The Prodigal Daughter Returns

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
“Sunbury is a village in Delaware County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,630 at the 2000 census. The village is centered around a New England-esque traditional town square with the historic village hall located in the center of a village green.”

That sounds fancy. In reality, Sunbury is more...shall we say “quaint?” And in fact, I’m not quite sure what they do in that “village hall” anymore. It used to be the community library. I served pulled pork out of it for a cheerleading fundraiser. The Lion’s Club sells Christmas trees there. But I’m not sure what it’s used for on an everyday basis.

On Thursday, I will return to my stomping grounds for a long weekend at home (let’s not get into a discussion about where “home” is anymore, that’s a blog for another day). My mom claims to have Easter Baskets. We’re going to go golfing. And I’m going to investigate that “village hall.”

Also, in kind-of-related news, I had an unexpected visit with Sarah Selong, one of my college roommates, this week, who was spending her SB2K10 in Chicago. She told me they’re likely closing my old elementary school. In which case, I’ll also be spending some time this weekend digging up our awesome 5th grade time capsule because honestly, I’m not sure who else can be trusted with such a task. Wish me luck.

Hello, Friday!

What you can’t see in the picture above is that my Pellegrino is spiked with vodka. Classy, right?

We have no real plans for the weekend, except a fancy dinner at Blackbird Saturday night. It’s Chef Week in Chicago, so some restaurants offer Prix Fixe menus on the cheap. We try to take advantage, since we could never afford to eat at these joints otherwise. It’s tough being a foodie on a public interest salary.

The dessert menu tonight includes ‘satsuma chiboust with campari, pineapple, semolina, and zingerman cheese ice cream,' which makes my mouth water, despite not knowing what any of those words mean.

And, a big shout-out to my friend Michele, who moved to DC this weekend for her next great adventure. I’m very excited for her and will miss her (and her adorable little ones) dearly. Luckily, at the end of this month, she becomes my new landlady. She can't get rid of me that easily!

Enjoy your weekends, everyone!

Spring is here! And yet, Chicago is confused (see above, where the high yesterday was a balmy 65F, and today is a ridiculous 35F). In light of this situation, I’m starting my day by watching reruns of Hoarders on A&E. This will hopefully inspire me to clean out my closets. Then I’m going to turn to the 30 Best & Worst Beach Bodies on E!. This will obviously force me to go to the gym. And finally, I’m going to watch Beaches on We, because Matt’s out of town and it’s one of the Greatest Movies of Our Time.

In other news, I’ve had a cold all week. Which is a real shame, since I haven’t been sick in years and I really pride myself on having an immune system of steel. I was actually starting to think that I was somehow incapable of getting sick. I was wrong. And I’ve been lying to everyone and telling them I have allergies when I’m sneezing and blowing my nose because, let’s be honest, being around sick people is gross.

Additionally, I’m about to go semi-public with this blog, by sharing it with my family (hey guys!). This will hopefully compel me to post more blogs. Stay tuned. Or don't. Especially if you have anything better to do.

Follow Through...

Uh-oh. It's been almost a month since my last blog. I can't say I didn't see that one coming. In fact, I purposely didn't share this blog with anyone yet because I was worried I wouldn't follow through with it. I guess I kind of set myself up for that one, huh?

I have a friend, whose name I won't mention, who recently got a tattoo to prove to herself that she could follow though with something. Maybe I'll make a calendar reminder to blog. That's kind of like a tattoo, but without the permanency and pain.

In my defense, I've been pretty busy. I thought February was going to be a slow month, but it turned hectic.

I spent two long weekends in Michigan.

The first in Macomb, where we stayed at the Crimando Compound and went sledding (see above-I'm second from the front), drank blood orange martinis (mistake), and I learned to play Clue (I don't get it). Much thanks goes to Mr. and Mrs. Crimando for putting up with our group of assholes. At what point am I too old to take vacations to my friends' parents' places?

The second in Ann Arbor, where I visited with Collin and Jaime (yay), practiced my french on a toddler (she was impressed), and ate at Zingerman's (an institution). Collin is a fabulous artist and we got to visit her studio. It's been such fun to watch her work progress over the past 8 years.

And now, I'd better get to work. I have a hair appointment tomorrow and I'm planning on getting bangs. But, just between us, it's unlikely I'll follow through with it.

Update: I did not, in fact, get bangs. But not for lack of trying! I was told by at least three people at the salon that my forehead was too short and that bangs would simply draw attention to this fact. Additionally, my colorist found my first gray hair. All in all, it was a pretty traumatic hair appointment.

View From Up Here.

We recently decided to move (not far and not until June). I've already mentally bid farewell to some of the things I hate about this apartment (no washer/dryer, inefficient heating, the blah carpet). I'm looking forward to having more room (for less money!).

But one thing I'll really, really miss is our view. I've discovered that it's nearly impossible to get a picture of the really magical moments (sunsets, sunrises, storms) because they're gone so quickly. Luckily, for the past year and a half, we've gotten to experience them, even if we can't photograph them. And that makes up for the blah carpet. But not the lack of a washer/dryer.

Sunday, Funday.

I started my Sunday by putting fake nails on my cat (I promise not all blog posts will revolve around my cat). She's been scratching the couch for 2.5 years and it's starting to show. So we're trying these absurd nail caps (as seen on 20/20!). So far, so good.

Then I made homemade chicken noodle soup. A labor of love, no doubt, but I predict that it will keep us healthy for the rest of the winter.

And now, onto a new book. I just finished The Piano Teacher. It was...ok. I didn't care for any of the characters, so I was pretty indifferent as they died off and suffered horrible tragedies. That's no good. I guess they can't all be winners.

My liege.

Santa brought me an SLR for Christmas. Since then, I've taken an absurd number of pictures of my cat. I can justify it because she's really the perfect subject. She's almost always doing something adorable, she never protests, and she's always decked out in her mini-tuxedo. Case in point: see above.

It's a little creepy, until I think about how parents take so many pictures of their kids. I don't have any kids. Although, last night all these Haitian kids flew into O'Hare and needed fostering. Matt had to convince me that just because I can remember how to say "brush your teeth" in French doesn't mean that we should bring one home. I would have taken a ton of pictures of that kid.