Bait and Switch.

My brother called me last night to tell me a story that has been cracking me up for a solid twelve hours now.

He recently added one of our aunts on my dad's side of the family as a friend on Facebook. We don't see that side of the family very often but he wanted to try to increase communication and whatnot. Well intentioned. What he didn't realize is that my dad had not communicated some pertinent details about my brother's life to his sisters. (My broseph did not realize it because he is very open about these details.)

So picture it:

My aunt, and her husband, live in the middle of Wisconsin. They have two sons. I'm not sure that it is fair to call them rednecks -- although it very well might be -- but I do think its fair to say that they are not particularly worldly and have a pretty limited exposure to things that are not the Republican dream. My aunt accepts the friend request and begins to peruse my brother's page. She sees that he is in a relationship with "Angelina." She takes the next natural step and clicks on Angelina's page to find that Angelina is actually J.:

Apparently, my dad didn't tell his sisters that my brother is gay, much less that his partner is a drag queen.

Ah, to be a fly on that wall.

Cubs "Fan."

This is not an original observation. Not even close.

But, I am always struck by just how bad of baseball fans Cubs fans are. I'm sure there are some people who go to the games because they care about the game, know the players, actually watch the game, but those people seem to be a pretty silent minority. And, I say this as a person who is not a baseball fan. I'm a sports fan generally so I can certainly enjoy a baseball game when I'm there, but I don't care enough to follow it -- especially since I find baseball games dreadfully boring to watch on TV.

H organized a block of tickets for her various friends to attend last night's game. I hadn't been to a Cubs game yet this summer so I was in. I usually try go to at least two baseball games during the summer -- one Sox, one Cubs. I was in the Sox box on Saturday and last night satisfied my Cubs obligation.

I have never been to the Cubs box. I have always slummed it in normal seats at Wrigley. And, thanks to the bad baseball fan nature of the Cubs fans, I have a lovely time. Wrigley is a fantastic place to sit, eat a hot dog, have some drinks and chat with friends. If you happen to catch some of the game, great. If you don't, well, you probably missed a loss so no harm, no foul.

I guess after seven years, I've decided that if I were to be a baseball fan here, I'd be a Sox fan. But, I am a Wrigley fan.

Spoiled.

This weekend is one of my favorites of the summer -- Air & Water Show weekend. There are plenty of people who object to the show for various reasons: waste of fuel; blatant military recruiting; first timers think the practice runs during the week are Chicago under attack; etc. I can understand all of these objections but I have trouble understanding that even those with logical objections can hate it because it is just. so. cool. The things pilots can do are very impressive. By all rights, I should be a hater for an "etc." reason -- my neighborhood is essentially the Show's center point and therefore overrun all weekend. But, I'm not. I'm an unabashed fan.

So, when I woke up Saturday morning and saw overcast skies, I was a tad concerned. When I was getting ready to leave the gym and saw the downpour (wind, lightening and thunder included), I was sad and not just because I had to ride my bike home in it. But, by 1:30, the rain cleared out and the planes were flying.

I am so spoiled sometimes. From my own balcony, I can see some of the maneuvers. But, my friends, L & A, have a fantastic, unobstructed view from their balconies and are always generous enough to invite us over to watch. Not only that, they are fantastic hosts. One year, there was mini cotton candy. This year, it was catered by Burrito Beach. Delicious food and a fantastic view? Cannot ask for anything more.

Or can you? As it happened, I ended up with all of the tickets to my firm's White Sox Box for last night's game. So, we just moved the Air & Water party down to U.S. Cellular Field. For some people, it was their first time in a box. For the rest of us, it was just nice to be in a box with nothing but our friends. Hot dogs, drinks, snacks, dessert cart, all topped off by a Sox win and great fireworks show? Who would have thought that a day that started off so ominously, with most of us anticipating that the day's activities would be rained out would end up so lovely. Just super.

And, spoiled.

Presto-Change-o!

I was bored. So, I went, presto-change-o, from this:

to this:

with a pit stop in the middle of this:

My theme, if you can't tell, was RED!

Showereception.

This weekend was O's baby shower, or actually, a cocktail reception honoring the birth of her baby girl. It was a lovely party. Several people have commented that it is the drunkest they have ever been at a baby shower, but of course, that's because it was a cocktail reception, not a baby shower. Very important distinction. We had a photographer there to take pictures so I don't have any to post currently, not even of the adorable cupcakes.

Instead, below is a picture of the pre-party, me sitting with the hosts' gigantic, young, energetic, labradoodle. He is a big, goofy boy who has no idea just how big he is. I think he's great. This actually took a few attempts to capture since he has doggy A.D.D. and cannot sit still very long.

Fire.

A planter on a balcony a couple floors above me caught on fire this afternoon. No big deal, it was put out quickly by the owner. However, some passers-by on the street saw the flames and called 9-1-1. I only noticed -- and learned -- this when four fire trucks came screeching to a halt in front of the building. A whole lot of excitement for thankfully nothing. I did learn a few things:

1. The CFD has a fast response time to the building;

2. Either it was a slow day at the fire house, or four trucks is a standard response for a multi-story, multi-unit building; and,

3. The CFD employs attractive men.

Glam.

I just love Glamorama. It is really one of my favorite events of the year. This year the show itself was particularly fun because I liked the musical guests the most out of those I've seen -- Cee Lo Green and Far East Movement. I enjoyed the clothes -- especially the Karl Lagerfeld capsule collection! -- and the spectacle.

Then, it was on to the afterparty at Macy's. The afterparty reminds me of prom afterparties but for adults. We ran around tasting the food and drinks, getting airbrushed tattoos (I got Mona Lisa on the inside of my wrist, which when I woke up on Saturday morning was also anywhere my wrist rested on body), and dancing.

They had a "graffiti wall" where we could leave our mark. Apparently, we (royal we here, as I was not the author) were feeling pretty confident Friday night:

There was a "photo shoot" sponsored by Patron. We have all watched our fair share of ANTM, know about not losing our necks and smizing, and yet, they seemed to catch all of us mid-something else. Nonetheless, I really like the picture since we all look happy:

Finally, there is always a goody bag. In addition to all the things pictured below, Macy's included a pair of flip flops. God bless them.

Glamorama is just fun.

Motto?

Thanks, KWW. You know me well.

Unsolicited Advice.

One of my favorite events of the year, Glamorama, is on Friday. It is a mix of fashion (fall lines) and music (this year, Cee Lo and Far East Movement are performing) with a fun after-party, replete with tasty food,drinks and dancing. It tends to be girls and gay guys. Goes without saying that a fun party dress is necessary.

Earlier this year, I bought a dress because it was a crazy good deal. White, long-sleeved jersey with a sparkly black waist band. The obvious drawback to the dress for this event in August is the long-sleeves. Last month, I was shopping with K and M and found a dress on super sale that a magpie would love. Sleeveless, short, silvery-blue sparkles everywhere.

I was texting with my friend, K. He and I have been friends since high school. We were joking about Glamorama so I decided to get his opinion on which option was better given all the circumstances. After seeing pictures of both dresses, he voted for the shimmer silver. Just for fun, I sent the same two pictures to my brother to get the gay guy perspective, seeing as how that demographic will be represented while K's straight guy demographic will be sparse at best on Friday. His response:

"The white one is fierce. Joel [his partner, and a drag queen] says wear a thong."

Duh.

But seriously, I was somewhat insulted that they thought I would need such advice. Apparently, Joel's sisters need the advice but I have those basics under control!

From Russia With Love.

My friend L has been living in Moscow since last October working for the JDC. It is a not-for-profit organization with a Jewish focus, doing aid and rescue work around the world. In Moscow, she does a lot of work with the elderly and disabled kids, providing assistance and a safety net that Russia does not. She travels A LOT, some places seem awesome, some -- mostly the former Soviet Union countries -- do not.

After ten months, she is back in the U.S., doing a combination of speaking, fundraising and visiting in San Francisco and Chicago. She spent a couple days in New York a few months ago but that was more due to administrative snafus than actually getting to see many people.

Last night M and I scored a coveted weekend night date with L. She joined us at work happy hour, while we killed time until our table was ready at Frontera. We were all probably three drinks in by the time we got to dinner so not surprisingly, we had a fantastic time. Later, another friend joined us. We headed to Theory for some drinks, then moseyed up to the Hunt Club to try to dance (failure due to an awful DJ), and finally ended the night at Butch McGuire's. It was a super fun evening.

L is the happiest I have ever seen her in the eight years I've known her. She was great at the law but the law was not great for her. Despite the facts that she does not speak a lot of Russian, it has been slow going making friends in Moscow, and it is really far away from her family and friends, she loves it enough to re-up for another year. She took a huge risk by leaving the law but returning to her roots clearly suits her. It makes me wish I had roots to which to return.