Aardvarks are freaky

Like Star Wars suck your brain freaky. Just look at those fingers. They have fingers!

So...I hear that Chicago may be smoke free come Spring. I have four words to say about that: IT'S ABOUT F@$%ING TIME! Breathing! It's going to be fun again!

I just peeled and segmented three oranges and my hands smell heavenly. And it's Friday. And we have a busy busy wonderfully fun weekend planned. VIP party tonight. At least two different dinner dates, one of which I get to host which means using my china! And I got a new cute tee shirt last night. With a little bird on it. And I fit into my old favorite jeans today a little better than I did two weeks ago. And my bruised knees are rapidly healing. And I get to see my entire family next weekend: my dad, step-mom, brother, grandmother, great aunt, aunt (x2), uncle (x2), step-sister, step-brother-in-law, pregnant cousin (x2), cousin-in-law (x2), and second cousin (x2). Then I get to see my mom. Hurrah! Celebration and parties and fun and family. All is well in the land of emily.

Today is absolutely the best weather EVER! I love fall, the crisp, the cool, the sweaters, the knee high socks. It invigorates me and makes me want to take long walks in the evening and cuddle up by the fire with the Hubb and the kitties with a stomach warming shot of brandy. I am all orange and brown today. Comfortable and cozy, ready for the smell of leaves and pumpkin.

Speaking of pumpkin, Hubb and I are hosting a dinner party this Monday night, and I plan to make a yummy pumpkin and acorn squash soup. I have fresh sage that I've been dying to use, and now that soup season is finally here, I'm on it. Yay for pumpkin soup!

So I ran an errand for the Hubb last night, and in the process fell in love with a fabulous sexy red dress. I bought it with plans to wear it to Christmas parties, and maybe even a New Year's bash this year. I can't believe I'm already thinking about the holidays. But at least I'm going to look damn good.

Fashion, crafts, dancing and drinks sums up my weekend. Fabulous independent designer duds on Friday, a huge impressive representation of the Chicago (and more) craft scene on Saturday (before the rain), Cut Copy, Hot Chip, Fourtet, $2 PBRs and lots and lots of fun. Oh, and completely wiping out on the uneven sidewalk on Damen Avenue. Yep, I walked away with terribly bruised knees and bruised ego. I hadn't even had a drink yet.

Hot Chip is awesome and is pretty much my new favorite band. So much energy! Wee-ooo-wee-ooo keyboards, handclaps, harmonizing, drum machines and members that look like my friends and family (seriously, the drum machine guy looks sort of like my father in law.) Perfect.

So, it has been a stressful couple of weeks in my household, and the weekend was a perfect way to unwind and forget about life for a while. I'm looking forward to the unknown being known again . . . I hate being in limbo. And I love being vague.

Today = Perfect. For many reasons:

1. Perfect walk-to-work weather. Cool, but not cold. Sunny, but not hot.
2. Birthdays at work and The Best Birthday Cake Ever. Whole Foods Bakery is my absolute favorite.
3. Good hair day (the wave is behaving), good shoe day (cute pointy moccasins), good pants day (new jeans).
4. GenArt Shop CHICago event tonight. I don't feel I even need to explain my thrill about this one.
5. Busy busy busy. And a busy social calendar for the weekend. Fabulous.

I'm planning on sleeping VERY well this weekend, to make up for lost beauty rest over the last couple of weeks of my suddenly busy and anxiety-prone life. Suddenly...that's a lie, really. It's pretty much always been this way. I just refuse to believe it.

I sort of miss being in college; I miss my girlfriends, the naps in the middle of the day, the complete lack of "plans" except to spend time with the boy. Lounging and carefree and $210 a month rent and pizza at 2am with no worries of weight gain. sigh.

All summer long I've been in denial, wearing pants and sweaters to work, refusing to acknowledge that it is hot out. Now that it is almost October (can you believe it?!) I'm having trouble thinking about putting away the flipflops and packing up the swimsuits for another 9 months. Not that I swam at all this summer, but still...waking up in the dark is always the "wrong side of the bed" for me.

My feet are blistered and angry with me for wearing shoes today. I wear flip flops from the first signs of spring to the first signs of autumn, and today decided to try the confined footwear thing to get back into the swing of things. My feet need pampering in order to go through the seasons.

I am finally accepting the fact that life is full of drama. Period. Something is always happening to someone....babies are born, grandparents pass, people get new jobs and get married and there will always be a new pair of shoes to buy and a new restaurant to try. I tend to get stuck in this ridiculous idea that I have a calm group of family and friends, that I'm getting to a point in my life where things will remain the same, safe, normal. There is no such thing. And I am full of lies and hypocrisy.

I'm into the lists today...I'm not very busy.

What I'm currently into:

1. Matthew Herbert. Making music out of food = simply awesome. And in Hubb's words, Herbert's food-music is "a lot more accessible than I expected." If you're half the food freak I am, you'll be amazed. Promise.

2. These shoes, because they're cute, but not too cute:

3. This phone, because it is super sexy:

4. Drinking sake before bed.

5. Leeks.

Unimportant things I have noticed at my office:

The Studio:
1. If I wear a sweater, the office is inevitably warm. If I wear thin clothing, it will be cold.
2. If music is playing, I am happier than if it is not.
3. For having 20 people working in the same room, The Studio is surprisingly quiet.
4. I can't stop myself from eavesdropping, which makes me incredibly paranoid when making my own doctor's appointments and scheduling get-togethers with friends.

The Kitchen:
1. If there is food on the counter, it will be eaten.
2. If I want to save communal food for myself, all I have to do it place it at the back of the top shelf.
3. Quite a few people have no idea that they are allowed to place their coffee mugs in the dishwasher by themselves.
4. If I wear a white shirt, coffee will splatter on to my chest at some point throughout the day.

The Bathroom:
1. The light in the women's restroom is incredibly flattering, even on my most bloated and terrible hair days.
2. Two of the tiles in front of the left most stall come together to look like a giant penis.
3. The lock on the left most stall does not always close properly.
4. The left most stall is my stall of choice. Mostly because of the penis-tiles.

I love weddings. Almost as much as I love babies. And I'm getting two new baby cousins this coming spring! I have two pregnant cousins right now; sisters; due in March and April. I get to see them both next month at my family reunion. Lives, thay are a'changing. I love it!

Not much else going on. I have cramps. And I feel like it is still Monday.

Time is flying and I can't believe it is September already. I didn't even go to the beach. Not once. I'm a terrible Chicagoan.

Life has somehow slipped into a comfortable easy thing recently...which I suppose is actually a good thing. It is just difficult for me to get used to. I'm content and happy and settled. Life is good.

Sometimes I feel like a broken record.

One of my best girlfriends is getting married this Saturday, so I head out to Jersey for a whilrwind wedding weekend in a few days. I get to participate in the wedding as a bridesmaid (or matron, I guess would be more appropriate.) I am thrilled and excited and so so happy for her and her beau. I have never known them well as a couple, because they started dating after I left college, and then the groom-to-be nearly started a fist fight at my wedding defending the honor of his soon-to-be-bride, but I've gotten to know him since then and have absolutely fallen in love with him. Slicing me a plate full of tuna sashimi that you caught yourself is a surefire way to win my heart. Congratulations Lin and Glenn!

Exciting changes for hubb and I may be in store for the near future, so for the fear of a jinx I keep my mouth shut and my fingers crossed for everything to turn out they way we hope. And you should too.

Thanks.

685 miles of driving + fried cheese curds + Lakefront brewery tour + meeting up with friends across state lines even though they live blocks away from us + Motel 6 + the coolest t-shirt ever + wine and cheese + the hardest bar to find in Milwaukee = a damned good Labor Day get away.

Hubb and I dubbed our trip "Come on, get out of Illinoise". It was spectacular. I'm not generally strong on spontaneity, but this weekend I enjoyed every wonderful minute of it. We drove all the way up Sheridan Road from Chicago to Milwaukee, watching the scenery change from downtown to upscale suburb to tiny hole in the wall town to hip neighborhood to downtown again. It was an incredibly interesting social experience, watching one road change so drastically up the lakeshore. We definitely got our unlimited miles out of the rental car. Money incredibly well spent.

Once back we attended not one, but TWO! Labor Day weekend bbqs, ate a lot, drank a lot, and relaxed and enjoyed the fact that we had Monday off work. Now it is back to the ratrace, with quite possibly the busiest week I've had in a very very long time. (not obvious by the fact that I'm posting today...)

And today, as I wear my totally awesome souvenir from my trip (a pale green t-shirt with dollar signs screened on the inside, so they ever-so-subtly show through), I get a bonus! My first ever bonus! It's been a great month so far.

So, my step-brother-in-law was bitten by a rattle snake on Sunday, and nearly died. He was finally sent home from the hospital today, but for a while we didn't know if he was going to live, die, end up permanently brain damaged or lose his arm. He'll be fine, we think, but not until after 4-5 weeks of intense pain and sickness, a result of an incredibly lethal dose of rattle snake venom and three bags of anti-venom. Right now we're just happy he's alive.

He and his wife (my step-sister) just had a baby two months ago.

Life is fragile, people. A lesson which has been bored into my head this week with the incredibly sadness and tragedy Katrina has left behind and the near loss of a family member.