and the Oscar goes to...

Duh Bears...oops, I mean Da Bears!

So frustrated with the Bears right now! Last nights performance was as pathetic as ever. I know my husband gets annoyed with me and my oppinion of our beloved boys in blue and orange - but too bad! Here's a womans perspective -


Cutler: Ya, he's good... he's got an arm and a pretty good bullet... doesn't help much when he has 4 interceptions in 1 friggen game. Everyone thought in the beginning of the season he'd be Gods gift. I heard so many people say, "we r going to the Superbowl"... blah blah. Not so much! I will say this, I feel bad for the guy. Boy did he jump the gun leaving Denver, probably kicking his own ass right now. Here's what I know, it doesn't matter how good the quarterback is - if he has no friggen protection and no time to throw the ball - what good is he. This brings me to my second point...

O-Line: All useless! Seriously - they couldn't stop a one car parade. The other teams defense is all over Cutler all the time. Someone once told me that Orlando Pace doesn't cover short guys well... thats the stupidest thing I've ever heard and another way of saying Pace is slow and sucks and can't get off the ground fast enough to do some good. Can't cover short guys. Makes me laugh! Bottom line for the O-line is they all need to go! Too bad we gave up all our draft picks worth a darn for Cutler...

Forte: He looks like a totally different running back this year. Last year he was on fire - this year he is disappointing. I know the offensive line can't make any holes for him cuz they are worthless but why does he continually run head on into a pile up of men. Would it kill him to manuever around the pile?? Hello.

Defense: What the hell happened there? I mean when the guys that are supposed to protect our team from the opposing offense can't even tackle properly - you know we are in trouble. L.Briggs is the only one I don't want to strangle. And Hunter - my God, the only thing he does well is wear that uniform. Absolutely no substitute for Urlacher. So disappointed in T.Harris too-getting fined for punching a player. What an idiot. Way to punch someone wearing a friggen helmet - obviously not the sharpest tool in the shed. Everyone says the D-Fense went down hill the second they dumped R.Rivera and I totally agree.

All of these problems are magnified by the incredibly dispicable coaching staff. Lovie looks so confused on the sidelines that I just want to reach thru the screen and slap him awake. He is always 2 steps behind the game. The play calling is horrific (and I'm a girl and I can tell you that). Yikes!!!!!!!

The last thing I will leave you with after this rant is some comic relief...

A picture of Devin Hester at the gas station filling up his car. Picture him in Lake Forest with all the soccer moms.... bet he sticks out like a sore thumb!!! (Gee ya think he likes Louis Vitton??)

Twilight parody

Dave speaks

Toe Pick...!

A few Saturday's ago, our neice turned 8 years old and she invited us to her ice skating party (SK8 party, which I got the biggest kick out of).  I confess, I was super nervous about skating because I haven't done it since high school which was over 10 years ago. (Man, that hurts when you say it like that!) Back in the day, I owned figure skates and we use to get bundled up on winter break and skate on the creek behind our neighborhood - and darn it we were good. We'd do twirls and skate backwards - we'd even play hockey with the neighborhood boys when they needed extra players. What happened??? Why couldn't I skate like I use to????? Um, how about old age and fear! What was the fear - for starters, the embarrasment of falling and immediately following that - the PAIN of falling. Those of you that know and love me know that I am a huge clutz as it is, just walking in shoes on NON-slippery surfaces, so you can imagine my reluctance to enter a public ice rink.

It totally doesn't help that my sister-in-law and neice are both really good figure skaters and my husband is a hockey player and well, skating comes with the territory. Don't get me wrong, kids were falling all over the place. But it was amazing - they'd get right back up as quickly as they fell - like nothing happened. No embarrassment and no pain (from what I could see). Course, kids have a much shorter fall than an adult - so much closer to the ground already and much lighter. Ah, to be a kid again - if for no other reason to let go and not care what others thought. I must say, it game me courage!

(I know the suspense is killing you) How did I do...???  - well, not too bad! At first I wouldn't let go of my husbands arm - not to mention I barely picked my feet up off the ice - but I didn't fall!!!! I don't think I looked that ridiculous either which is really good! Can I just say - I love the toe pick! If that sucker wasn't on both feet - this post would be a lot different, believe me. I had a great time - I felt like a kid again, holding hands with my main squeeze, slowly skating to music - it was really cute.

Towards the end I think I even got a compliment - Anthony says, "You're moving better" which I think meant I was going faster than the snails pace I was going before and wasn't holding on to his arm for dear life! If I am smart I won't wait another 10 years before braving the ice again - we'll see.

Swine Flu paranoia...

Life lessons

A neighbor of my parents, someone I've known since I was 8, suddenly passed away this morning. His wife found him dead on their couch when she was getting ready for work. A heart attack is suspected but it's too early to know the cause of death.  He left a wife and 2 teenage kids.  

To be positive, one could say he was blessed - to go so simply without the agony of illness and slow deterioration.  On the other hand, one could also be stunned by the tragedy of a 49 year old dropping dead in his home without any kind of tell tale signs or symptoms for his loved ones to prepare.  Either way - it's sad because someone that I know is dead and his family now has to deal with that.

All too often we go along day to day foolishly thinking we have "lots of time" - but the scary truth is that no one knows whats in store for them or more morbidly - when their number is up.  We usually only consider our own mortality when something tragic like sudden death touches our lives but its important to live your life like every day is your last. The truth is there is only so much in your life you can control - and how long you're heart is beating isn't one of them...

Live the life you want to live and be the person you want to be - laugh as much as you can and pay it forward whenever possible. Love as hard as you can and be good to yourself. Be thankful always!

Double Date

We dined with our wonderful friends (and adorable engaged couple) Danielle & Jeremy at Folklore Argentine Grill in Ukrainian Village on Saturday, October 17 - read on for the rave!!
First we met Dan & Jeremy at their beautiful new townhome and were greeted with hugs, kisses and a crackling fire! We got the grand tour of their cozy home and shortly after headed out for some grub! It was a crisp night but we walked from their place a few blocks holding hands with our honeys and chatting up this and that. We waited a good hour for a table but got lucky at the bar with seats and an attentive bartender which is of the utmost importance! The mojitos were unbelievable - muddled to order and went down exteremly easy! While sipping our cocktails us girls chatted about friends, wedding plans and exciting things to come. Finally our turn for a table arrived and oh my goodness! Folklore is an Argentinian Steakhouse so I wanted to make sure that I got some meat (ha ha)! Me and Danielle split a entre that could have fed a family of four and it came to our table on a grill - it was awesome! (picture is Dan posing with our meal... funny!)

The people waiting at the bar (like us an hour prior) were all staring at us... We were like the nerdy tourists taking pictures of our food - except we are from Chicago! We all inhalled our food and dessert and were very glad we had to walk home... the date ended at 10:30 because we were all so damn full - and we're old!

Despite all that, it was a wonderful night, great food & great company!

Happy Sweetest Day!

My heart feels like my chest can barely contain it,

like it doesn't belong to me anymore-

it belongs to you.

And if you want it,
I'd wish for nothing in exchange -

no gifts, no goods, no demonstrations of devotion...

Nothing...

but knowing that you love me too -

Just your heart...

in exchange for mine.

Icing

Wednesday, Oct 14, 2009 I joined Anthony, Andy & Beth for a Blackhawks game at the UC. We had awesome seats & a perfect view! Hadn't been to a Hawks game in a grip so I was surprised when the lights went out and the pre-game intro began- lazers on the ice and a tribute to the Hawks then and now. It was neat but the most amazing thing was the National Anthem.  The Hawks played the Edmonton Oilers from Canada. They began the Canadian National Anthem first and everyone was very respectful and stood for the ceremony. THEN the US Flag was displayed everywhere and the crowd blew up - everyone cheered and clapped and alot of people sang - I The singer was super impressive and the crowd did not stop clapping, they clapped through the entire song.

Now I've been to sporting events before but I haven't witnessed anything like the National Anthem at the Hawks game - it was amazing. Anthony told me that it was a hard core tradition for the crowd to applaud and cheer thru the whole thing.  The UC was packed and alive and it set the tone for the game which was pretty awesome. My husband is a sports nut and had season tickets to both Bears & Hawks and has taken me to both and I always told him that while I love the Bears, I have a harder time following the game when I am actually at the game (possibly because of alcohol consumption) but mostly because our seats are in an endzone and I have a hard time following the ball, etc. But seeing the Hawks game live was so so so much better than watching it on TV.  My favorite player, hottie Patrick Sharp #10, scored the first Hawks goal in like the first few minutes... probably because he knew I was at the game watching! Great game, great night!!

A little something for "Bosses Day"!

Sunday Afternoon in Fall

Sunday, October 11th was a rare time in the fall of my life! Why, you ask? The Chicago Bears had a Bye week which meant I got my husband to do something on a Sunday in fall that didn't involve beer pong, grilling food or rally shots! Much to his dismay (although when we got there he had fun!) we took a drive with my brother Jim and his love, Kelsey to Hobart, Indiana's County Line Orchard.  Besides being a gorgeously sunny morning, it felt so good to be participating in the season with the ones I love the most!

County Line was packed, took us a while to find parking but my husband has a horse shoe up his butt so we ended up with a spot right in front, which is really convenient because you end up making a few trips to the trunk to stow your loot!  We picked pumpkins & gords, drank cider and browsed in the country store. The place was so alive with families. They always have live music on the weekends and you can eat lunch because they have homemade BBQ!  County Line Orchard is known for their homemade donuts - and this time of year the special is the apple cinamon and pumpkin. They are both to die for!

We met my cousin Bob and Dina later and we journeyed to the corn maze. The admission to the maze and the tracker pull ride to the maze is $7 per adult. You wait for the tracker to pick up the group and he'll take you thru the orchards and explain about the apples and such.  If you want to get dropped off at a certain grove he'll stop for you.  The most popular apple stops were Gala & Honey Crisp.  The honey crisp apple is the most amazingly sweet and refreshing & crisp apple I've ever had.   I am hooked! 

We had a good time in the maze - they give you a map but we weren't all that good at reading it. It was more about us getting lost in the maze and feeling like kiddies again!  Not totally sure if I would bring small kids to the maze however.  As we were walking in there was a mother who had been waiting for one of her children for an hour. 
All her other kids were out of the maze so she was negotiating getting back in the maze without a bracelet to locate her child.  Yikes!!  I made a mental note on that one!   Last year we did the maze at night when it was dark - which had its charm!  Being able to see this time around, especially the mud and puddles was helpful, but I must admit, not quite as much excitement!It was the best non bears Sunday I've had in a long time! We got lost in the maze and lost in the season!

Rio... really?

Today was the big day! The IOC laid down the gauntlet and kicked every Chicagoian & Rich Daley in the teeth! Chicago was buzzing all morning - excited about heading down to Daley Plaza to get their orange t-shirts... we had our conference room big screen on and everyone in the office wrote their "prediction" on the white board. We all thought it was in the bag - I mean we have the President & First Lady, Barack & Michelle and Oprah... who else is there?

Let me just say that up until 10:35 a.m., Friday, October 2, 2009 - I was in supreme "nay-sayer" for the 2016 games in Chi-town. Why? Because I am selfish... and I only think about myself! Commuting to Chicago 5 days a week makes you that way - add summer heat and Olympic tourists to the mix. Imagine public transportation for those 2 weeks - pure misery... or so I thought.

So, when I learned that Chicago was first to be eliminated - did I feel victorious? Oddly...NO! My first thought was "Well what the hell, why not, what's wrong with Chicago"?? Now I am insulted! So funny the range of emotions one feels... everyone in the office had long faces, Michigan Avenue was lined with morose looking people throwing their 2016 banners in the trash.

A city deflated!

Sweet Relief!

So for my first post I’ve got some news! Mars® named Chicago as the city most in need for sweet relief so the chocolate company is parked outside of Tribune Tower handing out full size candy bars of M&M’s®, Snickers®, Milky Way®, Twix®, Dove® and 3 Musketeers®!!! (MAN I love working downtown!!)

I am wondering why Chicago was voted most in need – probably because of all the 2016 Olympic Games stress but can I be honest, I’m not stressed about that. Come 2016 when the games are here -thats when I'll be stressed. Hand out the friggen chocolate then!!

Also struck me as funny as I looked out my office window (I work in Chicago’s landmark Wrigley Building) and watched the masses crowd the poor innocent candy men and women spreading chocolate, cheer and calories – you’d think they were handing out $10 bills! Was I one of them you ask – one of the Chicagoans to capitalize on this chocolate opportunity… you bet you booty I was! I got my token Twix® bar – you better believe it!

Something else I pondered as I walked away tearing open my Twix… would Michigan Avenue be up in arms at the Trib Tower if they were giving away free apples… doubt it folks! Not sure if I would have intentionally gone out of my way to cross the street to get my hands on a free apple… not because I almost always bring one in my lunch anyway but because its healthy and typically nothing to get excited over. Did I enjoy my free Twix® - better believe it!

Thanks Mars® - I feel “Relieved” – Mission Accomplished!

Let's get it started...

Welcome to my page! I'm trying out this "blogging" thing that everyone is raving about. Not sure how good I'll be but I figured that if nothing else I can publish my random thoughts, rants and favorites to share with the people I love.

Stay tuned!