July 25 to August 2-- Parent's visit

Every year my parents come for a visit. They stay with me for a week to 10 days. This year we stayed busy and it went relatively well. The one night we didn't have plans was the one night we fought. I was exhausted and my nerves were shot by the end of the week. But my parents had a good time and I think that they'll remember this as a fun trip.

Saturday- My parents wanted to go check out a concert at Pritzker Paviolion

We got there an hour early and it was already this packed!

Nelva and George waiting for the concert

My parents met Tim. We went to dinner and a play. Everyone liked each other.

I took my parents to a Chicago Fire Soccer Game which was super fun

My parents locked themselves in my backyard. So my mom hopped a fence.

Here's wrapped ankle. We thought it was sprained. A doctor visit has now shown that it's broken. Oops.

Project Runway- Pitchfork edition

Pitchfork was populated by hipsters. By young, alt, indie kids. It led to interesting people watching. It was hipster-land where all the jeans were skinny and all the tshirts ironic. I'm not one to judge-- I know that there are times when I feel like the odd man out. When I'm in the Gold Coast or Lincoln Park, I know I don't blend with the ladies who lunch or the trixies. And when I try, I know people can see through it. So I'm not making fun of these guys. Everyone's got their own style. But I'll tell you this-- there were definitely some trends that you don't see on your average street corner. Here's some of the people watching:

The crowd at Jarvis Cocker

This guy prompted Tim to mumble, "Dirty Hippie"
Needlepointing before Spiritualized

Fluorescent glasses

Actually, fluorescent everything

Boots and shorts. In 90 degree heat. In Chicago.

Short 70s gym shorts

Sweatbands

Tie dye and non-broken in baseball hats

Sunday, July 20-- Brunch and Pitchfork Day 3

Day 3 was rough. Tim had about 8-9 Sparks on Sat so couldn't sleep that night. And we got up bright and early to meet Tamara, Mike, Mike's sister and her fiance for brunch. I felt badly, but when friends are in town from Boston, you rally. Of course, Mike was cranky with me because brunch was taking him away from the British Open. But it was still great to see him-- even cranky Mike is a fun Mike. It was good to see Tamara and catch up a little on her pregnancy and the Boston crew. They got to meet a very quiet Tim. Tamara and I both had some yummy crepes. It was 100% worth the early morning (and early morning means getting up at 10 am-- I know I've lost sympathy from anyone who has a baby).

After brunch we headed over to the festival. Tim & I both decided that it was going to be an alcohol free day. After his Sparks experience, Tim was also wary of any caffeine. It was a pretty mellow day. We hung out in the shade a lot listening to music. I spent most of the day making fun of people and what they were wearing. There'll be a "Pitchfork- the fashion edition" soon. Had some bbq for dinner. Spiritualized was the only band we really got super up close for. And they were amazing. Blew my ears out. And the sound system. Seriously-- the sound went out for a little bit. We hung back for Dinosaur Jr trying to get our hearing back. And then stuck around for a little Spoon. Again, we were beat from a long weekend in the sun (oh, and alcohol) so we headed home a little early. It was a great weekend. Exhausting. But great.

This was my view most of Sunday-- just lying under the trees and listening to music

Apples in Stereo- I thought they were groovy
Les Savy Fav
This guy was insane. He has on a 1 legged unitard.

Les Savy Fav

You can't hear the music that well

But you should see the outfit

And the jumping into the crowd


M Ward was as amazing as I had anticipated.

And now I know that he's a cutie pie too.

The crush is complete.

Spiritualized

Spiritualized doing "Soul on Fire"

Again, bad sound bc they were so loud.

But they were overwhelmingly good.

Tim in heaven at Spriritualized

Saturday, July 19-- Pitchfork Day 2

Day 2 I thought I had made a rookie mistake-- getting so drunk the 1st day that you can't enjoy the 2nd day. I was not a pleasant girl waking up in the morning. I had a hot dog for breakfast-- another rookie mistake. But we rallied and made it for Fleet Foxes. And then I made the smartest decision of the weekend during that show-- to take a nap. It was lovely, mellow music to drift off to. When I got up, I was back to normal and hitting the vodka lemonade I had snuck in. Meanwhile, Tim and his buddies checked out other bands and he had many, many Sparks. Things got rowdy. By the end of the night, they were super excited for Jarvis Cocker. We were pretty close up for him and the crew I was with were "those guys"-- hooting and screaming for the band before they were even on, calling out song names, throwing water bottles. Good times, good times.

I thought Chris Robinson had gotten a new band together. But no, it was Fleet Foxes

Tim & Rob

Luke and Rob

Note the matching boots

The entire matching outfits by Rob & Luke

Luke was a VIP and I think Rob was trying to sweet talk his way backstage

Tim & me

Rob, Luke (yes, there are 2 Lukes) and Tim

I have no idea.

The Hold Steady were AWESOME. Jarvis Cocker

I thought he looked a little like Austin Scarlett from Project Runway

But I didn't tell the boys

Friday, July 18-- Pitchfork Day 1

This weekend was my first Pitchfork Music Festival. Pitchfork is an indie music fest in Chicago: http://www.pitchforkmusicfestival.com/ I knew about 3 of the bands that were playing (including Public Enemy) but Tim had the whole weekend planned with bands he wanted to see. His music knowledge stuns me. But I was all set for Friday night-- Public Enemy was the headliner. They were supposed to play "It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back" in its entirety. They played that and more. They were A-MAZE-ING.

Tim with his first 2 Sparks of the weekend.

There would be many, many more.

For those of you that don't know Sparks it's this insane alcoholic beverage

that's bright orange with caffeine, guarana, ginseng, etc.

Like Red Bull with the alcohol already in it.

Tim & Alex getting amped up for PE

The Bomb Squad came on first and opened the show. Again-- A-MAZE-ING

Chuck D giving Flavor Flav crap for getting there late.

And pointing out to the crowd that Flavor was more than just a reality tv show star.

Of course, Flavor started to promote his new show in the WB.

And the crowd boo-ed.

I ran into Kate, Cisco and Stu.

Stu's in the background with eyeroll.

All the Indie kids were standing stoically watching the show.

But not Tim, Alex & Matt.

Flavor was playing the drums at the end.

He also went on a political rant that started with

"We're all the same race-- the human race"

And ended with "Fuck George W"

July 18-- My favorite things

I haven't done this in a while. But here's the stuff I can't stop thinking about these days:

1. Birthday Cake Remix Ice Cream from Cold Stone Creamery- It’s summer and I seem to feel entitled to ice cream. Like because it’s so hot there aren’t insane amounts of fat & calories in ice cream. And not just regular ice cream—Cold Stone with all sorts of mix-ins. Like hangover food, it seems medicinal and therefore, perfectly acceptable. My favorite is Birthday Cake Remix—Cake Batter ice cream, sprinkles, brownie chunks and fudge. Um, yes please. And if ANYONE posts fat & calorie content, you’re dead to me.
2. Karmel Sutra Ice Cream from Ben & Jerry’s- If I can’t get to a Cold Stone (there’s one down the street from my apt.), then Ben & Jerry’s will do. Karmel Sutra with it’s yummy core of caramel and fudge chips. Come to mama.
3. Vodka Lemonade- My drink of the summer. I’ve whipped it up in my gallon pitcher for music festivals on the lawn. Now I’m headed to the Pitchfork Festival and Lollapalooza. For those you can only bring in sealed bottles of water. So I’ve got my plan—2 – 1 ltr. Bottles of water, vodka snuck into the place in my plastic flask and Crystal Light lemonade On-The-Go. And Crystal Light has the benefit of electrolytes! Lord knows we need our electrolytes.
4. Girl Talk- Tim played this guy for me the other day and it was AWESOME. Like the best DJ party you could imagine. I’m not so good at explaining it, so I’ll let Rolling Stone do it:
   “Big ups to the fair-use principle of United States copyright law: Pittsburgh DJ Gregg Gillis aka Girl Talk says that's what allows him to use hundreds of unlicensed samples in his music. On 2006's breakthrough, Night Ripper, Gillis proved he was a true party-starter, effortlessly combining dozens of hip-hop, pop and rock hits in every song. Feed the Animals ups the ante, implementing more than 300 samples to make an utterly virtuosic mash-up record. On "Like This," one 90-second sequence alone works in Beyoncé, Rick Astley, Nine Inch Nails and Yo La Tengo, among others.”
5. Goldstar events- Maureen told me about this site and then Laura mentioned it 2 days later. It's AWESOME. 1/2 price tickets to plays, games, shows, comedy stuff, spas, classes, everything! My parents are coming in a few weeks (Now THOSE should be interesting blog entries) and I got $60 tickets to the new Steppenwolf show for $30/ea. So cool. They have them for NY, Boston, DC, LA, San Diego, etc. Highly recommended.

www.goldstar.com

Friday, July 11-- Feist

Friday was my first Ravinia concert of the season. It was Feist. And I'm not sure if I'm delusional and it's always brutal getting up there on the Metra or if it was particularly bad this time around, but it was NOT fun getting there. Laura and her friend Sara took the 5:50 train from downtown. Tim & I were at the Ravenswood stop for the same train. There were so many bodies waiting that we couldn't even get on the platform. We couldn't get on that train. Or the next. Or the next. Three trains went by without letting us on. When I'm done with this post, I'm writing s astrongly worded email to Ravinia AND Metra. We got on the train almost at 8 pm. We had gotten to the station a little past 6. Luckily I had some Mike's Hard Pomegranate (insert joke about my drink of choice here) and Tim had his Sparks (Lisa Madigan hasn't prohibited them yet!) and we were a-ok waiting. Meanwhile Laura and Sara were at the park in the WAY back. I mean, they had gotten there relatively early for an 8 pm show with an opening act. And still. The place was packed. We got there and Tim was pretty befuddled by the fact that you can't smoke at Ravinia-- even though you're outside in a park. It took some doing but we found the ladies and they had already set up the picnic. Tim & I had missed the opening act and the show started almost immediately with "Mushaboom". Because we were so far back, it was hard to hear. There weren't any speakers for some distance. So we went up to the pavilion where we saw Feist in her sassy hat and boogied to a few songs including "I Feel It All". We ran into my neighbors who were there with some French friends who were equally disturbed by the "No Smoking" ban. After the visit to the pavilion, we headed back to the blanket and gave up any attempt to actually listen to the music. "1, 2, 3, 4" and "Sea Lion" became background music to our shinanegans. It was a super fun group of people so a super fun night as a result. We hung out a little after the concert waiting for the crowd to die down. But it was still crowded getting on the train home. We were on a SLOW train to Chicago and our train car was drunk and restless. Clearly mass singing was in order. A girl asked Tim what his favorite song was and w/o missing a beat he said, "Like a Prayer". Then we were off to the races. See the video below. Just another Friday night.

Laura and me

Sara and Laura
Me & Tim

Sara, Laura and an oh-so-drunk me

Tim folded successfully folded up the blanket.

Good job!

Laura, Sara and found cookies on the slow train home

"Like a Prayer"

Tim was worried about paying Madonna royalty fees.

But it didn't stop anyone.

4th of July Weekend!

Thursday, July 3rd The weekend started off in a lovely fashion-- free White Sox tickets thanks to Magen (Thank you Magen!). We were in the upper deck which has the advantage of a great view of the city from the ramp (see above) and of the field (see below-- stole that picture and a couple others from Shannon. Thanks Shannon!)

Shannon and her super fun friend Karen met me at the Red Line stop. It was a lovely day. The sun was out and there were finally clear skies. It was breezy and actually got pretty cool at night. It was a great way to head into the long weekend. And the ballgame.

Karen & Shannon at the Cell

One of my biggest pet peeves in the world is when girls wear major league baseball hats in pink. No team has pink in their uniforms. Making them girly is just unacceptable for people over the age of 10. Shannon KNOWS how I feel about this. I have gone on many a tirade against the pink baseball hat. And what does she do? On purpose? Exhibit A below. I should learn not to tirade.

Exhibit A

Tim, me, Karen & Shannon at the game.

The game meant we missed the fireworks but we could see some of them from the L. After the game, we headed to a party in the South Loop that Shannon knew about. The party was nice and more importantly, I gorged myself of cheese, crackers, macaroons and some sort of moonpie-like cake/cookie/sandwich thing. That and all the beer combined for a bit of a tummy ache when I got home. Yes, I have the self-control and foresight of a 5 year old. Tim still had the constitution to get some Chicago Pizza and polish off a few slices when we got back to my place. I was passed out. Late night pizza and passing out-- signs of a good night.

Friday, July 4th

The 4th was THE OLD 97s!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, The Old 97s might be my favorite band. I love, love, love them (Thank you Madison Megan & Matt). Rhett Miller, the lead singer, is in my Top 5. So when I found out that they were playing the 4th of July concert at the Taste of Chicago, I was there. Matt gave me tickets to get into the seated area early (Thanks Matt!). Tim and I headed down there with some vodka lemonade and a blanket and spent the day in the sun.

Rhett!

Tim & Me
The day got even better when I ran into Jordan
Starting on the turkey leg...
...Finished with the turkey leg.

The Old 97s were AWESOME! They played every song that I wanted to hear. Even "Won't Be Home" which has the great lyrics "I'm on a Wounded Knee/And we're at our Waterloo" and then the refrain "So please get out/Of my car" (I don't know why I love that line but I do!). Rhett had all the energy that he usually does. He played "Melt Show" which was my original favorite Old 97s song. He dedicated it to the VIPs from the Mayor's Office bc the opening line is, "At the front row at the Melt Show I fell in love with you and that was 3 wks ago". The chorus is "Will you sober up and let me down?" Which again, I just love. I've seen these guys a bunch of times and I have to say, they never let me down.

Rhett doing "Melt Show"


Gomez was actually the headliner. Here's the "La-La-La"s of "See the World"

After the Taste we headed over to Wicker Park to meet some of Tim's friends. There was a party at a very art-y loft that I felt way too uncool to be in. But there was a rooftop where we watched fireworks all over the city. It was pretty wild. You could see them in all directions. I was surprised to see how many people were shooting off fireworks in downtown Chicago. I mean, the neighborhoods and suburbs I expected. But seriously, there were some right by the Hancock building (heh- I said Hancock). It was all pretty wild and cool and beautiful. A great way to celebrate Independence Day.

Tim & Luke in the very art-y loft

Saturday, July 5th

Saturday was very lazy. I spent most of the day reading in the sun and Tim spent most of the day-- check that-- all of the day, sleeping. After 2 days of partying it felt like a lazy Sunday. That's the beauty of the long weekend! My neighbors are insane barbeque-ers so they had a big shindig that they were preparing for all day. They had 60 lbs. of pork shoulder, 30 lbs. of brisket, ribs, smoked mac & cheese, etc., etc. So I stayed close to home, drinking and eating in my & the neighbor's backyards. Miriam came over and helped me with some Jamesons. Tim is apparently someone's grandma because his drink of choice that day was Whiskey Sours. But he couldn't find sour mix at my local liquor store so he got some sour lemonade thing. Not so good. Anyway, we headed over to the Edgewater to meet up with Brett. There we had scintillating conversation. We figured out how to stop the war, get gas prices down and end world hunger. For real. Can't you tell from the photo below?

Sunday, July 6th

Sunday started with a lovely ladies lunch-- me, Lisa, Maureen & Miriam. The twist was that it was at Kuma's which has a heavy metal vibe to say the least. I had promised Miriam mac & cheese from my neighbors' the night before and didn't come through-- it was on the dry side. I swear! Anyway, Kuma's has the best mac & cheese in the world. And burgers. I had the Dark Throne. Goat cheese on a burger? Helllll yeah.

http://www.kumas-corner.com/food.html

After watching Rafael Nadal (such a hottie) win Wimbeldon, I spent the rest of Sunday a way I never thought I'd spend a Sunday-- in the 'burbs. Watching country music. Tim has talked about showing me around Naperville where he grew up. This weekend was Naperville Ribfest. His sister, her boyfriend and his parents were going Sunday night to see Trace Adkins and they had 2 extra tickets. So we went. First, let me explain that this fest was HUGE. HUGE. We had to park at the train station and take a shuttle. Tim sings the praises of the suburbs with its ample parking. This weekend-- no ample parking. We get to the fest and there are 2 music stages. The most ginormous food booths I've ever seen. The lines were long so I didn't even bother with the ribs. We make our way over to the Adkins stage and there's a field of bodies. I think there were more people there than there were for Stevie Wonder. It was nuts. We finally find Tim's family. I was a little nervous about meeting them as expected. But they were super, super nice. Within a minute, Tim's dad says, "So let's get something straight-- you're a Yankee fan?" I explained how that happened and he seemed to accept it. And was comforted that at least I wasn't a Cubs or Boston fan (Boooooo Boston!). The show started and Tim was not happy-- he's the only person in his family that hates country music. His sister was trying to get him to dance and he was having none of it. It was pretty amusing. We only stayed for about half the show and then headed out. Tim took me to the Mexican place that he spent most of high school, college and adult life eating at. It was pretty damn good. And I got to see where he went to school, the house he grew up in, the fields he played baseball on. All in all, a lovely day.

Monday, July 7

I'm back at work and clearly procrastinating since I'm writing this blog instead of finishing a spreadsheet. But come on-- it was a pretty damn good weekend. Coming back to reality's tough. So I'll replay the weekend a few more times in my head. And then start thinking about the concert at the Hideout on Thurs. And Ravinia on Fri. And T's bday on Sat. I'm feeling better already...