Finally...

Pictures!

Ladies...who's interested in the guy on the floor? He's single.

Email

Email is good. I like email. Especially when I get it. You know the address, right?

Shirt.

I need this. It's so me.

Freaky Thangs

So it's Halloween. Who gives a shit? Really. It would be different if Halloween was on a weekend, but a Monday? Geez. I can't party like a rock star on week nights anymore. Especially not on a Monday. A Wednesday or Thursday, maybe. But, not a Monday or Tuesday.

Remember the guy I was talking about at my work who was looking at all the porn? You know, the 10 discs worth of porn we recorded off his PC? Well, he works out at my gym. Recently, he's been talking to me about watching me workout. At first, I was a tiny bit weirded out by it, but then I suddenly remembered he was Mr. Porn Man. WTF. He's a freak. If he says one more thing about how good I look on the elliptical, I'm going to have to punch him. What makes someone think they can say things to you to make you feel uncomfortable? Stupid. I hate people sometimes.

I talked to my friend KB today. Back in July, she went to a tennis tournament in Indy. While she was there, she met this guy who apparently rocked her world. She called me three times today to tell me what a great kisser he was. I'm like, "How in the fuck do you still remember this shit?" She said, "that's just how good he was." A kiss? A freaking kiss? Are you kidding me? You have no idea how "good" he was. It's not like she slept with him. I just love my friends. They always call me to tell me stuff like this. hah.

I need a new hairstyle. Maybe I should get extensions. Or maybe not. I don't know.

I banged out my paper this morning in 10 minutes, but I'm 1 page short. I need to work on it tomorrow night so that on Wednesday, my day off, I can go have a drink. Chris has class on Wednesday's and I hate staying at home by myself, because basically I hate being by myself, period. So, I'm thinking I may go to Harry's or Maryland Yards.

Oh, this weekend...I have no plans! Yay! It's the first time in a long time since I've had no plans. I just wanted to remind myself in writing. teehee.

Rain = Poop

Today feels like a weird Monday. Rain like this makes me want to go to bed. Ugh I hate Mondays.

Oh, a funny little update to our dinner party on Saturday. Apparently, Gary got so injured because he REFUSED to give up his car keys, that when Stacey sat on him, she hurt his ribs. He went to the ER on Sunday and while they’re not broken, they’re pretty sore. I feel bad for him. Poor guy doesn’t even have anyone to take care of him. (Ladies, this is a hint.) But, I will say this. If you come to my house and get so wasted you aren’t able to drive home, don’t refused to give up your keys. You’ll get hurt. Oh yes, you will get hurt.

Moving on. On Wednesday I have to go in for a “consultation” with an oral surgeon about getting my wisdom teeth out. My bottom two are actually sideways, under the gum. It’s going to suck. I’m considering going on medical leave for a week because I’m such a baby I’ll probably medicate myself to sleep for a week just so I don’t have to deal with the pain. Hopefully all goes well though. I’ll be put asleep when it happens. Well, not “put asleep” like an animal, but you know…I’ll have an IV of drugs to put me asleep. Anyway, I’m done talking about this now. It’s making me sick.

I’ve been listening to Jack Johnson this morning/afternoon and he could be the reason why I’m so sleepy. His music is like…I dunno..it’s like having your back rubbed constantly. It feels so good that you just want to sleep. His voice is like getting your back rubbed. Yes, that’s what I was trying to say. Don’t pay attention to this part of the post. I’m just rambling at this point. As a matter of fact, I should probably do some real work and snap out of it. I have a ton of documentation to write and Clearcase is not really one of my favorite subjects. So, off I go.

Play

I just downloaded the new song by David Banner, Play. This song is nasty. Geez. Somehow, I can't stop listening to it though. This is definitely not the version they play on the radio. I also downloaded an Otis Redding Greatest Hits CD. Now, tell me I don't have eclectic music taste. ha.

My headache went away, but then I got extremely tired. We went over to Jason & Nicky's tonight, and along with Jason, ended up falling asleep after dinner. Jason went to a party last night and didn't get home until 8am this morning. Needless to say, we needed a nap. We finally got up and left. Now it's raining and it's a perfect night to go to bed (early).

I'm proud to announce that starting on Tuesday, Nov 1st, I actually have weekends that are free. I'm keeping them free too. So I can do whatever I want at some point. Of course, I'm probably not going to know how to respond to free time. I'll probably go into shock from lack of being sociable. Oh well, I'll get over it and December will be here before I know it.

It's been a while since I've posted some expensive things I want to buy. So, I think Halloween Eve is the perfect time for this. Firstly, these are the new Jimmy Choo's I need. They're leather slingbacks in lime. They would be perfect to wear to work and I have a suit that will go with them perfectly. A pair of these would work too. Anything from Tiffany's for that matter. There are a ton of other things, but I won't torture myself by posting them. The last thing I'm going to post is the Coach Python Pocket Satchel. I'm in such total lust with this purse that it burns. Oh well, just a few more years till I'm at the top and can afford this stuff! I can wait on the purse. The shoes and earrings, well, waiting may not be an option. :P

Well, as many times as I can listen to this David Banner song, I'm still going to have to go read the lyrics. I think I know what he's saying, but part of me doesn't believe that he's actually singing a song this dirty. I just want to be sure.

Blank.

I had a nifty title for this post thought up, however this splitting headache I have has forced me to forget it. My head feels like a dump truck backed up to it and let out a big fat load of concrete and arrows; all to be deposited in my brain. Don't laugh, it's not funny. Last night, we had some people over for dinner and consumed waaaaaay too many bottles of wine. 12 to be exact. Wine goes down so damn easy. Chris drank so much he passed out before everyone left. He puked too. HA. I did not puke (this time). I just have a pounding headache.

Jason, who Chris works with, and his wife, Stacey came over, along with Tyler, Stephanie and Gary. Stacey was a ham. She kept us entertained all night. I totally like her and hope to hang out with her soon. Gary was wasted and Jason had to wrestle his keys away from him to keep him from driving home. He ended up staying here last night, but I took him to get cigarettes before passing out. I got to drive his sweet ass car though, so it cancelled out the fact that I hate cigarettes and I was more than happy to drive him to buy himself cancer sticks.

Anyway, my kitchen is a wreck and my head will not stop pounding. I'm about to pop a hole in some Advil LiquiGels and squeeze the liquid in my ears and possible up my nose. We have to go to Jason & Nicky's at 2pm for Halloween stuff. I'm really hoping that my head starts feeling better by then. Just imagine if someone was hitting you repeatedly with a hammer, in the head. That's how it feels. OUCH.

I have a paper to write. The draft is due tomorrow. I have nothing except a very disorganized outline. I call it Outline ala Dana B. It makes sense to me and that's all that counts. Proper outline be damned! Hopefully tomorrow at work I can cram out a few pages. Homework sucks my ass.

I'm watching I Love the 80's right now. I love this show. They're doing 1982. I love how they bring up all the shit I had forgotten about. Like, eraser pens and mesh shirts.

Well, I need to stop typing now because the sound of my keys clicking is hurting my head. Owie. Stacey took some pictures of last night, so as soon as she sends them to me, I will post.

Happenings

The wedding was a success! My cousin and his new bride are now relaxing on the beach in St. Maarten. (I'm jealous.) We had a really good time in Nashville. Lots of drinking and some shopping was included. I bought 2 new pairs of shoes, 3 shirts, a pair of jeans, and some Christmas ornaments. Woo.

My sister caught the bouquet. Yikes. I doubt she'll be the next to get married though.

I made this cheesecake ball thing tonight, to take to work tomorrow. When I tasted it though, I thought it tasted weird. It was a Homemade Gourmet mix and it said to let it sit in the fridge for at least 6 hours, so maybe it will stop tasting like butter by the morning. If it still tastes like shit though, I'm going to have to scrap it for some White Castles or something.

I'm starting to feel stressed out in a big way. I feel like I don't have time to do anything. I made a promise to myself that in November, I'm going to try and cut back on things in my schedule. So far, I'm sticking to it. I just can't wait until next week gets here. I need some time off to do the things that I haven't been able to do the past few months, which includes just doing nothing! Who knew life could get so busy? Geez.

I start a new class tomorrow. Blah. Friday we're going to see G. Love & the Special Sauce. I wish we weren't so I could just come home and do some stuff around the house, but you don't really have to twist my arm too much to get me to go. Heh.

Short and Sweet, Like Me.

I'm 99.5% packed. We're getting up at 3:30am to leave for Nashville and I'm no where near ready for bed. I'm going to be so freaking tired. We're going to take lots of pictures at the wedding and overall it should be a good weekend. My uncle is flying in from Boston. Wooo. I'll be back Sunday and will have an update shortly after. Try and not cry for me at night. I know it will be hard, but I will be back. (I crack me up.)

1 down, 2 to go.

Hell yeah. Cards won tonight. This was a GREAT game. I was on the edge of my seat all night. Funny thing is, I told this jackass I work with today that the Cards would win. He was a negative twat and told me they'd lose. Screw him. I love this game.

I'm stressed/tired/excited all mixed together. There's no way I can sleep, so I will just watch ESPN all night.

Oh, next month, my dining club will be checking out Juniper Grill. I've heard good things about the place, so hopefully it lives up to the rumors I've heard.

This is all I have to say.

Oh Baseball

Why must you hurt me? Umpires, why must you make fucked up calls and then eject people when you are questioned? Something needs to be done about the wack ass calls that umpires sometimes make. Perhaps a computerized home plate or something. I don't know, but something needs to be done. I'm so aggravated it's not even funny right now.

We spent the weekend at my Grandma's new house. It was an okay weekend. Yesterday we took my mom shopping at the outlet mall at the Lake. I haven't been there for a while, but I realized it still sucks. Why are outlet malls outside, anyway? Why can't an outlet mall be inside, like a real mall? I'm confused about that.

Last night we had a run in with a local hick girl working a drive thru window at a little hick MO ice cream/chili dog hut. I can honestly say my hate relationship with rural Missouri stems from the local hick people who populate these areas. Please speak so that i can understand you and when I question something you say because it's obviously not making sense, please don't give me an attitude like you are SOOOO COOL and I'm not. Also, I just want to add that when you WASH something or travel to WASHINGTON, there is no "O" in Wash. Please stop pronouncing it as "worsh" and "Worshington". It's annoying. Also, hick people, please don't stare at my car because you've never seen a car with headlight wipers. It's call a "cold weather package" and it's not all that abnormal. Although, I guess if you're used to driving a beat up Chevy turd, it may be abnormal to your world. Whatever. Usually when I return from a trip to rural anywhere USA, I feel so good to get back home. It makes me love you bitchy "city" people all over again.

Thursday we're leaving for Nashville, TN for my cousin's wedding. This is the same cousin who got us kicked out of a honkey tonk bar on "music row" the last time we were there. He's getting hitched and the wedding should be a hoot. We'll make sure and take lots of pictures for your viewing enjoyment. Thankfully I don't have class this week, so I have Mon/Tue/Wed to prepare. I have a lot to do. This is going to be a hectic week at work too. More on that in a different post. Thank goodness it's only a 3 day week for me.

Complete!

Another class down. I have an off week next week too. Woo. This post is going to be a short one, so here I go.

Tomorrow we're going to the Lake for the weekend to visit my mom & grandma. Yippee fucking skippie. Another dysfunctional family weekend!

I was in a kickboxing class yesterday and it kicked my ass, but it was so much fun.

I don't like morning radio DJ's. They're annoying. Who in the hell's bright idea was it to start a morning radio show anyway? I want to listen to music in the morning, not some jackass with a stupid name talk about shit.

The end.

Brio Tuscan Grille

<> Tuesday evening, my dining group stepped into Brio for our monthly dining experience. Chris and I got there a bit early and found a seat at the very crowded bar. L told me to take notice of the 40-year-old divorcees perched at the bar, and I did. He was right on the money. While it was a 40-year-old divorcee’s meat market delight, they were very beautiful people who looked very successful, so that was a plus. The bar staff was very attentive and I had no problems getting a drink. The wine list was actually better than I expected. I ended up drinking the 2003 Stival Pinot Grigio, at the bartender’s suggestion. It was very good and I would drink it again.

When we were seated at our very cramped table for 13, there was really no rhyme or reason as to how the seating worked. Two of our people came in and were seated right away, while the rest of us were at the bar. We were still waiting on four more people, who took a little while to arrive. It was nice, however that they had a table ready for us so quickly. The first thing I noticed, and heard others talking about was the fact that Brio’s décor is that of a ‘corporate restaurant’ (think Macaroni Grill or Cracker Barrel). We got the impression that at every other Brio, the same lighting and wall decorations could be found. So, it’s an upscale chain restaurant. I’m okay with that.

For some reason, they gave us a wait staff of 3 people. The main waitress was a little too snippy for my liking. I got the impression that she wasn’t too happy to be waiting on such a big group. The other two waiters did nothing but follow her around like little puppies. The reason this bothers me is that the few people whom I spoke with before our dinner, all told me how great the service was at Brio. While the bar service was great, my overall impression of the dining service is not very good. After dinner, we weren’t even offered a dessert menu, and I had to ask for one. Our waitress, Shannon, shot me the coldest look she could muster and handed our table one menu. That pretty much shot any sort of nicety regarding the service in my review.

Now for the food. We had the Brio Bruschetta & Steak Carpaccio as appetizers. The bruschetta was good, but not the best. The dish comes with four slices of bread. Two with shrimp & lobster butter on them and two with mozzarella cheese, balsamic vinegar and roasted red pepper. The part with mozzarella was the best part. To me, bruschetta isn’t the bruschetta without tomato or cheese, so the shrimp just didn’t quite cut it for me. The dish is worth trying though. The carpaccio was, “absolutely delicious” as Chris said. The presentation was nice also. The salads were not very good. If you get an entrée and are offered a salad for an extra $3.95, I would really pass on this. I must admit that I was very surprised that the salad wasn’t very good. I really expected it to be good, considering Brio is billed pretty much as an Italian joint. My main entrée was the Carbonara. It was good, but had too much spinach I thought. The presentation absolutely sucked. There were just noodles scooped on the plate and that’s it. It was pretty decent flavor though. My friend, Joan, had the Chicken Under The Brick, which was very very good. I would definitely suggest you get this dish, if you are looking for chicken.

Chris had a steak. While it came out overcooked (he ordered medium rare, but it was cooked near well) he said it was good and a little spicy. Another diner, Josh, ordered the Chicken Stuffed Prosciutto dish. He said it tasted okay, but was a little low on the prosciutto. Over all, I would say the main dishes here are average. Nothing special and nothing too awful.

Dessert wasn’t too terribly sweet. The Crème Brulee wasn’t the best I’ve ever had, but wasn’t bad. Chris got the Chocolate Mocha Gelato, which was fabulous. If you decide to visit Brio, save room for this. There’s also enough of this for 2-3 people. Most of their dishes are big enough to be shared, actually.

The coffee that was served was served was cold, but Brio does separate checks, so that kind of cancelled the coffee out. It was very nice to have separate checks and it not be a big deal, like our last visit to Balaban’s. Overall, if I get an urge to visit an upscale chain, I think I’ll stick with Macaroni Grill. It’s just a little better in the food & service department. However, anything is worth checking out at least once for yourself, so if you’re near Frontenac, give it a try. The place was very busy for a Tuesday evening so it may be best to make a reservation if you go on a Friday or Saturday night.

There are certain people that I find extremely annoying. So annoying, in fact, that I feel compelled to tell certain people how much I dislike them, and why. I will put up with a lot of crap if you are my friend. I will support you and listen to you and help you out anyway I can. It is just fact that I will do this. However, when you start being a bitch to me and talking about other friends in a negative way and basically just pissing me off with your stupidity, that's where I draw the line and stop being your friend. So, let this be notice to you. If you are my friend and suddenly start doing these things, I will no longer be your friend. It's much easier to be my friend than my enemy. I mean, look what happened to Saddam. We were friends, then he started being annoying and talking shit and the BAM. I dropped a dime on his ass and now he's as good as dead. I'm just putting it out there so you can't say you didn't know.

Detroit Recap

Well, I hate flying. I hate flying by myself even more. I'm just scared. Plain and simple. Anyway, so Friday night, Chris drops me off at the airport. I had said to him, "I really hope this isn't a full flight!" Heh. I think I jinxed myself by saying. The plane was totally full. So, I get on and try to put my bag overhead. Well, the bag was heavier than I thought, and I'm shorter than I like to think, so...I was having problems. The sad part is that nobody would help me. There were about 5-7 men sitting around me, all taller than me and all in their 40's-50's and nobody would help. Finally, this nice lady helped me out. So, I get all settled and we take off. I freak out. Horribly. I actually forgot my valium so I was in full on panic mode. So then, we hit some crazy bad turbulence. It sucked. I got a double shot of vodka, but honestly it didn't help all that much. We landed safely though and that's all that counts.

Saturday, we went to the "hot, trendy" club in Ferndale which turned out being a little hot, but definitely not trendy. It was called Boogie Fever Cafe. It was the coolest 70's disco bar. We had a blast! We didn't get in until early Sunday morning. Sunday we slept in and then went out to brunch with a friend of my cousin's, who also just got a divorce. This is teh same woman whose mansion house I visited last winter when I went up for my cousin's bridal shower. It's crazy how people get divorced like it's no big deal, but more on that later.

I left Detroit last night, crying because I had to fly again. It sucked so bad. The flight was a lot better on the way home though. I was so glad to land in STL. I won't be flying by myself again. I think I gave myself an ulcer worrying about flying all weekend!

When I got home last night, I took some meds and woke up all loopy this morning. So loopy, that I thought Miles O'Brien on CNN said, "Let's move the gays overseas..." I wake up and said, "DID HE JUST SAY LETS MOVE THE GAYS OVERSEAS?" Chris replied with, "uh, no..he SAID 'Let's turn our GAZE overseas." Looking back on it, I guess that's what he meant. It didn't sound like it to me though. I think he might be a gay hater. I knew I didn't like Miles for a good reason.

Tomorrow my dining out club is dining at Brio's. I'm looking forward to it. I've heard some good things about the place and I'm anxious to see if they're all they're cracked up to be. So, we'll see. Hopefully I'll get my review up by Wednesday.

Rock City Here I Come!

I'm leaving this evening for Detroit. I'll be back on Sunday night though. Oh, I found out that the "hot, trendy club" we're going to is actually a 70's disco club called Boogie Fever Cafe. There's really nothing hot or trendy about that. So, I'm in the clear. :P

This week has been the week from hell. Really. I'm not just saying that. Week. From. HELL. Sometimes, I just don't know what's wrong with people. Stolen laptops, grown men bawling, grown men looking at exotic porn at work that fills up 2 CD's from IS, then denying it, and numerous other problems that I don't really want to go in to. I'm hoping for a happy, sunny week next week.

Yesterday, I was sitting in a huge meeting and I looked down and realized that my skirt that already had a slit in the front, had an even bigger slit. It was so embarrassing. I wasn't sure how long I was walking around exposing more thigh than is appropriate for corporate america, so when the meeting was over, I had to walk back to my area with a notebook in front of me. I found a safety pin though, and fixed it. These freak accidents always happen to me. They're usually always embarrassing too. *shrug*

I'm now going to finish packing and then I'm going to watch this news report I have TiVo'd about a giraffe with cancer. OH. One more thing. My sister has interviews with SLU & Stanford so far, for Med. School. She just sent in her apps recently so she's really excited. Now we're waiting on UNL, KU, U of W, and Johns Hopkins. Cross your fingers for her!

Too Much

I went shopping tonight. I bought a pair of heels, a pair of boots, 1 pair of jeans, 2 shirts, a scarf, a wallet, a purse, and a jean jacket. Not a bad haul at all. Tonight I should have packed for my trip, but I was to tired. I have to stay up until midnight tomorrow anyway so that I can check in for my flight, so I'll just do it then.

I'm worn out. Work is stressing me the fuck out. For the past few months, things have been crazy with personnel issues. The most recent issue, is 16 brand new missing laptops. There's a big investigation going on and my boss and I have a pretty good idea of who took them, we're just having a problem proving it was this person. All of this crap is just stressful. AAARRGGGGHHHH. I really hope this weekend trip to Michigan is a mini stress reliever. Cross your fingers.

Mary Had A Little Lamb

So, I’m having a dinner party at the end of the month. I’ve decided to make lamb, but I’m worried that not everyone likes lamb. Obviously I will be asking everyone if they’re okay with “baa baa black sheep”, but I don’t really have a back up if people don’t like lamb. Damn the fact that I have to be so accommodating! Once I get past the meat issue, things will flow more smoothly in my mind.

Speaking of my mind, somebody told me that I was too organized. I nearly choked on my own spit. I will admit that I am pretty organized, but I don’t think I’m TOO organized. There are some aspects of my life that need a little more organization. However, this person said I was too organized as if it was a bad thing. Why is being organized, and keeping lists a bad thing? I’m all for spontaneity when I don’t have anything on my calendar. If I didn’t plan ahead, my life would be total chaos. Sometimes so many things pop up around the same time that if I wasn’t organized, I would be a total flake. So, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Speaking of stories, some of you know my various (odd) choices in music. I finally got a chance to really “listen” to Kanye West’s new CD, Late Registration, and I’ve changed my opinion of it. It’s a great album. I’m going to even go as far as to say that it’s better than College Dropout. If you get a chance, check it out. The new Franz Ferdinand is good too. Peppy!

Rabbit Food

I have started watching Kitchen Confidential. It is good, so you should watch it too.

Today was uneventful. Tonight, my group didn't really get the assignment, so we gave up. I was the first to say, "I give up." I don't regret it. I just didn't have the energy to try tonight.

My cousin told me that we're going out to a 'hot, trendy club in Ferndale' (a sub of Detroit) this weekend. Whatever that means. She's 46. I think my 'hot and trendy' is different from her 'hot and trendy' so I'm a little lost as to what to wear to this 'hot, trendy club in Ferndale'. Any ideas from the peanut gallery?

Another Weekend Bites The Dust

Even though Chris was gone this weekend, overall I had a good weekend.

After picking apples on Saturday, I baked another caramel apple pie today and it came out more perfect than the one from yesterday. I also made some pumpkin bread. This week I'm going to make some cupcakes and probably a cherry chocolate chip cake. I'm just in a baking mood.

This coming weekend I'll be in Detroit for the weekend. I'm excited, but at the same time, nervous. I'm flying and I haven't flown by myself since I was 12. Considering that I hate flying in the first place, whenever I think about it, it makes me want to puke. My plan right now is to take a valium and then drink heavily once I get to the airport. Hopefully that will do the trick.

I have to meet with my study group tomorrow and I'm really not feeling it. We've got to do these stupid questions that are going to take us probably 4 hours. Hopefully they'll go by fast.

That's it for now. Hopefully this week will be good and go by quickly!

R E S P E C T

I have respect for those of you who live alone. I was thinking about it tonight, and I just realize that I have never lived all by myself. I've always had a roommate. With Chris being gone this weekend, it made me realize that I am such a people person it makes me sick. I hate being alone. How do you do it? I am so bored. I just wanted to tell all of you who live alone, I respect the fact that you guys can live by yourself and manage to not jump off a bridge caused from loneliness. Keep on, keepin' on.

BTW, Steve Carrell is on SNL right now. Funny so far.

Yummy!

This morning I went to Eckert's with Nicole and her little boy. We picked a crapload of apples. As a result, there is a fresh apple pie baking in my oven right this very minute. It smells like a little piece of heaven. I don't even like pie, either. We went to the Eckert's in Millstadt, IL. I've been to the one in Belleville, but the one in Millstadt is much better. There were all kinds of things for kids to do, like piggy races, a big slide, little trike bikes they could ride, and various other stuff. We had a great time. I'm glad we got there early though, because by the time we left at like 11:30am, the place was packed.

Now, I'm thinking about taking a nap.

Last night I went to the mall to get something from Clinique and the mall was full of 12 year old prostatots. It was weird. I didn't realize so many parents let their children leave the house looking like miniature hookers. Most of the girls I saw were wearing skirts so short you could see their ass cheeks hanging out. I quickly left the mall when I realized I was the oldest person there.

This evening I'm going to the Working Women's Survival Christmas Show, but after that I've got nothing to do. Yippee.

Apparently Chris has been in a drunken stupor since yesterday at his convention. Brat. Maybe after I get back I'll start boozin' and baking. Sounds like a plan to me.