Christmas Time is Here

I was worried that I would not feel the Christmas spirit this year, but boy was I wrong! It took a little longer to get to me-but it arrived-full fledged Christmas spirit! I am so excited for the holidays and the trip afterwards that I could wet myself (I’ve done it before!)

The beginning of the week started off with amazing Christmas news, my cousin Gavin’s cancer has receded and there are no active cancer cells in his body at this moment. This weekend we were not sure if he would have to move on to a cancer care center due to the inability to take care of the tumor however his scans came back to show that what they thought was a tumor was actually now just scar tissue! It is the best news ever and it looks as if he is going to be ok! A couple more rounds of Chemo and he will be finished with this nonsense…let’s pray that it is for good!

Monday also came with a happy surprise to find that the best roommate in the world, Brett, commandeered a KitchenAid mixer for me. I could actually pass out from the excitement I feel about this! I have wanted nothing more (my mother cannot fathom whose womb I actually came out of as she does not even cook) and never thought I would have one until I got married (which we all know is a long way off)! Sooo…Brett got one from work and here I sit, the luckiest girl in the world. I made cookies (thanks Sven-I used your cookie monster recipe! Yummers!) and other good things that take a mixer. I could hug it if it were not so imposing with sharp corners and hard plastic…I heart it with my biggest non-Grinch heart!

So, those two things have put me on the way to good times. Many Christmas parties and the knowledge that I get 2 paid weeks of a holiday (academia how I love thee) make me about the happiest girl in the world!

Brett and I are having our Christmas together tonight and then Minds and the BFF come tomorrow…what a joyful season!

Have a very happy day!

Holy Croly

So I am writing this quickly in hopes that it will draw the icky feeling out of my body. Forehead slappers...I have discussed them before...well, my friday night is one big forehead slapper that I can barely remember. We had a work holiday party, just our small little Institute. A case of wine later and some time at a bar, these are the things I remember (almost):

-speaking in Italian to my boss
-my boss making somewhat sexual comments to me among a table of my peers
-hitting on the Greek guys running the Italian restaurant
-my boss saying the phrase "blow job" (mind you we do some work with sexual trafficking but really...was that necessary?)
-drinking and drinking and drinking wine
-moving onto the bar and dragging Kort out to go get cash
-drunk dialing Jim about "our bookstore" which I happened to be outside of
-giving Jim guilt trips about not coming to the bar (he happened to be in Chicago but I am certain thought I was WAY too drunk to deal with)
-calling Kort and Peter's friend and making an ass of myself (but what I said I do not know, and why we called so much I do not know)
-playing pool with Daniel and being so wasted I could barely focus on the ball
-buying more beer
-a guy name boyom trying to kiss me and putting his phone number in my phone
-walking outside to call Brett WHOM I WAS CERTAIN that I had not talked to (and even said to myself the very next morning "huh, why didn't brett answer his phone") WHEN IN FACT i spoke with him about 15 times
-saying goodbye to everyone but not really remembering that
-hopping in a car with Peter and Kort and thinking that we would be going someplace else but realizing we were WAY too drunk to go to another bar

Oh God, the things I do not remember in between make me scared. i do not want to go into work tomorrow for fear that everyone will be like "you were so drunk" ugh...having to live that nonsense down is awful. i have got to stop :-) seriously...i am not 21 anymore. baaaad news!

On a lighter note: One week until Christmas!!! YAY!! and one week and two days until I am in Arizona...HOLLA!!

sorry about the U loss this weekend!

I am certain that this is a common theme among diary entries of girls under the age of 14. If I had a pink journal with a little lock and key, perhaps I would write this in there…but this blog is what I have so this is what I get…

I have gone 25 years on my life never truly having been swept off my feet. I am bored, I want to be in love…hell, I would be happy with finding “extreme like” right now. I thought I found something close a while back but nothing has really come of it, so now I am stuck looking and realizing that it may never come. Resigning myself to being a “cat lady” by the age of 29 is not exactly what I had anticipated when I was younger. It isn’t that I don’t date or that I don’t find guys who like me…its just that when I do I am not that impressed or something fizzles relatively quickly. I am picky, I am fickle and most importantly my standards are exceedingly high. The thing is I am almost positive that I have known at least 3 men in my life that have met those standards and have continued to keep me intrigued and excited. In the end either they stop being interested or they can’t get it together enough to have a relationship. What to do then? Now I know it is out there…am I just waiting for it to return? If these guys have already done it for me, have I had my chance at the “3 good ones in life” ala A Bronx Tale and now I am left hoping that one of them will return before its too late? Or are they just signs that someone else is coming along and that they too can keep the butterflies in the stomach and the conversation flowing.

I suppose this comes on the tails (as it always does) of yet another breakup. Another situation where a guy felt stronger about me then I did about him…I have to hope that there is a reason and it is not just because I am an “insufferable bitch”. But what is it? Where is it? Why isn’t it here? I really never feel this way-ask my roommate, ask my best friend…I am pretty much always “the guy” in a relationship. I mostly like being single more so then being in a couple. I don’t obsess for the most part (unless it is how to break up with someone) and I am almost always in control. But for some reason I am on edge and really I feel no reason to really be so. I don’t feel like I have to be married at 25 and I don’t feel like I am missing out on anything. But something is putting me on the defensive (or offensive as the case may be) and I find myself looking out there now hoping that something great will pop along!

My freshman year of college a girl named Vicki lived at the end of our floor. She always said that she wished the man she was going to marry was outlined in red (like on the playstation sports games where the player you “are” is outlined) so that she knew that he was there…she would be able to see him walking around campus, at the bars or in class outlined in red and would not have to worry about talking to him or dealing with him at that very moment because eventually he would be “the one”. Where is my red outline? Is he already out there? Do I know him? Are we friends? Or am I yet to meet him?

Ugh…this is the most girly thing I have ever typed…and it isn’t even that clever on the subject. But I am not really sure what else to say about it or how to explain other then to trust that whomever is reading this has felt this way at one time or another. Any suggestions?

Honeybee Tap

So let’s take a trip back a week or so to Rock-a-Billy night at Martyrs. I had never been to Martyrs but Kort suggested we go as her husband’s friend was playing in this wonderful little band…

So B and I walk in and immediately order a shot of Jaeger and a beer for each of us…yes this is how this night is going to be. B is driving so it is up to me to continue on the drinking pattern…and continue on I did. The bar was a blast, filled with people dressed up in Rock-A-Billy costumes from their hats to their shoes. It looked like we were on the set of Cry Baby. All of the bands were excellent and their funky little sounds kept us intrigued all evening. Our company was great and when the HoneyBees went on stage we were ecstatic to hear Sean’s band that, it happened, was quite good. The women were in perfect harmony singing in a little country twill with Sean’s guitar in the background. There was a drummer that was so “kick some ass and take some names” that she might have frightened me just a little bit. Really, they were great, but most importantly they were fun. Once we all reconvened there were shots to be had and beers to be drunk and then moving on…to the Village Tap. Oh the Village Tap what a glory hole in the wall you are.

The Village Tap, for those that have never been, is a small town bar with a great jukebox stuck right in the middle of Chicago. They have cans of PBR for $1.50, and Golden T and Mrs. Pacman for game crowd. I believe that I saw a pool table, and must admit that the Tap is quite small and therefore I was really drunk b/c I cannot tell you if there was a pool table anywhere in the bar. I really want to say that there was. Madonna’s new album was pumping through the bar and there were about 7 of us in there to enjoy it. What I do know is that there was a picture booth…and that Brett, Kort and I decided it was a moral imperative to take pictures. And they turned out beautifully:



After the pictures, you ask? More beer, a neck massage, some witty remarks and then the all important decision that we were too drunk (we sans the B) and needed to go home as all of us had to work in the morning.

I have a couple of reasons that I would write about this night. I loved Martyrs and suggest that everyone go, I love the HoneyBees and suggest that everyone see them, I love my friends and suggest that everyone meet them, and I love the pictures and had to put them up. But most importantly, it was a great night. It was one of those nights that you don't expect anything to happen and you go out and have a fantastic time and you can never quite put your finger on why you had such a good time. I was surrounded great people and the night passed like a dream you do not want to wake up from. I was hungover as hell the next day (all day) but it was worth it because I had yet another opportunity to feel young, vibrant, funny, cute and exciting the night before.

These next few posts might go a little out of order, so forgive me for the jumping around of dates. I had to write about this while it was still fresh in my head.

Last night Brett and I had a wonderful evening. We ran some errands, got Chinese food, watched Related (“I love your sausage…no…I mean the taste”) our new favorite show and had a holiday activity night. The place is decorated (pics to come) as I spent a Sunday night last week fixing up the fireplace, the living room and the kitchen. It looks festive and we even have an Advent calendar. It is soo nice to have my own Advent calendars b/c my brother’s used to open up my dates-we shared one-and take out my toy or chocolate and then close the door so that when I opened it there was nothing in there. If my children ever do something that mean I.will. kill.them! Anyway the place was decked out, except for the Christmas tree!

Brett brought his tree up this weekend and I finished assembling it last night while he made a wreath for our door. His wreath is beautiful and the tree looks great in the corner of our living room. Our apartment is beginning to look like a real Christmas home. I love the holidays and Brett seems to be able to take ‘em or leave ‘em…but we had a good time last night. As we were finished we decided to watch “A White Christmas”

Sing it with me now “Sisters…Sisters…never were there more adoring sisters”

We mocked the entire soundstage production, but really and truly it did my soul well to begin celebrating. I slept better last night then I had in weeks and I think that is due to the fact that I finally relaxed, had fun not involving alcohol and enjoyed the holiday cheer. It is hard to be out of my Mom’s house for the Christmas season as she always makes it so special. Knowing I won’t be home for an extended break…just a visit here and there always returning to my own apartment, is a bit tough. I love holidays with my family so I am trying to recreate that a little with my city family.

I am certain that everything will come together nicely and I cannot wait until Brett and I have presents under the tree. Oh Yay!! However, the best part about the Holiday’s that brings me joy forever and ever is still yet to come. What is that, you ask? Watching my very very favorite TV Christmas special, which my bestie Lauren got on video for me last year...

Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas

With such lyrical wonders as "Ain't no hole in the washbin" and "Where the mountains meet the sea" Emmet Otter brings a tear to my eye every time. I love this movie and I think that I am going to make Brett watch it this evening in continuance of our holiday winter wonderland. If anyone else would like to come watch it you are more then welcome!!

Happy Holiday's folks...Feliz Navidad...Buon Natale...è qui a una stagione di amore (here is to a season of love)

It has been so long since I have written in this blog and for that I apologize. I have had a lot going on but seemingly now that I try to think about those things in my head I cannot come up with a damn thing I have done that would keep me from writing. Work has been crazy, so I suppose that my time at my desk usually used for writing in this blog, has been taken up by research, paying the bills, making sure people don’t get blown up in Amman…the usual. But here I am! I am back! Holiday craziness be damned I am writing in this freaking blog.

A recap of sorts. Turkey day was fun…we were at my Dad’s house which usually means good food but boring day. Ryan and I were forced to amuse ourselves with unending games of Life, Sorry and Rummikub. At ages 20 and 25 we still find it impossible to not take these games seriously and the threats of cheating and the like ensue. I won…all of the games…yes I did. I am an incredible gamming master and Ryan was fearful of my board game power. He cowered a bit in the corner…shed some tears, and then we headed back to my mom’s. On the boring scale mom’s is a little better as we have more to work with and she takes us to movies. Again, at 20 and 25 Ryan and I might as well still be in high school with how much we still rely on our mother to pay for things. But we had a good time and saw Pride and Prejudice, which was fantastic. Highly recommended!

After Turkey Day there wasn’t much hullabaloo…work and such. Christine’s birthday was this past weekend and Brett and I went to RockABilly night at Martyrs last week (for all of which there will be a subsequent post later today). It has been a good couple of weeks and I love the holidays so I am excited for the next month.

There you have it. The first of many. I will keep them coming, not that any of them are really interesting…