Category: Friends

Relaxing Weekend & St. Patrick’s Day

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This past weekend was pretty low-key. We saw a movie on Saturday, She’s Out of My League, which was actually better than either of us was expecting. We were planning on going to a hockey game (the Chicago Wolves) in the evening but felt too lazy to bother. Good thing we hadn’t pre-ordered the tickets.

Sunday we went to the Chicagoland Home & Energy Expo but it completely and totally sucked. It turned out to be a big room in a hotel full of tables where people were trying to sell services or products. I was hoping to get ideas on how to remodel our bathrooms upstairs but I felt like you do when you walk into a furniture store and all the sales people attack you. So we were in and out within five minutes. Thank goodness it was free!

We ended up at the IKEA nearby instead. This one is not our regular IKEA so it was interesting comparing the layout between the two. I prefer our IKEA actually, but we did come home with a few items, including some chocolate bars and cookies. Too bad they both suck!

We had lunch before driving back home and spending the rest of the afternoon relaxing.

And now it is Wednesday, my glorious work from home day! We’re going out for dinner with some friends to celebrate the holiday, which is really just an excuse to have a good time. Looking forward to a Reuben sandwich, though, since I hate the cabbage part of corned beef and cabbage. :)

Happy St. Patrick’s Day whether you’re Irish or not!

Flowers, Dining, and LOLing all weekend

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What a fabulous weekend! Friday night we went to Qdoba with friends before heading to BINGO. I’ve been counting calories in order to lose weight, so I got a half naked burrito and half salad off their Craft 2 menu and was surprised by how tasty the salad was considering everything amounted to less than 800 calories. I didn’t win any money at BINGO, but we did win a coupon for a free game in March so that’s nice.

Saturday we were up early for our visit to Garfield Park Conservatory after I realized it had been years since we’ve been there. We intended to get there as soon as they opened at 9 am, but we had to make a pit-stop at my work first to retrieve something I left there by mistake in my haste to leave on Friday.

I love the conservatory because admission and parking are free. Plus it smells like Spring inside. It also reminds me of my grandparents’ house since they had a lot of vegetation near where they lived. I wish I could bottle that smell.

We spent about an hour and a half at the conservatory making sure we covered every square inch. By then it was getting pretty crowded anyway, so we decided to grab lunch. I consulted my Yelp app and found a place featured on Diners, Drive-In, and Dives that I had bookmarked last year. It’s called The Depot, and we scored parking right in front and only had to wait five minutes for a booth. We made it right before the lunch rush; once we were seated the front of the place quickly filled up with waiting diners. The food was delicious! You can read my review on Yelp.

After lunch we made a pit-stop at Target before going home to relax for a few hours before heading back out to meet a group of friends at Bahama Breeze. We ran into some of Joe’s coworkers at the bar while waiting for our group so we had some drinks and chatted until everyone arrived for dinner.

After dinner we headed to the Laugh Out Loud comedy theater. Joe and I thought it was pretty funny even though I don’t think everyone agreed. It’s definitely different than seeing a stand-up show since everything is improvised on the spot based on audience suggestions. But that’s what makes it so much fun – no two shows are the same. I’d like to go back for the later show since it’s adult only.

After the show we walked to the nearby Gameworks for more drinks and fun. And once we grew bored of that, we went back to Laugh Out Loud for their free audience participation show. One of the guys in our party ended up getting on stage to participate in a sketch. He then proceeded to try to get myself and another girl to go up there. No way, buddy! I cannot think on my feet like that. I give those improv comedians a lot of credit as they are very talented.

This morning we headed to Walmart for a few things and then saw Cop Out which wasn’t great, but wasn’t as terrible as the reviews made it sound. Seann William Scott’s character was hilarious. It probably would have been better if Kevin Smith had wrote it and not just directed it. Or maybe he’s just losing his touch. I didn’t think Zack and Miri Make A Porno was that good either. We did see some very interesting previous, however. I want to see all three movies they advertised, particularly the last two:

She’s Out Of My League
Hot Tub Time Machine
Kick-Ass

On the way home we swung by this restaurant called Omega to get some soup for lunch. They have the most amazing cream of chicken with rice soup. I used to eat it at their Downers Grove location years ago and found out through a friend that they had a Schaumburg location too, so I had to get some. You can’t beat the price either – $5.25 for a quart. It is well worth it.

And now I’m just pooped. I think all the running around finally caught up with me. Couch time!

Garfield Park Conservatory photos at Flickr

Windy City Rollers

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I’ve got to hand it to Joe – I mentioned to him on Thursday that I really wanted to go out and do something different this weekend and he rose to the occasion. I’m the one who makes our plans 99% of the time but he sent me an e-mail on Friday with a link to the Windy City Rollers and suggested we attend their season opener. I thought it was a great idea, so we purchased our tickets this morning at the Carson’s so we wouldn’t have to pay to print them or waste time picking them up from Will Call.

I also mentioned our plans to my friend, Jim, who I recently starting talking to again after losing touch for several years, and he said he’d be going too, so we made plans to meet up.

We arrived about a half hour before the first bout and since the tickets are general admission, had our pick of seats. I really like the UIC Pavilion because all the seats have a good view of the track. That didn’t stop us from getting stuck behind some rather annoying people, but that seems par for the course for us. I really can’t understand why people will pay to attend an event yet spend more than 50% of their time walking around, talking, or getting over-priced food and drinks. It boggles my simple frugal mind.

We saved a seat for Jim since he was running late, so we were rather lost for the first two bouts. We were also a little underwhelmed by the two teams. I wanted to see some aggression and it just wasn’t happening. We were extremely entertained by the half-time show, however, which included male cheerleaders.

The second half was when we really got into the action thanks to Jim’s explanations of what was going on and us getting better at following the action. Jim has been to these events before because his sister used to be on a team and a girl he dated is (well, technically now, was, since she’s moving out of state) on The Fury. We were going to meet her after the show, in fact, but he couldn’t find her. It was nice seeing Jim, though. We haven’t seen each other in flesh since 2000!

They started kicking people out less than a half hour after the event ended, so we parted ways. Jim was thinking about meeting up with the teams at another location and we were hungry and looking to get food in our bellies. We slept in this morning and stuffed ourselves with gyros around noon which meant we hadn’t eaten for quite awhile. We were too full before we left for the event and too cheap to buy their crappy food while there. :)

I think it’s cool that a lot of the girls from the teams come out after the event to meet with fans. And even though cameras are technically banned, no one made a big stink about people having them anyway. I left mine at home and the iPhone camera positively sucks ass, but the videos I took actually came out pretty decent. Next time I’ll just bring my P&S Canon and perhaps sit a bit closer so I can see the girls’ expressions.

We had a great time and I hope to do it again, if not this year, next year for sure. We learned it’s much cheaper to buy tickets at the box office than through Ticketbastard. It was only $21 total per ticket instead of the $52.50 we ended up paying for our two tickets. Not that I’d want to stand outside in the cold – the lines were quite long – but when the weather is warmer it won’t be such a big deal to save $10.50. That almost covers parking right there.

Thanksgiving and Party Planning

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Thanksgiving was very low-key this year. We didn’t go to my parents’ or have the kids so it was just Joe and me.

We roasted a Target turkey breast and made all our faves – this super yummy sweet potato recipe I came across a few years ago and make every year without fail, green bean casserole, crescent rolls, suddenly salad (the blt one), stuffing, and scalloped potatos. Along with that we had cottage cheese and cranberry sauce (which I was not digging this year for some reason).

By the time the turkey was done it was 4 pm so we stuffed our faces while watching a movie we rented – Four Christmases (which wasn’t that great).

After dinner was ready I threw a Sara Lee apple pie in the oven and we ate that a few hours later.

Friday morning while I was cleaning out the roasting pan, I discovered the magic of Scotch-Brite sponges. It says they can scratch surfaces so I’ve never bothered with them before even though I owned some that I must have bought years ago.

It was driving me crazy how dirty this pan had gotten with stuff that would not come off so I tried the Scotch-Brite and was amazed how with a little elbow grease I could get it looking like new. Then I read the package and realized I could remove all the burned on gunk from the stove burners too so I tackled that next.

At that point I figured I might as well clean the inside of the oven too which I will admit I’ve never done before. We’ve had the stove for a few years now so you can only imagine how dirty it had gotten. I couldn’t even see inside it through the window anymore! Joe kept trying to tell me all stoves are self-cleaning which, while skeptical, I actually believed.

I had purchased some Oven Off a month ago so I followed the directions and sprayed that in the oven after I had pre-heated it (and subsequently turned off first, of course). Oh what a smell! I had to open the windows to stop us from choking to death. I bet that stuff would make a great weapon against an intruder. Everyone should keep a can of Oven Off by their bedside.

It took me a good three hours to thoroughly clean the oven. The gunk actually came off easily but it took a long time to remove all the Oven Off residue. During that process I touched the oven’s lightbulb with the sponge which caused it to explode. Luckily my head wasn’t in the oven at the time so when the glass came shooting out I wasn’t hit in the face!

What a process! I never anticipated it taking that long, but I’m proud to announce my oven looks brand new now. I never realized you could clean it that well. I stupidly thought once certain stuff got on it that it was impossible to remove. I feel rather silly now, but at least I know better!

Friday afternoon we picked up the kids and had another Thanksgiving dinner with them. I made regular mashed potatos and corn that morning just for them which they loved. I was already tired of hot turkey, so I made a turkey sandwich instead which I got addicted to and ended up having twice a day for the rest of the weekend (including breakfast on Saturday).

We didn’t do any Black Friday shopping unless you count the comforter and knives set I bought online from Carson’s. Oh, and in the afternoon I ran to Target for something for one of the kids (don’t want to say what in case they’ve found this blog). Ok, so I guess I did do some Black Friday shopping but not in the sense that I went out at a ridiculous early hour to battle a sea of crazy people for the latest deal. Target was pretty busy at 4 pm though. I’ve never seen it so crowded and disorganized before.

Saturday we took the kids to the movies. Joe and K saw Twilight New Moon while E and I saw Planet 51. I was rather disappointed in the movie. It wasn’t nearly as good as I was expecting but E liked it so that’s good.

Sunday we did a bunch of shopping in preparation for our annual holiday party which is this Saturday. I consulted last year’s notes and here’s the spread so far:

Dinnerware:

Styrofoam mult-section plates
Red styrofoam bowls
Red plastic cups
Clear plastic silverware

Beverages:

Coke
Pepsi
Diet Pepsi
7-Up
Dr. Pepper
Sunkist
Miller Beer
Mixed drinks to order

Food:

Veggie Tray (Olives, Celery, Carrots, and Cucumber) w/ Ranch Dip
Crackers and Cheese (Cheddar, Swiss, and Monterey Jack)
Shrimp Cocktail
Italian Stuffed Jalapenos
Totino’s Cheese Pizza Rolls
Chicken Wings w/ Blue Cheese Dressing
Chips w/ Onion Dip
Fritos w/ Onion Dip
Tortilla Chips w/ Salsa
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (Homemade)

I hope that is enough. I wasn’t planning on baking cupcakes or a pie because I noticed they weren’t eaten last time. I do plan on getting tons of celery, though, because we actually ran out last year. I “make” good celery. How is that even possible, you ask? Well, I cut very thin strips which I think makes it easier to eat. There’s nothing I hate more than a huge piece of celery with a little dip on it. You can’t double-dip at a party so there’s a better dip to veggie ratio if you make the veggie pieces smaller. Yes, there is a method to my madness.

Busy weekend

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Every weekend seems to fly by, but this one felt even shorter than usual because I didn’t get home from work until 7 pm Friday evening after a 12-hour work day, then worked another two hours Saturday morning. This huge project we’ve been working on for months is finally coming to an end, thank god, because it’s killing me. I have no problem working my butt off during my regular 8-hour day, but I’m not keen on working extra hours. Sure, I get paid for it now that I’m hourly, but I’d still rather be at home.

Saturday night we went out with a group of friends to see Robert Schimmel perform at a Comedy Club near where I work. The service there was horrible, but Robert was great! What was funny was he was walking around the audience before the show and no one seemed to recognize him. The second time he walked past our table, Joe said, “Hi Robert, good to see you” as if he knew him. LOL! To his credit, Robert said hello back and put his arm on Joe’s shoulder. :) I did try and get a photo of Robert on stage near the end of the show but the iPhone’s camera sucks and you can’t even tell who is in the photo. I don’t know why everyone loves the iPhone camera – it pretty much blows unless you’re bathed in natural light. In any case, I posted a full review of our night over on Yelp if you’re so inclined.

Today we finally purchased a sink for the master bath!!! Once Joe finishes fixing some issues with the wall, he’ll be able to install the sink and mirror. We still need a faucet but haven’t found one we like yet. We take forever to pick things out sometimes. We did find a kickass ceiling fan for the master bedroom, though. We had briefly discussed replacing the ugly white one that’s in there now and since we were on a roll with the sink, figured we’d check out the fans. We found a beautiful one at Lowes. I will post pictures once it’s been installed. Now I want to replace the ceiling fan in the living room too, as well as the ugly gold chandelier in the foyer. The ceilings are so high we’d need to pay an electrician to do those, however, which is why we haven’t bothered before.

Now it’s time to make nachos for the Bears game!

Update: We actually got the fan at Home Depot. Usually we like Lowe’s selection but not this time around.