April 2012 Archives

Since I've been a major fan of RuPaul's Drag Race since it began, I've seen a lot of commercials for the show that comes on after, 1 Girl 5 Gays. Cut to season 4, when one night, we stayed on Logo a little longer than normal and caught an episode.

Oh. My. God.

I'm obsessed. It's the best show.  A host (say it with me, ALIYA-JASMINE!) interviews a panel of 5 gay men and asks them questions about love and sex.  Fuzzy said that night, "Of course you love this show, it's just a conversation."

We love it so much, that we deleted our Tivo subscription to Conan (sorry Coco, your show stinks) and now tape 1 Girl 5 Gays five nights a week. So now we can get caught up on past seasons, and catch the new episodes on Monday night.

Since this is an MTV show filmed in Canada, I think we need to bring it to the USA, and I should be the host. I love learning about people, and I think that I have what it takes to keep a panel going and engaged.

SO! MTV! Let's film a new version of 1 Girl 5 Gays, set it here in Chicago, and I will be the host. I can help assemble the cast.

Here's my headshot:

Here is Parker's newest film, for WBEZ:

There is so much to write, so much to share, so many fun stories and so much exciting news, but not enough time in the day right now to post it. I am going to be out all this week from the blog, so when May comes, get ready for BLOG EXPLOSION. YEAH!

(Also taking a week of from Cows on Parade.)

Have a great week everyone!!
xoxo

Inspired by Rebecca's post about her and Tim's dating anniversary (same date as ours, just 2 years later!), here is the first photo of Fuzzy and I together as a couple:

And the most recent one:
I still smoosh my face up to Fuzzy like that.

Eight years ago today, my best friend Rebecca and I had a kickass Gloria Estefan themed joint birthday party at a local bar. It was loads of fun (and loads of mango rum.) I invited the boy that I had a crush on, but he was producing a late-nite comedy show, so I didn't think he would be able to make it.

When he walked through the doors, suddenly no one else was in the room.

(Two years later, I married him.)

Eight years later, he's still the only one I see. I'm most happiest in his arms.  I love him more and more every single day.

Happy (dating) Anniversary, my love.

After a break due to injury, Melissa has started running again, and has been training for a 5K. She signed up for one in her hometown, but then got sick the night before and had to skip it. So when it was determined she was coming into town, I looked to see if any 5Ks were happening that weekend, and of course, there was!


It was a good one, too--the 7th annual Race to Wrigley. I love that it was a very Chicago themed run--the run started and ended at Wrigley Field, and the shirt in itself became a souvenir. I've run a lot of 5Ks now, and on a lot of paths, you just run til you see the mile markers. Since I am VERY familiar with Wrigleyville, when I looked at the route map, it just seemed daunting. I know how far Addison to Ravenswood to Irving Park and down Clark is (and with a couple extra loop-de-loops, it's 3.1 miles.) As it turns out, though, it made the race easier to me, as I would be like "Oh, I can run to Irving Park" and "Oh, Wrigley Field is just a few blocks down there." It helped!
 

Melissa was hardqore. It was her first official timed 5K, and that girl was FAST! She ended up pushing ME in the run, and a lot of the times, it was hard to keep up. She'd be like "Let's beat that lady with the double stroller!" and I'd be like "My knee can't go any faster!" but ultimately, I liked being pushed! We finished in 34:23, keeping an 11:06 minute mile pace. Not too bad! That's over 4 minutes faster than my race last week! Woo! Other Results: I was 259 out of 388 in my age/sex group and 2704 out of 3527 runners.

Fuzzy and Shaun are training for the Soldier Field 10, so when they finished the race, they just kept on running and ran on home! Amazing! Before the race, we found their brick, which had been moved into a new section. So cool!

I want to blog so much right now, but things are busy busy! I had a great birthday, my cousin is in town, and my big work event is in NYC next week. EEK! So if I don't blog for a few days in a row, its not cause I don't want to or have nothing to say--I just have zero time! 

WOOOO HOOOO Y'all!

Fancy Free at 33!

Full of glee at 33!

Today's my bday, and it's a fun one. My bestie Melissa from MS is in town for the weekend, and we've got a fun day of shopping and eating and drinking ahead of us. YEAH!

Also, Fuzzy got me an iPhone case with the Parker Bulldog photo on it. It is amazing.

Yay! I am so happy that I am alive! I love my life!

The world is being swept away right now with Draw Something, the new social touchscreen app/game in which you draw words for your friends and they try to guess what it is. Fun, right? Well, it is, but it is also pretty damn ridiculous, if you ask me. And since you just did (what?), here are my reasons why:

1) It takes forever to play. You draw things, then you watch your opponent guess things while it shows you what you drew again. Then you watch them draw things. Then you guess things. Then the cycle starts all over again. I try to look at the letter options in front of me and guess the word early, just to save some time, but often when I figure it out early and the finished drawing pops up, I realize that I missed out on inside jokes, multiple tries, and amazing finishes. The screens in between take forever, too. Speed it up, guys! And when you consider that you are playing this game with several friends (I am currently playing with 5 people, and they are all great, but I can't add any more or I'd have to quit my job), you realize that suddenly you don't have time to do anything else. Like play Hanging with Friends.

2. Everything you draw looks like a dick. I don't need much more commentary on this one, but no matter what it is that you are drawing, it will look like a dick for about 75% of the time you are drawing it.

3. The selections are very repetitive. If I painstakingly drew "roadkill" for one friend, chances are I am not going to want to draw it again for someone else. I can't tell you how many solar systems I've drawn now to demonstrate the words "orbit," "Jupiter," "Earth" and "Saturn." Ok, I can. 5.

4. The drawing selections are insane. Ok, so I can draw "Bieber" and "Britney" and "Jordan" and "Obama". Sure. Even "Skrillex." But "Daft Punk?" Trust me I tried. And failed. And don't even get my started on how you can successfully draw the differences between "Rza" and "Gza" with your finger, a small iPod screen, and essentially MS Paint. Yet, for some crazy-ass reason, these two pop up ALL THE TIME. Seriously, Draw Something, don't you know that the Wu Tang Clan ain't nothing to eff with? EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT.

5. It's no fun to play against a professional artist. Sure, it's amazing, cause you get some impressive works of art, but it also makes your shitty stick figures look that. much. worse. Yeah, I'll um...add some shading here, too. So there.

Which leads me to this link I found online--see #20 here...I guess THAT'S how you draw Daft Punk. Sheesh.

Forever ago, Claire and I decided to celebrate our birthdays at Lillie's Q, a new(ish) BBQ place in Wicker Park. Claire had been a few times before, but I was new to it (ok, maybe a few weeks ago we got some carry out food the night we met Jodi's baby). We put a date on the calendar and anxiously counted down the months and days till today. What a glorious evening!

Take a minute to look at this menu. I'll be here when you get back.




I know, right? And did you see the magical thing on there? SMOKED FRIED CHICKEN. Damn.

We decided to order a shit-ton of food--it's our BIRTHDAYS afterall--and then we would take whatever leftovers we had back home to our husbands.

We ordered:
Fried Pickles (appetizer)
Smoked Fried Chicken (it comes with a crock of honey)
Taste of LQ (sampling of 3 meats): Hot link (my fave), Tri-tip, and baby back ribs
Side of Baked Beans
Side of Green Beans
(I also had a bourbon and a beer. They were both served in Mason Jars. Heaven.)



WE EFFING WENT FOR IT.

Look at how happy Claire is:


And we ate every last drop. It was amazing. Even the waiter was impressed.

For dessert, we split a scoop of "grasshopper ice cream", with mint ice cream and Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies. DAMN it was good. AND it came in a tiny cast iron skillet! I wish I had gotten a better pic of the skillet. Trust me that it was cute. The perfect end to our meal.




But the best part about the meal? The company. Awwwwwwwwww.

YEAH BIRTHDAY WEEK!

I ran a couple miles with Andrea this morning in 26:36. I'm really tired today!

Me and Fuzzy, rocking the look.

Yesterday morning, Fuzzy, Claire, Steve, Shannon and I ran the Bunny Rock 5K. They gave us bunny ears and sun glasses, so you know we rocked that look on the train, the bus, and the streets. We got some honks and waves. Everyone loves a bunny!

Claire and I are serving Easter Bunny realness. Plus, we are glowing in the bask of our pre-birthdays. (I'm 3 days older than her.)

My goal was to run it the whole way, and in less than 40 minutes.  Claire and I ran together, and we finished in 38:42. Mission Accomplished! My training runs with Andrea are working! It never really felt hard, and I had a great time. Steve, Fuzzy and Shannon ran on ahead of us, but Shannon would drop back every now and again to run with us before taking off again. It was so fun! I am sad I didn't get a photo of Shannon in her get-up.

The cutest bunny there.

 
YEAH!

Next week: The Race to Wrigley!!

Here are photos of Shannon and I with Air Guitar Champion Nordic Thunder (as Jesus) at the Kiss Kiss Cabaret.

Happy Easter!!!

My little girl's all growns up. Today Parker turns 13.
We've been through so much together--from our lives in MS, to the big move to Chicago; from being a solitary cat, to getting two step-cat siblings. Parker is my bestest friend in the whole wide world.
Happy Birthday, Parker!

Me: Do you ever wish that you were a tortured creative genius?
Fuzzy: Sometimes...but I also think there's something for being a relatively creative functional member of society.



(pause)


Me: Do you ever wish you had a barn in a field that was an artists collective/ commune where our friends can come create art and music?
Fuzzy: Oh, all the time.

So that's my new daydream. We get a farmhouse, have a communal area where people can relax, create art, paint, make music, etc, and I can cook for them and have lots of cats. SWOON!

Sleeping
Eating
Coffee Making
Blogging
Catching up on emails
Lunch with Kate
Birthday Shopping for 5 different people
Indoor Biking
Mopping (I mopped!)
Changing the Cat Boxes
Laundry
Dishes
Making a Veggie Lasagna from scratch
Packaging up 5 packages to mail people

YEAH FOR DAYS OFF!

Monday: Ran 29:00
Tuesday: Biked with intervals 25:00
Wednesday: Ran same distance as Monday, 27:45. Had knee pain today, so that's no good. Running again Friday, 5K on Saturday, jazz class tomorrow. SLEEP somewhere in there, too.

Lana Del Rey has had a lot of controversy surrounding her since her big emergence on the music scene. I personally don't care about her name, her lips, or her SNL performance--I don't need to know about the personal lives of artists that I enjoy. I want to judge an artist on the product and art that they produce. The first time I heard Video Games, I swooned--I was instantly captivated by it. I downloaded her album, and then listened to it on repeat for days. I am mesmerized by it--I love every song on the album, and could listen to it every day. I love everything about it. Team Lana!

Since I've had multiple listens, I've noticed a lot of themes and similarities in the lyrics to her songs. I decided to break these all down and list the things that seem to be on her mind the most. I have NOT included anything about love or sex, since 98% of all songs are about that. My breakdown is based on the non-deluxe 12 song edition. Key below.

Death/ Dying/ Being Dead: 8 out of 12 songs (BTD, OTTR, BJ, NA, DP, R, C, TWMG)
Dresses/ Sundresses: 5 of 12 songs (OTTR, VG, NA, C, SS)
Drugs: 5 of 12 songs (BTD, OTTR, DMD, NA,TWMG)
Alcohol: 5 of 12 songs (OTTR, VG, NA, C, TWMG)
Makeup/Perfume (Mascara, lipstick, etc): 5 of 12 songs (OTTR, VG, NA, C, TWMG)
The word "Honey": 4 of 12 songs (BTD, VG, MDM, SS)
Rain/ Submersion: 4 of 12 songs (BTD, OTTR, DP, R)
Being Crazy: 3 of 12 songs: (BTD, OTTR, MDM)
Being a Child: 3 of 12 songs (BTD, OTTR, TWMG)
Hair: 2 of 12 songs (NA, TWMG)
Beauty Queens: 2 of 12 songs (SS, TWMG)
Bikinis: 2 of 12 songs (OTTR, TWMG)
Coney Island: 2 of 12 songs (OTTR, C)

So there you have it. Mostly, her songs are about death or dying. And 2 of her videos have her being held all drapey-like by that tattooed guy. Some might call her music Sadcore, but I am going to call it Lady Emo. (sidenote: I just did a google image search for Lady Emo--why do those girls all have the same haircut?). I'm curious to see where Lana's next album takes us. I know she has a million more songs that didn't make it on this album--a quick youtube search shows you that--but will she stay in this world, or move onto something else? Either way, I look forward to listening to it! Yeah!

Song Key:  Born to Die (BTD), Off to the Races (OTTR), Blue Jeans (BJ), VIdeo Games (VG), Diet Mountain Dew (DMD), National Anthem (NA), Dark Paradise (DP), Radio (R), Carmen (C), Million Dollar Man (MDM), Summertime Sadness (SS), This is What Makes Us Girls (TWMG)