The Griswolds we ain't

It's hard to believe that the holidays are over and despite my initial reluctance to put up my tiny little Christmas tree (with even tinier ornaments), I have to say that I am sad to say goodbye to the yuletide celebration.

Last year I spent the majority of the holiday in booze-fuelled revelry which, in its own way, created some very funny Christmas memories. This year however, was always going to be a different story. Because THIS year, I was getting out of Chicago and spending "Christmas in the Country" at the Lake Geneva Resort & Spa in Wisconsin.

K had decided a couple of months ago that it would be a blast to spend the holiday season together. So that prompted my November excursion to New York for Thanksgiving, and then K visited me here in Chicago for Christmas. We spent a couple of days in Chi-town because I still had to work, but it was a good opportunity to bid farewell to the Chriskindlmarket in Daley Plaza as well as catch up with a few friends before they too left town for the big day.

Pete was kind enough to lend us his car for the road trip and I have to say, Kate was the perfect highway driver - alternating as she did between appropriately aggressive overtaking, and fantastic duet partner for radio karaoke. Even when I talked her ear off so we missed the toll booth exit, she never once seemed irritated. And despite the ugly weather on the drive from Illinois to Wisconsin, we made it to Lake Geneva with both the borrowed car, and our long-time friendship, intact.

We had a lakeview room, though you wouldn't know it because of the near foot of snow that had blanketed the landscape outside. Most of the snow had fallen over the golfcourse and surrounding property, so it was untouched by human feet (though some deer and rabbits had obviously left some prints behind).

The hotel itself reminded me a bit of "The Shining" at times, simply because it was so deserted. And then at mealtimes, people seemed to surface out of nowhere, to the point that it was often quite tricky to get a dinner reservation at a "usual" time for America, so me and K instead had to revert back to our European roots and dine in a more continental timeslot. No harm done for us, let me assure you.

Our retreat to Lake Geneva was never meant to be one of those non-stop vacations of frenetic activity and action. The whole point of the trip was to get a White Christmas and enjoy some down time from the City, our offices, and our lives. And given how much we ate, drank, and slept over the weekend - I think you could easily say that we achieved everything we set out to do.

We even sat through a floorshow called "Hooray for Holidays" which, now that I think about it, defies explanation. Suffice to say it featured high-kicking legs, vocal arrangements of "power ballads" and men in turtle necks under their unitards. You know what I'm saying; thank god for open bars.

Always one to make a scene, I fell out of the trolley car that ferried resort guests around the property to the various buildings on the campus. The bruise that developed on my butt over our weekend was pretty impressive (but in the interests of all that is holy and decent, no one but me can verify that statement).

It didn't actually snow on Christmas Day, but I don't think that really mattered. After all, there was so much snow on the ground, and chill in the air, that the holiday itself was the very embodiment of the "winter wonderland" we all sing about.

Lake Geneva itself is a very pretty town, with beautiful weatherboard houses and charming antique stores and gift shops. Not a dynamic place by any means, so living there might be a bit of a yawn, but as a tourist destination it is just lovely. And at under 2 hours from Chicago, it is a perfect weekend retreat.

We were treated very well at the resort, pretty much left to our own devices, until it came time to enjoy afternoon high tea in the Lobby Lounge, wasabi snacks & vodka at the bar ("Evolve"), or big fat steaks in the Chophouse. Delicious.

It was a shame that I did not get to do the sleigh ride but that will teach me for not booking in advance. Lesson learned. If I loved massages and/or facials, I would certainly head back to Lake Geneva and take full advantage of their spa facilities.

But even without all that pampering, I still walked away from my Lake Geneva Christmas Vacation feeling relaxed and ready to face 2009 in the big city.

Lay off the spicy food

I had a really unsettling dream last night, and it was enough to wake me up, which was an annoyance in itself.

My dream was chock-full of family members back home, about to undertake a camping trip to some really funny-sounding national parks in Australia.

In my dream, I watched my first and second cousins, pack huge deep-freezers full of camping provisions. They divided the tasks, having paired up to share camping tents and brave the Aussie outback.

As my cousins loaded toilet paper by the armload into the deep-freezer storage containers, I realised that I wasn't going with them. I wasn't paired with anyone, because I wasn't going on the camping trip. They loaded the freezers into the back of their minivan, took their seats inside, and I was left on the side of the road to wave goodbye.

And then I woke up.

It may be cold, but a girl's gotta eat

I peeked at today's forecast and didn't really like what I saw. It was supposed to be -5 degrees Farenheit but, with the windchill, we were looking at temps around 30 below zero (that's nearly -40 degrees celcius). Hmm.

And you wouldn't think that this kind of weather would be very conducive to doing anything except lying very still under mountains of blankets, right? Well that's what we thought too.

However.

K and I decided to visit "Table 52" today, the restaurant owned by Art Smith, former personal chef to Oprah Winfrey. I had wanted to visit the restaurant for ages, and I figured their online brunch menu looked just tempting enough to bring us outdoors. And indeed it was.

We started our meal with a couple of pink mimosas, and a breakfast pizza to share. The freshly-cracked black pepper, meaty ham, and just-cooked egg on top was an amazing combo. Then K had an eggs benedict and I had the crab cake with poached egg on top.

It was an amazing meal and the heat of the wood-oven fire in the kitchen was enough to keep us all toasty and warm throughout our visit.

It was not possible for us to wait for the bus afterwards though. That windchill crept in and literally chilled us both right to the bone. We are expecting similar conditions until about noon tomorrow - not for the faint hearted, that's for sure!

'Tis the Season

No flash, no lights
Originally uploaded by Miss Gab.

Ever the procrastinator, I am sitting here thinking about Christmas, rather than actually getting my apartment ready for it. No, I'm not preparing from Santa; rather K is coming today and I'm so far behind it's laughable.

I have mounds of laundry to do, really dirty floors and so much drycleaning to pick up, it's probably easier to rent a truck to collect it.

K's visit here is obviously to celebrate Christmas and I am really excited because we have booked accommodation at a gorgeous resort in Wisconsin. We've been beaten around by cold and snowstorms in the last few days but I bet Wisconsin will be a whole lot frostier - maybe I will get that famous White Christmas after all this year?

Right, enough dilly-dallying. I gotta go start this list of chores - I'm sick of waiting for the little elves and fairies to do the work while I'm sleeping - they never show up for their shifts. Only in stories, I guess.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

The Chriskindlmarket - Chicago
Originally uploaded by Miss Gab.

I had a bit of a festive weekend as it turned out. I got a bit more Christmas shopping done (almost finished), I toured the Chicago Chriskindlmarket, and even had my office Christmas party. And yet I am STILL in the Christmas spirit - it's pretty impressive I think.

Me and Lex are crazy for the German Chriskindlmarket that has been held in Daley Plaza every year for the past 12 years. That doesn't sound like a long time, but the event still packs some impressive crowds, braving the freezing cold temps to stuff themselves with warming spiced red wine, bratwursts & sauerkraut, and even hot cinnamon & sugar almonds (my favourite).

We didn't stay at the market very long. The crowds were pretty intense, but nothing on what we experienced last year. We were just eager to keep going with the flow and getting all our shopping done before we had to be back in our hood.

I am not sure whether this economic downturn is making things tougher on people at Christmas. You wouldn't know it from all the people Downtown carrying armloads of shopping bags on Saturday. All the stores seem to be having crazy sales to suck you in, but they do that every year around this time, don't they?

I think I might have to call back to the Chriskindlmarket again before it packs up for another year. I gotta get me some more of those sugar cinnamon almonds before they all sell out! Yummo!

All the better to see you with, my dear

Mister Magoo Parody
Originally uploaded by oudrumben.

Before I left Oz in 2005, I got a new pair of glasses - cute pink frames with zebra print on the insides. I love them still. But my eyes are getting cranky in their old age and the glasses aren't as effective as they used to be. So I went in to the optometrist today for an eye exam and to search for some new frames.

For me, buying new glasses is like buying a swimsuit; something that I put off as long as humanly possible. It's not like you can just walk in, take something off the shelf, pay for it and leave. You have to sit in the chair, read charts, have someone squirt air in your eye to test for glaucoma, and then somehow make a snap decision about what frame you want. The whole thing is daunting.

But I bit the bullet and went into the store today and after the routine tests (though the glaucoma thing was eyedrops this time - a bit unexpected), I got the "I have good news and bad news" speech.

Good news - I have 20/20 vision. I never knew that before. But it turns out I am far-sighted, meaning when I try and focus on close-up work like reading and computer stuff, and then look up to see someone or something, my eyes spasm and can't deal with it. So then I get headaches and eye twitches. Not cool.

Bad news - the glasses I've been prescribed are all-purpose; so where before I only had to wear the things at work or when I was reading, these ones are for all the time.

So do you see what pressure I was under to pick the right ones? The wrong choice and I end up looking like a geek all the time, not just some of the time.

But I found the right ones and as usual, they were the first pair I tried on. Cool red frames with fancy light blue metallic on the insides. I can't remember the brand otherwise I'd paste a pic for you to see but take my word for it, my glasses embody 'geek chic'.

Which is exactly what I was going for, obviously.

I had better start spreading the news

The Brooklyn Bridge
Originally uploaded by Miss Gab.

For many people in the US, the great turkey coma that is the Thanksgiving Holiday is probably still wearing off. I was jolted out of mine by a flight cancellation, a new flight delay, and then lost luggage. But more of that later.

Miss K and I had long ago agreed to spend this year's turkey fest together at her place in NYC. I flew in at midnight on the Wednesday, and got back in the wee hours last night. So in the Von Trapp Family style of story-telling, let's start at the very beginning for I suspect that it is, indeed, a very good place to start.

Day One - Gobble, Gobble

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an institution in NYC and is pretty amazing because the sky is dotted with (seriously) impressive balloon figures. In some cases, I saw about 20 people tethered to the balloons - or maybe the balloons were tethered to them, I didn't really notice. Suffice it to say that the balloons were big. Click on the Brooklyn Bridge photo above to see my album, if you need further proof.

By contrast, what is not impressive about the Parade is the D-list celebrities that flank the floats or (in some cases) tramp all over them. K watches a lot of reality TV and I read a lot of trashy gossip mags and between us, we couldn't work out who some of these 'celebrities' were. Except Rick Astley of course- yep, we were all over that one!

At one point, a float went past that featured a couple of skinny hipster boys and I innocently queried (to no-one in particular) whether these were the infamous Jonas Brothers. That faux pas got me a walloping death glare from the pre-teen girl in front of us. If looks could kill! Of course I was only kidding! I know very well who the Jonas Brothers are (no big deal if I can't name them), but frankly I care very little about them, though I kept that to myself. The pre-teen girl in front of me would probably have punched my head in, had she not been forceably restrained by her friends!

Leaving the Parade, we walked up the street to The Australian, a cute little pub that (joy of joys) serves Coopers beer. Not only that, it had two empty barstools just waiting for us when we came in. Well, perhaps they weren't just for us, but they might as well have been for how happy they made us!

Having stuffed in a three-course Thanksgiving pub lunch, and the obligatory bottle of Jacob's Creek red wine, we shuffled back to K's place for a "quick lie down". Hours later, with pillow creases on our faces and impressive mops of bed hair, we hurriedly dressed for a Thanksgiving dinner with two of K's friends.

I don't know how people survive two Thanksgiving meals in one day - I know it just about killed me. As soon as someone invents cute elastic-waisted pants, I'm getting multiple pairs for occasions such as these. I felt like I could have used them. I'm still not 100% sure how I managed to ingest two helpings of turkey, vegetables, stuffing, wines AND dessert all in the space of a few hours. Some mysteries are better left unsolved, I guess.

Day Two - no more Gobble, Gobble (for which we are truly thankful)

The good thing about overindulging on Thanksgiving is that you have the next day to sleep it off (and eat leftovers, but fortunately this did not apply to us). After a late sleep-in, we decided that we needed to get out and walk. We didn't care where, we just needed fresh air and some exercise.

We wandered for hours, through K's neighbourhood and into the East Village before stopping for another Aussie staple lunch item, a good old meat pie & (another) Coopers Beer. Tuck Shop is a great spot for a quick fix of Aussie essentials. Just look for the Vegemite window display; you'll know you're in the right place.

After the refreshments, we kept walking, all the way down to Chinatown and around to the East River waterfront, under the Brooklyn Bridge and around to the South Street Seaport (Pier 17) - which I discovered is very similar to Navy Pier here in Chicago. But still we walked, through the City to the subway, alighting at Union Square, for a brain-frazzling tour through DSW (shoe mecca) before declaring never ever to do that again, and heading for home.

But we were not done yet. Friday night's dinner was at the stunning Eleven Madison Park restaurant. There is no way I could fault any aspect of the menu or service that we experienced - everything was just first-class; I loved it. K made some perfect wine selections that just complemented the meals we chose. Well worth the money, let me assure you.

But we were STILL not done. Into a cab we flew, and made it to a midnight screening of "Rocky Horror Picture Show". Can you believe that we are both such huge fans of this show and we had yet to see a midnight screening? It was a pity that we had to sit up the back, for we were within earshot of some of the most foul-mouthed, homophobic representatives of NY's youth community. We knew the movie would feature heckling, but we figured it would be the clever, all-in-good-fun, and SCRIPTED shout-outs that fans obsess about the world over. Not so. These guys were crude, crass, and terribly inappropriate. They really did spoil our enjoyment of the experience and I was glad K didn't deck them, though I would have backed her if she'd started somethin' all up in their business.

Day Three - Still upright...somehow

The next morning, we slept late but got up in time to eat a light lunch at Rice, around the corner from K's house and then it was onto the subway to get to Studio 54 in time. But as this was the daytime, we went to Studio 54 in its current state - a hugely popular Broadway theater space. Nubile Bianca Jaggers on horseback have been replaced by wrinkly octogenarians enjoying live musicals, but the experience is still something to be had.

"My Pal Joey" was a fantastic production, not least because it stars STOCKARD CHANNING (yes Jems, RIZZO RIZZO RIZZO). I thought she was just wonderful, but then who didn't?!

After the performance, we caught the subway to Grand Central Station and K took me to an amazing little bar that is not well-known, so I'm not even going to name it here. Let me just tell you that if you know it's there, you are a lucky ducky. Wood panelling, ornate ceilings, low-slung couches and an open fireplace create the most decadent environment in which to sip cocktails while you wait for a train. Presumably.

But our schedule waited for no-one and pretty soon we were off again for our next adventure. We stopped by Ricky's to stock up on tacky costume items to prep for The Awesome 80s Prom. I giggled just writing that.

Set in 1989, participating in the senior prom and interacting with the stereotypical cast members was a lot of fun - and lots of laughs too. When the real MC Hammer came out to sing "You Can't Touch This", I was sold. Whatever he had, the man's still got it. Here's a sample of his work, in case you're trying to pretend you have no idea what I'm talking about.




Yeah, you know you love it. Stop, Hammer Time.

Day Four - All good things must end

We had packed so much in to the Thanksgiving Holiday, you could hardly blame us for sleeping late on Sunday morning. We emerged to play Wii Fit (I was terrible), and eat pizza (I am very adept at that).

I made it to La Guardia with plenty of time to spare, only to discover that my flight was cancelled due to bad weather. I was the last person to be assigned to another flight out on Sunday night, but even THAT was delayed, and so I ended up waiting around in the airport for just over 5 hours. On reaching O'Hare, I had to go on a wild goosechase for my luggage, but managed to track it down riding a far-off carousel, all on its own and completely mis-labelled. I didn't even want to work out the "What, Where, and How?" of that one. I was just grateful that at 1am this morning, I was safe and well at home again. Be it ever so humble, and all that Kansas sentiment.

Phew, that was a bumper posting - even for a blabbermouth like me. But now you're all caught up and you can see why I am very thankful for a truly wonderful weekend. Just let's stick to one turkey meal a day next time, shall we?!

Time is (not) on my side

After Day 1 back at work, I can categorically tell you that my holiday is officially over. I know, it kills me to even think about it.

I'm not quite sure where most of my holiday went of course, as I was very remiss in blogging all the dirty details. But I will give you an insight into the little memories I have been cherishing ever since my crazy house guest disappeared through airport security yesterday. [And now that I mention THAT, it will probably be easier if I work through the holiday in reverse.]

The day before J's departure was pretty much a write-off. The cold snap had come in and neither of us were feeling up to traipsing around the City doing any last-minute touristy stuff. We had wanted to do the Architecture Boat Cruise but had been otherwise occupied in the window of fine weather we had, and I guess it's fair to say we missed the proverbial boat.

Sunday morning we met up with Coco for brunch downtown at a cute place in the West Loop called Wishbone. We'd indulged in a little too much juice the night before and didn't feel up to eating much - but I am vowing to return for the crawfish cakes. [Just as an aside, I've decided that I don't care much for grits and even though it's only cornmeal, I prefer to eat it in usual polenta consistency so in future I will forgo it at brunch and save it for Italian cuisine instead.]

The Friday night was an art gallery exhibition for a Chicago-based Aussie group (and I'm this month's poster child on the website - can you believe it?). Anyway the indigenous art gallery was full of amazing and colourful works and I think we could declare the evening a success.

We did well to make it to the gallery on time actually because we'd just come back from an overnight visit to Milwaukee. A friend of mine lives up there but we were really motivated to go just for the excuse to get out of Chicago and see something else.

So we caught the Amtrak train from Chicago's Union Station and ended up in Downtown Milwaukee, a short taxi ride from our 4-star hotel, The Ambassador. Selected as much for its decor (art deco) as its location, The Ambassador was a perfect home base for our city exploration. We walked through the Marquette University district and arrived at the Milwaukee Public Museum, where we spent a happy day browsing the exhibits and the IMAX theater.

We should have given ourselves more time in Milwaukee of course. We hadn't anticipated the Museum's "Titanic" exhibit to be quite so engrossing. It really did just suck all our time away. And the post-museum drink at the cute wine & piano bar called Centanni could not have been more timely.

So you can see on a reverse reading of these adventures that my holiday wasn't entirely about resting and relaxation - we really did get out and do stuff. Which is probably why J's cold germs are rearing up and attacking me with a vengeance now. I'm dosing up on all kinds of pills and potions to stop the onslaught but I think that this is what happens when you stop moving.

Maybe I should invite another house guest to come and stay. Any takers?

I haven't got ball players, I've got girls!

Where are the Cubs?!
Originally uploaded by Miss Gab.

When I moved to Chicago in October 2005, the Chicago White Sox were playing in the World Series - a tournament they ended up winning. As I got more and more into baseball, I remained surprised that Chicago really does get divided by its baseball allegiances. In your heart of hearts, you can really be only a Cubs fan OR a Sox fan, not both.

And I am a Cubs fan - not just because I can see Wrigley Field from my living room window, but also because their fan base is amazing. All ages, all sizes, Wrigley Field really does become a microcosm of society during Cubs games - and it cracks me up.

Yesterday we called in to see my friend who works at the Cubs, as I needed to return some tickets to her. As a special surprise, she gave me and Jems a guided tour of the sacred ground. Mind you, it was just us and the ground crew there - so it was the quietest I've ever seen or heard Wrigley Field. But there is no denying that the stadium is amazing, and even Jem loved it. We got to sit in the dugout, stand on the bullpen where the players warm up, and we got to see the scoreboard up close and stand in the bleacher seats. It was an amazing way to appreciate the place, and I loved it.

If I couldn't take Jems to a ball game, at least I could take her to what has become my favourite ballpark.

The holiday coma

There is something icky about waking up to someone bashing on your front door, wanting to get in and remove window screens. And you feel even worse when you look at the clock and realise that all of this is happening at 3pm on a Thursday. Um, where did the time go? And HOW ON EARTH did I sleep so long?!

The sad thing is, I actually know the answer to both of those questions. And the answer is: SHOTS. Yes friends, I ignored every ounce of common sense in my body the other night and slammed two shots with Jems and our fellow barfly friends. Ugh. It was pretty messy (for me particularly) and we ended up removing ourselves from the bar when it closed at 4am.

In a twisted way, we both felt pretty cool for having such amazing staying power. The night actually started at 8pm at Marche, a gorgeous French restaurant in the West Loop which was celebrating its 15th Anniversary party that night. Burlesque dancers, cocktails, the whole bit. But we didn't stay very long because there were way too many people, and way too few appetiser trays.

Jumping in a cab, we flew to Old Town and had a quick pasta dinner at Topogigio - a place that me and Dr G have come to love. Our favourite bartender wasn't working, and the Obama/McCain debate was screening outside, so we sat inside instead. The pasta we scoffed was delicious, ditto the chocolate gelato and the limoncello digestif.

Ugh and then it seemed going to the Boystown bar was a good idea. Enough said...

But this morning we have emerged at a reasonable hour and actually have a full day of activities ahead. We're walking up to Wrigley Field, then brunch on Southport, then a walk through the neighbourhood before a pizza dinner tonight with Lex. And no shots. No matter how good the idea seems at the time.

Be silent, be still

Chicago gave us such beautiful weather over the long weekend, it seems doubly unjust that it has now snatched it away again, leaving us with cool breezes and overcast skies. Still, that has been ideal weather for laying very still and recuperating after the late nights and early mornings of the last few days.

As it was yesterday I had to go into work for a few hours and then when I got home, I crashed on the sofa and slept until "The Simpsons" came on. I must have needed that sleep - and then some - because I had no trouble sleeping again when I went to bed that night. And given that Jems has not been feeling 100% anyway, all that fatigue went double for her.

The other night we went to see a screening of "Role Models" and met the star of the movie, Paul Rudd. In the manner of Troy McClure, you may remember Paul Rudd from such roles as Josh in "Clueless" or George in "Object of My Affection", or (as he reminded all of us in jest), his 15-episode stint as Phoebe's boyfriend on "Friends". And yes he really IS ultra good looking in real life. And he obligingly took photos with all the fans after the film, including me and Jems. Wahoo. So hot.

Today is a bit of a slower day and I'm not quite sure what we're planning to do. I wanted to go for a walk up to Wrigley Field and then around the neighbourhood but I guess we could do that any day really. A downtown restaurant is having its 15th anniversary with a special dinner tonight so maybe we'll call in and celebrate that; but again, I'm not sure. I guess this is the beauty of holidays, right? No real plans - and that just means that the adventures could go in any direction. I had better take the camera...

Chop Chop in Chi-town

night view
Originally uploaded by koyochi.

Jems has been sleeping off her cold and jetlag the last couple of days, which left me and Kate alone with the shops on Broadway. Big mistake.

Yesterday we wandered into an artisinal cheese shop that I had always known was there but never been to, and we walked out with the stinkiest French cheeses you've ever smelled. I can't wait to devour it today because as everybody knows, the smellier the cheese, the tastier it is. And of course if we leave it in my fridge any longer, I'm going to have to move house to get away from the smell.

We had some down-time in the afternoon to watch "Sex and the City" (can you believe neither Kate nor I had watched it before?!) and then it was off to dinner at the Chicago Chop House - we all loved it. Jem's steak was as big as her head (and that's pretty big!). She didn't eat all of it but she gave it a really good shot. I think it was the prosciutto-wrapped asparagus that she had for starters that did her in. Mmm so delicious. I had a 10 oz. filet mignon and it was cooked to perfection. K's steak was enormous and there was no way she was going to finish it. So we wrapped up the leftovers and walked to a champagne bar, a few blocks from the restaurant.

I've loved Pops for Champagne for a long time and the girls enjoyed it too. By the time we got there it was after 11pm so not too many people were around. Still, the service was a little slow but we got what we needed in the end. The barman created Jems a champagne cocktail that wasn't on the menu and she really enjoyed it.

Because NoMi was closed for the night we jumped in a cab bound for Boystown and ended up at "Cocktail" to watch the very straight (but not very dressed) male dancers shake their money makers up on stage. On the walk home from Halsted we realised that I had left our steaks on the windowsill at the champagne bar. That hadn't occurred to any of us until then - classic. I am sure the cleaners have discovered worse surprises, but still...

And so today is Columbus Day, a holiday here in the US. We are sitting around in our pyjamas watching very bad TV - and none of us are all that hungry after a really great night out in Chicago.

The storm before the calm

The last couple of days have been a blur of frenetic activity. Cyclone Jems hit Chicago (very) late Wednesday night and it's been non-stop ever since.

Jem's plane got in at 11.05pm and I went out to O'Hare to greet her. I could hardly sit still. I was so eager to see her that I got to the Arrivals lounge exceptionally early so the only thing to do was buy a Starbucks - clearly not the best thing for my nervous excitement. I got talking to some ladies from Bermuda who had just arrived and were waiting for their hotel transfer bus to collect them. We had a good chat, all very civil, and then as they left one of them pressed a little pamphlet into my hand and urged me to read it when she was gone. Yes, she was a Bible freak. Always the ones you least suspect.

So Jems arrived, looking remarkably good for someone who had just spent 30 hours traveling the globe, working her way through customs, airport terminals, different airlines, different timezones, and screaming babies all suspended 30,000 feet in the air (which is EXACTLY where I usually like to send screaming babies). I convinced her that now that she was on MY turf, she could relax - no need to pay attention - just identify your luggage and follow me the rest of the way. I took her on the Blue Line as close to my house as we could get, and then we caught a cab the rest of the way. By the time we got back to my place and settled in for the night, there wasn't much night left -it was almost 2.30am. Getting up for work the next day was vicious.

While Jems snoozed away her jetlag and nursed a nasty cold back at home, I was stuck at work trying to get a bunch of stuff done before I could start my own holiday. To cut a long story short, I didn't get it ALL done - but I have come away from the office feeling quietly confident that the wheels will turn well enough in my absence, and I haven't left too much hanging for my colleagues to sort out.

Jems has scored a great new job back home and I was looking for a way to congratulate her on the exciting accomplishment. I needed look no further than "Dirty Dancing", the new Chicago theatre experience that actually had its world premiere in Australia. Indeed the show's producer is Australian, as is much of the cast & crew, including the guy who plays Johnny Castle - the role made famous by Patrick Swayze.

When I told Jems about the theatre tickets I'd bought her as a promotion celebration, she was pretty pleased, to say the least. We have been fans of that movie probably ever since it came out (and that's probably true actually, since the movie just celebrated its 20th Anniversary). I'm not sure if you would enjoy the theatre show if you didn't have a love affair with the movie. It's almost word-for-word accurate, and you can tell who the true fans are around the theatre. People at our performance last night were singing along, and everyone applauded when Johnny announced that "nobody puts Baby in a corner". Iconic line, and an appropriate crowd response. I think the actors even got a kick out of it. And the lift at the end during "I've Had The Time of My Life"? It brought the house down - easily the highlight of the show. But isn't it always?

So this weekend is the Chicago Marathon and for residents and tourists alike, Chicago has turned on some gorgeous weather. Katie is coming into town (last-minute decision to make use of some frequent flyer points) and we're all together until Tuesday morning. It's going to a whirlwind of Cyclone Jems and Hurricane Kate but I would not have this one any other way.

More news to come...

BYO-ing the Ultimate Icebreaker

I agreed to accompany Lex to an engagement party last night. I had met the bride-to-be at a very dark and noisy bar about 2 months ago but I'd never met the groom before. But Lex told me all she knew about them, and so I knew it would be okay.

A few days before the party, Lex casually mentioned that she would be baking some cookies to take to the party. Um, hang on - what? So I shelved the mental image of cocktail dresses and champagne toasts (the usual engagement party idea), and instead probed a little further about just what kind of party I'd agreed to go to.

Turns out the happy couple had invited a bunch of people around for a party in their backyard - no muss, no fuss, and instead of engagement gifts, it was a total BYO experience. Okay, totally not your stock-standard engagement party - but nevertheless a good idea. To be appropriate for the overall occasion, I did wear a cute red dress, heels, and chandelier earrings, but nothing more froufrou than that.

With my outfit worked out, thoughts turned to what BYO contribution I could make. Flashbacks to my last home-baked experience came into my head. The incident also known as "Flaming ANZAC Biscuits Being Thrown Off The Back Porch in 2007" made me break out in a cold sweat. Baking is just not my bag, baby.

I decided not to take anything to the party, which in itself isn't even like me. I would normally bring a packet of chips or a bottle of wine or something. But on this occasion I totally wimped out. Terrible, no?!

And so Saturday night rolled around and I filled up on a huge dinner at home, had a couple of beers with Lex at some bars en route to the party, and figured I'd just steal a beer from the happy couple's fridge and not worry about eating anything when I got to their house. Yep, I was going to this BYO party as a complete freeloader.

In retrospect I should have at least attempted to cover this up by asking Lex if I could carry her home-made cookies into the party, to at least give the appearance that I was contributing something. But admittedly that thought didn't occur to me at the time and now that I think about it, it sounds a little desperate. So I'm glad that I did the next best thing.

I broke the ice with total strangers by being Lex's one-woman PR machine. I talked up those home-made cookies like I was on the Home Shopping Network! And total strangers began making a beeline for the kitchen to seek out these white chocolate & pecan cookies with just a touch of pumpkin spice thrown in for good measure. And they were not disappointed at all - Lex, and the cookies, were an utter hit!

And no one even noticed that I was stealing beers from the fridge.

Yep, it's a funny one alright

Burn After Reading Movie Photos (16)
Originally uploaded by divxplanet.

I discovered last night that, at times, I am so far removed from reality that it's almost funny.

Because last night me and Lex went to the movies to see "Burn After Reading". And after nearly three years of going to free movie screenings together, we actually had to pay for these tickets. We had no idea that movie tickets are $10.50 each - what's up with that?! See, I have been so spoiled that I'm actually shocked by this.

But hey, we wanted to see the latest offering from the Cohen brothers, that we coughed up the cash relatively easily and we both really enjoyed the show. Typical Cohen Brothers stuff - right down to the ending, where the characters tell you what happened, rather than show you, but parts of it were really quirky and clever.

Then it was up early for me today, off to read 3 lines in the recording booth, which took about 5 minutes max. I swear, if I could make a living doing voice-overs, I absolutely would. It's relatively easy work (in terms of sitting still and just getting paid to talk), but sometimes it can be hard too. For instance, just how am I supposed to make the word "operator" sound warm?! I just don't get it. But I must have done something right, because I collected another healthy payslip at the end of it all. Niiiiice.

Lost in (cyber)space

I'll admit that my lack of blogging lately has, in large part, been due to a lack of anything to report.

I was going to write a bumper post about the Labor Day holiday and how Hurricane Gustav ruined my attempt to get to New Orleans with Katie. I was going to regale you with how that actually turned out to be a GOOD thing, because Katie came to Chi-town instead and we had a blast. But once the dust settled after that crazy long weekend, I figured that catching up on sleep was way better than telling tales.

Then I was going to tell you about how my sister announced her plans to come and see me for 3 weeks next month. But a lot of the plans I'm making for that are a surprise and because she reads this blog, I'm hardly going to spill the beans here. So that will have to stay a state secret too.

So all that's left is for me to tell you about the movie premiere I went to last night, called "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist" starring the always-adorable Michael Cera from TV's Arrested Development (aka Lexie's future husband - although if Jason Bateman stepped forward and wanted to marry her too, she' d have some tough decisions to make). But you know what? Given that I have to leave the office now for a work event, you'll just have to accept my short-short summation & general overview that says that the movie is really good - and Michael Cera was adorable in person (as always). But for my way of thinking, audience Q&A after a film screening sucks the big one. Audience members should be screened beforehand and made to achieve at least a minimum intelligence level -or at least demonstrate some evidence of a personality (of any kind - 'multiple' would be a bonus). The people that posed the questions last night were absolute morons. I wanted to ask for the microphone just so I could look like I had a question - but really I wanted to run around the cinema and smack every other question-asking moron upside the head for being so dumb. Very Stewie in "Family Guy" of me, but hey - it's been one of those weeks.

D'oh!

GOOD GRIEF! (Tai Shan June 4, 2006)
Originally uploaded by dcmandrill.

You know how I had this fake boyfriend story going with the checkout chick at the local supermarket? Well today I felt brave enough to nip the melodrama in the bud and announce that we had broken up. No "Ben and Jerry's", no sobbing, just a straight-shooting, old fashioned 'we're not together anymore statement. One white lie to shroud the other.

So I get to the register and he asks (again), "how's your baby doin'?" and I clear my throat and declare very matter-of-factly, "oh, we're not together anymore.". He looks shocked.

"Yes," I continue, "he left and moved to Manhattan,". Brilliant.

He looks concerned and puts a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Oh you poor thing. So what is it, a bitter custody battle?".

What?!

"He must miss being with his mamma", says he.

What?!

Okay so great - now I am not only a single woman, I'm a single mother - whose child has just relocated to Manhattan to live with his father.

I just wanted to curl up and die.

Why does even my fantasy life have to be so complicated?!

What would Picasso have seen?

palette
Originally uploaded by uteart.

I had my apartment painted yesterday and even though the entry way wasn't done (the black smudges on the wall gave that away), the rest of the place looks pretty good. I'm not sophisticated enough to identify whether my walls are now white, off-white, ivory, eggshell or whatever - so let's just say that the apartment is now just a lot brighter and cleaner-looking.

Speaking of cleaning, I was a sweeping/mopping/dusting demon this morning to put all my furniture back where it is supposed to be. My muscles are already aching - tomorrow is not likely to be pretty.

The biggest tragedy of last night was the fact that I was in an absolute rush to go and meet Courts for dinner, and so I was putting my shower rod back up and the stupid thing snapped, fell down, and cut up my foot. Until that happened, I didn't know that such colourful swear words were lying dormant inside of me. Sailors everywhere around the world would have blushed at the words pouring out of my mouth!

So today I have to go to the hardware store and buy a shower rod. I don't think I've ever even wandered into the shower rod department of any store in my life. There had better only be 2 choices or I am in big trouble.

And the shower rod isn't the only drama now that my apartment is fresh and clean. Up till now, I had been using the excuse of unpainted walls to delay having to decorate - I can't stand that creative process crap. And try as hard I can to subscribe to Mero's "Japanese Minimalist" style, it really isn't mine.

So what's a girl to do?!

No, YOU hang up first

come hither
Originally uploaded by *Chico.

I must have had a great day yesterday and an even better sleep last night because today, I was a proper ratbag. I flirted with everyone and as I said to a friend of mine, I spoke to one Aussie businessman today and I almost HEARD him blush through the phone - it was classic.

It was a fairly busy day too so by rights, I should have been a snapping turtle but nope, today I was just coasting along and trying to be cool. The pushy German woman on my bus still got the death glare, but everyone else was on Easy Street with me today.

I came home from work to find my loaf of bread had gone mouldy in my cupboard, but even that couldn't get me down. I just turfed it and burrowed in the back of the freezer for the traditional English crumpets that I knew were lurking in there somewhere.

Don't worry - I am sure I will return you to your regularly scheduled programming soon. But until then, I'm off to bat my eyelids at somebody else. Now who should it be?!

Another year, and a family affair

It's not always easy to be away from home, and birthdays seem to just emphasise that fact all the more. But this year, on the occasion of my 31st year on this earth, I've got good reason to feel pretty darn happy with my lot in life.

I spent Saturday with Dr G because I'd told her that we would be celebrating my UNbirthday this year. Given that my actual birthday was today (Aug 18), there didn't seem to be any point getting excited about things on Saturday. So we agreed I would come to her place and watch "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (the fave movie that we share) and drink French champagne. It was blissful. She'd bought me a cupcake from one of our favourite brunch places - I was in heaven. It was exactly what I felt like doing on my Saturday and she was perfect company.

So on rolled Saturday night and I've already updated you on the dinner & drinks antics with Lex, so you know how that went down. Well on Sunday night, after a day spent in the sunshine at Lake Michigan softball field/oval/court/area with Mero & Boston's Mum, I was supposed to meet up with L&D for slushies at Sidetracks (the scene of last year's debauchery), but L got sick - and didn't tell me until I was already at the the bar by myself - so I had to make the best of things. I befriended a beautiful African American guy who confided that his name was "Cashmere....like the fabric". I wanted to squeeze him tight - I defy any straight man to know that Cashmere is even a fabric. Sigh. Gay men are so beautiful. So I partied like a rock star with my new fabric-friend, and got to catch up with the adorable "Mr Wyoming", who is actually a gorgeous periodontist with rock-hard abs and an all-round body to die for. Last I saw him, he had his hand wedged down my top (did he leave his keys down there?!). Needless to say he was rather embarassed and spent the first 90 seconds apologising to me profusely, and then the next three hours buying us both tequila shots. NOT a good idea for a Sunday night, let me tell you.

And today rolled around and I felt like ass at work today - bloodshot eyes, the whole shebang. It was not pretty. Fortunately I chugged Diet Coke in the morning, and had a nutella croissant (the best invention since migraine pills), and I tried to pretend my kidneys weren't packing up.

I got to speak to my parents & sister (crazy chat) and then my aunt called and we taked for about 40 minutes (too bad about work), and I couldn't have asked for a better start to my day, all things considered. 4pm saw the delivery of some embarassaingly large helium balloons from Katie - who wanted to surprise me (and she did). I was really touched - it was such a lovely gesture. It rounded out my day beautifully.

Tonight I had dinner with lovely Biggsy, who bought me a couple of margaritas and a crazy big burrito - it was amazing. The wait staff at the restaurant even bought me a dessert and sang to me which was mortfiying (but the dessert was delicious). We then went up to a bar in Boystown and had a quick drink outside- it was really great. I loved hanging out with him.

So you see that for a 31st birthday, when I might otherwise be transfixed by new wrinkles or boyfriends/kids that I don't have, I am instead marvelling at what an amazing day I did have - and what a wonderful family I have - both here and abroad. Sigh - it was a really great day.