Starved Rock

As I'm sure you've figured out, I had an amazing summer. It was filled with one awesome thing after another. Sometime in July I went hiking with Diana, Hope, and Sandy at Starved Rock. Starved Rock is over an hour away from Chicago. Thankfully, Hope has a vehicle, so we were able to escape the city for the afternoon. 

Here we are on the actual rock. Well, we are on a wooden pathway right above the rock. I guess everyone wants to climb on and touch the rock, and so in order to preserve it, they had to build these pathways. BTW, Starved Rock had something to do with the indigenous peoples, one group got stuck on this rock while another group surrounded the rock, and the people on the rock all starved, and it didn't turn out well for them which is really confusing because of the Bible story with the wise man building his house on a rock and everything worked out really well for him. 

After seeing The Rock, we wandered around the hiking trails a bit. 

For some reason, finding this didn't worry me at all. 

It was a lovely afternoon. And there were water crossings. I don't know why, but I'm such a wuss when it comes to water when I'm not properly outfitted. Anyway, we had fun (although I do remember being an instigator for contention, so maybe we should ask my friends if they had fun) but I ended up fairly dehydrated, so maybe I got what I deserved from being so contentious. 

The Night Before Thanksgiving

According to the VDG's, the night before Thanksgiving is the TRUE start of the holiday season, because it ushers in the holiday festivities. (I hope you celebrated accordingly.) The VDG's are a couple from my branch presidency. They are 1) Some of my biggest fans, 2) Hilarious, 3) Talented, 4) Huge Old Movie Buffs. Tonight was a viewing of If I Had A Million at the old theater down the street from me. They were of course going to attend, and they invited me as they always do.

As we were walking down the street after the movie, we were discussing the plans for Thanksgiving Dinner that they were hosting tomorrow. They have invited all the lonely singles. Turns out their last head count was somewhere around 26. Twenty-Six?! That's crazy. It was also mentioned that Sister VDG's nephew would be there. And he's single! And 28. No, 29. No, 28. (It was undetermined.) Anyway,  he is apparently very good looking, and oh, has been on Jeopardy a few times. He should be arriving at the VDG's in a few hours, and will be helping set up chairs before dinner.

So, what do you think? Should I arrive early and flirt? I mean, help set up?

Break Your Heart, Nice and Pretty

If we get married, can this be our wedding song? 

Fall Weather

This has been an amazing fall! I can't hardly believe it! It reminds me of fall in California. We have had cloudy days, we have had sunshine-y days, we have had warm days and cool days, we have had gorgeous fall color, and leaves flying on the wind. It hasn't even snowed yet! This shocks me to no end. To be absolutely correct, it did snow for about 20 minutes last week. Like, real flakes floating to the ground. It was gorgeous to watch it come down. I loved it. But then it was gone.

Everyone has loved this weather. I know people who (annoyingly) are already complaining about winter. Obviously, it's not here, so stop complaining. But I'm ready for it! People may roll their eyes, but I want SNOW in December! It's just so festive. Plus, I have new snow boots I want to try out. That really is the driving force behind my desire for snow: Fashion.

Fashion's Night Out

In case you haven't been keeping track, September was a few months ago. Fashion Night Out (because you know all about it) was in September. Naturally I went (thanks work! and thanks for the VIP swag bags!) and it was tons of fun. My coworker and I jumped in a cab after work and first headed down to Saks on Michigan where we went to celebrate Brian Atwood's more affordable (read: still not affordable) shoe collection. 

I LOVED the DJ. I don't know who that guy was but he was amazing. So I requested that Christy take a photo of me with the DJ in the background. Do any of you recognize him? Any idea what his name is? I don't have a lot of DJing needs, but I wouldn't mind knowing his name. 

Christy

Our favorite shoes from the new collection

They also had models wearing the most stunning pieces. I don't know how models do it, man. They must have been exhausted. When we didn't actually spy Brian, we went up to the 900 Shops to meet up with the rest of our coworkers and some of my friends. Look! Friends:

Scary

I am so glad Halloween is over. Not simply because I don't like it, but mostly because it is too scary!

Specifically, the houses on my walk home from work all had scary decorations that scare the bejeebers out of me. I couldn't handle it. I tried alternate paths home, but they were all equally scary. Soon I realized I should just stick to one path and memorize the specific scariness of each residence. It makes for a stressful walk home, but it was the only way to do it.

I'm so glad it's over. Now it's on to happier decorations. Thank goodness.

The Dentist

This might sound like crazy talk, but I went to the dentist and loved it.

A while ago I was having sharp pains in my mouth. It felt like a filling had come loose, so I made up my mind to go to the dentist.

I don't have a dentist in Chicago. I googled it. The first place that came up seemed legit, so I booked an appointment. I went in to the appointment experiencing the same feelings I always feel: fear, defeat, denial. That's when I met Dr. Stec and his assistant, George. We took x-rays of the area of complaint, and it turns out I needed a root canal. And BONUS! They had time to do the root canal that very day! It was also discovered that I needed a root canal on the tooth right behind the one that hurt so much, and as I left the office I promised I would soon schedule an appointment for my second root canal.

I didn't do that. Instead, I scheduled for a cleaning and general exam. See, I had a feeling that there was more trouble afoot, and we better get all the information before we go and do root canals all willy-nilly like.

So yesterday when I walked into the office, I realized that I would probably be there fairly frequently, so I might as well start enjoying myself. And, seriously, it was so fun! We were making jokes all over the place, and general merriment was the topic of the hour.  Of course, I got my cleaning and exam. It was discovered that I had some pretty big cavities (other than the aforementioned root canal cavity) that needed crowns. They had the time, so Dr. Stec and George got started on my crown prep. Really and truly, it was a lot of fun. I go back in two weeks to meet with my new friends. And also get my official crown.

Fly By The Seat

Sometimes I'm a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants type of girl. Most of the time it leads to wonderful and delightful things, but recently it has also ended up quite expensive.

I was walking to the L with a co-worker, and as we passed a French restaurant she said, "Oh, french onion soup sounds really good right now."

I looked at her and said, "Indeed it does! Want to get some?"

So we did. And it was delicious. It was delightful! It was wonderful! The setting, the company, the food! All the food! Yup, that's right. I decided on a whim that I would eat french onion soup for dinner and ended up partaking in a three course meal. Oh well. It was amazing. It just cost more than the nothing I was going to spend at home eating my roommate's leftovers.