Lwoods4's Blog

Please excuse the typos or random capitalizations that may appear in this post. I’m updating this from the train. Theresa’s last day was Friday and Darla is out all week so I’m going to be swamped at work. Anyway, on Thursday, I met Kiersten for drinks at Townhouse. It was hard to find because it is in the Wacker construction zone. I wandered around for a while before I spotted someone in a tshirt with their name on it. I followed him and wa la found the restaurant! I had a martini while I waited for Kiersten to find the place. It was something to do with lavender but tasted like lemonade. It was alright. Kiersten and I split margherita flatbread and sweet potato fries. My friend Melissa also joined us. Townhouse was a cool place and we sat outside which was really nice! It was a fun time. I took the 7:30 train home. I missed Grey’s and Private Practice, but that’s ok.  On Friday, all I wanted to do after work was go for a run outside. I caught the 5:16 so I would get home a little early. However, at 5:17, there was a “pedestrian incident” at Arlington Heights. My train pulled up to Des Plaines and people could either get off there or wait on the train for however long it took to clean up the accident. I got off at Des Plaines.  My dad was going to pick me up, but on his way there, he got rear ended. I went to Panera and sat around for about an hour and a half before he got there. When I got home, it was too dark to run outside and my dad was talking on the phone where the treadmill was so I still couldn’t run! I worked out as best as I could and went to bed. I woke up at 5:15 am on Saturday. Audelynn was at my house around 6:10 am. We got to the train station a little early so we got coffee. There were a lot of people on the train! I was surprised, but a lot of people had the same idea as us. We got off at Clybourn and took a cab to Kiersten’s. We got there about 20 minutes early. I curled Audelynn’s hair while Kiersten got ready, then we each decided what to wear. We left Kiersten’s around 8:30, stopped for alcohol, then went to Kappy’s. Apparently we missed the pancake part of the morning. This was our first mistake. None of us ate breakfast before we decided to drink. We stayed at Kappy’s for about 3 hours. During that time, a lot of wine, green beer, and friendship juice was consumed between the 3 of us. The “friendship juice” was amazing. It was lemonade powder, vodka, and frozen strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries (maybe some water?). I need to take a time out because my train is pulling into the station. I also must get coffee before I enter the office or I doubt I’ll get to leave again. More to come!

Ok so after hanging out at Kappy’s for a while, we left for Barleycorn, probably around noon or so.  I dislike Barleycorn because a guy made me cry on my birthday there. I think it was my 21st. Serious drama.  Anyway, I don’t really like the place, but I didn’t have much say in the matter so we were off to Barleycorn.  I remember that Kappy held my purse because it was impeding my hand holding with the rest of the group and he was on the end.  I also remember beating Kappy at rock, paper, scissors, but I don’t know what was at stake.  Maybe it was the pineapple upside down shots he bought. Those were really good!  We stayed there for about 2 hours, maybe a little longer.  Kiersten and I did some cartwheels and I took some funny pictures of Maria, Kiersten, and Kappy doing the Charlie’s Angels pose.  Around 3, we left for State to get lunch.  If you can’t already tell, I pretty much had no idea what time it was during the day.  It was the first time any of has had eaten all day. Some guy from Iowa wearing a Boondock Saints shirt came over and talked to Kiersten and Audelynn.  I tuned him out.  After sitting down, I realized how incredibly tired I was and decided that nap time must be next, which also probably wasn’t a good idea.  We went back to Kiersten’s and put on Boondock Saints.  All 3 of us fell asleep almost immediately.  I woke up just in time to see the end.  We put in Inception next.  It was almost 7 at that point so I ordered pizza.  Kiersten went to meet some friends, but we didn’t go with.  Pizza was probably another bad idea.  I started feeling sick after that.  I missed most of our 3rd movie, Valentine’s Day, because I was in the bathroom.  I finally fell asleep around 10:30 and stayed in the same position all night because I was afraid that moving would upset my stomach again.  All in all, St. Patrick’s Day was fun, but also kind of rough. I am definitely taking it easier next year! Audelynn and I went to Billy’s for breakfast after we got back to Palatine.  I was planning on taking a nap before my family was going to see Riverdance, but I didn’t have time! I showered ad we turned around and left.  I fell asleep in the car.  We were pretty early for the show.  It was at Oriental Theater, where Wicked was for a long time.  Riverdance was good.  There were a lot of instrumental solos along with dance.  They tried to weave everything together with a story, but it made things more confusing.  I think they should have just done a bunch of different dancing numbers.  The girl who played the fiddle was really good! The people behind us knew her.  They kept talking about meeting up with her after the show and everything.  I liked when all the dancers were on stage together in one line.  It was sweet to see all their feet moving at the same time!  There was also a part when the street performers had a kind of dance off with the Irish dancers.  It was funny to see them make fun of each other’s style of dancing.

After Riverdance, we drove back to the suburbs and went to Olive Garden for dinner.  My sister wanted to be home to watch the Kansas game and we were having the usual city problem of everything closing early or just not being open on Sundays.  We dropped my sister off and got home around 7:15 pm.  I opened my Birch Box which had been sitting around for a few days when I got home.  I got a new perfume sample, some hair concoction, stick on eye liner for a cat eye, nail polish removing strips, and I can’t remember what else.  I like when I get perfume samples. I keep them in my purse. I pretty much went to bed after that. I was exhausted!  This weekend went by so fast!  I need to go to the library very badly.  I am reading the psychology of love book, but I just can’t get into it.  Its kind of boring and is more like a history.  I’ve been doing word searches and playing games on my phone on the train.  I seriously need some new reading material.  The Hunger Games comes out next weekend! I can’t wait to go see it.  I might have to go after Mark’s wedding, though.  I am the only cousin besides my 2 cousins who are in the wedding not bringing a date.  I feel like a loser! I’ll put a few pictures from Saturday on here when I get around to uploading them.  I slept for almost 12 hours last night and I feel like I could do the same again tonight.

This one is Quotes  about finding happiness.  I like this one.

The quote is nice, but I think I mostly like the purple in the beach! I want it to be summer.  Actually, I want it to be last summer.

This has some good tips and advice.  42 ways to make life simpler.

I watched Friends with Benefits yesterday.  I liked this song a lot.  There aren’t any good videos so it’s just a few pictures from the movie.  There was one that made me dizzy because the pictures moved so fast so I went with this one.  How pretty is Mila Kunis? I love her eyes.  I liked Friends with Benefits.  I wish for once, real life was like that.  I’m going to listen to angry girl music now and redo this bill for the 17th time!

Dear Metra,

When your schedule says the train comes at 7:51, the train should come at 7:51! Are 7:49 and 7:51 the same? No! When your trains are early, people miss them! Another thing about time: when boys are being jerks and your friends try to cheer you up by saying just give it some time, he’ll come around. Does that ever work? Mmm no. AND time heals all wounds. Not a fan of that one either.

I did not get any mail yesterday 😦 maybe today!  I was thinking, it’s been a month since I was in California! Crraazy how fast time is flying! I saw a commercial yesterday that said if you make your own coffee as opposed to buying it, you’ll save $1,000 a year! I could totally see how that is true. I am constantly reloading my Starbucks card.  I really, really, really should try to get up earlier in the morning. I’m just not a morning person. I think I save money on hair cuts by only going like twice a year and never coloring my hair. Not exactly the same, but similar.

I found this today!

Its a map that you can fill in of all the places you’ve been. I thought it was cute. I wonder if I’m missing any… I have a lot more traveling to do!

I’m going to finish another book today. This one is called Once Upon a Time, There Was You.  It’s alright.  I am going through books so fast lately!

Here’s a few of my favorite pictures from Kerry’s birthday!

Kerry’s birthday was a lot of fun!  One of the dresses I ordered from Asos came in on Saturday morning, but it was a little too small so I was last minute dress shopping again.  I bought 3 and brought them to the city with me because I am indecisive.  I also brought the red dress.  I did not have time to make the Caprese Skewers.  I brought a bag of Pirates Booty and a bottle of wine.  I got to the city around 7 and got ready with Jburg and Becca.  They helped me decide on a short black dress with a V neck that actually looks a lot like the other dress I ordered from Asos that hasn’t come in yet.  Jburg tried on my red dress and it fit her so she decided to wear it.  I am undecided as to whether or not I’ll buy it again.  When we were finally ready, we went to Kerry’s friend’s apartment where everyone was meeting for some pre going out food and drinks.  It was so good to see everyone! I haven’t seen or heard from a lot of the girls in a long time! It was nice to catch up and see what everyone has been up to! There were a whole lot of teachers!  Renee, Becca, Kerry, and Christine are all teachers. We took our usual roommate photos.  Lots of them!  It was fun!  We hung around for a while and then went to a bar called Mystic Celt.  By the time we got to the bar, everyone was pretty tired!  I was staying with Jburg and so was Becca.  We were the last of our group to leave, after actual Irishmen interrupted mine and Becca’s heart to heart.  I believe I was the one who suggested Ihop, which is where we went next! I had an omelette and chocolate chips in my pancakes.  We walked back to Jburg’s place around 4:30 in the morning after the time change! Actually, I believe I ran.  It seemed like a much further distance at that time of the morning than it actually was.  I was headed in the same direction when I walked back to my car.  Christine ended up coming over too.  We had 4 girls in Jburg’s little apartment! Christine and I shared the couch.  I got up pretty early because I would have had to move my car at 8.  I decided to head home then so I could sleep some more in my big girl bed.  I napped for a while and then got up and napped some more.  I played basketball with my dad and walked the dog in the afternoon.  I worked out a little, too.  It was a beautiful day! I was supposed to play soccer with Michele, but it turns out she couldn’t make it.  After dinner, I decided to dust my entire room.  I could see a layer of dust on my fan and my alarm clock. It had been a looong time since my room was dusted.  I vacuumed too and washed my sheets.  Now my room is nice and clean!  It won’t stay that way for long.  After I finished making my bed, I fell asleep.

Kiersten and I have decided to post pone our spa trip.  We were going to try to go to Galena this weekend, but we haven’t made plans yet and it is getting kind of late in the game to go this weekend.  Hopefully we will get to go soon! We’re looking at 2 different weekends now.  One of the weekends is called Wine Lovers Weekend.  That sounds fun, right?  I can’t go next weekend because it is my cousin’s wedding! I need a dress for that too.  It is the first wedding in the family so I’m sure it will be a lot of fun! I am going solo, though, which makes me a little sad, but it’ll still be a good time.

Theresa, Krista and I went to Roti for lunch.  Its a Mediterranean place.  I was skeptical, but my stomach hasn’t started hurting yet so that’s a good sign! I took it easy on the chicken though, just in case.  I discovered that I like couscous.  I have a feeling I will be hungry though, since I didn’t eat my whole meal.  Which is kind of perfect because I have a coupon for free oatmeal at Sbux that expires today!  I took a shower last night after I worked out which means my hair was dry when I woke up today. I kind of half assed crimping/ curling it.  Then it rained.  If I didn’t like sleep so much, I might consider taking a shower at night and doing something with my hair in the morning.  When it comes down to it though, I’d rather stay in bed than have curly hair.

I think today is going to be a good mail day for me! I bet my second dress will come and possibly my Birch Box for March.  I love mail!

After I said how well yesterday was going, I totally crashed when I got to work.  Maybe it was too much caffeine, maybe it was because it was Friday. I don’t know what caused it, but I was not in the mood to do anything work related.  Zip codes were making me dizzy and staring at the computer made me want to puke.  I drank tea and talked with Krista a little then decided I needed to talk a walk and find myself a new attitude.  I went to Portillo’s for lunch and had pasta! It was a nice walk, not tooooo cold. I came home and took a nap then went out with Audelynn last night.  We tried the River North area.  It was an interesting crowd.  It seemed to be people a little older than the Lincoln Park area.  We were at Hub 51 for a while and met more fire fighters.  We stayed there for a while and then went to Epic.  We passed Paris Club, Public House, Hubbard Inn, and all sorts of places.  We just went to whatever was within walking distance and then drove through the Rock and Roll McDonald’s for french fries before driving home.  Tonight is Kerry’s birthday party! I can’t wait to see all my friends! My red dress just got here in the mail, so I’ll probably wear that! I tried this briefly yesterday. Its a video about how to curl your hair with a straightener.  It did not go so well! A girl at work has beautiful, soft curls in her hair almost every day. I asked her how to do it and she said she uses a small barrel curling iron and doesn’t use hair spray.  I might try that tonight, but bring along my straightener and spiral curling iron in case it doesn’t work! I am bringing Caprese Skewers as an appetizer, which I better get going on! I need to work out and get to the store!

Is going well so far! I woke up a little before my alarm so I was early! I put on makeup before leaving the house which has happened mmm never since I’ve worked for the Sun Times. I also was so early that there were still spots open on the 4th floor of the parking garage! AND I even had time for coffee. If you don’t know me, this is a big accomplishment. I’m always running late and doing things at the last minute. I usually put makeup on when I get to work and then go to Starbucks after that.

I met Kiersten for drinks after work yesterday. We went to Rivers. We split crab and artichoke dip. It was soo good. It reminded me of the Canadian friends we made at Myrtle Beach last spring break. I also found a new favorite drink. Brady and I actually discovered it when I was in California, but now I know it has a name. Its vodka and grapefruit juice and its called a greyhound. Its really good. After that, we wanted chocolate and weren’t satisfied with the menu options so we went to Crumbs Bakery. I would venture to say we might be mild cupcake snobs seeing as Molly’s is so close to school and we would go there pretty frequently when I was still at DePaul. I thought Crumbs was really good. Their cupcakes were huge and they had a big variety even for it being 7:00 when they close at 8. We asked the girl about almost every cupcake before deciding to split a half and half cupcake. It was marble cake with vanilla frosting on the inside, then half chocolate frosting and half vanilla frosting with cookie dough and brownie pieces on top. It was just the dessert we were looking for!

I finished Vanishing Acts last night. It was a really, really good book. I think I need a break from such heavy topics though. The last 2 books I’ve read by Jodi Picoult have involved child abuse and jail. I’m going to start Once Upon a Time, There Was You.

Dress update: the red one is in Indiana and the black one is in New Jersey. I hope they get here today!

Check this out! I found it on Pintrest.  It’s Starbucks recipes.  It would save me a lot of money if I were a morning person.  I could get up early and make my own pumpkin spice lattes and frappachinos.  I might try making the scones, though I doubt they’ll be as good as they are at Starbucks.  I ordered a toffee nut mocha today.  Its pretty good.

My dresses from Asos are on the way! They’re in America, somewhere on the east coast.  Their email updates say they will be here in 4 business days at most.  I kind of doubt they’ll be here by Friday so I can wear them this weekend. I might need to buy a backup!

My mom and I had Heng Wing for dinner last night.  I would just like to say that I love Yu’s, but their fortune cookies suck.  They’re the kind that are too yellow and just taste fake.  Heng Wing has authentic fortune cookies.  They were excellent.  However, I got a fortune that said something about how my leadership skills will soon come in handy.  This would make sense given the job situation I’m currently in, but then my mom got the same one! Lame.

I wonder if this is what my hair would have looked like if I participated in America’s Beauty Show last weekend:

Words I overuse: though, just, that

I am not one of those jerks on the train who sits in the middle of the seat so no one else can sit with me.  I sit near the window even if no one sits with me.  I do this almost 100% of the time.  Occasionally, I will angle my body towards the middle of the seat, but there’s still plenty of room for someone else. and if you sit down, I’ll move because I’m polite.  Why do people lack common courtesy?! First of all, I don’t care if its the quite car or not, I don’t want to hear you yell at your boyfriend/fiance/husband about their email account and try to help them log on to some website. Its 8am. I want you to shut up so I can read in peace.  That is not the worst of it, though. I’d rather have someone speaking loudly on the phone than someone invading my personal space.  Like I said, I’m happy to have you sit with me, but that does not mean I am happy to have you sit ON me.  I need some room to breathe.  If you are hitting me and ruffling my jacket every time you try to dig your cell phone out of your unbuttoned coat’s pocket, you need to scoot over! It’s rude. and I don’t appreciate it.  Also, you put a little too much cologne on today. and when I say a little, I mean a lot. So not only are you invading my personal space, you’re polluting my air.  Thanks for a great start to the morning!  Next, I do not believe in waiting in line to go down the stairs.  These are stairs people.  No line necessary.  This is another phenomenon that happens when everyone exits the train. I walk right around the people lining up to use the stair case and go down the stairs on the other side of the station.  Idiots.  Finally, I hate being called ma’am.  I am young enough to be called Miss.  Call me Miss!!!  Also, I hate when people walk slow.  I’m sorry, do you have no where to go? I do, so get out of the way.  That didn’t happen to me today, just a general pet peeve.  Everything else did, though. O.k. happy Tuesday people, get back to work.