squeaky squeaky

something that's making me giggle right now: i put my little purple and white polka dotted shoes (remember? the one that earned a picture on a post about a year ago?) in the washer cuz they are dirty and i'm too lazy to hand wash things. and now the rubber on the bottom has been making this outrageously cute squeaky noise against the side of the dryer for 30 minutes! eeeeee! i love squeaky noises!!!

a must see: "anvil! the story of anvil."

this week whilst running i approached a group of gangsta looking guys on the sidewalk and after not moving and making me awkardly maneuver my way around them, they barked at me. perhaps they were directing their barks at chance (jen's dog who has become my running mate), but it seemed more likely they were for me. i don't know, i didn't turn around to ask. earlier in the week, i was biking home and this guy in a car starts driving directly next to me, rolling down his window trying to strike up a converation. when i say "strike up a conversation" i mean saying rude and inappropriate thing that i couldn't quite understand. i have oh so perfected my stare-straight-ahead-pretend-they-don't-exist-i-couldn't-be-more-apathetic look.

last night, kristin, grant, ali, and i went to the music box to see "anvil! the story of anvil." see this movie!!! it's a documentary about the metal band "anvil" that had 15 minutes of fame in the 80s and still now, in their early 50s, believe they are just one gig away from hitting the tops of the charts. it was hillarious, emotional, beautiful, hillarious...go see it! find it somewhere by you! it's at the music box all week here in chicago for those in the area. here's the you tube trailer to give you a preview. see it people! see it!

chicago weekend.

twas an eventful weekend!

friday afternoon tricia and crashed on the...wait for it....beach!!! yes, i dare say i got a tan line. friday night ali and i headed to the brew and view to see the wrestler. the movie was amazing, except that the lighting was all off on the screen so anytime there was a scene at night it was basically just a big black blob. i feel like some important things happened in those night scenes that should not have been missed. i'll have to rent it...and i can on NETFLIX!!!! yup, still going strong. it's turned into a game now of high can my turnover rate of movies be so as to get the most for my money. recent watches:

1. milk
2. kung-fu panda
3. vicky cristina barcelona
4. borat
5. doubt
6. y tu mama tambien
7. the cliburn: playing on the edge
8. rachel getting married
9. brick
10. TWILIGHT!!!!! (oh the shame/absolute enjoyment...)

anyway, on saturday ali and i did a bike ride along the lake and then went out to matildas with friends, and sunday we met up with kristin and grant in hyde park for a rainy feet-soaked day of soul food (obama's favorite resturaunt!), the oriental museum, a cool bookstore, and record browsing at reckless records (of which i skipped out on to read my book and warm my toes at argo tea.)

my grandpa died a week ago on monday morning, the day after easter. we all went down on wednesday the the funeral was on thursday. it was so so so beautiful. grandpa will be missed.

weekend with grandpa.

this weekend we headed to pella--a little dutch pocket in the middle of iowa complete with windmills, tulips, windmills...anyway, it's where my mom grew up and where my grandparents still live. my grandpa has a brain tumor, so the family was all there this weekend saying goodbye. it's very sad. but it was great to see him before he passes and to spend time with the family. we'll most likely be heading down for the funeral later this week, but who knows, maybe he'll last longer than we think. death is a strange thing.

my grandma also wanted to clear out my grandpa's hat collection, so we all got one! thanks grandpa! (i totally got the coolest one...)
i'm glad i'll have a little piece of him to take with me.

make a wish...

ooooooooooh boy oh boy oh boy!

1. on march 20, i entered into the mid-20s. yup, i'm officially 25! there was indian food, there was cake, there was drinking, there was dancing, there was burrito house, there was trying to get the djs to play lady gaga all night...

2. ali is here! he came a few weeks ago and, surprise! it's much better being together than being apart. who woulda thought.

3. so, after the long and drawn out drama my life has undergone the past 8 months, it looks like i'm going to end up right back where i started. ali and i are heading to korea in may. i've just taken a job at a little school in ilsan, so we'll be living in the same place as last year. it's wierd that after all this time of america, england, america, england, america, england, visa, visa visa, it turns out we were meant to be back in korea all along. sometimes you just gotta learn lessons the hard way. (and the expensive way...sigh...)

vampire withdrawl.

things worth noting:

1. i finished it. it's done. no more vampire love in my life. i am going through serious withdrawl. (i promise not to make fun of your books so much stephenie meyer if you'll just write me another one...)

2. last week i babysat a 2 year old for a friend of a friend and was having serious identity issues everytime we walked out the door to head to play group or walk along the beach or go to the playground. as i pushed the stroller and said things way too enthusiastically like "wow, it's a nice day out here, isn't it william!" or when i started referring to myself in third person like "don't pull Carolyn's coat, that belongs to Carolyn", i started to have these moments of horror that people would think i was a mom. i'm not sure why this bothered me so much, but the thought of being looked at through the "she's a mom, look at her kid, CUTE!" filter made me want to wear a big t-shirt that said..."stop looking at me that way. i'm just the babysitter." it all came to a head when i was walking with william down by the lake and i passed a guy running and he looked at the kid, looked at me, winked, and while giving me a big thumbs up said "WAY TO GO MOM!!!!" i turned in panic, trying to spit the words out in time as he ran past..."I'M NOT A MOM!!! I'M NOT A MOM!!! I'M JUST THE BABYSITTER!!!" but my words trailed off into the wind like my lingering sense of self.

3. friday night we went out, and while eating thai and sushi and throwing back the glasses of wine, this old guy right next to us started choking. like, serious choking. a guy at another table had to give him the heimlich maneuver until he finally threw up whatever he was choking on. SCARY! what was even scarier was the lack of emotion and effort put forth by the thai waiters and waitresses. it's like you could just see it in their eyes as it was happening..."that's gonna be bad for bussiness..." they even somehow managed to deliver our crab rangoons in the midst of it all. priorities people. priorities. dying people first. apetizers second.

counting down.

100 pages to go. the plot has thickened...dun dun DUN!

to quote my friend cara: "I read the 4th book of Twilight in one day...I can't decide if its because I was just that into it or if I was just that sick of it and wanted to get it over with."

my thoughts: i can't decide if i'm dragging this out because i never want it to end or because my eyes can only handle so much rolling a day before i get a headache.

(confession: still so entertained! damn you stephenie meyer!)