Things that are making me happy this week:

Catalog Living: a funny new website whose tagline is “A look into the exciting lives of the people who live in your catalogs.” Awesome.


My indoor-outdoor kitty: we used to just have an indoor kitty. Lately, we’ve been letting the indoor kitty sit on the balcony, which has transformed her into an indoor-outdoor kitty! She has to wear her harness (see High-rise syndrome to find out why) and we tie her to the BBQ grill. While she looks pretty pathetic, it’s also totally adorable.


My new bike: Last night, four of us rode, bike-gang style, around the city. We stopped at a bar and I had a delicious caipirinha. When I got back on my bike to ride home, I immediately crashed into a trash can. I am not holding this against my new bike. I am, however, holding this against my caipirinha. Which is a shame, since they’re so darn delicious.

Also, this weekend, my friend Kasey is in town. You never know what’s going to happen when you hang out with Kasey. To quote a friends ep, "You go out for a couple of beers and you end up on a fishing boat to Nova Scotia!" I'm looking forward to seeing Nova Scotia this weekend.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day, dad!

Thank you for:
*not killing me every time I wrecked a car;
*teaching me to have a sense of humor about life;
*inspiring me to become a public interest attorney;
*always stressing the importance of integrity;
*being the driving force behind my jewelry collection;
*putting up with those damn rabbits I kept in the garage;
*trying so hard to teach me to drive a stick shift (FAIL); and most importantly,
*being a constant source of love and support.

P.S. I think you're wearing your Jimmy Carter sweater in the first pic. That makes it 25+ years old. It's time for that thing to go.

SB2K10

This year’s spring break started with two and a half days in San Francisco. It was lovely, but cold. I’d never been to California and I pictured it hot and sunny, with an In-and-Out Burger on every corner. Turns out, in some parts of Cali, it’s colder than Chicago and you have to work really hard to find an In-and-Out Burger. But we did. And it was delicious.

We spent another two and a half days in Napa for Steve and Katrina’s wedding, and it was perfect. I’m talking Martha Stewart perfect. Platinum Weddings perfect. Movie scene perfect. You get the point. Unfortunately, my camera died before the wedding, so I have very few pictures to share, unless you’re interested in the classic “getting ready in the hotel” series, or the “sitting in the back of the rental car” shots. Damn me.

And now another weekend has come and I’m looking forward to riding my awesome, brand-spanking new bike, hanging out with Matt’s parents, who will be here tomorrow afternoon, and taking the day off of work on Monday just because I can!

And now, a commercial break.

This made me laugh no less than four times today. Enjoy.

I didn’t grow up on a lake. The closest thing we had to a lake was the Hoover Dam (not the Hoover Dam damming the Colorado River, but rather the smaller, lesser known Hoover Dam damming the Big Walnut Creek).

In Michigan it seems like everyone grows up on a lake. They do water sports and they know how to drive boats and they don’t care about the yucky muck in the water. This is all foreign to me.

I hadn’t planned to leave town for Memorial Day weekend. But Friday came and it had been a pretty crummy week and I needed to get away. So we headed to Fenton, MI to do lake things.

We drank lots of beer and ate lots of food and spent a lot of time floating (which, it turns out, I am very good at doing). And all that eating and drinking and floating has made this week just a little bit easier.

We’re alive! After a very busy month of unpacking and many trips to IKEA! Much, much thanks to the moms, who did things for us that I will NEVER do for my grown children (see above, as Momma Mary happily scrubs floors and Momma Linda negotiates with the cat so that she can paint).

We managed to fit in a birthday party for our friend John, a graduation celebration for lovely Laura (including a Cubs game and a fabulous dinner-thanks Kathy and Gary!), and the wedding of one of Matt’s frat buddies (I made many, many jokes about the fact that they all have nicknames like, “Moose” and “Burger.” But, seriously. Why do boys do that?).

And now, life has calmed down a bit and summer is in full swing! I have lots to look forward to. Including: A visit from Collin this weekend, a trip to Napa, Amber’s bridal shower/bachelorette extravaganza, a visit from my sister, and Kaleidoscope Reunion 2K10.

And tonight, we’re having burgers and beers while we paint a very pink guest bedroom. Wish us luck!

MOM WOW MOM WOW

A big "Happy Mother's Day" to all the mothers and mothers-to-be, and especially to my own. I love you, Mom! I am so very grateful for you. Thank you for loving me.

Here's to many more cheesy photos together...