Woot-woot!

Today has been one of the strangest days ever.

But also one of the best in a long, long time.

More deets to follow… J

How Do You Like Dem Apples?

I want apple pie. A country style freshly baked one with just the right amount of cinnamon and lots of butter in the crust. Mmmmm...That's what autumn does to me. Had an awesome piece o' pie last weekend at Almost Home in Greencastle. The crust practically melted in your mouth. I think the clouds parted and the sun shone straight on me the moment I put that first bite in my mouth.

Then this morning the Wayne's Weekend segment on NBC5 was all apple: apple cider, apple cider pound cake and of course caramel apples. Oh my goo-ness. The craving starts again. Had the apple waffles from Autumn House this morning in a feeble attempt to substitute for pie. Close but no cigar. Hehe good thing I'm going to the Long Grove Apple Fest this weekend. I'm gonna stuff myself with all things apple, especially the apple donuts. Soooo good....

But in the meantime...
Yaaaawn...soooo sleepy...

Musicology

Finally opened me up a last.fm account. Don't know why it took me so dang long. I listen to all sorts of stuff so it'll be neat to see how it all plays out in numbers. So yes, another place where you can see what makes this girl tick. Lately I've been feeling the fall groove and have been listening to
oooold songs. Tonite, some campy music is on the playlist (yay Chihuahua!) but Miles and his Kind of Blue album are gonna finish off the nite. That is, if I ever get to bed. Been having problems sleeping lately...but that's another story ;P.

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Hmmmm...been hearing a lot about this. Looks like I'm gonna postpone the iPod nano purchase.

If You (Heart) Flickr and Sudoku

Then Hamster Sudoku is for you.
(Tried to upload a screenshot but it ain't workin'.)

PS. Watch Crash. Very very good.

PPS. New Fugees album coming out soon. Yup yup.

It Was That Type of Day

After a long day Saturday spent driving in Indiana to visit the sis, I was looking forward to being lazy today. Stayed in - too gloomy to do anything outside anyways, and spent the day in pjs watching the tube. I like my downtime but with the grey weather, changing seasons and inactivity, my mind wanders. Thinking too much again. Hard to let go of mistakes - days like this make me ruminate over each and every one of them. But whatevs, it's ok. Change doesn't come w/o acknowledgement and every day can't be sunshine and rainbows. It's what makes you, you and that's not a bad thing.

The Unphotographable Photograph

I always have a camera on me. Always.

It’s just that I’m a big believer in capturing moments that you most likely will not experience in that same way ever again. Now I’m not talking about significant life events like weddings, births, etc. I’m talking about the extraordinary everyday moments that often get lost in the daily shuffle. Those moments that make you see the world differently even if just for a second. And although I always have my camera on me, the best images are often the ones I miss. This is what the site, Unphotographable is all about.

Here’s my Unphotographable account from the rainsoaked morning:

-A lonely old man, sitting on a crate, barely seen because of the fog, who everyday hangs his head low and never looks up to sell his pile of newspapers.

-A cemetery in the neighborhood looking eerily still in the morning haze.

-A little girl in bright pink raincoat and matching boots exasperating her mother by jumping in every puddle she saw.

-An older Eastern European woman waiting for the bus with a telling look in her eye and deep lines on her face that make me think she’s had a hard life.

-The car that spun out after a bad crash from the street and into my frontyard, narrowly missing my house.

Through the Looking Glass

@ Chicago Place this weekend.
Far from perfect but I liked the view anyways :)

"You Just Don't Fit In"

Martha, Martha, Martha. Is that the best you could think of? And then you write them a letter? Send them packing with ATTITUDE. We know you have it in you. That’s what the people want to see. Trumpski says “You’re Fired!” then f--- it, he’s done and on to the next victim. So come on, say something insidious and make ‘em cry or better yet, you can say “F--- it. You just don’t fit in”. How’s that for a compromise?

Move To This

Boing Boing points to Naijajams.com, a great blog on Nigerian music including reggae, hip hop, r&b, and afropop. Covering old and new, Naijajams offers up interesting history, wallpapers and of course mp3s that will make you move with a pep in your step. Listen to All For You from E.T. Mensah and the Tempos and your day is better already.

Green With Envy

Listening To:
Beautifully Human: Words and Sounds, Vol. 2
By: Jill Scott


Ms. Scott is ALL woman.
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Work is quite discouraging lately. Friday can't come fast enough. Although today, I was easily bribed by one of the chefs with a phenomenal dessert in return for a favor. Picture this: a rich fudgy brownie topped with chocolate cake pieces and all this covered in buttery caramel and chocolate sauce. Sooooo good but sooooo bad for you. Isn't that always the case? If you're interested, it's currently testing in restaurants around Chicago.

While my job is less than stellar, my sis has snagged yet another cool job. She previously worked at a TV station producing shows, but soon she will be interning as....a wedding planner! How cool is that? (Sigh) I think I'm doing something wrong.

Perfection

Watched LOTR: The Two Towers again on the WB tonight. God, I love that whole series. Always loved the whole good-versus-evil-with-special-powers-thrown-in story line.
The countdown now begins for The Chronicles of Narnia and HP: The Goblet of Fire. Yes!

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Another beautiful weekend out. Could it have been any more perfect? Gotta enjoy these days before the cold weather creeps up again.

Saturday, per M’s request: POWERSHOPPING. We hit Michigan Ave, Halsted & Armitage, and Old Orchard in the span of 7-8 hours. The Doctor just could not understand how girls can shop for that long. Fellas, let me tell ya, girls can shop for much longer if need be. Also tried Ethel’s Chocolate Lounge. Total girly interior - pink EVERYWHERE. Topped off the night with a bowl of Josh’s famous chili and later revisited the Hopleaf.

Sunday: neighborhood strolls. First stopped off at Lincoln Square. The sun was shining and the air smelled delicious… With so many restaurants in the area, the perfect steak was getting grilled somewhere. I picked up an iced latte at The Daily Grind and made my way through the tiny shops, walking to the beat of the music pouring put of the Old Town School of Folk Music. Spotted a “Polka Party!” album in the window of a music shop. People were just lazing about, leisurely eating their meals or reading books in cafes and outdoor patios.

Next stop: Andersonville. A bit busier but the same vibe as Lincoln Square. Was a total klutz at the ATM kiosk. Don’t ask. Did the whole shop-walk / people watch thing again.

And lastly: Argyle. Had to pick up a roast duck from Sun Wah for my dad. It’s his absolute favorite. It’s good but too fatty to have on any regular basis. This time, drumbeats and cymbal clashes filled the air as a Chinese dragon formation took to the sidewalks. I wonder if this had anything to do with the Autumn Moon Festival this weekend…

But anyhoo, that’s it in a looong nutshell.
Back to reality tomorrow… (sigh)…:/

Good Night

Apologies to the flickreenies who have seen these pics before. Been flickr delinquent lately but I'm feelin' this photo right now. If you're not familiar with my pics, click on the "My Photos" link to the right or click here. Posting new stuff later.

That Was Quick

Renee and Kenny are over too?

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My stomach is all in knots right now. I've got this anxious feeling like something is going to happen. For no reason either - I hate that. I used to get this feeling a lot back when I was in school.

Two things that provoked the stomach turning:

-My ChE mass transfer exams - so frustrating because it seemed so easy for everyone else but my mind failed to absorb a thing. All the discussion sections competed against each other for the highest average and despite my section having the all star students, I had this sneaking suspicion I was dragging down the average. I could swear my TA shot me these "You are pitfully stupid" looks whenever he passed back the exams.

-Lab classes freshman year - there was a scary ass man that worked in the lab who handed out supplies at the beginning of every class. He had long, greasy hair, thick glasses, and wore a pendant that reminded me of satanic worship. Grumpy as heck too. One day a student stored this one piece of glassware wrong and this guy storms into the lab and screams "WHO PUT THIS COLUMN DOWN!! WHEN I FIND OUT WHO DID THIS...!!!" His screaming lasted a good five minutes and of course no one came forward. The room was completely silent. The guy across from me mouthed "Holy Shit" and the TA's didn't move either. Us poor freshman we so friggin' scared...who in their right mind would come forward after that? Pissed him off even more.

I wonder what's causing the dread tonite?

"Say It Ain't So"

Is Weezer over?

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New City has a listing of Chicago area boutiques they think you should visit. Lots of potential for credit card damage. Also, new from Daily Candy, Daily Candy Deals where you can snag pretty nice discounts on sweeeet shopping sites. This week includes 30% off everything at Girlshop.com.
What girl wouldn't like that?

Chicago In Lomo

Taken with the Supersampler.

For the Chicago photophile in you:
The Last Great Maxwell Street Picture Show
Stephen Daiter Gallery
311 W. Superior
(312) 787-3350
Open til Oct. 29
No admission

Via the Suntimes:
"The photographs, which date from the early 1930s through the '80s, document Maxwell Street's colorful history, in which successive generations of immigrants -- first Germans and Irish, then Russian Jews, Eastern Europeans, Southern blacks, Hispanics, Koreans and Gypsies -- established footholds and, in the process, introduced themselves to the rest of Chicago and vice versa."

Ramblin'

Saturday. Indian Garden – thumbs up.
Lamb vindaloo = hot!
Mango Lassi = yum!
Sunday. Furama. Dim Sum.
Mmmm...Dim Sum...ALWAYS bring a chinese person with you.
Trust me. It is much easier this way.
Laughs ALL weekend.

-According to the US Census Bureau, 78% of women will get married at least once in their life. Is it me or does this number seem kinda low? Not sure if I find this statistic to be encouraging or not.

-Ahhh...the perpetual “I like you as a friend”. That is quite the dagger through the heart isn’t it? Poor thing has heard this line too many times. My advice was, don’t even thing about listening to the My Best Friends Wedding soundtrack and eat lots of ice cream with your girls.

Betta Splendens

A week ago the sis bought a betta fish. At first Joli (French for “pretty”) unassumingly swam around his little fish bowl delighting us with how pretty his turquoise fins looked moving through the water.

However, in the week since Joli and the sis packed up for Greencastle, Joli has turned into a crazy lil fugger.

A couple facts: bettas are colorful fish and male bettas don’t like other male bettas. So whenever the sis wears a bright shirt, Joli thinks bright shirt=male betta and becomes extremely irritable. He then proceeds to puff out his gills to show his dislike of the sis’s wardrobe choice and acts moody. This in turn gets the sister mad because she does not tolerate his disobedience. She then provokes him by flashing colorful rings in his sight. Thus begins the psychological games between the sis and little Joli.

Also last week, Joli started blowing bubbles. Not just one here, another there, but A LOT. Enough that they started accumulating at the top of the bowl. She comes to find out that Joli is ready to “spawn”. Yuck. Something about the word spawn makes me think Joli is ready to expel little demon fishies from his own belly. At the rate Joli is going, that may be a possibility.

4 Years Ago

Mich, NW and myself were on the road, making the trek back to Champaign-Urbana. We had just graduated from U of I that May, but being without a job we decided to go back to school to check out the job expos that were taking place that week and to visit friends that still remained. The day started out leisurely enough. We were in no particular rush. We just hit the road with a stack of cds and I watched the familiar scenery pass by as Michelle drove.

Then Michelle got a call. From her tone I could tell something was very wrong. Once she got off the phone she says “These planes just crashed into the World Trade Center! They say it’s terrorists! It’s all over the news!” Since we were listening to cds during the whole ride, we were so completely unaware of what was going on in the world. We then turned on Newsradio 78 and listened in shocked silence to the live news reports. Absolute craziness. Back in Chicago, the downtown highrises were evacuated, the express lanes in the highway changed direction midday and my parents were frantic.

We continued on to Urbana anyways and the tone on campus was quite somber as well. Since all flights were grounded, a good chunk of the companies coming in for the job fairs cancelled, leaving the Union ballrooms looking empty. CNN was on in the Courtyard Café nonstop and the DI later had notices from the Emergency Dean regarding students from the military. When I wasn’t glued to the tv at Byron and Gen’s place, I sat in a pew at St. John’s and said a little prayer for all those people in the WTC and for the world.

A picture paints a thousand words. Check out this photoessay from Time and also Shattered. Still quite moving 4 years later.

Pandas and Pie

When you work for a large food company like I do, you tend hear random facts about what's going on in the food world. Did you know that Orange Chicken accounts for 40% of Panda Express's sales? Someone told me this at work today and I totally believe it. I mean, I ALWAYS get the orange chicken. Sometimes I have to wait a long time for it too since everyone else in line is looking for their own orange chicken fix.

But anyways, work and food. So why do I work as a food scientist when I studied long and hard to be a handy dandy chemical engineer? People always ask "What does chemistry have to do with food?" or "Why the heck are you in the food industry?" To me working as a food scientist made perfect sense. My options after graduation were working with petroleum, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, etc. All things completely dry and boring to me. But the one constant in my life is my love of good food. I love to cook, try all different things, even shop for it. Coupled with my nerdy instinct to break things down to how and why things work together and voila! A pretty nifty job!

Every day is different when you work with food formulation and it's the best feeling when you see something you worked with on the grocery store shelves for all the world to buy. Don't get me wrong, it's not all playing in a kitchen. It's a very serious thing too...a lot is on the line when a new product is launched. And along with all the good food you sample, you also eat a fair share of AWFUL food. I will NEVER forget the taste of rancid mayonnaise. Ugh. But yes, when you go grocery shopping, just remember there was a ton of work that went behind that box of cereal, pizza, or can of soup you just threw into your cart. :P

It's an Extravaganza

It's a Blockbuster Weekend at Millenium Park this week. Three days of Park goodness with the Lyric Opera on Saturday, the CSO on Sunday, and Steppenwolf on Monday. All for free! Opera's not exactly my thing but when are you ever going to see something from the Lyric Opera House for free? Check it out - should be a beautiful night.

Hello Wednesday

1. Why is it that on a day when I had more sleep than usual and took the time to eat a well balanced breakfast, people asked me “Are you sick?” or “What’s wrong? You look terrible!” I must have looked like ass today. Maybe I should have gone the usual sleep deprived, fueled by black coffee route. Perhaps then I would have been a bit more cheery.

2. Switching gears...I’m a big fan of the Chicago dance scene. If you are too, check out seechicagodance.com – it’s a great resource to start seeing all the dance companies Chicago has to offer. My favorite? Hubbard Street Dance Co. Beauty in motion… If you're interested, have a look at the current repertoire. Some of my faves: Tabula Rasa, Cor Perdut, Kiss, and No More Play.

3. Wedding in a month – I need a dress!!! Almost as nerve-wracking as swimsuit shopping. It is so hard to find something decent for a small curvy thing like me. How about these? Too boring, too dark?















Eh, I'm not feelin' these either...Oh well the quest continues...

My Lazy Day

So how was your Labor Day? I must say, three day weekends should be mandatory. And what did I do today? Abso-friggin’-lutely NOTHING. And it felt greeeaaat!

The past couple weeks have been so hectic, I took an involuntary hiatus from all extracurriculars - not one picture snapped! I think I’m going through withdrawal…Had a bit of the blues last week too but all it takes is a visit from the sister and one great night out with the crew to put a cheesy smile back on my face. So great reconnecting with old faces Friday at Bandera and the birthday bash on Saturday for my two girlies Samantha, Michelle and myself was one of the best ever. Bistro Margot gets a thumbs up from me and hearing Poison from Bell, Biv, DeVoe at the Hange Uppe put the icing on the cake. I do love my 90’s R &B! Yeah! Although…that last jager bomb was the beginning of the end… 

Today was quiet in comparison. Woke up, had a run, ate, watched tv. Went grocery shopping (this is actually a source of excitement for me since I love mulling over ingredients) and fixed dinner. Sounds pretty boring but having the time to do the above is a real rarity with my dumb work schedule. Finished off the night with a stack of magazines, a drumstick ice-cream cone and more tv. Soon I will fall asleep to the sounds of the occasional car passing by and the neighbor’s wind chimes coming through my window.

I love quiet summer nights.

Hope you had a good one.