http://courtneyincarolina.blogspot.com/2011/07/back-to-school-supplies-part-1-or-many.html
For those of you who follow my blog but not necessarily my sister's, please check out the link I have posted at the beginning of this blog. It puts mine in a whole new perspective. I always knew that what my sister was doing as a teacher was incredible, but I didn't realize the toll it takes on certain aspects of her life. So, if you have a few minutes, please check out this specific post.
As Courtney is reading this, I am sure she wasn't expecting me to put these post on my post, but it seems like the least I can do (aside from donating, which I WILL be doing!). I don't think anyone who is not a teacher can fully appreciate what good teachers like my sister and so many of my extended family do for students. So, if you know someone you love that is a teacher, read my sister's post and help out a loved one!
As for me, I started my job as a part-time admissions counselor today! But more on that in a different post. This one is strictly for my sister. I love you!
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
40-Love
Ahh, another great weekend comes to end with Matt leaving early this morning for a "conference" in Vegas. Note the quotations. There ARE two conferences he is attending - one called "Rising Coaches" and the other is a video conference with the company that DePaul and apparently a lot of other teams use for their all their video needs. College coaches really do work hard AND play hard. Put it this way - Shaka did not allow Matt to go last year and is not letting Donny, the current video coordinator at VCU and our good friend, attend either. But, knowing Matt, he will get a lot out of the conference, but hopefully he gets to enjoy himself some too!
I think he needs to relieve some stress after I completely kicked his butt in tennis this weekend - both Saturday AND Sunday. Saturday morning, we were up early and I made up some breakfast. As much as I love turkey burgers and ground turkey, turkey bacon is a joke. I was trying to be make a healthy breakfast for us, but I will draw the line at turkey bacon from now on. Gross.
After breakfast, we headed to the Arts and Music festival that was up the street from us. It was...interesting. They had all sorts of local artists and jewelry designers out selling their artwork. The works of art were breathtaking. Everything from photography to canvas paintings. Price tag: $100-1000. Needless to say, Matt and I were excellent window shoppers. The artists didn't even bother talking to us. I wonder if it was my tattered flip flops or Matt's 5 day beard he had going on that gave us away.
We grabbed some food before leaving and decided to head over to the tennis courts. We knew it was a long shot since on the weekends its impossible to find an open court. Sure enough, the ones right by our house were full WITH people waiting to play. We headed over to another park with 4 courts and all of those were taken. Again, people were waiting. We played catch for a little bit and I clearly impressed Matt with my athletic skills. About that time, he got a couple of calls from Coach Purnell about needing a kid's phone number or something along those lines. So, we headed back home so he could get some work done. After a couple hours, we headed back out to the courts.
This time, we were in luck! As we got there, a court opened up. Matt didn't even know what was about to happen. 6-3, 6-2. Burned. We both think we are a lot better than we actually are, but at least I KNOW I am better than him. In reality, it was probably pretty ugly, but a win's a win. I must say though, Matt is the best loser I have ever seen. I break rackets when I lose. Sunday, he lost again. This time, he went into the office after the game. I think his ego was a little bruised.
After Saturday's match, though, we decided last minute to see the last Harry Potter movie. After 2 hours of tennis, my first thought was "I better be able to eat something in the movie theater or I will not be a happy camper." A large popcorn and a medium drink (or in real life size - a bucket of soda) later, I was satisfied with the movie and my hunger level. As expected, the movie was excellent. Matt was really distraught that there will be no more movies, but once again, my mind drifted back to DINNER! It was 9:30 and we had not had a real dinner and I was hungry. After he got of the phone with his sister and stopped whining about the end of the series, I convinced him to order a pizza from Lou Malnati's. He had to run up to the office to get some things, but that would still give us time to get home before the pizza got there.
I should have known. Whenever I am starving, something always happens. Sure enough, one of the assistant coaches was in the office when we got there. He had just gotten back from an AAU game and was finishing some stuff up in the office. Matt decided to engage in a full blown conversation with him, even though I could tell it was completely fake. 20 minutes later we finally left and still had a 10 minute walk back home. About 5 minutes from home, Matt realized he missed 2 calls - both from the delivery boy from Lou's. My first thought was "if that delivery boys leaves with our pizza, Matt better grovel to get it back!" Thankfully, the delivery boy was still waiting at the apartment and Matt and I ended up running the rest of the way home. He knows better than to mess with me when I am hungry.
Sunday morning started, as mentioned, with me kicking Matt's butt AGAIN in tennis. He then headed up to the office to get some stuff done before the trip to Vegas. I eventually joined him up there just to get out of the apartment. We were out of there by 1:00 because we had to get to the corner bar to watch the World Cup Game. Don't even get me started about that game. And the ONLY reason why I even bothered to watch the overtime minutes was simply because it was the US team. Any other team, I would have turned off about 10 minutes into the first half. Best part of the game - all together now - the food!
After the US blew the game, we headed home where Matt ended up taking a nap. I guess the 5 beers he had during the game caught up to him. I was hopped up on caffeine from my 3 Diet Cokes and I am not even sure what I did while Matt napped. Cleaned maybe? When Matt woke back up, he offered to cook dinner for us and I was not going to turn down that offer. He makes a mean turkey and spinach burrito so I let him take over the kitchen. The Red Sox game and a home-cooked meal. There is not a better way to end the weekend.
Matt gets in Friday night from Vegas, and I start work on Wednesday! It will be a nice change of pace for me and finally having an income. But, even more exciting, is Matt's sister Elizabeth is coming in on Friday as well! She gets in about an hour and a half earlier than Matt so he already told us that he will meet us at the corner bar when he gets in. Let the festivities begin!
I hope everyone has a great week and I will keep you all updated about my first week at work!
I think he needs to relieve some stress after I completely kicked his butt in tennis this weekend - both Saturday AND Sunday. Saturday morning, we were up early and I made up some breakfast. As much as I love turkey burgers and ground turkey, turkey bacon is a joke. I was trying to be make a healthy breakfast for us, but I will draw the line at turkey bacon from now on. Gross.
After breakfast, we headed to the Arts and Music festival that was up the street from us. It was...interesting. They had all sorts of local artists and jewelry designers out selling their artwork. The works of art were breathtaking. Everything from photography to canvas paintings. Price tag: $100-1000. Needless to say, Matt and I were excellent window shoppers. The artists didn't even bother talking to us. I wonder if it was my tattered flip flops or Matt's 5 day beard he had going on that gave us away.
We grabbed some food before leaving and decided to head over to the tennis courts. We knew it was a long shot since on the weekends its impossible to find an open court. Sure enough, the ones right by our house were full WITH people waiting to play. We headed over to another park with 4 courts and all of those were taken. Again, people were waiting. We played catch for a little bit and I clearly impressed Matt with my athletic skills. About that time, he got a couple of calls from Coach Purnell about needing a kid's phone number or something along those lines. So, we headed back home so he could get some work done. After a couple hours, we headed back out to the courts.
This time, we were in luck! As we got there, a court opened up. Matt didn't even know what was about to happen. 6-3, 6-2. Burned. We both think we are a lot better than we actually are, but at least I KNOW I am better than him. In reality, it was probably pretty ugly, but a win's a win. I must say though, Matt is the best loser I have ever seen. I break rackets when I lose. Sunday, he lost again. This time, he went into the office after the game. I think his ego was a little bruised.
After Saturday's match, though, we decided last minute to see the last Harry Potter movie. After 2 hours of tennis, my first thought was "I better be able to eat something in the movie theater or I will not be a happy camper." A large popcorn and a medium drink (or in real life size - a bucket of soda) later, I was satisfied with the movie and my hunger level. As expected, the movie was excellent. Matt was really distraught that there will be no more movies, but once again, my mind drifted back to DINNER! It was 9:30 and we had not had a real dinner and I was hungry. After he got of the phone with his sister and stopped whining about the end of the series, I convinced him to order a pizza from Lou Malnati's. He had to run up to the office to get some things, but that would still give us time to get home before the pizza got there.
I should have known. Whenever I am starving, something always happens. Sure enough, one of the assistant coaches was in the office when we got there. He had just gotten back from an AAU game and was finishing some stuff up in the office. Matt decided to engage in a full blown conversation with him, even though I could tell it was completely fake. 20 minutes later we finally left and still had a 10 minute walk back home. About 5 minutes from home, Matt realized he missed 2 calls - both from the delivery boy from Lou's. My first thought was "if that delivery boys leaves with our pizza, Matt better grovel to get it back!" Thankfully, the delivery boy was still waiting at the apartment and Matt and I ended up running the rest of the way home. He knows better than to mess with me when I am hungry.
Sunday morning started, as mentioned, with me kicking Matt's butt AGAIN in tennis. He then headed up to the office to get some stuff done before the trip to Vegas. I eventually joined him up there just to get out of the apartment. We were out of there by 1:00 because we had to get to the corner bar to watch the World Cup Game. Don't even get me started about that game. And the ONLY reason why I even bothered to watch the overtime minutes was simply because it was the US team. Any other team, I would have turned off about 10 minutes into the first half. Best part of the game - all together now - the food!
After the US blew the game, we headed home where Matt ended up taking a nap. I guess the 5 beers he had during the game caught up to him. I was hopped up on caffeine from my 3 Diet Cokes and I am not even sure what I did while Matt napped. Cleaned maybe? When Matt woke back up, he offered to cook dinner for us and I was not going to turn down that offer. He makes a mean turkey and spinach burrito so I let him take over the kitchen. The Red Sox game and a home-cooked meal. There is not a better way to end the weekend.
Matt gets in Friday night from Vegas, and I start work on Wednesday! It will be a nice change of pace for me and finally having an income. But, even more exciting, is Matt's sister Elizabeth is coming in on Friday as well! She gets in about an hour and a half earlier than Matt so he already told us that he will meet us at the corner bar when he gets in. Let the festivities begin!
I hope everyone has a great week and I will keep you all updated about my first week at work!
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Nacho Helmet - Need I Say More?
Just one of those nights having a hard time falling asleep. Matt is out like a light, but my mind is just racing. As mentioned in my last post, I have accepted the part-time job at DePaul in the admissions office. Now, I am torturing myself trying to think of other part-time jobs to look into. So, I am trying to slow down all the racing with some Will and Grace. ALMOST as good as Friends. Although Debra Messing should never wear another red or orange with that hair.
I usually read a book when I want to fall asleep. Not because I don't enjoy reading and it puts me to sleep. But when I lay in bed with one, my whole body relaxes and before I know it, I'm done. However, I have read every book on our book shelf. Well, almost every book. Matt has a lot of sports books that I have never read that I intend to. I just can't quite curl up with one of those books. I need one with a great story, where the characters engulf me to the point of feeling like a friendship is over when I finish the book. Those are always the best.
I could have one at the blink of an eye on my Kindle. I have a whole list of books I am dying to read, but I am way too cheap right now to buy one. Everytime I think about buying a new book for my Kindle, I think about rent, groceries, laundry and everything else I need to pay for first. Not to mention the fact that there is a library on the corner of our street. Apparently they still exist and people still check out books. So, I think I might cough up a dollar tomorrow to get myself a Chicago library card! I feel like I can handle that.
On a different note, Matt and I went to my first Cubs game tonight at Wrigley! Tickets were only $20 and we soon learned why. We were seated behind one of the steel beams. Shortstop and left center were completely blocked out by the pole. But for $20 to see a major league baseball game, I am not complaining. Just the sights and the sound of the game make it worth while. As soon as we got to the game, I went directly to the food. You can't go to a baseball game without getting a hot dog. Its just not done that way. So, I picked up two hot dogs for Matt and me plus some pretzel bites to spice things up. As expected, the dogs were delicious. I am not sure if they put something in stadium dogs, but you can't beat them.
About 3 innings into the game, Matt and I saw something that changed our night. We saw a grown man carrying around a plastic Cubs helmet. When we heard him say "well, I have to clean it out first," we almost broke our necks to see what was in there. Nachos. It was a helmet full of nachos. Jackpot.
We reverted back to 10 year olds and could not think about anything else but getting us one of those nacho helmets. At the end of the 4th inning, we literally ran down the stadium steps and into to concourse. The following conversation actually happened:
Me: OK, the next person we see with a nacho helmet, stop them and ask them where they got them."
Matt: I am just going to ask this usher right here.
Matt: Excuse me - where can we buy the nacho helmet?
Now, Matt won't stop and ask anyone for directions but he did not hesitate to almost knock into the usher to find out where we could purchase this magical helmet. This is one of the reasons why I love him. He is just as obssessed with food as I am.
Apparently, there was only one concession stand that sold the nacho helmets and we found it, and found it fast. I have never seen so many grown men and women get so excited about food served in a helmet. Every time an order of nachos came up, you could see people trying to hold back from going to the bathroom on themselves they were so excited. It was awesome. If people were not responding quick enough to their name being called for their helmet, everyone else in line was ready to pick off the nachos. No mercy. This was not Little League - we were running with the big timers.
The rest of the game was a blur as we focused mostly on the nacho helmet. Before I knew it, the helmet was almost empty. I started to slowly panic because as much as I love Matt, I would fight him for the last couple of bites if I had too. I gave him the last pretzel bite earlier in the night, but this was a whole other level. However, this was not Matt's first rodeo and he tricked me into letting him have the last couple of chips. We were talking about how many baseball stadiums Matt has been to (17). He said "I will count to myself how many I have been to, let you know the number, then you try and remember which ones they are." Just for the recorded - I remembered 15 of the 17. After celebrating my awesome memory and rubbing it in his face that I DO in fact listen to him, I looked down at the nacho helmet. How could I have been so naive. Of COURSE Matt would eat the remaining chips while I was playing his stupid little game. Touche.
As far as the game went, the Cubbies were up 2-0 in the 9th inning. Long story short they lost 6-3. Difference between the Cubbies' closer and Papelbon: Pap loves to keep it interesting by putting 2 or 3 people on base before striking out the next 3 to end the game. And NO ONE boos him. This clown tonight walked 3 straight batters, gave up a 3-run double and walked the next 2 batters before he was finally taken out. People booed. He is no Jonathan Papelbon. I almost felt bad for the guy, and told Matt "I never boo at players, because its too insensitive." I retracted my statement after recalling the many crappy innings Manny DelCarmen gave the Red Sox.
So, as I finish this post, I look over at our new possession: a plastic Cubbies helmet. I will wash it out in the morning so that we can use it again. I suggested that Matt and I bring it to a yogurt place where you pay for your yogurt and toppings based on weight. "Don't worry - I brought my own cup, thank you." Matt wants to eat chips out of it again. Or cereal. I still vote for the yogurt place. I will let you know who wins out.
I usually read a book when I want to fall asleep. Not because I don't enjoy reading and it puts me to sleep. But when I lay in bed with one, my whole body relaxes and before I know it, I'm done. However, I have read every book on our book shelf. Well, almost every book. Matt has a lot of sports books that I have never read that I intend to. I just can't quite curl up with one of those books. I need one with a great story, where the characters engulf me to the point of feeling like a friendship is over when I finish the book. Those are always the best.
I could have one at the blink of an eye on my Kindle. I have a whole list of books I am dying to read, but I am way too cheap right now to buy one. Everytime I think about buying a new book for my Kindle, I think about rent, groceries, laundry and everything else I need to pay for first. Not to mention the fact that there is a library on the corner of our street. Apparently they still exist and people still check out books. So, I think I might cough up a dollar tomorrow to get myself a Chicago library card! I feel like I can handle that.
On a different note, Matt and I went to my first Cubs game tonight at Wrigley! Tickets were only $20 and we soon learned why. We were seated behind one of the steel beams. Shortstop and left center were completely blocked out by the pole. But for $20 to see a major league baseball game, I am not complaining. Just the sights and the sound of the game make it worth while. As soon as we got to the game, I went directly to the food. You can't go to a baseball game without getting a hot dog. Its just not done that way. So, I picked up two hot dogs for Matt and me plus some pretzel bites to spice things up. As expected, the dogs were delicious. I am not sure if they put something in stadium dogs, but you can't beat them.
About 3 innings into the game, Matt and I saw something that changed our night. We saw a grown man carrying around a plastic Cubs helmet. When we heard him say "well, I have to clean it out first," we almost broke our necks to see what was in there. Nachos. It was a helmet full of nachos. Jackpot.
We reverted back to 10 year olds and could not think about anything else but getting us one of those nacho helmets. At the end of the 4th inning, we literally ran down the stadium steps and into to concourse. The following conversation actually happened:
Me: OK, the next person we see with a nacho helmet, stop them and ask them where they got them."
Matt: I am just going to ask this usher right here.
Matt: Excuse me - where can we buy the nacho helmet?
Now, Matt won't stop and ask anyone for directions but he did not hesitate to almost knock into the usher to find out where we could purchase this magical helmet. This is one of the reasons why I love him. He is just as obssessed with food as I am.
Apparently, there was only one concession stand that sold the nacho helmets and we found it, and found it fast. I have never seen so many grown men and women get so excited about food served in a helmet. Every time an order of nachos came up, you could see people trying to hold back from going to the bathroom on themselves they were so excited. It was awesome. If people were not responding quick enough to their name being called for their helmet, everyone else in line was ready to pick off the nachos. No mercy. This was not Little League - we were running with the big timers.
The rest of the game was a blur as we focused mostly on the nacho helmet. Before I knew it, the helmet was almost empty. I started to slowly panic because as much as I love Matt, I would fight him for the last couple of bites if I had too. I gave him the last pretzel bite earlier in the night, but this was a whole other level. However, this was not Matt's first rodeo and he tricked me into letting him have the last couple of chips. We were talking about how many baseball stadiums Matt has been to (17). He said "I will count to myself how many I have been to, let you know the number, then you try and remember which ones they are." Just for the recorded - I remembered 15 of the 17. After celebrating my awesome memory and rubbing it in his face that I DO in fact listen to him, I looked down at the nacho helmet. How could I have been so naive. Of COURSE Matt would eat the remaining chips while I was playing his stupid little game. Touche.
As far as the game went, the Cubbies were up 2-0 in the 9th inning. Long story short they lost 6-3. Difference between the Cubbies' closer and Papelbon: Pap loves to keep it interesting by putting 2 or 3 people on base before striking out the next 3 to end the game. And NO ONE boos him. This clown tonight walked 3 straight batters, gave up a 3-run double and walked the next 2 batters before he was finally taken out. People booed. He is no Jonathan Papelbon. I almost felt bad for the guy, and told Matt "I never boo at players, because its too insensitive." I retracted my statement after recalling the many crappy innings Manny DelCarmen gave the Red Sox.
So, as I finish this post, I look over at our new possession: a plastic Cubbies helmet. I will wash it out in the morning so that we can use it again. I suggested that Matt and I bring it to a yogurt place where you pay for your yogurt and toppings based on weight. "Don't worry - I brought my own cup, thank you." Matt wants to eat chips out of it again. Or cereal. I still vote for the yogurt place. I will let you know who wins out.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Let them eat cake....and hotdogs, and pizza, and cheeseburgers...
As I sit and write this post, I am watching the USA women's soccer team play France in the semi-finals of the World Cup. I can't believe on such a gorgeous day, I am sitting inside watching this. Apparently I have an overwhelming feeling of patriotism because I am NOT a soccer fan. But, any time we have a chance to win a world championship, count me in! I will at least open the windows in out apartment so that I can feel how nice it is outside...
Let's start with the not so great news that I received over the past couple of days. I would hate to end a post on a negative note, but I also don't want to give off any impression that everything here is rainbows and cupcakes and Sweet Mandy B's. Unfortunately, I just found out that my sister's trip to Chicago has been cancelled. Even though it was for work, it was still going to be nice to see her. I still don't think either of us are clear as to why it was cancelled, but it is what it is. I know we are both disappointed, but hopefully we can work something out for another time! Secondly, as mentioned in my last post, I had a job interview with a nonprofit organization. The interview went great and I found out I was a finalist for the position. Unfortunately, I got the call yesterday that I did not get the job.
So that's the update on the more disappointing side. On a brighter note, I did get the part time job at DePaul in the admissions office. So, I am no longer unemployed and I am now contributing again to society! The couch today feels so much more comfortable knowing that I can just relax on it and not spend hours searching for jobs. Since it is just part-time, I will look for another part-time job but probably not until the end of August or September. I am going to try and enjoy as much of the summer as I can before I have to face the miserable winters. I know - I already have such a great attitude about the winters here. But I can't help it when everyone I meet says "just wait until the winter..."
Side note - this is why I hate soccer. Two French players just went down along with Abby Wambach. Wambach is up right away and not whining. The two French players? They could win an Oscar for the amount of acting they are doing right now. Basketball players fall all the time without any kind of padding. The majority of them get back up immediately. The opposite of soccer. The players go down and the majority of them spend a good minute or two flailing around like they are injured, only to get back up like nothing happened. Good thing USA players have more pride than that. USA! USA! USA!
Back on track - more importantly, Dad came to visit this past weekend! He was supposed to land at 3:30 on Friday, but ended up not landing until after 4:15. I knew it would take him a while to get to the apartment just because it was a Friday. Sure enough, he got caught in traffic coming from the airport and didn't get here until about 6:00. Even still, it was great to see him pull up in the cab - he was really here! We got him settled into our modest apartment when we both realized we were starving. Just like mom's trip, our first night out, we at the local pizza place up the road from us. Nice thing about this restaurant is that they will take your cell phone number and call you when the table is ready. So, since we had a 45 minute wait, we put our name on the list, then I walked dad over to campus so he could see DePaul.
We walked around campus for about 30 minutes, and I know I talked his ear off, telling him all about the neighborhood. We made it back to the restaurant just as they were calling our name. As always, the pizza was delicious, but the meal was not going to be complete until we made a trip over to Sweet Mandy B's. I knew that if anyone would appreciate this bakery as much as me, it would be my dad. Unfortunately, I underestimated the amount of people that would be there on a Friday night. It was packed. We couldn't even see half of the goodies they had waiting for us. And both dad and I HATE crowds. So, we moved to the back of the line, and eventually ordered our peanut butter cookie with chocolate frosting and plain cheesecake with chocolate sauce. Seems to be a pattern here.
Saturday morning, we got up and headed to Einstein bagels which is about an 8 minute walk from our place. I was surprised that dad wanted to eat there since we have one in Richmond, but I love Einstein's, so I wasn't going to argue. We spent the next 2 and half hours walking around the neighborhood. We started by heading down to the beach. Poor dad. I think I took a couple of years off his life. On a Saturday, the beach in PACKED. And not just the beach itself, but also the running and biking lane as well. I told dad just to keep an eye out for the people riding their bikes, but I had no idea it would worry him so much. I had to tell him that I have only seen ONE biker hit a runner and that was because I am pretty sure the person on her bike was texting. She also committed this hit in front of the cops. I am pretty sure she got a ticket for texting and riding. Dad was not convinced as I am pretty sure he was silently cursing the people on bikes whizzing by us. Courtney - I KNOW you can picture what I am talking about :) Other than that, I think he enjoyed the beach!
After walking around for a couple of hours, we finally made it back to the apartment. We rested for a little bit before heading into Old Town (2 miles from here), to get on the waiting list for Second City. Second City is the famous improv and sketch comedy club where some of the most famous comedians and actors like Tina Fey, Chris Farley, Steve Martin got their starts. Since the show was technically sold out, we had to get there at 2:00 to put our name on the stand-by list for the 4:00 show. After getting our name on the list, we walked around Old Town looking for a place to eat. Obviously. Because that's what most of this weekend was based around - FOOD!
We found a placed tucked away between a couple of buildings. It was a pizza place (shocking), but more importantly, it is home to the JUMBO slice. And by jumbo I mean each slice of pizza was bigger than a laptop. I opted to go with a Greek salad, but silently cheered when dad went with the jumbo slice. I knew he wouldn't want to eat all of it and would share some with me. Needless to say, it was delicious. I mean, you can't go wrong with a pizza place that is home to the jumbo slice. We had some time to kill, so we decided to have some italian ice while we were there. Not a bad lunch at all.
We headed back to Second City with our fingers crossed that we would score some stand-by tickets. Sure enough, the luck was in our favor. We were escorted to our seats where we ordered sparkling water. That's right - we are fancy. The show was absolutely hysterical. At one point, the entire audience was involved, and dad and I were one of about 5 audience members that were asked to stand up and give the finger to another group of audience members. I must have been harboring some frustration because I gave them both fingers. I was so glad dad talked me into going. Initially, when we found out we would have to wait stand-by, I wasn't thrilled about waiting. But, I decided, why not? I know dad really wanted to see it and I am glad we went. I didn't realize it was so close to our apartment so now I am going to have convince Matt to see a show.
After the show, we were somehow hungry again despite our jumbo slice of pizza and italian ice. So, we decided to try another restaurant that I had not tried since I moved here. John's Place is home to the "Best Burger" according to last year's Burger Fest. Naturally, that's where we went. We sat outside on the sidewalk, enjoy a couple of drinks and of course, finished it off with cupcakes that we had waiting for us back at the apartment. Great way to end the night.
Sunday morning was the day of our 8 mile run. As some of you know, Dad and Courtney are both training for a half marathon that they are running in August up in Rhode Island. Dad had to get an 8 mile run in while he was here. By 9:30, we were out on the streets starting the long run. Best quote from dad of the entire run: "Why are there so many people out this early already?" HAHA. He is used to running in Glen Allen where he could run 8 miles and not see another runner at all. Here, you are bound to see another runner every 3 minutes. I don't know about dad, but what got me through the run was the delicious brunch I knew awaited us once we finished. It brought me back to my basketball days where the first thought in my mind after a game was "now where are we going to eat?"
After we both finally cooled down, showered and slowly got ready, we were out the door for the BEST BRUNCH EVER! I took dad to the new restaurant that Matt and I found where we had gone for dinner and brunch. Dad had the fruit and granola parfait and I had the scrambled eggs with cheese, toast and hash browns. I pretty much did everything but lick my plate. I forgot how far 8 miles is. I have run 2 half marathons, but am not training for one currently. Therefore, I consistently run about 5-6 miles. But that extra 2 miles makes a huge difference. And my brunch did not stand a chance.
Afterwards, walked next door to the local sports store that sells apparel for any team, college or professional, that you can think of. This is where we watched the USA steal the World Cup game from Brazil. Everyone in there went nuts. Speaking of which, THE USA JUST SCORED ANOTHER GOAL IN THE SEMI-FINAL AS WE SPEAK!! USA 2 - France 1! Eat it!
Ok, back on track. After celebrating with the random people in the store, we headed home where I watched SportsCenter for the next hour to get the recap of the game. Dad took a little power nap because we were headed to a movie that afternoon. We walked the 15 minutes to the movie theater to see Super 8. Dad had been wanting to see it, and having sat through numerous
WAIT FOR IT - USA SCORES AGAIN!!!!!
alien movies with Matt, I figured, why not one more. $22 later, I don't think either of us were impressed. But, it was nice to just sit after an 8 mile run and hours worth of walking over the past couple of days. It was a nice change of pace for a couple of hours. Best part of the movie - Coach Taylor from Friday Night Lights played one of the lead roles in the movie. I could look at him all day no matter what type of movie he is in.
Naturally, we had to stop by Sweet Mandy B's on the way to get dinner. If you are keeping track, we stopped there twice in three days. After picking up dessert, we picked up dinner at a hot dog shack right on campus called Devil Dawgs. I am convinced they are they best hotdogs in the area. I was so excited to take dad there since I know how much he loves hotdogs. And I am pretty sure they did not disappoint since we both devoured ours. The cheese fries didn't stand a chance either. And since we ate all our dinner, we treated ourselves to our desserts. And that, my friends, is why I run and work out on a daily basis. So I can eat my face off and not feel terrible about it.
We spent the rest of the night flipping through channels while dad finished up a book that he brought on the trip. I eventually had to go pick Matt up from the airport. I know I bad mouthed my TomTom when I first started this blog, and I believe I have been justified in those comments. Thank goodness I went to google maps for directions as well, because TomTom definitely tried to get me killed on the way to the airport. TomTom always gets me to the right highway. That's not the problem. The problem is HOW it gets me there. Normally, its via back, dark, sketchy roads. I turned the TomTom off about 3 minutes into my drive.
Dad was already sleeping when we got home, so Matt finally saw him on Monday morning. When Matt went into work, Dad and I went back to Einstein's for breakfast and stopped by Dunkin Donuts on the way back. We picked up coffee and doughnuts for Matt since we were stopping by his office. I wanted to show Dad where he works and where the women play their games. Dad got to meet a couple of the staff members before we headed back to the apartment. Dad had to check into his hotel, but Matt and I were going to meet up with him downtown for dinner. I spent the rest of the day on the back porch enjoying the weather and getting my butt kicked in my Jillian Michael's workout.
Around 7, Matt and I headed downtown to Dad's hotel. Dad wanted us to come up to the room so we could see the view. He texted me the room number. Turns out, it was the wrong number. We knocked on 2501 instead of 2105. No worries though - no one answered :) When I called dad to get the right number, he was laughing so hard when he realized he gave us the wrong number.
We headed out towards Michigan Ave to find Giordano's, Chicago's most famous pizza place. Dad tried multiple times to whip out the map, but we would not let him. We promised him we would get him to Michigan Ave without the touristy map. Just for the record, we succeeded. Unfortunately, once we got to the restaurant, we found out it was a 45 minute wait. At this point it was 8:00. Matt, knowing me so well, asked if I could wait 45 minutes or if I was going to get cranky from being so hungry. I decided that I could wait because in all honesty, this place has the BEST PIZZA I HAVE EVER HAD. Its indescribable. As promised, I did not get cranky.
After dinner, it was time to say goodbye to Dad. He was still going to be in Chicago, but the next two days were dedicated to his conference he was attending. I knew it was going to be hard, but it still doesn't prepare you for it. I tried to fight back the tears since Matt and I still had to walk to the subway and get home. It was tough though. The weekend went by entirely too fast and it didn't feel like enough time. But, it was by far, one of the best weekends I have had since I moved here. I hope Dad had as much fun as I did! I was so glad he was able to make the trip, even though it meant having to attend a conference as a result.
Next up, meeting tomorrow with DePaul to discuss the details of the job and a Cubbies game this weekend. So, I am going to enjoy the next couple of days relaxing before getting back to work. I hope everyone is going well and enjoying the summer! I know the weather has been brutal in Virginia, so visitors are always welcome here in the 83 degree weather :)
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
"Something American"
Good morning, all!
I know it has been a little while since my last post. It has been a crazy couple of days!
As mentioned, I made it down to Taste of Chicago which is held in Grant Park downtown every year the week before July 4. About 100 restaurants from all over the Chicago area come down to the park and set up tents where they cook their food from the restaurant. The way it works is that you buy tickets when you enter the park and each restaurant sells their food for a certain amount of tickets. You can get the full meal for about 10-12 tickets OR you can do a "taste" for 3-4 tickets. Each tent had 2 different options for their taste. For example, at one of Italian restaurants, the "tastes" were either a piece of pizza or fried cheese ravioli. The great thing about the "tastes" was that each taste was MORE than just a bite size. So, after 4-5 tastes, you have essentially had a meal. So, for $16 dollars (24 tickets), I had a piece of pizza, an enchillada, three pieces of fried cheese ravioli, a piece of cheesecake and another dessert called a blintz.
It was everything I expected and more. I went on a Wednesday night so while there was still a lot of people, there was not nearly as many as there would have been on a Saturday. It was still an excellent opportunity for people watching and it didn't disappoint. When there are thousands of people out and about in a park, there is almost a guarantee you are going to see some sights.
The 4th of July weekend could not have been better. Matt completely spoiled me by not going into the office Saturday, Sunday OR Monday. Friday though, Matt was still at the office at 8:00 PM, so I decided I was not going to sit in the apartment for the rest of the night. I walked down to our corner bar for dinner and drinks. I could not have been there 5 minutes when a guy sat down with his friends at the bar and started talking to me. Turns out he worked for Oliver Purnell back at Dayton as a student manager. He knows the current director of operations (Andy) and one of the former assistant coaches (who is now down at Georgia Tech). Matt eventually joined me and 3 glasses of wine and 3 FREE shots later (the guy at the bar bought them for Matt and me), we knew we were in for a long night.
Apparently, Matt does not remember how to reduce a hangover. On our way home, I made up stop at 7-11 to get Gatorades and I made sure to drink all of mine plus water when we got home. Matt did not make it that through the first bottle of Gatorade. The next day, Matt pretty much woke up for lunch and that was it. He spent the day on the couch and managed to eat his nachos I made before falling back asleep At 7:00, after spending the afternoon walking around Lincoln Park I finally woke him up for real. I was hungry and had found a brand new restaurant on my walk. I finally managed to get him up and moving and we headed over to the restaurant. It had just opened on Friday, so I was a little nervous about what to expect.
The food was DELICIOUS! The restaurant has huge windows that open up to the sidewalk so you can sit right at the edge of the restaurant and enjoy the sights and sounds of Lincoln Park. Obviously they did not have everything ready for the opening since they were using dish towels as napkins. Also, I think 4 different people came over to our table to see how things were going. BUT, no Mexican soup on the house :) So, I at least felt better about what we were eating.
Sunday, was a Trader Joe's and cookout day. After maneuvering through the masses at the new Trader Joe's, we headed over to the strength and conditioning coaches house for a cookout. Andy, his brother and best friend joined us, as well as Mac and his wife's two friends. Mac and his wife have a brand new baby boy and their friends have a one month old baby girl. The neighbors have a 6 month baby girl. There was a clear division all afternoon between the 20 somethings, single, with no kids, and the 30 somethings with babies. Also, Mac's wife so "kindly" volunteered me as a babysitter for her neighbors. I had to gently decline the offer.
On a brighter note, I am pretty sure I put up the best performance of the day on cornhole. While I did not win the MOST games, I did have 2 back-to-back games where I threw all 4 bags in the hole. Automatic win. Also, I was a part of the biggest come back of the day. We were down 20-0 and came back and won. Best part: I was playing against Matt. Matt argues that he won more games that day, but I reminded him that he was a part of the biggest choke ever.
Yesterday was gorgeous here for the 4th. We headed downtown for the afternoon to do some shopping for Matt's sisters' birthdays. Michigan Ave was an absolute zoo, with people randomly stopping in front of you, people trying to push HUGE baby carriages down the side walk and people clearly on a Sunday stroll. Needless to say, I was trying VERY hard to be a happy camper. I found my gifts for the girls, and then we headed away from Michigan Ave for lunch. We went to the bar that Mr. Fleming and I went to during the NCAA tournament before the VCU-Georgetown game. Mr. Fleming had told Matt that I needed to take him there and since we were downtown, it was perfect. Matt would NOT allow me to get the quesadilla though. He told me it was un-American. Then, he proceeded to play Bob Seger, Creedance Clearwater and John Melloncamp on the Jukebox. And when the waitress asked him what he wanted to drink, he said "something American."
We also ventured to Millennium Park since Matt still had not seen it. On our way, we passed a Nine West store. I cannot even explain the amount of willpower I displayed. EVERYTHING in the store was 60% off. Everything. Had I not just bought birthday presents, I would have spent my savings in there. 60% off. I am still trying to fathom how I walked in and walked out without buying anything. That's impressive.
We finally made it home after walking around for about 3 hours only to walk another hour down to the fireworks at the beach. When we got down to our beach, there were hundreds of people waiting for fireworks. We decided to keep walking because we figured there is no way these people are going to be able to see the fireworks that they set off at Navy Pier. We walked about 25 minutes towards Navy Pier and right at 9:00, we found a spot on the beach just as they started. The site was breathtaking. The entire city skyline was lit up and over the water, all you could see was fireworks. And not just fireworks at Navy Pier. We could see 3 different firework shows taking place up and down the beach. Some people next to us had the song "Jack and Diane" on repeat. Truly an American moment.
Overall, the weekend could not have been better. I couldn't help but think about our VCU friends while we were out there on the beach, wishing that we could have all been there. But, it was still amazing. I hope you all had a great 4th and enjoyed your weekend as much as we did!
Matt heads to Florida tomorrow until Sunday to spend the week with his family. Dad comes in on Friday though and I cannot wait! Burger Fest is going on this weekend and it is exactly what is sounds like :) So much to do and not enough time while he is here!
I also have a face-to-face interview this afternoon. A bird pooped on me last week and I have been told that is good luck. So, maybe I can cash in that luck today. But, just in case, everyone keep your fingers crossed for me!
I know it has been a little while since my last post. It has been a crazy couple of days!
As mentioned, I made it down to Taste of Chicago which is held in Grant Park downtown every year the week before July 4. About 100 restaurants from all over the Chicago area come down to the park and set up tents where they cook their food from the restaurant. The way it works is that you buy tickets when you enter the park and each restaurant sells their food for a certain amount of tickets. You can get the full meal for about 10-12 tickets OR you can do a "taste" for 3-4 tickets. Each tent had 2 different options for their taste. For example, at one of Italian restaurants, the "tastes" were either a piece of pizza or fried cheese ravioli. The great thing about the "tastes" was that each taste was MORE than just a bite size. So, after 4-5 tastes, you have essentially had a meal. So, for $16 dollars (24 tickets), I had a piece of pizza, an enchillada, three pieces of fried cheese ravioli, a piece of cheesecake and another dessert called a blintz.
It was everything I expected and more. I went on a Wednesday night so while there was still a lot of people, there was not nearly as many as there would have been on a Saturday. It was still an excellent opportunity for people watching and it didn't disappoint. When there are thousands of people out and about in a park, there is almost a guarantee you are going to see some sights.
The 4th of July weekend could not have been better. Matt completely spoiled me by not going into the office Saturday, Sunday OR Monday. Friday though, Matt was still at the office at 8:00 PM, so I decided I was not going to sit in the apartment for the rest of the night. I walked down to our corner bar for dinner and drinks. I could not have been there 5 minutes when a guy sat down with his friends at the bar and started talking to me. Turns out he worked for Oliver Purnell back at Dayton as a student manager. He knows the current director of operations (Andy) and one of the former assistant coaches (who is now down at Georgia Tech). Matt eventually joined me and 3 glasses of wine and 3 FREE shots later (the guy at the bar bought them for Matt and me), we knew we were in for a long night.
Apparently, Matt does not remember how to reduce a hangover. On our way home, I made up stop at 7-11 to get Gatorades and I made sure to drink all of mine plus water when we got home. Matt did not make it that through the first bottle of Gatorade. The next day, Matt pretty much woke up for lunch and that was it. He spent the day on the couch and managed to eat his nachos I made before falling back asleep At 7:00, after spending the afternoon walking around Lincoln Park I finally woke him up for real. I was hungry and had found a brand new restaurant on my walk. I finally managed to get him up and moving and we headed over to the restaurant. It had just opened on Friday, so I was a little nervous about what to expect.
The food was DELICIOUS! The restaurant has huge windows that open up to the sidewalk so you can sit right at the edge of the restaurant and enjoy the sights and sounds of Lincoln Park. Obviously they did not have everything ready for the opening since they were using dish towels as napkins. Also, I think 4 different people came over to our table to see how things were going. BUT, no Mexican soup on the house :) So, I at least felt better about what we were eating.
Sunday, was a Trader Joe's and cookout day. After maneuvering through the masses at the new Trader Joe's, we headed over to the strength and conditioning coaches house for a cookout. Andy, his brother and best friend joined us, as well as Mac and his wife's two friends. Mac and his wife have a brand new baby boy and their friends have a one month old baby girl. The neighbors have a 6 month baby girl. There was a clear division all afternoon between the 20 somethings, single, with no kids, and the 30 somethings with babies. Also, Mac's wife so "kindly" volunteered me as a babysitter for her neighbors. I had to gently decline the offer.
On a brighter note, I am pretty sure I put up the best performance of the day on cornhole. While I did not win the MOST games, I did have 2 back-to-back games where I threw all 4 bags in the hole. Automatic win. Also, I was a part of the biggest come back of the day. We were down 20-0 and came back and won. Best part: I was playing against Matt. Matt argues that he won more games that day, but I reminded him that he was a part of the biggest choke ever.
Yesterday was gorgeous here for the 4th. We headed downtown for the afternoon to do some shopping for Matt's sisters' birthdays. Michigan Ave was an absolute zoo, with people randomly stopping in front of you, people trying to push HUGE baby carriages down the side walk and people clearly on a Sunday stroll. Needless to say, I was trying VERY hard to be a happy camper. I found my gifts for the girls, and then we headed away from Michigan Ave for lunch. We went to the bar that Mr. Fleming and I went to during the NCAA tournament before the VCU-Georgetown game. Mr. Fleming had told Matt that I needed to take him there and since we were downtown, it was perfect. Matt would NOT allow me to get the quesadilla though. He told me it was un-American. Then, he proceeded to play Bob Seger, Creedance Clearwater and John Melloncamp on the Jukebox. And when the waitress asked him what he wanted to drink, he said "something American."
We also ventured to Millennium Park since Matt still had not seen it. On our way, we passed a Nine West store. I cannot even explain the amount of willpower I displayed. EVERYTHING in the store was 60% off. Everything. Had I not just bought birthday presents, I would have spent my savings in there. 60% off. I am still trying to fathom how I walked in and walked out without buying anything. That's impressive.
We finally made it home after walking around for about 3 hours only to walk another hour down to the fireworks at the beach. When we got down to our beach, there were hundreds of people waiting for fireworks. We decided to keep walking because we figured there is no way these people are going to be able to see the fireworks that they set off at Navy Pier. We walked about 25 minutes towards Navy Pier and right at 9:00, we found a spot on the beach just as they started. The site was breathtaking. The entire city skyline was lit up and over the water, all you could see was fireworks. And not just fireworks at Navy Pier. We could see 3 different firework shows taking place up and down the beach. Some people next to us had the song "Jack and Diane" on repeat. Truly an American moment.
Overall, the weekend could not have been better. I couldn't help but think about our VCU friends while we were out there on the beach, wishing that we could have all been there. But, it was still amazing. I hope you all had a great 4th and enjoyed your weekend as much as we did!
Matt heads to Florida tomorrow until Sunday to spend the week with his family. Dad comes in on Friday though and I cannot wait! Burger Fest is going on this weekend and it is exactly what is sounds like :) So much to do and not enough time while he is here!
I also have a face-to-face interview this afternoon. A bird pooped on me last week and I have been told that is good luck. So, maybe I can cash in that luck today. But, just in case, everyone keep your fingers crossed for me!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)