Shape up or ship out

I don't know whether it's Monday-itis, or just being a grouchy cow, but this morning I absolutely meant it when I uttered that famous female phrase: I simply don't have a thing to wear.

Now of course I don't mean it literally - women rarely ever do (except the nudists I guess). But I seriously hate my work clothes. One look at the shirts and tops hanging in the closet will tell you that I can't decide whether to be corporate or trendy, casual or sloppy. I somehow managed to have simultaneously covered all possible fashion bases.

And so I'm resolved to get out this coming weekend and find some new items to jazz up my ensemble, and lift my mood.

Of course it's times like this though that I wish I had a work uniform - if they're cute, they make things so much easier. But they are rarely, if ever, cute. So scratch that idea.

And I am in love with my new black patent leather pumps and so I don't really want to get rid of them. But admittedly they came close to being pitched this morning when one of them flew off my foot into the middle of a pedestrian crossing. I nearly cried as I hobbled through the puddles in front of a bustling rush period crowd to go and fetch it. I am not sure how loudly I was cursing (thanks to my ipod blasting in my ears) but I'm sure my fellow office workers were treated to a couple of gems from my vocabulary!

Let's just hope that between now and the weekend, I can commit to a fashion style, find everything in the one store - in my size - and have no line up at the fitting rooms or registers where I'm ready to rock & roll.

Clearly I am not a girly-girl when it comes to shopping.

Coming up for air

While Coco has been going ahead in leaps and bounds with her blogging, I have been disappointingly recalcitrant. And it's not because I haven't been out there creating stories to share and whatnot, because I have. But I have been suffering rather crippling procrastination lately so I'm deliberately stealing an hour from my Sunday to bring you up to speed on the last few weeks. [And in so doing, I am putting off doing housework - do you see how my life is now?!]

My story starts just before St Patrick's Day - yes, we're going back that far, and me and Dr G headed into town early to participate in an annual tradition - the dyeing of the Chicago River. We found a great spot pretty much right in front of where the little men with the drums of orange powder set off in their boats to putt-putt along and dump gallon after gallon of said powder into the murky depths. The process is slow, but the end result is quite dazzling. Very "Emerald City".



But the winter in Chicago just won't go away, so it was not long before me and Dr G decided we were too cold to stay Downtown (contending with the crowds AND the cold was a bit too much to bear). So we went back to Boystown and had Mexican food for lunch before heading home to thaw out.

Life progressed rather normally for a few weeks after that, and then it was Easter and I decided to visit K in New York City, her new home away from home. The view from her living room window is just breathtaking - Empire State out one side, Chrysler Building out the other:



Naturally I didn't get to appreciate this stellar view until the morning after my arrival, owing to a 3-hour delay at O'Hare. I guess the silver lining is that the sky was this blue in NYC for the duration of my trip, and who could ask for more than that?

I felt fairly confident that I would be spending a few more long weekends in the Big Apple before I leave Chicago so I told K that I didn't care about doing too many tourist things on my first visit. So we walked around everywhere and spent our first full day following K's cousin in and out of fabulous vintage stores to browse the racks of hidden treasures.

We wandered through SoHo, Little Italy, China Town, stopping on the way to see the site of Ground Zero. We walked past a great spot to get a photo of the Brooklyn Bridge (though I resisted taking a photo because I will get a better one up close next time).

On Easter Saturday we lined up for an hour with fellow tourists from across the world to appreciate the Big Apple from on high. We went up to the viewing platform on the 86th Floor of the Empire State Building. Owing to the clear skies, the panorama was amazing. In every direction the view was gorgeous. I don't know the city well enough to know what I was looking at exactly, but you get a real appreciation for just how big New York really is.

We had tickets to "Xanadu" on Broadway and we got to sit up on the stage and be part of the production. When the stagehands issued us with glow sticks at the beginning of the show, I just knew it was going to be a blast. And sure enough, "Xanadu" was as campy and crazy as I remember the movie being. It was difficult not to sing along - but I figured I had better try to keep my mouth shut as this was my first (and probably only) chance to be on a Broadway stage.

On Easter Sunday we walked down 5th Avenue which was closed to vehicle traffic for the Easter Bonnet exhibition. Residents were parading up and down through the crowd, showing off their home made Easter bonnets and it was a wonderful atmosphere. Me and Bec bought a hot dog from a street vendor (so we could cross it off our 'must do in NY' list). We watched the ice skaters in Rockerfeller Center, and then we walked past Tiffany's (surrounded by ugly scaffolding and not worth having breakfast at on this occasion). Past the Plaza Hotel, we wandered through Central Park and saw the tribute to John Lennon (Strawberry Fields - a designated 'silent area' for reflection and quiet contemplation).

We spent a happy few hours absorbing some culture at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and then we had some down time with one of K's friends at a coffee shop in trendy Union Square.

I have not heard anyone say anything bad about New York City. My friends and colleagues love it for its diversity and its diversions; there is always something to do, all the time. The City is not for the faint hearted though, because it's hustle-bustle constantly. But I thrive on that sort of energy and I find it fascinating to people watch. In my experience over the weekend, New Yorkers were polite and obliging and friendly and I would go back to the city in a heartbeat (whether or not K was there). Fortunately I have some pretty generous frequent flyer miles now, so I guess it's just a matter of seeing whether I have any annual leave left....I don't like my chances there!

Want some coffee with that sugar?

Espresso cream...
Originally uploaded by try to touch.

Even after 2 and a bit years living in Chicago, people's coffee-making habits still defy explanation and manage to make me smile.

I do not frequent Starbucks these days, unless I absolutely have to, so I'm spared the mind-bending orders issued by impatient customers that need their fix of wannabe coffee and sugar-high syrups. For my way of thinking, syrup of any kind has absolutely no place in good coffee. [Fortunately Starbucks cannot really be called GOOD coffee to begin with, but you get the point.]

I've come back to having my weekday heart started at Lavazza, home to the second-best coffee in the City (first place is still Intelligentsia). Of course the intensity of the caffeine trip makes me vibrate around the office for most of the morning but, on occasions, that is entirely the effect I was going for in the first place.

After getting off the bus this morning, I followed a fellow passenger into Lavazza and waited for my turn in line. Both of us ordered your basic run-of-the-mill coffees with some room for cream in the top. "Ah," I thought, "a kindred coffee spirit".

Not so, as it turned out.

The chap ahead of me, regular untainted coffee in hand, wandered over to the 'condiments' station (for want of a better description), and proceeded to pollute his perfect beverage with any and all of the sprinkles, sugars, flavours, and preservatives on offer. WTF?!

While the very sight of the travesty burned my retinas and scarred my very soul, I was able to stare open-mouthed long enough to notice that he dumped AT LEAST 5 packets of artificial sweetner into his cup. When he reached for the cinnamon and began to liberally douse the drink with it, I had to look away.

I mean seriously, if you don't want to taste coffee in your drink, don't order coffee. Am I right?

Anyway while all this process was playing out, the fellow was hogging the whole condiment station - there was no room for me to sneak in, do my thing, and leave. So my only option was to stand there, take up space, and endure the longest 4 minute coffee preparation I'd ever (not) been involved in.

When his theatrics were nearing their conclusion, I wandered over to the station, sloshed the tiniest amount of half-and-half into my pristine cup and dashed out the door.

Ahead of him.

A chemical flashback

Bottles
Originally uploaded by Rune T.

On the way home in the taxi tonight, I was thinking about this blog posting and giving myself a hard time for not quite wrapping up my Las Vegas trip. "What is the point," I mused, "in writing about tonight, when I am about 3 weeks behind in blogland to begin with?".

But then I figured that this is MY blog and hang it if I'm three weeks behind. I think we can all accept that I made it back from Vegas safely, had a great time with JK here, and somehow lived to (soberly) tell the tales. I just choose not to tell them here!

So in the manner of Scott Bakula in his "Quantum Leap" role, let's time travel forward to tonight, so I can give you an idea of what I've been up to.

A shameless plug must first be inserted here for Just Grapes, who threw me a free ticket for tonight's wonderful Wine Blending seminar at their Downtown Chicago store premises. Turning up solo for an event is never my first choice, but tonight I really didn't have any options - everyone I asked was either not interested, or had plans. So I took myself off to the class because the opportunity to be a winemaker for a night was just too tempting to let pass by.

Sitting at my place (at the very front of the room no less), I was confronted by 5 half-glasses of wine, a blending glass, a pipette, and a beaker. I started having flashbacks to Year 12 Chemistry class and then my palms got all sweaty. Winemaking as a science? Who knew!

But I paid attention and understood the basics of how to make sense of the "Fusebox" product released by Crushpad Winery in the Napa Valley. So the challenge became how to make my favourite wine blend from the following Bordeaux wines:

• Cabernet Sauvignon;
• Merlot;
• Cabernet Franc;
• Malbec; and
• Petit Verdot.

I have to say that I was very conservative with my blending, partly because I wasn't sure what I was doing, but also because I am still not sure what I really enjoy the most. But I walked away from the 2-hour class confident that I very much enjoy Petit Verdot. And of course, I also learned that Petit Verdot is very seldom seen on wine lists on its own - fabulous.

Still, I am no wine sissy, and I love heavy Australian shiraz but tonight, the Cab Sav was just too overwhelming for me so my blends featured more of the Merlot and Petit Verdot than anything else. Oh and Cabernet Franc just doesn't do it for me - too spicy and dominant.

The beautiful thing about Crushpad is that if you come up with a wine blend that you really like, you can arrange for the winery to produce it for you, and you can buy a case of it with labels that you can print up. What a great idea, huh?

I can't imagine that any of my "Gab's Blends" that I made tonight would ever make to the bottle, but at least I got a good feel for what's involved in winemaking, and another assurance that the ultimate test of a good wine is what you enjoy the most - there is never a right answer.

Up High, Down Low, Too Slow

Las Vegas is the sort of town where fun doesn't just happen at street level. Way down The Strip, past the biggest gift store in the world (where a ridgey-didge uniformed sheriff patrols the entrance), you reach The Stratosphere Hotel and Casino.

The place is home to three death-defying attractions - "X-Scream", "Big Shot" and "Insanity". Check out the website to see what they're all about, and trust me when I tell you that you could never, ever hope to persuade me to even go on one of those crazy rides. Call me a nana, but simply taking the elevator 866 feet to the top viewing platform was all the white-knuckle excitement I needed for one evening! The view from up there IS gorgeous though, especially at night when all the lights are twinkling beautifully (I wonder if you can see the Vegas lights from space?).

Having left the lofty heights of Vegas and the stunning panorama behind, we took 'The Deuce' past a bunch of sleazy motels and drive-thru wedding chapels (no kidding!) to Fremont Street, to get an appreciation for old Vegas in its heyday, when the Rat Pack (and the Mob) really did own the town.

The blessed internet tells me that the Fremont Street Experience, as it is officially known in the guidebooks, boasts a $70 million light canopy, which is basically a pedestrian promenade covered over by a domed canopy that has a 550,000-watt LCD light and sound system built in. Every thirty minutes or so from 11pm each night, the lights come on and screen a short display of colour and sound designed to stimulate your senses (or hypnotise you to spend more money, I am not sure which).

Either way, Fremont Street is an assault on your senses. It's non-stop action just like The Strip, but it's also chock-full of street vendors like The Chippendales, who tried to get me to pose for a photo with them but I modestly declined! I am not averse to having very well-built men drape themselves over me, but in full view of tourists? And I have to pay them at the end? No thanks hehe.

So me and JK wandered up and down Fremont Street, and went into The Golden Nugget, one of the most famous original casinos in Vegas. The decor was kinda 1960's (think oranges and browns everywhere). It's old school, and not as flashy as the newer places on The Strip. But neverthless, the Golden Nugget (and other places just like it on Fremont Street) was stiill making a lot of money out of people that night - the tables and machines were pretty much full.

I'm not even sure you can stay at the casinos on Fremont Street anymore and even if you could, I'm not sure you'd want to. It's a decent Deuce ride from the Strip, but it also seems to be just another place you have to check off your list when you come to Vegas, a must-see attraction to get an idea of how things used to be in Sin City - and I really am glad I got to see it.

What happens when the sun comes out

Okay so I should have posted a post-script to yesterday's entry because I completely neglected to comment on the spectacular light show that we watched on the lake out the front of Bellagio after the Cirque show. I mean, it's only one of the most famous attractions in Vegas after all!



Now that picture of course shows you the fountains and light show from the FRONT of the Hotel, but me and JK didn't want to have to stand in a crowd three people deep in order to appreciate the view. So being the clever chap that he is, JK suggested that we view the spectacle with a glass of champagne, from INSIDE the Bellagio's Fontana bar. They have a beautiful terrace that you can go and stand on, to fully appreciate the enormity of the fountain sprays, set to music (just like fireworks might be). I tell you, after that experience, and the Cirque show, I was on overstimulation-mode. Thanks be to God for the champagne.

[Now we can move to the morning after.....Saturday, Part 1]

Las Vegas is a round-the-clock town, indoors particularly. At any time of day, the croupiers are 'dealing' with patrons at all stages of intoxication, and the bars and restaurants and full of tourists re-fuelling for the next round of partying.

And during the daylight hours outdoors, there isn't much to do on The Strip other than walk around and get a grip on the adult wonderland you've landed in.

So when Saturday morning rolled around, and the sheer scope of the previous evening's Cirque de Soleil show was still seeping in, Gab the Goldfish took a shower and prepared to face Daytime Vegas.

We scrambled aboard 'The Deuce' and rode it to "New York, New York" casino to appreciate their breakfast buffet. The restaurant we went into was in the casino's China Town, so I scooped some BBQ onto my breakfast plate but stopped short of spring rolls and wontons. I have to tell you, BBQ pork for breakfast was pretty darn good. And with my belly full of the rather noxious combination of BBQ pork, orange juice, and filtered coffee, we set off.

JK played the tables for a bit and I wandered around the cheap souvenir shops upstairs. When he'd finished, he tried yet again to convince me to ride the huge roller coaster at the "New York New York" but naturally I didn't budge.

I think you could probably convince me to eat or drink just about anything from any culture around the world. You could talk me into travelling just about anywhere or talking to just about anyone. But don't ask me to pay to sit in a tiny carriage up monstrously high above street level, and then speed around a narrow track at break-neck speed for three torturous minutes. It's just not gonna happen. And so JK had to abandon his idea for the Rollercoaster of Death ride. Too bad, so sad chum.

Then we crossed the road to a cheap souvenir shop to assess the postcard situation. I'm a big postcard person, and am constantly on the lookout for the glitziest, most hollogramic postcards I can find. And if they were going to exist anywhere, it would be Vegas - right? Sadly I was let down on this front. Most of the postcards I found were simple location shots of sparkly night scenes, or daytime location shots of the Casinos. So having selected some of these cards, the cash register lady told us that we could buy postcard stamps in a vending machine at the 7-11 adjacent to her store.

We found the machine and I started ferreting through my purse for the required number of quarters. Then JK, the numbers man, did a quick calculation and stopped me. "How can a 90-cent stamp cost you $1.75?". And sure enough, the machine advertised 90-cent stamps but required you to insert 7 quarters ($1.75). WHAT THE? Another example of Vegas trying to take our money. So we left the 7-11, scratching our heads.

A quick wander through M&M World and Coke Land - or whatever those too emporia were actually called, and then we rocked up at Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. Fabulous ability to get up close and personal (and even rather grabby) with some celebs. Anyone who tries to tell me that Marilyn Monroe was a US size 14 is a smelly liar. I don't think the dress she was wearing at the museum would have even zipped up on me! But she still looked pretty great. And just seeing the wax figure of Lucille Ball cracked me up.

We wandered past "Treasure Island" casino, and I had a couple of margaritas at their bar where I was pretty much mesmerised by the bartenders who were flipping bottles in the manner of Tom Cruise in "Cocktail" - it was all pretty impressive. But then I was tired and we decided that an afternoon lie-down would be a good idea in preparation for our big night of activities.

Which I will blog about tomorrow bwahahahah (evil laugh).....

Las Vegas and the big "O"

So if you're paying attention to posting dates, you might think that I have been on the biggest margarita bender known to mankind. After all, I only suggested I'd be popping out for a few quick ones. But truth be told, I have been putting off the Las Vegas re-cap. There was so much that happened, writing it all down seemed like a really daunting concept. But here I am, at my computer in the manner of Doogie Howser, all ready to lay out the high points of the holiday. And don't worry, I didn't learn anything worth sharing with you all...

The first thing I have to tell you is that the flight from Chicago to Las Vegas is about 4 hours long. And with a little bottle of cheap red wine on top of a couple of beers from earlier in the night, I arrived in Vegas absolutely shattered. Not drunk by any means, but simply exhausted. I just wanted to discover some sort of Quantum Leap style time travel and beam myself directly into bed. Fortunately I didn't have to worry because JK had been very clever and booked us some bus transfers from the airport to the Hotel.

But it's true what "they" say - Vegas doesn't sleep. Even at 1am on a Friday morning, The Strip was a living organism. There were people of all ages wandering around and through the little slits in my eyes, I could make out people drinking on the streets, lots of big-haired tourists, and best of all - tshirts! That meant that I had finally left behind the frosty streets of Chicago and entered some sort of desert oasis wonderland. Finally!

And as the opulence of Bellagio greeted me, I assumed my soon-to-become permanent facial expression of open-mouthed goldfish. I suspect that expression is rather common on first glance at Bellagio.

Not to be snobby about the whole affair, but I have been to the real Bellagio, a small hamlet off Lake Como in Italy - something that now reminds me of Rivendell from "Lord of the Rings". So even though I was initially concerned that Vegas would bastardise all the gorgeous things I love about Italy, I have to say that Bellagio the Hotel is an escape to the sort of Lake Como villa you can only dream about. It is stunning in every sense, and nothing is too much trouble for any of the staff. Like the rest of Vegas, Bellagio is open 24/7 so it is always "on", but I never noticed any of that on my first night. Once I got upstairs and took a "before" photo of my gorgeous queen sized bed, I face-planted on it and fell into the sort of blissful sleep only reserved for holidaymakers.

JK had been to Vegas before so I was more than content to rely on him to make sure I saw everything I was supposed to see. And our first port of call on this 'must see' list was the Bellagio Breakfast Buffet. I can't even remember how much it cost, but I will say that the excess of the smorgasboard was really just a food-filled metaphor for the whole town! After a filling breakfast pitstop, we commenced our day's journey.

We caught 'The Deuce' (the double-decker Las Vegas shuttle bus that put-putts tourists up and down the Strip for $5 per day, unlimited travel). JK and I realised that 'The Deuce' is a very cool mode of transportation, but naturally only when you say 'The Deuce' like some sort of Robert De Niro gangster hitman. We were so awesome.

'The Deuce' dropped us off at the Las Vegas Outlet Center first of all, and we spent just over 90 minutes wandering around the suburban strip mall. It wasn't a shopping mecca by any means, though I did score a cute dress and top for about $25 all up, which wasn't bad. Vegas had already begun to take my money it seemed!

Returning to The Strip (via 'The Deuce' of course), we wandered through a couple of the larger casinos down the opposite end from where we were staying. We walked through "Mandalay Bay" (and visited its impressive Shark Reef exhibition), then through "Luxor" which only references Ancient Egypt from the outside, and then across to "Excalibur", which is a knock off of King Arthur's times. The interior of these casinos all look fairly similar but they are all worth seeing. The sheer scale of them all nearly blew me away.

Before long, it was time for a margarita and we hailed 'The Deuce' to take us to Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, which had come highly recommended to me. And after an Ultimate Margarita and an amazing creation called Volcano Nachos, we returned to Bellagio for a quick nana nap before heading out again.

Ahead of time, I had bought us tickets to the Cirque de Soleil show called "O", which is a spin on the French word for water, so much of the show focuses on diving, and swimming, and waterplay. It is positively breathtaking. I had never seen a Cirque show before, so I strongly suspect that I was again very much the gaping goldfish (although perhaps appropriately this time), as I marvelled at the athleticism and choreography of the artists. To call them acrobats or (worse) circus performers doesn't do them - or the show - justice. They are just amazing and while Americans seem quite at home doing standing ovations after just about every show, they're not something I'm usually comfortable with. But this time, I was on my feet almost immediately, and was just so impressed. From the murmurs of my fellow theater-goers after the show, my reaction was a fairly common one.

I have just scrolled up this post and seen how lengthy it is, and I've only recapped Day 1 of my Vegas Adventure. Perhaps I should pause here then and give it a day or so before busting out the news and fun of Day 2?

It's Vegas baby, Vegas

Close-up of the Bellagio lobby ceiling
Originally uploaded by Miss Gab.

There is a lot that I need to catch you up on, but my desire to have jugs of margaritas at my local Mexican restaurant has overriden my desire to write.

Check out my photo album from Las Vegas by clicking on the photo of the gorgeous multi-colored ceiling at Bellagio.

I promise I'll write soon.

Falling off the surrey with the fringe on top

Surrey
Originally uploaded by Miss Gab.

So it's the end of the first week of 2008 and already it's been quite an action-packed one.

I headed to "Matilda's" for a lock-in NYE party and in retrospect, it was very good value. We paid a set price and got locked in to enjoy 5 hours of open bar and yummy appetisers (including hot wings WAHOO) so I was a happy girl. Plus my hot bartender told me I looked beautiful, and even if he was just feeding me a line I don't care, because I've told everybody.

New Year's Day was an utter write-off. I watched back-to-back episodes of "Law & Order", sleeping through the ones I'd already seen, and somehow waking up in time for the new ones.

And given that the new year is a perfect time for resolutions, I made two for myself. One of them is to be more tolerant of people (and so far I'm doing okay but a bit shaky at times), and my second resolution was to abstain from alcohol until Australia Day.

So I boosted myself up onto my proverbial sobriety wagon, smugly looking down on the boozehounds below. How lofty was the view from up there, let me tell you.

And I did enjoy that view, for a grand total of 4 days.

I fell face-first off the wagon on Friday night, when I went out to the Museum of Contemporary Art (of all places) for their monthly "First Fridays' promotion. I went with Dr G - who I am not blaming for my slip-up at all, and we caught with some of her friends there. Courts & Certain Someone met us there too, but it was impossible to mingle properly, given the congestion of the crowds. I didn't even get around to looking at the artworks, which actually doesn't really bother me because modern art is not really my "thing" anyway. But all told, I had 4 glasses of red wine in a period of 6 hours which doesn't sound like a lot, but it was 4 more glasses than I had originally allowed myself.

So I woke up Saturday morning (yesterday) less hungover, and more disappointed with myself. I have drawn up a spectacularly healthy shopping list so I can visit the supermarket today. I'm hoping that the slip-up with the drinks will be countered by a detox grocery run today. A trip to the grocery store on a weekend in my area will certainly test my tolerance resolution! Let's see if I can at least keep THAT one.

Another year over, and a new one just begun

Tonight we bid farewell to 2007 and I know that it's supposed to be a time of reflection, a chance to put the year in review and see what you might have done better/the same/not at all.

I couldn't be bothered doing any of that.

Instead, I am spending my final day of 2007 at work, trying to look busy, and failing miserably. I have checked my hotmail about 5 times in the last 10 minutes, browsed all the online stores I can think of for any last-minute bargains that I have no intention of snapping up, and watching Mero read Einstein's biography and having her tell me that one look at Frau Einstein and it was no wonder Albert spent so much time in his lab - woof woof. Yes, it's been one of those days.

So tonight I'm off to one of my favourite Chicago bars to celebrate New Year's Eve, with a lock-in party where I get an open bar of top-shelf goods, plus a buffet of delicious appetisers, from 8pm to 1am. Then I strongly suspect that I will jump into the first cab and head home for a long sleep. Fortunately I have January 1 & 2 off work so I will become very good friends with my sofa and cable TV (if I wasn't already!).

Chicago enacts its city-wide smoking ban from midnight tonight, which means that all public places will finally be smoke-free. I am very pleased about this of course, though I know that since they won't be able to smoke indoors anymore, the smokers will simply congregate right outside the entrance of any club/pub I want to go into, meaning I will still get anointed in stinky smokiness wherever I go. But at least the death glares I dish out will be legitimate this time.

HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL (even the smokers)!!

And I live here why?!

I read in this morning's online US news that a winter storm has been lashing the northeast of the country. Um helloooo the Midwest took quite a battering yesterday, cheers thanksalot.

I went out with my friend Reeder to an outlet mall in Aurora (yes, home of Wayne's World), and we had a wonderful day browsing the designer warehouse shops out there. I tried to buy Christmas gifts, and I did get a few, but I also ended up with a few things for myself, just to keep myself motivated and in the Christmas spirit I guess.

The whole time we were driving up there, in the stores, and driving home, it snowed and snowed.

And last night was one of those rare evenings where I had multiple social commitments that I needed to honour. I first went to Bork's apartment for her Christmas party (and by some miracle scored a cab - not sure how I did that). Then I walked to nearby Guthries pub - only sliding and falling once in the soft snowdrift - to say goodbye to LS who was flying back to Australia today. And then we waited in the freezing snowstorm together for a cab, which we shared back to my place, and then he went on his way to his next farewell party with friends.

I was so frosty when I got back to my apartment, I had to take a hot shower to thaw out, it was incredible.

And the snow ploughs were out at 6.30am or so to shovel the inches and inches of snow off the footpaths and side streets to make it safe for us to venture out again today. But I tell you what, you need to step very gingerly out there.

I was just lucky that I fell yesterday while the snow was still so soft. It was like landing on a pillow. The street I was walking on was so deathly still and quiet that had the snow not melted so quickly right near my head and given me an earache, I probably would have just laid there in the darkness for a while and hung out. It was very peaceful indeed. Looks pretty, feels lovely, but is bloooooooody cold.

My brain is better when it's turned off

The weekend was a bit of a blur of blackness, as I spent much of it in the cinema.

Very early in the morning on Saturday, I saw a screening of the new Disney movie "Enchanted". I can see why it has been getting rave reviews - it is such an adorable movie. Even McDreamy Patrick Dempsey was so charming but I have to say, James Marsden (Cyclops from "X-Men") stole the show - he was so camp and cheesy and wonderful.

We wandered in the frosty Chicago air to the German Christmas Market right Downtown, and I made a beeline for the toasty glazed almonds. Well, we kinda made a beeline for the nuts but we couldn't find them, and then we got stuck in the crowd, and then I watched as a demented woman tried to run over another woman with her kid's stroller - it was the Christmas spirit at its best. NOT.

And then on Sunday, we both went to a much smaller screening of two movies, "Away From Her" with the lovely Julie Christie, and "3:10 to Yuma" with Christian & Russell. Ahh bless. The screening was actually held in a small movie theater inside of an apartment building - I guess that's the way the other half lives, or something...

I was sad that they didn't have a candy counter at the smaller screening as I was very much in the mood for buttered popcorn, but a quick stop at the 7-11 next door fixed me up with enough Diet Coke & chocolate to see me through.

The little apartment that could

I cranked the heat up on two of the radiators in my apartment last night, because the weather channel suggested that a winter storm would come through the City today, and already the ominous chill was in the air. I don't normally put my heat on; I would rather just rug up (and have accordingly become re-acquainted with immensely thick, fluffy socks). But last night was different, because I was having L&D over.

I'd invited them over for pizza & wine, but from the look of my wine rack this morning, it appears we had a dinner of wine, with a side order of pizza!

We ordered pizza, chicken wings, and cheesy garlic bread from the delivery place that knows who I am, just by the Aussie accent. Embarassing (for me, that is). Fortunately I don't call the place too often these days.

And a bunch of conversations later, the problems of the world solved, D's phone beeped and we all realised that it was 3am. Wherever did the night go? The boys left shortly after, in choruses of "aww your place is so cute/charming/pefect" and I couldn't agree more.

A literal taste of home

Hamburger with the lot from Metzis
Originally uploaded by Vanessa Pike-Russell.

Food-wise, there are lots of things I miss about Australia. With a bit of searching, I've managed to satisfy a lot of my from-home culinary desires but granted this does often involve a trip to a specialty supermarket or issuing a special order from within the US or overseas.

[Let me just add here that the Tim Tams released here under the Arnotts brand are a pretty darn good substitute - oh and another thing, I tried to lobby Haighs to export their chocolate here but they told me to bugger off. Actually, they asked me to tell the US Food & Drug Administration's stringent rules on importing of chocolate to bugger off, but I love my life too much to do that just yet.]

So imagine my joy & rapture last night when I found a fabulous inner-city pub that serves a near-perfect knockoff of the great Aussie "burger with the lot". It was like the Holy Grail, and I'm not exaggerating.

My Aussie readers will know what I'm talking about. The traditional Aussie "burger with the lot" is best provided by a good ole neighbourhood fish & chip shop, served as greasy as possible, complete with the usual burger ingredients plus a fried egg, beetroot, and a pineapple round. I am drooling just looking at this picture of course.

And it's funny because back home, the closer that the fish & chip shops are to the beach, the better the quality merchandise - at least that's what I think. There is something fundamentally Australian about picking up a burger with the lot, minimum chips, and then devouring all of it while sitting barefoot on the sand. If you can time this with a lovely sunset and a couple of cans of cold beer, then you have my ultimate dream date right there.

But enough of this Aussie wishful thinking. I have to face facts that I am living in sub-zero Chicago right now and the Bondi Burger at BB's (22 E Hubbard) really did hit the spot last night. Actually to be completely upfront about it, I didn't eat the burger myself; I just had a bite of it. What I enjoyed was the traditional Aussie chicken parmi. Oh man, that was soooooo good and there goes the drool again.

How is it possible that this pub has existed for this long, serving this sort of food, PLUS Coopers beer, and I hadn't visited it until last night? Shocking.

I vote for a holiday

I got paid today and took a look at my vacation entitlement for the rest of 2007. It is not a healthy picture. The disappointing lack of hours left owing to me suggest that the rest of my calendar year is going to be busy.

It suggests no last-minute flights to sunny destinations, or even early minutes to sashay down Michigan Avenue, in the manner in which I would surely become accustomed.

But no matter what my pay slip says, I'm still going to make time to visit the German markets in Daley Plaza because I need to buy some Christmas decorations. Actually, I need to buy a tree first. Or at least do a Clark Griswold and yank one out of the ground by its roots. Whatever.

And I gotta get me some of those cinnamon sugar almond thingies that I like so much. And a glass of warm gluwhein. In all my excitement I didn't even spell that right. And I don't even care. Just the thought of it warms me to my toes.

I do love my job, so I only complain about it because it keeps me from a Chicago christmas. I just have to hope that nobody is having any fun out there while I'm at my desk. They're not having any fun, right?!

Hello, is anybody there?

Twisselman Road, Lost Hills, California
Originally uploaded by rantfoil.

The funny thing about being an orphan over here is that on major holidays, like Thanksgiving and Christmas, a big city like Chicago is able to transform itself into a landscape resembling post-nuclear war earth.

The streets are pretty much deserted, you don't need to wait for a washing machine in the laundry room, and the elevator in my building runs express all the way to my floor. It's seriously like no one is around.

You know it's coming because on the workday before the major holiday, the buses are full of people in jeans straddling their stuffed suitcases as they all get the hell outta Dodge for the big event.

And when they finally make it to O'Hare or Midway, the city is left empty, wondering what it did wrong to clear out so quickly.

But I don't mind it at all. It's nice not to have to wait too long for a cab, or a great seat in a restaurant. The only people I seem to be waiting behind are tourists, and they don't really know what they're doing anyway so I can get around them fairly quickly too.

The thing about this apocalypse though, is that life will return to normal on Monday morning. I will have to stand on the bus ride to (and possibly from) work, wait about 3 minutes for my coffee (shock, horror!) and be more strategic when it comes time to do my laundry. Ahh the rat race, how I have missed you.

Silence is golden, or so they say

I know it's been a bit quiet from this side of the world for a little while, but by way of meagre excuse, I'm going to place the blame squarely on the Prime Minister of Australia. And for once, I am entirely justified in doing so.

My office has been handling the postal and pre-poll voting for the Australian federal election and even though I had never done it before, I found the project to be really interesting. It was an exhausting time, with long days, late nights, and a lot of concentration required to check and double-check the numbers of votes cast. Now I know how Santa feels, when he makes his list and checks it twice. It's a big job.

So on Monday we need to send the last of the votes back to Australia and then the project is over for another three years. And we all play the waiting game to see what happens at home. Maybe the fate of the nation really does rest in the hands of an Aussie voter from the US Midwest. Time will tell.

It was probably timely that the election project finished this week, because the hard work culminated in a day of decadence yesterday for Thanksgiving. It's the quintissential American holiday, and I was really pleased to be invited to Bork's house for the complete traditional experience.

Bork confessed to me that she's not much of a cook, but she was going to really try to get the meal just right. I believed her when she said this of course, so I went along without any expectations that the food would be delicious. Now I realise that she was just being modest (or outright lying) because the meal was TO DIE FOR. The turkey was tender and juicy, and the side dishes were amazing. For the first time, I tried all the authentic American Thanksgiving dishes: green bean casserole, sweet potatoes with cinnamon and marshmallows, creamy buttery mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce with citrus, stuffing with raisins and apples - ooh I am almost drooling at the memory of it all.

So while Bork held up her end of the bargain, I feel like I may have let the side down a little. I was supposed to bring dessert and I'd talked up the idea of the great Aussie pavlova. I mean, why not inject a bit of my own culture into the US event (plus I really don't like pumpkin pie, and I have to draw the line somewhere). But when it came down to it, I realised that I should have taken more time out of my week to rehearse the recipe. I got myself into quite a flap at the idea of whipping so many egg whites and then sculpting them into the cake shape ready for baking. It all just seemed a bit too much like a delicate science. So I chickened out and instead, I bought a ready-made chocolate bunt cake from the bakery, whipped my own heavy cream (and did not make butter out of it), and topped it all with sliced strawberries that I mascerated with balsamic vinegar & sugar. So you see, I did actually have to prepare some of the dish myself. And the gang at dinner DID appreciate that.

And now it's the day after Turkey Day, and everyone is still sleeping off the overindulgence. I am up early because the neighbours are going at it like the screaming nymphomaniacs they are. And in the spirit of the holiday, it appears my neighbour's girlfriend is very VERY thankful....

La vie boheme....or not

Beauty Overhead
Originally uploaded by Genevieve Elise.

Last night Courts took me to the opera and it was not only the first time I'd been to the Lyric Opera House here in Chicago, but the first time I had ever seen an opera, anywhere.

We went to see "La Boheme" and it was absolutely beautiful. The Lyric Opera House is a superb example of Chicago's art deco architecture and though we were right up in the 'nose bleed' section, I actually preferred it because I got to fully appreciate the grandeur of the place. Plus, I had a birds-eye view of the whole stage and could appreciate the complete majesty of the sets and the costumes. Sometimes I don't think you get to appreciate those sorts of things from up close.

But it was a Friday night, and after a delicious raspberry cosmo, I was admittedly a bit concerned that I'd struggle through the 3-hour performance (that Courts warned me was actually short, by opera standards). But the lights dimmed and the stage came to life, and the effect was mesmerising.

The opera was set in Paris, but sung in Italian (the composer Puccini's native language of course) and yet I followed along with the sopratitles, and loved every minute. And there were more young people in the audience than I think I expected. But unlike musical theatre or the cinema, the audience was completely respectful. There was no shuffling, no audible whispering, no crunching of candy wrappers, or anything like that. It was such a different world and I really enjoyed it.

But I did say to Courts that next time, perhaps we could see something a little more happy? La Boheme is a beautiful story but it is wrist-slashing material towards the end!

And you thought it was just a drink!

Can-Can
Originally uploaded by coda.

Tonight I went along to the opening of a brand new exhibition for Chicago called, "Red Bull Art of Can". The competition is in its second year, and it asks people to design their own piece of art using cans of Red Bull.

The exhibition is open to the public in Chicago at the River East Art Center from 9 to 18 November 2007 and it is definitely worth a look.

The waiters served (what else?) vodka/Red Bull to the guests but I must admit, seeing all the Red Bull sculptures around me did make me wonder what was happening to our empty cans.

I didn't stay long enough tonight to find out who won the competition (first prize is a trip to Basel, Switzerland where Red Bull is manufactured), but if I had my guess, I would say "Vitalized Dragon" by local Illinois artist Tsuyoshi James "TJ" Ishikawa, or else (my favourite for the Peoples Choice Award), "Jump Start" by yet another Illinois artist Lisa Lofton.

I don't know why I picked the Illinois artists as my favourite - it wasn't even on purpose!

Winners are grinners. Whatever.

So yesterday was Chicago's turn to celebrate the Melbourne Cup 2007 and from what I can gather, it's the first time that the Aussie expat community here has gathered to celebrate The Race That Stops The Nation.

Whether owing to lack of interest, or a desire to maintain some degree of excitement about the occasion, I resisted temptation to peek at the Aussie media and see which horse triumphed. The Victorian State Government co-hosted the event with Advance at Just Grapes, "my" gorgeous little wine store in The Loop. The event was a sell-out in about 10 minutes, which far exceeded even our expectations!

I didn't get in the full spirit of the event by wearing a fancy hat, but it didn't really matter because we had plenty of other guests who made up for it.

To make sure all our guests got into the sweep, I missed out on picking a horse and truth be told, even though we broadcast the race, I still missed out on it and so I still have no idea who won! Oh well, everyone knows that I was in it for the booze and the mingling; it's all good.

The night wasn't a late one by any means, and I was back at home before 9.30pm so I was pretty pleased about that. The weather is starting to get chilly and while Chicago socially looks after its own even in winter, being out and about in the cold wind isn't really my cup of tea. And so I found the sweet spot on the sofa late last night and chilled out with a glass of red wine before bed. Blissful, no?