Italy - Days 1 & 2

So the first day of travelling was ALOT of riding on a plane, a switchover in Rome (where Mike and I watched Gran Torino on the hackintosh, HIGHLY recommend!), and then we finally got to the airport in Milan. We had been put on a different flight, and weren't sure when we were going to get there - let's just say I was SO RELIEVED to see my Dad when we got out of baggage claim in Milan! He had already headed downtown, got my Mom a hotel room to nap in by the train station, and figured out the train station and the shuttle bus to and from downtown. So on top of everything (not surprising! but GREAT all the same!). Once we got in showers at their hotel, we checked out and headed to the Milan train station, which was massive. And very cool.

Mom & Dad chill on the train

I cannot say enough about the trains. They were about the best way to get around. Dad spent much of the time ooohing and aahing over the Italian landscape, while I spent time passed out on Mike's shoulder trying not hang my mouth open and drool.

Once we got there, it was super late. We took a water taxi to our hotel and all four of us crammed into the very back of it, marvelling at the sky and canals, all of us blown away by our surroundings. We couldn't believe we were finally in Italy!! We topped off the evening with a late-night snack (of pasta, of course) and wine. Hey, when in Venice... do as the Venetians do, right?

The next day, my Dad was talking to the concierge who hooked us up with a free ride and tour of a nearby glass factory. Here is a pic of the guy making a glass horse, before they realized we weren't going to buy anything and stopped paying attention to us.

After we finally got back to Saint Marco square after the glass factory we did a lot of walking around and taking pictures. We had a gondola tour later in the day, so we just meandered. I bought a "Louis Vuitton" bag from a guy in an alley, and the parents got a super cute shirt for Gracie. We took a small nap, then headed to check out a church across a nearby canal. Then it was time for our gondola ride!

I love this pic. Tiny Italian guy with cane and hat! So awesome.

These are a few of my favorite shots from the gondola ride:

More shots are at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/agstratt/sets/72157619460139982/

The gondola ride was so cool. We had some wine and a tour guide to explain lots of Venice. Two pretty funny things happened:

• We were in a tiny side canal, and a woman threw open a window in the house just above us. She asked in a British accent where our serenade was. Of course, Dad took that opportunity to break out in song. He has an outstanding voice, so I think she was pretty impressed!
• Dad then got the idea to pass off a glass of wine to an older guy in a nearby gondola. He filled a plastic cup and passed it to Mike who tried to pass it to the guy but got intercepted by the guys’ wife. She didn’t hesitate, was like “I’ll take that!" We had a good laugh about her heading him off at the pass on the wine.

After the gondola tour, we went to dinner at a Osteria named Vino vino, which had a tiny menu but was very tasty.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel bar (the American Bar) and listened to this Italian guy play piano and sing American songs. He was pretty good; messed up the timing on Hotel California a bit but not bad! Mom and dad danced a bit, we laughed and chatted. Then we stole the stirrers from our drinks (GREAT stirrers, Dad proclaimed) and headed off to bed.

And that was our day in Venice!

Planes, trains, and automobiles!

We joked that during the trip we used about every form of transportation available when. Dad kept a list of the ways we got around on the trip:

• Van
• Plane
• Taxi
• Bus
• Train
• Water taxi
• Gondola
• Water bus
• Subway
• Hired car
• Ferry
• Open air taxi (Capri)
• Shuttle Bus
• Boat
• Funicolare (Cable car!)

With all the random modes of transportation, I was shocked that we got around so well without major snafus.... but we did have one!

We got on the train from Naples to Florence to make our way to the Tuscany wine region, and several people claimed to have our set of seats (two sets of two people each, to be exact). We were joking around, going "sucks for them! the train people must have oversold this car somehow!" Then the conductor comes back and is like, "Your ticket is for tomorrow. You need to get off, the train leaves in one minute." So we hurriedly grabbed all our stuff and hauled a$$ to get off the train. Before we'd gotten on we had had to walk all the way down the platform to get on the very last train car and Dad had remarked that at least we would be the first off the train. After we got booted off Mike turned to him and said "You were right, we were the first ones off the train!" and they both starting CRACKING UP as the train is pulling away and I am thinking we're stuck in Naples for the night. I was like "Not funny yet, guys! Not funny yet!"

We ended up being able to get on the subsequent train which was only an hour later - as snafus go this one was pretty painless. And now that we got safely to Greve and are back home all in one piece it's funny and a good story!

Monday, Monday.....

Oy, I SO did not get any of my picture-sorting and uploading done this weekend!

This weekend we're heading to the Stratton Family Reunion to hang out, eat mediocre buffet food, wear teal Stratton Famly tshirts, and play with Gracie!! I can't wait to see the little booboohead, it's been WAY too long!
Just look how big she is!

Updates from the Milly watchers...

After these updates I was worried Milly would be SAD to have us back! She had SO MUCH fun with her Milly-sitters! The ones from Em were excerpts of emails she sent to our group of girls that were about Milly, so I put them in here too!

From: Kim
To: April
Subject: Milly Update! Everything is going well!!

Hey guys,
Hope you all are having a blast in Italy!! How is everything going?We can't wait to see pictures!Just wanted to let you guys know that Milly is doing well! Jay and I are having a lot of fun with her. We have stuck to the routine andshe hasn't had any accidents (knock on wood). I took Milly to the dogbeach with 4 other dogs and she LOVED it. It stressed me out a littleb/c she would start running and not come back. She runs really fast!She ended up napping the rest of Sunday which is good b/c I was beat!Milly and I have been buddies all weekend and I think Jay is a littlejealous (ha ha). Jay took her to doggie day care this morning and hesaid she was so excited! Your little love misses you but she ishaving fun.Feel free to call my cell phone this weekend if you need anything orwant to check in. My number is xxx-xxx-xxxx. See you all soon!!

xo Kim
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: Kim
To: April
Subject: Milly LOVES Ohio

Hey guys,I am so glad you guys are having so much fun! I can't believe howquickly the week has gone by!Milly LOVES Ohio. There is so much to sniff here! She has spent allweekend outside. The dog chain has worked out well, except when shegets herself wrapped around a tree. I found a dog park in Akron andit was 3 times as big as the one on Sheffield. I took her to the dogpark on Saturday and to my friends house where she played with twoother dogs all afternoon. My parents love her and she has been gettingundivided attention all weekend long. The only time she has been inher crate is at bed time.We are going to head back to Chicago tomorrow. I hope I can be strongand pass her off to Emily, but maybe we will keep her one more night.Hope everyone is doing well!
xo Kim
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: Emily
To: April
Subject: It's all gone to the dogs...

Milly's helping me meet the neighbors. Milly "no male" or something along those lines - meaning she doesn't bite - I think? Hopefully she doesn't bite! The neighborhood kids like her, and now their parents will talk to me as I have a reason to be outside wandering around the sidewalks! Score. There's a 3-year-old boy obsessed with her down the street and Milly's not quite sure what he is. I think she's a little scared, but he really wanted her to play soccer with him last night!!! Milly looked at that ball like "WHOA - what is that thing?!? Is that a ball?!? I don't know, Aunt Emi, I think I'm scared. But it sure looks like fun.... hmmm... I'm just not sure." I decided not to test it, so we went inside. I would, however, love to get a picture of her playing with a soccer ball!!
Love,
Em
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: Emily
To: April
Subject: Milly Whinypants Knowles

Milly was the star of small group last night. She totally won everyone over, but she did cause me to lock myself out yet again yesterday after work. She was just too excited to get out the door. Man oh man - those keys need to affixed to me or something!! Milly's doing great, Mom, don't worry. But, I have to say I would replace her middle name "Underfoot" with "Whinypants." Boy can that dog whine for no reason! Like, there apparently aren't good hiding places for her rawhides - so she whines until I let her in my bedroom, where she hides them under my bed. If I'm stationary, however, she's so much better. I don't see how you get anything done, April!! Yes, I'm talking about you, kid! (She just looked at me from the spot she claimed on my sofa with those big brown eyes.) Bear, the neighbor cat, however, isn't too happy about Milly. He hasn't gotten his QT with me and is making his presence quite known to Milly - "this is MY territory, you beagle you" - is sure what it sounded/looked like to me this mornign when I took the trash out and they were conversing from opposite sides of my back door!
Love,
Em
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: Emily
To: April
Subject: Lots of stuff

Afterwards I came home and Milly and I hit up a street festival on Division. She was SOOOOO well behaved. We had fun, except when she took charge of my sangria. Milly like sangria!!! We met lots of other dogs and she was the hit of the festival. I never walked more than 10 feet without someone going “she’s so cute” or “can I pet her” or just “awww.” She loved the attention - and all the smells!!!

Love,
Em

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

Well, we're back from Italy and I have about a million stories to tell. I'll start posting my pics (I took over 2,000) and excerpts from my 25 page word document journal soon, but here are a few highlights for the time being!

I saw the Colosseum, and boy is it OLD

I got bossed around by sassy Italian waiters. This is Stefano, and he knew what we needed to have for dinner better than we did.

I ate caprese salad like it is meant to be eaten. And have many new recipes/cooking inspirations from the whole trip.

I had the world's tiniest beer.

I took a lot of self-portraits of Mike and I that he barely tolerated

I went to McDonald's and noticed the old-school high chairs (like when I was a kid!)

And last but not least, I ate a metric TON of pasta.

Now if you need me I'll be going through the 2,000 pictures I took, loving on my puppy, or trying to get a handle on everyday living that went on while I was gone!

Do you have the Captain in you?

The boss and I have some fun posing with the Captain at the Cubby Bear the night before Mike and I left for Italy.

Italy

I'm off to Italy for a few weeks (actually enjoying Venice right now!!)... see ya on the flipside, peeps!

Bullet-y love

• I feel like this week is going to FLY by! My group at work is doing a Cubs rooftop on Thursday afternoon and Friday I am off b.c our flight leaves Friday afternoon. EEK! We have been dreaming, planning, saving for this vacation for what seems like a lifetime and I am so excited that it's actually here.
• A friend is getting married in December and I found flights and 2 nights hotel (at an all-inclusive resort. That includes food AND booze people!) for only $425 a person. I am so freaking excited about this you don't even know. A Mexican weekend vacay for only that much? Seems insane, almost like they're paying US to go.
• I have all my stuff to head to Italy in a pile and just need to put it in a suitcase. I am just telling you right now that I am way impressed with my ability to pack light for this trip. It's amazing. I might actually get all my stuff in my one small suitcase that would be able to not be checked (if not for those goshdarned liquids).
• I finished painting the den walls and trim last week and it looks so good. Once we get back from Italy and finish the last few tasks I will upload some before and after photos.
• Mike and I watched Wanted last week. I would not recommend it to anyone. It wasn't even remotely plausible and for such good actors (Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman) it had poor acting.
• Milly has been ridiculously grabby lately. Her new victims are pens of all sizes and shapes. If you ever think "Where was that pen? I just had it?" at our place, I can guarantee there is a beagle somewhere hiding in a corner chomping on that pen. Just a warning! She has also been crazy at night - totally tore up the bottom of her crate (plastic AND cushion) last weekend. I don't know if she's getting anxious or having night terrors or what... regardless, she was better last night. So at least I didn't fall asleep and wake up to beagle-whining.
• I am getting REALLY worried about how Milly is going to be for our various Milly-sitters while we're gone. I am saving a big bag of Pig Ears for while we're gone so Jay/Kim/Emily can get a break from the beagle-crazy by tossing one of those at her!

Picture messaging

I have been trying to send cute pics of Milly to Hubs during the week to put a smile on his face. I also would like him to see that we miss him and allow a bit of insight as to what he is missing. I think of it as a way to include him in the small trivial stuff of my day, which I would want if I was out of town! This morning I sent this pic of Milly. I have not been letting Milly up on the bed much, but this morning when I said "MILLY OFF" she gave me this look. It was so cute I had to grab my phone and snap a pic to send to Mike.



I guess I would be a more effective pet owner if I just had stuck to my guns and said OFF again instead of going "awwww, such a cute puppeh!" and taking a picture, no? Oh well. There are moments in life that are more important than disciplining my stubborn dog. (as an aside, Mike thinks Milly makes herself look cuter when she needs to, like Puss in Boots on Shrek2. I don't think she has that high of , uh, cognitive skills but who knows.)

Last week I sent a pic of Milly chewing a rawhide on the bedroom floor with the subject line "Dog is helping me get ready for work".... Mike responded "By help you mean not directly impeding, right?" Exactly.

I started worrying on the way to work that Mike wasn't taking these photos the way I meant - but felt more guilt for being out of town and sad for missing things. Luckily he felt exactly the way I meant them to be received, happy to get updates on Dog and it puts a smile on his face. Score! I'm glad he likes the pics, b.c I sure do like taking them and sharing them with him. I'll have to keep them coming. And for some reason, I think Milly will never let me lack for things to share. Even if it's only a daily "What inappropriate item did Dog chew today?" email (PS yesterday's not-intentional-chew-toy was an empty roll of painting tape).

Video for your Wednesday!

I have no idea why this made me laugh so hard.

Monday, Monday....

Dudes, I am a special kind of exhausted today after this weekend!

Friday we hit up happy hour with some of Mike's friends and some of my former PwC coworkers. Saturday was breakfast/brunch with the Reuters and another of Mike's coworkers. Then my friend Amy is turning 30 and we met her at the festivities at around 1 in the afternoon. I didn't get home until like midnight! Then yesterday we did alot of sleeping, eating, and did the tile backsplash in our kitchen.

My fingers are RAW from ripping the individual tiles off the fiber backing and cutting them to fit in the top row of the backsplash. As I type this I have a lime-green bandaid with neosporin on my left pointer finger.
As for the backsplash, I think it's turning out well. We still need to grout it next weekend, which I'm a tad bit nervous for. But overall I think it looks pretty darn good :) The whole excercise wasn't THAT bad, but it was NO walk in the park like the DIY channel makes you think. I mean, they make it look like all rainbows and unicorns and it definitely was more difficult than that!

I am so tired, but have a ridiculously busy week planned. More painting, need to scrub the extra adhesive off that tile, seeing Em's new place, a LOST date with Jay and Kim, and having some friends over for drinks on Thursday. Yowsa!!

Scooter's!

Hubs and I went up to Scooter's for the first time this year for some frozen custard. I noticed on the menu that they had free doggie cones, and Milly thoroughly enjoyed her cone!

If I had thumbs they would all be up for that cone!

It's friday!

And I also got a haircut and highlight last night....

It's been a long time since I've gotten a highlight and been actually kind-of blonde. I like it, but I'm already wondering if it was a good idea after paying the bill last night. I'm kicking myself a little bit, remembering the reasons why I grew my highlights out to begin with (what a long and painful process!). Most of the reasons amounted to the arm, leg, and firstborn child they charge you here for haircolor! Maybe I'll just touch it up once halfway through the summer and then have it died back for the winter. Then never color my hair again!!!

ALSO: Workplace is going to be on the Ellen show today! I am excited to see what's up - that is all we know so far but there is a viewing party downstairs at 3:00 PM (Central)... sounds like fun!

The search is over...

Hello, beautiful! Spring can come now!

Weekend Recap

What a full and busy weekend! And so totally just what I needed.


Friday I got off work a little early, and went home to paint. I taped the rest of the trim in the living room and kitchen and got a first coat of paint on that trim. Mike got home around 6 and we grilled some steaks I purchased from Paulina Meat Market.I'd never been there, but the steaks were AWESOME and they had a cute little gourmet grocery. They had a lot of premade foods that looked yummy - fresh pastas, brisket, mac & cheese, chicken pot pies, etc. Plus they had a bunch of fun gourmet foods and sauces. I'll definitely have to go back and get more steaks and try something new each time. This time I got a bottle steak seasoning herbs and spices - it had salt, pepper, garlic, chives, and some other stuff in it. I used this on my steak and it was so good - once I completed my little steak trick of rubbing some butter on it and then letting it rest for a minute or two, the steak was by far one of the better ones I have had, period, let alone at my own home! A lot of restaurants do the butter trick, it makes any steak about twice as good!


After dinner we had some drinks out on the patio with our neighbor Joel. This is becoming a habit and one of our favorite things to do - Joel is animated, fun, and smart, and hanging out on the patio you see all the comings and goings of the condo building. It's lots of fun.

After drinks we took Milly for a walk and stopped by Mike's friend Carl's place. He lives right on Sheffield and it was balmy (high 70's) and very windy, and the guys were having fun sundress-watching.

Saturday was SUPER busy but just what I needed - a whole lot of fun social time. I got up and ran a 5K with my friend Stacy (although RUN wouldn't really maybe be the word I would use to describe it... Stacy is FAST so I think a better description would be "huffed and puffed, then made Stacy walk for a very long time."). The run was for colon cancer and was called "Get your rear in gear." The organizers had great fun making everyone chant out words that alot of people don't like such as "COLON!" and "RECTUM!" before the run. Stacy and I would have been laughing had it not been POURING rain at that time. Luckily the rain tapered off and we got the run in without getting totally soaked.

I hit up brunch on Saturday with Jessica at Southport Grocery. They call themselves a grocery and cafe - but it honestly tilted a bit more toward cafe. There were like four shelves of gourmet fixin's between the tables and the checkout. The stuff they had was cool, but it was definitely more restaurant than combo! The food did not disappoint. I had an egg-white omelette with ham, leeks, and mushrooms and swapped out their red potato mash for a salad of field greens. I was glad I swapped out for the salad, because I was very full from the omelette. It was by far the most filling egg white omelette I have ever had. I did have a small snack around 5:30, but I wasn't even that hungry around that time, I was just more worried I wouldn't make it until 8:15 dinner reservations without being starving! We also split a chocolate cupcake for dessert. It was great - super light and fluffy and the buttercream was sweet enough to get my sweet tooth fix in but not too rich.

We shopped a bit after brunch, and I found a sweet new green handbag at Nevermind on Belmont. So the handbag search ends, and I am in love with my new spring bag! I headed down to Emily's in west loop and helped her dip some cupcake pops (not pops, didn't have sticks, but same idea), then headed to drinks with my gals. Mike picked me up from there to hit up Terragusto. This place was good, but I don't know if we would go back. They had a pretty small menu and alot of the stuff was either super fancy or "chef's choice." There wasn't a whole lot that Mike felt comfortable ordering as he is a super picky eater. As an aside, I know that "chef's choice" items give the chef all kinds of creative freedom, and that's great, but I think it's a slight disservice to the diner. Not everyone (most people!) don't like EVERYTHING and it should be the chef's goal to please the customer - not to just create create create. If the person doesn't like something the chef chooses it's all kind of moot - they're not going to be likely to recommend the place or dine there again for fear of getting the same thing again. So anyways, it was good and we very much liked the food we had (Mike had the 4 cheese ravioli and I had the gnocchi with brussel sprout leaves and shrimp) but our top Italian food choice still has to be La Gondola. Sorry Terragusto, La Gondola still rocks our socks more!

After dinner we met my brother and his girlfriend and her mom up for a beer and then went home and hit the hay. The beagle was in top form behavior all wekeend with Mike around (v. cute and cuddly), and this I very much appreciated... she was a TOTAL punk last week.

Sunday I put a second coat on the trim in the living room, second coat on the stairwell and upstairs hallway (yeah, that took me three hours), took the tape off the trim downstairs, moved the furniture back in, vacuumed a bit, and made chocolate chip cookies. Another steak dinner (this time with sweet potato fries, YUM) and the last few episodes of Generation Kill topped off a great weekend.

Super busy, but just the right mix of accomplishing, social time, and Mike time. Well, I could always have more Mike time, but I stayed out of his hair so that he could study. He has a test on Friday, so excited to have it out of the way. Let's hope he passes!!

Happy weekend!

This is what Mike and I call "Darwinism at its finest"... the guys across the street decided to sit on the edge of their building for some smokes in a break from their bags game. So smart of them!

Dog Ball!

That's what we call it when Milly rolls up in a ball and goes to sleep. This one was particularly awesome - she didn't move all evening long :)

Diets suck

So that Weight Watcher's commercial that says "Diets don't work" is total BS b.c you know what Weight Watcher's is? EATING LESS. That, my friend, is a freaking diet. Just as a random aside.

Anyways, I've been on a diet for the past week and a half. And I've done pretty good at it.... so far. I guess you could say I've kind-of been on one for the past month but before last week the plan was 1)dieting when Mike wasn't here and 2) eating everything in sight when he was. Oh, and just in case you are wondering, that doesn't so much work very well.

Now I'm on the all-diet-all-the-time-train. I figure I need to get a little more svelte before the summer. I am sick of not fitting in all the clothes I own, and would just like to start this summer of a little less tubby.

The main issue is that I really need to start working out again. I haven't been very good about it in a while - working out makes me want to eat more, and that's what I was trying to avoid. So maybe now that I'm a bit more into the diet I can start up again. Plus the weather is nice so it's time for the beagle and myself to hit the trail. This should be interesting; I took Milly running once a couple weeks ago and I felt a little bit like I was running/dragging an uncoordinated wild hog. I had to hopscotch over her twice; once was right beside some guy whose dog wasn't behaving like a crazed maniac and I exclaimed "Trying to teach this dog to run is like trying to herd cats!!!" Oy, man. I came home all disheveled, and the beagle was dying. For such a spirited dog she sure was a wimp when it came to running. At the end of it I was practically walking and dragging her along.

I feel like it will be good for us both though, I get exercise and I run some beagle-energy out of the dog. I swear, if I could bottle and sell beagle energy, I would make a hojillion dollars.

So here's the plan:

• 100 pushups program (3x a week)
• Run (2x a week)
• Jillian 30 day shred dvd (2x a week)
• PAINT & do home improvment in all my spare time!!
• Limit calories... oy.

This should be interesting!

Poop on the porch

On Saturday, I had a super weird dog day. I'll just sum most of it up with: Milly had the flu and also almost fell out our third story window.

Milly is OK, thankfully. But something else upsetting happened.

Someone put poop on our welcome mat.

As a little backstory, about three weeks ago we found some dog doody on our front welcome mat. It was strewn across the mat in such a way that we figured someone's dog just got away from them and thought our mat looked like a great place to go. I mean, hey, it is pretty cool. Grey indoor-outdoor weave with a damask pattern. Who wouldn't want their bathroom to be that cool?

Except on Saturday, I went to take Milly outside and there was poop on our welcome mat again. Hmmm, I thought. I looked around in shock. Who would do this? I grabbed a bag out of our doggy-poo bag dispenser on Milly's leash and quickly picked it up. As I did so, I couldn't help but notice that the poo's were not placed there haphazardly. No, there were three little poo's all lined up nicely in a row. It was very obvious that someone had put them there.

My first thought is that someone obviously thinks we don't clean up after our dog and is going all vigilante-justice on us. This is absolutely NOT the case. Milly is never off-leash and/or out of sight, and never does her business in the main areas of the condo complex (and very rarely IN our condo anymore, woot! Also, knock on wood!!). Also, we ALWAYS pick up her poo once she goes, which is usually in a patch of grass at the end of our alley.

Another more disturbing option is that someone just doesn't like us and put poo on our porch to be vindictive. I really don't like this option, as I think we try REALLY HARD to be good and friendly neighbors.

Either way, I am kind of angry. I mean, if someone thinks that we're not picking up after Milly, shouldn't they come and talk to us instead of being an immature 12 year old and putting POOP on our WELCOME MAT?! Do we just look like people who wouldn't clean up after our dog? And why should I be a diligent dog owner if I'm just going to get rewarded with poo put on my porch?!

Mike wants to install a security camera to catch the poo-dropper. I have notified the condo association and think they'll send out a letter.

What kind of person would put poo on someone's welcome mat?! And what do you think we should do?

A quick public service announcement...

Ladies of Chicago: TIGHTS ARE NOT PANTS.

Also, that is a shirt you are wearing, not a dress.

That is all.

Easter pics

Mike and I get in a pic. Two words: Need tan. Vacation cannot come soon enough!!

The kiddos wait for the egg-hunt go-ahead.
And they're off!

Aydan "helps" Odin. And by help I mean takes eggs out from under him. hahaha... like Odin would really get much of that candy anyways with two older brothers!

OK, I have two eggs. All I can hold. Are we done here yet?

Mike helps Odin hunt for eggs by holding onto the basket that is almost as big as Odin!

I wonder if this one tastes good?

Ooops! thought the drive-by egg grab would work... notsomuch.

I finally get a tiny smile out of Dade a little later in the day.

I love the Easter egg hunt with all the nephews. It is so much fun to see all these little boys run all over the place for eggs, and it's even more fun now that Dade and Aydan are a little older and don't stand in one place throwing one egg against the sidewalk (a real hardboiled egg... ahem, I'm looking at you, Odin) for the duration of the event. Plus the weather was gorgeous. I was sad I missed my niece, Gracie, in her Easter finery, but it's become a bit of the tradition to load the nephews up on sugar and then deal with the consequences.

As a random aside, Dade and Aydan made the paper bunny ears that Aydan is wearing above while I was napping on Saturday, and they sported them almost the whole weekend. It was so cute!

And SO SAD I totally forgot to take pictures of the newest little nephew. Little Loki was born just about a month and a half ago. Doh!

Easter weekend fun

This weekend was so fun! Friday I came home early and attempted to take a nap, but a certain beagle wouldn't sit still enough or stop whining enough to let me do so. Oh well. That night we had a dinner date with our neighbors. We hit up Pequod's Pizza and saw the movie "I love you, Man." We hit Pequod's super early since it tends to get really jam-packed... then had time for a few beers before the movie at a bar next door to the pizza place. We moseyed over to the movie theatre a few minutes before our showing and it was sold out! So we bought tickets for the next showing (a little over an hour from then) and headed back to the bar. Good times! The movie was funny, not Anchorman- or 40-year-old-Virgin-funny, but funny all the same.

Saturday we rolled out of bed, finished packing, grabbed the beagle and got on the road. Traffic was awesome and we made it to Mike's parents' by 1. Mike's mom sent his sister into town to grab us some Mr Happy Burger, which was divine. They by far make the best pork tenderloin ever.

The weather was in the 60s, and the nephews were keeping the beagle busy by running around the yard and throwing tennis balls and sticks for her to "fetch". I use quotes around fetch b.c she will run to the ball or stick and then either get it and run away with it, or just kind of toss it around and not bring it back. Mike and I were laughing that everyone wins in the situation where the beagle tires out the nephews and vice versa. Milly had a BALL and loved running super fast through their big yard. Aydan came up to me and said "Aunt Apwil! Miwwy is FAST!!!" (as an aside, Mike's nephews don't say "Uncle Michael" but instead say "Michael Michael"... it's super cute!) Yes, yes she is, little one.

After Mike's sister packed up all the boys (4 boys - ages 5, 4, 1, and 1.5 mos) we headed to town for our Walmart trip. Walmarts aren't allowed in this here big city, so we had to stock up on cheap paper towels (we go through them so much fast with Milly the MessMaker) and the like. We picked up Bruno's pizza (Oh. So. Good) and a Sonic Cherry Lime-ade for me (I have a mad mad love for them. Try one if you're near a Sonic!) on the way back out to his parents' house. Once out there, we all ate as much pizza as we could handle and then walked around the back yard kicking bushes and piles of brush hoping for a bunny to come running out for Milly to chase. A couple ran around right past her; she is not that good at paying attention. But she did chase one, so that's a start! Later we watched Slumdog Millionaire. I REALLY liked it, but at one point Mike turned to me and said "this movie isn't very exciting, pal." I was like "HEY NOW. I like it!"

Sunday we woke up super early to hit services at a local church that Mike went to as a kid. Then we headed into town for the first of two holiday dinners. Mike's Grandma H cooks the big lunch and she makes some fantastic noodles. It was all I could do to not load my plate just of those! The second dinner was at his Grandpa and Grandma K's and the food there was awesome too. I had second helpings of cheesy potatoes... so good! We took Milly along to that dinner, and she had a grand time playing with all the cousins and figured out how to jump their baby gate (glad I bought the extra tall one for our condo now!). Milly was so tuckered out from all the festivities that she was super chill even last night and flat-out exhausted on Sunday night on the drive home!

I'll post some pics from the nephews' Easter Egg hunt tomorrow, those are at home on my camera. Oops! It was a gorgeous day, so hopefully the pictures look great. They sure looked cute on my preview screen :)

Happy Friday!!!

I am obviously over-excited about Easter weekend and Mike being home and the fact that we get to leave at 2 today. I've been super giddy all day long.

This morning when I got back inside from taking Milly out to potty, she jumped up on our bed and was cuddling with Mike. She gets right up next to him and leans her head waaaaay back, trying to lick his face. He cracks me up b.c he lets her cuddle but holds her down a bit so she can't lick on him. So for some random reason I started singing (to the tune of Tiny Dancer by Elton John)... "Hold me closer, tiny beagle! Please don't lick your foot, you'll huuuurt it!" etc. Mike told me those weren't the words, and I said "I know, but I don't HAVE a tiny dancer. What I have is a tiny beagle!" It was so easy to make up words to that song, maybe I should make a whole song with verses and everything about my tiny beagle!?

We had a meeting with our external auditor this morning and had a fun talk about automated auditing tools and new technologies/fun tech toys. Yeah maybe that is only fun for dorks like me? This auditor guy cracks me up b.c he always wears his airplane cufflinks when he comes to our office as a nod to my workplace. They're actually really nice airplane cufflinks too, they're super cute!

I had a very good sushi lunch with some friends I used to work with. So yummy! Plus one of the guys and myself gave the other guy a metric ton of grief about his internet stalking habits. I did a lot of laughing on that one. But whatevs, you know everyone internet stalks at least a wee bit!

So that's the day so far. Pretty good in my opinion!

Things I have accomplished this week

• Finished the cushions for the top and bottom of Milly's crate so that she can sit on it without grungy towels being everywhere. Without something on the top her little paws can slip through the wires of the crate
• Finished painting the wall behind the TV and above the front windows
• Posted our old green rug on Craigslist and met up with the girl who wanted it to give it to her
• Had dinner last night with a good friend, Jaci
• Took Milly to the vet because her paw has an infected scratch or something on it. Whatever it is, it makes her paw big and red and swollen! The vet recommended putting a cone on her head so she doesn't chew on the paw... I felt like a genius for saving the old cone from when she got fixed! I had thrown away the old piece of cloth that they used to tie it on though, and the only fabric I had laying around was that green and white damask stuff in the above picture that I used for the cushions. So I cut a piece of that to tie it around her neck.... at least she's a fashionable cone-head dog. Milly was NONE too happy to be left this morning with a cone on her head. Oh man, she was whiny. Poor Milly :(
• Backed up laptop and didn't have room to backup the whole thing. I have 40G of PICTURES on that thing. Holy cow. The nikon is killing my poor pink laptop!
• Watched The Hills season premiere. It's going to be a GREAT season!
• Other assorted random boring household chores like laundry and dishes that I won't bore you with.

And Mike is coming home early this week - tonight instead of tomorrow!!

Ch-ch-ch-changes....

So I've been a bit quiet lately, and it's because I'm digesting a big piece of news for the Knowles household. Mike started a 4-6 week project in Detroit last week, and on the 2nd day the senior manager asked him if he would consider a 1 year commitment to the client.

Mike is an actuary and specializes in pensions and this client has some pretty complicated pension stuff going on - not only will he learn a TON that will be on his tests in the next year (he has one actuary test in May, and two in the fall... not sure if he will take both in the fall), but he'll have no commute and an empty hotel room to come home to to encourage him to study. We decided together that it was a great opportunity (especially in this economy!) to learn and to really work on finishing his tests.

So it's been tough. I was really upset last week, as I told some girlfriends "I married Mike because I want to spend my life with him, not Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday each week with him." But I'm feeling much better now; I'm in the 2nd week of not having him around and it's not looking nearly as bad. I come home and do all the same chores I used to... hang out with the dog and take her for walks. I have made plans with friends during the week a little more and am looking to scale back and/or bring him with me for more weekend commitments and events.

I'm sure it will stink sometimes, but that's life. As my mom used to say "Life isn't fair".... and we are so very blessed in so many ways that I can hardly act as if him being gone a few days a week is going to ruin me or us. Because it won't.... a year will go by faster than we realize and at the end the condo will be lookin' pretty nice due to my new obsession with home improvement (which I imagine I won't burn out on nearly as fast as if Mike was around during the week!) and our relationship will be stronger than ever as we make a concerted effort to spend time with each other.

I have a friend that has done long-distance with her boyfriend multiple times, and she has made comments to me that when they're long-distance and get together they do fun events & spend quality time together, whereas sometimes when they're living together they can take each other for granted and, with such busy schedules, feel like they're just constantly passing each other. Like her, I know it would be nice to have him around and that it's tough, but am looking forward to those fun events and Team Knowles time!

Another positive: It's WAY easier to stick a diet when Mike's not around. Ridiculously easier! He MUST be a bad influence :) And without Mike around, I'll really feel like I'm getting my money's worth out of our fancy security system!

Milly's craigslist debut

I just posted this on Craigslist!
Free Crate and Barrel rug. Green with brown & tan dots, 4 ft by 6 ft. One slightly beagle-chewed corner. Beagle not included.

She doesn't look very remorseful.

Get better, Italy!!!

Hmmm, awesome

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/eu_italy_earthquake

We're leaving for Italy in a little over a month.

Did I ever tell all ya'll about the earthquake that hit Hawaii right before we went there? Yeah, we must be GREAT earthquake luck.

Handbag nonsense.... alternatively titled: I am crazy.

Let's start this off with saying I need another handbag like I need a hole in the head. To wit:

All my bags, in that hangy thing in between the shoes and washer/dryer. I can barely fit them all in there!

Ever since I found that handbag I posted on here (the green or pink? question) I have been obsessed with finding a new, kicky, and bright handbag for spring and summer. At first I thought my spring color was a bright green, then decided on perhaps going with a plum/bright purple. I have been scouring (AND I MEAN SCOURING! There is no stone left unturned on these here interwebs) all clothes-related websites for a fun bag. My big caveat being that I didn't want to pay more than $150 for this bag, because I am cheap and because for the bag to be more than that, it should also check my e-mail and perhaps floss my teeth for me. I am bad at remembering to floss.

At some point a couple weeks ago I decided that I was not going to find the Perfect Bag online.... no, indeed. More likely, the bag would be at Nordstrom Rack. So on one of those days with near-70-degree weather, I set out on my lunch hour to find it. I walked into the Rack and immediately started going through one of their ridiculous-large bins of bags... as I did so, another woman and I rooted through the bags and I saw a flash of plum-colored-leather and she reached in to grab it. Out came The Bag. The perfect Bag. And I saw the price tag. At $70, it was also the perfect price!

This is where the story devolves. The woman inspected the bag and put it over her arm with another 4-5 bags. I figured... she might not get it? I should keep an eye on her maybe for when she puts it down?

And that is how I ended up following the woman around the store for 45 minutes. Until she checked out.

The trip wasn't a total bust. I did end up finding this guy, an Elliot Luca bag. It's mostly like this one, but is a bit smaller and skinner (doesn't flare out at the bottom). And is also lavendar. It was a steal at $40.

I came home and looked up the designer of the bag I saw the woman pick up at Nordstrom Rack. Eek! Most of his bags went for like $500 or so! Way over the price range, and more than I would any bag right now. I did end up finding a very very similar bag online for a very good price (WAY less than the one shown at that link). The only hitch was that the bag was grey and not a fun color. When I got it I tried it out and it fit all the stuff that a purse should PLUS was able to fit my Nikon Camera. That and the zipper (gotta deter pickpockets with the zipper, yo) sold me on it. It's the perfect Everywhere Bag. Now I just need to brighten it up with a fun scarf or something. Or I could always just buy another cute, kicky, bright spring bag?

Stop me now.

Enough!

Chicago, this is the kind of sh*t that breaks people's will to live. Seriously? April snow? GAH!!!! (runs screaming down street tearing hair out).

Almost April....

I keep telling my boss that April starts this week, and it's my favorite month. Since it's MY month that means everyone has to do what I say all month, right? Right?

I got some major accomplishment done on the home front and, boy, I am exhausted.

Painted the hallway that seemed like it would never end: Picked out and purchased tile for our kitchen backsplash. Look! Browns and blues! What do you think?

I was going to make a cover for Milly's crate (like a cushion for the top and one for the bottom as well, so it doesn't scratch the floor and so that she can sit on it during the day while we're gone at work), but I ordered the fabric online and it hasn't gotten to me yet :(

Other than that, I was hella lame. I had dinner with the girls and like one drink on Friday, and then we stayed in on Saturday. I don't know, I just have NOT been in the mood to go out. I think maybe I am just feeling fat and feeling like I'm going to be overscheduled this summer, so I'm hibernating a bit! Plus, who wants to be indoors painting when the weather is gorgeous in Chicago? Not me... I would rather get it out of the way now, during monsoon season!

Home Improvement

Yesterday and today I have become obsessed with home improvement. Last night I painted our hallway and I would like nothing more than to touch it up early in the AM tomorrow morning before heading off for a day at the Children's museum with my little sib through Horizons.

As I was painting the hallway a dark tan/light brown last night I realized that the color was just close enough to the fireplace color that it was going to look weird once I extended the color through the dining room (we're planning on using the same color in the hall, living room, and den). So this is the idea I had... paint the living room the light brown, find some backsplash tiles for the kitchen (attached to the living room, where I am standing while taking the above picture) that are a bright/light blue and put up backsplash with those tiles in the kitchen (with brown grout). Then match the tiles to some paint and paint the fireplace that same color. I also ordered these Flor tiles (to replace our current green area rug that Milly does so love to gnaw on), as they are mostly brown with touches of blue.

On the way back from Oak Park, and the museum, tomorrow I'm going to check in at a tile place one of Mike's coworkers recommended at Fullerton and Western and hope I can get a deal on some tile for the backsplash. I've never put in tile before and am kind of excited to try it, as when we redo the bathrooms I would really like to do that myself. Plus I need to put tile in the upstairs closet for underneath the washer-dryer in the event that we would get new carpet sometime later this year. So I am getting excited to learn.

Is it incredibly lame of me to get SO. VERY. EXCITED about home improvement? Probably. But on this sunny Friday, noboday can get me down off my home improvement high.

Other than that, my weekend consists of sushi dinner with the gals tonight and (hopefully) grilling and a movie with the boy tomorrow. I gotta tell you, the weekend plan sounds sooooo great to me!

Almost forgot to add: Last night when I started painting, Mike said "So you know how sometimes when you paint a kid's room you let them put a handprint on the wall? I said yes, and he said that maybe we should put a Milly pawprint in the hallway since that is *kind of* her room. Yeah, fat chance, Hubs! hahaha....

Chicago News

Hey, at least Chicago does well in one area that is not negative!

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/taking-cities-in-stride/

Random query...

So my mom and I had an interesting conversation the other day, and I've been thinking about it ever since. I had always assumed that if someone said something when they were mad or drunk they obviously really meant it in real life. Of course, because that is mostly what happens with me. Two glasses of wine, you'll have about as much honestly as you can handle - every thought that is in my brain comes sliding on out.

But she observed that there are people in this world who say things when they're mad and drunk that they do not mean at all, not even in the slightest. That hadn't ever occured to me before, but I'm thinking it's definitely an option.

What do you think? Which side of the railroad tracks do you fall on?

Happy Birthday, Katie!!

My little sister turned 24 this weekend. Holy crap that makes me feel old. Here is the 10 things about Katie I love, originally posted in 2007!

Katie is one of my nearest and dearest friends, and although sometimes I luuuuuurve to call her out and be a bossy-a$$ older sister, I hope she knows that I love her more than a fat kid loves cake!



Ten things I like about Katie:

1. Katie loves the hell out of everyone in her life, regardless if they deserve it or not
2. Katie loves the ghetto. I can always count on her to accompany me to a Kanye concert
3. Katie wears my clothes. I love it when other people like your clothes enough to actually borrow them
4. Katie has the prettiest hair and eyes. She hates her hair, but I think it's great.
5. Katie is a great eyebrow-plucker. She does my eyebrows when I see her.
6. Katie says things like "Playing the tambourine is exhilirating!" or "Oh, no, she diiiiin't!"
7. Katie has a job where she helps people everyday and loves contributing to society like that.
8. Katie is not the kind of girl to turn down a cupcake
9. Katie enjoys the both the fun of a night out on the town and a night in watching movies
10. Katie is the best sister EVER

I want to add a few things, because since 2007 a lot has happened in Katie's life. She graduated from an OT grad school program, had my little niece Gracie, and got engaged to her fiance Drew. Katie spends most of her time nowadays taking care of Gracie, Drew, and her patients. She is a great OT and an even better Mommy, and loves Gracie with the passion of a thousand fiery suns. I am so glad to have Katie in my life and look forward to being her Matron of Honor in the fall, and having lots of fun time with her and her new little family in the future! I love you, Katie!

Happy Reuter Baby Day!

(Pictures blatantly stolen from Michelle's website)

Do you want to hear a secret?

I cried like a little baby at Andy and Michelle's wedding!

I had been to friends' weddings before. Friends from high school who married their high school sweetheart, frriends from college that married their college sweetheart. But Andy and Michelle's wedding was the first couple like us that got married. People who met after college in the city, people that liked to go out and be social and lived downtown. People who met like us and lived like us and were getting married... like us!

Sitting at their wedding in January of 2007 was my major holy-crap-I-am-a-grownup-and-wedding-is-coming moment. I cried like a baby. On the plus side, then I was able to keep it together (mostly) in at our wedding. Which was good, because redoing the makeup at my own wedding would have sucked!

But so anyways, they are having their baby today via c-section because their baby PBR is in breech position. They are such great people, and I am so excited for them! I'm looking forward to seeing how they handle a baby in the city and am glad that once it's our turn I'll have someone to turn to for advice.

Can't wait to visit and see baby PBR on Saturday!!

Dude, doggie daycare is hard work!

Happy Birthday JayJay!

Jay on Saturday, right after housing an entire cupcake in one bite. He looked like he was going to barf.

Again, a little late. But better late than never. My younger brother, Jay, turned 27 on Sunday. I told him and his girlfriend that turning older myself doesn't make me feel old, but Jay and our sister Katie getting older sure does!

Happy Birthday, "Little" Brother! Here is your Birthday 10 Things I Like About Jay!

1. Jay makes everything funnier and more fun. He has plenty of jokes/puns/mocking about everything, including his monstrous noggin'.
2. He is always up for some good competition - whether it be a slap bet or a pushup contest with Mike
3. We've always been like peas and carrots.
4. He is such a good uncle to our niece Gracie - he just loves her soooooo much! My favorite Jay Quote is "I love pizza and I love Kim but I LOVE THAT LITTLE BABY!!!!"
5. Jay can always make me laugh. My mom tells me that, when we were little kids, Jay would do things to make me laugh (bad things like smash cake onto his head, etc) and I would crack up and he would keep doing them until my mom would scream "You! Stop doing that! And you! Stop laughing at him!!"
6. Jay is always there when you need him. Need a kegerator carried upstairs or fixed? He's there. Need someone to step the party up a notch? He's there then, too.
7. He thinks of funny shirts like "Screw the kiss, gimme a beer." or "F*ck ya'll, I'm from Indiana" to wear on St Patty's Day
8. He gives me lots of material. I get about 80% of my funny sayings straight from Jay. I would be a lot less amusing without him.
9. He's one of those people on earth that I feel 100% comfortable saying whatever it is that comes to mind. No filter required.
10. So many of my life memories are imprinted with Jay being right beside me. He was (and is) a GREAT partner in crime!

Happy Birthday Jaybird!!

Happy St Pat's!

Saturday we went out for St Patty's Day festivities. We found a drink special that was $20 for 4 hours (very cheap! I likey) and the guys got there at like 8AM to wait in line. Good thing they did, too, b.c there were about 60-70 people in line by the time the bar opened up. Oh and they have like 5 tables! We grabbed a few right inside the door near some big open windows and proceeded to take about a gajillion pictures.

Alison, Me, Emily

I also brought cupcakes for Jay's birthday, which was on Sunday. Those were a HUGE hit! This picture was taken right after I punched Jay for making stupid faces instead of smiling for the camera. Some things never change.

OWWW!!!

All I can say is that by the time the drink special ended, we were homies with the bouncer and all our tongues were green.

Not sure what this was about. Seemed to be the right thing to do at the time!

When in doubt, put a card in your hat and dance like it's 1999!
Bar One bars, I can't quit you when you offer such cheap drinking packages! You may be collegiate, but you're always in my price range!

Mike and I boarded Milly for the day and that night so that we didn't have to worry about going home and letting her out and so that she would get some exercise. I thought when we got home we would LOVE the peace and quiet. In reality, when we got home we were both sad and missed that crazy little dog. Man, we are such saps!

It's Thursday!

Everybody dance now!

Hmmmmm

Random roundup

• So I thought I had quit caffeine since last year, but then read a few articles saying that green tea DOES indeed have caffeine in it! I do have the low caffeine Zen and decaffeinated Lotus green teas from Tazo, but I am kind of feeling bad that my Green Ginger Tazo probably has almost as much caffeine in it as a cup of Folgers. I think knowing what I know now, I would probably just buy the low or no caffeine versions in the future. But I shouldn't feel bad about finishing out my couple boxes of Green Ginger, right? Especially if I make sure not to have more than one of those a day? I really don't think it has as much caffeine in it as coffee b.c I had no tea this morning and am not feeling like I need it at all.
• Our intercom this morning was making a low buzzing noise and when I pushed "Listen" it made a loud whining buzz. It hurt MY ears, do you think it's making Milly lose her sh*t at home today? Don't dogs hear that stuff better?
• I have a strong desire to have the condo trim and main areas (hallways, living room, den) painted, but don't want to do any of the work to get it to that finished state. I suppose that's how it goes some days eh?
• The carpet guy keeps calling me. At first I told him that I was waiting to get our tax return back to commit to new carpet.... now my reason is more that the dog isn't potty-trained completely yet and has a new-found affinity for sneaking upstairs, dousing the carpet and returning downstairs completely unnoticed. How do I explain to the carpet guy that I can't get new carpet until the Dog won't ruin it?! I think he'll think I'm just making excuses not to buy it.
• Milly pulled one of the inserts out of Mike's business-y shoes this morning and chewed it all to hell. Hey at least it was only the insert and not the shoe! But Mike needs new shoes anyways, so maybe that's Milly's way of saying "Hey, Dad, get new shoes. These smell bad."
• I'm feeling like poo today. My stomache hurts and I woke up every hour on the hour last night. Calgon, take me away!