Friends – Page 11 – Not Content to Crawl

Nature Weekend

Posted onAugust 25, 2015

Our weekend centered around nature activities which is always right up my alley.

Saturday we visited the Chicago Botanic Garden and saw the famous Corpse Flower that’s been in the news lately. It wasn’t our reason for visiting, actually, but still pretty cool to see. Our favorite sighting, however, was a ruby-throated hummingbird hanging out in the gardens when you first enter. There were two hanging out when we first arrived and we spotted another one two hours later when we were leaving. I wish I had remembered my 250mm lens but the picture I got wasn’t too bad considering I only had the 135mm.

Some of my favorite photos from our visit:

Saturday evening we visited my parents and played our newest game – Exploding Kittens. It was quite fun! We also played Cards Against Humanity with Joe’s homemade cards. Brother # 1 ended up staying up until the wee hours of the morning coming up with more ideas for all the blank cards we still have. I got an email at 3:18 am with a huge list. He’s funny.

Sunday we did some grocery shopping in the morning since it was overcast and rainy. That cleared up around noon so we headed to Morton Arboretum and drove around. I remembered my 250mm lens this time and captured what I believe is a white-breasted nuthatch.

Monday I met up with a friend at Cosley Zoo so I could give her some LEGOs and playdoh stuff for her kids. I figured why not give it to someone who will make use of it. It’s not like we’re going to play with it anymore. I held onto the playdoh too long as it was and the majority of it dried up but there were a few cans that were still good, plus a ton of accessories to shape the playdoh. It was hard parting with it because I have such fond playdoh memories but we haven’t played with it for over five years so there was no sense in letting it continue to take up space in the closet. Plus it freed up a plastic storage tote that I can re-purpose.

Anyway, I met her two children who are super adorable and pretty well-behaved for being a year and a half and four years old. The four year old, C, was NOT happy when we were ready to leave, however. He cried all the way back to the car. Poor guy. It was nice to catch up with her and meet her kids. I wish we could hang out more often but she’s so busy with family stuff, plus she lives about an hour away so the timing never seems to line up. I’m hoping she and her husband can make another game night. I’d like to have one sometime in October I think. Gotta unleash Exploding Kittens on more people!

Weekend Stuffs

Posted onJuly 13, 2015

Friday I met up with my friend for lunch at Portillo’s where I chose to get the chicken and fruit salad from Barnelli’s. It was so fresh and delicious, I was impressed! I hate that the salad is seasonal since it’s so delicious.

Friday night Joe, E, and I went to Sonic for drinks. They got shakes since they’re half price after 8 pm. I ended up getting the lemon berry slush which isn’t quite as good as the lemon berry cream slush but taking a few sips of Joe’s vanilla shake and then my slush rectified that without consuming too much ice cream so I wouldn’t get sick.

Saturday morning we tried out a new-to-us theater to see Minions, which we enjoyed. The theater is in the mall less than ten minutes from us but we never go there because ticket prices used to be high. On Friday my friend mentioned that tickets were only $5 there now so I did some investigating and they’re actually $4.50 every day before 5pm. Our regular theater was $5.50 until recently when they reduced it to $5, no doubt to compete with the other theaters in the area. The new theater has larger reclining seats but no points system to earn free movies so we’ll probably alternate between the two.

After the movie on Saturday I returned one of the super duper comfy bras I bought at Kohls because it wasn’t being so comfy after all even though the other one, same exact style, is fine. Go figure. We also bought two t-shirts – one for E and one for my brother which I know he’ll love. I’m saving it for Christmas. We made a trip to Costco for a cheap lunch and some groceries, and then stopped at Half Price Books since we had 40% off coupons. E got two cds and a Pokemon game guide, I got a collapsible fabric cube, and Joe got Jenga and Mario Kart DS.

We also watched two movies Saturday evening – Nightcrawler and Earth to Echo, neither of which were all that great, particularly the latter one.

Sunday we went grocery shopping to prepare for our friend’s annual BBQ. In addition to cookies (which we didn’t end up putting out since they had a huge cookie tray already), we brought the makings for s’mores (as did another friend who playfully berated me for not telling her even though I bring them every year), strawberry jello shots, and a new creamy pasta salad I decided to try. I wasn’t too impressed with the salad, and it was a bit stressful getting everything together before meeting up with our friends at 3 pm for lunch at a restaurant before heading to the BBQ, so I won’t be doing that again. I noticed that they barely had any chips there so I plan to bring a bunch of bags next year instead.

We didn’t go in the pool because it’s usually full of teenagers/young twenty-year-olds, but this year it was mostly kids. My friend has a hot tub now too and I was kicking myself for not bringing my suit. Next year I’m bringing it!

At 9:15 pm we walked over to the park to catch the fireworks show which was even better than it was last year. We ended up leaving the party sometime between midnight and 1 am.

We were up pretty early today because we had an appointment with a lawyer to discuss putting together a living trust. Afterwards we had breakfast at Chick-fil-a, stopped at the library and Target, and later tried a new Chinese restaurant a coworker recommended since my favorite Vietnamese restaurant in the whole world suddenly closed. Unfortunately the Chinese place wasn’t anything special so the search continues. We also spent a little time at the pool. Now I’m doing laundry and wishing I had another four days off work.

RIP to my friend

Posted onMay 29, 2015

A friend passed away from cancer this week. I still remember the day she told us she had cancer almost two years ago. She kept everyone abreast of her situation via Facebook, and while we knew the cancer had spread, and was not responding to treatment as hoped, I really didn’t believe she was going to die. Maybe it was denial on my part.

She was just over at our house six weeks ago, and even though she went home early because she wasn’t feeling well, she looked quite good to me. Her hair had long since grown back, and even though she was clearly uncomfortable and not eating much, she didn’t strike me as someone who had so little time left. Needless to say, I was absolutely shocked when I saw people posting on her Facebook wall Wednesday evening saying she had passed away earlier that day. From what I gather they saw it coming because her best friend and family were with her when she passed in her home. So I suppose there’s some comfort in that.

While we weren’t super close, and her negative comments about my pet rats annoyed me, I still considered her a friend and a good person. She didn’t deserve to die at the age of 46, and I’m angry at the unfairness of it. Even more so, I’m sad for her family, and her husband in particular, who have to keep living without her. I cannot even imagine that grief. Death is worst for those who are left behind.

4-Day Weekend & Game Night

Posted onApril 13, 2015

Another fantastic weekend is over. So sad! Joe took Friday and Monday off work so we got to spend four days together which was nice.

Friday we did some shopping, including a trip to Costco. Joe got ice cream at their cafe.

I got some much-needed beauty accessories at Target.

The elf brush on the left was only $3, the set in the middle was $7 and included a case, and the latex blending tool on the right was $5. The Caboodles organizer at the top was $8.99 and there was an offer in iBotta or one of those rebate apps so I got $1 back (which was a pleasant surprise as I check the apps after I buy stuff, not before).

Here’s what it looked like after adding my most-used makeup (which is almost all of it since I don’t own that much).

I also grabbed some Maybelline foundation from Walmart that came highly recommended by the girls whose YouTube makeup videos I watch.

I’m not so sure I like it, though. I feel like my years-old Covergirl foundation looks better. Confession – I’ve been using it even though it’s super old. Other than a couple of little dried up pieces that fell in, it seems fine. I think it changed color as it’s pinker than most foundations in the store, but I like that because my face looks less washed out. Soooo… I guess buy foundation and let it sit for a few years for the perfect skin tone? Ha!

We also hit Savers since I had a 40% off coupon burning a hole in my pocket. Joe got a t-shirt and I got this cute Clinic makeup bag for $1.80. You could tell it had never been used because the inside is white and had no marks on it. It’s the perfect size to hold a bunch of stuff in my purse. I ended up combining three smaller makeup bags into this larger one.

I also bought this dress. I’m not even sure what occasion I’ll wear it but I wanted to get a dress and it was only $7.80 with my coupon.

Saturday we had some people over for game night. This is the same group of friends we hang out with around 4th of July every year when one of them has a party. We met at a restaurant first and then came back to our place around 7 pm and played Uno Attack and Cards Against Humanity. One couple had to leave before we started playing games because they weren’t feeling well but our other friends stayed until 2 am. We had a blast, and had way more food than anyone could eat. Our friends all brought stuff and refused to take any home with them so we have a bunch of veggies, fresh fruit, and cookies. Joe had also made his signature italian stuffed jalapenos which came out sooooo good. Here’s a shot of the leftover ones we snacked on today.

Joe also made strawberry martguerita jello shots. OMG, they were amazing! You couldn’t even taste the alcohol. There wasn’t much in them either since I felt no effects from consuming so many. Sorry there’s no picture of them – we gobbled them up way too fast. We will definitely be making those again!

It was a great time and everyone agreed we need to get together more often which is funny because other than the annual party, the only time we get together is if I organize it. I guess I just need to accept the fact that I’m the outing organizer and come up with some ideas. I’m thinking maybe a BBQ at our place in May so I can set up the Bears bags and badminton set.

On Sunday we slept in and just did nothing. We didn’t have much to clean up after the party and the rest of the house is still clean after spending Friday and Saturday prepping it for our company.

Today we decided to go out for an early lunch and run some errands, including buying a bunch of food for the backyard birds.

Bonus – the rats will enjoy the mealworms too.

Weekend Recap

Posted onJanuary 19, 2015January 21, 2015

Another weekend has flown by! We actually had three days together since Joe took Friday off from work. Originally we were supposed to be in Phoenix since his dad was having open heart surgery on Friday but he asked we hold off on visiting until he was more up to company. Turns out they couldn’t do the surgery after all and it was rescheduled for next week.

Friday morning we spent far too much time in Costco. It was much less crowded than weekends which was nice. I always want to walk out of that place with a new TV and digital camera; luckily I come to my senses eventually. Although I do think we will have to replace our TV sometime soon. The bedroom TV has been acting weird (refusing to turn on and it’s only about three years old) so we swapped it with the one in our loft last week. Unfortunately they are both Polaroids so I wouldn’t be surprised if that one goes bad too. At that point I’d rather replace our main TV and move it upstairs than just buy a new TV for the bedroom. I’m crossing my fingers that by the time that happens the 4K HDTVs will be even better or the 8K HDTV Samsung is currently working on will be available (and affordable).

We used the last of our coupons for a free apple pie (not impressive) and toilet paper (haven’t used yet so the jury is still out) that we had gotten when we got our membership. I added it up and between the free items and the $20 Costco card, the regular $55 membership was actually free. I love a good deal!

Friday night we went to BINGO with a friend who won $40. She won in November when we went too. Damn! All I got was a $5 coupon good towards the next time which I got from playing their version of PLINKO since it was my birthday month.

The rest of the weekend included running errands, cleaning the house, and just hanging out relaxing. I also discovered how delicious pistachios are; I’ve had pistachio flavored cake and ice cream but never the actual nut.

We stopped at Savers on Sunday because clothing was 50% off for members. Joe got 6 shirts and I got a sweater (looked brand new), a sweatshirt, and a cute tank top for summer and our total out the door was $22. My stuff was only $5. He’s the “big spender” there.

Oh, and Target was having a sale on Essie nail polish (buy two get one free) so I got some nice new colors. It’s the little things that make my day.