Chicago

I really think I had way too much fun in Chicago. Too much fun to consider it a business trip anyway. Don't get me wrong. It was A LOT of work. I haven't been on my feet for that long in 6 years. It's been since I moved from the lovely world of working in sandwich shops to working in an accounting office. And constantly engaging people is pretty much what I don't do all day. I sit in my quiet office and interact with a computer, so the trade show was a nice change of scenery. But like I said, I really had too much fun to consider it work.

The moment we got off the plane, we had to rush to get to the hotel and get ready to go to the city. Our hotel was a half hour cab ride from downtown Chicago, in good traffic. But it was going to take us an hour and a half because it was rush hour. So we had exactly 20 minutes to get ready and the hotel had given away our room. Oops. So we did finally make it downtown in time to see the bean before dinner.

So cool, so weird, who knew that a giant reflective bean in Millennium Park could be such a famous attraction. After dinner, we walked down the block to see WICKED at the Oriental. Oh so a dream come true. I have been waiting to see this play for 2 years! And it did not disappoint. It is the best play I have ever seen. It's hilarious. Especially Glinda the "good," who is actually really stuck up and full of herself, and likes to swish her hair in an extremely strange fashion. And Elphaba, who is the wicked witch of the west, and concerned with animal rights. The singing was perfect, the costumes were awesome, and the story is excellent. Loved it!
I know that some many be concerned, I was in Chicago and how ever did I get my Harry Potter book. Never fear, I reserved one at the downtown Barnes and Nobles. We went to the midnight sale and I started it in the cab on the way home. I absolutely love it! I'm almost finished and that's all I'm going to say about that right now.
Here's me working. Everyday we had 9am-5pm in the booth and then ran to get ready and get in a cab for the city. Another one of these awesome excursions (all planned out by my boss, by the way) was the architectural tour. We floated the Chicago river and the tour guide told us about the city. My favorite building was the Corn cobs:
I can't remember their real name, but we did end up back there another night and went to the House of Blues at the base of the building. The art that covers all the wall space in there is so cool and there was an awesome blues band from Chicago named Rob Stone & the C-Notes playing.

So I love this city, did I mention that? I think I'll be going back for another look around because I saw tons of art galleries that were all closed by the time we made it downtown. Plus I think Todd would appreciate their taste in pizza.

Wanna be a Simpson?

Go to simpsonsmovie.com and make one. Todd Simpson

Joanne Simpson

Knitting Torture. Knitting Therapy.

Do you want to torture yourself or your loved ones? Knit a plastic bag. Or better yet, ask someone else to do it for you.

Plastic bags are crunchy and stiff. They scratch your hands. So why would I ever want to finish knitting this? After cutting up 30 some bags to make "yarn" you already feel pretty invested in the project. Honestly, now that I'm finished, I love it. It looks cute and it's really sturdy. I'm never making another but I've got this one, that's all I need. And once you get over the "yarn," it's pretty easy. I cast 54 stitches on circular 15's and knit round and round until I got the desired length. Then bound off 9 stitches for the handle. Another nice thing is that if you run out of "yarn," you can just cut more plastic bags into strips and add them on using a slip knot.

My knitting therapy (for the plastic bag knitting and my classes) was the duck walk socks (inspired by a Nicky Epstein stitch) And two more cable hats. I had one request from my Mom and Kimberly's last hat got stolen in the hospital. They are so quick, so I'm even thinking about making myself one now.

Also went to the Toadally Frogs exhibit this weekend at the Natural History Museum at the U. It was pretty cool, not as big as I thought it would be, but they did have some pretty cool frogs. I couldn't get any good pictures of the frogs, but I did get one of this great little statue:


Before that we made a trip to the London Market for Harry Potter candy. They've discontinued a lot of the HP candy, but they still had Jelly slugs and Bertie Bots Every flavored beans. I think I'll have to go through those before the movie. I really don't want to get a booger or vomit bean accidentally in the movie theater. The whole errand was funny, I haven't planned a trip to the candy store with friends since I was 10.

Wikibirthday

I found this on Tan's blog and thought I'd try it (thanks Tan). I love knowing who shares my birthday and all that. So first, you go onto Wikipedia and put in your birthday w/o the year. Then list... (checking)... 3 events, 2 birthdays, 1 holiday.

September 20th
event: 1519 - Ferdinand Magellan - set sail from Sanlúcar de Barrameda with about 270 men on his expedition to circumnavigate the globe.
event: 1946 - The first Cannes Film Festival is held.
event: 1969 - John Lennon leaves The Beatles but does not make a public announcement
That last one is sad for me, but not as sad as all the bloody events that also happened on my birthday and probably everyone elses for that matter. Ah, aNyway...

birthday: 1486 - Arthur, Prince of Wales, son of King Henry VII of England
birthday: 1934 - Sophia Loren, Italian actress
Weird couple, huh? Well, they were the only people I know anything about on the whole list! :)

holiday: In ancient Greece, the seventh day of the Eleusinian Mysteries, when the secret rites in the Telesterion began.
Umm... Woohoo, another reason to party!