all hallows eve

there's something a bit magical about october. the leaves change color, fall and crunch below your feet. you realize its time to break out your sweaters as that familiar smell of fall blows past your face. you can't escape the pumpkin spice everything or the urge to bake and cuddle on the couch. and the apples! have you tasted the apples?! heavenly.

oooh yes...october forces us to brace ourselves for the changing seasons. soon will enter the months of coats, scarfs and electric blankets. so long sunshine, lazy days by the lake and bike rides. now is the time to get creative with our free time and try to escape the natural urge to be a home body depressed by the gray, wet skies.
(hmmm this may be a tad more tricky now that i'm living alone.)

but this weekend is not the time to dwell on that icky weather. oh no no. yes, tomorrow does marks the end of the month, but with a big day of celebration - flavored with costumes and treats. while i won't be dressing up i will most certainly take part in the joyous get-together side of things. and my side kick will be in costume. that's enough, right? she will most certainly hate me for this. but frankly, she's seven pounds. i think i can win this battle.

hope you all are celebrating your weekend with goblins and ghouls - and better yet, too much candy and spiked punch. during halloween, magical may mean witches and vampire tricks to most, but to me its more about embracing the season and enjoying the gorgeous perks of this festive holiday: pumpkin patches in unexpected places, haunted houses that make you pee a little, the memories of hay rides and getting lost in hay mazes, sipping cider and watching all of your fools dress up ;)

have great weekends and be safe out there kids. remember to check your candy for razors!

GPOYW + stef

debonair dance party edition:
a journey to find slice of pizza turned into a solid 90 minute dance party for three... perfectly paired with lots and lots of pics and a hard fall on my knees. classic.

GAP JEANS GIVEAWAY - finally!

hey remember when everyone was giving away GAP jeans left and right a couple months back?

well, i just so happened to be part of that lucky bunch of 'GAP brand enthusiasts' that threw a party and hooked my girlfriends up with free stuff. seriously, it was like christmas around here for a couple weeks.

but, i wanted to wait a bit so it would stand out and not get lost in the flood of enthusiast posts...

then, a couple days later i suddenly didnt have a job and forgot entirely.

BUT things have calmed down and hell, i have a free pair of jeans to give away! of course, we can't make it too easy for ya. its $70 pair of jeans after all.

to enter the jeans giveaway: leave me a funny story in the comments section. it can be about ANYTHING. sometimes you just need a laugh and why not solicit laughs here? so make it good or make it up. whatevs. contest ends sunday - 11/1. enter as many times as you like. i'll pick my fave and notify the comedian.

i still can't believe every last pair had an owner by the end of the night. thanks again to all the ladies who came by. it was a really fun night :)

can't wait to hear your stories boys & girls!

weekend bits

the weekend started with some yummy beers and a late dinner. the next day, the pumpkin 'patch' in the city made my night. and sunday by the lake with the pup was just perfect. lovely fall weather weekend chicago. just lovely.

GPOYW + Lu

remember summer? today was a glimpse of that and i was lucky enough to spend a couple hours in this very spot.

also, the baby is TINY! that was less than a week after picking her up from the breeder. awwww lu, how you've changed...

back in the kitchen

yesterday's grocery store visit was met with a very considered list of items. menu ideas were created and i wasn't going another week on turkey sandwiches for dinner and rotting veggies in my drawers. not only is it wasteful but, unsatisfying. after being at work all day (or even just cleaning the house) you deserve to take some time and have a real meal. sure, that can't happen all the time - but with fall's cooling weather and early dark skies, its the perfect time to pick the routine back up.

tonight i checked two of those meals off my list. one served as a bit of an appetizer, mostly cause i was too anxious to wait to make it later in the week. the other served as the king of the dinner jungle.

first up: baked stuffed apples. it was a slight spin on serious eats grilled version - minus the sage and the grill + the oven, about 30 minutes of your life and perhaps a tad more syrup. a delicious sweet and savory combo!

next in line: a carbon copy of rebecca's hearty goulash. its been bookmarked for months so it was time to give it a try. ummmm WOW. its like lasagna in a bowl. but ya know, without all that work and the absorbent amount of cheese i tend to include. instead it just called for a sprinkle or two of romano and a large serving bowl. perfect recipe which i will be eating for days. in fact, do you want any?

ahhhhh great night playing in the kitchen. what shall i try next? recipes welcome :)

shit show.

after a night out on the town you expect a few things. clothes strewn about your apartment, crumpled cash in your wallet, misspelled text messages in your outbox, mystery bruises and well, a hangover. what you should not expect - a pile of dog shit in your bed.

how long had it been there? god only knows. i was shocked enough to also find her in my bed. i could have sworn i crated her? maybe the whining got to be too much? or maybe i didnt want to even test out the whining? it was nearly 4am when i got home. fairly certain reasoning skills aren't at their prime when your previous hours have been alcohol-soaked.

thankfully it was a rather painless clean up. but what was to follow was not nearly as kind.

see i've had toilet troubles since i moved in. it runs and runs and runs and i've (okay other people) have tried to fix it countless times. "toilets are easy," they all insist. (seriously, ALL of them said that very phrase, separately!) well apparently most toilets are - but mine is not in that group.

so this morning after i cleaned up lu's mess and was getting ready to head out the door - my toilet decided i hadn't dealt with quite enough shit for one morning. before i knew it, my bathroom was covered in shit water which soon rushed onto my bedroom carpet and into my closet. mmm.

it took me nearly ten minutes to finally stop the water fall and even with the help of every towel in the house - there was still remnants of the flood along with a puppy splashing in that said poo water. delightful. just what you want to deal with hungover.

but i put on my big girl pants, fought back the vomit and dealt. the soaking wet towels got put in the bathtub and the pup go put in her crate. there was no time, energy or desire to deal anymore with the poopy situation.

however, hours later when i returned from brunch, a sunday joy ride and a dog walk - the mess was still there laughing at me and the excessive cleaning that laid ahead.

oh life. it can be shitty.

living with a princess

yeah yeah i know, she's cute. problem is...she knows it too. therefore, thinks she can get away with just about anything. sure i try to be stern with her, but sometimes most of the time, its just easier to give in. oh you'll stop barking and chewing on EVERYTHING IN THE HOUSE if i give you a rawhide covered in peanut butter? done. oh you're gonna cry and scratch and moan in your crate at 5am but if i bring you in my bed you'll just go right back to sleep till I want to get up? fine.

i do believe you call this manipulation people. a six pound dog is running my life.

on a really great note though - yesterday was the first day EVER she didn't have one accident in the house! {yay insert proud momma moment} however, today i'm fairly certain she's *only* gone potty inside. best of all was definitely the runny shit in my bedroom. THANKS FOR THAT LULU.

some of her other star moments include:

• finding her in my doorway with 1/2 of my keyboard's USB cord in her mouth
• tearing a hole in the bottom of my couch
• ruining just about every rug i have
• excessive scratching at ANYTHING for NO REASON
• 6:30am wake up calls - EVERY day
• looking directly at me and peeing on the carpet
• excessive begging when there is ANY sort of food around
• biting my nose/face

so come on. who wants to puppy sit?!!?

i promise she can be sweet. ya know, when she's sleepy. otherwise well, the pic to the right kinda sums up my life. oy.

generational gaps

mom: okay well i'm gonna go shred

me: you're gonna WHAT?

mom: shred.

me: like jillian michaels shred?

mom: who?

me: jillian michaels. biggest loser. ya know...?

mom: no i dont watch that show.

me: whaaaaat you don't!?

mom: okay so is she that really musclier one who points all the time?

me: ha, probably. she has several work out videos. one of them is called the 30-day shred. so i just thought you meant you were gonna casually get off the phone to ya know, go get a quick work out in.

mom: haha. nope, just shredding some paperwork.

goosebumps & lullabies

milwaukee 2.0 can be summed up in a few words: booze, cheese and tunes. but i'm fairly certain by now you know being short on words is not really my style.

our trip started off as a carbon copy of last time's wisconsin adventure sans one travel buddy: amtrak ride north, brewery tour, little food, lots of booze. sure we may have switched up our bar scene some, but mostly it was a just a cluster of amazingly cheap drinks, standard jukebox-playing and loud antics from well, everyone involved.

sunday was a day of recovery, although i'm sure we could have all used a few more hours of sleep. the DRV, sweatpants, beer cheese and advil were our best friends. strolls around town kept stef and i preoccupied until it was time to stuff our faces once again with one of the most delicious/unhealthy burgers i have ever experienced. solbelmans you win once again. seriously, if you go to milwaukee and don't try one of these, you have no idea what you are missing. (ya know, in case i didnt make that clear 6 months ago).

with our full bellies we ventured into the cold and made our way to the main event. the reason we traveled and the reason were still away from home on a sunday night: bon iver. bon iver 3rd row at the riverside theatre to be exact. yes, 3RD ROW thanks to our wonderful host who just so happened to have two extra badass tickets. the convo sorta went like this: "oh cool you're coming to town for that show. i have two extra tickets and they are pretty good seats. you can just sell your shitty top row/as far as you can get from the stage ones and sit with me." ummmm done.

the show opened with a refreshing folkish trio named the daredevil christopher wright. eclectic and entertaining to say the very least. these guys love their three part harmonies and creative instrument usage. definitely worth giving them a listen even if they don't sound like something you'd typically listen to. their entire set just made me smile.

next was what we were all had been waiting for. from the moment they stepped on stage till they were bowing at our standing ovation, i was in complete awe. the sound was incredible, they were so gracious and passionate that it would have been shocking if you weren't moved by their composure in the slightest. for most of the show, you could have heard a pin drop. i was moved, covered in goosebumps and so relaxed by the beauty that filled that stage. bon iver COMPLETELY exceeded my expectations and i can't help but replay the 90 minutes in my head. of course, others can speak about this more eloquently.

with a perfect ending to a perfect weekend, we hopped a ride with buddies and headed home. luckily, wisconsin loves their native songwriter and 20 minutes after the show finished, they starting replaying it on a local station. we caught a good portion of the show (you can download here) before we were out of the radio waves and i was dosing off in the back seat. not a bad way to end your sunday.

a weekend full of goodies

woot - today is my friday! but really, when you work three random days a week...does it really matter what day it is? the answer is no. regardless, weekend anticipation still builds as those are the days that tend to be booked with plans and visitors. this weekend is no different.

friday i get to spend the entire daydayday-and-night with my fave west coast transplant, miss meghan. its been far too long since we've had a proper catch up so a day filled with shopping, drinks and food should do the trick. best of all, she's staying the night so we are going to hit the town (oh hell we may never stop after lunch). plans? we have none. but i'm not worried about us entertaining ourselves.

saturday will probably involve a bit of a recovery involving fried eggs and mimosas. but then its birthday-celebrating for katie! BYOB noodles (per usual) + live music and dive bars. sounds perfect, huh?

now, weather can you please play nice and stop thinking its january? no wind that burns your face or rain that ruins our hair? we have things to do.

(that pic --->> is my "happy weekend face" or "GPOYT" you pick)