pros and cons

today was the longest work day i've felt in a while. however, it was also 55 degrees.

tonight i had a terrible workout. however, i made a delicious dinner.

tonight i learned my computer, the other one that's big and nice to design on, is still pretty broken. however, ben the computer master came and took it and i'm sure he'll make it work just fine.

tonight i should have been productive. however, a friend's rooftop hot tub was calling my name on this balmy evening and we were due for a catch up. it was pretty bad ass. i see lots of evening-tubbing in my future.

tonight i should do some work. however, i am going to lay in my bed and read till my eyes can't take it.

3 cheers for southwest!

its no secret that i love to travel. granted, i would love that it was out of the states more (ya know up my trav-cred) but i do the best i can.

its also no secret that when flying, southwest is probably going to have the cheapest flights out there. something about buying mass quantities of oil a few years back among many other factors, i'm sure. regardless, when i am booking a trip, that's the first place i look. they treat you right, you get to pick your seat, its hassle-free and many of their attendants can be damn funny, especially on trips to vegas.

but this morning when i opened their newsletter i learned two more amazing things that scored southwest major bonus points in my book.

1) they are opening service to boston in the fall! yay. this let's me avoid o'hare at almost every cost. now they just need to fly into southern ohio and we're all set.

2) they are testing wi-fi internet access onboard now through march! (i thought this was just a rumor!) so now when you are told its safe to "turn on your approved electronic devices" - you are free to connect. of course - its a test and only in a limited amount of aircrafts - but still definitely a cool new thing. necessary? well i suppose that's open to opinions. clearly, i love it.

so readers...
• who do you love to fly with?
• do you think airborn internet access is overkill?
• is constant connectivity excessive?
• or does this tech-forward advancement make you want to squeal with excitement (like me)?

monday listed

makes me mad: (weather and procrastination)
•  the cold weather
• this cold that has taken over my head and the snot that wont stop dripping down my face. (someone please hold the boys back from this sexiness)
•  and the cold meds fog that go with the snot-stopping
•  my new fake tooth that feels like its not going to last its obligatory two weeks
• realizing its 11pm and i havent done a productive thing tonight
•  paying bills (note to self: remember to order that money tree you saw from that online banner ad!)
•  losing things. lots and lots of things...
• wasting time watching really, really bad movies
• my increasing laziness.
• its only monday, or tuesday

makes me glad: (food and ughhh more food)
• a packed lunch for the morning
•  tonight's baked potato feast
•  40 degrees and mostly sunny tomorrow (now that's sad)
•  SPD on the horizon! i simply loooove that "holiday" in this city!
•  that i only have ONE MORE DENTIST APPOINTMENT for a while anyways...
• vacations! cincinnati next weekend - milwaukee a few weeks later - and vegas shortly there after!
• concerts! joshua radin & meiko - flight of the conchords - mates of state!
•  friday happy hour plans with ohio visitors
•  dinner reservations for restaurant week tomorrow night
• mcdonald's ice cream cones
•  when the night owl gods let my fall asleep before midnight.

a few of my favorite things

when the dog bites...when the bees stings...when i'm feeling saaaaaad...i simply remember my favorite things and then i dont feeeeel soooo baaaddd. oh come on, you were singing along.

last week, lis posted the abc letter game where you write about 10 of your fave things from the letter you are assigned. she got "A" - easy for her - angie. duh. but what did i get? "O." actually, i may have gotten Y, but she gave me O to be nice. so here we go...

1) orange: the color, the fruit, the juice and all orange foods for that matter. not sure i could get through my workday afternoons without my 4pm orange. 2) orangoutangs: they are big, fantastic, adorable and i want one. we would spoon. as a child i told my mom i didnt want to have kids, but i wanted to have monkeys. i even drew out a whole floor plan for this massive house i was going to have. each room has a different theme and of course, the monk has his own room, but we would be bffs.

3) OMGmyBFFjill talk: yes, i'm rapidly approaching 27 and i find talking like a 12 yr old is highly entertaining, sometimes even gut-wrenchingly hysterical.

4) overboard, the movie: goldie hawn, kurt russell, rowdy kids and accidental love. this flick is for the 1980s history books right along with goonies.
5) obama: our new prez. bring on the change sir.
6) oceans: atlantic, pacific, or even the gulf...i could stare at them for days on end. honestly, the calming crash of the waves are more relaxing than much else.
7) ohio: small towns, cedar point, college years, buckeyes, flyers, friends and family. northeast ohio was a great place to grow up and always somewhere i look forward to visiting...and then leaving. its bittersweet really. O-H!
8) omelets: and well, most egg dishes. veggies, cheese, meats, you name it. omelets can handle it.
9) othello, the game: have you heard of it? i used to play it allllll the time as a kid. the pieces are black on one side and white on the other. you play against one other person and you are each a color (similar to checkers). the object is to get the most of your color on the board. if you are totally confused, try it for yourself. watch out. its addicting, esp playing against a computer.

10) oberon - bells beer: yeah yeah yeah, we're not supposed to call it "oberon" here in illinois or something, but i do. sorry. its delicious and im so so so so sooooo very happy it came back into our lives this summer. i also love that i live about 200 feet from one of the most amazing beer gardens in the city who have it on tap. ummm is it june yet?

if you'd like to play along yourself, say so in the comments and i'll send at a letter of your own.

spring is in the air!

okay, its not. you caught me. snow, ice and gray skies are actually more typical for the next couple months. but thanks to our good friends at pantone, a girl can dream.

ahhh yes, brisk spring days with lots of sunshine, skirts and open-toed shoes. i will not be sad to put my winter coat or my boots (with the furrrrr) away this year. no, not one bit.

what am i talking about? well pantone's fashion color report - spring 2009 is here (yes i'm a few days late) and i'm loving the palette. girls click through and open the actual PDF. the report features the top 10 colors for women's fashion for spring '09, along with designer sketches, quotes and headshots. if nothing else, its pretty pictures. the greens and bright blues are just wonderful.

"New York's fashion designers encourage hopeful attitudes with lively colors, while sophisticated, grounded hues address the need for stability in times of economic uncertainty," said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. (not sure about that reasoning. i think we could have done without the economy pitch, but i suppose thats about as trendy to talk about as fashion.)

The top 10 spring '09 colors for women are:

18-4043 Palace Blue
15-3817 Lavender
14-0754 Super Lemon
15-1626 Salmon Rose
18-2328 Fuchsia Red
14-1307 Rose Dust
16-5804 Slate Gray
16-6339 Vibrant Green
16-0435 Dark Citron
14-5714 Lucite Green

now i want to go on a shopping spree.

saturday night in

last night at dinner jess and i were recounting days spent at my old apartment. we got to talking about the time when her, carrieroommate and pgold went to vaughns and then came home to discover our neighbor basically sounding like she was getting murdered. seriously, it was complete with breathy pleas for help. scary shit. coincidently, that happened to be on valentine's day, two years ago.

today's events have consisted of getting over a rather nasty hangover headache, milling around the grocery store, making chili, filing my taxes and internet-ing. thrilling huh? but as you can see from last year's post, that's just kinda how i roll.

besides, i think last night's antics were enough for one weekend. an innocent dinner turned into a vodka-infused dance party lasting right up utill the lights came on. we made lots of friends, laughed harder than i have in weeks, gave out our numbers to atypical suitors (that may or may not have said my unshowered, greasy haired-self had "a banging body" - ha!) and we've had a blast retelling the stories today. a definite highlight was this napoleon dynamite dancing spaz pictured to the right. of course, this photo does the situation absolutely no justice. napoleon had way more rhythm, less arm-flailing and would have never gotten that excited over a jtimmy song.

ahhhhh i love fridays. happy valentine's day peeps.

lost, not found.

its seems i've become a bit of a hot mess these past few months, losing things left and right. can't say i'm proud of my scatterbrained ways - i used to be so organized and pulled together! but my over-extended, preoccupied mind has been getting the best of me and my busy life.

case in point: a laundry list of things i've lost lately...

1) my green scarf. apparently i left it at a bar after half price wine night? of course, no one turned it in and now that beauty has a new owner.

2) ONE of my tiffany ball earrings. i dropped it in my bedroom and then i heard it roll away to an unknown place. i've torn my room apart and cannot find the damn thing. heartbreaking. maybe when i move it will turn up?

3) countless other earrings. where do those things go? thankfully most of my jewelry is worth only pennies.

4) my red coat. okay this doesnt really count. i left it in san diego, but i'm finally getting it back this weekend!

5) my red gloves, well one of them. since i've been wearing my massive typical college gloves. ya know those ones that they sell in all those hippie stores that you buy when you are like 15 cause they are sooooo cool and you don't have stores like that anywhere near your small town you grew up in. "mom did you know they are selling these really pretty vases in this back room?" turns out they weren't vases...

6) my camera - again and again. i believe i'm on my fourth one in three years - plus my mom's that i lost in mexico - nice huh? i'm on about an eight month cycle. but this one has been going strong since march...i'm probably about due. (knock on wood)

7) clearly, my sanity. this really doesn't need an explanation, right?

8) my train card. that life necessity fell out of my coat pocket at country night. it was in this orange case that i've had since i moved to chicago and i was mostly sad about losing that. luckily a few weeks later it turned up and the bouncer remembered it was mine. see, pays to be bffs with the bar staff.

9) and lastly, my freaking iphone! ahhhh yes. that thing that is constantly attached to my right hand and i get shaky when its not around. yep, left it in a cab thursday night along with my fave black hat. go me. replacing it after work yesterday was painful, but not like i could have downgraded? seriously, not even an option. i mean its just money...or something...

i'm sure i'm leaving things off here. but you get the idea. as lis so kindly put, "ang - you're a loser." well i suppose i am.

mucho carbs monday

i haven't been the best about using my gorgeous groceries these past couple weeks. but tonight, after i got home from the lovely dentist, my sweet potatoes were staring at me. they begged to be doused in olive oil, garlic and baked till they were crispy. then that new box of orecchiette called my name from the pantry. "dress me up with mounds of spinach, mushrooms and onions," it shouted. "oh and don't leave out that butter or that handful of romano!" don't worry little ears, i won't.

voilà.

funky chicken

these past few weeks have been a whirlwind. busy workdays, busy weekends, not getting enough sleep or even taking the time to cook. so as no surprise, i've been stressed, working out when i get around to it and eating anything convenient (read: anything). all these ingredients have made for a moody girl with an atypical bad attitude. not cool - especially for those who have to deal with me on a daily basis.

this weekend was about snapping out of that funk. i got lots of sleep, soaked in every ounce of saturday's "warm" weather and was rather productive. but it wizzed by and while i'm feeling rested and more cheerful, i can't help but cringe at the though of another busy week. ANOTHER dentist appointment - another set of deadlines - and another 5 days in the new office space that i'm definitely not adjusted to. ugh, the fact of the matter is...if it was 75* and sunny, i bet i would be just fine. damn winter.

so while its sunday night and i'm optimistic that this week HAS to be better than last...i'm definitely looking for some supportive words of wisdom.

what helps you get out of a funk?

ode to the goodness

you are there for me when skies are gray,
your smooth, rich and creamy texture will always stay.

on a pretzel, on a spoon,
nutella, nutella how i love you.

happy nutella day world!