Birthdays, Boobzookas, and Fake Lyfe to the Max

I cannot possibly put into words all the fun that happened in Chicago the past 65+ hours...so I won't try...at least not right now. Sam just asked me, "wouldn't it be crazy if this past weekend was all just a dream?" and then he started rapping about craze dream states...like what if what you thought was your life was a dream and one day you woke up working some crappy job in detroit and no one liked you? harshing my mellow sam...and on your birthday too...

ok...here's a list of some of the fun!

-santino!
-le passage! -boot bar? bar boot? boobs? boobzookas? -rainbo room -I'm drunk. sorry...foot bar. I'm not drunk.
-kemi!
-hersh yur merllow!
-david!
-tots!
-photo booths!...shit, we didn't do the first photo booth.
-the bean!
-lisa!
-lover dogs
-hennessy!
-vampire weekend!
-bikes! (one day)
-art
-long walks on the beach...or michigan avenue?
-tail whipping the bean
-gazelle
-$20 Tuesdays...wishing I was still here.
-This isn't fake...this is as real as it gets...
Thank you...you all know who you are...urrrrrr.....

Ah the bean. I don't think I'll be hanging out here in particular, but I will be hanging out here for the weekend. Sorry Bon...I know it's Top Shop, and you know I love being your partner in crime, but the Windy City is calling my name this year. I am planning on lots of biking, eating, drinking, hanging out, chilling, not-sleeping, catching up w/ friends and family and over all debauchery. And though I'm pretty sure anyone who reads this is well aware of the definition of debauchery - I just want to be sure we were all on the same page. So. Let's get through the next 4 and a half hours together...and then I'm out.

P.S. Thanks to mega slumber party pals for getting the weekend started right. Boobzooka is only the begining.

The city that slept now roars

Too many people have been moving away from Minneapolis for my taste...the outward migration of close friends has hit me harder than I think even I could have expected. Funny thing, because since I was 16 years old I've been thinking of other places to live. First it was San Diego with Taylor, then it was Seattle, then Portland, then Chicago, then New York, then San Diego again, then Chicago again. Most recently I was almost persuaded to move to Miami...thank god that didn't happen, and there are current schemes to get me to NYC. I miss my friends, I wish they were here, and I still want to leave...but I'm just not ready. This city surprises me every spring, and I think I'm ready to see what it has to offer in 2008. It's been a long, hard, cold winter...and even though I had some escapes (Puerto Rico, Miami, and Orlando) it was still difficult to endure. There have been some huge changes in my life, and if you're reading this it's probably pretty apparent what those are...good thing I paid attention in school; because spring and summer have pretty significant meanings...and I think it's some of the best timing I could have asked for. Thank you - to all of my friends - you are amazing. To those who are here...let's get ready for best summer ever...it's about to get real. For those who aren't; I've probably already got trips planned or in the works to hang out in your new hoods...who knows, maybe you'll convince me to stay? But not until summer's over.

A.D.D./A.D.H.D.

That's me on the left.

*Image courtesy of Chicago courtesy of guardian.co.uk...

Memories...you better be making them.

Carlo Rossi.
Sitting on the floor in Benji's room watching you both edit.
Front porch of 1072.
Waking up feeling sea sick because the house was shaking...and then freaking out.
"Let's run in, slam the door, and make out - those dudes from Iowa are inside."
Betting against you at O.U.T. - and being justified.
Drinking wine in a McDonald's cup at the same O.U.T.
Pushing the car out of parking spaces. Who needs reverse anyway?
Long mornings laying around. Pretty convinced we're the two funniest people on the planet.
We are the funniest people on the planet.
Bickering that makes everyone else feel awkward.
Is that weird?
Duluth. Truth or Dare? OMG.
Snowboarding in Bemidji.
Front stoop - Ford Parkway.
Chatterbox day w/ Bonni.
"Stacy, give me your hand. Hey, give me your hand, just give me your hand."
AZ. Family. First time for everything.
Chicago. Lulu's love/hate relationship. Gaelic soccer/futbol/football.
Iced americanos.
bbq at Tuck & Stacy's.
HPC.
bike rides (SAVBAG FOR LYFE)
Montana. I'm going to get to the M.
Budy. (That's Boo-D).
Your brother and my brother bonding over Jen & Sarah.
REAL TALK.

This is the tip of an enormous iceberg. How couldn't it be? 6 years = amazing. Like we said, 6 more, just a little different. BFFs? Yes. So let's keep making them...memories that is.

Two letters...so many options...

So I went to Voltage last night...it was packed to the rafters with uber-stylish people (many of them taking themselves way too seriously) but was overall a good time. Ran into some peeps that I haven't seen in years (literally) which is always funny. It's kind of that awkward...oh hey! How are you? What have you been up to? You look great! I love your hair...have you talked to so-and-so lately? No - me neither...

I'm good at chit-chat; I might even be the queen of chit-chat...but last night something was distracting me...maybe it was MC/VL cranked...maybe it was that I was trying to pay attention to Jamiel and Quang at the same time as these chit-chats...but I wasn't on my A-game. So, if I ran into you and seemed a bit distracted let me take this time to apologize.

Anyway...so I send a text message to my good friend Sam around 11pm that reads, "How do you feel about an ap?" The response was something like, "Feeling it" - so I get hyped. A Wednesday night AP? Sounds good to me. I proceed with the rest of my evening which includes meeting up with some friends for a lovely glass (or two) of wine at Town Talk and this is where acronyms all fall apart.

ap in Sam's mind means appetizers. hmmm. Pretty sure apps is an acceptable short hand for appetizers. ap? NO.
A.P. is what he claims would have been clear. Or A P - but not ap.
A.P. could also mean: Associated Press, Advanced Placement, After Penetration, Adult Penetration, Animal Planet...there are tons of possibilities...and we talked about many of them.

Needless to say, we didn't go to the ap/AP/A.P./A P - and we didn't even get an appetizer.
Wack.
This is pretty craze.

5:41am - 8:32am...too much love or not enough sleep?

What happens when you combine late hours, lots of dance, and too many lasers? Cynthia and I chatting until 5:41 (in the morning) might be one result. Though only one of us was drunk (and since I was working it sadly wasn't me) the conversation was seriously epic. Multiple layers of epicosity. You know why it was epic? Guess what...it doesn't matter. What does matter is that we had it. And then, at 8:32 a.m. cutey patootie little E strolled in and roused our sleeping asses. Thank god we both got to go back to sleep...sorry E.

Point being. Last night was all kinds of funny. 7th Street & 1st Ave packed to the rafters. I think the Moon Goons ate my brains. Or those lasers did? Anyway, I'm digressing (which is somewhat impossible since there wasn't really a story anyway). 8 people in a tiny six speed is a story. So is being locked out and sitting in your car listening to Bonafied Lovin and taking pictures of yourself. So it Sarah dancing on Jeff like it was 1999, maybe it was 1999? A great story...asking Max if the girl he was dancing with (who was totally X'd) was his girlfriend, and Max going, "No, oh god no" and shaking his head emphatically. These are all stories, and I'd definitely like to tell them. Just not today. If I had taken pictures you would be looking at them now, but I don't think I did.

Today...I'm going to get off the internet, get off drugs, and go outside. (I'm kidding Mom, I'm not on drugs). But I am going to go outside. I hope you do too. There will be pictures to look at later.

Thou shall not covet

I thought I had this great idea to think about all the things I covet. I have a few, but it was actually a lot harder to come up with things than I had imagined. I don't think that makes me great...just not what I expected.

I did think of all of the cameras I have that they don't make film for any longer. I have a classic polaroid pack camera...they don't make these or the flashbulbs for them any longer, and all indoor photos with these require flash. I am on a mission to find film. If I can find some before Chicago this might make the trip.

Every year that I get older I have a harder time thinking of gifts that I would like for my birthday and Christmas. This year I asked my parents for a keyboard. I don't know how to play the piano (and therefor the keyboard) at all. So anyway, they got me a keyboard. I still don't know how to play it, but now I want a synth as well.


So there you have it. The only two things I thought of are things that don't work or I don't know how to use. At least I'm not coveting my neighbor's wife.

one day at a time.

I've been sucking on the photo tip...here are a few shots I am enjoying...
Take care not to let my point-and-shoot fool you though. According to the bff I am just a frat-boy loving, beer- bonging, top-40 jamming Cinderella in disguise. Maybe there is some truth to that statement, I mean, I do love Smirnoff Ice, Lemon Drops, and the Jonas Brothers.



































Something a little closer to the truth. I do love thick ass mochas with so much chocolate it overloads your brain and your blood and it feels like you're doing way too much peyote and cocaine at the same time. I also love the rain today. I'm totally jonesing for some sun...no doubt, but if there needs to be precipitation at least it's rain. It's getting ride of all that sand and salt and the rest of the snow...and for that I am thankful. Even if it means my basement is probably flooding right now and I have no way to stop it. I'm also thankful for crazy dreams in which Vince Vaughn is the father of my baby and he tells crazy homeless people who are trying to sell me three shoelaces for $1,000 to go to hell.

So this is what crazy feels like...

For those of you who have dealt with me in the past few days; I just want to say I really appreciate it. A lot.

I never knew crazy felt so normal.

All the pictures I'm not taking

So I didn't have my camera with me today and that is just another way I'm blowing it. It's probably a good thing, because if I would have had my camera I would have been really late to work - and that's probably a bad thing (and another way to blow it).

There were hundreds of photos waiting for me this morning.

The ice covered sidewalk with my feet trudging up them in boots that aren't warm.
The train tracks gleaming out from inches of clean snow. I would have shot that over the fence and through the fence...
The tree branches struggling to support themselves with the weight of the thick, frosty snowflakes.
My car...covered and stuck in a stupid parallel parking spot.
The city I love. Clean for an hour. I bet it's really messed up and soggy now.

These are a few of the photos I would have taken this morning. Hope someone snapped them.