visitors

i haven't had the internet in several days so this is a bit of a belated post.

last weekend, not this past weekend, but the one before, katie and eiko took the megabus down for a few days. for those unfamiliar with megabus it's basically a cheaper option than driving if you were to go from, say, minneapolis to chicago and back. (hint hint for you minnesotans! come visit me!!) katie and eiko reported that it wasn't scummy at all, in fact is a double decker (!) which they even got the top front seats for a portion of the trip...that would be super fun to see the ride from that angle. so, when i end up taking it i'm going to plan to get in line early in hopes of snagging the hot seat.

katie, joe


eiko


anyways it was so refreshing to have some visitors here! friday night, joe ended up having to work (boo.) but us ladies hung out in the neighborhood, went to a good italian restaurant and hit up a couple of neighborhood bars, danny's and the charleston. both about 2-3 blocks from my house. both cool in different ways. that was fun. had a few too many gin n tonics however. haven't really drank much at all since i've been here so that played a role.

next day, went to brunch at vella's cafe, also in the neighborhood, tucked under the el stop. had a really good crepe. then we trained it to chinatown, ate some pastries, got some mystery gifts for katie and eiko. for some reason i love the idea of buying something pre-wrapped so it's a surprise when you open it to see what it is. yesss! even though they turned out to be fairly crappy things (chinese bird whistles, some unidentifiable toy, a chicago-themed magnetic clip) it's all about the anticipation!

chinatown


uhh yeah. so we then headed over to lincoln park for some boutique shopping, i myself being priced out of the market however interesting to see nonetheless. back to bucktown for some chinese food, then we took a cab downtown to go to joe's restaurant, blackbird, for some serious dessert. we had five different desserts, all damn good and very unconventional. joe also ordered me a 'pimm's cup' which is a drink that he thinks is hilarious. just because of the name i guess. it was really cool to see where he works & i look forward to checking out avec next time, which is the sister restaurant that he also works at, next door to blackbird. went home and henna'ed (is that a verb? or is it 'did' henna ? or what?) i am quite proud of the peacock i drew for katie, it was my first attempt at henna and it was super fun to do.

check out my handiwork


next day they headed home pretty early. it is awesome that we are close enough to minneapple that people can pop over for a weekend and do so relatively cheaply (hint again).

in other news, my computer and ipod touch hath arrived. good god the ipod touch is cool. not to brag or anything but that thing is so...hip. perhaps i have turned a blind eye to the blackberry phenomenon wherein people check their email and the internet in a tiny device but it's really thrilling to be able to do such a thing now!! plus photos and music and videos galore! dependent of course on wifi access but still! so freaking cool. ooo yeah.

not much new the recent weekend, watched the debates of course friday night (with joe, he was actually at home on a friday night!) then went shopping on saturday, had to do a return plus get a case for the aforementioned ipod, got falafel with joe & aaron, watched the coen brothers' 'miller's crossing' (good) uhm, went grocery shopping, was lazy, etc etc. fiddled with the new computer (the novelty has not faded).

that is about it for now. heard that the stock market had an epic tank today altho haven't had time to investigate. i guess it this would be a bad time to open that roth IRA i've been thinking about for a few years. i have zero investments but i do worry about my mom's retirement. o what a tangled web...