Good to know: I still know how to hang

My cousin's future wife's bachelorette party was last night.





It's not a fanny pack, it's a holster:



"Mr Stud" has been to a lot of bachelorette parties since 2003.





The bride-to-be and her "date"



The bride's future sis-in-law, my cousin and occasional half marathon partner.



We totally rode around all night in a hot pink stretch limo. I swear.



And we're totally in our pajamas.



This morning:






Also, yesterday I realized:

1) I need to actually go out and buy new clothes. That fit and are in style. Clothing swaps are fun, but my wardrobe is looking a little dated. And because I've lost weight, I'm running out of pants that fit.
2) My legs can propel me lots of miles, but they can't take high heels anymore. Good thing I have so many pairs of cute flats.
3) I'm glad to know I can still stay up past 3am once in awhile, even when I woke up at 6am for a race. Although I'll probably be asleep by 9pm tonight.

First Trip to the Gun Range

Last month, I posted about my goals for March (if you missed it: cooking and reading), and I forgot to post a follow-up. (Forgot or "forgot" is debatable, as basically the post was: "I didn't achieve my goals.") That also means I forgot to post goals for April. I was going to set new goals, but figured I should just carry over my March goals.

If I had made new goals, one of them would have been "try something new at least once each week."

Well this week, I tried two new things! The first was checking out a new running trail, but the second was going to the gun range. And firing a gun for the first time. Four guns, actually.

But speaking of March's goals, I sort of achieved one of them on the way to/from the gun range - I got caught up on Runners' World. Here's a tidbit for you: The Boston Marathon Race Director and I have the same birthday. (August 22. Which I also share with Tori Amos. When I was 13 and discovered that, I was the happiest Fan Girl ever.)

Anyway.

On a trip to the bathroom, I glanced in the mirror and realized I looked like a total badass.
Right? 

The Sailor said I did a good job shooting a gun for the first time.
"Really good on the rifles." Who knew??

The Sailor and his dad. 

There were brooms everywhere because you had to sweep up your own spent shells and dump them in a bucket. 

Oh and guess what else, Instagram finally came to Android! Hence my lovely hipster photos.

More Christmas Cheer

In order to get the super adorable "I am smiling" photo of Olive for our Christmas e-card, I had to do a mini-photoshoot.

 

After I made the e-card, I remembered I had a Christmas outfit for her (a dog costume from the $1 section at Target). Time for another crazy cat lady photoshoot.

"You want to do what now? That's fine. I will sh*t on the carpet again later."

 

And to prove I'm not all cat lady all the time, I did go out to dinner tonight. With human friends. To Carnivale. Here is my Foodie Blogger review: "It was good."

Dessert

Me and BFF Ultra Vera

Visit BurntImpressions.com for your very own Jesus Toaster.

Florence and the Machine at the Chicago Theater 12/4/11

Last night was the 93XRT Big Holiday Concert with Florence and the Machine at the Chicago Theater! It was awesome!!

I was bummed that I wasn't able to go to her show at the Aragon Ballroom in June (we had a wedding to go to that night) so as soon as I heard she was headlining this show, I planned to go, even if I had to go alone. Luckily, my friend Liz came with me.

She played mostly songs from her new album, Cermonials, although she mixed in a few from Lungs, including Dog Days Are Over (which really got the audience pumped).

Full set list:
1. Only If For a Night
2. What the Water Gave Me
3. Seven Devils
4. Cosmic Love
5. Lover to Lover
6. Leave My Body
7. All This and Heaven Too
8. Between Two Lungs

Source: Flickr user fernybaldy

9. Dog Days are Over
10. Shake It Out
11. Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up)
12. Spectrum
Encore
13. Never Let Me Go
14. No Light No Light

Set list from this concert review from the Chicago Tribune.

She was adorable in her usual billowy sheer ensemble (a red dress with heels that she kicked off pretty early on). And she did a lot of bouncing and dancing and other general cuteness. And her voice is freaking AMAZING. Right now everyone is all into Adele - who is great - but holy vocal Gods, Florence Welch can sing!

Unlike many of the people around me (many of who got yelled at), for once I didn't try to sneak photos (instead I trolled Flickr for those who did).

However, can I just give this quick concert photo PSA - turn off your flash!!!!! Seriously. And get a camera with a good zoom lens. Doesn't have to be professional. I took these photos at an Ani Difranco concert and these photos at Lilith Fair - some from way up on the lawn - with this Canon Powershot. 

Topolobampo, or, my foodie-crush on Rick Bayless

By Flickr User embem30

I'm not a "foodie." I do watch cooking shows, but only the ones on WTTW Channel 11 (Chicago's PBS station). Sure, I can follow a recipe, and I love eating good food, but I'm just not one of those foodie people. Nor do I have much desire to be. The Sailor would like to become a little bit more of a foodie, especially when it comes to desserts and baked goods (a desire of his that I fully support for obvious reasons). But I still enjoy watching cooking shows, just to see how stuff is made and maybe pick up a trick here or there. My favorite cooking shows are America's Test Kitchen and Jacques Pepin's Fast Food My Way.

But Mexico One Plate At a Time with Rick Bayless is my absolute favorite. I looove Mexican food and Rick Bayless seems like a pretty cool, laid-back guy. I love the episodes where he starts off in Mexico, eating street vendor food, and then recreates it in his kitchen. He also has a really boss outdoor kitchen. And I hear he takes his restaurant staff on trips to Mexico. (Funny, the Olive Garden never took me to Italy! What's up with that?)

So, for my birthday, The Sailor made reservations at Topolobampo, Rick Bayless's fancy-pants restaurant in Chicago. (Excuse me, "one of America's only fine-dining Mexican restaurants" according to the web site.)

My birthday was in August and dinner was last night, if that gives you any idea how far in advance you have to book reservations.

Anyway, I'm not going to go into some wanna-be foodie review of the place, because like I said, I'm not a foodie.

I'm just going to tell you that the food was excellent, and the service was top-notch. What I loved the most about the service is you could tell the front-of-house staff worked as a team. We had our main server, but I couldn't count how many staff came to our table to bring us food or take our order - and they all explained the food when it arrived, even the guacamole. Our food order was actually taken by the Sommelier, I think because our main server was held up at another table. And then as I was walking out, the Sommelier showed me to the ladies room. And I'm pretty sure Rick Bayless's Dad is one of the maitre d's, or it was a coincidence that one of them was an older gentleman who looked a lot like Rick Bayless.

By Flickr User fatfoodtaxi

If you are interested, this is what we ate:

• Guacamole: Complimentary. Served with cucumber and ... something else for dipping. The something else was white. I have no idea what it was. Some kind of vegetable. 

The following descriptions are copied from the Rick Bayless / Topolobampo website:  

• Trio, Trio, Trio: Sampling of Ceviche Fronterizo, Ceviche Yucateco & Coctail de Atun Tropical
• Tlalpollo: Wild and cultivated mushrooms (slow-cooked in a sealed pot with epazote, hoja santa), homemade suckling pig ham, heirloom alubia blanca with Gunthorp bacon, roasted baby beets, pickled garlic scapes. 
• Ravioli Autóctona de Huitlacoche: Free-form ravioli of melt-in-your-mouth corn masa noodles, huitlacoche (inky corn mushroom), velvety sweet corn-chipotle sauce, camote two ways, purslane salad (plantain vinegar, pumpkinseed oil, pitiona).
• Pollito al Tamarindo: Pan-roasted Gunthorp heritage breed rock hen, tangy tamarindo-ancho chile sauce, grill-charred eggplant, tomatillo relish with red knob onion, garlic scapes.
• Mole Verde de Mariscos con Puerco: Roasted Baja bay scallops, Hog Island (SC) little neck clams and Gunthorp pork belly in Oaxacan green mole (tomatillo, roasted garlic, epazote, hoja santa, parsley), little corn masa dumplings, shaved fennel bulb plus its fronds and flowers. 

We were also served corn tortillas, which were good for scooping up the remaining mole and chile sauces. 

By Flickr User ALifeWorthEating

My favorite of the meal was the trio of Ceviches, and also the grill-charred eggplant that came with the Pollito al Tamarindo. YUM. That's my best review of it. I also had a Mexican Mojito and The Sailor had a Dos Equis.

The total cost of the meal was $150 plus tip, not too bad considering if we both got one of the tasting menus it would have been $180 for the food alone (add an extra $60 per person for the expertly paired wines).

If you want to make reservations, they recommend 8-10 weeks in advance. Otherwise, from what I overhead while waiting for The Sailor (he was on duty this weekend so we had to meet there), the wait for a table was 2 1/2 to 3 hours, although I assume that was for Frontera Grill (the restaurant is two in one - Frontera is the more casual room up front, Topolo is the more upscale room in back). My guess is you can only get a table at Topolo with reservations. My Dad said when he and my Mom were staying downtown near Frontera/Topolo, they saw people lining up outside of the door around 4pm when the restaurant opened, I assume to get their name on the list so they could eat dinner around a reasonable time.

I'm not really into fancy restaurants - I really only go to them for very special occasions, so I don't know if I would want to go back to Topolo - I think if we were going to spend that kind of money, I'd rather check out another fancy restaurant in Chicago first. However, I would like to check out Rick Bayless's other restaurants sometime - Frontera Grill and XOCO (or Frontera Fresco, or if I ever fly out of O'Hare, Tortas Frontera), just because they have different, more casual (and affordable) menus, and like I said, I loooove Mexican food.

Finally, on the way home, The Sailor and I wondered - does Rick Bayless ever eat at Taco Bell? You know, like after a night of drinking or something. Or for the unexpected kitsch factor. Or perhaps Chipotle is a more reasonable option when he wants to go foodie slumming?  Or maybe Pepe's (which was my "Mexican fine dining" growing up)? What do you think? Do five-star chefs always eat high quality food?

Ani Difranco at The Vic, 9/21/11

I'm a huge Ani Difranco fan and try to catch her show whenever she's in Chicago. Last night was my fourth time doing so:



Anaïs Mitchell opened



Then it was time for Ani 



The show was just Ani + her guitar, no drummer or bassist.  



She didn't need it though, she has so much energy, so much presence



It was a great show. She's such an awesome performer. She played the sh*t out of Swandive, among my favorite songs ever.

She also talked about how now that she's older and wiser, and recently did a compilation album, she was reflecting on her earlier music. I forget what she said exactly, but something along the lines of "What was I so angry about? Someone needs to get over herself!" It was pretty cute.

Ani's setlist (thanks to OnHerOwn.net)

1 God's Country
2 Angry Anymore
3 Manhole (!!!!!)
4 Promiscuity
5 Unworry
6 Napoleon
7 You Had Time
8 Lag Time
9 Jay
10 Marrow
11 As Is
12 TR`W (aka W.O.W.)
13 Little Plastic Castle
14 Swandive (!!!!!!)
15 Mariachi
16 Which Side Are You On
17 Both Hands
18 Angel From Montgomery

Vintage Illinois Wine Festival

 

This afternoon, The Sailor and I went to Vintage Illinois at Matthiessen State Park (just south of Starved Rock State Park) with his sister, brother-in-law and best friend. For $15, we each got a souvenir wine glass and seven tasting tickets (two extra tasting tickets for buying in advance online). Each "taste" was equal to half a glass of wine (see The Sailor's glass for an example). There were a bunch of wineries there, but I don't remember which ones I tried, or even the names of all the wines I tried. I just know that I went up to ones with shorter lines (especially if the lines were in the shade) and asked for a dry red. Sometimes I mixed it up and asked for a dry white. At one tent I went hog-wild and tried their port, and at another they had mead! I really mixed it up. Although I got dry mead (or at least I told them I prefer dry and they poured me something dry).

But I know what I like. Dry red wine. The drier the better. The Sailor is the complete opposite. He prefers sweet wine, the sweeter the better.

Next year if we go, we need to bring some camp chairs. And even though it said no outside food or beverages, we need to bring some cheese and bread. Like the many other sneaky folks who brought in their own snacks. And dogs. Apparently you are supposed to bring your dog to a wine festival. It doesn't matter if it's a tiny lap dog that you push in a stroller (saw that), or a dog you carry in a shoulder bag (saw that - on a dude) or a big golden retriever, husky, German shepherd, or St. Bernard. Forget the dog park. Bring them to a wine festival.

Oh, and I did earn all the wine this morning (well, this morning and whatever I do tomorrow). The Sailor and I went out for a 3 mile run, and did it in 25:30, which is my fastest training run. Actually, since I've had my Garmin, this is my second-fastest pace. My fastest is the 5K I did in June, my time was 26:20 which was an 8:29 pace. Today's pace was 8:30.

Mediocre at many things. Stellar at none.

I've never been stellar at any one thing. I know that's normal. But I've been mediocre-to-good at many things.

In my formative years (ages 10 - 18), I took piano lessons, played flute in band, was on the dance team, volleyball team and soccer team. I did well academically. I was never a star at any one thing. As is always the case, there was always someone (or many someones) better than me. There's nothing wrong with that. I never expected or was expected to be the star. It was all a way to keep busy and have fun.

As an adult, I'm falling into the same patterns. And I'm realizing it's so much easier to stretch myself thin when work takes up 8 hours of my day, commuting 1.5 hours, sleep 7 hours. And in my free time I have to do things like feed myself, do laundry, pay attention to my husband, buy groceries, etc. So even though my hobbies are limited to three right now - playing the flute in a community band, playing on a recreational soccer team and running/working out - there's just never enough time. I never have time to practice my flute (and as a result, I'm honestly the worst in my section). I don't devote as much time as I would like to running and thus I'm not improving like I want to and I could very well injury myself because I don't make enough time to increase my mileage like I should. I'd like to pick up some freelance projects in my space time ... but it is such a struggle to find the time when I do pick up a project.

I keep asking myself if I should give up one or more of my hobbies, and if so, which one? I'm finding that without the proper time to devote to any of them, I don't enjoy them as much. If I had more time to devote to any one of them, and found myself improving at whatever it was, I would feel much better about it. But instead I suck at everything, which takes the enjoyment out of it.

But what do I give up? I'm torn. If only there was a way to reduce the time spent doing all that other stuff - commuting, chores, errands, etc. C'est la vie.

reason #whatever why I'm a lucky lady:

My husband knows how to bake a cake from scratch. Including making the whip cream filling and chocolate icing from scratch. And the kicker is, it's his Dad's recipe. (Who by the way is a Vietnam War veteran and former cop of two different towns. He just happens to also love cooking and baking.)





While he was doing that, I was enjoying this:



What a surprise, it's a dry red whine.

Anyway, he made the cake on Friday night for a Saturday evening birthday party because we had plans to spend Saturday afternoon seeing Les Miserables, one of the few musicals my husband has ever expressed an interest in seeing. And it was pretty great.

On Saturday night, I did something for the first time.



No, not enjoy a delicious beer. I've done that many times before.

I played the Wii. Yes, I'm 28 years old and I've made it this long without ever playing a Wii. (Unless .... is Rock Band or Guitar Hero part of the Wii? Can you tell I'm not into video games?)

Oh yeah, like I said, it was a birthday cake he made. Here is the birthday girl.

2010 in photos

I take a lot of photos. Pages 1-73 of my Flickr photostream are just photos uploaded in 2010. So anyway, what did I do?

It snowed. I took pictures.



By the way, this photo was taken in March. Yay Chicago weather.

Adventures in Alternative Workouts: Trapeze

This past Saturday, my sister-in-law and I took a free trapeze taster class at the Aloft Loft in Chicago. And it was a lot of fun! There were about 10 people there and two instructors. After a warm-up and stretch, they explained the proper body form for hanging on the trapeze bar. And then ... it was time to get up on the bar!

I should explain that I hate being upside down. It makes me feel nauseous and uncomfortable and honestly is a little terrifying. So trapeze is perfect for me, right?

Christmas Present: The Joffrey Ballet's Nutcracker!

Good job, Joffrey marketing department

Last night the Sailor took me out for my Christmas present. HE took ME to the ballet. Yeah. You read that right :)  We saw the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago perform The Nutcracker.

I love ballet. I've taken ballet and even did the ridiculous and performed in a recital at the tender age of 24. (My now sisters-in-law, my brother and one of my long-time friends also performed.) But I haven't been to the ballet in awhile. (Actually the only times I've been in recent history were to see the Salt Creek Ballet perform The Nutcracker at Governors State University.)

Surprise Party

On Saturday night, we threw a surprise birthday party for The Sailor and one of my sisters-in-law, both of whom are turning 30. And they were actually surprised! We told them we were getting together for our family's Thanksgiving at my brother's house, since we didn't get together on Thanksgiving.

DIY wine tasting

30 years + 30 years

Listening to the most tone-deaf version of "Happy Birthday" ever

The Sailor & Me

Our roommate hit it off with my mom & my mother-in-law

The Sailor & his BFF

Meeting Peter of Peter, Paul and Mary

Peter and me (and another volunteer)

Tonight I volunteered at WTTW Channel 11, answering phones during their pledge drive. (Anyone can volunteer.) One of the shows that aired during my shift was a Sing Along with Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary. And wouldn't you know, Peter Yarrow was live in the studio while we were taking pledges! (click for video!)

Bristol Renaissance Faire

Photos from the Bristol Renaissance Faire, taken on Saturday, September 4, 2010.





Modeling her new corset