It's 10:30 in the morning.

I'm in my pajamas, watching tv in bed with a hot chocolate on my nightstand.

And it's Friday - no work to be had!

The beauty of a SNOW DAY...

I think I'm going to take a nap now :)

A bit late-ish, but let’s put it down for posterity.

T-Day Highlights and Lowlights in no particular order.

Highlights:
Having the kid sis home. Hanging with Emerson and his little bros Friday (we watched WAY too much Borat on YouTube after getting our shop on in Woodfield). The Romanian food at Ella’s cutie pie of a daughter, Allisia’s, 1st b-day party. Hershey Candy Cane Kisses. Purchasing my mom’s Christmas present for 50% off with an additional 20%, then 10% taken off at Macy’s. Successfully resisting the MBP purchase again. Strawberry whipped cream cake from Lutz. Coming back to work with no boss today. Two for $5 deal at Target for a mini Christmas tree and ornaments.

Lowlights:
Making a purchase off of Bluefly only to find it marked 20% down the next friggin’ day. Shopping at Woodfield for almost 5 hours and walking away with only 2 things. Three pairs of shoes in 1 week (!!! Well it’s not really a lowlight but this addiction is a disease I tell ya’). Tighter pants after a weekend of gluttony. Tighter pants after a weekend of gluttony. And...tighter pants after a weekend of gluttony.

Wow Wow Wee Waa!!!

I like Cadbury Creme Eggs but not this much!

The making of this behemoth was found on Pimp That Snack via Slashfood. Impressive 'eh? It's 56 times bigger than the original! Here's the stats-

Standard creme egg - Height: 2" Girth: 4" Weight: 40 g Calories: 175
Creme de la creme egg - Height: 8" Girth: 16.5" Weight: 2.25 kg! Calories: Approx. 10000!

Hehe, just wanted to share with y'all. Happy Friday!

More Lens Lust

It's been a while since I picked up some camera gear, and with Christmas around the corner I've got my eye on some goodies. The one big thing on my wish list is a Lensbaby. Here's a snippet of info from their site:

The Original Lensbaby lens is the hybrid love child of an old-fashioned bellows camera and an up-tight tilt-shift lens. The Original Lensbaby captures images with glowing highlights, subtle prismatic color shifts and the trademark Lensbaby graduated blur. The Original Lensbaby features a single, uncoated optical glass element which is quite sharp at f/5.6 and f/8 but becomes softer and slightly diffused at f/4 and more diffused and impressionistic at f/2.8.

The Original Lensbaby is a favorite among artists, students, and toy camera lovers who enjoy raw, imperfect, and soft images. Portrait and wedding photographers who want to soften features appreciate the Original Lensbaby's romantic possibilities.

It's ironic that in an age of perfectly crisp digital images, lo-fi cameras and their pics are as popular as they are. And while I love the kind of images that Holga's and Diana's produce, I have no patience for film. I've gotten way too accustomed to the instant gratification that digital gives that going back to film is not something I want to do right now. Enter the Lensbaby and voila! Holga-ish images with the convenience of digital. Check out the flickr Lensbaby group here to see some images.

Ever since I switched into developing coffee and tea drinks, I often get the question “So do you like it more than sauces?” In all honesty, both products have really different ingredients and processing that it’s hard to compare. With dressings and sauces I got pretty comfortable playing around with oils, vinegars, and spices to get a certain flavor profile and consistency, so I figured coffee products should be easier right? Isn’t it all about coffee, chocolate and milk? Ummm yes and no.

This is what my first cupping sessions sounded like (cupping = the formal evaluation of the coffee/cocoa/tea product with the customer or marketing peoples):

Panelist 1: Sample A had more creamy notes, with the vanilla upfront and the cocoa pleasantly mild.
Panelist 2: Yes, I agree, in Sample B the coffee was too strong. It’s that god-awful robusta isn’t it? You can’t taste the cocoa at all! And it had no body!
Panelist 3: Ugh B… it tastes so earthy, almost like dirt. I’m tasting coffee first, then the milk, then that offensive finish at the end. Maybe we should try a different blend of Mexican and Colombian. What do you think Joy?
Me: Ummmm…I think I don’t like B either. It ummm, tastes different… Yeah, it doesn’t taste good…

That is the problem with being a newbie in a field where you’re working with people with seriously honed taste buds. At first everything tastes the same! Either that or I get tongue tied trying to find a way to describe what I’m tasting. And heaven forbid if I prepare a cup of coffee wrong. One time I (gasp!) used warm water to prepare a cup (it should be cold going into the brewer). And today I got strange, “you crazy lady” looks after assuming we taste the coffee out of our standard insulated disposable cups (you MUST use ceramic or porcelain).

However I never get tired of observing one thing. Sooo, when you taste straight up coffee you have to slurp it. It’s loud and sounds gross to people passing by but it’s a funny sight when you see a room full of people doing it. After slurping you spit it out. Usually there is a spittoon but a lot of times the tasters resort to using a regular old cup since that’s the most handy. Inevitably the sample cups and make-shift spittoons get mixed up and people end up sampling other people's...well you can guess the rest...

Hello peoples – long time no blog! So let’s catch up... Gosh what hasn’t changed in the state of the world within the past month? Within the groupie circle we’ve gotten new engagements, new jobs, new pads, new cars, and even a new majority in Congress! Now that is one productive month! As for me I have my new RED iPod and I think that is pretty nifty in itself. :)

No complaints about the weekend. X & N’s b-day celebration on Friday was fun with Borat being the perpetual icing on the cake. You must watch this movie! OMG I COULD NOT STOP LAUGHING!!! Saturday’s mission was accomplished with the discovery of THE DRESS for Samantha’s wedding (she looked gorgeous!) and the night finished off with a performance from the Luna Negra Dance Company. I had the perfect seats – Row N dead center. And no tall people in front of me either! Yay! Sunday’s highlights included finding the Gilmore Girls Seasons 1 and 2 on sale for $14.99 at Target. Oh the little things...

But what is it about waking up to rain on a Monday that can put you in a crabby funk? Well I was ok... as good as can be expected after having to be in Elgin at frickin 7 in the morning for a test run. But once I came back to the office everyone at work had these apathetic expressions on their faces. It was shaping up to be "one of those days”...

Eh, whatever. Monday is over and we're one day closer to the weekend. And you are now caught up :)

Cutie Pie

I couldn't resist posting this pic of little Miss Alexandra. Isn't she cute? She had her face painted at the Apple Fest in Long Grove this past weekend where I waited an insane amount of time for apple doughnuts. (Random side note: I really should have bought the apple cider. Omg. So good. Liquid apple dude. Liquid apple. I love the autumn season. But I digress.) The things I will do to satisfy cravings...

So what do we do after spending a good part of the afternoon waiting in line to purchase food? We spend a good part of the evening waiting in line to buy one last ice cream cone from Toot's on Central and Montrose since, as it turned out, everyone and their mama was out to get one last thing from Toots before they move locations. However when I step up to place my usual 'Small Vanilla Twinkle Coat' order the guy says 'No more Twinkle Coat. Gone forever.' Whaaaa??!! Porque? But the sign next to the window said 'Same exact stuff' at their new location...we'll see... I was denied my final twinkle coat and had to make due with a Dipped Top. Oh well, still the best soft serve ice cream around anyways. The perfect cone to get on summer days.

Biggest regret of the night: Not winning the "Lick Me" sign. I would've been the coolest girl in school if I hung that sucker in my cube at work :p

The Weekend Josh Will Never Live Down

Hey y'all! Halleluia this week is half over! This week has been...busy. The work office and lab have officially moved to Downers Grove and I now drive about 50 miles A DAY to get to and from work. Ugh. On the plus side, I've got a nifty new cube, I've met some really interesting people and best of all I've gotten sneak peeks and tastes of what you guys will see early next year. I am liking sharing the same facility with the meat and bakery depts of SL so far. :) Now if only we can get this rain to stop...
Here's some of the pics from the weekend (me and the groupies left Chicago behind for a few days for the quiet of Lake Wisconsin). I will never look at a pontoon or Josh in the same light. :)

Random Family Notes

-Summer is flyin' by again...The little sis was dropped off again at college this past weekend. Doesn't the little bugger look so darn happy? I miss her already. :( (Btw, gas in Indiana was friggin $2.74!!! So cheap!!!)

-This picture of my dad cracks me up every time I see it. My dad falls asleep at the drop of a hat and he always ends up in funny positions or holding random objects. In this case it was both. I tried prying the remote from him but damn he was holding on tight!


-My mother LOVES her some Oprah. However she is in denial. Last year for Christmas, she gave me an Oprah magazine subscription. Among my family members, we all knew it was really a Christmas present for her under the innocent guise as a gift for me. Now for my birthday on Friday, she happily hands me a pink gift bag. I reach in and lo and behold, I am now the proud owner the Oprah 20th anniversary 6 DVD set! Just what she, I mean I, wanted!

This is why I love my family...

Peru: People, Places and Protest

Peru was in one word, amazing! Here's a picture sampler - took a bunch of pics as always but the computer is tempermental so they will trickle slowly into flickr this week. :)

Today is Wednesday I Think

We´re on our way home tomorrow. It´s hard to believe that it was just yesterday when we jumped out of the train at Km 104 and started the trek to Machu Picchu. That trek kicked my booty and handed it to me on a plate. It was soooo hard! I was huffin and puffin and had leg cramps in both friggin legs.

But on the ascent up to the Sungate, you take that one last step up and there it is, Machu Picchu in all its glory below you and then it all becomes worth it. Then this morning we started the day back at Machu Picchu to catch the sunrise from the ruins. Way cool. I mean it´s just so awesome, it´s hard to explain if you haven´t been there. You´re surrounded by stillness and green mountains all around you and you feel like you can touch the sky...

Today we conquered the Sacred Valley. Or shall I say the Sacred Valley conquered us?
Omg...making your way through the ruins and mountains of Peru is no joke people!!!
But we did it! =)
Tip #2 - Bring toilet paper! Especially if you are a girl!

Wish I could post pictures...

Greetings From Peru

Hellloooo everyone!!!
Me and Mich(-elle ´cause that´s what she prefers) are here in Cusco, Peru!
It is COLD. My number one tip is dress like it´s late fall because you will freeze your ass off like I am doing right now.

She found internet!!! Too bad it´s a 15 minute limit.

ok bye =)

Hmph....

IT IS TOO DAMN HOT!

When Life Gives You Lemons

Make lemon cake! I needed a little food therapy, so that's what I did today. Last week was a bit...stressful. Thanks guys for listening to my irrational rants. :) I was (and am still) freakin' out. In a nutshell, a job offer came out of the blue but I didn't count on the old job counteroffering with a different position and title. Things are in limbo until I see the details in writing so in order to distract myself I hit the kitchen.

I regularly check a number of food blogs and an article in last week's Tribune highlighted a few more blogs I had overlooked. Over at Fancy Toast Erielle Bakkum had a recipe for lemon cake that I just had to try for myself. If you like lemon treats you'll definitely like this cake. It's moist and sweet with just the right amount of lemon (the secret is the lemon syrup that is allowed to soak in before the glaze is applied). Chase it with a tall glass o' milk and you are in heaven my friend.

The only addition I would make to the recipe is to heat up the glaze before applying it. My glaze came out looking more like super thick frosting and was in no shape to be drizzled on the cake like the recipe called for. I warmed it up for less than a minute in the microwave and that helped A LOT. By the time I was done the sun was down (which equals crap lighting) so no decent pics of the final product. (Below the lemon syrup is starting to soak in.) But trust me, it was good. :)

Time To Break Out the Haagen Dazs

My horoscopes have been eerily applicable to me lately. For example:

Horoscopes For Today: 7/18/2006
Leo: There's nothing wrong with being indecisive -- it shows that you're taking all your options seriously. So don't listen to folks who tell you to hurry on up today. Don't worry about taking too long to come to your conclusions, because you need to feel comfortable with where you put your energy and time. And if you need to change your mind, that's okay, too -- you're entitled to do that every once in a while. Take the pressure off of yourself!

Don't want to think anymore. I need sleep. Hopefully resolution will come soon.

Uh-oh

I didn't think resignation letters could be denied...
In one day things got topsy turvy.
Today it got a lot more complicated.
I get the feeling I'm gonna get ganged up on tomorrow.
And it doesn't feel too nice.

Hmmm seems I've got template problems...

Summer

A Little Bit of Everything

@ the Printers Row Book Fair Saturday

This weekend was purty nice. I love summer weekends when you wake up to the sun streaming through your window, the birds are chirping and you have the whole day in front of you to do whatever the hell you want. This weekend it included going to the Printers Row Book Fair on Saturday and tickets to a concert in the Symphony Center Sunday. Well the Symphony Center concert was just alright. I had free box seats from work and Daniel Barenboim was performing but I kept falling asleep! He was playing soft piano music and it was dark and cozy in our booth...I couldn't help it. So we decided to cut out during the intermission and get donuts instead :)

We Must See This!

Who can resist a man like Nacho Libre! We have to see this movie - you know it's gonna be funny if Jack Black is in it. Me and the co-workers were cracking up in our office watching the trailer (all three times). Check it out below. :)

Third Time's A Charm in San Fran

I had a great time in SF! The weather was perfect, the food was delicious, and the city was gorgeous as always. The vibe there is so laid back and happy... It's gonna be hard to go back to work tomorrow. Here's some of the pics taken - I'm pretty wiped out right now and the temp in my room is literally 80+ degrees so I'm minimizing the computer time up here. Hope you had a good weekend :)

Wordpress or Movable Type

I've been thinking of moving this blog to Wordpress or Movable Type for a while now. While Blogger is fairly simple to use and anyone can comment, I've found it to be pretty limited in that I can't customize it the way I want to. Wordpress and Movable Type both look like good alternatives but I wasn't too sure what advantages one platform had over the other. However, today I was doing my daily reading over at mexicanpictures.com/headingeast (which is a fantastic blog, may I add) and Raul has shed some light on each application. Good reading if you're thinking of moving too. Now I just need to find the time to play with some colors and start moving this thing which, knowing my procrastinator ways, most likely won't be for a long while...

My sis is back from school for the summer! Within no time we were finishing each other's sentences and saying the same things at the same time spontaneously. We personally get a kick out of it although other people think it's a little strange :) Saturday was nice - we made it a Girl's Day with our mom and shopped around Andersonville (picked me up a sweet bracelet at Presence) and Woodfield. After we met up with Mich and watched Da Vinci Code, which I thought was just ok. The movie had a lot to live up to with the book being so good but it was pretty decent and LONG.

Last night for some reason, I just could not sleep. Sometimes I get like that - I just wont be able to sleep even though I'm dead tired. At around 1am I decided to screw the sleep and just get up and do some research for the upcoming trips. I'm not sure when I finally got to sleep but I couldn't have gotten more than a couple hours. So today I was super super tired and I had to walk my ass all over McCormick Place for the NRA show. No rifles, the National Restaurant Association. It's a huge convention for people in the food industry and I filled up on all these new food products. My favorites were the tamarind slushies, sweet potato fries, jalapeno poppers and fried(!) brownies. The brownies were surprisingly really good - the inside was perfectly moist and chocolatey...mmm! I did not like the mac and cheese nuggets though - looks and tastes like a heart attack.

Can you believe the frickin' President of the United States was a speaker here today? What does he have to do with the restaurant industry? He did mention in his speech though that the restaurant industry is the largest employer for immigrants so in that light it seems pretty relevant. Last year Colin Powell was a speaker at the convention, which I missed too. I missed Ted Koppel's talk yesterday too. It came down to work on a Sunday or see Ted Koppel...hmmm... Easy choice. Sorry Ted.

Volume 2

Do you guys remember this song? It's De La Soul - Me, Myself and I from...1989ish! So loooong ago. I love this song, not only because the beat still gets me dancin' like it did back when I first heard it, but also because it reminds me of when I discovered MTV as a little kid and music then became this whole new world to me. In case you forgot who De La Soul is, I posted the video as a little 'circa '90s' music refresher since I put together Volume 2 of more old school music I think is groovy. It starts out slow then goes into a nice stream of faster songs and this time I had some requests I tried to accomodate. Still no room for Biz Markee, Hi 5, or Sweet Sensation though. Maybe for the next one ;)

1 PM Dawn - I'd Die Without You
2 Mint Condition - Breakin' My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes)
3 Born Jamericans - Sending My Love
4 Heavy D - Now That We Found Love
5 Bone Thugs and Harmony - Crossroads
6 Shai - Comforter
7 Silk - Freak Me
8 Mary J. Blige - Real Love
9 Tony Toni Tone - Feels Good
10 De La Soul - Me, Myself and I
11 Cypress Hill - Insane in the Brain
12 Digital Underground - The Humpty Dance
13 Bell Biv DeVoe - Poison
14 Wreckx-N-Effect - Rump Shaker
15 Janet Jackson - Rhythm Nation
16 Jodeci - Lately (Live)

Aye, Rubencito

I'm really really looking forward to seeing Machu Piccu in Peru this coming August. However planning the whole trip has been, well, interesting...It is NOT the easiest thing dealing with someone in another country, whether you're faxing documents over with your credit card number (seems so shady) or trying to talk to them on the phone. Today's long distance conversation was as follows.

After I dial +011 51 84 254 127 125 986 566596563456... to call Cusco

Lady: Buenes tardes

Me: Um hi, I made a reservation last week with Hotel Marquesas. Can I have a confirmation my rooms are reserved?

Lady: Aye, Rubencito...Rubencito! Rubencito...(spanish, spanish) telephono.

A pleasant sounding man takes the phone.
Man: Hello how may I help you?

Me: I'd like to have a confirmation that I have a room reserved at Hotel Marquesas.

Man: Hello, hello, I cannot hear you maam.

Me: YES - CAN YOU HEAR ME? I'D LIKE A CONFIRMATION...

Man: A what?

Me: A CONFIRMATION. I NEED A ROOM. AUGUST. I RESERVED LAST WEEK.

Man: Hello, hello? Oh have you tried our email at info@sastravelperu.com?

Me: Yes, I did and no one has emailed me back yet.

Man: No? (Mumble, mumble) Have you tried our email at info@sastravelperu.com?

Me: YES. YES I HAVE BUT NO ONE HAS EMAILED ME BACK. HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE FOR SOMEONE TO EMAIL ME BACK?

MAN: Sorry?

Me: HOW LONG-SOMEONE-WRITE-ME-BACK?

Man: Oh, have you tried our email at info@sastravelperu.com?

Me: Lord, you are testing my patience today YES I DID! Can you tell me today, right now, if I have a room reserved.

Man: Uhhh, (mumble mumble) maam if you email at info@sastravelperu.com someone will get back to you.

Me: I DID ALREADY...Oh Jesus... You know what? Fine, fine. (sigh) I will email. Again.

Man: Our email is info@...

Me: YES, YES I KNOW. THANK YOU. BYE.

This is how every conversation goes. It's kinda funny but also frustrating! Never any resolution and I end up feeling strangely defeated...

Awww

Happy Day! Pictures here. Lane Tech, baby! ;)

Our offsite R&D Conference wrapped up today. It was a 2 day event where the R&D departments from all of our locations gathered in Downers Grove to get to know each other, to talk serious ideation,...and to party. :) Things kicked off with a 2 hour town hall meeting led by our division's CEO and then we had lunch which was made up of new products you should be seeing by early next year. We then took tours of the new coporate headquarters which, like I was telling Mich and Kev, confirmed for me that I indeed work in a s-h-i-t-h-o-l-e. The new headquarters is huge and is surrounded by forest preserves with nature paths and overlooks a pond that has swans! Our new Tech Center will be built next door and is supposed to be super cool but that's 2 years down the road.

Afterwards I checked into my hotel room which was also situated in the woods and chilled out on my balcony overlooking a meadow. Geez I could get used to this. Luckily they let us Chicago people stay in the hotel too even though the meeting was held in the area. I guess they figured we'd all get trashed after the Spirit of Chicago dinner cruise we had that night. God it's so funny seeing your coworkers tipsy especially when they're trying to put together a congo line.

Today was all business though. Two hours of financial forecasts, 2 hours of leadership competencies, 2 hours of LEAN manufacturing training, and 2 hours of innovation and ideation. You thought that sentence was boring? Imagine sitting through a whole day of this. Blah blah blah. Today was a LONG day.

But anyways...Depeche Mode concert tomorrow! I'm looking to successfully smuggle my camera into this concert too.

Chocolate Fest!!!

This past weekend, me and Mich hit up the Long Grove Chocolate Fest. Long Grove reminds me of Stars Hollow in Gilmore Girls with its cute small town feel and wholesome festivals. Could it be a more perfect day? The sun was out, the air smelled of sweet fried dough and I was surrounded by chocolate covered strawberries, fudge fondue, devil's food doughnuts, chocolate parfaits...you get the point. :) Although the devil's food doughnuts looked good, I still went for my favorite apple cider doughnuts. Poor doughnuts didn't stand a chance to remain uneaten for a whole 24 hours. I am such a sucker for anything covered in cinnamon and sugar.

Music That Makes You Go "Oh Yeeaaah..." - Volume 1

Ever since Weezie came back to work with our team, we always talk about how things used to be when we were kids. I don't miss at all the sky high bangs, teased and hair-sprayed to perfection or the Cross Colors jeans worn with bodysuits. What were people thinking back then?
I do miss the cartoons - Thundercats, Jem (oohhh remember the Jem-Jerica-Rio love triange?) and Bionic 6 friggin ruled! And I especially miss the music. Thus Volume One of my circa 90's mix came to fruition. I was into more of a hip/hop, R&B sound at the time and when I hear these songs now I feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

1. Blackstreet - I'll Go Crazy
2. Digable Planets - Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)
3. Rob Base and Dj Ez Rock - It Takes Two
4. Skee-Lo - I Wish
5. Black Sheep - The Choice Is Yours
6. House of Pain - Jump Around
7. The Fugees - Fu-Gee-La
8. SWV - Weak
9. New Edition - If It Isn't Love
10. M/A/R/R/S - Pump Up the Volume
11. Deee-Lite - Groove is In the Heart
12. DJ Venom - Tetris Techno Mix
13. Arrested Development - Tennessee
14. En Vogue - Hold On
15. Babyface - When Will I See You Again
16. Boyz II Men - Water Runs Dry
17. LL Cool J - Around the Way Girl

Weez, Mich and work people have their copy. :) For Volume 2, think music in the vein of: De La Soul - Me, Myself and I, Bel Biv DeVoe - Poison, Tony, Toni, Tone - Feels Good, Cypress Hill - Insane in the Membrane with maybe a little Speed Racer thrown in. Any suggestions? Volume 2 is on it's way :P

A 'Lil Update

Don't you love it when you find out at work that you've been doing something wrong for 3 years? Mother f!
Anyways, on to better things. I'm sooo excited but so very broke. Summer is almost here, which means: vacation! I'm gettin' closer and closer to having the two big trips planned out for the year. Trip 1: Back to San Fran in May for almost a week, this time with the family. Dude I can't wait - I need a vacation and now! Trip 2: out of the country - nope not Greece, instead we're going to a hot Latin American country with gorgeous mountains and ruins (more details later). Yes! It's all a matter of counting down now...

A Day In Polaroids

Illegal In Chicago

I was so surprised this morning to hear that my work buddy, Martin and his story (edit - I removed the link) was completely plastered on the cover of Sunday's edition of the Suntimes. Two things bother me about the article - 1. A lot of the facts about Martin's situation is false. Maybe the reporter was dramatizing details to make a juicier story and 2. although this story puts another spotlight on the hot issue of immigration, the immediate effect could be a sweep document check of everyone in our facility. Not good. Why oh why did he give his last name and use the company's name?!

But, if you know Martin, he always tries to do "the right thing" even if it comes at a personal cost. The proposed immigration bill, which would mark the undocumented as criminals hits very close to home for him and doing this story was his way of rebelling against it. My two cents? To make it short, I'm against it as well. Everyday I work with Martin and people in his situation, and they give their work 200% with no complaints and with low salaries in return. I don't think the argument that illegals are taking jobs away from Americans is valid because countless times I have seen firsthand that you will not find Americans willing to work under the conditions and salary that illegals do. This country was built by the hard work immigrants and we can't forget that.

Naperville Is A Far Away Land

Being at Allan's going away party at his home in faaaar off Naperville only reaffirmed that it really is such a small world. It's so surprising who knows who. Forget six degrees of separation it's more like one or two - especially if you went to school or know someone who went to either Lane Tech or U of I and are asian.

I also found out this interesting tidbit: Dave told us his old college roommate, Kevin from the Oglesby 1 days, is the brother of Patrick Stumph, lead singer of Fall Out Boy! (Yup I know he goes by Patrick Stump. He removed the h for pronounciation reasons). Craziness! Especially if you've ever known Kevin, you'd know what an interesting contrast this is.

Should I Be Worried?

Today I received this email:

Your Yahoo! ID is: XXXXXXXXX
Your password for this account has recently been changed. You don't
need to do anything, this message is simply a notification to protect
the security of your account.

Please note: your new password may take awhile to activate. If it
doesn't work on your first try, please try it again later.

Only thing is, I have never changed my password. I don't really use my Yahoo email account so I'm not too concerned about that. I'm more worried about my Yahoo Music Service b/c my credit card info might be stored in that account. Eek! Since the email said the new password would take some time to activate, I tried to login to both accounts to see if I could still access it using the "old" password and then change it to something new. But it's too late - the new password is already in effect . It's not like there's a Yahoo phone number to call either so I have to do everything through on-line forms. The heck? I want an answer now!
What complicates things is that I've got some viruses on my computer I can't seem to get rid of. Part of me is paranoid that one of them is the kind of virus that records keystrokes or something. I've stopped accessing my financial accounts and paying bills on this computer for a while now... What to do, what to do?

---
There is WAY too much drama on Chase Avenue! Friggin' soap opera I tell ya.

A Love / Hate Relationship

Oh, Chicago. Where else could I do this in a day: Iraqtile Dysfunction at Second City, a Superdawg lunch, the Pompeii exhibit at the Field Museum, a Mini-Mix of Garrett's Popcorn, Femmegems in Marshall Fields on State, and The Walnut Room.

However this is ridiculous: total spent on parking $47!!!

Cole Rise

Can I say "WOW"?
Photo: relocationist by Cole Rise aka antimethod on flickr.
Visit his personal site for his photos in supersized format.

Surreal.

It's Amazing What A Little Sun Does

Best things about today:
Looking at my WeatherBug and seeing 69F. Going outside with a light jacket. Feeling hot with the aforementioned jacket. Watching Jawon run free around the hospital playroom as soon as his IV tubes were removed. Chasing Jawon with the yellow booties he refused to wear. Toni asking me "Where did you get those cute shoes!". Driving down the Kennedy with my windows open and music blasting. All the people dressed in green getting their St. Patty's Day celebrations on down in Lincoln Park. Picking up a coconut tapioca freeze from Joy Yee's. Long conversations on the phone. Having all the windows open in the house. Napping to the summer sounds of cars passing and kids laughing because the windows were open. Realizing it is not so dark anymore at 6pm. Finally watching Motorcycle Diaries.

The best thing today - my uncle's application for a visa has finally gotten processed after 17 years so cousins may soon be coming over from the muthaland. This is so very cool for me because it has only been me, my sister and my parents in the US my entire life. I might finally have some family here.

Fine Art Photography 101

This site is an EXCELLENT resource for anyone interested in Fine Art Photography. It's got pages and pages of images from the masters (think Avedon, Arbus) as well as equally mindblowing work from "newer" photogs like Hugo. Links galore and striking photographs presented simply and effectively. Best viewed in full screen mode.

10 Bucks Goes a Long Way

...when you're shopping in Argyle. I headed over there yesterday to get some genmai cha tea (brown rice tea) from Tai Nam and of course I have to pick up some goodies at Chiu Quon Bakery. With 10 dollars I got 2 pork buns, 2 sweet top bean paste buns, 3 bean paste cakes, 6 sticky rice balls, and a tray of rice cakes. So this morning I enjoyed the spoils.

Dude Tai Nam's like Joy Yee's - it's one of those places where you know you're going to run into someone from high school or college shopping with their family, or at least their tiny asian grandma. And they fit a lot of merchandise in a teeny tiny space. Only in asian stores are you going to find obscure things like artichoke and bittermelon tea. The foodie in me can spend way too much time in these places. Well I would have yesterday if I wasn't followed by a creep that worked there. Talk about aggressive, he kept tailing me throughout the store and even whispered hello in my ear as he was walking by. Eek! I attract winners I tell ya. But anyways...grocery shopping (usually) makes me happy. :)

It's Time For Some Color

@ the Garfield Conservatory. Spring can't come fast enough...

Hoo-rah

I love it when I come up with a new product at work and then someone tastes it and literally says:

"Hot damn that was some good shit!"

Yeah!

So I Was Bored At Work...

It's funny what guys think girls like. I was blogsurfing and somehow ended up on Yahoo Personals (long story, not going into it here :) - it started with someone at work). This is what some guys will do to hook themselves a lady friend:

-If the guy was in the military at any point in his life - HE WILL WEAR HIS UNIFORM IN HIS PROFILE PIC. 'Cause you know, girls just love a man in a uniform. This also applies to policemen and firefighters. Note to guys who pose with their guns: THAT LOOKS HELLA SCARY TO GIRLS.

-If the guy is a firefighter, the tagline in his profile will be some sort of regurgitation of "I'm a lonely firefigher looking for his flame". Lame.

-The guy will post pics of himself surrounded by either small children (tends to be multiple kids or else prospective mates will think he has fathered a child on the side) or some sort of cute fuzzy animal. This screams "See how loving and sensitive I can be?".

-The guy may post pics of himself next to a badass car. Lesson to the fellas - if you decide to post your salary and it's a bit on the low side, I'm not going to believe you drive a Jaguar. Another variation, parking the car in front of a cool building. That's fine and all but I think it's funny when you notice they're in a yellow zone so it looks like they pretty much emergency parked the car, jumped out for the pic and jumped back in for a quick getaway.

See told you I was bored...

Yay - Drew and Cheryl won!
They kicked arse on the free dance Thursday.

Man that girl is so brown.

Striated What?

Today I was checking the specifications on some red jalapeno powder I plan on using in a new product. There was a heading entitled "Extraneous Matter" meaning other stuff you might find mixed in with the pepper powder. This is what was listed under that category:

Insect fragments: 50 per 25g maximum
Striated animal hairs: 6 per 25g maximum

Whoa. Good to know there's a limit on how many insect pieces and animal hairs there are in my food. It kinda seems high to me anyways. I can understand the insect pieces but animal hair? Where the heck is that coming from? I find out goodies like this every day at work. The canned soup you eat has bug pieces in it too, well basically anything that contains vegetables will have bugs in it because there is no way to completely eliminate them but there is an acceptable level. Did you know there is an acceptable amount of mold and other microbial growth in your food as well? And don't get me started on the chemicals that are in no fat foods. Yeah...just what you wanted to know huh? :) Some food for thought.

All It Takes Is Chocolate, Really

I found this to be interesting on Gapers Block today. When asked "How old are you anyway?", these 2 responses caught my eye.

"In four months i will be 27.
twenty-seven! twenty-seven! the greying has begun! the twisted ankle is STILL not healed! the fertility has become an unexpected topic of discussion! the friends are now beginning to marry! the desire to own a house has arisen! twenty-seven, the year in which i tell aging that if the house is a-rocking, it should not bother knocking; it should, rather, enter at will."

"28.
Wait, is that right? I always have to think about it.
It's like the faux-adult age. Some peeps are getting hitched, some are buying places (meee!), some are birthing. But no one's doing all 3 things. We're just testing out being grownups. "

And I thought I was the only one that felt this way. When I was a kid, being 25/26 years old seemed so much more mature than it really is. I feel like I'm still a kid! I thought I would have a lot more things figured out at this point but I'm still clueless. Some people have a 5 year plan and lucky them they stick to it. Me, I have no idea what I may do tomorrow, much less 5 years from now. It's exciting and scary all at the same time. Some days you're on top of the world, you've got family, friends, a good job etc. Things couldn't be more perfect! Other days something doesn't feel right. Am I doing what I'm meant to do? Am I truly happy? Today was one of those days. So what did I do? I ate all of this in one sitting:



I immediately felt much better! One of the best parts about being a 20-something is that chocolate can fix damn near anything still.

Brrrr!!!

Good mornin'.

It's freezing outside! If I don't let the cold get to me I might check out If Trane Wuz Here at the Theater Building Chicago this weekend. Savion Glover and Coltrane? Looks good - I so wanna go!

Oh and, SpyBot Search and Destroy and Firefox are my new best friends. My computer is back to normal - yay! Thanks for your help guys - no more grosso pop-ups of casino websites or ladies in Lombard looking for "love". :)

---

In other serious matters - we have two contenders for the annual bff trip! Three years ago it started with San Francisco. The next year we flew across the pond to London and the rest of the United Kingdom. And last year horseback riding in the jungle was on the itinerary in sunny Mexico. For 2006, we have

Italia


or Greece



What do you think? Both places look awesome. Photo credits go to Kelly McCracken (Kalloosh on Flickr) for the Italy picture and Joe Reid (Fianna on Flickr as well) for the Greece picture. Side note - check out the rest of McCracken's photostream. The things she does with her holga are just amazing. What I love about her style is that dreamy, timeless quality that is consistent in her pictures. It's definitely worth a visit and hey, she's from Chicago too!

Watch us end up in Peru trekking up some mountainside in search of Machu Picchu (which is also on my life to-do list). Last year we were thinking Hawaii or Italy for destinations, but somehow we ended up in Mexico. Hehe, go figure. I can't wait to pack up and see where the world will take us next...