All posts by ali

cold, snow, Chi-ca-go

i went to Chicago for work on Monday and Tuesday and so did R! it’s fun how it was able to work out so we could go together. i much prefer business travel when my guy is with me. part of the reason we are considering a move to Chicago is that both of our workplaces have work available there (mine much more than his at this moment, but they are thinking of expanding and it would provide opportunity for a little while – at least until R could find something he likes much better).

we knew that we would need to bundle up for the cold as Chicago has the reputation of being really freezing. they are, however, having a milder winter than usual. we bundled up anyway (not that we really have the most appropriate clothing, but we did our Los Angeles best). here we are in our hotel, waiting for he elevator. i thought we looked funny, and not just because i’m wearing a pink cat hat…

Los Angelenos dressed for Chicago snow

R didn’t have a warm hat, so he bought this homely cheap one at Walgreens…

cheap beanie hat from Walgreens

RJ’s friend Joel from college lives in Chicago, so the first night we had dinner with him. here they are together, giving the evening an enthusiastic thumbs up, because giving things a thumbs up in pictures struck us as funny…

2 strong thumbs up

on the last night before our return we were able to visit the popular neighborhood of Lincoln Park for dinner and a stroll. we had Italian food, strolled down the street and then had one drink at a local bar. at one point i decided it was important to photograph the snow, since it’s rare i get to see any these days…

look ma, snow! we don't get this in LA...

i never imagined that seeing snow would be picture worthy, but it is, ok?

we enjoyed Chicago very much and hope to go back for another visit in early April.
*

tomorrow’s adventure

because work is going to be keeping me busy on the weekends for the next 2 months, i now have some weekday time off and i’ve decided to finally do some things that i have been putting off.

tomorrow…tissu class!

i can’t imagine that i will be doing this, but perhaps at least climb the silks.

woot!
*

new year’s eve fun

For New Year’s Eve we were going to go to dinner and a movie. Then we decided not to be old and invited R’s cousin over for dinner before going out to see R’s brother play in his cover band. It was fun, plain and simple…

I made a delicious, vegetarian Hachis Parmentier, which is a French Potato Casserole that I learned from my brother. Mmmm, good! Greg enjoyed being our guest and we loved having him…
Gregory Awesome in our dining room new year's eve dinner

We opened party poppers during dinner, which provided us with fancy hats to don throughout the night. Kind of perfect: blue for him, pink for her…
festive hats kiss!

And here we are in the back of our cab as we made our way into the valley for the show. You will notice the beautiful, orange butterfly clip which was my popper present.
Cute, eh?
cab ride

And, of course, it wouldn’t be New Year’s Eve if there wasn’t a bit of silliness at midnight. Unfortunately, the midnight kiss was a bit flubbed. He wanted a kiss, I wanted a photo. I won…
silliness at midnight lovely midnight kiss attempt: fail

All was fun and we were home by 12:30pm. Old, but still fun. Maybe?
*