30 Days of 30: Last Hurrah in Chicago

Even though my 30 days of 30 were supposed to end on my birthday (Feb 2), my college friends had planned a party/reunion in Chicago for the following weekend.   My friend Lindsay flew in from Virginia and my sister-in-law Jo and our friend Ron drove up with me to celebrate.

Friday night–

Jo, Ron, Kyle, Kenny, Kenny’s girlfriend Sascha and I went to the Cobra Lounge to see some bands play.  Kenny knew the bassist/guitar player of one of the bands and the lead singer of the other band, so that was pretty cool.  It was a decidedly “heavy/alternative” venue, but the music was more punk, so I’m not sure how the regulars felt about the bands, but we had a good time.  

We also played Rock Band at Kenny/Kyle’s house where I got my very first “perfect” in singing.   (Granted, it was on easy,  but a perfect’s a perfect!)  “Celebrity Skin” by Hole is now my official go-to Rock Band song. 

Saturday–

Due to a late evening and the fact that the boys’ apartment is like a cave, we slept REALLY late that day.  We finally got up and went to “lunch” at Giordano’s around 3.  It was good.  Not great, but decent.   Then, since Jo hadn’t seen many of the tourist-y parts of Chicago, we walked around for a bit:

Me, Jo, Ron in front of the skating rink at Millenium Park

The Bean

Kyle and I in front of the Art Institute

Saturday Night– PART-ay!!

The party/reunion was held at Moe’s Cantina in Wrigleyville.   Ron T. organized everything and he did a great job.  He was always the social director in college, too and he didn’t disappoint.   Moe’s was a nice, big, open bar.  They served tapas and gave us a great drink package w/o having to guarantee a minimum number of people.   I highly reccomend it.

 More importantly, though, it was great to hang out with so many old friends– some I hadn’t seen in years!

The PRSSA crew: (back) Nikki, Lindsay, Tommy, Me, Buddy. Front: Ron T and Janell

Same crew, different camera

My 'home' crew: Sascha, Kenny, Ron, Me, Kyle

Nikki, Me, Buddy: Self-portrait time!

Jo and I (note the yummy-looking skewer)

Jo and I "sampling" said skewer

It was a super fun weekend and there are plenty more stories/pictures to share, but I’ll leave it at that.   It was a perfect way to turn 30.

** This now concludes Carichblogs’ coverage of the 30 days of 30.  Really.  This time I mean it**

30 Days of 30: By the Numbers

Those of you paying close attention may have noticed that the 30 days of 30 technically lasted only 29 days (Jan 5-Feb 2).  There were also a couple of unclaimed days in there, but I filled them by hanging out with my mom and a co-worker.  

BUT… the 30 days aren’t really over yet.  When this blog goes live, I’ll be in Chicago for the finale, so I’m counting my party on Saturday as the 30th day.

If my calculations are correct, here are some other interesting numbers about my 30 days:

60– Number of people I celebrated with this month.* 

36– Number of locations– 16 restaurants, 11 bars**, 1 bakery,  1 arena, 1 bowling alley, 1 movie theater, 1 out of town location (Galena), 1 shopping center, and 3 private residences.  

The most common location for 30 days activities was Bunny’s, followed closely by a tie between Crane Alley and Boltini.   This is notable because I probably haven’t been to either of these places much in the past year, but I really like them.  Houlihan’s and the Courier were the most popular non-drinking establishments. 

6– Number of places I’d never been before: Galena, Bridget’s house, La Gourmandise Bistro, The Brass Rail, The Sandwich shop (whose name I’ve yet to look for), Cakes on Walnut.

14-  Number of different activites: lunch,  dinner, drinks, dessert, Illinois game, bowling, LOST watch, movie, snowboarding, Superbowl party, live band, book club, story teller, trivia

15– Number of times I went out for lunch

13-- Number of times I went out for drinks

6– Number of times I went out for dinner***

2– Number of times I went out for dessert.  Again, notable because I rarely go out just for dessert.

2– Number of Illini games watched**** (one at the Assembly Hall, one at Bunny’s)

2– Number of things I’d never done before:  go snowboarding and listen to a professional story teller

0– Number of pounds I’ve gained.  Seriously. I definitely feel fatter/less healthy, but according to the scale, my weight is the same.

I don’t even want to think about the number of drinks or calories I consumed.  Thank goodness I didn’t have this “by the numbers” idea earlier or else I really would turn into the guy from Supersize Me. Lol.

More importantly, though, I’m amazed at the number of things I was able to cram into one month… and the number of people I convinced to “play along.”  It was really a great experiment and I’m glad I did it.  I highly doubt 31 days of 31 are in my future, though :)

In case you missed them (or just want to relive the fun), here are the weekly recaps:

• Week 1
• Week 2
• Week 3
• Week 4, Part 1
• Week 4, Part 2

——————-

Notes on the Methodology

*Includes only people in “my party” and does not include repeats (i.e. if I had lunch with Lisa one day and happy hour another, she is only counted once).

**For this purpose a bar is defined as a place primarily for drinking whereas a restaurant is an eating establishment.  I chose to count them based on why/when I was there.  (i.e. Farren’s is a bar/restaurant, but I was only there for lunch, so it gets counted as a restaurant.)

*** This number is probably lower than it should be.  I counted an event as drinks if drinking was the primary purpose of the activity (i.e. happy hour). It’s more than likely that dinner was also consumed.

**** Again, possibly artificially deflated.  There may have been an Illini game on during a happy hour that I did not record as a “game watch”

30 Days of 30: Week 4, Part 2

Here’s the play-by-play of my actual birthday weekend:

Friday– Although I’d been drinking since Tuesday, I officially kicked off my birthday weekend with  Happy Hour at The Esquire with work peeps.    I was impressed by the turnout– Leslie, Steve,  Janet, Lisa, Paula, Paula’s Husband, Dave, and Andrew all came out.   Peggy was also there and came over to wish me a Happy Birthday– right before the first shot!!

It was Leslie’s day and she bought me a “Birthday Princess” Tiara (pink–which matched my shirt)  and a shot glass necklace (which matched my bracelet).  Here I am modeling my new gifts:

After Esquire, we went to Bentley’s.  Lisa’s husband’s band was playing there, so we had to check it out.  Here’s a shot of “the girls” at Bentley’s:

And me doing my first “shot” out of the shot glass necklace (note: it’s a shot of beer… this is after a Rock Lobster/Red Lobster shot at Esquire)

We drank a little more and then I headed home. It had been one hell of a week and I knew I had more festivities planned.  It was a great night. I really love my work friends.  Another successful “meeting” on the books!!

Saturday– 

Since Friday was a relatively early night, I was able to get some things done around the house on Saturday.   When I went to check my mail, I got the COOLEST SUPRISE… my mailbox was FULL…. of CARDS!!    At first I thought it was a mistake–that my doctor’s office or vet and accidentally sent me multiple cards or something.  And then I noticed that there was the same handwriting… on each of them.  And no return envelope.  

I tore open the envelopes and discovered that Tracy, Cynthia, and Julie had sent me 30 cards… for my 30th birthday!!    And all of them were different.  Yeah, they had to get creative a couple times… turning a “birthday boy” into “birthday girl”  and “congratulations” into “congratulations, you’re 30″ but it was great!   Coolest idea ever.

stack of cards--before they were opened

 

cards on display

Saturday night was the big bowling extravaganza.  Once again, I was thrilled with the turnout:  Cory/Bobbi, Lindsey/Luke, Steph/Drew, Kim, Red, Jeff/Erin and the kids all came out.   And we had a BLAST.   I actually won the first game (well, on my lane) with a personal high of 122.  Yes, 122 was my personal record AND the winning score on my lane.  We’re clearly not professionals!   It was such a fun night and I have TONS of pictures (some I took, but mostly taken by Macie and Elyce).  Here are some highlights:

 

Circle Girls

Cory and the chicks

 

Red and I... fine as hell

 

the obligatory self-portait

After bowling it was off to Rock’s to meet up with some boys.   They were there for a UFC fight, which –honestly– sucked the life out of me, but once it was over, the party was on!!    

 

Kfish showed up

And so did the Siemsens

 

Clennon and Drew stopped by for a drink (Not pictured: Drew)

A SUPER fun night with many of my very favorite people!

Sunday–  Superbowl Sunday!!!   I gotta admit that after such a long week/weekend, I was a little spent.  I went to a Superbowl party at Ron’s and had a great time– good food, lots of drinks, lots of laughs.    We watched the game, got out the 3D glasses during the commercials, the boys played poker, etc.   But after the game was over, I CRASHED!  It wasn’t time to go home yet, so Ron let me sleep in the back room while everyone else continued hanging out.  Turning 30 will do that to you.

Monday–  My actual BIRTHDAY!!   I took off work, lounged around the house and hung out with Kyle most of the day.   We didn’t get going until after 2 in the afternoon, so we just had a late lunch and went to the mall.  OMG– I couldn’t believe how many stores have closed at the mall.  So sad.  After lunch, we piddled at the bookstore for a bit and then I went to O’Charleys to have dinner with my mom and he met his mom and step-dad for dinner.  

Since I had a late lunch, I wasn’t hungry and just got a side salad and a slice of chocolate (dare i say “birthday”) cake for dessert.   It was PHENOMENAL and HUGE!!  My mom got me a bunch of much-needed gift cards and my brother sent up a  ”SO IL” hoodie.  It was perfect.

After dinner, I met Kyle back at my house and we went to see The Wrestler.  I liked it a lot… it was pretty much exactly what I expected. Plus, it had a killer late-80s hair metal soundtrack.   Shopping, eating, a movie– what a perfect day to spend my 30th bday.

So, folks— there you have it.  The 30 days of 30 experiment fully documented for your reading pleasure.   The 30 days aren’t officially over yet, though.  I’m heading to Chicago for the last leg of my birthday celebration.    I hope you all have enjoyed following my little experiment.

30 days of 30: Week 4, Part 1

I know this post is a bit late, but hey– I’ve been busy.  I’m doing the final week re-cap in two parts.  Look for part 2: The Weekend soon.  And there should be a couple more 30 days posts next week.  And then I’m done… promise :)

Monday–  Officially slated as an “off” day, I’m giving this one to my co-worker Kara.  We took a much-needed Jimmy John’s break at lunch.  Plus, her day kinda got usurped later in the week, so it all works out.

Tuesday–  After dinner at The Courier, Lindsey and I braved blizzard-like conditions to attend Tuesday Night Trivia at Boltini.   Let me tell you… it was hard!!  At one point we were going for “funny points” and even those were getting rejected.  When we wrote “condoms” as the answer to a word riddle, the announcer said:

 ”Just FYI– the letters don’t actually spell anything… it’s just the next letters in the sequence.”   Uh, we know.   We just didn’t know the letters.  We were trying to be funny.  D’oh.

Needless to say, we didn’t win… or even stay for the whole thing.  But it was fun and we’ll definitely do it again.  In the summer.  With a much larger group!

Wednesday–  I was triple-booked on Wednesday.  I had a lunch date with Jacelyn (my co-worker), plans with my friend Doug, and plans to watch Lost with my co-worker Kara. 

I knew I couldn’t do it all, so Kara joined Jacelyn and I for lunch at a new sandwich place in Urbana (on Race, across from the Courier… I’ll find out the name).  The food was good, but it was clear that they were just opening.  I’ll go back after they’ve had a chance to get their feet wet.

After work, my friend Doug picked me up (and helped clear my driveway–thanks, man!) and we went to 7 Saints.  As you may recall, this is one of the places I hadn’t yet been, so I was excited to go.   It didn’t disappoint.  It was actually fairly crowded for a Wednesday night and of course we ran into people we know– a mutual friend of ours and then a co-worker of mine and his friend. 

Doug is a Republican, but we managed to hang out for at least 3 hours w/o getting into any fights… a pretty successful night in my book ;)  Oh, and thanks to all the “practice” I’ve had lately,  I managed to drink him under the table.  Thank goodness he was driving!  I didn’t make it home in time to watch Lost,  but it was okay.  A perfectly lovely evening.

Thursday– Another day of multiple bookings.  First it was lunch at Dos Reales with Jennifer (aka Red).  Red is my BFF from high school and even though we’ve stayed in touch over the years, we don’t always get a chance to hang out, so it was super nice to sit and chat with her. 

Thursday night was officially Tonya’s night.  We decided to meet for drinks and were trying to decide where to go when  Cory said he was going to Bunny’s to watch the game  (The Illini game– remember that horrible loss to Minnesota?  Yep, that one!).   So, off to Bunny’s it was– for the nth time this month! 

It was super fun, though.  Bobbi came out and Cory’s friend Harper was there.   AND… the Illiniettes.  We had a great time making fun of their drama.   No, not nice, but fun nonetheless.   And I convinced Ron to come out later, after he got off work and we had already had multiple buckets.  Maybe not the best idea in retrospect, but it was a good time.  

 One more work day until the Birthday Weekend Extravaganza.

To Be Continued . . .

30 Years Young

“I still remember… when 30 was old”– Strawberry Wine, Deana Carter.

That lyric has been running through my head a lot lately.   Mostly because I’m now 30.  Yes, THIRTY and I don’t feel old at all.  Well, maybe a little due to the excessive eating and drinking of the last 30 days.   But I don’t feel old.  Or responsible.  Or even really that grown-up.

If you would’ve asked me at 20 where I thought I’d be in 10 years, I’m sure I would’ve said married with at least one kid and living ANYWHERE but Illinois. I think back to some of the goals I set for myself.  I wanted to be a manager/director by the time I was 30.  That didn’t happen.  I wanted to travel to all 50 states.  I fell short of my mark.  But, you know what??  I’m okay with that.

My life has taken so many twists and turns in the last decade, but one thing has remained constant:  I have an incredible network of friends, family, and co-workers.  The fact that  I could even get this many people to hang out with me for my birthday is fairly impressive.   I have a dog who loves me, a house of my own, and a job I am comfortable in.  Who cares if my life doesn’t look like I thought it would?  It’s exactly where I need to be right now.

When I was little, I saw a story on TV about Madonna turning 30.  I told my mom that she should just retire ‘cuz rock stars aren’t allowed to be old.   And 30 was ancient.   Now that I’m 30, I have no desire to be a rock star, but I feel like I can do anything.

Here’s to the next decade being as fun as the last!

Dear Body

Dear Body,

Hang in there– the 30 days of 30 are nearing an end.  Yes, that means you’ll be older, but  I promise to treat you better when it’s over–only a few more days! .  I vow to feed you better food (maybe even stuff I make myself!), to exercise consistently and to return to a normal sleeping schedule.

You have served me well for nearly 30 years and I know the last month has been hard on you.   I’m especially grateful to you, liver, for the hard work you’ve put in.  There’s a break coming real soon.  I promise.

Best,

Cari

P.S.  Please give my regards to Roxie.  I know she has  had a hard time as well.  There are long walks, car rides and trips to Petsmart in her future.

30 days of 30 Q & A

Whenever I go out for my 30 days of 30 (or even talk about it), people tend to ask the same questions.   Here, for your reading pleasure, are the answers:  

Q:  Do you have all the days filled up?
A:  Almost .  I don’t have anyone signed up for Sunday (today) and my Monday “date” backed out on me.   But I’ve had plenty of days where I’m double-booked so I can always count those for any “missing” days.  (And, yeah, if anyone wants to hang out tomorrow. I’m free.)

Q: What’s your favorite day so far?
A:  There’s no way I could pick.   It was kinda cool to go to an Illini game and sit so close.  Janet’s day was special because of the thoughtfulness she put into it.   And the most unusual  thing for me was to go see a story teller*.  But all the days have been fun.  I’ve hung out with tons of people I don’t see on a regular basis and that’s cool.

Q: Are you getting sick of it? Are you tired of going out all the time?
A:  Honestly, no.  I’m having a ton of fun. It’s nice to have some time to myself, but it’s great to know there are actually this many people who want to hang out with me.    

The downside is that I have been eating–and drinking– a lot!   Plus, everyone wants me to pick the destinations and I’ve run out of ideas!  I’ve definitely learned to slow down and pace myself, so it’s a little better.  I’m hoping my 30 days doesn’t turn into Supersize Me.

Q: Are there any things you haven’t  done?  Any places you haven’t been?
A:  A few.  I haven’t been to 7 Saints, The Blind Pig, or Ko-Fusion.**  I’m also dying to try out Jack’s Grill , a new Mediterranean take-out joint that looks really good.   I haven’t been to a single movie and I haven’t seen any live bands, yet, either.   I think I’ll get a chance to see a band on Friday, so that’s cool. 

Q: What are you going to do when it’s all over?
A:  Well, by that time I’ll be 30, so I guess I’ll apply for a membership in AARP,  scope out the senior citizen’s discounts at area restaurants, and check to see if dentures are covered by my dental plan. 

No, seriously… I’ll probably slow down a bit in February, but I already have some fun stuff planned, including the resurrection of Bunco!!

———

* Oh, and the entire ski/snowboarding weekend was awesome and different.  I can’t believe I forgot that.

** And Guidos.  I haven’t been there once, which is odd ‘cuz I used to spend a lot of time in that bar.

30 days of 30: Week 3

I’m almost on the home stretch in my 30 days of 30.  Here’s how week 3 played out:

Monday–   Drinks at Boltini with Scott, Kurt & Charlie.  I was drinking Pear Gimlets, which I fully intent to re-create at home with the Pear vodka I got as a gift.

Scott got me a book of T.S. Eliot poems to help me with my resolution to appreciate poetry.  Kurt photocopied a poem for me later in the week, too.  Books are some of the most thoughtful/personal gifts you can give someone, especially if it’s something you enjoy. I’ve been reading the poems before I go to bed and I’ve certainly gained a better appreciation for the craft.  

Food Note: I highly recommend the goat cheese crostini and the pretzel “fondue.”  Not your average bar food, but oh-s0-good!

Tuesday–  Dinner with Kelli D. at Olive Garden.  Kelli is a childhood friend of mine.  We recently re-connected and through the magic of facebook we stay in pretty close contact. But it was nice to see her in prson for a change and to get an update on her kids, work, etc. It was her first day going back to working nights after being off for a long time, so I’m glad we were able to hang out, even for a little bit.  

Wednesday– Dinner and drinks at Flat Top with Bridget.   She got me the coolest Juno card.  It speaks the line about being cool w/o even trying when you open it.  Awesome!   We then went back to her house for the LOST premiere.  We’re both huge fans and it was nice to watch with someone as crazy, er, dedicated as me!  I also got the opportunity to meet her super-cool boyfriend and their dog Oscar.  Fun night (once we figured out how to open the wine bottle. lol.)

Food note:  We didn’t have dessert at Flat Top, but the guys next to us had some sort of molten chocolate/ice cream concoction.  It looked soooooo good.  I never have room for dessert when I go there, but it might be worth a try.

Thursday–  This was officially Erin’s day since we missed our date earlier this month.  I had lunch with my besties– Steph, Erin, Kim at Houlihan’s.   Including me, this represented half of the email circle, so I guess you could say we had a quarum.   It’s never a dull moment with those girls and I love them dearly.   

Friday– Bobbi and I had planned on going to see The Dark Knight because it was allegedly going to be re-released in the theaters this weekend.I even held off watching it on DVD because I was excited to see it on the big screen.  But apparently it’s not playing here.  So Bobbi, Cory, and I did our usual Friday night happy hour at Bunny’s.  I met their friend Jamie, who was super nice. It was fun and low-key and just what the doctor ordered!

Saturday–  Because of the (relatively) early Friday night, I was uber-productive Saturday during the day.  Then I went to Fat City to celebrate Kristin and Muffy’s birthdays.  It was good to see everyone, but I think I might (gasp!) be getting a little sick of the bar scene.  Shocking, I know!

Sunday–  No one had signed up for today, and I was okay with that.  Cory and I talked about maybe going bowling, but decided to wait for another day when more people could come.  

I stayed in bed reading until noon.  My mom came up to deliver my computer desk (a  Christmas present that was still at her house!), we went to lunch and I’ve been reading, writing, and messing around online ever since.  So, I’m officially marking this day on my 30 days of 30 calendar as Cari day!

PS: 30 days of food

I haven’t really written much about the food I’ve been eating for a number of reasons:

a) this isn’t a food blog
b) I’m not much for taking pix of food (I’ll leave that to Lisa!) and
c) I don’t really think my readers need a meal-by-meal account of what I’ve eaten.

Having said that, though, I have a few recommendations to make:

• Dessert at Crane Alley– We were all excited about the bread pudding, until they told us they were out.  And then they magically had some left–yay!  It was okay, but the lemon cake was to die for.   A slice of that and a favorite coffee drink were the perfect way to spend a chilly winter night with friends.  I never get dessert unless I’m travelling, so this was a great treat.
• Radio Maria– I’ve never been disappointed by their food. They were serving brunch that day, but I needed some substance, so I got the Cuban Sandwich, which I’d had before.  But the highlight of the day was the cornbread.  It’s served warm with honey and orange zest and something else I can’t remember. Phenomenal!!
• Soup’s On! I’m a big fan of the soup-and-salad lunch.  Since it has been so cold lately, I’ve had the opportunity to sample soups at a number of different places.   The chicken and pasta soup at Luna was perfect– way better than anything that comes out of a can.   Similarly, the chicken gumbo at Escobar’s really hit the spot.
  I also had an interesting “stew” at Farren’s on Friday.  It was billed as a pork and root vegetable stew, but the consistency and flavor reminded me of vegetable beef soup.  Of course the “beef” was pork, but it wasn’t as thick as a traditional stew.  Very tasty, just not what I expected.  On the other hand, I had a lentil “soup” at La Gourmandise Bistro that was entirely too thick. I like lentils… and have a great recipe for lentil soup that I love,  but this was not what I expected.  Thank goodness for the dessert at Crane Alley afterwards!

30 days of 30: Week 2

Whew… what a week!   Here’s the rundown:

Monday– Lunch at Luna with co-workers Kurt and Scott

Tuesday– Lunch at Houlihan’s with Tracy, Cynthia, and Julie. I used to play Bunco with these girls and now we keep up via facebook, so it was nice to see them in person after way too long!

Wednesday– Janet’s day (see earlier post).

Then I went to the Illini game with Cory, Bobbi, and Lacey.  They were the best seats I’ve ever been in:  12 rows up, right behind the Orange Crush (cell phone pic doesn’t do it justice.)

view from our seats

Thursday–  Book club.  We discussed Freakanomics, which was universally enjoyed.  I’ll consider this day Bonny’s, since she hosted and Scott and Kurt both have their own days.

Friday–   Ron’s day.   The plan?  To go to bars we don’t normally go to.  Ron was going to pick 3 and I was going to pick 3.  Cool.

Then Cory called and wanted to do Happy Hour.  Since Ron had dinner plans, it worked out well.  I met Cory and Co. at Bunny’s for happy hour. (If you click the Bunny’s link, you’ll see a pic of Cory at a parking lot party last summer– he’s as famous for Bunny’s as I am for the Esquire–ahah!). We drank buckets, ate Bosco sticks and played some Euchre.  Ron showed up, hung out for a bit and then it was off to meet Chad for the bar crawl.

First stop:  The Embassy.  There was a band, so we had to pay a $5 cover charge, even though we only stayed for one drink.  Then we went to Crane Alley, The Brass Rail and Bentley’s.  The last two bars are the only ones I hadn’t been to before.  And  I don’t ever need to step foot in the Brass Rail again, but I’ll definitely go back to Bentley’s.

All in all, it was a good night… but Happy Hour + Bar crawl was probably not one of my best ideas.

Saturday– Saturday was like two nights in one.

First I met Andrea and Amanda (from boot camp) at La Gourmandise Bistro for dinner and to listen to a storyteller.  I’d never been to the bistro before and I’d never heard a storyteller, so it was a bunch of firsts for me.  The bistro was cute (although I made a poor soup selection) and the storyteller was entertaining, but nothing to write home about.   We left after the first act and went to Crane Alley for drinks and dessert.   It was great to be able to hang out with those girls.  I miss boot camp!

After that, I met Erin, Jeff, Jaime, Dave, Chachi, Bubba, Nikki and Andrea at Boltini.  They had been out for some family birthdays and were getting ready to leave when I got there.  I had one drink and then we went to Fat City.  If you haven’t been there yet, it’s exactly the same.  Only nicer.  If that makes much sense.   Erin, Jeff, Jaime, and Dave left and the rest of us headed to Tumble Inn.

Chachi & I @ Tumble Inn

Erin & Chachi @ Fat City

As usual, TI was a late night Mecca for Unity grads, so there were plenty of people I knew there (some of whom I didn’t actually talk to).  I stayed until close, but this was a much calmer night than  the bar crawl.  It pays to pace oneself.

Sunday–  Since Monday is a holiday, my sister Kelli signed up for Sunday night.   Kelli, her boyfriend Doug, and my brother David picked me up at noon and we went to Radio Maria for lunch.  To my surprise, my mom, Aunt Linda, and Uncle Denny were there as well.  We had a nice lunch and I think I was able to introduce some of them to a new restaurant, so that was kinda cool.

After lunch, we had a drink at the Esquire and then went back to TI to watch some football. (Okay, it was mostly so some of the crowd could smoke, but whatever.)   It was a fun afternoon, but I was super tired from the rest of the weekend.   I came home with full intentions of watching the Steelers game, but fell asleep on the couch.  For 12 hours.   I must’ve been tired.

Definitely a super fun-filled week.  It’s so cool to be able to hang out with so many different people and try new things. After the first week-o-lunches I was starting to think all I was going to do was eat… but now I’m looking forward to some low-key non-drinking events in the days to come!

A few observations at the half-way point:

• If “professional storyteller” is a real job, then I think I might have a new career path.  If that lady can get up and tell stories–so can I!!
• I really need to try to take more pictures, but I’m usually just having a good time hanging out with people that I forget I even have my camera.  Maybe next week.
• Pacing is key.  Even though 8 bars in 3 days sounds like fun… functioning the next day is important!  I really am starting to feel almost 30.