R.O.C.K on the C.T.A

As someone who has taken pictures of visible boners on the el, I find this website awesome.

http://rockonthecta.blogspot.com/

Holy taters, it's December?!

It's Monday afternoon after returning from Thanksgiving break. Ugh.

It's been "snowing" for the past 24 hours or so, nothing is really sticking, so it's extra slushy and ugly outside.

I spent the Friday after Thanksgiving at the hospital, getting my eye checked out by an eye doctor. I was physically assaulted by a 2 year-old at Matt's family's Thanksgiving celebration. Ok, not really - but I did throw the kid over my head one too many times, to the point of his little finger using my eye socket as a landing pad. Ended up having scratches on my cornea, was given some antibiotics and eye drops and sent on my way. It's been 3 days & I'm doing much better.... now if I could get the tape marks off my face...

Work is work. It's hopefully going to be fairly quiet this month. Hopefully.

Matt and I haven't gotten a Christmas tree up yet. Perhaps this weekend or next week.

Speaking of Christmas, on the 27th, Matt and I are flying out to Tahoe for a Reynolds family vacation. Matt's sister Megan is a ski instructor out there, so we're all headed out there for the week. Matt's parents are renting out a condo, so that'll be nice. Being the klutz that I am, I'm wondering how well I'll do with skiing. There's always the lodge, I suppose there's a bar there. That reminds me, I need to buy a fancy new ski coat. If I don't ski well, at least I should look the part.

Other than that, nothing new is really going on. Illinois basketball is somewhat surprisingly 6-0 going into the ACC/Big 10 Challenge on Tuesday. Looking forward to going to the game on Saturday at the United Center against Georgia. I'm also looking forward to spending my last month of school-less time doing fun things that I probably won't be able to afford once I'm in school.

Flu shots

So our office had free flu shots today.

I've been contemplating whether or not to get one for about 3 weeks. I figure it's free, so I may as well. Then I think back to the previous 2 times I've gotten one and remember the icky feeling I got as a result. Nothing too major, but general fatigue and stomach-y issues.

I know there's very little scientific proof that one can get sick as a result of the flu shot, but I've heard too many people talk about how sick they became as a result of the prickly little needle. Did I really want to risk that, even if it was nothing major?

So, about 20 minutes before the nurses were set to leave our office, I walked into the conference room and got a shot (mainly due to boredom). I figure now I won't feel bad when I call in sick tomorrow. :)

Welp, see ya later!

I'm not actually really going anywhere, I just like that line from Dumb & Dumber and felt like using it.

I've just returned from meeting with the fine folks at National Louis University and I'm officially registered for Winter 2009 classes, to begin the week of January 12th. I'm still sorting through financial aid, but I'm hoping to hear back from them sometime in the next few days.

For those who don't know, I'm entering the graduate program at National Louis, going for my Master of Arts in Teaching (where I will also receive certification) for early childhood education. I am taking classes part-time (to begin, 1 class online and 1 3-hour class during the week, in the evening), and will be finished in the fall of 2010.

Needless to say, I am really freaking excited. I'm going to have to do my best to take advantage of the free time I currently have, because the next 2 years will likely be a lot different for me. Doing homework again? Going to the library to study? It's odd, but I'm actually looking forward to it.

Thanks to everyone who has encouraged me in the past (seeing that I've been contemplating making this move for roughly 4-5 years). The next 26 months are going to be awesome.

Just because this picture makes me laugh

Don't be Jack, move to the back

For the life of me, I will never understand people, who otherwise appear to be coherent, completely incapable of riding public transportation in the most effective manner.

You board a train or bus and all seats are full. There are likely more stops remaining until you reach your destination.

How hard is it to move toward the middle of a train car or toward the back of a bus? Why in the world would someone think it makes sense to board and then just stand near the door? These seem like really dumb questions, yet it happens all the time.

"But I'm getting off in a few stops!" is not a good excuse. Actually, unless you're unable to walk, or have huge boxes with you (which you shouldn't be on the train at rush hour to begin with, but I digress), I don't see a good reason to not move to a spot that would create the most amount of room for other passengers.

Many times, if I'm boarding & see this happening, I'll push past people (politely asking) and mumble something about moving to the back (sort of passive-aggressive). You'd think the push past wouldn't occur once I excuse myself, because the passenger(s) has to then realize their public transportation etiquette misstep.

It makes me a lot angrier than it should, that's for sure. I wish it didn't bother me as much as it does. I've been stuck on the platform way too many times to not get angry about it, and if I can help prevent someone else being angry, I'm all for it.

"Thank you for your interest....

blah blah blah, you suck, we'll keep your resume in some imaginary file, blah, learn to sing, blah, you shouldn't be around children"

Ah well.

Back to the drawing board.

or the job board. Whatever.

Time for a change?

So, I had an interview at Gymboree tonight. For those who don't know what Gymboree is, in short, Gymboree is an atmosphere for adults and children to take part in interactive classes that build children's cognitive, social and physical skills. It's geared toward children 5 and under (which happens to be what I'm planning on going back to school to teach).

Anyway, I was invited to take part in the group interview tonight at the location in Lincoln Park. The invite included the following points:

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW FOR THE INTERVIEW!

1. Please come prepared to sing a children's song (a capella). Any song - you do not have to have a great voice.
2. Wear comfortable clothes - this is a very hands on interview.
3. Bring a schedule of availability - days and times that you would be able to work.
4. Bring any requests for time off from work in the next 6 months.
5. Bring socks. We are a shoeless environment.

Singing? I'm not sure anyone should be subjected to my voice, let alone, my singing voice. The "you do not have to have a great voice" was encouraging though, so I didn't think much of it.

I arrive to a room of about 20 people. As I'm filling out the application and other paperwork, roughly 10 more people filter into the room. We're asked to sit in a circle on the mats in the middle of the room. Easy enough. We're asked to state our name and our favorite television show. The key here is to distinguish yourself from others, so the interviewers are able to remember you. Luckily, I have many different favorite shows, so when it was my turn, I didn't have a problem (my favorite "show" ended up being "anything on HGTV" and/or "whatever reality show happened to be on at the time").

After this, we learn that we will sing our song later. We will also learn a song & have to sing it back to the interviewers in another room. Cool. I might be able to do that.

Before songtime, we had to give a quick presentation, mirrored after the one given by one of the instructors. We went to one of the play stations, learned what concept development the children would learn, and then present it back to the group. There was a tambourine involved. In our presentation, we had to pretend as if the group in the room was children and grown-ups. Now, I'm normally pretty outgoing, but in an attempt to do a good job, but not look like a total dufus in front of my peers, I think I did ok. Most going up were nervous, a little repetitive, not that enthusiastic, so that helped. I made sure to use different wording and energy than the ones before me, so I think I did an ok job there.

Now it's time for songs. It started off with 6 people in a row singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider and The Wheels on the Bus. This calmed me down quite a bit, since I planned on singing a song I hadn't heard before doing Teacher for a Day. The song I chose is loosely called "The alligator and monkey song" - here's one version of it on youtube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0M2rmDe8ASY (she uses crocodile, but essentially, it's the same thing). As I said, I'm a fairly bad singer, so this song afforded me the opportunity to use a fun, interactive song while talking the lyrics. The interviewers seemed a bit refreshed to have a new song.

Finally, one of the interviewers taught the group a song, that we would eventually have to sing to the other interviewer. We sang it 3 times & then had to go sing it to the other interviewer, I assumed in another room. Nope - just right across the room, where everyone could hear you. Now, this song required a little more ability. Yikes.

I decided to be one of the first to go, mostly to get it over with. As I walked up, the owner said, "Amber, right?" That gave me a little bit of confidence, as there were 30 people they needed to remember, obviously I did something memorable prior to the atrocity that was about to happen. The song ended up coming out a little better than planned, so I was able to walk out with some sense of confidence.

Now comes reality. This job will definitely be a significant paycut (assuming I'm offered or asked back for a second interview). I will likely struggle with the decision, and I'm certainly not looking forward to that step in the process. That said, I want more than anything to get out of where I am, and doing something with children would be a good transition & one that I might be willing to take a cut for.

All I can do now is sit and wait.

Caribou Coffee

I don't know what it is, but for some reason I find it to be my civic duty to help people navigate Chicago. The latest adventure isn't all that exciting or really blog-worthy (but really, what is?). As I walked back from my lunch at Barnes and Noble (bought a book so I could sit inside the cafe portion and eat my Jimmy Johns), I hear a thick-accented fellow asking a Traffic Management Authority figure (you know, the ones in the bright yellow vests who stand at intersections "directing" cars) where the nearest Caribou Coffee is located. This particular TFA figure didn't seem to knowledgeable about the coffee in the area, so as she sent him off to River North (like 10 blocks away), I stop him to ask if he's looking for a Caribou Coffee (knowing there was one within 2 blocks). He explained that he was, and that he googled it before coming downtown and knew there were 2 in the area. He kept pointing that out to me. I only knew of one, and if he'd stop pointing out that he knew there were 2, I could get on with giving him directions.

We had walked almost half a block at this point, so I figured I'd just walk him to the Caribou Coffee, rather than explain where it is. By "walk him to the Caribou Coffee," I mean that we walked back to my office and I pointed down to the Italian Village sign and explained it was right before that, on the left.

Why I didn't just quickly explain that it was one block west and one block north is beyond me. It's just what I do. I think the more details I can give about the walk ("oh, you'll pass a Walgreens and then it's a quick left. If you pass another Walgreens, you've gone too far" - are details people probably don't need). Granted, Mr. I know there are 2 Caribou Coffees nearby didn't give me a chance to give the quick directions, but still.

There was no reason for me to feel bad that he was about to wander 10 blocks north to River North, but I did and I wanted to help.

McCain: Mayors and Governers can't handle national security

I don't know how to embed this into my post, so I'm linking it below.

McCain: Mayors and Governers can't handle national security

Transcript:
"I have had a strong and a long relationship on national security, I've been involved in every national crisis that this nation has faced since Beirut, I understand the issues, I understand and appreciate the enormity of the challenge we face from radical Islamic extremism," the Senator declared. "I am prepared. I am prepared. I need no on-the-job training. I wasn't a mayor for a short period of time. I wasn't a governor for a short period of time."

This is just sad

I don't have the time to get into my thoughts on the GOP ticket at this time, but I will say that Palin was a great choice for McCain. That said, it's pretty hard to believe that McCain would select a woman for his running mate, in hopes of wooing former Hillary supporters. I can only hope that those undecided women voters take the time to learn about Palin & understand that her politics are nothing like Hillary's, and are not those that support women's rights.

Working in downtown Chicago has plenty of perks

One of the top one being the ability to eat lunch at Millennium Park.


My office is about 2 blocks west of Millennium Park, so it's a quick walk to and from for lunch. Typically, I find the same shaded spot, over near the huge block fountains at Monroe and Michigan. I grab a seat, eat my lunch & then read or just people watch. It's really neat to watch how excited the kids get while playing in the fountain (picture removed)





Today I decided to head to the Pritzker Pavilion (also pictured below). As I was walking into Millennium Park I noticed there was symphony practice going on at the Pritzker, so I decided to head over there to listen. I ended up sitting right near where people coming from the north turned to see the Bean/Cloudgate. It's sort of cool to hear the reactions of people as they make the turn. Anything from, "What the heck is that?" to "Here it is Mom! I knew we were close!" was uttered from the mouths of the assumed tourists. Normally, I'd get annoyed with tourists, but for some reason, today I didn't mind. It probably has to do with the reaffirmation that I live in a pretty cool city, enhanced by the fact that it's a beautiful day.





This was sort of a boring update.

I rode my bike for the first time in about a year yesterday

Ouch.

Also, I forgot I shouldn't ride at night without a light. I realized this once I had already biked over to Jen's for 90210 night. Oops.

These are the only updates you people will get, seeing that no comments were even made about the update that took me all morning to comprise.

My last update was June 2nd?

First, I'm awful at keeping this thing up-to-date, and for that I apologize.

Second, where the heck has the summer gone?! I'll see if I can recap the summer, thus far.

Near the middle of May, my old roommate Sean came to Chicago for a visit. It was good to have him back. I took Friday afternoon off to head to the bleachers at Wrigley, I always enjoy starting a weekend off early by going to a Cubs game. I've also been to my fair share of Cubs games this season - I believe my record at Wrigley (yes, I have a say in the outcome of the games) is 10-2 so far. Come to think of it, the Friday afternoon game I went to with Sean was one of the losses.

Memorial Day weekend, Matt and I headed up to Minocqua/Lake Tomahawk to join Matt's parents and grandpa at their place up there. It was the first time really spending time with his grandpa, so it was a bit intimidating (mostly because this guy has a vet med degree, PhD, and one other post-graduate degree that's slipped my mind at the moment). He also wasn't aware that Matt and I live together, so we had to feign staying in different rooms. Luckily, he was staying in the basement, and Matt and I were upstairs so it wasn't too bad. I ended up having a really great time up there. I've usually been a bit uncomfortable being myself around his family (well, the parents/aunts/uncles/grandparents, at least), but I found myself completely comfortable, even while playing Trivial Pursuit with a bunch of smarty-pants. Turns out grandpa said some nice things about me to Matt's parents. That made me feel good.

June flew by in the blink of an eye. The end of June brought the wedding of Claudia and Keith. Claudia is also another former roommate in Chicago. The wedding took us to Sterling, IL the weekend of the first Cubs/Sox series. The day of the wedding was when the Cubs ended up winning 11-7. Jen and I paid the DJ $5 to play Go Cubs Go at the reception. (Did I mention that Keith, and many of his groomsmen, are Sox fans?) At least it's good to know that a cross-town rivalry relationship worked out! :)

The end of June brought about the Pride Parade in Chicago. Jen's friends Tyler and Judd host a pre-parade brunch every year in their awesome place on Lake Shore Drive. The parade this year was a ton of fun. I do sometimes forget how great it is that we have such an open and large GLBT community in Chicago. It's a pretty cool parade to attend, IMO.

Mid-July, Matt and I headed back up north to the lake house. His family spends roughly 10-14 days up there every summer, during usually the same time each year. This time, we were joined by cousins, aunts & uncles, babies, grandpa, parents, etc. It was fun to experience the weekend there with Matt, where he got to show me the old cabins they stayed at prior to the purchase of their current place on Lake Hasbrook. I really love it up there, and am glad we've been able to spend time up there this summer.

The summer has also been filled with a Chicago staple - outdoor festivals. In July, we went to the Folk and Roots Outdoor Music Festival, presented by the Old Town School of Folk Music, up in Lincoln Square. Matt, Jen and I enjoyed listening to ensemble bands cover the Kinks, the Beattles & Wilco. Sitting in the lawn, drinking a cold beer or soda, snacking on bread/oil & parmesan made for a wonderful afternoon. Recently, a larger group of us headed to Retro on Roscoe, held in Roscoe Village. This fest is a group of cover bands who play older songs, usually from the 80s or 90s. We started out at The Addison Inn/Packaged Goods/Roscoe Village tap for the Cubs/Pirates game, and then slowly made our way down Leavitt to the festival. Beautiful day, great friends, fun music made for an exceptional afternoon. Even though I've just mentioned two of the festivals, they are what make summers in Chicago so enjoyable. There's a different festival every weekend.

Other than that, I've continued to play softball every Sunday... our team isn't the best in the league, but we usually compete, so it's pretty enjoyable for me. I'm clearly the worst girl on the team, but will probably never get kicked off, since I started the team the summer of 2001. :)

Oh, one last thing - I applied for and was accepted to the early childhood education masters program at National Louis University. After getting my finances straightened out, I hope to begin classes in the Spring of 2009. For those who are all, "WTF?" - this is something I've been wanting to do for probably 5 or 6 years. I applied to Roosevelt a few years ago, was accepted, but wasn't at the point where I was ready to head back. I still plan on working full-time, while taking classes in the evening. RIP any of my free time.

The Olympics start tonight. I'm not really all that jazzed up for much more than seeing Deron play. Gymnastics are fun to watch too, I suppose.

My friend Chris is moving to Michigan soon. Next Friday we're having a going-away party for him at Schoolyard. I still remember when he and I weren't friends, he hated Chicago, and refused to think otherwise. Then, I helped him find a place up here, even signed the lease for him sight unseen - he ended up being our extra-key holder for the apartment, oftentimes being the caretaker of Steve while Matt and I were away. It's going to be sad to see him go.

The following week, Matt & I, and a handful of our friends are heading up north to the lakehouse. I'm eagerly anticipating the trip, as I can't wait for friends to experience life up there. It's really a nice place to be able to retreat to, and I'm very grateful Matt's family lets us use it so much.

Ok, there's my update. Hopefully the four people who actually check this place for updates are happy.

Paris - Chapter 7?

Holy crap, I've been bad at keeping this updated...


Wednesday, 4.2.08

So, Matt's final day at the show was this morning. I had initially planned on going with him to watch the awards ceremony, but my pounding headache thought otherwise.


I got ready very leisurely as I waited for Matt to return home around noon. We decided to head to the Eiffel Tower that day. We hopped on the Metro/RER and made our way over almost immediately upon Matt's return to the hotel.


Being that it was overcast and early April, we were lucky in that there were little to no lines to go up in the Eiffel Tower. While waiting in line, we were trying to determine which level to go up to (before getting in line, I hadn't realized there were options). Depending on the level, it was a different price. We settled on heading up to the 2nd level, since it was fairly close to the 1st & we'd be able to walk between the two. (In hindsight, I have no idea why I even considered going all the way to the top).


I'm very afraid of heights. Matt is somewhat afraid. Feeding off each other, it appeared that we were both very, very afraid once we started going up. Rewind - as we boarded the elevator that took us up one of the legs of the Tower, I immediately went toward the windowed side. Big mistake. As soon as we started going up, my stomach leapt into my chest.


We exited the elevator at the second level. Everyone else on the elevator seemed really excited to head directly to the edges. Not so much for me. I found myself holding onto the inner portions of the Tower, anything that helped me to feel as if I wouldn't be blown off.


Once I saw stairs to the first level, I immediately started walking down them. What an awful idea. Little did I know that we'd be walking down roughly 12-13 stories of stairs, all contained within the leg of the Tower. I couldn't let go of the railing and wouldn't look anywhere but down at my feet & the stairs as I walked down. Once we got to the first level, it was still a bit much for my fear of heights to take, so we didn't spend much time there.


Overall, I'm glad we went up in the Eiffel Tower, but getting back on solid ground was probably the best part of that visit. Sad, but true.


That evening, we had dinner with the American team than competed in the show. The back area of a restaurant was rented out for roughly 50-60 of us. The food was ok, and it was nice to meet some of the people Matt has been working with.


Whoa - REWIND -- before dinner, on our way back to the hotel, we figured we should look into purchasing our chunnel tickets (the chunnel is a 2-3 hour train that went from Paris to London under the English Channel). We probably should have looked into it further, but we didn't think we needed to purchase tickets prior to the trip. Boy, were we ever wrong. Chunnel tickets before we left for our trip were 90 euro (roughly $150-180) - we were ok paying that for the train ride. Checking ticket prices the night before, they were up to over 200 euro a piece. Matt called to ask if there were lower prices available. Good news! There were some for around 100 euro available, but not online. We headed to the train station, rushing to get there before it closed (and to get back in time to get ready for fast-approaching dinner plans). We arrive at the station, the agent cant find these lower prices. Awesome. Change in plans. We ended up heading back to the internet cafe and booking an early flight on EasyJet for around 130 euro. Not the best solution, but better than the cost of the chunnel.


After dinner, Matt and I decided to take one last trip to the store around the corner for some beers to drink as we packed up our stuff. Once we were packed, he and I sat on the bed, legs stretched out in front of us - thankful for the time we had just spent in Paris and eagerly looking forward to a few days in London.


Goofing around

(I was not really near the edge for this picture. Also, my right hand is tightly gripping the railing)
These are the stairs we took down from the second level to the first

Paris - Chapter 6

Tuesday, 4.1.08

So, today I decided to head back to some museums, and made my way to Musée d'Orsay. This museum is on the left bank of the Seine River, and is in a former railway station, Gare d'Orsay. It houses mostly French art, but is best known for the amount of impressionist works housed there.

I was able to purchase a ticket at an automated machine, as I did at The Louvre, so I was pleased about that. But once I was inside & saw the extensive collection of pieces, I decided to get a set of headphones to have the different pieces of works further explained to me as I wandered around. At this point, I felt somewhat comfortable with my broken-French, enough so to ask for a headset to be played in English. I put my headphones on and started my journey through the old train station (which was pretty cool in and of itself).

Two and a half hours into my tour, and only partially through the museum, I realized I probably wouldn't have much time for any place else, so I took my time wandering through the rest of the museum. My preference toward smaller, more genre/artist specific museums was confirmed as I walked through this museum. It was also really neat to see pieces that I had studied in college, right there in front of my face, even looking back at the pictures, it's sort of surreal that I had the opportunity to do this. Pictures of some of my favorite pieces are included at the end.

After about 4 hours at the museum, I figured I should head back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. I had taken the Metro/RER there, but as was the case other days, I liked to do some exploring while walking, so I looked at a map and figured out a general direction I needed to head.

After walking for about 20 minutes, I decided to take a break on a bench, to take off the scarf I was wearing, and to give my legs a rest. A gentleman quickly sat down next to me, eventually asking me if I spoke French. I simply shook my head (as I was told not to tell any shady-looking character what language I spoke). He followed that up with Spanish and eventually English, both of which I shook my head at. Feeling a bit like I was in a bad situation, I decided to get up and start walking again.

As I'm crossing the street, two guys in street clothes point at me & one approaches me. He starts speaking to me in French, showing me this folder he had in his hand. I assumed he wanted me to buy something, or that he was in on something with the guy from the bench, so I sternly told him I wasn't interested and that I didn't speak French. He then took a wallet out of his pocket and flashed a badge, and in broken-English confirmed that he was with the French police. He then followed up with more broken-English, asking me what the gentleman who sat next to me said. I tried to explain that all he asked was whether I spoke French. His response was something along the lines of, "Well, that's good. He's not a nice fellow." The rest of my walk was spent on well-populated streets with no stops.

This night, we decided to head to a restaurant the hotel recommended. Based on the business card they gave us, it looked to be a relatively close walk. It wasn't. This ended up being fine with me, because I was able to point out things as Matt, Heather and I walked to dinner (as if I knew the city or something). :) The walk ended up being well worth it, as the food and wine were delicious. Matt and I ordered a random bottle of red wine from the menu, and it ended up probably being the best wine from the trip, and that I've ever had (as far as I can remember). I ended up ordering veal, and it too, was probably the best meal of the trip.

With stuffed bellies, we made our way back to the hotel/Pantheon area. This night, we had planned on meeting up with a friend of ours that lives in Paris (well, I guess he lived there, as he's since moved back to the States)... being that it was late, we weren't sure if we'd be able to, but we headed toward a bar anyway.

We wandered down the narrow streets near the Pantheon and stumbled upon Le Piano Vache, which was a pretty neat little dive bar. As I was on the phone outside explaining where we were, someone from inside popped their head out and said, "Are you going to stand outside all night or come in for a drink?" I knew this would be a nice place.

With directions given to our friend, we headed inside and found a table. We ordered our drinks and settled in for the night, anticipating their arrival as we listened to the eclectic mix of music coming from the jukebox. After about an hour, they eventually arrived, citing getting lost as their reason for being late (in my mind, that made this bar a little cooler than I already thought it was). We spent the rest of the night talking, explaining where I'd been, as well as hearing what it's like to live in Paris as an English-speaking American. It was a really nice way to end our night.

Musee d'Orsay:

Paris - Chapter 5

Monday, 3.31.08

So, this day began much like the others - awaking as Matt was getting ready to head off for work commitments, sitting down and taking a look at places I wanted to visit & deciding on a game plan. Today, I planned on heading north and a little bit east/central, as I wanted to check out Notre Dame and the Picasso Museum, which was a bit away from where I had been walking previously.


I headed over to Notre Dame on foot, and it's really just an amazing-looking building. To think that people were able to build this some 800 years ago is something I'm not even able to comprehend. I walked into the cathedral and simply took my own tour. There was a mass going on, but people are allowed to walk throughout the church, so long as you didn't want into the individual chapels on the sides. While pictures were also allowed, some that I took of the inside didn't turn out so well (what can I say, I'm an amateur!). I probably spent about an hour inside Notre Dame on my own & then decided to head out, toward Musee Picasso (the fancy way to say "Picasso Museum).


Now, I didn't have the same luck here as I did at the Louvre the previous day, in that, I had to purchase my ticket from a person, and not from an easy, little machine. So, I used the little French that I knew and muttered, "Je Voudrais un" as I held up one finger. The woman said some amount, I wasn't sure what it was, so I handed her €10, hoping it was enough. Thankfully, it was - and I even received change! With ticket in hand, I headed toward the entrance of the museum.


I knew a little bit about the museum from Art History classes in college, but it was really neat to see in person. The museum is actually inside the building known as Hôtel Salé, which was built back in the 17th century for Pierre Aubert, a tax farmer who became rich collecting the salt tax ("Salé" means "salted"). The mansion had changed hands, as well as uses (I believe it was a school at one point), but eventually became the Musee Picasso in the 1970s.

The museum houses a lot of Picasso works, through many of his different artistic periods (Blue, Rose, African, and Cubism). The floor plan was a little confusing, but for the most part, the pieces were displayed in chronological order. I really enjoyed my time here & probably spent around 2-3 hours inside.

After finishing up there, I decided to head outside, but take a somewhat different route back to the hotel. Along the way, I'm fairly certain I walked through Paris' version of Boystown, which was sort of cool. I also ended up passing a pretty cool fountain, Stravinsky Fountain, which seemed to be in the middle of a commonly-seen area in Paris - some sort of square/outdoor-gathering place.

I eventually made it back to the hotel, worked up the courage to attempt to pronounce "43" to the front desk to retrieve our key, only to be told Matt was already upstairs with it. Argh!

Tonight, we had a fairly fancy dinner with the group of people he was there with for work, at Hôtel des Invalides. The Hôtel des Invalides was built in the 17th century by Louis XIV to provide accommodation for disabled and impoverished war veterans. The complex features 15 courtyards, the largest being the cour d'honneur (court of honor). This courtyard was used for military parades. Matt and I attempted to take a picture with this in the background, located below.

Dinner was very good, and held in a lavishly decorated room. It was served over 4 courses - scallops being first, followed by veal, followed by a salad, which was then followed by a dessert sampling. When the salad was brought out third, one of the more annoying Americans at our table blurted out, "This is weird, we have our salads first in America" in a louder & slower tone, as if that'd help those who didn't speak English understand.

After dinner, a French magician/comedian came out to perform. This was our cue to leave. We hopped in a cab & headed back to the hotel, where we decided to stay, as we were pretty tired & bars were likely closed.

Notre Dame:





Stravinsky Fountain:


Matt and I at dinner at Hôtel des Invalides:

Paris - Chapter 4

Sunday, 3.30.08
So Sunday was my first day exploring on my own. I had a loose schedule of things I wanted to see. As I'd get ready in the morning, I'd take a look at the list and check to see what was closed when.

At dinner the previous night, one of Matt's coworkers had suggested taking a bus tour, to see most of the sights and then make the decision on what you wanted to go back to. Being that it was overcast/rainy, I figured I'd try that on Sunday.

I used the borrow copy of The Eyewitness Travel Guide to Paris to find the better bus tour options. Once I located the one I wanted to use, I started my walk toward its location. After walking up and down the street it was located (according to the book) in the rain, I was about to give up, when I looked to my left and saw one of the buses coming toward me. I followed the street from where the bus came & eventually found the office.

It was approximately 11:35AM at this time - I went in and asked when the next tour would be.
"That was the 11:30 bus you just missed. The next tour is at 2:15." A little bit let down, I still purchased my ticket. I decided to head back out and explore for a few hours. Luckily, this bus tour company was a short jaunt from the Louvre, so I decided to spend some time in there.

Much to my surprise, there weren't long lines to enter. Once inside, there were longer lines for the ticket windows, but thank goodness for automatic ticket machines. I made my way to that, much shorter line. I had the ability to read the instructions in English & pay with my debit card, what an easy transaction.

It was roughly 12:15 at this point, so I decided I should get to all of the bigger things that everyone goes to see during their visit to the Louvre. I booked it to where the Mona Lisa was displayed (and even though I knew it was small, I was still a bit surprised at just how small it was) - and then walked around looking for the Venus de Milo & then the Winged Victory of Samothrace. It was probably around 1:00PM at this point (*note* I did not have a watch & my cellphone didn't work over there, so the only way for me to immediately know what time it was was to take a picture with my camera and then add the 7 hours to the timestamp).

I leisurely walked through the museum, eventually making my way to the exit, as I needed to pick up lunch at some point before the hour-long tour. I figured I could come back after the tour to see the rest of the museum.

I made my way outside & found another one of the street vendors selling baguettes. I did my best French impression & placed my order for a tomato/mozzarella baguette & bottle of Evian water (mainly because it was the easiest to order).

Because it was raining/wet, I couldn't plop down on the grass like I had hoped. I found a covered bench area though & started to eat there. I finished up around 1:45 and started to walk back to the bus tour company. A line had already begun to gather, so I hopped in it.

As I stated above, this tour was roughly an hour & went to such places as: the Champs-Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, Palace de Invalides, Place de la Concorde, Notre Dame, The Louvre, and the Eiffel Tower (I know there were others, I just don't recall them - sort of says something for the tour). We were relegated to the bus for each site, no getting off to explore as I anticipated. While it was nice to have a quick-ish tour of these sites, I would have preferred a more interactive tour.

We returned to the bus tour company around 3:15, once I deboarded the bus, I decided to head back into the Louvre for a less-rushed tour. I spent probably another 2 hours inside, and then decided I should head back to meet Matt, as that was our plan on the days he worked (meet at the hotel between 5-6 to decide what to do about dinner).

That night, we were invited to dinner with some Chicago-area colleagues at a place on the Champs-Elysees called L'Alsace. Not knowing what to expect, but excited to go to Champs-Elysees, I figured I'd find something I could eat. Now, having no idea what Alsatian food was, I was a bit surprised by the menu. Apparently, Alsace is right near the border of France and Germany (read: sauerkraut and sausage). Most plates included a big ol' pile of sauerkraut, some sausages, a carrot, and more sauerkraut. Needless to say, Matt, Heather and I weren't all that impressed.

After dinner, Heather headed back to the hotel, while Matt and I decided to explore the area, where we ultimately ended up in a pub with live music. It was a little bit of a goosebump moment when the musician played "Sweet Home, Chicago" (he didn't know we were from Chicago).

After a few drinks there, we decided to head back to the hotel area, and either head to the pub we had went the previous night or to the "cremeria" for more beer. The pub appeared to be closing, but still had a couple of gals inside working on their laptops. The bartender offered us a couple of drinks, saying, "Well, you're in here now, it'd be a shame if you didn't have at least one pint" - SOLD! 3 beers later, but before the girls had packed up their laptops, we decided to call it a night.

I'm really enjoying Paris to this point.

Pictures from the Louvre (I did a lot of this weird picture-taking throughout my trip)




Palace de Invalides

Matt and I on Champs-Elysees

Paris - Chapter 3

Saturday, 3.29.08 - PM

So, after spending some time at Montmartre/Sacré Coeur, Matt and I headed back to the Metro/RER (I never knew which subway I was on) to make our way back to the hotel. By the time we made it back to the area of our hotel, we still had about an hour before we could check in, so we stopped at a local deli. Once again, I left it to Matt to place my order for me, but the guys behind the counter seemed pretty friendly & not at all angry that we spoke English to one another (I guess I had this idea that all French-speaking people we'd deal with would be offended & rude to us when they heard English. Turns out, if you put forth an effort to speak French, they're a little more forgiving).

This was my first taste of a mozzarella/tomato baguette sammich, and let me tell you, it was delicious. I don't know what I was expecting, but I was pleasantly surprised. By the time we were finishing up, our eyelids began getting heavier, our bodies feeling worn down.

We headed over to the hotel about 30 minutes early, just hoping we'd be able to check in. Luckily, our room was ready! *sidenote* They put your hotel key on this huge, heavy key chain. Sometime similar to this:



I didn't really get it, and neither did Matt really, but we took it. Even took it with us when we'd go out for the night (well, the first night, at least). I had noticed someone earlier dropping off their key before leaving the hotel. I guess the hotel holds onto it & when you return, you just asked them for the key. This did pose a little bit of a problem for me, as silly as it is, I had trouble saying "43" in French, so I'd usually just say "4-3" (as in the word "four" followed by the word "three"). By the end though, after one of the friendly desk staff explained how to pronounce it, I was able to say "43" in recognizable French (I kept trying to pronounce the 'forty' portion of it how one would pronounce it in Spanish - so that was my main problem).

So, back to the story. We were able to check in to our room, so that made us both happy. We had planned on crashing for a couple hours, to refresh ourselves before dinner.

Now, I had always heard the worst about European hotel rooms (mainly that they are really small), so I was expecting the worst. I was pleasantly surprised at the size of our room. Below are some pictures:




Now, here's the bathroom. Looks pretty normal, I know - however, the tub/shower only had one small window as the barrier between the shower and the rest of the bathroom. I had to be extra careful when showering not to splash water all over the freaking place.



Once we awoke from our naps, we started to get ready to head to Au Petit Riche for dinner. The place came recommended from Matt's parents, who ate there when they visited Paris a few years ago. Again, I was really happy to have Matt with me. With most meals, I'd ask him to look over the menu & suggest what he thought I'd like. Most of the time, it wasn't anything I'd ever try, but I've been trying to do better about eating new foods. I ordered the sole, which is a type of fish. Matt and I split a carafe of wine as well (which actually was a part of most every, if not all, meals we had. Not that having wine with dinner is odd, it just is for us non-wine drinkers).

After dinner, we cabbed it back to our hotel where we dropped off Matt's coworker who had joined us for dinner. She headed to bed, but Matt and I were still somewhat awake, due to our earlier nap. We walked around the area and found a pub around the corner. We enjoyed a few beers there, before retiring home for the night. . . but not before stopping at the local grocer to take beers/booze back to our room with us!

I've included pictures from dinner, beers post dinner & our beer/booze run below:

This is where we bought our beer/booze

This is the beer/booze we bought

Paris - Chapter 2

Why am I writing these in chapters?

Saturday, 3.29.08 - AM
By the time we arrived in Paris, it was 7AM local time. As we got off the plane, we were corralled through customs, another new experience for me. I did have a twinge of excitement, as the little person in the booth was going to stamp the first stamp in my passport!

"Bonjour!" she says, as she takes my passport. She thumbs through it & hands it back to me. No stamp. WTF? I even paged through it in case I somehow missed the process of her stamping it. No stamp.

Anyway, we're now following the other passengers from our flight, but I'm also paying attention to the signs in an effort to teach myself some French. I look up and see "Baggage Claim" with an arrow, next to "Sortie" with the same arrow. Aha! I learned my first French term while in France! Sortie = baggage claim. It makes sense, sortie is close to sorting.

I'm shuffled to the side, while Matt waits for the bags. This part of traveling always makes me nervous. What if my bag doesn't pop out onto the conveyor belt? Would I have to spend money otherwise designated for fun in Paris on stupid clothes? Out comes my bag. Woohoo! More money for fun and not stupid clothes!

As we're headed to the currency exchange/ATM, I notice more "sortie" signs. We're nowhere near any baggage claims, so I'm wondering why they'd have sortie signs upstairs. Meanwhile, I send Matt to the currency exchange line, as he's at least able to speak some French. I stand in line at the ATM, but then begin to freak out a little, thinking, "what if all of the directions on the machine are in French? What the heck will I do?" Again, my non-international traveling self should have realized the machine likely offers multiple languages. It did. Hooray.

With cash in hand, Matt and I head to the taxi line, again, passing under a sign that read "sortie." Once I saw the sign hanging over a door to the outside, I realized "sortie" must not mean baggage claim, but rather "exit." At least I kept that to myself, no one knew how dumb I was.

We get into a cab, and once again, Matt is able to communicate with the driver, using the French he remembered. The ride took quite sometime, and ended up being about €40 (which translates to roughly $63). When we're almost to our hotel, we pass by a pretty old & large building, with well-dressed kids standing outside smoking. We're told this is one of the richest high schools in Paris. First, it was Saturday, what were kids doing in school? Secondly, everyone seemed to be dressed really well, like professional-business well - they weren't in uniforms, rather, their own clothes. I know this shouldn't be surprising to me, but it was.

We pull around the circular drive, see the Pantheon on our left & our hotel straight ahead. What a cool place to be staying!

Entering the hotel, it's Matt duty again to do the talking. I sit in the quaint lounge area of the hotel lobby while Matt speaks with the two guys at the desk. There seems to be some confusion. There isn't a room for us at the hotel. It's not under Reynolds, or under his coworkers last name either. The men behind the desk seem a bit frazzled, and ask numerous times for the last name & if we're sure we're at the correct hotel. Eventually, one of the men calls the hotel located directly next door. They have our reservation! Thank goodness.

We lug our what seem to be well over 100lb bags out the door and into the oddly similar hotel next door. I take my seat, Matt once again does the talking. Because it was around 8:30AM at this point, we weren't able to check-in. This ended up being a good thing, as while I know it's probably best to stay awake once arriving in a foreign country, the odds of me getting into the room, seeing the bed, and wanting to crash for a few hours was pretty high. The hotel was gracious enough to hold our bags while we ventured out into the city, not able to check in for 5 1/2 hours.

We decide to head to the subway and head to Montmartre/Sacré Coeur. (More can be read about it here ). Here are a couple of pictures:

Paris - Chapter 1

So, I'm not too sure how I'm going to organize my thoughts on my trip, so bear with me.

Friday, 3.28.08

I get to the airport around 3:15PM for our 5:30PM flight. I assume the place will be a zoo, and expect the worst for check-in (as I've never travelled internationally, I was ignorant to the process). Turns out I was able to walk right up to a self-check in & check myself in. *Rewind* As I'm leaving my apartment to take the Addison bus to the Blue Line to O'Hare, I'm struggling with the weight of my suitcase. In my mind, it's at least 75, if not 100 pounds. This worries me, as I know there's some sort of fee associated with that.

Ok, so I finish checking in & head to the agent to plop my 100 pound suitcase onto the scale to be checked in. beep.beep.beep, the number keeps going up. It stops at 49.8. 49.8!! I almost wanted to high-five the gate agent in celebration. She smiled, but that's all the emotion I received.

So, I'm all checked in & I head to security. Now, I don't know why I was concerned, but for some reason, I was a little worried about my expired drivers license (it expired the day before). I obviously had my passport, which I knew would work, but stupidly, I was expecting them to ask for a secondary ID. They didn't.

I make it through check-in and security in less than 15 minutes. This is faster than any other experience at an airport, even without checking bags. I was pleased. I immediately see a Chili's and I belly up to the bar and order a drink. I figured I'd wait there for Matt, once he arrived from work. Three or four Stellas in, it's time to head to our gate.

We make it there as they're boarding. I was pleased to find out that he and I would be in a 2-seater on one of the sides, rather than squeezed into the five-seat middle section. Granted, we were in economy class, so we would be a little tight, but it still made me more comfortable for the 8-hour flight.

As soon as drinks started being served, Matt and I ordered drinks.



After a few more drinks, and thanks to Jerry Seinfeld and the awful Bee Movie, I was able to drift off to sleep. I probably only slept for an hour or so, but it was enough to keep my body tired enough to drift in and out of short stints of sleep for the next couple of hours.

I was woken up a short time later with breakfast (served around 11PM Chicago time) and the end of Apollo 13 (hooray for the astronauts who survived! I know it's a true story, but I didn't know it. For those who also didn't, SPOILER!).

At this point, we began our decent into Paris. My excitement level was through the roof. I felt like a kid on my first trip on an airplane. I held Matt's hand and enjoyed the smooth landing. We were in Paris.

Eurotrip

I'm really trying to put together a well-thought out recap of my trip to Paris/London. I'm still in the process of organizing my thoughts, so to my one or two loyal reader(s), please be patient.

Is it time for vacation yet?

Yesterday I came home to finding my passport in the mailbox. I can't explain how awesome that was for me. I applied for it on February 27th & expected it to take the entire 3 weeks I was told. Had it taken 3 weeks, it would have arrived as I was on vacation in Vegas for the first weekend of the tournament. That would have made for a stressful trip.

So, now that I have that, the only thing left to worry about before leaving for Vegas is ensuring everything is in order at work. I'm sure things will be fine when I'm out, especially due to the amount of work I'm doing before leaving to ensure of it.

I also need to figure out a more solid itinerary for our trip to Paris. I have a good skeleton plan of what I want to do, I just need to figure out which days for which thing(s)... or just show up and wing it, which would also be fun.

In other news, yesterday was my first trip to the gym in about 3 weeks. Dreading the worst, I almost convinced myself to not weigh myself, as I didnt want to be disappointed sliding the weight-bobber to the right. Turns out I've lost 3 lbs since my last trip & am officially over 20 lbs lost since I began back in October. I'd initially planned on losing 30 by 30 (my 30th birthday), but with only 16-ish days left, I think I'll come up short. That said, I'm still pretty happy with my results so far & will reach the 30lb mark before too long.

HOORAY FOR MARCH!!!

March is quite possibly my favorite month of the year.

Today is Matt's 29th birthday. We went out to Tango Sur on Saturday night to celebrate. What a dumb idea. I mean, we knew it'd be a long wait for a table (they don't take reservations for parties less than 6), but we expected it to be closer to an hour or hour and a half. When the guy taking names told us it'd be 2 hours, we decided to head to a local bar we rarely have the chance to visit anymore, because it's "too far" (it's probably 8 blocks away, but there are probably 12 bars closer). So we headed to Gingers, asked the bartender if they minded keeping our 6-pack cold in the cooler, and had a couple of drinks. We finally ended up being seated, a mere 2 hours and 20 minutes later, and the wait was well worth it. I freaking love that place. Plus, it provided leftovers for lunch on Sunday. (After all of it though, it would have made more sense to go tonight, when the wait would likely be less than 30 minutes, if any at all). Dummies.

Our plans for Europe are shaping up quite nicely. We will be spending 5 nights in Paris and then taking the Chunnel up to London & spending 2 nights there. Matt's work is footing the bill for the hotel in Paris for the 5 nights, so it made paying the cost of my flight a little more reasonable (much thanks to my dad for giving me my 30th birthday gift early!). Matt lived and worked in London for roughly 8 months, so we'll be visiting his old pub & he'll be my tour guide for our time there.

Before heading to Europe though, I had already planned on going to Vegas for my 30th birthday - so, we're headed there a few weeks before my 30th - on March 19th - for the first weekend of the NCAA tournament. As sad as it sounds, I'm a little relieved that I wont have to be glued to every game, thanks to Illinois being completely awful this year, I wont need to worry about them even being in any sort of post-season tournament.

In other news, our office moved to a new location, so that had taken up a lot of my time recently (hello, overtime!)... I'm trying to convince myself that Steve wont hate us after we board him for roughly 3 weeks due to our traveling... :(

That's about it for now.

Gem appell Amber?

I'm inching closer to being able to join Matt in Paris at the end of March.

*developing*

Air Travel

I don't travel all that often, usually 4-5 trips a year, but each time, I'm always amazed at the stupidity and selfishness of my fellow travelers.

Last week, I went to Denver for a one-day trip to our office out there. I shouldnt be surprised, but of all the annoyances related to air travel, I ran into every one of them.

1. Security
Yes, you need to take your shoes off. Probably your belt and jacket as well. We all do. There's no reason for you to assume you are immune to this part of security.

2. Boarding
In this day and age, most airlines print a "seating area" on your boarding pass. Please pay attention to this & only board when your area is called. The corral everyone must go through isn't large enough to allow your family of four to turn around and retreat comfortably when you realize you're in seating area 3 when seating area 1 is being called. Speaking of corrals, I've got a bone to pick about United's Red Carpet Club, but that will be addressed below.

3. Carry-on luggage
I realize you may have had an issue with missing luggage in the past, or you're not interested in taking the extra time to check your bigger-than-carry-on-luggage, but there has to be limits. The airlines should probably do more to prevent passengers from lugging on huge carry-on pieces, but the passenger shouldnt be absolved from blame either.

When storing your carry-on, how hard is it to put the wheel-y suitcases in, wheels first? You leave more space for others & look less like a first-time traveler if you store correctly. Also, take a minute to look around & some time to listen to any announcements by the airline staff. If the flight is full, your laptop bag, coats, scarves, purses do not belong anywhere but under the seat in front of you. Less footroom kind of stinks, but guess what, it beats being selfish.

4. Children
Yes, kids need to travel too, but please be prepared to keep your children occupied throughout the flight & if they're doing something controllable (like kicking the back of a seat), have them stop.

5. Talking
If you're on a flight at an hour many people would rather be sleeping (6AM), don't take it upon yourself to tell your life story to the passenger sitting next to you. If you do, please use your inside voices, and for goodness sake, take a breath every once in a while.

6. Exiting the plane
I'm not sure what happens, but somehow at least 5 people forget where they put their items. Knowing where your items are, and getting them as quickly as you can, is key for everyone on the plane. Everyone wants to get off the plane, the last thing passengers want to do is wait for Susie Packsalot to find her oversized carry-on and laptop bag.

7. First Class
Now, I think my dislike for this portion of air travel is strictly rooted in jealousy, so take that for what it's worth. In any case, here are my issues with first class, specifically with United Airlines:

• United Airlines has what's called the "Red Carpet Club" - this involves access to secret areas inside the terminal with what I can only imagine is free-flowing booze, HD televisions, food & free internets. I've been in one before, and to be honest, I had no idea they even existed prior to that. At O'Hare atleast, the doors aren't that noticable to anyone not looking for them. In Denver, however, the doors are at the end of a moving walkway, and when they open, you wish you could go inside to hang out with all of the important people who are obviously too good to sit out at the airport bar with the rest of us.
• The Red Carpet Club also involves an actual piece of red carpet. There's a doormat-sized red carpet at the gate, in a separate corral area (which is located directly next to the "rest-of-us" corral). It was funny when the gate agent hooked the red carpet corral belt thing, and unhooked the rest-of-us corral belt thing to signify that it was now our turn to board. As if some sort of statement was being made to those of us not privy enough to walk over the red carpet.
• Once we board the airplane, it always gets my grits (I dont really know what that means) to see that as I'm struggling to make it down the aisle, we have the pleasure of walking through first class. The big seats are nice, but these people already have drinks in their hands? Meanwhile, I'm waiting for Susie Packsalot to shove her bigger-than-carry-on-luggage sideways into the overhead compartment. :(

So, we went up north for New Years...

This update will likely be short, but sweet. Hopefully.

So, on Friday evening after Jen was finished with work, we picked her up, filled up on gas (we luckily* were borrowing Matt's parents car) and headed out to a clear I-90. It stayed clear for about 12 minutes.** Once we were in Wisconsin, the roads were getting slick and snow was falling on a somewhat regular basis. Needless to say, it was a bit nerve-wracking. Once we were fairly close, and on a 2 lane highway, I was happy - after a little over 5 hours, we were almost there. And then we see brake lights ahead of us. A whole long line of them. Did I mention we were on a 2-lane highway? We saw no one coming from the other direction. We probably sat stationary for 15-20 minutes. Doesn't really seem like a lot, but it sure does when you're sitting on a road, waiting to move. I guess there was at least a 2-car crash, as we saw the tow truck towing 2 wrecked cars in front of us. Anyway, eventually we made it - Matt's parents waited up (of course) and even had some sort of chili cheese dip warmed and waiting for us. (Keep in mind this was sometime after 1AM, if I recall correctly).

The next morning, Matt's parents made us breakfast & after Jen and I learned to snowmobile. I'm pretty conservative with it, as I was afraid I'd fall off if I went too fast. *** As Jen and I were "learning" we decided to take them into town and have a beer. Beers were $1.75. Awesome. Anyway, it was an odd experience just pulling up into a parking lot and parking a snowmobile. **** Inside the bar, we found many others dressed in the same snow pants, huge winter coat as us. There was even temporary shelving set up for helmets. We had a beer & then headed back.

Most of our time was spent either in the cabin hanging out (90210-watching), out on snowmobiles, or somewhere in one of the towns at a bar. I had my first Wisconsin cheese curds (both the deep-fried and non-breaded varieties), we went antique shopping (I'm sure Matt loved that), and we watched Illinois lose in both basketball (Tennessee St at home) and football (USC in the Rose Bowl).

Back up - did I mention we brought Steve up with us? It was an interesting experiment, to say the least. After some confirmation from Dr. Bob (Matt's Dad) as well as other family members that have taken cats up there, we decided to pack him up and take him. He doesn't like being in his crate very much, so for the first 5 minutes or so, he was whining pretty bad. :( Once up there, we kept him in the bedroom we were sleeping in, as there were 2 dogs up there. We knew he'd likely stay in there anyway, under the bed, but we didn't want to take chances that they wouldn't get along. After 2 days, the dogs were gone & Steve started to show his face. He'd do his own exploring, making sure to walk into every room - for what, I don't know. As silly as it seems, I was pretty happy seeing him out and walking around. Even at home, he usually stays secluded when we have people over, so it was nice to see him out with Jen being there. By the last day, he came out quite a bit. Yay for Steve!

Ok, so back to the rest of the trip... New Years Eve, we went to the local butcher and bought steaks for grilling. Matt's parents had leftover lobster, so Jen and Matt had that in addition to steak (too weird texture-y for me). Matt grilled up the steaks & spargus - it ended up being really great (despite a grill covered in snow). We finished eating, cleaned up & had a few drinks before heading out to the Shamrock Bar for NYE festivities. Once at the bar, we quickly snagged a couple of seats right at the bar and drank cheap drinks most of the night. I think we collectively spent no more than $50 or $60. Awesome.

It was a really fun time spent up north & I hope to plan a trip with our friends this summer. It's a 6-hour drive & summer weekends are usually pretty busy for most, so it might be tough. Would definitely be fun, though.

*I say "luckily" but the car didn't handle very well in the snow. It did a great job at ensuring we make it up there, but once there, it was tough to get around.

**It was probably more than 12 minutes.

***I did fall off one night. I wasn't driving, Matt was. I was on the back, he took a turn pretty quickly, I was catapulted from the vehicle. I didn't get hurt.

**** Even more odd, being first -time riders, Jen and I didn't know snowmobiles do not go in reverse. So, when we first saw the lot, we drove right up to the pile of snow that had been removed from the lot. Everyone else was nicely lined up in the lot. I didn't want to drive in there, out of fear of doing something wrong or crashing into something. Whoops.

Oh, and just kidding about this update being short.

Here are some pictures from the time up there: