we are going here
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
formal invite
We are going to hit up an Indian buffet down on devon street tomorrow night around 6:30. All are welcome! Let me know if you are interested and/or want to co-ordinate getting down there.
we are going here
we are going here
Saturday, March 28, 2009
i love me some flower appliques
Lily Strapless Floral Appliqué Party Dress This dress is only
wait for it
118 dollars.
soooo cute
even if it turned out to be too informal for the wedding, it would be perfect for a rehearsal dinner or some other wedding related event. right?
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Ready The Destoyer
Thanks to Rose, Stephanie, Erica, Froilan, and Lindsey for coming out on Wednesday night to support Neill and Ready The Destroyer at the Double Door. I hope everyone had fun!
Check this out!
Check this out!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
remember those walls i built?
so I can not stop listening to beyonce's song, halo. I don't know what it is, but i love the first section of that song.
remember those walls I built?
well baby, they are tumbling down
and they didn't even put up a fight
they didn't even make a sound
I found a way to let you in
but i never really had a doubt
standing in the light of your halo
i got my angle now
it's like i've been awakened
every rule i had you breaking
it's the risk that i'm taking
i'm never going to shut you out
and thats when the song stars going downhill. and i'm not going to be so silly and start trying to make beyonce meaningful or whatever....but shit those words resonate with me. hm. i guess thats why its a pop song - its probably written to resonate with everyone.
other news - my birthday was fabulous! I had such an amazing wonderful time surrounded by amazing wonderful people. It was a great sorta surprise dinner at cafe babareeba and it was definitely one of the best birthdays ever. thank you to everyone!!!!
remember those walls I built?
well baby, they are tumbling down
and they didn't even put up a fight
they didn't even make a sound
I found a way to let you in
but i never really had a doubt
standing in the light of your halo
i got my angle now
it's like i've been awakened
every rule i had you breaking
it's the risk that i'm taking
i'm never going to shut you out
and thats when the song stars going downhill. and i'm not going to be so silly and start trying to make beyonce meaningful or whatever....but shit those words resonate with me. hm. i guess thats why its a pop song - its probably written to resonate with everyone.
other news - my birthday was fabulous! I had such an amazing wonderful time surrounded by amazing wonderful people. It was a great sorta surprise dinner at cafe babareeba and it was definitely one of the best birthdays ever. thank you to everyone!!!!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
go shorty, its your birfday
Guess what? It's my birthday today!
Oh wow.
23.
23 on March 23rd.
:sigh:
i won't lie- getting older makes me nervous. Its not the wrinkles or grey hair that freaks me out, its the whole adult thing. I still want to be a toys-r-us kid!
But, on the other hand, I know that if I want to achieve all the things I have pictured for myself, I've seriously got to get moving. Maybe a lot of people are feeling that pressure to get it together. right? (this is when you chime in and say yes...even if the answer is no).
Well I guess I'm making the first step towards adulthood by going to work on my birthday. ugh. who the fuck didn't make it standard that people should just automatically get their birthdays off???
Whatever.
Work.
Quiet dinner with Neill.
and then before you know it....
I'll be 24!
Goals for 23?
Go back to school in some manner (please)
find happiness in the small moments (always)
treasure the people in my life (its only right)
grow more plants
and stop dressing like its 1995!
Oh wow.
23.
23 on March 23rd.
:sigh:
i won't lie- getting older makes me nervous. Its not the wrinkles or grey hair that freaks me out, its the whole adult thing. I still want to be a toys-r-us kid!
But, on the other hand, I know that if I want to achieve all the things I have pictured for myself, I've seriously got to get moving. Maybe a lot of people are feeling that pressure to get it together. right? (this is when you chime in and say yes...even if the answer is no).
Well I guess I'm making the first step towards adulthood by going to work on my birthday. ugh. who the fuck didn't make it standard that people should just automatically get their birthdays off???
Whatever.
Work.
Quiet dinner with Neill.
and then before you know it....
I'll be 24!
Goals for 23?
Go back to school in some manner (please)
find happiness in the small moments (always)
treasure the people in my life (its only right)
grow more plants
and stop dressing like its 1995!
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Jewish Women
Browing through Jewess With Attitude I found this awesome piece from a few years back that is still totally relevant to today. The link is to the article, but I've copied and pasted it below for yall too.
I’ve never met Lorraine Rothman, a women’s health activist and inventor of
the Del’Em menstrual extraction kit. But I came to know her work through my
dissertation research, and so I was deeply saddened to hear that she is dying.
Rothman was an early leader of the self-help health movement, a phenomenon
of early 1970s women’s liberation that involved groups of women using a speculum
to look at each other’s cervixes. Think of it as a physical complement to
consciousness-raising, a way for women to gain knowledge and authority about
their own bodies. Instead of relying on a gynecologist (usually male, at that
time) to tell us about the health or sickness of our bodies, women would be able
to help each other know their bodies from the inside out, literally.
In 1971, Lorraine Rothman and Carol Downer traveled around the country
with a slide presentation and bags of speculum to teach women about the art of
what they called “self-help,” sparking the creation of “self-help clinics” as
they went. Rothman then invented the Del’Em (basically a soft plastic tube and
vacuum jar), which self-help groups could learn to use to remove the contents of
the uterus on the day menstruation began or was expected. This process of
“menstrual extraction” was touted as a way to liberate women from the
inconveniences of menstruation. It could also be used as a method of very early
abortion. This procedure offered another way for women to use technology to take
an active, cooperative role in the workings of their own bodies.
Though self-help and menstrual extraction is all but forgotten, Rothman
was a key figure in the development of feminist health care, co-founding several
feminist women’s health centers. It is sad and ironic, then, that she is now
fatally ill because of the failure of her own health care. She is dying of
advanced, metastasized bladder cancer, which was not detected by the doctors she
saw through her HMO over the past two years of her pelvic pain. She did not see
a urologist, because her HMO did not offer the option of seeing a female doctor.
A physician’s assistant at a women’s health center finally detected that she had
a serious problem, but while Rothman waited for an appointment with a
uro-gynecologist through her HMO, her pain became unbearable and a visit to the
emergency room diagnosed her advanced cancer. She is now in hospice care.
Her story proves that we still have a long way to go to create a health
care system that is responsive and accessible to all patients, providing
services that meet their needs and earn their trust. With feminist health care
centers like those Rothman helped create now on the wane, many women like her
(and others, such as transfolk) with reason to distrust the medical
establishment, are falling through the gaping health care cracks. Rothman may
have been utopian in thinking that viewing the cervix with a group of women
friends could change the world, but we would do well to ask ourselves: where is
empowerment and self-determination in health care today?
Submitted by Judith on September 24, 2007 - 2:30pm.
So . . .does anyone wanna check my cervix out?
I’ve never met Lorraine Rothman, a women’s health activist and inventor of
the Del’Em menstrual extraction kit. But I came to know her work through my
dissertation research, and so I was deeply saddened to hear that she is dying.
Rothman was an early leader of the self-help health movement, a phenomenon
of early 1970s women’s liberation that involved groups of women using a speculum
to look at each other’s cervixes. Think of it as a physical complement to
consciousness-raising, a way for women to gain knowledge and authority about
their own bodies. Instead of relying on a gynecologist (usually male, at that
time) to tell us about the health or sickness of our bodies, women would be able
to help each other know their bodies from the inside out, literally.
In 1971, Lorraine Rothman and Carol Downer traveled around the country
with a slide presentation and bags of speculum to teach women about the art of
what they called “self-help,” sparking the creation of “self-help clinics” as
they went. Rothman then invented the Del’Em (basically a soft plastic tube and
vacuum jar), which self-help groups could learn to use to remove the contents of
the uterus on the day menstruation began or was expected. This process of
“menstrual extraction” was touted as a way to liberate women from the
inconveniences of menstruation. It could also be used as a method of very early
abortion. This procedure offered another way for women to use technology to take
an active, cooperative role in the workings of their own bodies.
Though self-help and menstrual extraction is all but forgotten, Rothman
was a key figure in the development of feminist health care, co-founding several
feminist women’s health centers. It is sad and ironic, then, that she is now
fatally ill because of the failure of her own health care. She is dying of
advanced, metastasized bladder cancer, which was not detected by the doctors she
saw through her HMO over the past two years of her pelvic pain. She did not see
a urologist, because her HMO did not offer the option of seeing a female doctor.
A physician’s assistant at a women’s health center finally detected that she had
a serious problem, but while Rothman waited for an appointment with a
uro-gynecologist through her HMO, her pain became unbearable and a visit to the
emergency room diagnosed her advanced cancer. She is now in hospice care.
Her story proves that we still have a long way to go to create a health
care system that is responsive and accessible to all patients, providing
services that meet their needs and earn their trust. With feminist health care
centers like those Rothman helped create now on the wane, many women like her
(and others, such as transfolk) with reason to distrust the medical
establishment, are falling through the gaping health care cracks. Rothman may
have been utopian in thinking that viewing the cervix with a group of women
friends could change the world, but we would do well to ask ourselves: where is
empowerment and self-determination in health care today?
Submitted by Judith on September 24, 2007 - 2:30pm.
So . . .does anyone wanna check my cervix out?
Friday, March 20, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
hopes and dreams
I have always wanted happiness. I've wanted to consume happiness and feel the smile spread from the inside out. I've wanted to feel good and wholesome and lovely. And now, now that I've built a life that I actually like to put on every morning and wrap up with every night - a life that I don't feel the need to cut at - I'm being asked to give it away. I'm being asked to trade it in for hopes of a future that may or may not ever be there. I'm being asked to live up to my potential, even if that means really not living at all. I'm being told that I have to move on. But, I just simply don't understand why my potential for success is so much more important than my potential for just simply being. Why must I labor to be the best? Why must I seize an opportunity that takes me away from love? Where is the valor in that? I'm decidedly not interested in winning or being the best or excelling or any of that mumbo jumbo that people use to cover up their loneliness. In the end that shit doesn't matter anyways. It is the love you put out into the world and the love you accept. It is the small memories. It is your health. It is your family. It is your happiness. And I'm making my family and I've found my happiness. So what I want you to see is that I've got my prize and I'm living up to my potential right now. I've got loads of happiness to spare and I will gladly share it with you, but only if you promise to value it.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Quickie
So . . .Neill and I took advantage of the beautiful 70 degree weather and took an impromptu trip to check out some possible wedding venues.
Our first stop was Promontory Point. swoon! Beautiful? check. In the city? check. outdoor and indoor spaces? check. nonstuffy? check. I loved it!
Since we were on the south side we also went by the South Shore Cultural Center. Neill had a really adverse reaction to the building and kept saying that it looked like a prison. So while it is already off the list, I will say that in my opinion they have a beautiful salarium with a great view of the lake and would be perfect for people who wanted a unique venue that still felt a bit hotely.
Anyhoo, I'll definitely dish more but Ive got to get ready now...time for Sultan's Market and then show billing for RTD's Double Door show!
Our first stop was Promontory Point. swoon! Beautiful? check. In the city? check. outdoor and indoor spaces? check. nonstuffy? check. I loved it!
Since we were on the south side we also went by the South Shore Cultural Center. Neill had a really adverse reaction to the building and kept saying that it looked like a prison. So while it is already off the list, I will say that in my opinion they have a beautiful salarium with a great view of the lake and would be perfect for people who wanted a unique venue that still felt a bit hotely.
Anyhoo, I'll definitely dish more but Ive got to get ready now...time for Sultan's Market and then show billing for RTD's Double Door show!
Saturday, March 14, 2009
home decorating quiz!
According to this quiz, I'm 50% Rustic Revival and 50% French Eclectic. That must be why I'm so damn fashionable.
Rustic Revival
You can take kid out of the country but you can't take the country out of the kid... or is your theme "you can take the kid out of the city, but you can't take the city out of the kid?".
Either way you play it, you are one of the unique individuals who loves a mix of modern and country. The clean lines of the modern softened by rustic/vintage elements is the perfect mix in your mind. And can we blame you? You've taken the best aspects of two popular designs and mixed them in a manner that appeals to young and old alike. A subtle background of white or light colors provides a nice canvas for all the wonderful flea market, eBay, or garage sale finds as well as the classic modern pieces that you love.
French Eclectic
Parlez-vous français? Even if the answer is no, you can confidently say your home does! French Eclectic somehow manages to be both formal and casual, classy and unassuming at the same time. You like your spaces to feel inviting from the moment you (or your guest) opens the front door and this feeling should continue even after you've entered your most formal room.
Even though there are French antiques here and gold details there, the rustic country elements provide a balance and warmth that seems to say, "come in, relax and stay a while." Your love of antiques leads you to flea markets, garage sales and hours of eBay hunting.
what about you?
Rustic Revival
You can take kid out of the country but you can't take the country out of the kid... or is your theme "you can take the kid out of the city, but you can't take the city out of the kid?".
Either way you play it, you are one of the unique individuals who loves a mix of modern and country. The clean lines of the modern softened by rustic/vintage elements is the perfect mix in your mind. And can we blame you? You've taken the best aspects of two popular designs and mixed them in a manner that appeals to young and old alike. A subtle background of white or light colors provides a nice canvas for all the wonderful flea market, eBay, or garage sale finds as well as the classic modern pieces that you love.
French Eclectic
Parlez-vous français? Even if the answer is no, you can confidently say your home does! French Eclectic somehow manages to be both formal and casual, classy and unassuming at the same time. You like your spaces to feel inviting from the moment you (or your guest) opens the front door and this feeling should continue even after you've entered your most formal room.
Even though there are French antiques here and gold details there, the rustic country elements provide a balance and warmth that seems to say, "come in, relax and stay a while." Your love of antiques leads you to flea markets, garage sales and hours of eBay hunting.
what about you?
new favorite blogs
since all of my lovely REAL LIFE friends basically took a hiatus from blogging, I've been forced to find other people to lurk on. people i don't even know. i suppose this has been somewhat fueled by my wedding fever, but whatever.
Meet my new secret friend who doesn't know we are friends . . . Sara. at least i think that is her name. screw my exbestie - a 10,000 dollar wedding -- i've moved on. Sara seems like a nice mix between hippie and hipster and I have a secret friend crush on her big time. aahh how i wish i was crafty cool. for the antiknot way to plan a wedding, check out her "conception and reception" summary.
Anyhoo . . .
work
meet up with neill and neill's dad to watch jayson and jared play tennis
hang out
yay!
Meet my new secret friend who doesn't know we are friends . . . Sara. at least i think that is her name. screw my exbestie - a 10,000 dollar wedding -- i've moved on. Sara seems like a nice mix between hippie and hipster and I have a secret friend crush on her big time. aahh how i wish i was crafty cool. for the antiknot way to plan a wedding, check out her "conception and reception" summary.
Anyhoo . . .
work
meet up with neill and neill's dad to watch jayson and jared play tennis
hang out
yay!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
old old song
If someone were to purchase this dress online with the idea that it could possibly be perfect for a wedding dress even though she has never tried it on, this person would be haled as a logical person given that it is fully returnable and hundreds less than most wedding dresses . . .right?
moving mountains
I can't stop listening to The Alchemy Index IV: Earth (Thrice). That is probably what I've been doing this last week instead of blogging.
March 3rd was my papa's birthday and my aunt's bday.I'm sure you have all heard this story already, but I feel it is my duty to retell it every year. My father's father's birthday was March 3rd, my aunt was then born on March 3rd (my grandparent's first child), and then a few years later my dad was born on March 3rd. AND my due date was March 3rd. weird. right?
Anyhoo, in celebration of the joint birthday my aunt and her husband came into town. The last two years or so my aunt has really made an effort to come to Chicago a few times a year to visit my dad, which has been really nice for him. Usually Allan (her husband) doesn't come so it was super fun to see him. He is pretty much a modern day freud. He does psychoanalysis "on the couch" and has the sort of dry humor that i heart. Anyways, the five of us (mom, dad, me, ruth, allan) went to dinner at Erwin's on Saturday evening. yummo. Neill couldn't come because RTD was playing at Miskas on belmont (which is possibly also a deli???weird). Apparently the manager there is a douche.
Which brings me to a very important announcement
READY THE DESTROYER WILL BE PLAYING AT THE DOUBLE DOOR ON MARCH 25th AND IT WOULD BE SUPER AWESOME OF YOU TO COME. PLUS, IT IS MY BIRTHDAY ON MARCH 23RD SO COME HANG OUT WITH ME AT THE DOUBLE DOOR!!!!!
March 3rd was my papa's birthday and my aunt's bday.I'm sure you have all heard this story already, but I feel it is my duty to retell it every year. My father's father's birthday was March 3rd, my aunt was then born on March 3rd (my grandparent's first child), and then a few years later my dad was born on March 3rd. AND my due date was March 3rd. weird. right?
Anyhoo, in celebration of the joint birthday my aunt and her husband came into town. The last two years or so my aunt has really made an effort to come to Chicago a few times a year to visit my dad, which has been really nice for him. Usually Allan (her husband) doesn't come so it was super fun to see him. He is pretty much a modern day freud. He does psychoanalysis "on the couch" and has the sort of dry humor that i heart. Anyways, the five of us (mom, dad, me, ruth, allan) went to dinner at Erwin's on Saturday evening. yummo. Neill couldn't come because RTD was playing at Miskas on belmont (which is possibly also a deli???weird). Apparently the manager there is a douche.
Which brings me to a very important announcement
READY THE DESTROYER WILL BE PLAYING AT THE DOUBLE DOOR ON MARCH 25th AND IT WOULD BE SUPER AWESOME OF YOU TO COME. PLUS, IT IS MY BIRTHDAY ON MARCH 23RD SO COME HANG OUT WITH ME AT THE DOUBLE DOOR!!!!!
all up in that modern luxury
Who doesn't like reading CS Brides online? Perfect for secretly zoning out at work! Extra points if you can find the bride in clear heals. totallllly luxurious.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
The Dresses
Neill was kind enough to scan and e-mail me my wedding dress pictures. They look a bit crunk because of the way I cut them out. Note to self - next time, cut in straight lines. I uploaded them onto my flickr so check them out here.
This one is my favorite
Oh wait. No. Actually, I think this one is my favorite.
This one is my favorite
Oh wait. No. Actually, I think this one is my favorite.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
lazy circles
Other than obsessively checking my e-mail all day, I've had the pleasure of not having a whole lot to do. I've decided that March is going to be my "reconnecting with friends" and "cleaning" month. In that spirit, I saw Stephanie, Catherine, and Erica last night and I have plans with Vanessa for Friday. Yay for Knox people. For some reason, it is always nice and comforting to see Knox people. Well - at least knox people that I actually liked while I was at Knox. Fun!
Also, I managed to get some cleaning in yesterday. I worked on the first layer of funk, but I know there is still more lurking in the shadows. our apartment is in a dire need of an intensive spring cleaning so I'm really going to try and be on top of that this month. Things got a bit . . .dusty . . . in february. Top priorioties include, but are not limited to: my bathroom (ugh), cieling fans (gross), and the inside of kitchen stuff (microwave, stove, fridge).
I also took the plunge and started (gasp) cutting images out of magazines today. yes, wedding magazines. My original plan was to cut out the images I liked and then scan them into the computer so I could post them here and on my flickr. But, now that I've spent all that time cutting them out, taking the time to scan them seems unlikely. Maybe I'll just do my favorites ;)
That reminds me - my vegas pictures did make it up and can be found here. Some good bathing suit shots. ha.
Also, I managed to get some cleaning in yesterday. I worked on the first layer of funk, but I know there is still more lurking in the shadows. our apartment is in a dire need of an intensive spring cleaning so I'm really going to try and be on top of that this month. Things got a bit . . .dusty . . . in february. Top priorioties include, but are not limited to: my bathroom (ugh), cieling fans (gross), and the inside of kitchen stuff (microwave, stove, fridge).
I also took the plunge and started (gasp) cutting images out of magazines today. yes, wedding magazines. My original plan was to cut out the images I liked and then scan them into the computer so I could post them here and on my flickr. But, now that I've spent all that time cutting them out, taking the time to scan them seems unlikely. Maybe I'll just do my favorites ;)
That reminds me - my vegas pictures did make it up and can be found here. Some good bathing suit shots. ha.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
Should have been working part 1 aka exploring etsy
invitation set by JS Design
save the date cards (2) by Claire EyeDesignSecond installment coming soon . . .
Thoughts?
In terms of colors, I'm preliminarily thinking yellow (gold, burnt orange sort of yellow), green (sage green give or take a few shades), and purple (deep royal purple maybe) for colors. So, for example, I would be interested in using the Viva La Violette invites if we could customize the colors. You know? What do you think?
Thoughts?
In terms of colors, I'm preliminarily thinking yellow (gold, burnt orange sort of yellow), green (sage green give or take a few shades), and purple (deep royal purple maybe) for colors. So, for example, I would be interested in using the Viva La Violette invites if we could customize the colors. You know? What do you think?
Sunday, March 1, 2009
winner winner chicken dinner
Man oh man is it gooood to be at home.
Neill and I left for Las Vegas last Tuesday for a mini-vacay. Before we left, I was super duper nervous about our trip. I had this idea that las vegas was going to be really trashy skeezy place and I was going to be a lamb lost among lions. I was so happy to find out that I was wrong! Sure, there was a bit of trashiness (and on Saturday, when we left, I did notice the skirts were noticeably shorter, the heals a few inches taller, and the boobs larger), but for the most part it wasn't night club trashy. I mean, there were old people. and families. and asian tourists. and people wearing fanny packs. Really, what this all comes down to, is that I was extremely relieved to find I was not the lamest of the lame. Yessss!
Highlights of the trip include:
+the beautiful pool area that really made us feel like we were vacationing at a resort.
+seeing the sun after months of this grey chicago winter
+hot tub
+drinking huge pina coladas by the pool at ten in the morning and getting the giggles
+taking irreplaceable video footage of our trip
+lion den at MGM Grand
+the ENTIRE lobby at the Bellagio (ceiling to floor chocolate fountain, amazing green house room, beautiful glass flowers) including the sweet water show
+free drinks while gambling
+hot hotel sex
+dinner at Bouchon
+slot machines
+playing games in the completely empty arcade
Negatives were:
-paying $$$ for water
-having to pay 15 bucks a day for the internet. Why MGM Grand can't give complimentary internet access if beyond me.
-paying $$$ for food and drinks
-forgetting to pack a jacket. It gets chilly at night!
-waiting in line for 30 minutes in the Las Vegas airport for a subway sandwich
Pictures to come soon!
Neill and I left for Las Vegas last Tuesday for a mini-vacay. Before we left, I was super duper nervous about our trip. I had this idea that las vegas was going to be really trashy skeezy place and I was going to be a lamb lost among lions. I was so happy to find out that I was wrong! Sure, there was a bit of trashiness (and on Saturday, when we left, I did notice the skirts were noticeably shorter, the heals a few inches taller, and the boobs larger), but for the most part it wasn't night club trashy. I mean, there were old people. and families. and asian tourists. and people wearing fanny packs. Really, what this all comes down to, is that I was extremely relieved to find I was not the lamest of the lame. Yessss!
Highlights of the trip include:
+the beautiful pool area that really made us feel like we were vacationing at a resort.
+seeing the sun after months of this grey chicago winter
+hot tub
+drinking huge pina coladas by the pool at ten in the morning and getting the giggles
+taking irreplaceable video footage of our trip
+lion den at MGM Grand
+the ENTIRE lobby at the Bellagio (ceiling to floor chocolate fountain, amazing green house room, beautiful glass flowers) including the sweet water show
+free drinks while gambling
+hot hotel sex
+dinner at Bouchon
+slot machines
+playing games in the completely empty arcade
Negatives were:
-paying $$$ for water
-having to pay 15 bucks a day for the internet. Why MGM Grand can't give complimentary internet access if beyond me.
-paying $$$ for food and drinks
-forgetting to pack a jacket. It gets chilly at night!
-waiting in line for 30 minutes in the Las Vegas airport for a subway sandwich
Pictures to come soon!
