One Last ____

adminChicago Summer, end of summer, Labor Day weekend, Luna Bell, Ryan, summer cocktails, Uncategorized%s Comments

Labor Day weekend is traditionally, if not officially, the last weekend of summer.  It’s been a real, live summer; a hot, sticky, lots of popsicles and swims in the lake kind of summer.  Even though the temperature dropped 15 degrees literally over night, I spent a good part of this weekend soaking up those last delicious moments that happen at the end of each season.  The ones you aren’t quite ready to let go of even though you’re looking forward to the next best thing.

It was a tad chilly this weekend but you better believe I was going to lay out.  I grabbed a blanket, book, and boyfriend and went to the park near our apartment.  I just wanted to feel the sun on my face and smell the sweet smell of freshly cut grass one last time.  This may sound dramatic but if you live in the Midwest, you know these days are fleeting and you know how difficult it is in February to remember what it’s like to walk outside and not hate…well, everything.  The above pic was taken pre-park nap.  This is my kind of outdoorsiness.

In keeping with the theme of “one last ___”, it was also time for one last summer cocktail.  Taste testing at Whole Foods procured us a bottle of Blackberry wine.  Way too sweet to drink straight but we played around a bit and came up with this:

A little vodka, a little blackberry wine, a little soda water and muddled raspberries.  Delightful.  We all know how much I love champagne so I’m thinking a splash of the blackberry wine topped with champagne will be my Fall cocktail.  Replacing the standard Fall favorite of Captain and Apple Cider.   Stay tuned.

People who have dogs were out in full force, playing fetch in the hot summer sun one last time.  We have a cat and it’s generally not socially acceptable to take her places so Ryan played fetch with her inside.

Ryan throws red ball.  Luna Bell jumps, meows and waits for him to do it again.  This went on for a good 15 minutes.  Our cat is the best dog ever.

So, farewell Summer.  Thanks for being so sunny and warm and sparkly on the water outside my window.  Please don’t be shy about showing up again, perhaps as early as April.  We’ll be anxiously waiting…

Fingers Crossed

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There is a good chance that Luna Bell, Ryan and I will not be homeless come July 1.  I saw my 18th and 19th apartments yesterday and loved, loved, loved both of them.  After several pros and cons lists, we made a decision.  I’m waiting until papers are signed and it’s official but I thought you would be happy to know that I most likely won’t be begging to live on your couch in 2 weeks.

And b y couch, I mean couches.  And by couches, I mean all 5 of yours, Corey Lambert.

Lovie Dovie Day and Dirk’s Fish

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Busy weekend.  Ryan had a 2 day conference and I had a work event.  Since there would not be much downtime, I figured I’d get some good girlfriend brownie points and take care of Valentine’s Day.  “Honey, don’t worry about making plans, I’ll just do it.”  Which was super nice of me…until Friday night when I realized that no plans had been actioned.  I frantically texted my friend, who is referred to as Married Mike in Corey’s blog, asking where he gets fish to make sushi.  “Dirk’s Fish on Clybourn” was Married Mike’s reply.  So, after a call to Dirk at 5pm on Saturday making sure there was still fish,  I sprinted to Dirk’s Fish to put a Valentine’s date together.

Dirk’s Fish was fantastic.  Sushi grade fish, live lobster and crab, every kind of fish soup you can imagine and really, really nice fish connoisseurs that were very helpful as I explained my plight.  They set me up with this:

Yes, including that scaly guy on the right.  He was turned into sea bass I could roll into sushi right before my eyes.  With some tuna, salmon, sea bass, seaweed wrap, mango, cucumber, wasabi and pickled ginger in my hot little hands, I thanked Dirk for saving Valentine’s Day and sprinted home.

A few hours and a bottle of champagne later, Ryan and I had created this:

Dirk’s Fish has cooking classes that I definitely want to check out but for an in-home attempt, I don’t think we did too bad.

High Five of the Day: All of the amazing runners that showed up in frigid temps to run the 5k on Saturday!  With over 60 people and tons of goodies from Keihl’s, The Goddess and the Grocer, Element Bar, Vita Coco, Starbucks and Farmer Tom, the event was a huge success.  And super fun! Thanks to all the runners and a HUGE thanks to my friends who ran–I am so grateful for your support!

She’s grateful.

adminLuna Bell, Ryan, Uncategorized, yoga%s Comments

This is Luna Bell.  She has been my cat for 2 years.  I went to PetSmart a few months ago looking for a water bowl.  And not just any water bowl–a water bowl that would end her favorite past time of whacking it across the room the second it is filled, thus littering my kitchen floor with water and getting my feet wet every time I want a Diet Coke out of the fridge.  In other words, something heavy and skid resistant.  While I was at PetSmart, I was talking to a lady who was there with a pet shelter.  When I told her I had a “rescue kitty”, she started gushing about how grateful rescue pets are.  That no matter what happens, you just have a grateful animal on your hands.  Let me tell you about my grateful cat.

Luna Bell enjoys cocktail parties, wet cat food and sleeping at the top of my pillow (see above).  She hates beef, being cold and Justin Timberlake.  Since we started our life together in a studio apartment, she has to do everything with me, even though we’ve now hit the big time and live in a one bedroom.  She will only eat if someone is standing near her, she takes up half my pillow at night (again, see above–that was taken at 10pm yesterday) and I swear, when I was practicing yoga last night, she crawled on my mat and did a stretch that totally looked like downward dog. LB always lays with her chin flat on the ground or with her arms crossed, preferably on top of my Blackberry.  Ryan does nothing to help the cause–he feeds her canned cat food every Sunday and I once came home to the two of them sitting on the floor in the kitchen, sharing a can of tuna.  Oh and when the temperature in my apartment drops below 70, she digs her way under the covers so I can see is a Luna Lump in the center of my bed.

When it comes to being grateful, I think that’s me. Thanks, LB, for being my favorite friend under the weight of ten pounds.