apartment therapy

hello. my name is diana and i'm addicted to the website apartmenttherapy.com for real. i've been reading it daily for the last couple of weeks and have gotten a ton of ideas for our new(ish) pad. it's a great diversion during a hectic day. go check it out!

food poisoning. weekend.

ian and i went to andersonville fest last weekend and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. we met up with an ex-coworker of mine and his friends and had a great time eyeing the mostly gay crowd, drinking beers in the sun and telling funny stories. on the way home, around midnight, ian and i decided we were starving and needed white castle. no problem, it was on the way home and since we were walking i used that to justify the eating of 2 double sliders and onion rings. big mistake.

the next morning, father's day, we both woke up not feeling well. i thought it might be "beer flu", but it turned out ian was getting the same stomach cramps as me and was feeling just as nauseous. in fact, while eating said sliders the night before i thought they tasted "off", but in my drunkenness i wolfed them down with little forethought. never again. i called in sick on monday because i was still feeling sickly. ugh.

this past weekend we headed up to gurnee to "the compound" to celebrate joel's 38th birthday. badminton was played. beastie boys were sung. old style was drunk and burgers, tacos and brats were eaten! good times. good people. good food. good drinks. crappy ground. what? crappy ground? yeah, ian and i slept in the tent and it was uncomfortable. imagine that. we need an air mattress, not just those silly 3/4 inch thick pads. they're useless! the next day we lounged in joel and sarah's "cave" and ate pizza and watched Spain defeat Italy in the quarterfinals of the Euro 2008 Championships. nice.

next on my agenda: fixing up the front bedroom (hanging curtains, putting boxes away, etc.), purchasing this removable wall decal (see below) for the north wall in our bedroom and making an ikea run for the dressers we want. now i just need the money (and time!) to do all this....

it's been a while...and so much is happening.

i'm just gonna do bullet points, because i don't feel too wordy today.

1. everton v chicago fire. yes, that's right. my team is coming to play my team! how fucking sweet is that? i'm totally excited, yet know that a lot of people will be counting on efcscna (er, me) to help them and whatnot. i can honestly say that i'm not looking forward to that shit. but everything else is gonna be great!

2. mod weekender this weekend. lucy-jane is in town. great music, decent weather, fire game, tailgating, great friends, and much more. i'm very much looking forward to this weekend.

3. haircut. i'm hoping that brittany can cut my hair on sunday. i'm about to take ian's clippers to this mop. but i can wait another couple of days.

4. the wolves. they could clinch the calder cup (the AHL's version of the NHL's Stanley Cup) tonight. we're watching the game at the juarez' and then heading to exit to celebrate lucy-jane's very early birthday.

5. losing weight. it's coming off...slowly. still trying, but with my gym closing it's tough to get the exercise in (though i try on the weekends to walk to the beach). why is my gym closing? i'll tell ya. my gym is relocating to a new location. the current location was bought by marriott and instead of letting my gym have a two month extension on their lease, they cut them loose...before the new location is ready. soooo, my membership has been "suspended" (not making payments) until the new location is ready. blah.

why things are going to be all right....

I took a walk Saturday morning and this is what I saw. T'was beautiful. And calming.

malaise

ma·laise /mæˈleɪz, -mə-; Fr. maˈlɛz/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[ma-leyz, -muh-; Fr. ma-lez] – noun

1.	a condition of general bodily weakness or discomfort, often marking the onset of a disease.

2.	a vague or unfocused feeling of mental uneasiness, lethargy, or discomfort.

this is how i've been feeling for the last couple of months. a combo of both definitions, with bouts of excitement (the move, fire games, etc.) here and there. but for the most part i've been feeling weak and lethargic. i don't like it and i don't know what to do about it.

that is all.

why i'm the best girlfriend ever. move highlights. lord mike's. ghosts.

why i'm the best girlfriend ever: last wednesday, the night before ian and i moved, we picked up the keys to the new apartment and had a quick look around the place. it was pretty dirty/dusty and i knew i'd have to get a good clean in before we moved the next day. but instead of making ian stay and clean with me, i sent him off to the globe to watch the replay of the chelsea v liverpool champions league match. a very important match in ian's eyes. i had seen the last 30 minutes of the game and knew the final outcome would make him happy (and probably drunk) and didn't want him to miss it! and that is why i'm the best girlfriend ever. ;-)

move highlights: the movers arrived on time-ish. there were 6 guys hauling boxes, wrapping up our stuff, etc. they only took 3.5 hours to get all of our stuff from ravenswood to edgewater. they were seriously inexpensive. i highly recommend Roy the Movers (find their info at yelp.com).

lord mike's dirty calypsonians: allegedly their last show was last friday night. say it ain't so! too much fun dancing, drinking, singing along, etc. this band can't "die".

ghostly encounter: ian and i just moved to a building near ole st. andrew's inn on broadway and went for lunch last Saturday at about 4:00. there were two patrons at the bar, the bartender and us, seated at a table at the window. the bartender came over, took our order, brought us our silverware and water and headed back to the bar. as he did so, i felt a distinct pressure on my lower right back area, between bra and top of jeans, as if someone was pressing or holding me at the waist. it was a very real feeling. i even turned around to see if the bartender was behind me...but he was back behind the bar putting our order in the computer. no one else was standing behind me or seated at the table behind us. it was weird, but not at all scary! i fully intend to go back when it's quiet and see if it happens again. it was just a very odd feeling and i can still feel it now.

i want a robot vacuum. now.

UPDATED: Got one of these bad boys yesterday at Bed, Bath and Beyond (using the 20% off coupon from the paper!) and have already followed it around the apartment witnessing its awesomeness. I love you Roomby!

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so, yeah, two couples i know have a roomba. both swear by it.

i'm not a big fan of sweeping up errant dust bunnies, sammy's crunchy food or hair fluffs (aka goodle babies; "goodle" being frankie the cat's other name) so this little invention could be my savior.

i believe my "economic stimulus" check will go towards purchasing one of these little babies. can't freakin' wait.