Two Scenes From The Windy City

So, like I mentioned before, I went to Chicago with The Devil last weekend. Fan-freakin'-tastic time, too. After the circus on Friday night, we went to The DIY Trunk Show , a huge hand-made goods market. We saw lots of cool things, met lots of cool crafters, picked up a few gifts (like pins for Katie and Hannukah that say "I'm a Crafty Mother Fucker"- it gets them off my back for bailing on the craft show I normally go to...), and saw the above picture. Yep, its a cat in an apron. After some discussion, The Devil and I decided that the vendor didn't get that the cat in the apron was strange; she probably thought she was being clever or cute. Its even more strange when you see the hound dog peeking at you, too. After crafting ourselves silly, we headed to traditional consumer fare, like Crate and Barrel, The Container Store, and Sephora. Dinner was sushi at Ai , billed as "The hottest new sushi in River North." No complaints on our part- it was simply wonderful.

We also managed to avoid actually seeing The Magnificent Mile Lights Festival and Parade, but did run into the yahoos in the subway. So many people! They actually close Michigan Avenue to ALL traffic for the parade (between Oak and the bridge), and we were able to walk down the middle of the avenue, north to south, because of the lack of cars and cabbies. It was after the event, and I ran out to the middle median (before people started crossing the street again) and snapped the picture below. Absolutely quintessential Holiday Season in Chicago scene. *sigh*


Alrighty then- that's it for now because I'm off to "get my stripes painted on," as Mr. Fix likes to say. That'a man talk for "partial highlight and trim." Miss Rhonda does me good, so I'm off!

The Greatest Show On Earth

I'm not talking about the circus (which I saw with The Devil this weekend in the Windy City), but rather the spectacle of plain ol' people, doing what they do in the streets of Chicago. I love people watching. I love trying to imagine what's going through their heads as they walk down the street, or ride the subway, or eat their sushi.

I have a point, but I will have to make it in a seperate post later today or tomorrow as I need to return to work right now. Enjoy that photo above of the finale from circus, and have a great Monday!

It Is Time

Itineraries are printed off and double-checked. Fast Jessica and the Fast Doctor are already in Boston, and me, the Double Dee, Katie and Kimmie (how cute do they sound?!) are touching down tomorrow.

Breathe in tonight, crisp Great Lakes air; breathe in tomorrow, salty Cape Cod sea spray. Breathe in and out Sunday morning; repeat for 26.2 miles (approximately 4-5 hours).
Breathe in, cross the finish line; breathe out, catch your tears of joy.
Breathe in, delicious donut smell; breathe out, and begin planning the next run.

So goes the weekend for me. I'll report back on Tuesday (unless I get all fancy and update from my crazy-too-many-functions-for-one-piece-of-technology phone) and let you know how everything was, donuts included!

Have a great weekend!

AHHHHHH!!!

That's the sound of me, relaxing. So Ms. Johnnda and I drove to Plymouth, MI to visit My Favorite Redhead last weekend. We had so much fun. Such a lovely, relaxed, no-hassle time being girls (even if Miles and The Mouth Doctah were around). We even got a sneak peek at Red's wedding dress! Beautiful, sexy, delicate, feminine, appropriately luxe. I'd love to post a picture of Red in the dress, but I'm afraid the Mouth Doctah would look, too, and we just can't have that.

So I'll post a pic of my latest shopping score: diamonds!

I know they're small and you can't really see them (its hard to take a photo of something like that when you've got smiles in your eyes!), but trust me honey, thems diamonds in that band! And with the band of my Timex sports watch, it looks tres klass-ay, no? I'm very happy with my purchase, and hope that this is just the first spot of sparkle in a long and happy relationship with my local jeweler.

And now for talk about some other kinda bling: Project Runway and the drag queens!

How fantastically bitchy were those "girls?!"Could there have been anymore sequins and body shapers? Oy, honey, this was so fantastic, I could hardly contain myself. So let's dish about the designs: my favorite was not the winner (Joe's Sequin Spangled Sailor), even though it was tops for the judges. My fave was Donna Summers' design (Teri)- it had drama, art history references, fantastic styling. It oh-so-subtly brought up the comparison of today's drag queens to performers of kabuki, fer chrissake! Check it out:


I also like Korto's Flaming Booty. And ya know, I actually kinda liked Utah Gay Keith's Stevie Nicks-meets-Freddy Kruger dress. The queen who wore it had no expression whatsoever, but I liked its punk aesthetic.

The losers: THANK THE LORD BABY JESUS THAT STUPID DANIEL IS GONE.

That's all I'm going to say on that. What did everyone think of the "text your answer" question re: who would you rather see in drag, Michael Kors or Tim Gunn? Good gravy, Michael Kors probably dresses in drag when he's home. He probably models his own clothes for himself. Master Guru Gunn is totally the one to see in drag. What kind of get-up do you think he'd wear? And what would his stage name be? Ohhh, we'll have to let that stew a bit before we shout it out loud.

Okay, so tomorrow I'm off to a local 5K (benefiting a local high school's cross county team). I'll be wearing a bridesmaid's dress. I'm not kidding. I'll post photos before I head out for a shopping trip to Appleton with Daughter #1, two of her friends, and Daughter #2. Have a great weekend!

What Do You Get When You Mix a Bunch of Polish People, Beer, a Ukulele, and a Dunk Tank?

Why, you get my family reunion, of course!


So this weekend was my Kaszynski Family Reunion. The last event took place in 2000 (I did not attend). These people are my maternal grandmother's relatives: everyone who attended is a child or grandchild or great-grandchild of one of the ten children of John and Frances Kaszynski. The photo above shows them all (Back Row: Art Kaszynski, Evelyn Thompson, John Kaszynski, Genevieve Meagher, Ben Kaszynski, Della McPartland, Leonard Kaszynski, Bernadette Heathcoat. Front Row: Gertrude Martinkus, John Kaszynski, Frances Kaszynski, Walter Kaszynski). My mom's mother is Gertrude- aka "Grandma Gert."

There were people there I haven't seen in twenty years or more. And despite what I titled this post, the ukulele was just there for show; when I was a kid, my mom's Uncle Len would play it for all of us kids and sing songs. Music was always a staple at those family gatherings, and this gathering was no exception- Cousin Joy managed to find a keyboard, and a few diferent people took turns playing music. It was a really nice afternoon at Cousin Joy's home that included good food, good conversation, and well-behaved children. I don't think I was annoyed even once by those kids (BIG kudos to Sissy for organizing all the kids' activities!). Maybe I'm mellowing? Nah...

I do need to say that the most amusing parts of the day came when: 1) family members (including- but not limited to- my father, two sisters, and two brothers) wound string tied to wrenches up one person's pant leg and shirt, then down the next person's shirt and pants, then up the next person's...you get the idea. I'm not sure why, either, but it was funny; and 2) Bobby Kaszynski dared four lucky relatives to try dunking him in the dunk tank. Only Brother Peaches was able to take the old timer down. I managed to get a nice picture of Bobby right before he bit it (below).


And what kind of celebration would be complete without cake? We had that, too (see below). Sure it was grocery store marbled, but man, it had some good frosting! Cousin Joy even had the bakery ladies write "Rodzina" on the cake; that means "family" in Polish.


My next big road trip adventure will be to see My Favorite Redhead in lower Michigan, and after that...it's Hog Days, baby!

What? You don't know what is this "Hog Days?" Good gravy, do I have to teach you everything?

Go here to see how I've spent the last 30 Labor Day weekends. I will post more on this as the holiday draws closer, but for now, have a great week.

Women's Weekend

So, this past weekend I went to St. Charles, IL for my 2nd Annual Sisters Weekend. Last year we hung out at Sissy's house in Oswego & did the spa day thing plus a psychic (Yes or no? Do you know what I'm saying?). This year we decided a hotel was worth booking, as it kept us to the "no men, no kids, no pets" rules. Well, most of us kept the men away (cough cough *Abbie* cough).

On the agenda was a late dinner on Friday, followed by a very fun game of Pop 5 (if you don't know this game, try it). Saturday morning we went on the hunt for garage sales (no, I'm not kidding) before heading back to the hotel for... Jorianne, The Coffee Psychic ! This fantastic-ness was followed by a bit of Crate & Barrel shopping, deliciousness at Gino's East, and then 80's music and ice cold pitchers of Blue Moon at St. Charles Bowl . It was even that fun galaxy bowling with the black lights and neon! Sunday we hit up a bit more shopping, then headed our separate ways (in the middle of severe thunder storms, complete with tornado warnings) until next time.

So, I've told many people about the psychic and how excited I was to be seeing her. And many of you have asked me what she said, have I gone to a psychic before?, how does she compare? Well let me tell you. If you go to Jorianne's website, she's dyed her hair platinum blonde since those pics were taken. Anyhoo, she had us shuffle and cut the deck of tarot cards and she poured coffee into our own coffee cups (that we brought with us), added cream, and "read" the coffee as the steam, bubble, and our auras all blended together. It was pretty interesting. What did she tell me?...

Jorianne said I had angels all around me (and for those of you who don't know, angels are not dead people, they have always been angels) and that I was very spiritual and in touch with the spirit world. She saw my kids. She said my husband and I were good for each other- we balance each other out. She is the second (or maybe even the third?) psychic to tell me that I'd be successful in my own business. No idea what the business was, though, or even who I'd go into business with. Hmmm. There's more, but I need to listen to the tape she made of our meeting before I can write about it. I don't want to get the details wrong and have the psychic get pissy with me for messing up her reading. It would probably throw my chakras all out of whack.

Katie and I are all ready to go to the Dunkin' Donuts Marathon in Cape Cod, MA this fall. Strike that- I'm registered. Katie has yet to confirm her registration with me. Ahem.

Alrighty then! Have a great week.

A Good Start to the Week

Oy, back to the grind. Spring Break ended with the alarm going off this morning, at least for Mr. Fix and the lovely Daughters #1 and #2. I however, had to work the entire week. Yesterday was my only day off for the week, and I did...

...a whole lotta nothin'. I watched the Cubs game- put out your "W" flags! (for "win"...not THAT W!)- and napped in the sunny spot on the couch with my electric blanket. The most difficult thing I cooked yesterday (stop laughing!) is coffee, and even that was just an afternoon reheat in the microwave. I watched the happy people in Chicago, some of them sunning themselves sans shirts in the Bleachers, and thought about how nice it would be to join them. Yes, I'm a Cubs fan.

Growing up, I never really held allegiance to any one team. Our family lived a good hour's drive from either set of grandparents, and I remember that your favorite baseball team was chosen for you depending on the set of grandparents you were visiting. Maternal grandparents = Chicago White Sox and Paternal grandparents = Chicago Cubs.

Once I moved to Chicago for school, my loyalty was quickly determined by 1) proximity to the ballpark, 2) a complete dislike for the American League's designated hitter rule, and 3) how cute Mark Grace was at first base.

So, NO, I didn't get my Spring cleaning done. The most exciting thing I did the past week or so was to attend a concert with Mr. Fix. We went to see John Prine in Sheboygan, WI where we had a fantastic dinner at a little place called Margaux right across from the theater.

Are you a fellow Cubs fan? Click here for a story that aired on Katie's favorite, NPR, last week. Enjoy!

Fuh-REEzing!

Must. Get. Warm.

It's a balmy -9 degrees this morning. I am so cold. My blood pressure must be somewhere around 40/70. Winter, is by far, my least favorite season. I'm all about sitting on a beach somewhere with a good book, iPod, snacks, and a Coca-Cola Classic getting warmed by the sun (me getting warm, as well as the Coca-Cola!).

Flashback to adolesence: Lisa, do you remember laying out on the balcony off Mom & Dad's room? For those not in the know, it's really the roof of the front porch, although it extends the width of the house. It is covered completely in tar. We would go out there with a crappy radio tuned to KIIK 104 or 97X, slather on some BABY OIL and bake. For hours. So far, the Skin Cancer gods have looked the other way.

When I lived in Illinois, I never really thought about Winter all that much. We'd go to school (high school, anyway) in shorts in mid-January. ("But, Mom- I'm going to be INSIDE all day! I'll be FINE!" Eye roll, disgusted teenage sigh, feet stomping out the door, aaaaannnnddd CUT!) Even in grade school we'd sometimes brave the elements without long pants under the skirts of our school uniforms. (Ahhhh...Catholic School plaid!)

I've tried to like Winter. I even learned how to ski, and I have snowshoes and a down jacket. I wear hats regularly. I think a remote car starter is a great investment. I drink hot chocolate or coffee with yummy alcoholic additions. None of this, however, helps as much as the sun. I guess the only way I'll truly enjoy Winter is by escaping its clutches. Donations to my newly established Winter Travel Fund can be directed to...

Last year around this time...

...I was in Europe for work: Geneva, Switzerland, Chamonix in France, and a fabulous 36-hour side trip to Milan. This year it was a great week in Hawaii that I had to suffer through for work. Its tough work, but somebody's gotta do it!