My First Bridal DIY Project

I decided that I was going to be a DIY bride. Our wedding isn't exactly on a tight budget, but I have a crafty side to me that I wanted to let shine.

If it were up to me, I would spend my most recent paycheck on a new laptop instead of rent, but that's not reality. I say that to say that I don't have pictures of what I've done because my work computer can't upload my digital camera photos, but trust that my projects came out great.

The two projects I've done are: 1) a Thank You wreath and 2) a Save-The-Date Banner.

If you are not currently immersed in the wedding world, I'll explain what these two lovely things are.

Easy and I have our engagement photo shoot coming up this Tuesday (thanks future cousin Buzzy for the great rate!) and I wanted to incorporate some cute ideas I've seen on wedding websites.

Couples take photos during their engagement shoot to be used specifically for other purposes throughout their wedding.

I want to use the Save-The-Date wreath for, duh, our save-the-date mailings. We're behind schedule on these, but seeing as how we are having a super-short engagement, people will forgive us. I think.

This banner is lovely (take my word for it until I post a picture). I will hold up one end and Easy will hold up the other and we will use that photo for our save the dates, which incidentally will be going out with the invitations to our engagement party. That way we'll save money on postage. Winning, duh!

The wreath is my own spin on the banner. I didn't want two banners, simply because I'm a rebel (or something like that). So in lieu of two banners, we'll have one banner and one wreath. I saw all these great photos around the internet of couples holding up banners that spelled out Thank You for use in their thank you cards after the wedding.

I love this idea because it shows that the couple was thinking ahead about their appreciation to everyone waaaay back when they took engagement shots. You know, well before the wedding. Everyone will see what gracious lovely people Easy and I are.

I bought a grapevine wreath and wooden letters, fake baby's breath, paint, and a glue gun. It turned out very well if I do say so myself.

Now all we have to figure out is what we will be wearing. We've got the date, the time, the location, and the props. We can't show up naked because that would not be winning. That would be a fail. And a reason to get arrested on the streets of downtown Chicago.

A Valentine's Day That Lived Up To The Hype

Yes, my Valentine's Day was great this year. Thank God we chose to celebrate early. My sickness on Monday threatened to ruin it all.

So we had planned ahead of time to celebrate Valentine's Day on Saturday, February 12th. The logic was we wouldn't actually be together on Valentine's Day.

I have mentioned once or twelve times about how I've had a whole bunch of horrible Valentine's Days. Easy heard me and planned something great for us.

He wouldn't tell me what the plans were, he just let me know it would be good and it would be exactly what I asked for.

I told him, I didn't want him to go over-the-top. I just wanted a nice day that we got to enjoy together that wouldn't break the bank.

And boy did he deliver. He told me to be ready at 4 pm and wear jeans since we'd be outside for a bit.

He arrives at my house on time with roses and those Fannie May Pixies everyone loves. The Pixies were for me, the roses were for my mother.

Everyone in the house swooned appropriately.Well, not my dad. He just probably subconsciously counted the roses to make sure his bouquet would be bigger two days later.

Then we headed downtown. I saw the address he put into the GPS and I couldn't figure out for the life of me where we were headed.

I sat there thinking I could have sworn I knew that area very well, but I couldn't visualize that corner of the city and so I gave up guessing and just waited until we arrived to see where we were headed.

It was this great little Italian restaurant I've always wanted to try and never got around to it. Easy didn't even know this place has been on my To Do list forever, he just knows I love Italian food.

He got lucky on my love for group dining, new places, and great decorations. Or maybe he listens better than I thought and picked that place for all those reasons.

Dinner was fantastic. It felt like Italian-style tapas, which only made it more fun for me. The wine was great too. It was Orvietto. It's this wine I discovered with Bad at this place in the city called Vintage 338. I believe I wrote an entire blog post about this place.

After dinner, we headed off to another part of downtown Chicago. I wasn't where we were going, but it turned out we were headed to go ice skating in the John Hancock building.

If you know that area of the city, you understand how even while we were walking toward the ticket counter, I still couldn't be sure of the plan.

Well, the plan fell through. Those tickets to ice skate have to be purchased in advance. It's the world's tiniest ice skating rink, ladies and gentleman. Seriously, it's small. They sell tickets by the half hour. Seriously.

I was feeling pretty horrible by this point. The sickness, which I'll dedicate an entire post to later was taking over as the medicine was wearing off. All I wanted was to go home.

But I really truly appreciated that he tried to get it on the agenda because I mentioned a while ago that I really wanted to go ice skating and he actually remembered. I accuse him (quite often) of not listening and not remembering anything anybody says, but he remembered this. So that was definitely bonus points for him.

So instead we went to the movies earlier than planned and back south so we weren't that far from my home.

We ended up going to see that Jennifer Aniston Adam Sandler movie which I can't recall the name of right now.

That movie was hilarious!! Even with a sore throat that was making it increasingly difficult for me to even speak, I was cracking up laughing straight from the gut.

Those two have great chemistry. Even the kids, who I was not fans of until damn near the end of the movie were a good fit.

And then Easy just took me home after that. It wasn't quite the day he had planned, but I thought it was great. Considering how bad I felt for most of the day, I couldn't have asked for more.

He didn't get me a giant stuffed animal (which would have been horrible). He did get me Italian food. And lots of cough drops from the 7Eleven right across the street from the restaurant.

Oh, I forgot to mention the gifts I got him. I wasn't expecting anything outside of whatever our events were for the night, but I sure as hell was making sure I got Easy a gift.

He's never received anything besides a card before, so I had to do something great (on my nonexistent budget of course).

I got him 2 crunch bars (his favorite chocolate). I also got him Pixies. Another of his favorite chocolates. I definitely cracked up when I saw he got me the same thing I got him. Especially since both of our reasoning was because he liked it. But hopefully next time he'll remember my favorite chocolate and get that instead. Though I have been enjoying the all the Pixies.

I also got him two shirts. He likes screen t-shirts. I'm not the hugest fan of a man closer to 30 than 20 wearing them, but I can accept it. Bad does it, so does Sonny, so does Lion. Easy just fits in with the clothes.

And so I got him two shirts. One I knew he'd love, one that I liked a lot, but isn't really the style he generally goes for. I figured we'd see if he actually even wears both shirts, but he said he likes them. The one I knew he'd like? It says "This Is What AWESOME Looks Like".  I have to admit, I love that one too.

How To Bring In The New Year's As An Adult, Chicago-Style

What are my fabulous plans for New Year's? Admittedly, they are not plans that will knock every one's socks off, but I am in love with the plans.

It started with a search on ticketmaster.com to see if there were any good live music shows or something like that going on. Some comedy shows popped up in the search.

While I would prefer live music, the comedy shows won out. DL Hughley had a comedy show that I would love to go to, but the tickets are more than I can afford. So Kevin Hart's show in the theater district downtown is the one.

The show is at 7 pm, so there needed to be some place to bring in the New Year. There's no way I want to be driving through the city on New Year's Eve. I do not have a death wish.

So then I needed to find a hotel. Gloria had the best idea to just bring in the new year in a hotel bar, and that we should get a room at that hotel. Best idea ever was the thought I had.

I figured we could park by Bad's house and take the bus to whichever hotel we get. And we could maybe avoid downtown prices if we stayed near a train or bus line.

Chicago only charges one cent to ride the CTA on New Year's so that's the best way to get around. I'm all for avoiding driving.

What hotel did I land on? The Congress Hotel. It's on south Michigan Avenue. I definitely wanted to avoid the Magnificent Mile because their prices are ridiculous.

What's even better about the hotel is that Chicago does fireworks at midnight, and we happen to be across the street from them by staying at the Congress Hotel.

The room I reserved is a lake-view room, so that adds another option for bringing in the New Year.

Also, the hotel has a great bar that is free to get into for the night.

So, for New Year's, I'll be hanging out at a great hotel, taking in a show, and bringing in the new year with possibly fireworks and definitely a champagne toast.

The only thing is my friends. Easy will be overseas, so the New Year will be brought in with my girls (and guys) in Chicago.

The thing is, some of my friends are kind of flaky. They cannot be counted on to follow through with plans, even if it's plans that they make. There are certain people I can depend on, others... not so much.

But for New Year's, we have to pre-pay. Well, we don't have to, but I want to. Paying ahead of time will ensure that I won't be on the hook for money for a hotel room or whatever.

Some people, like Michelle and Camille, are definitely into the plans. Gloria is into them as well, but it depends on what her boyfriend Gregory will be doing.

Bad and Jordan and some of his other friends may join us, but that's still up in the air as well. But even if it's just Michelle, Gloria, Camille, and I bringing in the New Year, it will be so much fun. With just the four of us, it will feel more like the mood I had in mind when I was trying to figure out what to do for the night.

I'm excited for New Year's and I'm hoping nothing happens to make the plans fall apart.

Thoughts on the Past Week

I've been missing all week. I've been half busy and half just not feeling like putting up a post. But here are the things that crossed my mind this week:

*I'm so happy for those Chilean miners who were trapped. I wonder if the first thing they did before they checked them off at the hospital was hose them down. Seriously, it had been over 60 days! And that one guy's wife kissed him on the mouth as soon as he came out of the hole. Now that's love.

*I can't wait for it to be mid-November. At that point, election day will be over and so will preliminary analysis. Some of these candidates are quite horrible. But at least here in Illinois, there are a specific set of horrible candidates who aren't nearly as crazy as some other options around the country.

*October is my favorite time of year sports-wise. I get MLB playoffs, NBA pre-season, and NFL full swing. Basketball is really my least favorite so I don't remember if it's playoffs overlap with pre-season baseball in the early summer.

*I really looked amazing at my birthday party. It took me many hours of shopping but I think it paid off. The dress! The shoes! Don't believe me? See for yourself.

Yes, I'm standing on a hotel bed. We got a hotel room so we wouldn't drink and drive. The party was downtown, none of my friends live downtown. And I wanted a full body shot, so I got on the bed.

*Not having a job sucks! But the time spent looking has given me another layer of clarity on what it is I want to spend my time doing, if I could just find someone to hire me!

I'm Back From The Club, And It Was Awesome!

I'm sitting here with Bad, his sister, his girlfriend, his friend, Michelle, her sister, and their cousins and a friends of theirs. And Lion and his cousin are here too.

We had an awesome time at our birthday party. Michelle unfortunately got sick, so Camille and Gloria have headed home, but the rest of us are at my hotel room chilling right now.  Lion and his cousin thought I was typing an e-mail, but I'm writing a blog post. It's taking forever because I'm drunk and it's hard to type correctly.

We're having fun de-briefing about tonight. Lion's cousin was on Facebook. A number of us agree that Facebook is the devil, but I digress.

We are eating McDonald's and Al's #1. It's so good when you're drunk. Lion's cousin is from the south... and the Midwest... and St. Louis (which is in the Midwest).

Whatever, I've done posting, I'm drunk and I wanna hang with my friends. They're laughing at me for typing fast.

Funny story, "I don't have anywhere to drink." I just said that, but I thought I was saying, "I don't have anywhere to sleep. Michelle and her sister and their cousins are taking up all the room. But Lion's cousin left the room to go get a girl and I may not be able to sleep in their room.

Lion just told me I was missing life while blogging, so I'm done for real now. Yay, I had a successful birthday party.

They Say It's Your Birthday, Duh-duh-duh-nuh-nuh-duh-nuh, It's My Birthday Too!!

I wrote in my other blog today about my girl Michelle's birthday, which is today. My friend Bad's birthday was yesterday. The three of us are having a party tonight. My birthday is Monday. I think that's all the basic info.

Let me now add how excited I am for the party!!! See that, three exclamation marks. Maybe if I throw in some CAPS, my internet speaking voice will be louder, indicating even more excitement. But no one wants to be yelled at via text or instant message or blog, so I'll just stick with how I'm typing.

Right now, I'm sitting in a hotel room a couple blocks from the club. I'm eating an Italian beef sandwich and fries from Al's #1 Italian Beef. I'm drinking a Smirnoff Triple Black. I've got a bottle of Chateau Ste. Michelle Harvest Select Riesling on ice, and two other bottles waiting for when they are needed. My dad brought me four cupcakes earlier that are waiting for Bad and Michelle to get here. I've got the most fabulous dress and shoes sitting in the closet. My early evening is turning out better than I could have planned it. I might be doing the best things ever right now for my birthday!

On my birthday, I like to make a couple plans, but leave lots of room for living in the moment. I didn't plan the food, the cupcakes, or the alcohol. But they're here, and I'm happy. I'm also feeling super relaxed because I went to yoga today right before I came and checked into the hotel. Everybody I've talked to seems to be in a good mood and I believe tonight will go well. I may possibly post about the party when we get back to the hotel. It depends on how drunk I'll be. It's not good to try and post when your fingers can't hold their place on the keys.

The Point of Today's Post: I'm having the most pleasant kick-off to my birthday this year. I like to celebrate it for days in a row, and today is Day 1!

Sound Bar, Chicago, IL Is On My Shit List

Today, my birthday party was almost ruined. I shouldn't say almost because it may still be ruined. Here's the story.

My friends Bad, Michelle, and I all have birthdays near each other. We decided to celebrate our birthdays together this year. Our plans for a party bus fell through, so we decided we would do VIP with bottle service at a club. All three of us loved Sound Bar on Ontario in Chicago, so it was a no-brainer to go there. I called and was told they had a special on bottle service on Fridays and it would be $125 per bottle. I was told to call back when I had all the names for the reservation.

When I called back with more questions about the reservation, I was never told the price had changed. But when I called today to actually make the reservation (I did say I had flaky friends. It took them all about a week to say for sure if they were in or out), I was told the price was $195 per bottle. I was told the woman I had previously spoken with was just wrong.

With incredible disbelief, I explained the situation to Michelle and Bad. Bad and I began trying to come up with an alternate plan because neither of us wanted to pay the extra money. I felt like they were trying to take me for a ride. Luckily, Michelle found and e-mail she received from them today stating that the price for Belvidere bottles on Friday was $125.

So I called back and told them what the e-mail said. They told me the e-mail was wrong because this was a special Friday with a special DJ. I told them the e-mail also said this was a special Friday, with that special DJ, and the special price. They told me the e-mail was wrong and there was nothing they could do for me if I wasn't willing to pay the price of $195 per bottle.

There was no way I was asking my friends to pay extra money to make that happen. Especially when that damn e-mail went out 35 minutes after I first spoke to the woman on the phone and she told me a different price. So now I'm mad. I don't appreciate being lied to. I was about to bring these people hundreds of dollars in money Friday night. We were going to get four bottles AND we had extra people coming who weren't going to do bottle service, but were just going to buy their own drinks. And now they get nothing.

And not only do they get nothing, I reported them to the Better Business Bureau for false advertising and bad customer service. In case you ever want to report someone in the Chicago area,

BBB of Chicago & Northern Illinois

(Chicago, IL)

330 N. Wabash, Ste. 2006

Chicago, IL 60611-7621

Phone: (312)832-0500

Fax: (312)832-9985

Email: info@chicago.bbb.org

Web: http://www.chicago.bbb.org/

So like I said, Sound Bar is on my shit list. I've spent lots of money there over the past couple of years. Another dollar I shall never spend. If you're in the Chicago area, don't go there, they suck! Go to Lumen, or Spy Bar or Proof or somewhere they give you the same price they quoted to you two weeks prior on the phone and the same fucking day in an e-mail!

Being Bitter Against The Opposite Gender

So in an effort to not admit complete defeat and give up and by eight cats, I came up with another plan. I decided I would still embrace my bitter. I would expose my bitterness all over some unsuspecting man. I have been blessed to be able to attract men pretty much where ever I go. But this was going to be a problem seeing as how I am anti-party for now (met PT at a Halloween party; met Easy at a wedding reception).

But my girl Michelle is in town for Labor Day weekend, so of course we had to go out. She went to a party thrown by R Kelly on Friday. I'm not saying anymore about that except to say that I wanted to parts of anything to do with R Kelly, so we didn't go out til Saturday. Camille didn't join us cause she has to split up her limited time now that she's a law student (sooo proud of her). But our other friend, who I'll call Gloria, came with us.

We couldn't decide on a place to go, so we ended up going to and leaving Tantrum, Plush, Club Rednofive, and then finally just going to Bar Louie and having a Sex and the City moment with martinis (though I never saw them getting down on loaded fries and buffalo wings).

But when we were leaving Plush this man stopped me by grabbing my hand. This is a brief summary of our conversation.

Him: "Wow, we are matching from head to toe, except for the pink purse. We should really stop and talk to each other.

Me: "Oh wow, we are matching. white shoes and all. You didn't have to mention the purse though. It was a given, I'd hope."

Him: "But no, you're really something. We need to be talking right now."


Me: "Let me save you from yourself. I just got out of a thing and I'm really not in a good place. It won't end well for you."

Him: "But I'm not him, you gotta be able to separate that."

Me: "Oh, but I can't. You know resolution? The ability to see two points as different? Yeah, I've got no skills in that area right now. Seriously... Run."

Him: "Nah, I can't run away from you. Maybe we could just be friends."

Me: "I have enough friends. And I don't want anymore."

Him: "Well, we could just speak casually until you were ready for more."

Me: "Casual fucking sucks. I don't want no parts of casual."

Him: "Well how about--"

Me: "Let me ask you some things. When is your birthday? How old are you? And do you have any kids?"

Him: "I'm a Pisces, I have an eight year old. And I'm 29."

Me: "Oh hell no! I'm over men with kids. I'm over men pushing thirty. And I've been over Pisces' crazy asses since I was 20. I really don't understand why you're still standing here trying to talk to me. Hasn't my bitterness, or my rules, or my cursing turned you off yet?"

Him: "Honestly? No. But if you really aren't interested right now, I guess there's nothing I can do about that, huh?"

Me: "Sad but true. You have a good night."

Michelle and Gloria were cracking up for the next 10 minutes. First, at what I was saying. Second, at the fact that he fit all the things I'd been saying I was "so over'. And third, that he stuck around as long as he did and walked away with a smile on his face.

But at least I got some of my bitterness out.

I've Finally Had Busy Day

Since I withdrew from medical school, my life has been uneventful. This is sometimes a good thing and sometimes a bad thing, depending on how I'm feeling on a certain day. But I do know that it finally felt good to have more things than I had time to do today.

I had to be up at 8:25 to get to a hair appointment by 9 am. I've been waking up in the 8 o'clock hour the last couple weeks or so, but having to get up is different from waking up and just turning on HGTV until I pull out my laptop and begin applying for jobs. I get to my hair appointment around 9-ish and I get done around 1-ish. That is a long time, but it's because of my hair. I'm growing dreadlocks and my hair is kind of thick, so it takes longer to tighten my locks than it does for some people.

At 1, I ran some errands and picked up lunch. My keychain is now heavier because I've got spare keys to my great aunt's house now. I'm imagining the extra duties that will come with that... Then I came home and got ready for a trip to the beach. I joined my girl Michelle at her job and we headed to the beach as soon as she got off work.

We had fun at the beach making the world's whackest sand castle (definition of whack; it's #2 and #3), but at least we had fun doing it. We left the beach and went to pick up food for a meeting at our church. After the meeting, Michelle headed to choir practice while I went home to pick out clothes for our night out. I still hadn't decided by the time choir rehearsal was over, so I just headed to her house so she and our other friends could help me choose my outfit.

Then we headed out to this great spot in downtown Chicago called the Fit. It's a rooftop club at the Doubletree Hotel on State & Lake. Great atmosphere, pretty good crowd, ridiculously overpriced. But I recommend it if you pre-game first. We had fun talking, laughing, and people watching. I texted Easy to crack a joke about drunk-texting (he was amused, thank goodness). Turns out he played at the Fit last month sometime. Must've been one of those random gigs he went on that I heard about in passing. That definitely would've been one I would've wanted to attend.

I finally got home about 30 minutes ago. I had a 17 hour day. I haven't done that since early April. I must admit it feels good. I'd love to have days that are busy more often. But instead of hair appointments, errands, and hanging out, I'd like all of that to be spaced out over a number of days and to be stuff I did after work. Oh, if only I had a job to go work at, stupid Chicago unemployment.

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

Chicago, My Kinda Town

I already write a few blogs, but I felt like I needed one more. Why, you ask? Well, it's quite simple. I have more to say. Whether or not you want to read even more of that is yet to be discovered.

This blog will be dedicated to my city, Chicago, Illinois. I love living here and I try as much as possible to get out around the Chicago area and try new things and repeat old favorites. I never really use my other blogs as a journal of what I do with my days, so this will be party for that too. The bigger focus will be on the wonderful things to do, see, and experience in the Chicago area (this includes the suburbs, even though they are not Chicagoans).

To start, I'll talk about my date with my city on June 26, 2010. A teenager from my church and her best friend wanted to go downtown to go to the Taste of Chicago. I volunteered to take the since I wanted to go to the Taste. We were five minutes away when they suddenly didn't want to go anymore. Instead of immediately abandoning my crazy idea of spending an afternoon with two 14 year olds, I stayed agreeable and offered to just park the car and we would hang out on Michigan Avenue.

We headed to Water Tower Place. I knew right then that I wasn't about to follow two teenagers around a mall. That shit wasn't even fun when I was a teenager. So I told them I was going down to the food court and I'd see them later. The food court in Water Tower is amazing. It's on the Mezzanine Level. It's called FoodLife. It has everything one could possibly want to eat. I'm. Not. Kidding.

I got a California roll, a glass of Chardonnay, and a loaded baked potato. I know those things don't match, don't judge me. It's what I had a taste for. I enjoyed my lunch at watched the Ghana playing in the World Cup on the television at the bar. After I ate, I headed to the park across the street which is literally one of my favorite spots in the city. I don't know the name of this park, but it's at the corner of east Pearson Street and north Mies Van Der Rohe Way. I sat there for a couple hours under the shade of the trees and read my Kindle. I listened to the muffled sounds of the city floating by and the laughs of children playing on the nearby swing sets and jungle gyms. I thought about heading over to the Museum of Contemporary Art, but decided against it since sitting was more appealing than walking at that moment.

After the kids had tired themselves out, we headed back to the car and headed home. It was the loveliest afternoon I've had in a while. Just me and my city. And those two teenagers.

Places Mentioned In This Post: un-named park, Water Tower Place, FoodLife, Museum of Contemporary Art

Neighborhood in Chicago: North Michigan Avenue aka The Magnificent Mile