I Can See Clearly Now.

Or, at least as clearly as I ever did. I went back to the eye doctor today after two solid weeks in glasses and five different kinds of eye drops every two hours. My good patient-ness was rewarded with the okay to put my contacts back in. Optimistically, I had brought a new pair with me. I put them in immediately. Of course, they felt odd after having been in glasses for awhile.

That said, YAY!

No more constant headache or nausea. I have a full field of vision again. It's the little things. Eye doctor did suggest that I look into lasik or PRK. Seems like a prudent suggestion. I think the only teeny tiny negative to being back in contacts is that my morning routine just gained a few minutes by being able to wear eye makeup again.

Hurry!

I went to Naples, Florida for a couple days this week to assist at a panel at a conference. I do not have much to report about the conference itself: got some CLE, chatted with some people, went home.

However, I was reminded of just how wonderful the sun and the warm is. It was 78 degrees when I landed on Wednesday late afternoon. On Thursday, I worked outside in the sun for a couple hours. I was actually almost hot. On Friday morning before I had to check out, I spent an hour sitting out on the balcony, feeling the sun warm my hair. I drove with the windows down. It was really lovely.

Summer, please hurry back. I miss you.

Confused.

As I was walking south on inner Lakeshore Drive toward 900 North today, a couple stopped me and asked if I lived here. They immediately confessed that they weren't from here and were lost. They wanted shopping recommendations but said "we were just were at 900 North -- that's not for us!" So, I asked what type of shopping they were looking for instead. Response: "Target, KMart, Walmart!" I think they were either saying that the stores at 900 North were either not their style (they weren't fashion-forward folks) or not in their budget, but I'm not sure which.

Color me confused.

First, I'm pretty sure that Target is the only store with any presence in the city and those locations are nowhere near walkable from where they were.

Second, why bother coming to Chicago? I'm pretty sure they could find those in their home town. (While I don't think they were Canadian based on their accents, my friend pointed out to me that Canadians don't have Target. I'm willing to accept a Canadian exception to my story, as I do like Target.) Assuming it was a budget issue, I think window-shopping Michigan Avenue can be pretty fun. The style issue would explain a lot, but again, I just don't see why you'd want to go shopping in Chicago. It's not like the Michigan Avenue association tries to mislead people into thinking its a budget-friendly mile.

I ended up giving them some vague directions about walking west on Division and wandering south down State. I really don't think I was helpful but I just could not wrap my mind around it.

Ouch Updated.

When I went to the doctor this morning as a follow up to yesterday's visit, with little improvement in my eye, he was concerned that I had a corneal ulcer and referred me to a cornea specialist. I can't say that the hospital ever ocurred to me as a potential birthday celebration location, but there I was. And, I do have two small "infilatrates" close to my visual axis. As a result, I have been given the gift of hourly eye drops and daily doctor's appointments to make sure it improves and does not cross that axis (which would affect my vision).

They told me that I wear my contacts too long during the day and that probably was the cause of this. They also gave me given the backhanded compliment that 12-15 years of contact wearing without an infection was pretty impressive. I had to correct the doctor that today actually marked my 20 year anniversary, as I think my parents let me get contacts when I turned 12.

I have come away with a silver lining from this: my seven year cycle has been satisified on the very first day. When I was eleven, I had a kidney biopsy. When I was eighteen, shoulder surgery. When I was twenty-five, I was diagnosed with my rheumy. Now that I'm thirty-two, my medical malady has already been met. No more waiting and wondering. Shoe has dropped. Whew.

Ouch.

Yesterday, my eye felt irritated. This morning, it was light sensitive and flat out painful. I was at the eye doctor's office before they even opened. While it appears that I just have some cornea irritation (not sure yet if it is scratched), it hurts! As an extra bonus, I will have to wear my glasses for the next few days.

Full Weekend.

Beginning with Friday evening's Chinese New Year dinner and starting early on Saturday with Cycle for Survival, this weekend has been full of fun. After Cycle was done, our team went for lunch at Italian Village. M and I walked back to Trump, with a coffee pitstop, to drop off our gym shoes and shower. We went home for 15 minutes to change and then headed back out to Macy's for a black history month event. Eunice Johnson, of Johnson publishing, archived 9,000 of her couture dresses from the last forty years. Macy's had a few of these gorgeous dresses on display, along with cocktails. Johnson Publishing is responsible for Ebony and Jet. To celebrate, Macy's was taking pictures and doing mockups of you as an Ebony cover. So, M, A and I have our Ebony cover shot together.

From there, M and I needed a cheese plate break at Macy's wine bar in the Walnut Room. Such a deal -- $9 for a really great plate. After our snack, we did a little shopping. To combat the winter blues, we both got sundresses. Unsurprisingly, there isn't a huge demand for sundresses in Chicago in February so they were on sale. From there, we had tacos and bubbly at Theory.

Today, I awoke to the sound of a snowblower. I started my day by trying on my sundress again, hoping for warmth. (It didn't work immediately but by 1:00, it was a balmy 37. Not quite sundress weather but the first time above freezing in a long time, maybe in 2011.) Then, kickboxing and an early birthday brunch at Hub 51 with the girls. O even made me cupcakes! The combination of huevos rancheros and cupcakes left me with a food coma by 3:45. As a result, I spent the remainder of the weekend on the couch, watching the superbowl and doing nothing.

Cycle for Survival!

Saturday morning was Cycle for Survival. We joined 600 people spinning for four hours to raise money for rare cancer research. We were part of a five member team so we really only had to spin for about 45 minutes each over the course of the event. M LOVES these types of things so she brought the enthusiasm, beginning at 7:30 am and not ending until noon. When we weren't on the bike, we were singing, dancing and cheering our rider on. We probably annoyed the people in our immediate vicinity initially. Especially considering some people rode four hours straight. Those people were tired and didn't have cheerleaders. We would hope on the bike, fresh legs, and have four people cheering us on. But, we had a blast and ultimately got other people to join our fun. So much so that we were named as the best cheerleaders.

The spin instructors were awesome. The energy in the room was fantastic. There were cancer survivors present who were inspiring. The only real negative is that it did not smell good in there by hour two. By hour four, it was super smelly, hot and sweaty. Even that had a positive though -- my shower when it was over was easily the best of 2011.

Year of the Rabbit!

Thanks to O, for the second straight year I celebrated Chinese New Year with a super fun dinner in Chinatown. Last year, we resolved that we were going to try the non-Western menu this year. That menu included abalone and shark fin soup, among other delicious dishes. While we all thought that (a) shark fin soup was illegal and (b) we would receive imitation shark fin, we were wrong on both counts. I didn't love the soup -- too strongly fishy for me -- but fun to try. Even though I knew that the dinner was a marathon and not a sprint, trying to pace myself, I still was so full that I couldn't really eat a couple of the last courses. But, what I did eat was a nice spicy variety.

Everyone loves this dinner so much that people make dietary exception. Two people have instituted Chinese new year exceptions that allow them to eat meat and try everything served. It's a great combination of people, food, fun and a real character of a server.

One tangentially related lesson we learned: no cabs in Chinatown. Not a problem though: the red line took us home. Fitting given the importance of red in Chinese culture.

Snow Day!

Yesterday was my first official snow day since high school. I suspect it might be my last, at least as long as I live in Chicago.

Chicago likes to think it is tough. (And, don't get me wrong, Chicago weather is tough. The snow and the cold are like Chicago voting: they come early and often. Winter is a long-lasting season. No one moves here for the weather. People just are a little hardened to winter. It takes a lot for us to freak out.) So far this winter, the East Coast has been battered by snow storms. I think Chicago has some snobbery when reading about those storms -- as in, it's just snow, people. We'll show you how it is done.

Until we got the third largest storm in Chicago history. The official tally was 20.2 inches of snow at O'Hare. M and I left work early on Tuesday. In the 15 minutes it took to get home, the roads went from "not bad" to "blizzard." They shut down Lakeshore Drive. Some poor people were stuck on it for nearly 15 hours. They say that the cost for storm cleanup is going to be $100 million.

While it was only 3:30 in the afternoon, we decided that there was no time to waste in watching movies and having some blizzard cocktails. Around 7, we considered moseying about four blocks to get some dinner. Then, we decided that we had nothing to prove and that the mature and smart decision was to stay in.

Good thing we did. About the time we would be returning home, this happened:



About 9:00 pm, we got the official word that the office would be closed on Wednesday. A perfect snowday ensued. I slept in. Cleaned my place and did laundry. Once the snow was mostly stopped around noon, M and I took a walk in the neighborhood. The drifts were high and the streets mostly unplowed and undriven. There were the occasional magical heated sidewalks that looked like nothing happened but generally, it was quite a scene.

Thankfully, our local bar was open and serving food. We stopped at CVS on our way home to get some snacks in preparation for a planned afternoon on the couch. We also stopped to visit our friends, and neighbors, L and A. By the time we actually headed home, there was already significant improvement in the streets.





While we had a brief hope for Snow Day, the Sequel, when Chicago Public Schools closed for the second straight day (virtually unheard of -- the last time there was a snow day before this was 1999), the improvement in the roads indicated there was a slim-to-no potential. So, we made the most of the remainder of our snow day: did some pro bono work (reading some extremely graphic love letters written to our client), watched A LOT of television, ate some sugary treats, and made dinner and dessert (who knew that a "just add water" brownie that only needs 45 seconds in the microwave could be good? Not me. Of course, the copious amount of ice cream we covered it in might have had something to do with that).

The only real negative to our 1.5 days off due to snow is that it felt like Sunday night again last night.

Fingers Crossed.

So, as I've said repeatedly, if my horoscope ever indicated that I should buy a lottery ticket, I would do it immediately. Well, today happens to be lottery ticket day anyway BUT my horoscope is this:

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Many of you are going to benefit from a serious chunk of change suddenly coming your way. This might already have happened, or it might happen right now or might happen almost immediately. Whatever it is — it’s good. It could be cash or gifts or both. Ka-ching!

In my optimistic view, that clearly dictates and results in a winning lottery ticket. Fingers crossed, seeing as how the MegaMillions currently has a $330 million jackpot.

2011.

Three days in and so far so good.

I eased out of 2010, working half days, working out, and taking naps. New Year's Eve was pretty low-key considering that I did go out. M's parents were in town to celebrate with her. I tagged along (tough to keep up with that long-legged family when you're trying to walk and of the short-legged variety) to Butch McGuire's. Given that its on Division, I expected it to be kind of insane. We got there punctually, snagged the ideal table, and generally enjoyed ourselves as the place slowly filled up. Thankfully, it never reached insane levels. We stayed for the countdown and by 12:05, we were walking back toward home.

I eased into 2011. Day 1 was as low-key as Day 365 of 2010. I watched the Rose parade, watched some football, tried to get my mitts fixed (but alas, the nail place had closed early), worked out and met H and T for a drink. Between the workout, doing the tri-bath-lon (sauna, steam, shower), and having a couple drinks, I was in the Trump for nearly six hours that day! Time flew -- there are definitely worse places to spend six hours.

Today is the first official work day of 2011. One of the tough things about a new year when you bill your time is starting at 0. You have a sympathy for Sisyphus this time of year. Back when I was a baby lawyer, someone told me that they always tried to work on New Year's day. At the time, I thought that was odd but I've since adopted it. I always do something -- even if it is just a tiny bit so that I start the official beginning of the work year in the black. I'm currently +3.3 and the day is nice and quiet.

Easing into 2011 and I can't complain.

Key West.

For the first time ever, my family took a trip at Christmas this year. A holiday trip was something we had talked about doing for awhile but this year we finally booked it. And, it was a good thing -- it gave my mom a goal and something to look forward to as part of her recovery from the surgeries this fall. It was also a much needed chance to rest for my dad and the first vacation my brother would take for ten years. So, my grandmother, parents, brother and his partner, and twenty year old cousin met in Miami and headed to Key West. None of us had ever been. I think it was fair to say that most people were a little anxious about how this would work out.

And, it worked out well!

Key West is a nice island. Not too touristy except down by one end, nice weather (although in a perfect world, it would have been maybe 10 degrees warmer), and good food. Some people went to visit Truman's Little White House and Hemingway's house. Some people went deep sea fishing. Some went to the beach. Some went on a ghost tour. And, on Christmas Eve, we had a family dinner complete with holiday poppers and a family picture around a Christmas tree.

Routine.

I am my father's daughter to a certain extent. He is a man of routine. If he cannot go through his morning routine, his entire day is entirely thrown. He never quite gets it together all day long. AND, his routine is LOOOOOOOOONG. The man gets up three hours before he needs to be anywhere.

Last night, I was out celebrating M's elevation to partner until 1:30 a.m. A normal person would sleep in a bit. But, I got up at 5:45 and went to the gym because that's my routine. I don't even know how to get ready at home any more. There is no coffee made and waiting for me at home. There are no jars of lotion and aloe. My shower is tiny in comparison. I went and half-assed a workout because I wanted to get ready at the gym.

I like to think that I'm not as bad as my dad. At least I can take comfort that I am MUCH quicker than him. Even including the hour workout and travel time, I come in around 2 hours.

Second Annual.

Last night was our Second Annual Trump Girl Holiday Dinner. Yes, all capitalized. Lends the proper degree of importance to the event. There are six of us that we consider the Trump Girls. Beginning in December, the schedules get so busy with holiday stuff, family, and travel that its quite possible that we won't all be able to get together again until March. So, starting last year we began having a holiday dinner -- Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, enjoy MLKJ day, etc. until we manage to get together again.

This year, it took two attempts to find a date between Thanksgiving and Christmas that would work for everyone. Last night was the ONLY date. I was hoping all day that no one would have to cancel because there just wasn't a rain date possible. Thankfully, everyone made it. I guess it helped that it was a Monday.

As previously mentioned, when H and I went to the Thanksgiving parade, we met the loveliest people, one of whom is a manager at RL. As I had never been, I hadn't even considered it before but that gave us the dinner location. And, it was fantastic! The restaurant was subtly festive. We dialed it up a bit with gift bags from O and holiday poppers for everyone. We talked so much to start that it took a long time for us to be able to place an order for anything but drinks. But once we did order, the food was SO good. And, our new friend from the parade sent us a plate of desserts. While we were all stuffed, we somehow managed to eat them all. I am still full as I write this, some twelve hours and a workout later.

A very happy holiday dinner was had. We even toasted the Donald for bringing us all together.

Let It Snow!

Yesterday was the first major storm of the year and probably the biggest storm we've had in a couple years. M and I were sitting on the couch, having some coffee, eating a snack and watching some incredibly bad tv when we got a text from O, asking if we were coming to kickboxing. I generally don't workout on Sundays so it was easy to glance out the window, see the snow going sideways and hear the wind howling, to say nope. But, O mentioned that she was going shopping at 900 North. At that point, M took over the texting and agreed that we would meet her there. Seemed crazy to me, but once she suggested breaking up the walk with a snack, mimosa and train-car-viewing I was in.

And, once properly bundled up, it was really a fun afternoon. Very few people out and those who were, were in a good mood about it. If you're going to do it, you might as well do it right.

That said, I wouldn't mind if that was our only big storm of the season. Or, if today's high of 12 was the coldest and only seriously cold day of the season either.

Chugga Chugga

Choo-Choo!

Since moving to my new place, part of my Saturday involves breakfast at Butch McGuire's. A delicious egg sandwich with mimosas to wash it down plays an integral role in a perfect Saturday. While I had heard that McGuire's got festive for the holidays, only recently did I learn what that entailed. Their entire ceiling is covered in multi-colored Christmas lights with large ornaments sprinkled throughout. There are two train tracks that run along the ceiling in each room. At this point in December, the place is so like Christmas threw up in there -- tacky, overwhelming, and incredibly wonderful.

When I was little, my dad had a fairly extensive train set that I used to love. And, every Christmas, my parents set up a small train around the tree, primarily to keep the cats from stealing any low-hanging ornaments but also because my dad likes trains. So, I have a fondness for a good train.

Imagine my delight when we learned that we could actually sponsor a train car at McGuire's. For the cost of the car and artwork, along with a donation to Mercy Homes, Melissa and I will have our very own train car circling Butch McGuire's through the Super Bowl. AND, the car is ours in perpetuity and will continue to run each season, so long as we make the charitable donation.

After much brainstorming, the development of a creative team, several emails and phone calls, we decided on our car. While we had planned on an unveiling ceremony, complete with engineer caps, schedules did not permit. But, since it began running, I've been by to see it -- and enjoy the holiday mimosa (a seasonal twist, substituting cranberry for orange juice) -- no fewer than four times. Basking in its holiday cheer, if you will. Santa may have Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night but we will have for years to come:

Merry Mimosas! Festively, Melissa and Laura!

Heed the Horoscope - Part II.

Ever since Georgia Nicol's knew that my brother's fly was down, I have had a little more respect for the horoscopes, particularily the ones with something quirky about them.

Yesterday's horoscopes had some quirks for my mom and M. My mom's warned that medical problems may arise ("What, again?"). Prior to hearing that, she had planned to try driving alone for the first time since her surgeries. Instead, she heeded the horoscope and decided that staying put might not be such a bad plan.

M's was just odd. "Strange and curious things will happen. Strange and curious people will do strange and curious things. Curioser and Curioser." I'm not sure how her day was but we both went to an evening spin class. In it was a guy that someone had tried to set her up with some months ago. It was not a match that night, although M thought he seemed like he was probably a nice, but very nervous, guy. Odd enough that he would be in that class. After class, it was Taco Tuesday for us at Theory. Of all the bars in the world -- or, River North --, he walked into ours. Curious and curiouser for sure.

Now, if only my horoscope would say something like "buy a lottery ticket." I'd heed that immediately.

Thankful.

For reasons that make me sound like a bad niece (because I am), I did not go to Wisconsin on Thanksgiving.

Thankful #1: I avoided a familial argument that I undoubtedly would have picked as it has been brewing for awhile.

My grandmother gave me a pass a couple weeks ago, telling me that if I had an invitation to go anywhere else, please go. M and her mom both invited me to Indy for the weekend. I spent Thanksgiving with them a couple of years ago and it was a super time.

Thankful #2: Having a friend willing to take me into their family for a couple days.

But, for a couple reasons, I decided to stay in Chicago for Thanksgiving Upon hearing that, two of my friends invited me to join them and their families on Thursday.

Thankful #3: Having more than one friend willing to let me join their family on a holiday.

H had been given VIP tickets (read: seats available) to Chicago's Thanksgiving Parade and offered me one on Tuesday. I hadn't been to a parade since I was a little kid. I think it was the Circus Parade in Wisconsin. But, who doesn't like a parade? I started getting excited like a little kid almost immediately. The only potential problem was the weather forecast. I kept saying, don't rain on my parade (literally), Mother Nature.

Thankful #4: No rain! While it was gray and around 40, there was no precipitation. We stayed for the entire parade, until Santa arrived, and met some of the nicest people.

After a quick workout (and warm up -- 40 degrees isn't cold but our toes were numb by 11:00), it was time to continue the festivities. O was with her in-laws and invited us all for cocktails. The table was set for at least twenty people. While we were there, people came and went. It was a loud, fun, festive time.

Then, it was time for dinner. We headed back to the neighborhood. My friend's parents were in town and her mom made a delicious dinner (which, happily for me, did not involve turkey). It was a really nice dinner with friends.

Thankful #5: A Thanksgiving that was low-stress, high-fun, and friend-filled!

Flirty Girl.

Flirty Girl Fitness is a gym in the West Loop specializing in offering classes like Video Vixen, Pole Dancing, Bikini Boot Camp, Doggie Style Yoga, and Hula Hoop-la. I think Chicago is its second location and the brand has expanded into fitness dvd's, which you may occasionally see late at night.

After attending a bachlorette party that involved a pole dancing class, O invited girls to take a pole dancing class and then head out for non-pole dancing as part of her birthday celebration. If it had not been her birthday, I'm not sure I would have gone. Not because I'm opposed to pole dancing as an activity or profession but because I was not sure that I was physically capable of doing the class given my knees.

As it turns out, I wasn't. But, it was nonetheless fun to watch my friends. Some of them are really quite good at the spins and tricks. Always good to have a backup plan.

Sure, there were some women at the class who were clearly there practicing for work. And, they were incredible. Pole dancing is a real skill. These women had all body types, including some that defied belief that they would have the upper body strength to climb the pole or the abs to pull themselves back upright. They were hanging from the pole, upside down, dropping six feet using nothing but their legs to stop their fall. At the end of the class, the instructor (who was great) clearly decided to just show them how it was done after they had been impressing us rookies. I don't know what the instructor's background is but it would almost be a pity if she doesn't pole dance professionally because even I would consider paying money to see the tricks she can do. (No stripping involved in this class, mind you.) Just amazing.

After the class, we went out for drinks and dancing. No poles involved but I dare say some of the non-pole moves got incorporated into some of the dancing last night. The only negative from Flirty Girl is that now some of my girls have stripper injuries in the form of big bruises on their arms and legs. Fun to explain that one.

Freakonomics.

Freakonomics is now a movie. I read the book and thought it interesting. O and J saw the movie when it premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in the spring and highly recommended it. When H asked if anyone wanted to attend a screening of the movie with a Q&A session with Steven Levitt to follow, I immediately signed up.

The screening was interesting. The movie was akin to a documentary and generally well-done. There was one vignette on cheating in sumo wrestling that was too long for my attention span. Or maybe it was that I was sitting too close and reading all the subtitles made me nauseaus. Hard to tell. Otherwise, lots of documentary-dramatizations of topics in the book. And, while I didn't stay for the entire Q&A portion of the screening, there were a lot of thoughtful and only marginally pretentious questions asked, fairly amazing given that most of the audience were U of C students.

And, because it was a University of Chicago production with a well-known economist involved, they couldn't restrain themselves from an experiment. They turned attending the screening into a pay-what-you-want experiment. You had to pay something more than .99 but there was no limit otherwise. Levitt announced that the average turned out to be $8.60. I think that really means $10 or $15 with a few strong outliers, including the two people who paid $100 to attend. He said that in previous experiments there was an option to pay a penny and a full twenty five percent of the people took that option. Unsurprisingly, they were also the people least likely to actually attend the screening.

Economics in action.

Halloween!

Some people really know how to do Halloween up right. And, I'm happy to say that I know some of them and live around a lot of them.

Like all little kids, I dressed up to go trick-or-treating. I can't remember exactly when I stopped coming up with Halloween costumes -- probably by high school at the latest -- and I only remember one Halloween costume between then and last year. Of course, last year marked the first Trump girls Halloween where we were the Spice Girls, including David Beckham. During the perfect day in August this year, M came up with our costume for this year. We were the four seasons, Mother Nature and Father Time. Unfortunately, Mother Nature and Father Time were sick this weekend so it was just the Seasons on Saturday night.

We attended a party that had an Alice in Wonderland theme. The details were incredible. Bottles of wine were re-labeled as "embalming juice" and "spider venom" all bearing a "Drink Me" tag. The table holding the snacks was set up as the Madhatter's tea party. Mannequins were dressed a characters from the movie. And our hostess was a dead ringer for Anne Hathaway as the White Queen. People actually flew in for the party so the costumes were all generally good and creative. Two girls as the Double Rainbow. Medusa. A Jersey Shore group but with the genders flipped, so a bearded Snooki. On our way home, we stopped at Butch McGuire's for a drink to see even more costumes. As we walked home, we knew our costume was a success because a drunk girl in line to get in some bar yelled out "heeeeeeeey, you're the four seasons!"

Yesterday, I learned that my new neighborhood goes insane on Halloween. The streets were overrun by children. And, parents holding wine glasses.

The houses had been decorated for the past week or so. The most incredible one had a giant witch with eyes that lit up red, on a broom in front of full moon that changed colors depending on the time of day. Some turned their front yards into graveyards. Others had twenty or so jack-o-laterns decorating their front steps and balconies. But, on Sunday, the houses dialed it up a few more notches.

One house opened up to become a mini haunted house, offering face painting and fortune telling. Another house had what appeared to be mannequins of Frankenstein, Dracula, and the scarecrow out -- appeared to be, that is, until they came alive. Many a scared child had to be told that Frankenstein was a nice monster. One house had a magician doing tricks involving fire. Another house had characters doing the Wizard of Oz. Someone had set up a projector, including sound, to show Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin on the side of their building. There were fog machines. Some houses handed out full-size candy. It really was an incredible display of Halloween festivity, all individually orchestrated.

Its almost too bad that Halloween only comes once each year.

Heed the Horoscope.

One of my friends began reading us our horoscopes every morning as we'd get ready at the gym. Generally, I think horoscopes are so generic and broad that they are hard to be wrong. But, I also think they are fun. So, I spread the fun by sending my brother and a couple friends their horoscopes when they are particularly noteworthy.

This week, it seems that the horoscopes have been both more specific and more accurae. One day, it told me that I was worried about my health. Coincidentally, it was a day where my knees were acting out like children throwing a temper tantrum. That same day, it told my friend that he needed to be careful as he might break something and get into a fight with someone. He had already shattered a glass that morning. He decided to bite his tongue for the rest of the day when people bothered him.

Today, I sent my brother his horoscope. It read:

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Be on guard today. Some aspect of your private life is going to suddenly be very public, especially in the eyes of bosses, parents, teachers and VIPs. (Gulp.) Incidentally, this includes the police. It will be swift and unexpected. (Check your zipper.)

Rather a specific order to conclude. My brother followed directions and incredibly -- his zipper was open! I've decided its only prudent to heed the horoscopes from now on.

Two Dollar Daydreams.

"Gotta get in it to win it."

"You can't win if you don't play."

The lottery has brainwashed me. Twice per week I buy lottery tickets for the MegaMillions and Powerball. Every once in awhile, I will win a few dollars. Just enough to keep the hope alive. But, more importanty, my two dollars provides me the daydreams of being a megamillionaire or powerballer. They are probably the best two dollars I spend. A lot of people I know take playing the lottery as a sign of job disatisfaction. I don't think they are wrong. I jokingly call it my retirement plan. In actuality, it is my only EARLY retirement plan as I don't see myself coming up with any other way that will allow me to dial back the work and still lead a lifestyle I enjoy.

My daydreams aren't very developed -- I guess reflecting my awareness of the actual odds of them becoming a reality -- but they are delightful. They always start with meeting with a lawyer to figure out tax implications and whatnot. (Even my daydreams are practical.) Then, I pay off my mortgage and about five others for my family and friends. After that, I travel a lot, while coming up with a job that leaves me lots of flexibility and a good feeling. It depends what season we are in where I go first -- a tropical island, Spain -- but I always go fancy.

A girl can dream.

Girls and the Goat.

Back in June, most of the Trump girls attended the PAVE gala. (PAVE stands for Promoting Awareness Victim Empowerment and works with victims of sexual assault.) One of the silent auction items was a gift certificate for dinner for eight at Girl and the Goat. At that point, the restaurant hadn't opened yet but there was still a lot of buzz, given the Top Chef Stephanie Izard getting a lot of press. We got into a bidding war -- including a "take that" on the bid list -- with what turned out to be an amazon of a woman. Ultimately, Melissa won the gift certificate. BUT someone else picked it up! After a couple of months, the issue was resolved and she was the proud owner of dinner for eight. The only problem was trying to find a day that eight people's schedules coincided along with the restaurant -- which, now open, books up weeks in advance -- having the availability to accomodate such a group. That day turned out to be last night.

And what a night. Our table was rustic looking with super comfortable chairs right in front of the kitchen. It smelled incredible. Chef was working right in front of us.

Because we had the gift certificate, the restaurant chose our meal for us. Which was awesome as we were all sort of overwhelmed by the idea of coming up with a food plan for eight people (as its small plates, with two or three per person recommended). Plus, we had more important things to do, like catching up with everyone as the food deluge began. We tried all of their special breads, oysters, green beans, cauliflower, chickpea fritters (yum!), mussels, squash ravoli (my fav), barramundi, lamb shank, and goat. Yes, goat. It tastes like mutton vaguely. That was probably the only one I wouldn't order again -- much too strong for me.

I think all of us were slightly incredulous that the restaurant could live up to huge amount of hype but it absolutely did.



(Chef Izard in the center, the Girls, and well, I guess the Goat, being the random guy photobombing us.)

What a Difference (Eight) Days Makes

I arrived in Colorado last Sunday. It was a "family dinner" night, meaning that my brother and his partner and my cousin and her boyfriend were coming to dinner. They do this every two weeks, coinciding with my dad's weekends off. Add me, my mom's cousin, and my brother's friend and that meant dinner for nine. Usually my mom does this with very little assistance from anyone. But last week, she was still essentially sn invalid. Her energy was low, pain level high and she was in a neck brace and arm cast.

Tonight became a family dinner night as it was my last night here. This time, my mom was itching to cook. She probably did about a quarter of it, against orders. She now has the cast off and her stitches removed. She goes for at least two walks each day, totaling about a mile and does a light workout with weights. In contrast, on Tuesday, on her first walk, she barely made it four houses. Nonetheless, she is nervous to be on her own and wishes I could stay.

So do I, in a lot of ways. She is so much better now that it would be more of a fun visit. However, I think I would get too comfortable. I joked a year ago that my furniture would fit nicely in my parents' newly remodeled basement. Now, given remote working, I could stay quite comfortably for awhile, just hanging out. Actually being a part of family dinner rather than feeling not quite part of it.

I would stay if my parents need me but it's time to get back to my Chicago life. Living in my parents' basement while comfortable (and trendy thanks to the economy), can't be my long term plan. Not unless I stocked up on vitamin D and fully embraced becoming an old cat lady. (Cats come with the basement as a bonus.)

Role Changes.

My poor mom has been essentially incapacitated by pain for the 18 months. She FINALLY got a diagnosis -- after months of tests with normal results, knowing things were definitely not normal -- which required surgery. Well, given that she is the worst surgery recoverer EVER, it actually required two surgeries: one to fix the pain, and one to fix the first surgery's complications.

The second surgery was unexpected and delayed her recovery unexpectedly. As a result, I am out in Colorado for the longest span that I've been since I was in college. My job has to be a mix of trainer, court jester, and care taker. The former has come naturally. My parents have called me Ilsa for years, making fun of my attempts to force them into exercise. However, in past years, my mom has come around on exercise and actually enjoys the challenge getting back in shape now through walks and light exercise while she recovers.

The latter two roles have been less natural. My mom is far enough in her recovery that she can do stuff again. But, she has a neck brace and a wrist brace, or just one functioning limb from the waist up. So, its been a touch of a role reversal and regression for us. I learned how to zip my mom's jacket (proof positive I don't have kids -- my mom tells me that I will spend my child's first seven years zipping jackets) and tie her shoes.

To play court jester, I have reached deep. I started simple: reading Trivial Pursuit questions in the doctor's waiting room. I seriously stepped it up with my sock puppet show about hijinks between the sad hospital sock and the fun polka dot sock. Today, while waiting in my family doctor's waiting room, I read my mom The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

I think that book is fitting. My mom's cocoon is her braces. Once the braces are off, she will emerge a beautiful butterfly with her life back, footloose and pain-free.

Rules of Thumb.

A work in progress:

1. If he can fit in my pants, he is not getting in them. My ego simply is not as healthy as my appetite when it comes to this.

2. Never trust a man in a cape. Possible superhero exceptions include Batman and SuperMan. I'm not sure about the latter though as the "super" reflects the inflated ego endemic to the cape-wearer.

3. Footwear often reflects personality. I often have to sacrifice my prettier heels for flats but I still try to keep them fun. Corallary: no good can come from a man in tassels. Similarily, no one, but especially not a man, should wear sneakers with a suit. Ever.

4. Working in a committee is the surest way to accomplish the least in the most amount of time.

5. Bubbles always make it better. Be it a bad day or a good day, there is always room for bubbly improvement.

To be continued. . .

Do Svidanyia!

Last night was a farewell party for Liz. We were summer associates together and have been friends since. She decided that she is done with the law and going back to her non-profit roots. To do so, she is spending a year doing a fellowship with JDC in Moscow.

Liz is a girl with a diverse set of friends who generally do not overlap. As a farewell, a few representatives from each of the groups of friends got together and planned a farewell party with a Russian theme. People were given a "Hello, my name is" tag with their Russian name for the evening. There was a vodka luge with a hammer and sickle carved in. Heavy-handed makeup and fur hats were encouraged.

Overall, I'd say it was a success. A lot of the ladies in attendance took to the theme dress. I haven't seen so much red lipstick and heavy eye makeup in one place before. (More than one of us felt like a hooker on our way to the party because the makeup was so out of character for our normal, non-theme dress.) The men were less thematic but to be fair to them, I didn't give them much direction when came to how to dress like a Russian. Personally, my outfit ended up taking a folk turn, looking vaguely Russian peasant. If only I could do the Russian dance but my knees preclude that kind of enthusiasm.

Originally, Liz was going to be leaving (on a jet plane) for Moscow today. Luckily, her departure date got kicked until October 12. It was fortuitous in that now she doesn't have to fly with a headache, has more time to try to rent her place, AND didn't have to see A LOT of eye makeup get destroyed by farewell tears.

Do svidanyia, Liz. I hope you have a fantastic year in Moscow!

Detours on the Road to Wellness.

I've lived away from my family since I was 18 (returning most summers while I was still in school). Its not because I don't like them. I like my family a lot and try to stay up to date on matters on the Western front. So much so that I think I annoy them by calling frequently.

Over the past two years, my mom has been severe and inexplicable pain. Of course, it would have been explicable had a neurosurgeon bothered to read the MRI she ordered months ago. As it turns out, due to an accident, her spine was being compressed which resulted in a trickle down of awfulness. Thankfully, another neurosurgeon did finally read the MRI and spotted the problem immediately and scheduled her for surgery.

She had the surgery almost two weeks ago. While the fix-the-spine part was successful, my mom is the worst surgery recoverer ever. There were complications that included what appeared to be a heart attack (turns out the hospital overdosed her). But, she made it home safe and sound and things seemed to be getting better. Not content with just one deivation off the road to wellness, she was back in the hospital for a surgery on her wrist, which was swollen badly. It is to be determined what actually caused that.

Being here -- and not there -- has meant that I've been texting and calling Colorado all the time. Its been a weird two weeks, living my life, going to work, working out, and attending events all the while wondering what's going on in Colorado, when the next shoe will drop. All I can say is that I hope that my mom is now on the autobahn to health with no more exits.

May You Work Out In Interesting Times.

My gym is never boring. Sure, sometimes I get bored with the elliptical or a certain class but that's not what I mean. The members, residents, hotel guests and staff are always interesting. And by interesting, I generally mean crazy.

There are a pair of resident sisters who you never want to shower after because its sounds like a man is in there with all the phleghm being coughed up and spit out. There is a member who wears a wetsuit to swim in the rather warm water pool and then leaves the sauna open to dry the wetsuit out. There is a 28 year old instructor engaged to a 48 year old man, who is currently on a four year anniversary trip in Monaco. There is the woman with ever changing wig colors who's bucket list included joining a nice gym despite apparently never having been to a gym before, judging by the need to be shown what a push up was.

This morning, M and I finished our workouts and walked into the locker room to hear some banging and yelling. My first thought was that it was waaaaaaaaay too early for dealing with loud kids. But, it turned out to be a woman who was locked in a shower. Each time she told the story, the amount of time got longer. At first, it was 20 minutes, then 40, then over an hour. Seeing as how she didn't have a watch on, her guess is as good as mine (although it definitely wasn't an hour because that meant she was trapped when I got to the gym and I guarantee we would have heard her). M and I tried to help her out, explaining which way to turn it. We were hampered by English not being her first language and the fact that the lock was really broken.

We went to the front to get some help. One of my favorites was working this morning. She called maintenance and while we were waiting tried to jimmy the lock open with a safety pin and a gift card. That sucker was really stuck. It ended up taking three maintenance guys ten minutes to free her. She put on a bit of a show of outrage and dismay -- I wouldn't be surprised if she got a lot of free stuff as a result. But, once everyone official was gone, her outrage seemed to disappear. Rather than getting the hell out of there and just going back to her room, she went to the sauna, tried all of the various products and then TOOK ANOTHER SHOWER!

It wasn't funny. It was hilarious.