Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween reader(s?)!! Yesterday the festivities were kicked off in the best possible way when I went back to Santa Clara to KOC and saw their fantastic parade! Some of my favorite costumes included: Harry Potter, Spiderman, Bumblebees, Elephants, Dorothy and Toto, and many many more! Although this holiday kind of reminds me that although those kids are adorable, I am not ready to handle kids on a rollercoaster day like Halloween! But it sure was fun to watch!

The weather today was a little cloudy (I guess it's Fall!) but it looks like it is clearing up as I type! The kids lucked out--last week they were talking rain all weekend! Soo I am wishing everyone a happy and safe Halloween!

Here are some jokes to get you in the spirit:

Why didn't the ghost go to the movies?
He didn't have any guts

What kind of mistakes do spooks make?
Boo Boos

What do you get when you goose a ghost?
A handful of sheet!

Where do Mummies go to go swim?
The Dead Sea

Why was the mummy so tense?
Because he was all wound up

Enjoy the day but don't eat too much candy!

Pandora's Box

So, while I sit intently at my computer typing away and browsing for potential jobs, I have found myself getting sick of my usual iPod (or pizzle as I like to call it) playlists so for the past couple of weeks I have reminded myself of how much I LOVE Pandora. Type in one thing and they give you radio without the annoying DJs and commercials (I apologize if any of my three readers have aspiring DJ careers).

Some of my personal favorite selections are: U2 (for obvious reasons of the awesomeness) Blondie, the Eagles and when it gets to be that time of year—their Christmas song selections!

Go ahead and listen. You know you want to.

Blinkers for everyone!

I have been saying this for years. Pedestrians should really wear blinkers. As a driver it is so annoying when you are stopped at a 4-way-stop and you already have that awkwardness between you and the other drivers. Is it my turn? You really got here before I did, but you are slacking. It isn’t your turn and you should have made a more complete stop but I’ll let you go anyways. But then add into the mix the unpredictable pedestrian! You suddenly spot them and then a sudden rush of urgency comes over you to hit the gas so you are visibly proceeding through the intersection so they have to stop. Forget “Pedestrians have the right of way!” you have a coffee date to get to! But sometimes they just are too quick and you spend your time stopped trying to calculate their speed with their arm pumping velocity and see if you have to let them go through. After lots of deliberation (seconds actually turn into minutes in this dimension) you let them go because pedestrians do in fact have the right of way. But, what’s this? They are going in a different direction! You lose your turn and have to wait for the next rotation as you curse them in their blue jumpsuit.

Unfortunately, the same thing goes for being the walker. All these cars that are in some sort of groove and you have to stand on the street corner waiting for permission. I also love it when you get into a waving match with the driver saying “You go! No, you! Oh, okay, I’ll go, oh wait you weren’t serious!” Then you get that nervous knot in the pit of your stomach and then look at the ground as you prance from through the crosswalk. (You prance just merely for the fact that you try to make up for some lost time for both you and the driver.) A heavy sigh comes over you when you reach the other curb and try to avoid all eye contact with any car that is in your direction by examining the landscape. Or has this only happened to me?

Well just imagine if people were all to start wearing blinkers. In my head, I see them as small lights attached to your shoulder—maybe they could clip on to your shirt and then you just tap. When you think about all the benefits from this. First it would ease the flow of traffic, especially at schools during drop off hours. Possibly produce fewer accidents. And just basically be safer for pedestrians AND drivers all over. If I don’t have a real job in 4-6 months, I’m going to capitalize on this. But hey, it’s just food for thought.

Cheezbourger Cheezebourger Cheezebourger...No Fries, Chips!

So the World Famous Billy Goat Tavern have you ever seen the SNL sketch for the “Cheezbourger, Cheezbourger, No Fries, Chips!” man? Well, bitd (back in the day) there used to be a sketch based off of this guy who would tell you what you were having rather than taking your order. And when you mix his accent with demanding nature, you get something far worse than the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld! He told us we were having double “cheezbourgers” and that was it. (Mom was afraid to ask for a diet coke.)

Classic hole in the wall, but only in America would it still be in business.

I can't find the real SNL link, but this was the best YouTube could provide...

More of Chi-Town

Friday’s weather was not really cooperating with us…wind, rain and some more rain. Luckily this was the day we had our tour of the city’s architecture on a river boat. But we prepared ourselves by going to the most amazing museum—the Art Institute of Chicago. I got to see lots of Impressionist pieces and one of my favorite painters—Monet. Next, we then headed towards the “World Famous Billy Goat" restaurant for lunch with Dad since he finally got a break. (See next post) But we made our way back to the Magnificent Mile for some shopping just before our wet river tour, oh and it was still pouring. But we did see some beautiful building foundations. Eventually, we did decide to brave the rain and stand on the top deck for a while so we got to see the top of some of these wonderful buildings! That night we went to Harry Carrey’s (named after a famous Chicago Sports-caster) for dinner with some more friends!

Saturday was Dad’s one and only day to really enjoy the city so we went on a walking tour of the south side—seeing Millennium Park (which was where Obama had his acceptance speech the night he was elected) with the giant silver bean and then going to see the hotel that Dad used to stay at when he came to Chicago—the Union League Club. Good times. When we made our way North, Mom and I dragged him into the American Girl Place so that we could set up a reservation for tea and he was less than thrilled go there—I, however, loved it. (BTW there is a doll named Julie now…coincidence? I think not).

But when we were walking to get some lunch we encountered a medical emergency! Dad’s nose started bleeding and it would not stop! I kept telling him to pinch his nose and lean forward, but does he listen to me…no. So the next thing we know, we are at Northwestern ER! (Ironically this is the same place Lisa went when she popped her knee freshman year at Loyola.) As a result, Mom and I missed our tea reservation. Oh and yes he was okay, it was the dry cold weather and the fact that he didn’t pinch his nose to stop it. Just a little excitement on a lazy Saturday! Before we knew it, we had to hop on that Southwest flight heading west and bid farewell. Until next time Chicago…

Chicago!

Don’t worry—I didn’t get a job yet. I have just been seriously “slacking” (people tell me) on my blogging. So, back by popular demand…my life!

Let’s start out with…Chicago!

My kind of town. ‘Nuff said. This place was amazing. I think that if I liked the cold—I could definitely live there (however, it is approximately 65 degrees at the moment and I am cold). But, getting to the point, we went for a Conference-Convention type deal for an organization that Dad belongs to—DRI (Defense Research Institute, I think—bunch of lawyers in one place so we spent most of our time outside). So the three of us hopped on Southwest flight and flew East! It was a beautiful day when we got there and that night after a reception we went to dinner at Lou’s Italian Village. My mom liked to call this restaurant, “K-Mart in Italy” due to the tacky decorations and twinkle lights (sorry any K-mart fans) but the food was delish.

On Thursday, Mom and I put on our tourist shoes and began a foot attack on the city. We started with the John Hancock Building which is a 90-something story building with an incredible view of the city. OH! I forgot to brag about the celebrity sighting that I had whilest walking down Michigan Ave (aka the Magnificent Mile!) drum roll please…I saw… Bachelorette Gillian’s…fiancé ED! He was running and minding his own business but I spotted him! After a quick confirmation to Teresa to make sure that they lived in Chicago, I confirmed that it was him! I was so excited since I NEVER see celebrities—my family can attest to that. But getting back to the day’s events—we went on a tour of the city with a legit tour guide (he was approx 65 and hilarious) and saw most of the city! But we hopped off and went to the Museum of Natural History—the Field Museum I believe is the proper name—and we met the country’s (possibly the world’s) most accurate T-Rex, Sue. She had the most bones of any exhibit…take that LA!

That night we went to another reception at the Aquarium (the last place on earth I would EVER have a party). People who like fish probably had a good time, but being under ground with a huge tank of sharks looking at you is not my idea of a good time (and neither are touch pools). But luckily we had dinner reservations with some of Dad’s friends so we scooted back to the Hancock Building and had dinner on the 95^th Floor!

Recap!

Well it has been a few days and I’ve been slacking. I’m sorry. But this weekend was pretty busy—the celebrations have begun! (oh FYI only 2 days left till I begin my 22^nd year!) But, getting back to the point…

Saturday my wonderful friends and I went to “Oktoberfest by the Bay” at Pier 48 in…you guessed it…San Francisco. It also happened to be a LoveFest which was conveniently located on the Embarrcadero as well. Needless to say, when you combine the lovers of the polka, German Beer and strudel with the underagers complete with their Gatorades spiked with clear booze, your result is standing room only on the north bound trains. However, that means that you can pop you bottle of Andre’s Champagne and not receive looks of disapproval from the older riders, those are reserved for the kids in the flashy costumes who can’t stand up straight---ahh I am so old now.

It was a beautiful day in the city (as you can see!) and we saw a bunch of people from Santa Clara and even from Saint Charles! I was surprised to find a lot of little kids there—a lot more than I would have ever expected to see (I honestly don’t know who would take their children to this but people definitely did). But we had a good afternoon and had our fill of lederhosen and sauerkraut and got on our southbound train and headed for home.

Today, my mom and I celebrated our birthdays and went to see Wicked. It was so much fun. I was the only one who hadn’t seen it in the family—well if you don’t count Christopher but he has expressed no interest in seeing it. I have heard the soundtrack on every road trip to LA but I had no idea about what the real story line was. Well, I knew it was about how the Wicked Witch of the West came to be, but knew nothing about the comradery, politics, and scheming that was the glory of Oz. I don’t want to give anything away, but it was tons of fun and this was something I would recommend taking your kids to.

Well, tomorrow the festivities continue and Mom, Dad and I are preparing for our trip to Chicago!