right? Right. Well, my hair's too short to do an elaborate one, but it still looked pretty good if I do say so myself. Here's what I did (first video). I should have taken a pic!
Thomas and Meghan! aka Bride and Groom! :)
All the guys and the bride! :)
Thomas (groom), Ryan, Eric, Brian.. Note Ryan and Brian's matching outfits (unintentional and not in the wedding party). Wow. lol!
It was a little humid outside.. hence the "glow" we've got... but funny pic nontheless! :)
Sparklers sent the couple on their way. It was a little smokey... *nervous*
Saturday, hair appt followed by Scott and Craig's annual pool shindig! Here's Sara and I. For some reason, I think cowboy hats and swimsuits go together. And my scalp didn't get burned. (learned my lesson a week or two ago).
Me, Scott and Sara! Note the pink kiddie chair behind us.. It was known as the "time out chair" for when people (1) left the bathroom door open since it was an a/c room, (2) spilled anything, (3) otherwise did something stupid. Love it! haha!

Sunday, after I made it to Chicago, met Lauren for dessert and tea! So good to see her! Sad it wasn't for as long as we'd planned, but makes scheduling another visit all the more appealing!! This little place was near Wrigley.
A little theater called Music Box. Cute!

Dinner and drinks with co workers! Me, Justin, Shawna and Bobbie. :) Woohoo public affairs! Spent the day in media training.. aka being interviewed on camera and then having it played in front of the class! Nervous! We went over interview tactics, etc, so as to not sound like a complete moron...not sure if I passed that test. Hey, it was my first interview on camera. Gimme a break. :)
Finally! Almost home!! My flight didn't leave til 8something and I got to Chicago at 2. There was another flight at 4, but after returning the car, etc, I didn't think I'd make it. So.. I opted to explore Wicker Park since I'd never been! Ate lunch at Potbelly's (yum) and took a pic b/c I'd never been in a Nanette Lepore before (see it beside Potbelly's). :)
I may have changed out of my work clothes in the car and realized my jeans were too long for sandals. Option one: walk around in heels. Option two: roll up jeans. Hey, if Katie Holmes and other celebs can do it and look cool, I think I can! PS...I was kinda awkward at first, but now I might be in love b/c it lets me wear some of my fav jeans without heels!!
This is for one of my fav mama's, Sarah!! Her little baby, Lucia's, name was featured in Wicker Park at a super cute little bistro! :)
More Wicker Park/Bucktown! It was such an eclectic area-from Bebe and Nanette Lepore..to tiny vintage boutiques...to a random bookstore I kinda wish I hadn't walked in. That's all I'm sayin. *nervous* There's also a store down there where Lauren's taken me before-super cute! Called Akira. Check it out online! :) Some high end stuff, but mostly really affordable! I tried on a long black maxi dress, but it didn't fit. Arg. I really want a long, black one!! (Recommendations?!)
And finally.. the ticket... There's my car.. See it? The blue camry? Right there. See the signs? Cool.. Well...lemme zoom in on the parking one for you..
b/c this is what it says. Um.. where does that say ANYTHING about 4pm? Note.. the signs across the street DID say no parking from 4-6 pm. I think Mr. Ticket Man got confused. But, I'm not paying 70 bucks for his confusion. NOT.
Working from home today hit a bump in the road when my work computer refuses to get a signal from my wireless internet..which is what I'm on right now on my personal computer. So uh.. yeah.. I seriously think I may have pissed off the universe somehow.. lol! Can't help but laugh. However, decided I needed my sanity (and was worried for my coworkers well being unless I got some rest), I opted to do what I could from my blackberry and compose some other documents which didn't need email assistance and sat on a conf call. :) Hopefully this will help me breathe a little deeper when I return to the office tomorrow since I've rested a little!! :)

And Picture Perfect is on. You can't go wrong working from home when a Jennifer Anniston movie is on. Just sayin. :) Happy Wed!! I've got to go to my mom's and grab some high school photos for the reunion when I get Gracie later, so I'll use one for WBW! It just might become WBT(Thurs) :)

Oh and.. I think Eric and I are going to try Gina and Guiseppe's tonight! Hooray! I still want to try Oliveto and LXi. :) I've heard (and read on your blogs!) good things about all those places!