Champaign - Urbana

Coming back to a town you once lived in is really eye opening. 

I lived in this town for four years. 

It has been three years since I lived here.

The life I lived here seems so far away, so long ago.

I was a different person back then.

The buildings all look the same, so classic, so old.

I drove around town with a huge smile on my face.

The trees paint the town orange.

Some of my favorite eateries are still thriving.

I have plans to walk around and pretend I am a resident again.

I want to blend in as a secret outsider.

Billy [Sub Par] Elliot

Crossed another off the list!

My Fall & Winter To Do List!!!

• Bake cupcakes from scratch
• Go to Pops for Champagne (A champagne bar in Chicago)
• Take pictures at a park in my home town
• Apple picking
• Pumpkin picking and subsequent carving
• Sew my own Halloween costume
• See a Drive-in movie
• Knit a scarf
• Learn to crochet
• Make spiced cider
• Grow out my hair
• Spend less money
• Eat lots of food on Thanksgiving
• Shop at a thrift store
• See a musical or play
• Have a Christmas party with my girls
• Snowboarding
• Learn to ski
• Get straight A's
• Buy my friends' Christmas presents at a resale shop
• Bake a pie from scratch
• Celebrate New Years in style
• Go sledding
• Cuddle with Jay... or maybe my cat... under a blanket 
• Visit my friends in Oregon

My family celebrated my mom's birthday last Thursday. Her real birthday was Saturday, but in a family of two nurses, a senior in college, and a medical technologist, it is super difficult to get the same day off.  So, miraculously we all got Thursday off and spent the evening downtown.  

We ate dinner at Grand Lux Cafe. It is a nice place to eat with reasonable prices.   Since it is a sister to The Cheesecake Factory... you know its delicious.  My mother loves this place, so we go there whenever she goes into the city.

[My dad and mom @ Grand Lux Cafe]

After our feast (which included two of Grand Lux's famous desserts), we hailed a cab to the Oriental (Ford) theater for my birthday present for my mom... Billy Elliot.  (You can see my review of the show below). The theater is gorgeous. During intermission I just sat in my seat and stared at all the details of the ceiling. Obviously, you are not allowed to take any pictures, so I have none to show you, but I bet the pictures would not do it justice anyway.  

[My brother, dad, and mom after the show]

 [We should SO try out to be Billy Elliot dancers]

 [After the show]

Overall, the night was great.  My mom really had fun.  After the show, we stopped at Starbucks, grabbed some warm drinks and walked back about 8 blocks to our car, enjoying the downtown area, nice and quiet on a Thursday night.

 [On the walk home]

 [haha]

My review: My family has seen our share of shows: Lion King, Wicked, Jersey Boys, Million Dollar Quartet, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat... to name a few off the top of my head. So, Billy Elliot was just okay to me. I was REALLY excited for the show and had really high expectations. I was kind of let down.  Overall, I enjoyed myself, but it just didn't totally hit the spot for me.  The whole story is set in the UK during the mid 80's when the miners went on strike and amidst all the chaos and commotion, this little 11 year old boy wants to become a ballet dancer.  The accents were SO distracting, they almost sounded Scottish to me.  I couldn't understand about 25% of what they were saying.  Also, the singing was only okay, none of the singers were really THAT amazing.  When people can really sing, I tear up. During Wicked, I got teary eyed. During Lion King, I was teary eyed half the time because not only was the singing great, the show is just beautiful.  Billy Elliot singers did not really hit me on that level.  Then, the dancing was only okay as well.  You could tell the dancers were really really talented, but the overall organization of the dancing was only okay.  Lastly, I felt each dance number did not really tie in with each other. It was like different people choreographed each dance without talking to each other.  I am not claiming that I am any expert, but just my thoughts.

Jay.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAY!!! (Oct 17)

I didn't write a blog entry on Jay's actual birthday... because why would I be wasting time writing when I could be gazing into his beautiful blues?! hahaha cheeeeeeesy! jk jk jk

No, but really... I spent all weekend with Jay and it was glorious. He turned 27! (Sounds so old!)

We spent Friday playing poker with his family... including his 80ish yr old grandma who always takes us for our money.  She's a gambling machine.  I lost $20 to his family. I know the poker hands and all, but the gambling rules and trying to trick people is just not my thing. You can read it all over my face when I am trying to bluff. My face always says "Oh shit! I have NO idea what I am doing!!"

Saturday morning he went golfing with the boys.  They golfed for six hours. SIX?!! I do not even know how that is possible. I lose interest after the fourth hole and just want to drink my beer and drive the golf cart in circles.  Which is what I end up doing.

Saturday evening nine of us carved pumpkins... they were pretty fantastic.  Except for Ashley M's pumpkin (sorry dude).  She kind of got frustrated with it and punched a hole in it, then gave it whiskers, ears and called it a cat pumpkin. HAHAHA. Hilarious! I don't mean to laugh at you, m'dear, but your frustrations with the pumpkin were laughable. Too bad I forgot to take a picture of it.

 our friends pumpkin carving.

 Jay's pumpkin on left... mine on right :)

Then... Saturday night was a full blown party. Beer. Food. Lots of friends. Laughs. Drinking games. Dancing. So. Much. Fun! We had a nice blend of "my friends" and "Jay's friends"... and I write it like that because after four years... "my friends" ARE "Jay's friends" and vice versa.  Our friends from both sides were able to hang out together at one time, which is so nice, but so rare.  It was fun seeing everyone get along and have a great time, because if we went to the same high schools I bet all our friends would be friends, they are so alike with the same values, interests, and most importantly... similar senses of humor (or is it "sense of humors"?? I'm voting the former over the latter).  Jay's best friends are still his friends from high school and my best friends are still my friends from high school (with some new friends scattered here and there).  So, overall... a great time with great people.  

some of the girls at the party (and me with Clancy... Jay's old old OLD dog)

 drinking game called Chandelier.

...I just realized i took NO appropriate pictures of Jay at his party (he looks too drunk in every single one of them) haha!

Sunday was spent watching football.. and by watching I mean... Jay and the boys watching football while I napped on the floor with blankets and pillows. A fantastic end to a great weekend.

Happy Birthday, lover.

And now I will end with a montage of pics of me and Jay.  You can skip this part if you want, but I enjoy it.

 At a pub near U of I

 me with my homemade birthday cake... when I turned 23

 found this on a hike at Starved Rock

 about to go pumpkin picking 2009

 asleep at a party we threw

 up at my cabin - Summer 2010

 at a wedding Spring 2010

 Same wedding Spring 2010

In Dublin, Ireland... June 2010

Up at my cabin Summer 2010

 Sears Tower Skydeck Fall 2010

 DMB Concert @ Wrigley Field

 Clark Street Alehouse Chicago Fall 2010

 At a nursing school party 2008

<3 u.

*******************************************************************************

My Fall & Winter To Do List!!!

• Bake cupcakes from scratch
• Go to Pops for Champagne (A champagne bar in Chicago)
• Take pictures at a park in my home town
• Apple picking
• Pumpkin picking and subsequent carving
• Sew my own Halloween costume
• See a Drive-in movie
• Knit a scarf
• Learn to crochet
• Make spiced cider
• Grow out my hair
• Spend less money
• Eat lots of food on Thanksgiving
• Shop at a thrift store
• See a musical or play
• Have a Christmas party with my girls
• Snowboarding
• Learn to ski
• Get straight A's
• Buy my friends' Christmas presents at a resale shop
• Bake a pie from scratch
• Celebrate New Years in style
• Go sledding
• Cuddle with Jay... or maybe my cat... under a blanket 
• Visit my friends in Oregon

Today I...

Today I...

... had laughs with Ashley M. I kidnapped her and made her come to the fabric store and Good Will with me.

[Pic from the DMB concert we went to last month]

... decided I am going to finish the book that I have been "in the middle of" for months and start a book I really want to read: Geek Love by Katherine Dunn.

[Geek Love]

... made and ate delicious vegetarian Mexican food (avocados, salsa, tomatoes, lettuce, vegetarian refried beans, sour cream, colby and pepperjack cheese... on a hard open tortilla shell).

... went to the local Good Will and bought blue candle holders, a jewelry box I will give away at Christmastime, and other items I cannot share because they will be gifts for others who may read my blog.

[Aren't they fantastic?]

... wore my mom's old Coach bag from the 80s.

[Can't you picture my mother wearing this in the late 80s?]

... went to the fabric store and bought yellow, cream, sunflower, and green felt for my ear-of-corn Halloween costume. 

I love making warm and non-slutty costumes.  In college, so many girls wore these ridiculously slutty costumes. I never hopped on that band wagon. I enjoy being warm on Halloween (Illinois has chilly Halloween weather) and I refuse to spend $60 on a costume I will wear once.  I also don't understand who decided that it is okay to dress like a slut, as long as you are slutty Darth Vader... or a slutty firewoman... or a slutty anything? It is NOT okay.  Don't get me wrong... I am not conservative by any means, but it doesn't make sense if you don't normally dress like a slut.. why is Halloween the one day that it is okay? And would you be okay walking past your father in that outfit? Gaaawwd I sound like my mother... yikes.  I just figure if I would be embarrassed if anyone in my family saw me in an outfit... I probably shouldn't be wearing it. 

My recent and past Halloween costumes:

2004: homemade Pocahontas

2005: semi- homemade Tooth Fairy

2006: Vampire (lame)

 

2007: homemade bumble bee - Jay was a bee keeper

 

2008: homemade Cleopatra

2009: homemade Lobster - Jay was a chef

 

2010: ear of corn - Jay will be a farmer

I. LOVE. HALLOWEEN.

***************************************************************

My Fall & Winter To Do List!!!

• Bake cupcakes from scratch
• Go to Pops for Champagne (A champagne bar in Chicago)
• Take pictures at a park in my home town
• Apple picking
• Pumpkin picking and subsequent carving
• Sew my own Halloween costume
• See a Drive-in movie
• Knit a scarf
• Learn to crochet
• Make spiced cider
• Grow out my hair
• Spend less money
• Eat lots of food on Thanksgiving
• Shop at a thrift store
• See a musical or play
• Have a Christmas party with my girls
• Snowboarding
• Learn to ski
• Get straight A's
• Buy my friends' Christmas presents at a resale shop
• Bake a pie from scratch
• Celebrate New Years in style
• Go sledding
• Cuddle with Jay... or maybe my cat... under a blanket 
• Visit my friends in Oregon

I love weddings.

Remember the engagement photos I took? Well these friends are no longer engaged. They are married now!!! ...and actually honeymoon-ing in Cabo as I type this... jealous!

The bride and her pops.

 You may kiss the bride!

 My friend bought a HUGE case of cheesy poofs. At the end of the night, everyone had a nightcap in our room... and the cheesy poofs were EVERYWHERE. 

 Each table was wine themed... we sat at the "port wine" table.

 Three of my best friends :) My lovely lady lumps.

 The bride did a great job, didn't she?

 Cheers, friends!

 Ashley M and I have a sneaking suspicion that our men have love for each other more than for us. :)

Someone definitely requested...  the calculus song by 2gether. Probably doesn't belong at a wedding... but it was HILARIOUS and the bride was lovin' it. haha.

Nursing School Meet Up

It is exhausting taking visitors around Chicago, because it is so expensive.  I love the city of Chicago, but downtown is just ridiculous. This past weekend a bunch of my friends from nursing school met up in the city. Two flew in from Murrels Inlet, South Carolina, two drove up from the Indianapolis area, and the other three of us are from the area.

We did a million bajilliion things this weekend... and I spent about that much money as well... a million bajillion.  It was totally worth it though, I had SO much fun.

The reason the whole meet up was initiated was because my old room mate and my best friend from nursing school, Christina, bought her boyfriend (who she met in nursing school) Peter a surprise ticket to Chicago for his birthday.  Then it turned into a nursing school reunion.

I met them at the rooftop of Rock Bottom. It was a pretty great place to have a couple drinks and be surrounded by sky craping buildings.  It is so nice when you meet up with friends after not seeing them for a year and you pick up where you left off. There was nothing awkward about it, we talked and laughed like we had seen each other just a couple weeks ago. 

 Christina and Peter on the roof top of Rock Bottom

 Christina, Peter, and Myself

We went up to the skydeck.  Which, after having done it in the last year or so... is really not that exciting.  Once you go up there, its something you just don't need to do again for another ten years... or until the next round of tourists come around and they want to go up there.  We did get to take fun pictures!

Sean (Peter's friend), Peter, Christina, Me (the short one), Jay, Laura (other room mate from nursing school)

Me and Jay

We walked from the SEARS tower, to Millenium Park...

Room mates from nursing school

Then we went to Navy Pier...

Being ridiculous

 

We went on an architecture boat tour of the city which took off from Navy Pier. This was surprisingly more interesting than I thought... mostly because there was a bar on the boat. haha.

Architecture boat tour... aka drinking tour!

Trump Tower

Beautiful City.

 

We went to a second city show called "Spoiler Alert: Everyone Dies". SOOOO funny. I am making it a point to start going to more of these shows.

We couldn't take pics anywhere else, but in front of the doors.

Went out for drinks afterwards...

At the Clark Street Ale House

 

We took them to Gino's East so all the out-of-town-ers could experience some delicious deep dish pizza.  Yum.  

We had drinks at Big Bar. I saw this place featured on the food network once... and it lives up to its name. They have regular sized drinks... or they have BIG aka Ginormous sized ones.

This margarita was the size of our heads!

My Bro met up with us at Big Bar

Then we just hit the town.

 

All of these nursing friends graduated about 6 months after I did. So, the last time I saw them was at their graduation, where I was the only working nurse at the time. It was fun talking about the different experiences we have had since we all got our jobs, all the crazy situations we have been placed in, and the different settings we all work in.  The world of nursing can be so different for each person, there are so many fields to work in, so if you do not like one type of nursing, there is bound to be another field that will cater more to your likings.  I am glad I became a nurse.  I'll be even more glad when I am a nurse practitioner in a couple years.