Not very bloggy

Sorry I haven't updated much lately. I just haven't been feeling very bloggy. That and we haven't really had anything exciting going on lately. The most exciting things that have happened to me in the past week are Bailey jumping out of the bath tub when I was in the middle of giving her a bath and Bailey cuddling with me on the couch for A WHOLE HOUR last night!

My work schedule has changed a bit too, making it pretty hard to update during the week. I work until 7 on Tuesdays and 6 on Wednesdays out in the suburbs so by the time I get home, I pretty much just eat dinner and then I need to go to bed. The commute is hit or miss, there is no logic to Chicago traffic. At times that you would expect it to be super busy I can fly up the interstate without a problem and at the times you would think it would be free flowing it's bumper to bumper!

We are thoroughly enjoying our new couches. Bailey has fully adjusted to them, and much to my dismay they are dog hair magnets :( But it's super easy to clean them with the one vacuum attachment so that's good at least.

I'm hoping to do another Freezer Cooking Day in the next few weeks. I just have to pick up a few small ingredients and then get motivated enough to cook everything!

Hopefully things will start to get more exciting as the weather warms up here in Chicago! We have some friends coming to visit (and possibly my parents) in the next few months and there are a ton of festivals this summer we are hoping to check out. Thanks for reading during the boring times too! :)

Earth Hour Tomorrow!

Every year (well, the last 2 years at least) I have wanted to participate in Earth Hour, but only realize it has happened right after it happened!

What is Earth Hour, you ask? Well, it happens to have it's own website! Saturday night, from 8:30 to 9:30, everyone is encouraged to "switch off" for the hour. That means no tv, no internet, no lights, for one hour. One hour without electricity should be nothing compared to how certain areas of the world live all the time.


So we're going to participate tomorrow. I encourage you to participate as well! And if you are busy during Earth Hour, I'm sure you can make it up another hour of the day!

Happy Weekend

This weekend has been wonderful. It's been filled with the following things that just, well, make me happy :)

New couches Bailey moping around because her old beat up couches are gone (Okay, this doesn't make me "happy," but it does make me laugh to see how dramatic a dog can be) Tom playing the guitar Highlighting the teams I picked to win in my bracket Catching up with good friends on the phone Sweet mini peppers Tom imitating me on the couch "Lying there, typing on Dell mini, asking him to get me an Izze/tea/chapstick" (I happen to be lying on the couch right now, typing on Dell mini, drinking an Izze) Homemade pizza dough and calzones Coffee Going through 2 boxes worth of notes/papers/etc and recycling the majority of them, filing the rest ID Network Taking Bailey on a long walk to the park Thunderstorms Great deals Freshly washed linens Best Ever Chicken Noodle Soup

The moping didn't last long. She quickly found her new favorite spot ;)

The Chi-rish Experience

This weekend Tom and I decided we would experience St. Patty's Day Chicago-style. We planned our day to start early and end early, partake in a few Chicago traditions, and meet up with some friends along the way. We woke up early Saturday morning, donned our green, and walked literally around the corner to Christina's Place, our neighborhood bar which happened to be offering a FREE irish breakfast (and $2 Guiness pints). (Leave it to me to find what yelp.com calls "....the best deal in Chicago.")

We walked in at 8:30 in the morning to find the place PACKED, wall to wall, with fellow Chi-rish. The line for breakfast took FOREVER because there were only 2 people cooking as fast as they could in this tiny room with 3-4 slightly-larger-than-George-Forman grills. It was worth it though, because breakfast was yummy and did I mention FREE?

With full tummies we walked to the train station and headed downtown to see the famous Chicago River get dyed green! We walked the 2 blocks to the river and were slightly disappointed at first because the green hadn't made it down to where we were standing...but we could see it coming!

We walked a few blocks up along the river with several hundred others but luckily there were enough viewing points that it didn't seem crowded at all. We stopped for several photo ops and waved at everyone going by on boats through the green river!

Did I mention it was a bit windy? Next on our plan was to stop in and have a drink at a bar downtown before we headed back up to our neck of the woods. We were bracing ourselves for crazy mobs of people since that is what everyone told us to expect. The first bar we walked past was practically empty but fully ready for St. Patty's Day. We enjoyed a few drinks there and took advantage of their all-you-can-eat $9 St. Patty's buffet while people in green filtered in and out.

Our final destination was a bar called The Abbey Pub which happened to be about a half mile from our apartment. Earlier in the week they had a Groupon for their "St. Patty's Festival" so we decided to check it out.

Again, we were bracing ourselves for a bar packed full of drunken college kids but were pleasantly suprised to find quite the opposite. There was plenty of room and we even got a table. Instead of college kids, there were regular kids (like less than 10 years old) running around everywhere and dancing to the irish music that was being played on stage. I had no idea it would be such a "family themed" event but apparently the Chi-rish like to start young. We each had a green beer (free with our Groupon!) while we waited patiently for our friends to join us.

Stef and Sam finally arrived and we hung out for a while listening to the next Irish band that came on. Sam didn't get the memo that you are supposed to wear green on St. Patty's Day!

We decided that we were officially old because we thought the music was too loud and we couldn't even carry on a conversation. It went something like this

Sam: Do you think the music is too loud?

Me: What?!

Sam: I think the music is too loud, are we old?

Me: What?!

So we decided to leave and walked back to our place where we enjoyed a nice quiet dinner and some good conversation. We also thought we should have at least one of our meals not in a bar. Tom and I are glad we were able to experience being Chi-rish but maybe next year we'll settle for something a little more low key :)

We're Chi-rish this weekend!

We're going to experience St. Patty's Day Chicago-style this weekend! We're hoping it won't be as crazy as the St. Patty's Days of 2007 and 2008, but looking forward to having a little fun :) I'm excited to see the green river! Stay tuned for pics!

Bailey's Busy Day

Saturday we woke up early to take Bailey to the vet. We haven't been since we've moved here and we were overdue when we moved. So needless to say it was a busy visit for Bailey. Lots of shots (3) and checkups. She did great, but she was a little confused when a woman brought in a cat in a box and she couldn't figure out why the box was meowing.

Later Saturday morning the plumber stopped by to fix our kitchen sink which was leaking into the cabinets below (another bonus for renting = free plumber :) Bailey got super excited when he came in, thinking that he was there solely to play with her and not realizing he was there only to fix the sink. She spent 30 minutes in the "office" with me, staring at the closed door.

Saturday evening when she went outside after dinner she was ecstatic because it had snowed Saturday afternoon. It was enough to cover the ground and enough to make her super excited.

Needless to say she was exhausted by Saturday night. Tom was lying on the couch and got up to check something in the other room. When he came back a few minutes later, this is where he found her...and I don't think she moved until we went to bed.

Currently

Excited about Spring, Chicago in the summer, the Chicago river being dyed green for St. Patty's Day
Worried about If we're going to go on vacation this summer (I know, what an awesome thing to be worried about ;)
Reading The giant stack of magazines that have been building up under our coffee table, Hyperbole and a Half
Creating A schedule at work that satisfies their needs and makes me happy
Loving The awesome deals I got at Target last week (including a FREE pair of jeans!), Sleepytime tea
Hating The fact that warm weather is still months away!
Wondering what the next year has in store for us
Craving Clementines. I've eaten two 5lb boxes in the past week!
Hoping I continue to enjoy my job as much as I have the past 3 months
Watching on TV HIMYM (How I Met Your Mother), Mad Men (On Demand), Gossip Girl, My Life as Liz
Listening to My own created radio stations on pandora.com
Cooking Lots of veggies, things in the crock pot, Best Ever Chicken Noodle Soup (Hoping to have another Freezer Cooking Day this month!)
Looking forward to Sitting on the back deck drinking coffee in the mornings, friends coming to visit this spring/summer, taking Bailey to the Dog Beach