Only me…

Thanks to the weather, we had a much-needed reprieve from the Never Ending Painting Project  yesterday (more on that later… maybe).

Kyle asked me to go to Potomac with him for a family anniversary party.  I was excited to meet his dad and step mom for the first time so, naturally, I picked out the most appropriate picnic-y outfit I could find.  First impressions and all.

We were running late, so I had Kyle drive and said I’d put my make up on in the car.

Powder makeup + bumpy car + white shirt = catastrophe.    Despite my best efforts with the Tide stick, it looked like I dropped an ice cream cone down my shirt.

Crap.  We were  already late, so there was  no time to go home and change.

We stopped in Rantoul to by a shirt.  Yes,  Rantoul.   At a Rural King.

I looked around for approximately 2 mins and the cutest thing I could find was this  tee with WRANGLER written on the front.

you can't really see the WRANGLER written in tan script--but it's there!

So, yeah, I  made my first impression on his family in a Wrangler shirt from Rural King.

Only me.

I Know What You Did Last Summer

Or, well, 2 summers ago, I guess…     Here’s the text of a blog post I wrote on mySpace back in the day.

What did I do over the 4th of July weekend that year?   I painted the inside of my house.   What am I doing this year for the 4th of July weekend?   Painting the outside of my house!

Normal blogging will resume at some point.  Hopefully with before and after pictures.

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Monday, July 09, 2007

Beer Tents and Cover Bands

Okay, so I had this weekly blogging goal… and I was doing pretty good until I mentioned ON THE BLOG that I was going to blog once a week… and then it totally fell apart.  But with good reason.  I’ve been busy!

Wanna know what I’ve been up to?  Great… keep reading… and maybe leave a comment!  If not… screw you—ahahah!

Thursday, June 28: Live Karoke Band (yeah, I’m going back that far).

We went to go see Live Karoke Band at Radmakers in Tolono.  If you’ve never heard of LKB, they’re pretty cool.  It’s a bunch of guys from local bands (including Tommy “Tubular” and Guido from the Brat Pack and Jeff from X-Krush, who also happens to be part owner of Rads)…. Anyway, their gig is exactly like it sounds:  a live band who plays cover songs and audience members get up and sing.  Kinda like every little girl’s rockstar fantasy, right.  (well, maybe most little girls have princess fantasies, but we all know I’m not normal).   Anyway, it was fun to watch and I’ll mos def go back… but none of our group went up and sang. Next time I’m gonna try to round up a bigger posse and get a few more drinks in me and maybe—just maybe—my rockstar fantasy will come true.

Friday, June 29: Tolono Beer Tent

The next night was the Tolono Beer Tent to kick-off Tolono Fun Day.  Since I wasn’t able to go to fun day, I figured I’d make an appearance at the beer tent.  Definitely some good people watching. (oh, and the Tons of Fun Band was playing– yet another cover band… I’m sensing a pattern here) I ran into some old friends who only remembered seeing me in my Dolly Parton costume… thank God I looked better that night—ahahah!   Little did I know that this would be the first of many beer tents in my future.

Saturday, June 30:  Party Down in Indy

Headed to Indy for Kelly & Dave’s 2^nd annual 4^th of July extravaganza.   Since I was in Jamaica last year at this time and couldn’t make it, I figured I should make the trip.  (that and I know the Romanos throw KILLER parties… and I hadn’t yet met their son, which makes me a bad former roommate).  Anyway, I was late leaving and then on the way there I got pulled over.  Apparently, if a cop is on the shoulder with his lights on, you’re supposed to move out of the right-hand lane. Who knew?   The cop was kinda a dick to me, but let me off with a warning.  I think it had something to do with my low-cut top—LOL.

After FINALLY making it to Indy, I enjoyed a night of reminiscing about the 10 x 10 with Kelly, meeting her friends and watching Independence Day on their homemade GIANT outdoor movie screen (they even had a popcorn maker… cool!).   We then played a couple of rounds of Circle of Death (which some people called Kings Queen or something) and I got fairly toasted.   After a group outing to Perkins to enjoy their mammoth muffins, I headed back to C-U.

Sunday, Monday– boring normal life stuff.  Nothing remarkable

Tuesday—4^th of July Eve Barcrawl

I convinced my friends Lesley, Clennon and Drew to come home and enjoy the pre-4^th festivities.  We were going to visit Steph on her last night at Rock’s and then head to the Rose Bowl to see the Feuding Hillbillies….   For those of you not familiar w/C-U, the Rose Bowl is the ONE and ONLY country bar left—honestly, we’re not rednecks.  But we did see a band called the Fueding Hillbillies who were exactly what you might expect…. They did a lovely mash-up of Lynard Skynard/Eminem.  It really was quite interesting.  After that we went to see the Boat Drunks (Jimmy Buffett cover band)  where they had YET ANOTHER beer tent.  I ran into a TON of people I know including my sister and some co-workers.  I barely even saw the people I came with.  After that, we went to Guidos, then the Esquire, then Mary Anne’s and then home…. LONG night.   The out-of-town gang crashed at my house and got up the next morning to go home… sad!

Wednesday, July 4: The beginning of paint

I got a wild hair and decided that NOW is the time to finally get rid of the white walls in my house. I’ve been there for 5 months… and finally got my furniture, so I decided it was now or never.  I took Thurs. and Fri. off just for the task.   Wednesday I got the prep work done.  My mom brought me the supplies from my brothers house and then I started working.

Thursday and Friday: More Painting and Fun

I made great progress on the painting project, with the occasional trip to the pool/email break thrown in for good measure.

Friday July 6:  Bunco and Tuscola Beer Tent

Sorry to disappoint my fans, but Bunco this month was unthemed.  Well, it was supposed to be ugly swimsuits, but the date got changed, so we weren’t swimming.  Lindsey and I decided to show up in ugly swimsuits anyway (which my mom graciously let us borrow)…   fortunately for all of you, there is no photographic evidence of these suits… Sorry!     After that, we went to the Tuscola Beer tent.   Tuscola was celebrating their sequecentenial  (which, apparently, means 150 years), so we felt we needed to help them celebrate  (sorry… I don’t remember the name of the cover band playing that night).  It was much more fun than I thought it would be and I ended up getting fairly tipsy and crashing at my mom’s in Tolono, since Urbana was a little too far for me to drive

Saturday July 6: Surprise– Painting (and a wedding)

was more painting and then my niece’s wedding.  Yep, you read that right: my neice got married!  She’s really my half-niece and she’s 20, so it’s not THAT weird… but I remember when she was born and never thought she’d be married before me.   At any rate, it was good to see my Grannie, my brother and my sister…and a bunch of people who knew me, but I didn’t know them.  I always think that’s weird.

Sunday: The end of the Paint–Thank GOD!

Yesterday, my mom came up and helped me finish the touch-ups on the paint.  Apparently, it takes 8 hours to touch up paint and I was just ready for it to be DONE…. After she left, I cleaned up and hit the sack.

Today

For some ungodly reason, I got up at 4:30 in the morning… and have been going ever since.  Went to the gym. Went to work.  Came home.. got caught up on Entourage and Big Love and here I am…. FINALLY getting back to my blogging with a freshly painted house and a week and a half full of stuff to write about.   I’ve probably left something out, but you get the idea.

Hopefully something blog worthy will happen this week and I’ll find some time to write.

Peace~

Foto Friday: Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Last weekend (yes, I’m that far behind) I took a road trip with Stephanie and Drew to visit our friends Jennifer and Drew in Ohio.  We visited them in their lovely home and then went to a Cubs-Reds game.   Cubs lost (boo!), but a  great time was had by all:

Steph and Drew at a bar in Kentucky

recreating their engagment pix

our hosts... pondering something serious

Steph and Drew overlooking the river

The view from the bleachers

My BFFs: Self-portrait attempt #1

We ate a LOT of contraband peanuts

Jennifer and Drew

Dorks

Self-portrait attempt #2. This pic is horrible, but I LOVE it 'cuz it's sooooo us!

The game went into extra innings. They stopped serving beer after the 7th. What else was I going to do?

I don’t mean to complain, but . . .

Have you ever noticed that when someone starts a sentence with “I don’t mean to ___, but”  they usually end up doing/saying/being whatever it is they claim to not MEAN to be?

This is one of those times.

I don’t mean to complain, but…   I realized I haven’t been shopping  bought anything for msyelf in AGES.    Sure, I’ve been to the grocery store.  And I’ve bought shampoo and whatnot at Walgreens, but I honestly don’t remember the last time I bought myself clothes.  I think the reason it’s bugging me is that I’ve been shopping plenty of times– just not for myself.

Like everyone else, I’ve been trying to cut back.  And I’m having my house painted, so I need to pinch my pennies.  But every time I open my email or go to my mailbox there are coupons and “big sales” luring me in.

Maybe one pair of shoes won’t hurt….

A mini-reunion

Some of you might remember that a while back, I re-connected with my college friend Jessie via facebook.  (Don’t remember?  Read this post!)

Well, On Thursday, I was lucky enough to re-connect with Jess in person–after 10 years!!  She was in Chicago visiting family, so our friend Kelly and I drove in to meet her.

We had some beer, some Chicago-style pizza and lots and lots of laughs.  We were able to reminisce about the “good ole” days and I was able to meet her partner Kirsten, who is a doll.

The only thing missing from this reunion was our other friend (and now my sister-in-law) Jo.  She lives in Southern Illinois and couldn’t get off work, but we called her so that she could at least feel like she was part of the festivities.

Here’s to old friends!!

Kirsten and Jess

Kelly and I-- self-portrait!

The girls of Hewett 6 (minus Jo)

group shot self-portrait: Kelly, Cari, Jess, Kirsten

Cari, Cari, Quite Contrary…

How does your garden grow??

Well, we’ll see.   Operation: Get a Green Thumb is underway.

A couple weeks ago my mom, brother and sister-in-law came to help me plant flowers.   And by “help” I mean they did it all for me.  My mom researched and bought a pre-planned assortment of plants.

Mom and Ryan getting started

Jo puts the plants in order

working the dirt (as I take pictures)

Roxie gets in on the action

Ryan fixed a broken fence post

all planted!

gardening is DIRTY work!

I spent a bunch of time working outside this weekend.  Stay tuned for more pictures of the progress!

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The title of this post obviously comes from a nursery rhyme.  But it also reminds me of my friend’s brother who, when we were about 8 or so made up this little ditty:

Cari, Cari, Quite Contrary
Shave those armpits
Oh so hairy

nice, huh?

Call me self-absorbed…

but I *LOVE* re-reading my old blog posts.   I totally forget some of the things I’ve done/said/thought/saw.

Then again, I like looking at old pictures of myself, too.    I think that “you’re so vain” song must be about me.

Regular blogging to resume shortly.

Foto Friday: Killer Dog (not for the faint of heart)

It’s official:  Roxie is a killer.

Last night, I got back from my run and left the door propped open for Roxie so she could go outside and play  while I was on the phone (or pee or whatever she does out there).  I heard a loud squeak and thought maybe she had found one of her toys in the yard.   And then I heard it again and thought maybe it was her squeaking.

I go outside to take a peek and she’s “playing” with something… something alive!  I think it’s a mouse, so I try not to look.  Then realize it’s a baby bunny.  Roxie is pawing at it and then puts it in her mouth.  She is so proud.

I couldn’t bear to watch, so I go back inside….  But here’s a post-mortem shot of Roxie’s latest victim:

poor guy

It took two Ziplock bags, a garden spade and lots of gagging for me to properly dispose of him.  RIP little buddy…

Long Time, No Blog: Bonus Features

Lisa was kind enough to post some photos of our Minneapolis trip, so I’ve decided to do like they do with DVDs and offer some “never before seen” bonus features:

Ate some killer Malaysian food in MPLS.  Heard a great (albeit very broken) story about a fire in a Malaysian place in Chicago.

Drinking a pomegranate concoction at the Malaysian place. Lisa got a Woo-Woo

Witnessed and responded to an on-the-job accident. Not real common in my line of work.

Sign warning us that such accidents may occur. Taken well after said accident

Took a photo next to a statue of Mary Tyler Moore.

She turns the world on with her smile--post tipsy shopping and wine-fueled dinner.

Met (and held!) another newborn baby

Me holding Rush

Attended a baby shower and graduation party.

Check out the cute little flip-flops I got for Rush...

Lisa and I at the graduation party

I wish I had taken pix of the teacher freebie pandemonium and the Mexican wrestling.  However, some things are better left to the imagination.  A couple more points:

• The cucumber-flavored candy was unintentional.  It was green, so I assumed it would be sour apple, or (at the worst) lime.  It was only after the candy had been POURED into my mouth that I realized it was cucumber-flavored. I’d love to have a reaction shot of my face when I tasted it.
• The nickname story will have to be shared privately.  Mostly because I really, really, really do not want it to stick!

Long time, no blog

I know the “too busy to blog” excuse is getting lame.  But it’s true.  I was hoping to write some proper blog posts, but since some of you like lists (shout out to Harley Quinn– I loved your last comment!), I figured I’d save myself the trouble of actually having to write anything.

In the last week and a half or so I:

• Witnessed masked Mexican wrestling in Chicago.  It was awesome.
• Tasted cucumber-flavored candy.  It was awful.
• Learned that you really can’t just miss your connecting flight or your entire ticket is invalidated.
• Re-booked my ticket.  Twice.
• Got hit on by a Greek waiter in Chicago and a Mexican bar patron in Minneapolis.
• Spent entirely too much time on Sporcle.  Finally learned the correct spelling of Kazakhstan.  It comes in handy.
• Ate some killer Malaysian food in MPLS.  Heard a great (albeit very broken) story about a fire in a Malaysian place in Chicago.
• Witnessed and responded to an on-the-job accident. Not real common in my line of work.
• Learned I like tamales.
• Congratulated a friend on her recent engagement. Yay Keem!
• Almost forgot, and then lost, and then found my journal/notebook.
• Saw Star Trek. Loved it, despite zero familiarity with the original.  Reminded me a lot of Star Wars, actually.  And Lost.
• Met (and held!) another newborn baby.
• Picked up a new nickname (which I’m trying HARD to not let stick).
• Ran my second 5K, less than a month after my first, with no iPod. After being gone for a week and out drinking the night before.
• Mowed my lawn immediately after the 5K.  Bad idea.
• Learned that I was selected to be a Nielsen “family.”  I can’t wait to report my 2.5 hours of TV watching a week.
• Improved my ability to ride public transportation.
• Received a comped dessert because dinner took so long.  Waited about 20 mins for said dessert.
• Had multiple weird conversations about weight loss.  Including one that started with “I hope you’re not offended, but…”  Um, no, not offended!
• Took a photo next to a statue of Mary Tyler Moore.
• Met a friend’s new boyf.
• Spent Mother’s Day with my mom, brother, and sister-in-law. Against our advice, my mom insisted on having it at her house and making all the food.
• Ran in Chicago.  Gave unsuspecting motorist directional advice.  Felt really bad afterward.
• Attended a baby shower and graduation party.
• Received invitations to two other baby showers.
• Witnessed teachers literally FIGHTING over free books.
• Engaged in some tipsy shopping.  Bought books and a belt between happy hour and an awesome wine-fueled dinner.

Things I haven’t done

• unpacked
• watched last week’s Lost
• slept, at least not much