Tracking Down Addresses for Save The Dates

Every one says how important it is to get a guest list together before you get too deep into wedding planning.

Those people would be very correct. But they don't stress the important facets of that seemingly simple statement. You need names, number of kids, and addresses.

That last part, the addresses, are so elusive.

People move. They change their names. They co-habitate in a home with 4 people with 5 different names. It can make a person crazy.


crazy eyes are the purest expression of feeling crazy

So after I feel like going crazy, I have to stop and remember that I did this to myself. Easy and I were determined to have a short engagement. We maintained this determination even after our mothers informed us our wedding guest list would be upwards of 300 people.

So now we're tracking down addresses. A lot of addresses.

If only I could pull out a book and have all these addresses for 175 households...

We have most of them. But we don't have them all yet. We will. Soon.

Right not the goal is to send out our Save the Dates Saturday. Wish me luck that it happens.

In the next post, I'll talk about all we're sending out this weekend.

Saturday Night Could Have Gone Terribly, And Instead It Went GREAT!

Easy had a gig last night. And somehow, between him and I, we thought it would be a good idea to invite a number of people who matter to us, and throw them all together. That group included his mother, his oldest sister, his oldest sister's son, his oldest sister's son's girlfriend, a close fried of his from high school, my mother, my father, one of my best friend's Bad, and his girlfriend Jordan.



That's a lot of people, but the night went well. Easy had a gig at a pretty nice restaurant up in Evanston, IL. It barely counts as a suburb because if you're driving north in the city, you will be in Evanston before you know it. The street signs don't even change. Only the parking meters seem to be different. But I digress. He mentioned to my parents last month that they might want to check this gig out.


Then he invited along his mom to come Saturday night with my parents instead of Friday night. Then his sister, then his nephew and his nephew's girlfriend. Then he suggested I invite Bad and Jordan. Also, a friend of his from high school who's also a musician came too. So that's how we all ended up there.


I was a bit nervous about all the people meeting in such a random and large mix. And the restaurant put everyone at one big table instead of several small ones. That turned out to be good because it gave them a chance to talk a lot as opposed to a little. The music was great, the food was good.


They all seemed to have matching senses of humor and get along great. No teetotalers in the group, which of course only improved every one's mood. I learned a few things about the people in my life.

1. I really can take Bad anywhere and he'll fit into any crowd. This applies to Jordan now too.
2. My mom is really looking to bond with some young lady. I think Jordan is going to fill the gap my brother's fiancee never filled. There's something to be said for an instant connection
3. Easy's mom talks as much as mine did. They chatted each other's ears off the entire night.
4. My dad really loves live music. Like, he really loves live music. I'm not sure if he likes Easy because he's so nice and funny or because he plays the hell out of an alto sax.
5. I should have invited more people. My uncle and aunt were upset that we didn't invite them along.


I'm just glad the evening was a success. I hope future group outings will be fun for everyone. And I hope they all actually like each other as much as they seemed. I know my mom definitely loved Jordan. They're supposed to be going to lunch one day this week. That could have been my brother's fiancee. My mom really reaches out to people who will be important and around for a while. I think this is the first time she's seemed to really connect with a girl brought around my my brother, or a cousin, or one of my close guy friends. I hope it goes well.

Lots of Things Are Making Me Happy Right Now

I'm going to attribute my current happiness to a number of things:

1. Yoga

It's still totally awesome! I'm very excited to be going again today. I am pleasantly surprised that my mom is down to still continue classes this week even though she didn't see all that psyched about it last week. Her and my dad are also joining weight watchers which makes me glad because I've become increasingly concerned about their health. They're getting up in age, and I told them, I was putting them in a home if they had serious health problems when they got old enough to need to be taken care off, particularly if those health problems were self-induced because of bad habits in their younger years. But hopefully that won't matter anymore because every one's exercising and putting more thought into how they feed themselves. Happy day!

2. Jane Austen
I'm more than halfway through her published books I've downloaded to my beloved Kindle. I'm on Northanger Abbey right now. This one appears more commentary than anything else, but it is still quite enjoyable if I skip the passages that describe novels of that era. I've been enjoying all her books and I'm just happy I've found a number of books by a single author that I can't put down. It's been a while since that happened. I feel like it's the official cutoff of my embracing a love of reading again.

3. Church
All the activities I'm doing in church seem to be netting some real results. I don't talk about it in detail a lot on this blog, so I won't go into all of it now. But just know that I am getting a huge sense of accomplishment in this area and that's making me happy.

4. Men
I am experiencing far less man drama than I'd ever thought possible without buying eight cats and giving up. Just as I could expect from myself, I am over my desire to stay in contact with Easy. Well, not exactly. But I'm over it enough to stick with that plan. He contacted me over the weekend (probably because he was in town), and I didn't respond. I've been coming up with every reason in the book for it and I'll continue to do that because I'm over guys who just aren't that into me.

5. Corrected Perceptions
I recently wrote that someone told me I was not who I seemed. Turns out, this person was drawing extra conclusions from the things I said about me etc. So after a discussion about assumptions and a clarification of a few things, including I only say what I mean, nothing less and nothing more, it was cleared up. I believe there is no longer that thought that I'm not who I say I am, there is just a shock that I'm not who this person thought I was. And I"m okay with that. It happens.

So, for today, I'm just going to continue applying for jobs I hope to get, look forward to my endorphin rush, and check out the weight watchers website to see what my parents are up to.

Want To Go Bowling? Of Course You Do

I love bowling. I always have, but most of my friends don't, so it hasn't been a big part of my life since I was with my high school sweetheart who was on the school bowling team (and who left behind a bowling ball, thanks sweetie).

When my parents joined the church bowling league, I wanted in, but I was away at school. Now that I'm back in Chicago, I have the time and availability to join the league. So I'm in. My father goes to practice with some people from our church and I've started going with him occasionally to step my game up. Where do we go? Dolton Bowl, in Dolton, IL. I like this place for a number of reasons.

They've got free parking (I'm looking at you entire north side of Chicago). They've got great prices (I'm looking at you entire downtown of Chicago). They also do a lot of Professional Bowling Association (PBA) stuff that I'm just now learning about. Things like oil patterns that help people train for tournaments and stuff like that.

But they know their crowd. They also turn the bowling alley into a club at 10:30 pm. I believe they do it everyday in the summer, I can't speak for the rest of the year. The place gets overrun with people who can't legally drink yet and the music is sooooo loud. But we still bowl with deeper concentration.

They have food, the simple stuff you can get in a rec place: nachos, pizza, ice cream. They have a small bit of alcohol. They have friendly employees. Because this is Dolton though, the crowd is, in a word, ghetto. If that doesn't bother you, this is the alley for you. They take really good care of their alley lanes, computers, balls, even their bathrooms. Grab some buddies who like to pretend they don't need the bumpers and work on your game.

Places Mentioned In This Post: Dolton Bowl
Neighborhood in Chicago Area: Dolton, IL
Recommendations: 1. if you don't like all the noise, go before the teens show up at 10:30 pm.   2. Eat before you go, the food isn't that good.   3. Ask about the oil pattern on the lane. If you want something special or something normal, you'll want a specific lane.   4. Don't be afraid to switch balls if the one you have isn't working.
Who To Do This With: Friends or on a date

When You're Leaving River Oaks Mall, But Don't Want Hooters or Olive Garden

I've been talking a lot about live music on this blog because that's what I've spent a lot of my Chicago time doing this summer. The place I went to Saturday night is perfect for that. Unlike what I expected, it's very bright in there. That keeps if from having a lounge-y feel. Its really just a restaurant with live music on Friday and Saturday nights.

The restaurant is called N'awlins. That's slang for New Orleans. You can guess the cuisine. Yes, you are right. It's the location you would go to for New Orleans food. I've heard mixed reviews from patrons at the restaurant. If you're not a picky eater, order anything. If you are picky, go eat somewhere else.

If you are a drinker, get the Barracuda. Men and women were loving this drink. I love it because it has everything I love to have in a drink besides champagne. Literally, almost everything. Vodka, peach schnapps, melon liqueur, orange juice, pomegranate juice. I don't know about you, but to me, it sounds absolutely perfect!

And the music was amazing. They played R&B. My mother, aunt, and I would all love the music and we have pretty varied tastes. They did Aretha Franklin, Tevin Campbell, Jill Scott, etc. If you like R&B (real R&B), Soul, and Neo Soul, you would love the group that played at N'awlins. They're called Back 2 Basics I believe. They had electric bass, drums, keyboard, saxophone, and a vocalist.

It was all in all an enjoyable night. The combination of the crowd, the music, and the drinks made it great for me. They have locations in Lansing, Chicago Heights, Dolton, and they're opening one in Calumet City. I haven't been anywhere but the Lansing location, so that's the one I'm recommending.

Places Mentioned In This Post: N'awlins Crab House
Neighborhood in Chicago Area: Lansing, IL
Recommendations: 1. Go on a night they have live music.   2. Talk to the bartenders; they're awesome.   3. Talk to the band and the other patrons. It's a friendly crowd in there.   4. Each person order a different dish and share.
Who To Do This With: Go with a group of friends that you like to laugh with and share food with and meet new people with.

Live Jazz Music and Good Food

Jazz music isn't my most favorite genre, but it does make the list of music types I love to hear live. A friend of mine is a musician so I've been hearing lots of live jazz music this summer. Last night I went with him to a gig at this place called Lagniappe Creole Cajun Joynt.

This restaurant already has a location on Chicago's South Side on 79th just east of Ashland. But they've opened up this outdoor spot on RiverWalk. RiverWalk is not a continuous path along the river, so to get to this portion of RiverWalk, you'll need to go to the northwest corner of Dearborn and Upper Wacker Drive. Then go down the steps. The smell of creole food and the sounds of live music should greet you as long as they're not getting too wild across the river at this other restaurant I've been meaning to try.

The open air atmosphere of Lagniappe feels like the parts of RiverWalk that are still just grass and concrete: as the sun moves across the sky and finally sets, you feel like you've enjoyed several different experiences. Late afternoon has it's own culture, including drunken yacht-ers out on the river and Happy Hour diners at the RiverWalk restaurants. Early evening brings in the cute young couples and the last of the tour boats. Twilight has the about-to-be-clubbers and the out-to-dinner-foodies, along with the occasional kayak architectural tour. Then full-blown nighttime brings the I-was-looking-for-a-party-and-heard-live-music crowd. With them comes the drunken foodies who have just finished dinner and are looking for dancing. And drunk people will dance to anything. Even uptempo jazz music? Yes, even uptempo jazz music.

So, pick the crowd (or amount of sun) that's perfect for you and go to Lagniappe. They'll only be open during summer and early fall I"m assuming, since it's completely outdoors. After that, you'll have to head to Chicago's South Side to get some of the food and live music.

Places Mentioned In This Post: Lagniappe Creole Cajun Joynt
Neighborhood in Chicago: downtown Chicago, RiverWalk
Recommendations: 1. Sit at a table closer to the kitchen than the music. The waiters can be difficult to get a hold of.   2. Order water with your drinks. They're incredibly small.   3. Go for the Po' Boy Sandwich if you're not sure what to order.
Who To Do This With: By yourself, In a couple, With your girls, With your boys (if you're over 30), With your parents