My birthday party- Part II

My memory of my party is still coming together. Bobbi was kind enough to send me a few photos. I remember all of these being taken and my eyes are still open in them, so clearly it was early in the festivities (ie. about 6:30 pm). Scroll to the end for the most important pic-- the cake. Note the little pink flowers next to the giant penis. I can't thank Bobbi enough for coming. Not only was she a fun, special addition to the party-- she totally cleaned my apt. the next morning before I could even rouse out of bed. Gotta love it.

Me & Bobbi before the guests arrived

Me with my birthday tiara in the backyard
Not to be outdone, Alex in the tiara and Bobbi's giant sunglasses

Alex & Bobbi before the chaos

Alex & Mandy playing cornhole (aka baggo, bags, etc) in the backyard

The cake. No comment necessary

Saturday, April 26-- MY BIRTHDAY PARTY!!

Re. Tard. Ed.

That was me Sat. night. I had my 35th birthday party and the them was "My Favorite Things". Above include some of my favorites: Little Debbie Zebra cakes, Stella Doro Swiss fudge cookies, Jujy Fruit, Bubu Lubu, Funions and cheese. Sadly, I didn't take many more pictures after that because I got stupid drunk. Let me explain.

My friend Alex said he'd come over early to help me w/ the keg (which turned out to be overkill-- I forget that grown ups actually bring alcohol to houseparties. So I have 3/4 of a keg leftover and a fridge full of beer & wine. There are worse problems) and bring ice, etc. The party was at 7, so he said he'd come around 5:30. Well, around 4:30 he calls and says he's at my place. I'm in my robe in the process of blowdrying my hair, so I'm a little cranky about this. I open the door and who's there? Alex. And Bobbi from NY! I scream some high pitched scream and am totally thrown off by the fact that she's here. Alex also got my friend Orin to come in from DC and friends Jessica, Todd, Birdie & Mike to come down from Milwaukee. So exciting! The more immediate result is that I start drinking w/ Alex & Bobbi around 5 pm (Bobbi & Alex had started at noon, so I was playing catch up). So by 7 when people start showing up? Trouble. I wore a pretty short dress and I was apparently in danger of flashing people at one point. I think the heels came off around 9. Rafael made the cake which was 2 tiers and looked like a wedding cake. Except that it had a big fondant penis on it. Which apparently, I bit the tip off of. I only did about 3 car bombs but I was drinking whiskey all night. I have no idea who gave me the big knife to cut the cake with but I've been told that it was a little dicey. I say "I've been told" because it's all a little hazy. I'm still piecing the night together. I've heard that there are photos and videos out there and I'm hoping people will come forward with evidence.

All in all, it was a super, super fun night. At least the parts that I remember. I know one thing-- I feel lucky to have the friends that I do.

Paul schmoozing someone and the lovely Shannon smiling in the background

Carlos standing alone in the corner bc no one likes him Kate sitting? Hiding? Bringing Orin back to the airport.

Thursday, April 25-- Yanks-White Sox

Last night was me & Lisa's 4th annual White Sox-Yankees game. When I first moved to Chicago, Lisa & I realized that we had baseball in common. We decided to go to the White Sox-Yanks that season and have gone to at least 1 White Sox-Yanks game every year since. When we went to that first game she said, "I love going to games w/ you because you really know the game and yet you're a girl so we can talk about Jeter's butt and it's ok." That was 4 years ago and we're still talking about Jeter's butt.

This year Lisa treated me to the game for my birthday. The start was delayed by rain but we got a few innings in. I saw my favorite beer vendor who gave me a free beer for my birthday and chatted w/ the Berwyn boys behind us. Lisa made a HIGHLY offensive comment comparing Jeter to Manny which almost destroyed our friendship. I must confess that we had really idiotic Yankee fans around us-- this punk kid with an oh-so-clever tshirt with the "Top 10 Lies Told in Cancun" on the back and a girl w/ a ponytail right on the top of her head, insane make-up and a Jeter jersey on tied in a knot a la Daisy Duke. Yep, those are my peeps. Anyway, the Yanks scored 3 runs and then another rain delay. After a while we were just cold, wet and a little cranky so we home. Good thing-- Yanks lost. Who wants to watch that? Glad we left on a high note. Can't wait for next year!

When you're bored during a game delay, this is what happens-- temporary tatoos

Lisa, Me & Carlton Fisk at the Cell
AJ warming up and Paulie "trotting".
Paulie doesn't run. Just trots. No really. There's a commercial and everything about it.

Matsui and my Yanks

Monday, April 21-- Cubs v. Mets

It's baseball season and I am SOOOO happy. Last night I went to the Cubs v. Mets with Dan Weisberg (a Mets fan), Christian (Cubs fan) and Dan's friend Katie. Dan & Christian are college buddies of Ethan's and I've appropriated Weis as my own friend. Christian lives near Wrigley so we met up there, Christian grilled out and we made it over to Wrigley for the bottom of the 3rd. There was a fight in the stands. A Mets fan threw a beer at a Cubs fan who turned around and spit at the Mets fan. Unfortunately for this Mr. Met, he also got a VERY large man's daughter wet w/ beer and he was NOT happy. They all got tossed but somehow the Mets fan got back in. I'm sad to report that easily the most obnoxious fan in the stands was actually a Yankee fan sitting right behind us. He was yelling idiotic things the entire time but the worst had to be when he yelled that a player's mom "should have had the abortion". Yeah. Made me proud. Plus he had a mullet. WTF?

Afterwards we went to the Pianoman which is the antithesis of Morans-- never too crowded, lots of shady locals. A dive. It's awesome. That's where I learned that Christian spent his summers on the Jersey shore. This got me super emotional. So now I will digress.

Digression:

Everyone knows about the Bronx side of me, but there's also this Jersey side. You see, my dad's mom-- the one from Newfoundland Canada-- passed away when he was in college. So when I was growing up, it was her sister, my Aunt Alice, who was basically my grandmother. As a young lady, she had followed her older sister to NY. There she met my Uncle Bill who had built a hunting cabin in the woods of south Jersey and took her down there. The hunting cabin expanded into a home and she & my Uncle Bill lived there their entire married lives. My Uncle Bill was cranky and scared the crap out of me. We never saw him. But every holiday or special occasion, we'd go down to Port Authority and pick Aunt Alice up from the New Jersey Transit bus and go to a musical or out to dinner in the city. When Uncle Bill passed away, she was on her own and we started going down to Jersey every weekend. Seriously, every weekend. It was a 2 hr drive, longer on Fri. nights in the summer. But it was so worth it in the summer! Sometimes I would stay for a few weeks and hang out w/ my cousing Jonathan and we would roam around my aunt's 12 acres (which seemed like the hugest piece of land EVER) and we'd push each other off mounds at the gravel pit. But the BEST was going to Seaside Heights. I loved, loved, loved the Jersey shore. I loved the huge waves and I thought boogie boarding was the coolest thing in the whole world. No one was afraid of skin cancer back then and my mom would bake in the sun contently for hours. My family lived in Jackson, home of Great Adventure. So there was always a trip there. And I LOVED going to the Ocean County Mall and getting a sundae at Friendly's. In so many ways I was formed by Jersey rather than the Bronx. Well, probably a solid mix of both.

My Aunt Alice passed away the summer after my 1st year of law school. Matt & I hadn't been dating long but he came with me to the funeral. As we were driving through Lakewood, he said, "I really get Springsteen songs now." True, true. Since then I've only been there twice. But last night talking to Christian, it all came back to me. And I missed it.

Digression done.

Then conversation rolled all over the place. There were college stories told. Somehow Christian's plastic giveaway Cubs batting helmet led to a conversation about a torts exam hypo that Weis' dad had come up with and I found myself saying "contract of adhesion" and "assumption of risk" as a shiver shot down my spine. There was a debate about tort reform and of course the McDonald's coffee being too hot. I shouldn't have these conversations when I drink. I get hot and bothered and really, why? But it was an awesome night. We had been at the game. Then we drank. Outside. On a Monday. Life is sweet.

Tonight I'm going to Yankees-White Sox. And this one is a date. Wish me luck. It's going to be a long week.

Sunday, April 20-- Om on the Range

My friend Shannon, whose photos you've seen on this blog, has an annual yoga birthday party. I was flattered to be invited this year. But if you know me at all, you know that yoga and all that it embodies-- balance, flexibility, calm-- well, they're not really my strengths. I'm good at talking loud. I'm good at drinking for long periods of time. I'm good at falling & bouncing back up & acting like nothing happened. But yoga? So I warned Shannon and her sister and a few other people before the class that I was going to be horrible. [Note: setting low expectations-- that's also a strength of mine.] Anyway, the party was at Om on the Range, a lovely yoga studio. If you're in Chicago and into yoga, check it out: http://omontherange.net The type of yoga was Baptiste (power vinyasa yoga). That means really, really hot. Shannon had warned me and I'm Panamanian, so hot was fine by me. The class was fine. It was great actually. People were twisting and turning. Shannon was doing headstands. But me? I was sweating my balls off. And had to take several breaks so as not to pass out. And found myself hopping through a lot of the poses. And the highlight? When I tried to do a backbend, lost my footing and, yes, fell flat on my back. Giant thump. The instructor said something about the mat being slippery and getting me a towel. I assured her that, "No, I just fall a lot". Yep, me & yoga still not going hand in hand. I still have no sense of balance, no flexibility. That's my cross to bear.

Post yoga was lunch at Uncommon Ground, a yummy spot that I've been to before but now has a new location. We went there and I had fish tacos. The fish was fried. There were avocados in it. And some sort of creamy dressing. I was back to my inner balance.

Paaarty

Big 35th birthday party blowout on Sat. Come one, come all!

http://www.evite.com/pages/invite/viewInvite.jsp?inviteId=TLQZSSZEXTMUAKWUCAVX

Keep your eyes peeled for the post-party blog entry and pictures.

Friday, April 18-- Baseball and Music

This Friday I went to my first ballgame of the season! It was the lovely Shannon's birthday and she got tickets for herself, me, her sister Kate and her friend Jen. The weather held out for the birthday girl and it was game on.

I still think Wrigley could use a jumbotron The Mangiameli sisters

Shannon, me, Jen & Kate at Moran's post-game. Yeah, cheesy Moran's.

How am I the short one in the group?

Shannon pointing to my biggest pet peeve- The pink Cubs hat. The Wrigley drunk boy. Kate pickpocketed him twice. We got a 5th of Captain off him. He had no idea.

The Cubs won and the drunk boys in Wrigleyville got me depressed. Timothy, the totally trashed boy, declared Shannon and Kate hot and me "not hot" (although Shannon swears I misheard him). It upset me much more than it should have. But bascically I count on the compliments that drunk boys tell me to cheer me up, so the insults take the wind out of my sails. I know, I shouldn't need any of the compliments, should be confident in myself, blah, blah, blah. But there you have it.

As much fun as Shannon's bday celebration was, I had tickets to a concert and so I left Wrigley and headed over to meet Miriam at Schubas. I love seeing Miriam bc she is smart, independent and super hip. She's also really laid back and lets me talk about boys and all my neuroses without making me feel judged. That's always a nice feeling. So we talked and drank and saw Newton Faulkner. He's a 20-something Englishman w/ dreadlocks and an acoustic guitar. He's more John Mayer-y than I should like but after the Wrigley boys it was totally what I needed.

http://www.newtonfaulkner.com/

Post concert, we went for pizza and then home. It was a long week with 5 am meetings at the Commissary and after work commitments. A Friday with friends was a nice way to end to it.

April 11-13 Weekend-- Spring Beer Die Classic

Liz & her boyfriend Andy were kind enough to invite me for a weekend away at Andy's buddy's parent's lake house. The house is lovely right on a lake in western Illinois. Of course, I only saw the lake from the window because I spent the entire weekend in the house, mainly in the garage. Andy and his buddies introduced me & Liz to Beer Die, a game composed of a die, a plywood table with cups of beer on it and unhealthy amounts of Busch Light drinking. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that learning the game has fundamentally changed my life.
Good times, good times.

The Beer Die set-up

Sasha, Andy's sweet sweet dog and weekend mascot
Rob & Liz playing beer die-- Rob in mid throw

Andy & Tim playing beer die-- Tim blurry from his speedy toss.

Or from the Busch Light.

After winning a point, Tim took of his shirt in celebration, a la Brandi Chastain

And then things started getting crazy...

...and crazier...

...and even crazier.

You must watch this video. Pee your pants funny. Trust me.

Andy giving his lady some lovin'...

...And his other lady as well.

Lizzie throwin' down the yummy Busch Light.

The end of the night and the baseball hat is down low.

Friday, April 11-- The Blues (Warning: Kind of a serious post)

"April is the cruelest month"
- T. S. Eliot, The Wasteland

This is a bad time of year for me. The first sting is April 12. It’s the anniversary of my friend Ryan’s suicide. He lived in Milwaukee and sometimes it’s easy for me to forget and think that he’s still up there. This time of year, I really can’t forget. It still makes me so sad that I wasn’t able to be there for him at a bad time in his life when he was there for me during the worst time of my life. I think of him often especially when there’s anything related to Elvis, Jamesons Irish whiskey and real darts. When I was so profoundly lonely, I knew I was always invited to the playhouse where Ryan and his boys would be there. We’d watch the SNL “The H is O” skit, listen to Johnny Cash, do a car bomb and then wind up playing darts at Wolski’s. There are no words to how much that helped me get through starting my new life. I’m sorry and I miss you.
Then there’s my divorce. April 17 is the anniversary of my divorce. My divor-sary, if you will (I got that of “West Wing” years ago). I’d like to think that I’m over it, but I’m not sure I ever will be. Sometimes it feels very fresh. Sometimes I feel that confusion and frustration and regret all over again. Sometimes I want to go back in time and make different choices. Just sometimes. And this time of year is one of those sometimes.
Then there’s my birthday. Normally, I love my birthday. It’s actually May 1 and I love that it’s really the beginning of spring. It’s May Day! But this year I’m turning 35 and there’s a new box to check off. I’m not looking forward to it. Not one little bit. I hate when people who say that “age is just a number”. Tell that to my joints. And my ovaries. And it’s just a milestone that makes you reflect on your life—see what’s there and what’s missing. I love what’s there. I long for what’s missing. And there’s some big stuff missing. So I’m throwing a big party where I hope to have people I love around me to fend off the blues. Well, friends and lots of booze.
And let’s not forget April 15 taxes!
I’m trying to get through April. Luckily I have a lot of plans with amazing people. This weekend I’m going away w/ my friend Liz and some other friends and I think it’s going to be a blast. Next weekend, I’m going to the Cubs game with friends and a concert. The week after I’m going to the Yankee game. Then my birthday party. It’s going to be a good month with good new memories. I expect this blog will be filled with crazy pictures and stories and adventures. But it’s in the quiet times that I get down. Luckily there are lots of loud ones that get me through.

Sunday, April 6-- Sunday observations

Sunday is often hangover recovery day. Today is a perfect case in point. It was a lovely spring-ish day in Chicago. Instead of doing something productive, I got up, drove 3 blocks to McDonalds and laid around for most of the day. I did realize this:

1. I seem believe that fat & calories consumed in an attempt to cure a hangover don't count. The thought process goes something like this: I don't want to eat the Big Mac/beef burrito/grilled cheese w/ tomato & bacon; but the food in question will help me feel better; the fat & grease & salt will be medicinal; the food is actually healthy for me because it has curing power. Therefore, it's health food and not crap. And won't be fattening. I have a college degree AND an advanced degree. Can't you tell?
2. Parallel parking on the left side is next to impossible for me. Now, I'm a crappy parallel parker in general. I have bad depth perception. Thus, all my falling down. But parallel parking on the left side? I may as well just abandon the car on the side of the road.

Luckily, tomorrow is Monday, a new week with all sorts of possibility. A blank slate. I will go to the gym everyday, I will eat healthy food and I will take the L whenever feasible. For real.

Saturday, April 5-- Kathleen Edwards

The Metro

Saturday was the first lovely day we've had in Chicago and it was AWESOME. After an afternoon of drinking in the 'burbs and watching the White Sox, I met the ladies at the Metro for a Kathleen Edwards concert. For those of you unfamiliar w/ Chicago, the Metro is right down the street from Wrigley. There was a Cubs game Sat. afternoon which meant RETARDED drunk people staggering around the streets and bars of Wrigleyville. Then we became the retarded drunk people.

Kathleen Edwards is, as I like to say, a chick w/ a guitar. She's great even though she and her whole band is Canadian. Check out the clips below. Watch her rock out. We met her later in the night and she was nothing like she is in these.

6 O'Clock News

Back to Me

Tammy, Lisa & Laura post show

The show was great. We left and the consensus was that we needed food. On the way to food (across the street) things got silly. Shannon had ridden her bike to the show (I'm telling you-- super nice out Sat.) and tried to ride it in a profound state of intoxication.

Laura and Shannon on her bike

A lady was trying to take a picture of us and Laura had the genius idea that we should get on the floor to do it. I went along. Why?

We finally get to the hot dog place across the street from Metro. Again, for those of you who don't know Chicago, the Chicago dog is AWESOME. It's got minced onions, tomatoes, flouresent pickle relish, sport peppers, a pickle spear, mustard and celery salt served on a dog in a poppy seed bun. I was skeptical years ago and am now a huge advocate. Esp. after drinking at a concert.

The mighty Chicago dogShannon wanted additional pickles w/ celery salt-- straight no chaser

I have no idea why we thought it was a good idea to go back to the bar, but we did. And guess what? We met the band! It was super fun. I busted out that my grandmother was from Newfoundland (swear to God) and they were saying I needed more Canadian pride. I was talking w/ the bassist about the best Springsteen song ever. He had played w/ Sarah Harmer and I had seen her at Martyrs years ago. We figured out that he was w/ the band at the time and I joked that I couldn't believe that he didn't remember me from that show. It was so cool. Kathleen came in and was SUPER shy. Barely spoke to anyone that wasn't in her band. Pretty different from her onstage persona. But very fun.

Eventually a 60-something year old man from St. Paul started chatting me up and in the worst wingwoman move ever Laura left me to fend for myself. Luckily it was last call and I was able to interupt his story about leaving his wife of 29 years and say that it was time for me to go home. And it was. Good times, good times.

Laura & Kathleen Edwards' bassist

Favorite things

I'm no Oprah, but there have been a few things making me really happy lately. So here you go:

1. "Won’t Be Home" by the Old 97s- Those of you who know me know that I love Rhett Miller and the Old 97s with a boundless passion. They have a new album coming out and even though some haters think the first single sucks (that's you, Weis-- hater) I still CAN’T WAIT. "Won't Be Home" isn’t a new song and it’s not on their best album (Drag It Up). But I stumbled across it again when I was traveling and keep coming back to it. “I’m on a wounded knee and we’re at our Waterloo”. http://www.ol97s.com
2. Hurricane Roll at Butterfly- How can you not love something that includes avocado AND wasabi cream cheese AND spicy mayo? Oh and a bunch of fish.
3. Unibroue beer- I LOVE their Blanche de Chambly beer and have a stock of it for my "My Favorite Things" party. Last night I had their Maudite. So yummy.
4. "Extras"- Just returned Season Two of the HBO show "Extras" and I'm sad that there isn't more.
5. Boden- Allison introduced me to the Boden catalog & website. Love their patterns and the cuts of their clothes. Got the cutest skirt the other day and I can't wait to wear it if spring EVER comes. http://www.bodenusa.com

Wednesday, April 2-- Juanes

Last week Carlos told me that he had an extra Juanes ticket, would I be interested in going to the concert. Um, yeah. Look at him. Seriously, look at that publicity shot above. He's Colombian (just like Julieta Venegas who I put on some mixes and who I also saw w/ Carlos) and super popular. The concert was great. He was wearing all black w/ a white belt and pulled it off. I was encouraging Carlos to wear a similar outfit, but he wasn't falling for it. I was pretty dazed by the way Juanes looked but he also had some great songs. There was one about mines w/ pictures on the big screen that was pretty moving. Apparently he's really involved w/ a charity related to landmines. And there was one about us all being brothers and the Panamanian flag was on the screen. I took it as a song being sung directly to me. Right?
Overall it was a super Wednesday night. Thanks Carlos.

Juanes on the big screen last night

La Camisa Negra: The end of the show

Tuesday, April 1-- Tiger '95

I love Marc. He's a college buddy that I got to see last night. He's one of those people you know in college with whom you talk about the "big questions" till the wee hours of the morning. Religion, politics, the meaning of life-- all that fun stuff. And last night we did it again. Well, not totally. But a little. Enough. I don't really have those conversations anymore. I had one w/ Libertarian John-- the guy about to lick my face in the pictures from Fri. night. And before that I can't even remember.

Last night we mainly talked about politics. What's amazing about Marc is that he's still an idealist. A Republican. And an idealist. Who knew? He was talking about being a lawyer and how it still awes him that a judge grants an order on a piece of paper and it has the full force of "the guys w/ the guns" (as Marc called them) behind it. He's practiced law long enough to become jaded and cynical by the process but he still finds the amazement in it. We talked about the election which is when I remembered that this guy can run intellectual circles around me. It started w/ him asking, "Did you read Hillary's speech after Ohio?" and me saying, "Um...read it? No. Heard soundbites, sure." By the end of the night he was saying, "Now you've lost me." Mainly bc I wasn't making sense. Couldn't really keep up. Anyway, when I said something about him still being an idealist and me becoming a cynic, he said that he too had become cynical. We realized that we both thought that people were at the end of the day selfish, greedy and actually quite dumb. On the one hand, I think we need to elect people who have less selfish, greedy idiocy in them than I do and the role of gov't is to then protect us from ourselves. He thinks people should be allowed to make selfish, greedy, stupid decisions and live w/ the consequences. That world scares me too much. Oddly, John the Libertarian thinks that people are inherently good and will rise to challenges. Of course, he younger than we are. Anyway, despite Marc's cynical view of people, he still believes in the dialog. He's thoughtful about it. And in this 24 hr news cycle where whoever yells the loudest wins, it's refreshing.

What I really and truly love about Marc is that he brings out the best me. We have debates without fighting. He pushes me to think without getting smug or judgemental. He knows me from when I was 20 and still remembers that Michele but doesn't pin me into that box. He is so successful in his professional and private lives-- he has a lovely wife that he clearly adores and 4 kids (FOUR!) that he thinks are just the coolest people ever. But when I'm around him he doesn't make me feel like I'm missing out bc I don't have those things-- which is a big deal since I often do feel that way especially when I'm around people w/ families. When Marc & I became friends, I was still very much the same person I am now-- drinking too much, worrying about boys, making smart ass comments, being lazy & procrastinating. But I also thought about the big questions. Now I've become cynical and find people who want to change the world silly. I don't like that about myself. Last night Marc reminded me that I can still tap into that big question part of myself. It's rusty. But it's there. That's a comfort.

So here's to those big-question-college-days talks. And to cheesesteaks w/ everything on them from Hoagie Haven.