Friday Round-Up

Praise the Lord, it's Friday! Here's what happened this week.

1. I somehow pushed the cork of our wine bottle INTO the bottle, instead of pulling it out. What can I say? I can do amazing things. I also sprayed red wine all over my white shirt in the process. Awesome!!

2. I drank 20 full glasses of water at work over the course of the week.

3. It snowed. Again.

4. It was butt cold. Again.

5. I finally got a new pair of jeans that look halfway decent.

6. I learned who invented the stoplight. (Thank you, Breakthrough youth Black History Month celebration!)

7. I made an awesome PowerPoint.

8. I successfully kept myself from mindlessly watching TV. We did watch Lost, but that's not mindless. AND, Lost (and new episodes of The Office) are part of our Lenten agreement with God.

9. I purchased our tickets to DC for Easter.

10. I arrived EARLY to work 3 days.

11. I almost ran out of gas twice.

12. I brought my lunch to work 4 out of 5 days. And the other day doesn't count because we were celebrating all the February birthdays.

13. I added 30 people on my LinkedIn profile in an office competition. And I would just like to say that what should matter is how many you have, not how many you can acquire in two weeks. I'm just saying.

14. I did the "2:30 Candy Dance" around the office. Don't ask. It's sorta scary. And there might be children watching.

15. Umm...probably lots of other stuff but those are the standouts.

Ok, so when I list it out like that, it doesn't really amount to much, does it? But hey, it's the small victories, right? RIGHT?!

Have a great weekend!

Top Things I Love

Oh my gosh, it's been so long since I blogged. But...it was my birthday and then we were in Florida (it was great, thanks for asking) so I am WAAAAAY behind. Anyway. My apologies. Let me fill that void now that has been in your life.

Let me tell you about the top things I love. Obviously, numero uno, God (does the Trinity take up numbers 1, 2 and 3). Number two, Mason. And number three? Let me introduce you to...

No, not Delta. THE COOKIE! Biscoff, to be exact. Now that's not REALLY the thing I love the third most in the world. Because you can't forget family and champagne stoppers (sidenote: the stopper is so good that I'm still drinking the bubbly goodness of the bottle M got me for my birthday. No, I didn't drink it all that night.)

But OH MY GOSH! What is it about these little cookies?! EVERY time I fly Delta I feel my heart beat just a little bit faster when I hear that little drink trolley headed my way. Ok, I'm slightly exaggerating. I even ate the cookies on 3 of the 4 flights to and from Florida this weekend, despite my low sugar diet...and subsequently only felt slightly guilty by all the "bad food" we ate the rest of the weekend.

Maybe it's because they're European? Or because they're sweet but not too sweet? Whatever the reason, I love them. A lot. And they're practically free, right? Minus that whole "$250 you just paid for a ticket" thing...

Table for Two

M and I aren't really into celebrating Valentine's Day (mostly because my birthday is two days later...wink, wink, nudge, nudge), but this year we decided to replicate the amazing breakfasts we had on our honeymoon in Croatia. What does this entail? I'm glad you asked! Prosciutto. A fresh baguette. Two types of cheeses. Fruit. Rich hot chocolate. Strong coffee. (Let's be honest, the only thing missing is wine...and since it was breakfast....well I'm not THAT much of a lush). And really, does anything say "I love you" quite like bread, cheese and prosciutto? I think not!

*WARNING* IT'S ABOUT TO GET A LITTLE SAPPY*

Looking back over the three years and a few months that M and I have been together (about one and a half of marriage), I'm pretty sure that I couldn't have created anyone more perfect for me. It is literally amazing to get just a small glimpse through M's love for me of Christ's love for His church...even when she is emotional, irrational or selfish. (Of course I am NEVER any of these. EVER). How good God has been to us...for our love for one another, yes, but more importantly for His love for us!

We will now return you to your regularly-scheduled witty and sarcastic postings.

The Rules

Because we live in an orderly society, their are certain rules that we all must abide by (unless you think you're above them--I'm lookin' at you Maryland drivers--in which case you ignore them and totally annoy the crap out of everyone else). These rules are a little different depending on where you live...for instance, did you know that in the country of England they DRIVE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD??! I know! Oh! Oh! And in the Czech Republic PEOPLE YIELD TO BICYCLES. Mind-blowing!

Apparently, like these other exotic locales, Chicago has its own set of rules. Here are five that I've observed so far. Let's call them "Chicago Winter Rules."

1. If you park in front of my sidewalk, it's totally ok for me to shovel my sidewalk ONTO your car.

2. Lawn chairs and orange cones really do save a parking spot. And if you take it, your tires will be slashed. (I wish I were kidding. I'm not.)

3. It is not my problem if a huge piece of snow flies off the top of my car and smacks your windshield, making it impossible for you to see for a terrorizing 30 seconds.

4. It's so much more fun to yell instructions from across the street at the "foreigners" (ie not from Chicago) who don't particularly know how to get their car out of the 2 foot wall of snow (see rule number 1) that is around their car. You wouldn't want to actually cross the street and HELP.

5. It's really fun to scare these same "foreigners" by telling them that it will still be snowing in mid-June. And the reason it's fun is because it's true.

Oh, Chicago...

An Open Letter to Target

Dear Target,

Let me say this up front. I love you. (This is not to say that I don't have a problem with some of the things you do, but...well...I'm working through it.)

Now let's be honest. If I'm looking for quality, or something that will last me more than, say, a year- give or take a few months- I'll turn to my other loves (Banana Republic, Nordstrom's, local boutiques) to get the job done. And if I want jewelry that I will literally wear forever, I'll probably try and convince M to buy me something from Tiffany's again. And if I need a staple pair of shoes that I'll wear at least 4 times a week, Kate Spade is my girl (ok, so this has only happened once, if you don't count the adorable KS wallet my sister got me for Christmas. But still, a girl can dream, right?)

But I love you. I love that I bought the wreath on our door (the one that's been hanging there since September) from you for $19. I love that I can buy three new pairs of pants (because my other ones don't fit and I don't want to invest in really nice pants until I'm at my goal weight) on our current budget and not hyperventilate. I love that toilet paper is so cheap, but I don't have to buy 14,589 rolls like I would at Costco (I've got bigger issues with Costco anyways). I love that you make cute lingerie for lingerie showers, and cute baby things for baby showers and cute birthday cards for birthday parties...and everything in between.

But.

Seriously?

Your entire shoe section yesterday was sandals. Flip flops. Open-toed heels.

Really?

You realize that I live in Chicago now, right? CHICAGO. Where it hasn't been above 35 in about two months. CHICAGO. Where it's odd if there's not at least some snow on the ground from November through March. CHICAGO. Where it won't be time for sandals until, well, probably June. All I wanted was a cute pair of boots (since I left my last ones in a hotel in Atlanta). In February. When people are still wearing boots. And will be for another two months. Is that too much to ask? I know, I know, you roll stuff out in your stores nationwide. But last time I looked it ain't real balmy around most of the country right now. I'm just sayin'.

Don't get me wrong. I'll continue to love you. I'll continue to buy cute clothes from you (oooh, and maybe bathing suits in a few months!) and I'll still buy your toilet paper and laundry detergent and makeup brushes. And I'll still turn to you for cheap wrapping paper, cute cards and other gifts. But. You let a girl down, Target. And I think you deserve to know.

And since I know you're probably feeling horrible about all this, I can send you my address for some "we're sorry" gift cards. It's the least you can do, right? I couldn't agree more.

Love,

Hyde Park Heroes

The View from the Bathroom

THE BATHROOM!!!

I'm not even kidding. This is the view from the 96th floor women's bathroom in the Hancock Building. And yes, I had my camera. In the bathroom. Actually, it was in my purse, which was in the bathroom with me. Which sounds much less weird. Right?

Hear ye, hear ye, should you ever come to visit us in Chicago, we have to go to the Hancock building. You can either pay $15 to go to the "observation deck" (which is inside) or pay less than that to sit at a cocktail table and knock back champagne. Guess which one we chose...

And you really can't beat this view. Chicago, 96 stories up.

Uh, what?

Two "Uh, What?" moments today (sidenote, this is a new series on my blog. As of right now):

1. Ok, so like 94% of America, I'm watching Lost right now.

Uh, what?

I mean...huh? I get the whole Locke's body thing. And I understand that somehow they're not there but they are there, without being there. Right? And Miles still talks to dead people and Sawyer is still a bad actor and, man, I wish I had Kate's arms.

Other than that...um, what? Who are these new hippie people?? What's the deal with crazy Jacob? Is Locke the bad guy in the dark vest who is Jacob's arch nemesis? This is just getting ridiculous. And there's still 30 minutes to go...

2. One of my little kindergarten kids that I tutor on Tuesdays through Breakthrough said today, "Miss Liz, you have big eyes. Like a hamster."

Uh, what? And...thanks?