That's a wrap

Our presentation to the STL office went well and we've wrapped everything up now! Yay! Almost time to head back to Chicago!

This morning, there were four of us in a conference room prepping for our presentation. We had a few minutes to kill, so we started reading all the news stories about the swine flu. I mentioned I had a sore throat and was tired, plus we are all flying somewhere this afternoon/evening, so we wanted to look up the symptoms, etc. and find out how many cases there were now in our respective cities. Some of the stuff is a little nuts... like some guy made a song up about the swine flu (obviously, someone with too much time on their hands, right?) I wanted to go get some hand sanitizer and some of that Airborne stuff to drink, so I walked down the block and picked some up before lunch. When I got back, everyone thought that was a good idea, so I shared and we all had an Airborne drink. Cheers!

Of course, who knows if that will really help, but at least we are getting a big boost of Vitamin C and some other good stuff. Can't hurt!

I'm going to meet up with my friend Crystal for a drink or two before I head to the airport. The flight before mine is sold out, so no use trying to do standby, plus Crystal was off work to move this week and said she could come meet me.

I just hope the weather doesn't deter me from getting home at a decent hour. I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight and seeing the fiance'! : )

STL

I'm in St. Louis working right now... it's been interesting because this is the office I started out in at TP. Of course, now the office has been TOTALLY remodeled and it was sort of like the Twilight Zone walking back in there and knowing it was the same place, but it looking so different. There are still a few faces I remember, but a lot of the people I worked with have since moved on. Typical of the actuarial world, I guess.

One thing that hasn't changed in the office (that really surprises me in this economy) is that they still have the free fountain soda. I had forgotten how nice this is! And even better (I know my sister would love to have this at her office) is that one of the options is Diet Dr. Pepper! There's just something about fountain soda... it seems so much better than the can.

Tonight, we had dinner at an Italian restaurant near the office called Cafe Napoli. We were seated in a semi-private room so we could discuss some work stuff and not be overheard. About 15 minutes into our dinner, they sat another group next to us... turns out it was Howie Long, his wife, his son, and a few friends of theirs. My back was to them, so I snuck a few peeks without trying to look super obvious. I don't know how tall Howie or his son is, because they were sitting when we left... but they both looked gigantic. Howie looked the same in person as he does on tv. I didn't recognize his son, but I'm told he plays for the Rams. I really wanted to take a picture, but I restrained myself. A couple of people approached them and one guy from a radio station was drooling all over them, but they seemed very nice and friendly, even though their dinner was being interrupted.

Other than that, the STL trip has been pretty uneventful. Lots of work! I'm ready to come back to Chi-town. I'm ready for some veggin' out time this weekend. The couch is calling my name! : )

Thank goodness!

Good news... the computer problem I was having (not even being able to turn the dang thing on) has been temporarily resolved. Turns out, the hard drive was just fine (which I am SOOOOO happy about!)... it was the rest of my computer that was garbage. So, they took the hard drive out of my computer and put it in a loaner and the rest is history. I'm very relieved! Of course, I wish I could get my Sunday back, so I could have done the work I needed to do then, instead of trying to cram it all into today. But, lucky for Matt, without a functioning computer, I was able to unpack the rest of my stuff on Sunday and get the remaining boxes out of the line of fire of the remote control in the living room. : )

Now, I'm off to St. Louis... going there for a few days for work. Hopefully, I'll have internet access at the hotel this week.

Crossing my fingers

This morning, I went to start up my computer for another day of working on a project for my favorite ketchup company and nothing happened... black screen... completely dead. Awesome. And by "awesome", I mean completely awful in every way!!! I was supposed to email something to a guy in Pittsburgh today for him to review. Looks like that isn't happening.

I just hope I haven't lost the hard drive. I think I might cry if that happens! : (

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's something else. I told Matt I was going to be praying all day long that I hadn't lost the hard drive... and he says to me "I bet you wish you wouldn't have eaten meat on Friday now, huh?"

Busy week!

This was a busy week and I didn't have internet access at night for some of the nights, so my blog has been a little bare since last Saturday.

But, here is what happened in a nutshell...

The folks were in town last weekend, mainly to see the Cubs v. Cards game on Sunday night, which ended up getting canceled due to all the rain. Bummer! It was nice to hang out with them and we had fun even though they didn't get to the game.

We celebrated Brett's b-day on Saturday night at Big Bowl and then followed that up with banana splits at our place. Very good!



On Sunday, we went shopping and I found some swimsuits for the honeymoon. Macy's was having their annual flower show and the whole place was decorated with flowers and spring colors. It was really pretty! Of course, I took a few pics...





Monday was the big day... moving day! The movers (Golan's) showed up early and were all done in about 3 hours. I didn't have too much stuff, but wanted them to move some furniture from the third floor to the garage at Erin's place... so it was well worth it to hire them! I think I've used Golan's at least 4 times now and they are really good.

This is what our living room looked like post-move/pre-unpacking.



I spent the majority of the day on Monday organizing, going through boxes, trying to figure out where the heck the stuff was going to go. I still have a few boxes to go through and the hallway is packed with all the stuff we are getting rid of. So, there is still a lot to do before Operation Move is accomplished.

Unfortunately, I couldn't spend any more time unpacking yet... Tuesday morning, I flew to Pittsburgh around 6:30am for work. I spent the remainder of the week in Pittsburgh working on my favorite ketchup company. I flew back to Chicago last night. Matt picked me up from the airport and we grabbed dinner at Holiday Bar and Grill. It's good to be back! Well, at least for a few days... I'm off to St. Louis on Monday night.

Friday night fun = Saturday morning headache

Last night, a group of people that Matt works with came over to celebrate the wrap-up of a big project. We had tons of appetizers and the beer, wine and martinis were flowing! The weather was really nice, so we went up to the 36th floor deck to watch the sunset and see the awesome view of the city.

We broke out the American Idol game Erin bought me for Christmas and took some turns at our karoake skills. Turns out, some people we work with are really good! Who'd have thought??? I'm sure Matt was really excited that we got to finally try out the new game! ; )

I think I may have drank a bottle of wine by myself over the course of the night. Not good. I woke up this morning at 9am (which is late for me) with a pounding headache. Luckily, so far today, I've had some easy things to get done that didn't require too much brain activity... wedding stuff, a little bit of work, and now updating this blog. I'm putting off the laundry, not because it requires a brain, but because it's really no fun... even without a headache. Matt has been doing a lot of brainless activity today as well... he's enjoying his couch/sports-watching/cat-napping time. Aren't Saturdays great?!?!

So glad it's the weekend!

I'm so glad that Friday finally rolled around... and that it is beautiful outside! I actually went outside for lunch today just to feel the warm sun. So awesome! I think lots of people had the same idea, because the sidewalks were packed.

This weekend is going to be busy! Tonight, Matt is throwing a party for one of his client teams, so a group of people are coming over after work. I'm sure there will be much drinking, a little eating, some Wii playing... a good way to kick off the weekend. : )

My parents are heading up to Chicago tomorrow to spend a few days with us. The guys are all going to the Cubs v Cards game on Sunday night. I'm hoping to get a little shopping in with my mom and sis.

I have to finish my packing for the big move on Monday. Golan's will be at Erin's place bright and early Monday morning to load the rest of my stuff on a truck and take it to Matt's place. I really hate packing/unpacking/moving... it's just no fun. Even worse is that I have to fly out to Pittsburgh for the rest of the week on Tuesday morning at like 6am. So, whatever boxes I don't get unpacked on Monday are going to annoy Matt for the rest of the week until I get home and can finish unpacking them. Sorry, babe! : (

Well, it's just about that time... gotta finish up a few things and I'm calling it a day! Hope everyone can get out and enjoy the nice weather (you never know how long it will last!)

Happy Birthday Brett!

Happy Birthday "Little" Brother!

Hope you have a great day! : )

A little "icked" out

So, I was in the pantry at work waiting to get some coffee and there was a woman in front of me washing out her coffee cup in the sink. She finishes and then goes to get some ice out of the ice machine and just scoops it up with her own coffee cup... not the ice scoop that is sitting there for everyone to use. I'm a little icked out by this. Unless a coffee mug was washed in a dishwasher, I really don't want anyone scooping out ice with their own mugs that they've drank out of. I haven't had ice since then. I wonder how many other people do gross things like this???

Easter in Alabama

One of Matt's good friends from college (Lawrence) got married this past weekend near Birmingham, Alabama. We flew down on Friday morning for the weekend.

On the el out to Midway... Matt's typical pose


Our spiffy red Dodge Avenger rental car


Our first stop was Chik-Fil-A. As this was Good Friday and the last Friday in Lent, I had planned to not eat meat... but, I decided to get chicken anyway. How often do I get to a Chik-Fil-A??? It was very delish!

We walked around the Samford University campus, Matt's alma mater. We walked through a few buildings trying to find where they had moved the Math Dept. None of Matt's former professors were in their offices, so he didn't get to catch up with any of them. The campus is very pretty.

Samford University


More Samford University


On Friday night, we went out for some southern cooking to a place called Dale's Southern Grill. Afterwards, we ended up at the Margarita Grill by our hotel. Within walking distance + Live music coming from the patio = Perfection! The music was just one guy with a guitar. He was singing country when we got there and then he started singing just about everything under the sun. I told Matt I would request something and he jokingly said "Pour Some Sugar on Me". About 10 minutes later, the guy sang that song. We just looked at each other like we were in the twilight zone. Then, it got kinda crazy in the Margarita Grill... the guy singing invited a group of girls to dance on the bar and he sang a couple of dance songs.

Down the hatch! Shots at the Margarita Grill... not the best idea ever!


Saturday, we met up with Matt's friend, Lawrence, for breakfast and they reminisced about old college buddies and told some funny stories. Lawrence reminds me a lot of Matt's friend from Peru, Ryan.

We shopped for a little bit in the afternoon and then watched the Masters/took a nap back at the hotel. You can guess which one of us took the nap and which one watched the Masters. ; )

The wedding was at the American Village in a very pretty chapel. The timing was perfect because the sun was setting and filtering into the chapel through the huge windows. The reception was held in a decorated barn. We ate, drank and danced (but, to only one song!) and then the party was over. We never even got a picture of us together all dressed up! : ( Lawrence and Dana were off in the their limo by 10pm.

Dana and Lawrence cutting the cake


Matt and Lawrence


So, since the party was over earlier than we thought, what did Matt and I do??? Margarita Grill again! : ) This time it wasn't nearly as crazy, so we had a couple drinks, stumbled back to the hotel and called it a night. Actually, we stopped off for a Krystal fix before (Krystal is like the White Castle of the South, I think).

On Easter, we had lunch outdoors at Jim-n-Nick's BBQ. It was so sunny and warm! Made me ready for better weather and not want to come back to chilly Chicago. We decided to take advantage of the sun and stopped back off at Samford for a little bit before heading to the airport. We walked around and saw a few kids doing an Easter egg hunt.

Matt and I on Easter at Samford


Then, it was back to the windy city. While waiting for our flight, Matt and I played lots of games of gin and he schooled me! And he schooled me again at bowling in our standing date night bet later that night. I was even up by 47 pins going into the third game and I tanked. Disappointing!

I hope everyone had a great Easter! Since I missed spending it with my family, my mom sent back an Easter basket with goodies for Matt and I with my sister. Thanks! : )

Finally got rid of that crappy sushi restaurant

A new restaurant opened up a block from Matt's place called the Grocery Bistro. The food is supposed to come from local groceries/food markets and that is where the chef apparently gets inspiration for the menu. There used to be an awful sushi restaurant there that Matt and I ate at once and never returned to. Actually, it was always dead and never looked open, but strangely, it hung around for a long time.

Anyway, Matt and I have been wanting to try this new place out since it opened a couple weeks ago, but it is always packed. We had to make a reservation for a Tuesday night to eat there!

If you go between 5-7pm during the week, you can get their $25 three-course menu (app, entree, dessert). The restaurant is BYOB, so we grabbed a bottle of wine and headed over there last night. We got seated 3 minutes before 7pm, so our waiter, Jim, gave us the $25 menu deal, which was nice.

They have this huge butcher block rectangular communal table that they seat people randomly at and that's where we ended up. It's ok, but it's SO loud and it was hard for Matt and I to hear each other talking across the table to each other. I think Matt gave me the confused i-can't-hear-you face and yelled "what???" at me about 10 times. Not exactly romantic, eh?

Matt got the salmon sashimi appetizer that was huge and awesome! I'm usually not much on eating raw fish without some sort of roll and rice, but this melted in your mouth. I had a lobster brandade (basically mashed up potatoes and lobster that you eat on crackers... very tasty). He got the rib-eye and I got the tilapia. Both delish as well. For dessert, Matt had choc-chip-cookie-dough risotto and I had some chocolate monte cristo thing with raspberry dipping sauce. We had to roll ourselves out of the place!

The reviews are kind of mixed about the place. I think it's new and still working out the kinks.

I think we'll definitely go back and try out some of the other options on the menu... everything looked really good!

GUILTY

Matt made it on the jury on Monday and had to go back on Tuesday for the rest of the trial. The case was against a man charged with a few counts of armed robbery in Wicker Park. They found the guy guilty. Luckily, it was a quick case and wrapped up in one day! Matt said all the jurors were escorted to their cars by the sheriff after the trial. Interesting!

Weekend wrap-up

Friday night, Matt and I went to Red Light for dinner. Love this place! I actually remembered not to eat meat on a Friday... it helped that they had a special fish dish on the menu that I wanted. : )

On Saturday, I stopped off and picked up some more boxes from Home Depot (big sale on boxes there!) I went through a lot of my stuff at Erin's and packed up what I want to take to Matt's and set aside all the stuff I want to take to the Salvation Army. I have a ton of kitchen dishes/glasses/silverware that I no longer need. Plus, a lot of it was like a Target special I got a long time ago, so it is really old.

Then, we met up with Ross, Brett, Reuters, Luke, Lindsey, etc. at the P.O. to watch the NCAA games and have a few drinks. Some of us had a few more than others... and by some of "us", I mean Matt and Ross. ; ) A good time was had by all!

Sunday, I continued the fun packing at Erin's place. I made great progress this weekend!

I could not believe the weather on Sunday... is this really APRIL??? I'm ready for some sunshine and warmer temps. Maybe next weekend when I'm in Alabama, we'll get a little preview of summer weather. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Bowling went ok. We played Bryan, Mary, Tony and Stacey's team, but they weren't there. We won two of the three games and took the series. We lost the last game... to a "blind" team (not literally folks, they bowl no-shows 10 pts under their averages). Shows you how bad that game was for our team! I also lost date night. Matt bowled really well! I see the tides turning on this whole date night thing. : (

Matt is at jury duty today. For his sake, I hope he doesn't get picked for a trial!

It's almost Friday!

I'm glad this week is wrapping up. For some reason, this has been a painfully long week. I'm sure Matt feels the same way. He's been attached to his computer most of the week. : (

Nothing too exciting going on this week...

- I picked up my bridesmaids dress for Hany's wedding (she's getting married in August). The dress fit very well. I had them add extra length and it turned out perfectly.

- I've been watching the Millionaire Matchmaker lately. This show is like a trainwreck... I just can't stop watching! There was some guy from Chicago on one episode, "Jimmy D", who was a total douchebag. I'm not a big fan of people who refer to themselves in the third person.

- I had a couple of weird dreams... in one I was pregnant. Scary! This may have been after I went to Lauren's shower and had baby stuff on the brain. : ) In the other, I lost my engagement ring and was in a panic to find it. That one seemed too real when I woke up. Lucky I have insurance!

- We ordered our save-the-dates for the Bahamas wedding. We should be getting them in the mail soon! : ) I'm working on a wedding website right now with a bunch of details. I have to come up with "Our Story" and "Bios" for Matt and I. I can't get those tabs to be hidden, so looks like I'm going to be writing something cheesy. I don't think Matt wants any part of that!

- On Wednesday night, we had week two of our Spring v-ball league. After last week's embarrassing defeat x3, we won all three games this week. The team we played was really bad, though. I think there is a wide range of talent in the league this time. I'd totally rather lose and play a great team than win easily and barely break a sweat.

- I booked movers, so I am officially moving my stuff out of Erin's place and into Matt's (or as I have to try to say now "our") place. This weekend, I'm going to pack up my stuff in boxes for the big move and figure out what is going to the Salvation Army. Sounds like fun, right? ; )

Ok, enough of my brain dump for now.

Have a good night!