UN believeable

Nicole let me in on this gem of an article today. Check it out. My favorite part is at the end when they talk about how much it would cost to put up a huge fence on the US/Mexico border.



In Penny news, we are teaching her how to use a litter box! She is actually getting quite proficient, although I have to say, we must have house trained her well because she REALLY doesn't want to go anywhere except the grass. She's getting better though. We put the litter box in the yard and now we are trying to slowly move it in the apartment so that eventually, she will be able to just use it whenever she feels like it. so if it's snowing, raining or a good episode of top chef is on, we don't have to get up to let her out. especially since we will be moving to a high floor in a high rise. hopefully we will eventually be able to stop paying a dog walker to come and let her out because she will be self sufficient! yes, we have looked into higher education for our dog. :)

i am SO glad this week is over

i mean, i guess that's how i feel every week. but in particular, this week.

people (no names being mentioned) have been particularly rude and inconsiderate this week, not to mention, out of this world presumptuous! (if you really want to know who, just ask me) then there was the disaster of a trip to NY - i actually ended up having a lot of fun, but between laguardia and o'hare, i'm surprised i ever made it home! what a nightmare.

oh well - this weekend should be a good time - i think dan and i might possibly go to muvico tonight - anyone been there before and have any insight? the incredible hulk just came out and i think i owe him a movie. his house finally closed this week! YEY! so now he is free and clear and we can move into our new apartment in the city without any qualms whatsoever! i wish we could go right now - but it won't be long :) these next few weeks/months are RIDICULOUSLY busy, so i'm guessing that the time will fly by! i will be out of town most weekends coming up, so i guess i am not really "living" in that apartment anyway. bad memories. oh well, out with the old and in with the new! i am so ready for the "i live in the city" chapter of my life.

also - penny did graduate from puppy kindergarten - she will start "family dog" next week. she is very much looking forward to it and is already asking us for new school clothes. i think one of my favorite things about her, actually, is how great she is with EVERYONE. i mean, she listens to dan and i very well, but she is just so friendly to strangers, which is great to see.

List of Fitness Blogs?

Sometimes have some useful information - anyone have any other fitness blogs i should add?

http://www.fitfaq.com/blog.html

http://www.thatsfit.com/

http://www.deepfitness.com/

PS - i really want to get a wii now just so i can get a wii fitness ... yoga anyone?

UNbelievable

by the way, i cannot believe that THIS is happening! there are so many memories about nicole in college that i could share :) but honestly i am just so happy for both of them. i can't wait 'til the wedding - i think it is going to be both a fantastically fun weekend and also a very touching milestone in the life of one of my very best friends. she deserves happiness for the rest of her life, and i truly believe that she has found it in raul.

vino

i wish i could afford to be a wine connoisseur. i always want to learn about different kinds and try them and learn what makes each one different. but i always end up buying the one that is on sale. except pinot noir. it's my one weakness. it's usually a bit pricier than the rest, but it's my fave. actually, ironically, i really love the house pinot noir at california pizza kitchen. i know that sounds really odd, but it's actually pretty good!

apparently, a lot of people make the mistake of serving red wine too warm and white wine too cold. even though i always drink my chardonnay icy, apparently the rule is: Twenty minutes before dinner, you take the white wine out of the fridge, and put the red wine in. interesting. i'll have to try that and see what happens.

i would love to take a wine tasting class. OOH! or host a wine tasting party. would anyone care to join me? :)

haha all this talk about wine has given me the urge to watch sideways!

Raise the Roof

So this is one of my new favorite things (click here!) - especially because i am constantly growing weary of the music i listen to whilst working out - which makes my workout seem like a chore. anyone have any other great suggestions for great songs to work out to? i always struggle in particular with the cardio music. i really need about five or six good songs every workout to get me through my time.

i think that i need to be better about setting gym goals. since i'm not playing sports anymore, i'm not really working toward anything specific and i think that is one of the reasons that i suffer from low motivation. i mean, yes - i want to be in generally good shape and look great, but i think i need more concrete and specific goals than that. something to work toward so that even when i get home from work and i'm tired and don't feel like trudging to the gym, i can think to myself - i gotta go so i can get to my goal of .... what?

Dog Check?

sooooooooooo apparently baseball lovers can now enjoy the game worry free with a pet check at Comiskey, er....US Cellular Field. Perhaps when i go to the sox v. indians game, i can put penny there. although it's only 3 bucks - i'm kind of afraid that they might kick her or something! and she's just too darn cute for that.

UPDATE

i got my new pants. lots of them. perhaps TOO many. in fact, they finally convinced me to do what i have been refusing adamantly for years - i signed up for a macy's credit card. HELLO! it was a 20 percent discount if i did, and there was no way i was putting any of that stuff back :) it was all way too amazing!

mmmm summer grilling

sundays have been the perfect day for summer grilling. last week i made the most amazing kabobs :) and a wonderful marinade for our chicken wings (which, of course, dan grilled to perfection) we also fashioned a "potato boat" to grill some potato slices in and i made some, let's face it, AMAZING veggie kabobs. Although these look pretty darn good too!

last night was grilled corn on the cob, tequila lime chicken and more of those potatoes :) they were a bit burned the first time, but we added a little olive oil and that took care of THAT problem!

mmmm i love summer grilling.

Check this out:

www.fruitandveggieguru.com

new pants

i need them.

we should have summer hours on friday

just sayin. it would be nice to be able to go home at 3:30 on fridays during the summer. not a whole lot is going on anyway, except that i am ridiculously busy and scrambling to get meetings for my client while he is in NY next week! i guess i will be in NY next week as well :)

final move in date for the apt scheduled for august 2- our landlord was nice enough to allow us to stay an extra day.5 so we could move out on a weekend instead of rushing back and forth between the city and apt during rush hour traffic. go, nancy.

penny finishes puppy kindergarten next week and she will then start on her next class of obedience training, family dog. before you know it, she will be running for president. i need to find a dog walker in the city ... although i guess maybe not because dan and i will be close enough that we can go home during lunch to let her out every day? interesting. also i feel like not too long from now, we won't have to let her out in the middle of the day - if i don't leave til 8:30 and dan gets home at 2:30 ... is that too long for her to sit ? i think she could do it.

going to the new john barleycorn in schaumburg tonight - i guess lisa kosty was there last night - i should call her and ask how it was. ha!

heehee - this one's even better

i hate everything

seriously. the george strait song is in my head, and then also that "i hate everything" song from the first grey's anatomy soundtrack. and that's how i feel right now.

i think number one on my sh*tlist are the IL police. seriously. don't they have better things to do with their time than pull over people who are going SIXTY?!?!?!? i understand that it's a construction zone. actually, i didn't even know that because apparently, the entire freeway (the tri state) is a freakin' construction zone. and people are supposed to go 45 that whole way? sweet. nice freeway. people have been sitting in dead stop traffic for an hour, they finally have a bit of open road ... and then? crapola.

top chef thoughts

i just have to say that i am really upset that antonia went home and lisa stayed. i think that generally speaking throughout the show, that antonia has made consistently better food. not only that, but personality definitely plays a factor in top chef. i mean, how can you demand respect and cooperation and teamwork in the kitchen if you constantly have a bad attitude and are complaining and accusing people of "sabotaging" you? lisa just seems like she is really vindictive and not all that creative with the dishes she makes.

obviously i hope stephanie wins because she's from chi-town and i think her food and personality ROCK! but at the very least, i hope that if stephanie doesn't win, richard does. i would be extremely disappointed in the hometown version of TC if lisa came out on top.

what really does grind my gears

tivo.

we paid for a "lifetime" subscription to tivo, which as i understand it, is just not cheap. but then suddenly, the hardware goes on the blink. literally. yesterday it started blinking. not turning on all the way. flashing! so i spent (seriously) my entire evening on the phone with tivo support only to end up talking to some girl who sounded like she had marbles in her mouth and had absolutely ludicrous suggestions to offer (did you try unplugging it and plugging it back in?) oh no. i hadn't thought of that!

finally the verdict is that i just have to replace the box and that's all there is to it. of course, in the middle of my conversation with miss personality, it starts up again. ugh. f'ing wonderful. well the thing is that i don't watch tv a WHOLE lot, but when i do, it's usually stuff that's been recorded because i'm not generally home during the hours in which my shows appear live on the screen. i guess in some cases i am, but i don't want to be one of those people whose lives revolve around what time grey's comes on (i'll just let my life revolve around the box that tapes it :) )

so there you have the saga of tivo.

ps - i finally found a bone that keeps penny quiet and out of trouble. seriously, she cannot get enough of this thing. it was bigger than her head when i first bought it, but she has since last night chewed it down to a nubbin. she's very goal-oriented. she just wants it GONE. i almost couldn't even convince her to go for a walk this morning because she wanted to sit on her bed and chew. she's like me with a good book. ha!

Things I have to do now that I live downtown

i was just thinking - since i'm living right down the street from soldier field - i HAVE to go to a bears game this season. it would be ridiculous if i didn't :)

i also think i have to go to the farmers' market.
we have to just get on the el and get off at random stops to check out new bars and restaurants.
i have to go to the imax at navy pier.
i have to ride the ferris wheel at navy pier.


any other suggestions?

What a ridiculous article

I love this article in the NYTimes. The headline is pretty good too, although honestly, any article about the mechanics of sarcasm leaves a ton of leeway where headline writing is concerned. i'll have to think of some potential alternative headlines and post them here. i'm really not feeling very funny today. i think it's because this entire day has been absolutely CHOCK FULL with WORK!!!! i think people just need to stop quitting because every time they do, my work load increases exponentially. it's not that i mind working hard (or hardly working, ha!) but seriously all this ridiculousness sucks my brain completely devoid by the end of the day, so by the time i get home, literally all i want to do is sit mindlessly in front of the television or maybe head to the gym if i'm feeling particularly ambitious (and if pizza was ordered for lunch :) ) i really have been meaning to go back to "creative land" and scrapbook, write, draw, COLOR WITH MY NEW CRAYONS!!!

the other problem is that outside of work i am booked too. almost every month in june and july is filled, and the one...seriously....that is not filled, we have to move to our new apartment. not that i'm complaining, cause seriously i love my new apartment. just sayin'.

ok, then.

Come play with LEGO!

Very exciting event for anyone in the Chicagoland area - the brand new Legoland Discovery Centre - scheduled to open in Schaumburg August 1 - is hosting a nation-wide competition for people who love to play with Lego!

It's an American Idol style event, where contestants will only have an hour to build something of their choice in order to be considered for one of the most coveted positions in the world :)

The winner of the competition will win a full time job working with children and playing with Lego for a living! If you want to watch or compete, head to the Embassy Suites on the Lakefront around 10. www.legolanddiscoverycentre.com for details!

Six Flags anyone?

Ok THIS makes me never want to go to any amusement park EVER again! Instead, buy your children this! :) thanks, karel!

There's a puppy in the house!

So there it is. I guess those photos don't really accurately reflect what I wanted them to, which is just how MASSIVE i think she has gotten since we first brought her home! she is ten pounds now which is six more pounds of trouble than she was at first! :)


that is one exciting update in my life.

the other is that daniel-son and i are about to sign a lease for a BEAUTIFUL apartamento downtown :) we won't move in 'til mid-july, but i am getting very excited about it right now! i am already thinking decoration options and all the wonderful things that will come along with this momentous occasion. stay tuned.

My Obligatory March Blog

so apparently, once a month, i feel the need to write on this blog. which i guess isn't THAT infrequently, if you really think about it :)

i honestly could NOT be happier that it is spring. when i got downtown for work this morning and the sun was shining, it made me so happy.

Other things that make me happy:
i don't have work tomorrow
grilling season is almost here!
i am going to look at potential puppy pets after work today
i am slowly learning how to drain all the poison out of my life


i am going to think of things of substance i can blog about on this blog. hopefully i will think to write more frequently in the future :)

do it, do it now!

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Thank you all!