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Monday, June 30, 2008

Nice to Get Away




This weekend we headed up to Michigan to my parents' house to hang out with them, my sister and her family. Although it was way too short of a visit and we missed Josh, it was a great time.

I always come back from Ann Arbor feeling so much more relaxed and rejuvenated. It is one of my favorite places to visit. It certainly helps that I'm with most of my favorite people in world too.

I talk to Lisa about 3-5 times a day, but it's still great to see her in person. I hadn't seen Adam since he was first born, and he has changed a ton in just three and a half months. He is just the sweetest little butterball and so happy. He is always moving his arms and legs, and you can just tell that he has a ton of energy. Not surprisingly, Jody and Adam totally bonded. Adam laughed so much when Jody started jiggling his arms and legs. It was the cutest thing.

Edin is still a total cutie. She's full blown into her terrible 2s, which makes her a little more high maintenance, but no less fun. It's awesome to hear her talking--and in three different languages no less!

Of course, with all these babies, my sister is exhausted. I swear, she is amazing with her kids and I am in total awe at how much she does for them. Hopefully between all of us, she got as much relief as possible. My parents had been Super Grandma and Grandpa all week, and I know that they helped her out a lot.

Jody even convinced Lisa to ditch the kids on Saturday so she and I could get mani/pedis. Sure, Edin gave her some hell when we got home, but at least Lis got an hour for herself...and pretty nails to match!

Jody and I also went with my dad to see the new Indiana Jones movie. We all agreed it was pretty cheesy, but it was fun. The perfect summer popcorn flick.

All in all, a great trip! Can't wait to go back soon!

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Party Foul

This is the huge plant I took from the event. Jody loves it!


The Hip Hostess event started out innocently enough. Passed appetizers, chi-chi Chambord cocktails and a cool, fashionable crowd. It was a very classy, chic event, not to mention the decorations that Courtney and her crew worked on were amazing. In fact, they did such a good job on the decorations that the crowd got a bit over-eager when the Hip Hostess muttered the "F" word at the end of her presentation: FREE.

Let's start from the beginning. Jenny and I met up with Katie, Stephanie, Katharine and Karen (who showed up a bit later) at the event. Jenny, Katie, Katharine, Courtney and I all lived in a house off-campus together our senior year of college, and this was one of the first times since then that we've all been together, so that was cool. Plus, this was the first time I've seen Stephanie since she got engaged so there was plenty to celebrate last night.

After plenty of mingling, munching and drinking, the Hip Hostess, Jen, started her presentation. She offered a ton of fun tips on everything from centerpieces to tablescapes. She's so creative and made it all look so easy. After Jen's presentation Brown-Forman's Chief Entertaining Officer offered up Chambord drink recipes (raspberry cheesecake martini anyone?). Finally, Jen came back, thanked everyone for coming and told the crowd that since we were at the last event of the evening, we could take home the centerpieces on the tables for free. That's when things got weird...

I swear, people went nuts. They started grabbing centerpieces...and then everything else they could get their hands on! One shady lady was walking around with two reusable shopping bags grabbing whatever she could. We saw her shove about four serving platers from the demonstration into her bag. Another girl ran up and took a latern...a latern that's candle was still lit. It was crazy...This nice, refined crowd turned into a bunch of swag-thirsty vultures.

Our whole table was watching this all go down in disbelief asking Courtney, is this okay? (The answer was yes, it's fine.)

Then suddenly we joined them. When a sweet, little woman came over to our table and asked if anyone had claimed our centerpiece yet, I immediately said yup, it's ours. Then Jenny grabbed a tropical plant she'd been eyeing all night, which inspired me to drag a big ol' tree plant over to our table...and then Jenny grabbed a similar looking tree plant to match mine! Jenny and I had to guard our goods from all the sticky fingers, but we held strong! Katharine was upset that we spent too much time judging the vultures rather than joining them so she didn't have a chance to grab anything...but in the end she scored our centerpiece so hopefully that made her happy.

Luckily, I drove last night, so Jenny and Karen waited outside the Ivy Room while I pulled the car around to haul off our loot. Totally embarassing. I was cracking up in the parking garage when I saw at least three other carloads of people putting plants, platters, etc. from the event into their cars.

I mean, we were just supposed to get a cute little coconut cup with nail polish and a shot glass inside as a thanks-for-coming favor--and there we were driving off with a freakin' tropical forest in my trunk.

Honestly, it was pretty hilarious. People (myself included, apparently) will do some crazy things for free stuff.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Hostess with the Mostess



Anyone who's been around me when I'm planning a party knows that I get a bit neurotic.

Between thinking no one is going to show, OCD-like cleaning and obsessive candle lighting, I have party-planning issues. Once the party starts, I'm fine, but that preparation time makes me a bit bonkers. So, that's why I am so excited for the Hip Hostess event tomorrow night at the Ivy Room at Tree Studios.

Jennifer Sbranti, founder of Hostess with the Mostess (http://www.hostesswiththemostess.com/), will be here demonstrating fun ways to throw the perfect party. Jennifer's website is chock-full of entertaining ideas for everything from showers to dinner parties to gift ideas. She offers creative decorating tips and tricks with a hip, modern twist. Some describe her as Martha Stewart meets the ladies of "Sex and the City."

Add in no admission fee and free food and drinks from Chambord Black Raspberry Liqueur, and good times are sure to ensue.

Full disclosure time...Even though I would go to this event even if my best friend wasn't in charge of hosting it, she is. Courtney has been working her butt off planning this event, along with six other Hip Hostess events hitting seven different cities across the country, for a while now. And I know how much time, energy and hard work she's put into this project. Knowing Courtney and knowing what a PR superstar she is, I'm sure it will exceed all expectations and be totally worth all those sleepless nights. The best part? I get to hang out with Courtney for a couple days while she's in Chicago, which is always a total treat.

Fingers Crossed

We just want to let the Hunts know we're thinking of them and keeping our fingers crossed that Baby Hunt sits tight a little bit longer for them. We keep checking the blog to see how things are going, and it sounds like today's been a good one so far. Here's to 13 more good ones!

Sunday, June 22, 2008

New Frontier

Is West Chicago Avenue the city's new restaurant row? Perhaps.

Unlike the uber-trendy, ambiance-rich hot spots on Randolph, the eateries on Chicago offer a little more variety in terms of style, price levels and overall flair. Yes, there is still a slight shady factor, but it's definitely changing. With everything from bars and coffee shops to casual and upscale dinner spots, I'm really surprised that it's taken us so long to catch on.

Although we'd been to Flo several times, we didn't really pay attention to the Chicago Ave. restaurant scene until a couple weeks ago when we tried Mexique, a new Mexican-French fusion joint. Like any new restaurant, Mexique still has some kinks to iron out and the food is pretty unmemorable. For real. I can't even remember what either of us ate. Our waiter also had one of the worst faux-French accents I've ever heard; we were pretty sure he was just a dude from Bartlett or something. But, that was just funny. And really, it was not the worst meal--just nothing special.

The best part of the evening was going down Chicago Ave. seeing all these interesting places we'd never noticed before. As we walked out of Mexique, we noticed Natalino's. A cool, but not super-trendy, Italian place with nice outdoor seating space and really yummy looking dishes (we had total food envy). Jody and I both said we wished we had eaten there that night.

So this weekend we hit up Natalino's with Chris and Karen. And it didn't disappoint. While we didn't spend much time inside the restaurant, Karen took a look around and was pretty impressed. Next time we'll check out the interior. Instead, we opted to enjoy the perfect weather and went al fresco. Chris, Karen and I all got pasta dishes that were tasty and Jody enjoyed his non-PC veal marsala. Add to that good bread (warm with cheese melted on it) and an awesome sauteed calamari appetizer, and it was a hit. Good food, good ambiance, good company. That gets the (patent-pending) Schirel seal of approval.

Next up on our Chicago Avenue restaurant tour: West Town Tavern and Mercury Cafe. Oh yeah, and if Jody has it his way (which I know he will) you will likely find us at Five Star Bar on $.10 wing night.

So tell me...are we the last to know about everything going on on Chicago Avenue?

Friday, June 20, 2008

Star Power

Me, Beth and our goodie bags playing it cool with the "My Boys" guys. From left to right: The cute one (aka Kyle Howard), the nice one (aka Michael Bunin) and the hot one (aka Reid Scott). Back row: Random, beefy bar tool


Everyone knows I love listening to Eric & Kathy on The Mix every morning. I walk around the house/my office with a little portable radio and listen to them almost all morning long, unless I have a bunch of phone calls. I'm even a Mix Insider, which means I get emails about different contests and special deals that are Mix-related. I've been entering these contests for years now and so far have only won two different free movie passes. But this week, I won my third contest: two VIP passes to the "My Boys" screening party and cast meet-and-greet at Martini Park.

Okay, most people have never even heard of "My Boys." But, I actually watch it. Hey, summer TV stinks so I take what I can get. Plus, it's a show that's based in Chicago (even though they mostly film in L.A.), so that makes it fun. All in all, not a bad show, but not must-see TV.

Anyway, Beth and I went to this thing last night at Martini Park. The bar itself is pretty cool. Pretty trendy, but the Thursday night crowd didn't seem snotty or anything. We had a good time hanging out with each other. But there wasn't too much going on in the VIP room...just a lot of girls flipping their hair around. The bar, obviously, had a ton of different martinis and some free passed appetizers (can't go wrong with fried mac-n-cheese and homeade doughnuts). Mostly, though, Beth and I did some celebrity stalking to try meeting the three castmembers who were there. We basically followed them around the bar in an oh-so-stealth manner until we escaped the VIP room and finally caught all three of them alone, without any handlers or fans around. So Beth made the move (she's the brave one!).
We got our pictures taken with them and talked to them for a few minutes. Beth chatted with the hot one about his name, Reid. I chatted with the cute one about "Orange County," which he was in and which is one of my favorite movies. And the not-so-hot and not-so-cute, but nicest one talked to both of us. Good times. Pretty anticlimatic, but totally worth all the stalking.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Totally Chuffed


Last night Jody and I went to The Swell Season concert at the Chicago Theater and it was awesome.

For those who don't know The Swell Season is comprised of the two stars of the movie "Once" -- Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova -- and several of Hansard's bandmates from The Frames. If you haven't seen "Once" yet, go rent it. (Click on the link to see a trailer for the movie.) It is such a special little movie, and the music is incredible. My parents first introduced us to the movie when they were here visiting around Christmastime. They had seen "Once" when it hit theaters and they were instantly obsessed. After watching the movie on DVD, we were on the "Once" bandwagon. Big time.

So when Jody heard they were coming to Chicago to play a concert, we bought tickets immediately. We bought them forever ago, and it was totally worth the wait.

The concert was probably one of the best shows I have ever been to. Hansard was really the star of the show. His personality was contagiously fun and positive. He introduced most of the songs with these long, rambling explainations and stories. While he tended to go on and on, it was quite endearing to listen to him gather his thoughts and reveal what the songs meant to him. Analyzing song lyrics is one of the reasons I love music so much, so it was really satisfying to hear the basis for the songs that I have been enjoying so much this past year.

One of the best parts of the night was the performance of "Falling Slowly," the song that won Hansard and Irglova the Oscar for Best Original Song in a Movie. This is, by far, the duo's most recognizable and popular songs. But, unlike many artists who tend to start resenting their most commercially popular works, these two really seem to love, respect and appreciate the tune. In his intro, Hansard said this song changed everything for them. He then went on to describe how musicians' songs are like their children. He said you send them out into the world and hope they will succeed, touch people, do great things...and maybe even make some money to bring home to its parents! I felt like this was the perfect analogy for this group, and it showed the crowd how much this song meant to them.

Then in the middle of the song, Hansard missed a cue and started singing a lyric that didn't fit and he kind of stopped the song midway. He told the crowd that his mind was elsewhere and that he wanted to dedicate the song to a special guest in the crowd: Barack Obama! Crazy, right. The whole audience starting cheering, standing up and shifting around to catch a glipmse of Obama, but no luck. I'm thinking maybe he was backstage or something. Who knows.

Anyway, Hansard dedicated the song to Obama by playing off the "Falling Slowly" lyrics that say "save this sinking boat and point it home." He said that he hoped Obama could save the U.S. from the downward spiral its in and get us moving in the right direction again. The crowd went totally wild and from then on the auditorium was filled with such electric energy. All in all, it was a very cool night.

I could go on, but this post is already way too long. The bottom line? Go rent "Once," buy the soundtrack and if the The Swell Season comes back here or comes to your city, check out the show. You'll fall in love with them too.



Monday, June 16, 2008

Just Call Me John Hodgman


I am officially a Mac dropout.

After giving the MacBook a shot for 2 weeks, I returned it to the Apple store yesterday. It just wasn't working for me. I know, I know, Macs are less vulnerable, more intuitive, more efficient, cooler and all around better computers. But, remember people, I'm a writer. I'm not into the techy stuff. This blog is as techy as I get. I want my computer to be pretty, comfortable and easy on my eyes. And the MacBook just wasn't. The screen was too small and made me squint, the keyboard left dents in my wrists and the Mac right click function didn't do it for me.

As convincing as those commercials are, I'm afraid I am much more like the portly PC dude. I'm just not Justin Long enough, I guess.

So I am back on a Dell--and so much happier. Of course, lingering in the back of my mind is that hope that the new Dell doesn't break my heart into pieces like my last one did by frying my hard drive after just three years. But, I'll give it the benefit of the doubt.

Sorry to all you Mac lovers out there. Maybe next time. In the meantime, if anyone is looking for Office 2008 for Mac, I have an extra copy.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Waterborne Illness Anyone?


Whoa! Has everyone seen those crazy flood pictures from IU this week? 

In case not, take a look at this link:


Of course, being the health-conscious person (translation from Jody: hypochondriac) that I am all I could think when looking at these pictures is that those people who are diving into the Jordan River and slip-n-sliding in the Dunn Meadow mud are bound to pick up something nasty. Probably typhoid. Maybe dysentery. And, some kind of hepatitis for sure. 

Despite the flash flood, Courtney is headed to IU this weekend for a pontoon trip. I'm guessing they'll just pontoon down Kirkwood and float on over to Kilroy's. 

Just remember, Courtney, if you see a Kilroy's breadstick floating through the murky water, try to resist. But if you can't, I promise to come visit you in quarantine...wearing my hazmat suit, course.

* In an effort to give credit where credit is due (and, mostly, to see if Steve Carroll is reading this blog as he should be) I'd like to note that Steve is the one who sent this link to Jody.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

It Was Eh


This week I finally got around to seeing the Sex and the City movie. 

I went Monday with Beth, Karen and DeAnne. Honestly, the movie was just eh for me. But, I still had fun going to see it. I think the fun part of seeing the movie is just remembering watching the show and spending some time with your girlfriends. 

I started watching SATC when I graduated college in 2000 and had just moved to the city. I remember going down the street to watch at Jessica, Kristin, Melanie and Holly's place on Roscoe on Sunday nights because Katie, Katharine and I were too cheap and too broke to have HBO. I always liked the show, but I was never totally addicted. Mostly, I just liked the girl bonding that went along with watching it.

The thing is I wasn't really looking forward to the movie. I was totally satisfied with how the series ended. Everyone seemed to be in a good place and that was good enough for me.

Then the movie. It wasn't terrible. I laughed plenty--mostly at Charlotte who had some of the best moments in the movie in my opinion. I teared up a little only once when (kinda spoiler alert) Carrie lays into Big outside the limos. But that's about all the emotion that the movie drummed up for me. 

I don't want this to sound too negative, but the thing that really bugged me was that the movie as a whole felt really shallow. True, New York lifestyle and high fashion were always crucial parts of the show; they complemented the story-lines and the characters. But in the movie, it was all just too much and too distracting for me. I mean, I don't think I could have handled another Louis Vuitton reference, another ridiculous shopping spree or another cheesy Pretty Woman-esque fashion montage.

Maybe all this bugged me in the movie more than it did on the TV show because our economy is in such bad shape and so many people are in such dire straits. But, I'm guessing it bothered me because the movie's overall story just didn't grab me, so I paid more attention to the frills. Who knows, maybe I've just outgrown these ladies. 

Despite all this, I do think the Sex and the City movie is a must-see among girlfriends. If nothing else, you can laugh at some of the outrageous clothes. Hello, ugly turquoise bird hat thing. And how about those his and hers sequined robes?

My suggestion? Wait for DVD, and have a girls' night in so you can make your cracks out loud without getting shushed in the theater. 

Your Daily Cuteness


Not much else to say on this picture, but geez, aren't my niece and nephew just the sweetest?


Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Fun Times


After a somewhat rough week, this past weekend was just what we needed to bounce back. 

On Saturday we did double duty at Kristin and Tom's Derby Delayed party and Beth and Jeff's engagement party. We missed the annual Derby Delayed party last year, so we were happy that we could make it this year, especially since this year's party was hosted in their beautiful new place. Complete with KFC, cheesy potatoes, derby pie, all the bourbon you could ask for and a fun crowd, it was a great time--even if Big Brown fell apart. Thanks, Kristin and Tom!

Unfortunately, at the party I realized that several people have not been regularly checking the blog. The dead giveaway was when they asked if I saw the Obama fist bump. Um, yeah, I blogged about it. So, I suppose I have to work a little harder at promoting this thing.

Anyway, after the Derby party, we headed over to Beth and Jeff's engagement party. Even though they have been engaged for a while now, I'm always happy to celebrate that these two are getting married. Beth is one of my best friends, and I am just so happy that she found such a great guy like Jeff. I really can't wait for their wedding in November. At the party, we got to hang out with the Naperville crowd, which is always fun, and I caught up with Beth's parents and her sister, Julie, who I haven't seen in forever. I also ran into my former sorority sister Cari, who is dating one of Jeff's friends, and I finally met her adorable little boy. 

Sunday, Jody's Uncle Bob was in town from San Francisco for his 40th high school reunion. We had brunch at Jane's in Bucktown with Jody's family and had a great time catching up with Bob. For anyone who's never been to Jane's, it is such a cute and yummy place for dinner and their weekend brunch is really good. I highly recommend it.

All is all, it was a nice weekend and we loved catching up with so many friends and family. Have a great week everyone!


Friday, June 6, 2008

Move Over Jeep Wave


Anyone up for joining Jody's scooter gang? 

So far, he's the lone member, but we've been seeing so many scooters around town lately that there have got to be some new recruits coming in soon, right? As many of you know, Jody bought a scooter last summer and he loves it. He scoots down to the beach every weekend to play volleyball and has the easiest time finding parking. The scoot gets about 70 miles per gallon, so filling up is a cinch--even with $4.30 gas prices.

I, on the other hand, have been scared to ride it. When Jody got the scoot last year, I sat on it with every intention to learn how to ride it. Then, bam, the second I moved forward a couple feet, I freaked out and jumped off. Yes, I felt cute sitting on it. But moving was a whole other story. 

However, I may have changed my mind about this whole scooter thing. With so many people scooting these days, a community is being born. And the inspiration is the Jeep Wave. Remember the Jeep Wave? All those people who drove around in Jeep Wranglers would wave to each other if they passed one another on the road. Well, the scooter peeps are following in the Jeep Wave footsteps with a Scoot Beep. Yes, a Scoot Beep. Apparently, when two scoots pass each other, they each let out a little "what up" beep (aka the Scoot Beep) to acknowledge a fellow scoot-er. 

So if you're planning to join Jody's scoot gang, be sure you know the rules and give a little beep next time you scoot past him. 





Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Sweeping the Nation



Although I have been a Hillary fan throughout the longest primary season ever, I am happy to support Obama now that he's clinched the nomination. I'm still hoping for Hillary as VP, but my dad tells me this just isn't going to happen. He's usually right on this stuff...except when he was still hanging onto hope that Gore would come in out of nowhere. Anyway, I do like Obama. And after seeing this video clip, he's got my vote secured (I think you'll all understand why):

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

What the Eff, Universe?


Sorry for no blog post yesterday. I actually had a total and complete computer meltdown yesterday. Not good when your entire home business is on one computer. Luckily, I have the best husband in the world who helped me get a new computer last night. I officially ditched the PC world to try out Mac. What can I say, those "I'm a Mac"/"I'm a PC" commercials really worked on me. 

So far, the Mac has been okay. I'm not loving it though. It's definitely going to take some getting used to. I may end up returning it and getting back to the familiar PC. We'll see how it goes.

But with this whole computer breakdown, in addition to feeling like crap all weekend and some weird black-cloudy things going on with my sister, I began thinking that the universe is just not cooperating lately. And you know what? I was right. The universe really is out of whack. Anyone ever heard of Mercury being in retrograde? 

I'd heard it a few times in the past, but I never really knew what it was all about. So, I did a little digging. Apparently, on Monday, May 26th, Mercury went into retrograde and it lasts for about three weeks, with everything not totally straightened out until July 4th. Basically, from what I read, a planet goes into retrograde when it appears to be moving backward. It's not actually moving backward, it just looks that way thanks to some type of cosmic shadows.

So what does it mean for us? According to www.astrologycom.com/mercret.html, Mercury being in retrograde causes general confusion in our world. It messes with communications, travel, appointments, mail and the Internet. (Yeah, I was skeptical too when I saw astrologers referencing the Internet. But whatever.  I suppose they have to adapt to modern times too.)

These are the things that Mercury in retrograde affects:

* thinking and perception
* processing and disseminating information
* all means of communication, commerce, education and transportation

It causes personal misunderstandings; flawed, disrupted or delayed communications, negotiations and trade; glitches and breakdowns with phones, computers (Bingo!), buses and trains.

According to the "experts" in all this, the aggravation and frustration that we experience during this period is a result of our inability to roll with the punches. Apparently, I do not roll well.

So what do you think? Are you buying this? Anyone else having issues with the universe?

Or, is the real reason for my technology breakdown the fact that I clicked on a picture on Perez Hilton, which resulted in about 60 different Explorer windows opening and blinking all over my screen? I'm blaming Mercury.