he was a sexy hip hop boy from oh Chicago way

The title of this post doesn't have much to do with this post other than the fact that I just spend the entire weekend in Chicago. I do wish a sexy hip hop boy was involved though.

I feel like I ate my way through Chicago. I did what I normally do when I go out of town and ate at local places or places that can't be found here in Indianapolis. Save for one place. I think the best meal I had was breakfast Sunday morning at Yolk. I had the Red Velvet French Toast (check the previous post for a pic). Heaven on a plate. Red velvet cake swirled with a cream cheese frosting, battered and grilled and served with fresh strawberries. It was just right. Not too rich to have for breakfast at all. I have to figure out how to make this myself so that I can make it for those special people in my life.

Peeky Toe Crab Benedict from Longman & Eagle

Another good meal was the Peeky Toe Crab Benedict w/ One Hour Eggs and Old Bay Infused Hollandaise that I had for brunch at Longman & Eagle in Logan Square. I'd never had eggs Benedict until this meal. This isn't the way it's normally eaten, but it was pretty damn good. The crab and the Hollandaise...so good. And I was just checking out their website and they have rooms that you can stay overnight in. Um, yeah, I need to go ahead and book one next time I get up that way. I liked the Logan Square area and wouldn't mind exploring it some more.

After brunch with Jesi, we walked around Logan Square a bit. She brought me to a crafty consignment type shop called Wolfbait and B-girls. One of the ladies was cutting out some pants that she was about to sew together. Awesome. Made me wish I were just a bit smaller. I ended up finding a cute little wallet and had to have it. You gotta support local shops, no matter where you're at, so I did just that. We also checked out Reckless Records in honor of Record Store Day. It was a little early in the day so they didn't have any bands playing just yet.

waiting on the blue line

We hopped back on the train to head back into downtown to check out the Chicago Cultural Center. There was an exhibit I wanted to see and it just so happened that there was an exhibit that Jesi wanted to see as well. I think that worked out pretty well. After that it was just about nap time as we were both getting tired from a good meal and all the walking around, so Jesi and I parted ways. I ended up stopping by Old Navy on a whim to check if they had any shorts*. And they did! Score one for me. I also texted Ryan, a friend from college, to let him know I'd be free the rest of the day since we didn't get to have dinner or drinks the night before.

Write Now exhibit at the Chicago Cultural Center

As I was walking back to The Congress (which reminded me of the Shining and then later was told is haunted), a gentleman approached me about my hair, which wasn't looking it's greatest, and then started to flirt with me. He guessed I was single and even knew my ethnicity. I was open to talking to him, which I'm normally not. He had a good approach. The men here in Indianapolis could learn some things from the Chicago boys. Even my male friends from Chicago have a way of talking to women. I'd totally live in Chicago part time just to experience the men. Anywho, even though he was flirting, it was his way of trying to sell hair products or something. I recognized that off the bat, but I flirted back anyway. It made my afternoon.

Shrimp and Grits from Wishbone

I relaxed a bit while watching cartoons back at the hotel as I waited for Ryan. I probably could've taken a nap. But as soon as I got comfortable Ryan texted me. He took me to Wishbone. I had the shrimp and grits with some collard greens on the side. We also had some cornbread, not as good as the fried cornbread from Maxine's, but still good. Last time I was in Chicago Ryan took me a couple of good food joints and he did not disappoint this time either. I really wanted to check out the bacon cotton candy at Ruxbin (which we passed by). Maybe next time.

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. Lizard was supposed to come up, but cancelled at the last minute so I spent the days walking up and down Michigan and State shopping (they closed the Sanrio store *frowns*) and people watching and the evenings watching TV and passing out at what seemed early, but probably really wasn't. I didn't feel comfortable walking around downtown at night by myself and it was cold and I didn't have a proper jacket.

I did get a little sentimental when I passed by a few spots and started thinking about the last time I was in Chicago and had spent the whole day with Babe. It made me smile because we had a great time, but a little sad because I was in town by myself. That day I spent with him was so much fun.

All in all it was a good trip. I only went over my budget by 49 cents and I ate A LOT of good food. I usually enjoy my trips to Chicago, oddly enough, I don't really wanna live there. Too expensive. Next time, I flirt with more men. Hey,  ya never know.

*I dislike shorts shopping just about as much as I dislike shopping for jeans. I have thick legs and a booty. Shorts can end up looking obscene if they're not long enough.

5AT: spinach smoothies and care packages

care package from Cyprus from Twin #2

five awesome things

1. three days off - i like my time off. it means i can hang out at home and do nothing when i should really be doing something. 
2. care packages - sweet baby jebus, i love a good care package that's got all sorts of yummy goodies in it. the one i received this week came all the way from Cyprus and it had Nutella, Hello Kitty goodies and Kinder MOTHER FUCKING Eggs!!! i haven't had any kinder eggs in years. i love them so. be still my heart.
3. spinach in smoothies - yum! mixed with mango and pineapple and it gives it the loveliest green color and you can't even taste it. i love spinach on it's own, but this definitely helps to get it into my diet in another way.
4. pumping gas like a boss - i don't drive very often, which means i pump gas less often. so it makes me nervous to do, but the other day i pumped gas like a boss. the only problem i had was getting the gas cap back on. awwwww yeeeah!!!
5. eos lip balms - they look like little eggs and have a nice dome shape. so fun to put on and they smell good too. i want them all. i've gone through one entire one so far. also easy to find in a bag since they're kinda chunky and big.

an extra one just because: babe - i don't particularly care when someone calls me honey, baby, sweetie, etc. but when Babe calls me babe...i can dig it. it makes me feel special, though i'm sure it's a term he uses with other folks.

a massive dump...of the photo variety

I've finally finished 30 days of lists. It took me a little longer than 30 days though. I'm gonna be a blamer for a bout 30 seconds and say I'm behind in part to going out of town last weekend for work. Yeah, I did it. I really enjoyed this project. The album was a little out of the box for me. A lot of throwing different elements together to create a page. Not really my thing, but it worked and it's beautiful. Anywho...here we go lists 19 through 30:

 

list 19: Dear _______, You make me happy in the following ways (you, where you is no one in particular)

• you call me babe
• you support me
• you share what you're passionate about with me
• we get to spend time together
• you're happy

 

list 20: favorite memories

this is a tough one. a current favorite is running around Chicago in the rain with Greg. holding hands and stealing kisses.

hanging out until late into the night with friends on many occasions (shots with moonshine soaked cherries)

what else? hmmm let me get back to you

 

list 21: with an extra hour in the day i would

• sleep a little longer
• work extra
• enjoy more time with friends
• work out
• have more fun

 

list 22: my care package

• lots of thought
• a surprise
• something you love
• something I love
• will make your day

 

list 23: confessions

• i'd be cool with settling down and having children any day now
• i drink out of the container and eat ice cream out the carton
• i don't always brush my teeth before bed
• i've never REALLY been in love
• crush easy and care hard

 

list 24: i am famous for...

• bear and dragon hats
• handmade cards
• big boobed Asian girl
• sarcasm
• books @ bars ( my ability to read with loud music playing)

 

list 25: title options for my autobiography

• boobs, books and bits...
• [insert sarcastic remark here]
• incoherent ramblings of that girl...
• *slaps shit out of your hand*
• the song is about me!

 

list 26: my morning routine

• bob darth vader on the head to shut him up
• check twitter and turn on the TV while still lying in bed
• sit down at my computer and check facebook, tumblr and google reader and tell myself to get up and go make/eat brefess
• eat brefess while reading questionable content and girls with slingshots
• brush my teef, wash my face and get dressed for work

 

list 27: if i could do it over again

• college, an art degree w/ a minor in business
• ate better and worked more when younger
• been more responsible with money
• enjoyed college and had more fun
• let go of the small things 

{but only if not too much changes in the present}

 

list 28: my last meal would include

• bacon, bacon, bacon
• bazbeaux pizza
• greek or caesar salad
• koo koo for coconuts cupcake
• water with lemon

 

list 29: songs that make me wanna dance

• sexy and you know it by lmfao
• pyt by michael jackson
• one more time by ?
• do for you by heavy
• hey ya by outkast

  

list 30: to my future self

• say yes!
• you're not alone!
• take risks
• have fun!
• be kind!

meh

This post was supposed to be a 30 Days of Lists post with the last couple of days of lists but it's not. Maybe tomorrow.

I found out something today that I think I kinda already knew, but didn't on my way home and well...meh. I ended up dicking around on the interwebs the whole evening trying to make myself feel better. And I feel a little bit better, but I could possibly just be pushing my feelings to the side and maybe I'll deal with them later.

So yeah...that.

this years best

This post really isn't gonna be a review about how good or bad the past year has been. If you really want to know, the last year was pretty damn awesome. It is gonna be an update post though. I put on my Winter Wishlist that I wanted to post more, so here I go.

The past month has been crazy busy at issa.ino and at work. I've gotten some nice checks from working more hours than usual. I hadn't seen anyone I knew in a casual setting for quite some time. It was starting to get to me. I'm glad things are starting to slow down a bit. Work has been good to me. I got to travel for the company in November and then this week I was given special privileges to help out during a busy times. I feel like my manager must think highly enough of me to grant me those things.

I just got back from my annual after Christmas to Chicago trip. Lizard was unable to make it this year, so it was just me and Greg.  I was also unable to spend more than a day there due to work and other life responsibilities. Oh well, Greg and I made it work.

I think we had a great time even though it was short.

I beat him to Union Station so he told me to meet him in the Great Hall, like Love Jones. You might think our hello after not seeing each other for an entire year would've been epic, but it wasn't. We just hugged hello and headed out on our adventure to find pizza.

We walked around in circles, in the rain for about and hour looking for a California Pizza Kitchen that showed up on his phone, but not mine. When we finally got to the right address...it wasn't there. As if it never existed. Weird. We then settled for a local pizza joint called Pizano's. It was very filling with larger than large portions. Good stuff. I would'be boxed up my leftovers, but we just started the day and I didn't really want to drag around a box of pizza.

Next up we did the one touristy thing I wanted to do and took a picture of our reflections in the bean. As big and shiny as it is we didn't even see it at first and we were looking right at it.

Afterwards we began mission: mittens. All I wanted for Festivus were red mittens and a good cheek kiss. We walked up and down State and Michigan and no mittens were to be found. We did find an awesome couch to rest our weary bodies though. Greg also learned how not very aggressive I am when it comes to walking the streets of downtown Chicago. Since mission: mittens was a bust we decided to go and have a cup of tea and a snack.
Along the way and six hours into our day we finally found a not so public spot and kissed. I got real shy, real quick and couldn't help but laugh from being nervous. What if this ended up being awkward? We've been friends for 6 years. But it wasn't. It was fun and easy. We nuzzled and kissed and talked as people passed us by. At one point a family walked by and I saw the child on my left and then he disappeared...I'm about to lean in and kiss Greg and the child appears on my right. He's at my hip, touching my Spiderman bag. His parents called for him and all I could do is laugh. We nuzzled and kissed a little longer, but then I needed something to drink and a snack...it seemed best to start back towards Union Station.

Finding a place to have tea was impossible. Everything getting closer to the train station was closed. Even places in the train station were closed. It seemed to early for everything to be closed. We did find a Corner Bakery open and had a nice snack while we waited for it to be time for me to go.

We did the whole kiss good bye and waiting until almost the last minute for me to get on the bus. I really didn't want to go.

The lights on the bus were completely off and I thankfully had two seats to myself. I passed out quickly.
While I was glad to be out of my wet shoes and socks I was a little sad I wasn't still in Chicago. I'd have liked to stay overnight.

After I was FINALLY able to get moving today I went and picked up the goods that didn't sell at the Handmade Promenade Holiday Pop Up Shop. I ended up bringing home more than I expected, but I think it was a good experience and a good way to get exposure. I have a lot of plans for issa.ino this year.
And now here I am wrapping up a blog post that isn't really a year in review.

...i am yours...i am yours...

Sometimes my titles have nothing to do with the blog post. They're usually just random song lyrics. Probably a song I'm listening to at the time that I'm typing.

Today has been an awesome week. It has been an awesome week. I feel like I did a lot, but then didn't do anything at all.

I applied for a job at the Lego Store that's opening up in April on Saturday. I received a call from the company on Monday to schedule an interview on Tuesday. I was hired on the spot. I get to play with Legos. How awesome is that? I'm pretty excited. Some people have looked at my uh...yeah I guess that's cool and then others are like OMG that's awesome!!! I GET TO PLAY WITH LEGOS!!! And sell them too.

Wednesday Old Soul Entertainment held their annual J Dilla Tribute at the Jazz Kitchen...along with that Black Milk was in town for a performance as well. It was a good show. The energy was amazing. I carried around an orange the whole night. Ha! I know folks thought it was strange, but I had no pockets. I was fortunate enough to plant myself right at the front of the stage. There were a lot of handsome men at the show, which is normally the case at Hip Hop shows. I wasn't on the prowl though (I never really am), but the ladies in short dresses and stilettos were. I still don't get why ladies dress like that at Hip Hop shows.

Black Milk

I spent Thursday at the Indiana State Museum with my friend Tony Styxx. Then we grabbed a burger at Boogie Burger. I tried the Rise and Shine. Who knew a fried egg on a burger would taste so good? Messy, but good. I love a place where even though I don't frequent it every week, the staff knows me and I'm greeted by either my first name or occasionally my Twitter handle when I walk in the door. After gaining a few pounds from the burger deliciousness we went and smoked hookah at The Egyptian. So relaxing.

Since I think it's pretty clear that TheNemesis isn't interested in me the same way I'm interested in him, I'm letting that go. And I'm okay with that. I usually find myself attracted to gentlemen that are unavailable. I don't know how to change that, but I'm working on it. He's still pretty awesome and a great friend though.

I need to do something productive. I've been dragging my butt on creating new things. I have the ideas, I've just been lazy I guess. I'm not sure what it is. There seems to be a little bit of unhappiness hanging around. Dissatisfaction too. I need a schedule and studio space. I think that'd make working a lot easier. I should probably stop making excuses. Meh.

i just want to ride bikes with you

I did something different on Thursday and I went out for St. Patrick's Day with my old coworkers. It was actually pretty fun. I'm glad that the weather was nice and I was able to wear shorts. I drank. A LOT. I was told I looked like Dr. Oliva (no idea who that is) and I was also called Mary Ann. Yeah. I don't know. Drunk people. I walked all the way back to the bar we paid a small cover at to pee. I didn't want to pay another larger cover just to go inside and pee at the bar we were at. It made sense to me. And my pockets.

TheNemesis now knows that I like him and have a crush on him. He's adorably cute and I just want to cuddle with him and kiss him on the lips.

The rain and lack of motivation kept me in all day Friday. I think it was probably all the alcohol from the previous night too. I don't know. But I surely was coming up with excuses not have to leave my apartment. I also got my first letter from my new pen pal Cuppy. She's cute and I think I love her already.

I was pretty much a tired and lazy bum on Saturday too. I did get a few things done though (worked on a new art piece). Took a couple of naps and stayed up way too late. I finished making a delicious Beef Stew with Beer and Paprika...at like 1100 and I had to have a bowl, so I kinda had to stay up for a couple of hours so I wasn't sitting with all that food in my stomach. (I always spell stomach with an e at the end and ALWAYS have to delete it).

I missed the Super Moon. (Even that couldn't get me to put on clothes and go outside.) I've seen some photos though and it looked amazing.

I did finally leave the house today. I had to. I had two photo shoots scheduled. And because the bus couldn't get me close enough to where I needed to be I had a nice long walk to one location. I'm not complaining, it made up for not leaving the house for two days. I enjoyed both photo shoots. The first was for a project that I'm working on with a friend. I can't wait to schedule more shoots for this project. The second shoot was for a local band. They had me standing in the middle of the street snapping pictures of them. The things you do to get the shot. I hope to get to take more pictures of them in the future.

Today is the first day of Spring. A Spring wish list is coming soon. To a theatre near you. Eh, more like a blog near you. My blog even. Mmmmm hmmmmm. I'm being weird again.

I can't wait for the J Dilla Tribute/Black Milk show on Wednesday. Can't wait!!!

*title is from a shirt someone had on YouTube. I really do want to ride bikes with him.

i'm a big kid at heart

I was let go from my job on Wednesday. I didn't do anything wrong, it just slowed down and I wasn't needed anymore. Kinda sucks. I spent most of my days dicking around on the computer. Seems most folks don't really care to pay you to do that. *shrugs*

My first day of unemployment and I slept in until almost noon. I couldn't even do that on the weekends. The next day of course I was up early again. At least I got one day of sleeping in.

I need to make this time of unemployment productive. There's lots to do and I'm a major procrastinator.

Now that the weather is warming up, I'm going to start walking/running again. Mine as well since I wake up so early.

This weekend has been pretty great. And the coming week is promising.

Saturday, Neighbor and I went to the mall so she could buy some sneakers that she had her eye on. Some how I ended up coming home with two pairs of sneakers myself, a finger puppet, nail polish and eyeliner. I spent less than $10. You can't beat that.

I've been buying a lot of old school toys lately. A kazoo, a kaleidoscope and now this finger puppet. I love toys. I'm a big kid at heart.

Today I had brunch with OldRoomie and Neighbor. Delicious and fun. After lunch we ventured over to Home Depot so Neighbor could find an air conditioner. It's still too early in the season for them, but I walked out with a piece of MDF and some paint. Art project coming soon to a theatre near you. We were making caulk and wood jokes. I think we might've made the sales associate a little uncomfortable. It was pretty damn funny though.

I told OldRoomie about TheNemisis. She said she could see how I light up about him. I totally do. I think he's the bee's knees and wish we talked more. I wonder what he thinks of me. I'm not the type to ask. *shrugs*

Chicago, hold me in your arms

But first I should probably wish all 0 of my followers a Happy New Year! So...Happy New Year!

Chicago was awesome. So awesome that I'm tempted to move there. Kinda. Maybe not, maybe just visit...A LOT.

So early December I messaged my friend Lizard on facebook asking her when we were gonna meet up in Chicago again. (She lives in Davenport, IA. Chicago is a good halfway point for us.) And she promptly replied that we should meet up later in the month. I thought about it for about two seconds and checked out some hotel rates and said to myself, hey why not. We put our plans into action and I started saving and moving money around to get things settled. And then I remembered that my Lexulous nemesis, Greg, was going to be home in Chicago at the same time and thought hey we should FINALLY meet up.

Greg and I met on MySpace like 5 years ago and timing was never right to meet up. Either I was there and he was somewhere else in the country or I had no plans to be in Chicago when he was home or when we were both there one of us had transportation issues. Always something.

Anywho, I was pretty damn excited for Christmas day to come and be over with (I don't celebrate Christmas) so we could get to Chicago and have a grand ol' time. I watched the weather obsessively to see if it would be snowing or super cold or whatever might happen that would make our trip not happen. And thankfully mother nature was nice to us and the weather was pretty good. It was actually warmer in Chicago than it was here at home. Which I would say is pretty rare.

The bus ride to Chicago was packed, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised. It was the day after Christmas and a Sunday. By the way, I LOVE the megabus. If it's in your area, you should give it a shot for some of your traveling needs. When we arrived I had a plan, because I'm a planner. My plan was to hit up Popeye's (they closed all the ones here because of bankruptcy I think) and have lunch while I waited for Lizard to get into town. Yeah, that didn't happen. I had it mapped out and hopped off the bus, used the bathroom and got to walking. It started snowing and when I got to Popeye's...it was closed. [insert huge sad face here] I was so very disappointed and I needed a rest, but I decided to just keep walking. It was about a two mile walk, with a heavyish bag, in the snow and the wind. I could've grabbed a cab, but I'm stubborn like that. Lizard arrived at the hotel probably 30 minutes after I did.

Both of us were hungry so we hit up the Indian Garden that was around the corner from our hotel. Pretty much everywhere we ate and went was down the street or around the corner from our hotel. It was PERFECT! Lizard found a Panera Bread (she eats there every day) and told me she would sneak out of bed to have breakfast there the next morning so I wouldn't know.) Indian was delicious, even if it does sometimes resemble baby poop.

Lizard enjoying yummy baby poop.

After lunch we decided to hit up the shops. I made sure to let Lizard know that I HAD to go to the Lego store, it was on my list. IT WAS ON MY LIST! Ha!

We're going to the Lego store!

We hit The Mile to walk off some of that food and ducked into a few shops to get warm. Lizard was looking for a New Year's dress and I wasn't really looking for anything in particular. I just like to look. I did want to hit up Sephora though, but that was really about it. There wasn't anything that really caught Lizard's eye so we headed back to the room, but first made a stop at the Hershey store and then Ghiradelli for some hot cocoa. Hot cocoa with caramel and sea salt sprinkled on top. Divine!

those Reese's cups were a half lb EACH! want!

When we go back to the room Lizard wanted to hit up the hot tub. I didn't bring my suit, but also didn't want to be sitting in the room by myself so I put on my sleep shorts and headed down there with her. There were little minions everywhere. I got a towel and sat on the edge of the hot tub and soaked my feet. It was nice. I tried to read a book, but the minions were splashing everywhere. There was a lot of stop doing that from the parents, but that did nothing. What happened to discipline?

After that we headed back out into the night for dinner. We hit up Kamehachi for sushi. It was kinda late and the wait staff seemed a bit perturbed when we walked in. Oops, but hey we had to eat. At the end of the meal the server came over and asked if there was anything else he could get for us and Lizard asked for something and the server awkwardly laughed and said oh, I actually closed out, I was just trying to be nice. Ha!

Monday my mission was to hit up a bank to get Lizard the rest of the money I owed her for the hotel room. Greg texted me while I was in the shower to find out what our plans for the day were because he was close by. Lizard hit up Panera for breakfast while I waited for Greg (nothing special when we met, just a hey, finally) and then we all walked across the street for a bit to eat at The Corner Bakery. Greg was a sweetheart and bought breakfast. I almost always love a man who feeds me. :) We all sat and talked for a good almost two hours. And I think one of the servers was flirting with me. Maybe? During our good long chat Lizard told me that she looked up to me in HS. Which was nice, but weird at the same time. I don't feel like I was anyone special back then. I wasn't trying to save the world. I wasn't popular. I was just me, doing my own thing. I did my best to be a good person, but I've always been that way. It made me realize that you really never know who's watching you.

Lizard didn't get the memo about black frame glasses. Also aren't we the sexiest nerds ever?

After what turned into brunch we kidnapped Greg and went shopping. He was a trooper. AND he went to the Lego store with me (where R. Kelly was serenading all the children through the speakers, who does that?). He's after my heart for sure. *winks* We're gonna do a travel show using Legos or something like that. Don't steal our idea. I'll cut you. Yeah you.

Dinner time came and it was time to bid Greg adieu.[insert sad face here] We navigated the streets to Greek Town dropped Greg off and hit up Greek Islands for some tasty treats. This was the only place we ate at that wasn't near the hotel. We HAD to have Greek food, it reminded of us Germany (oh did I not tell you, that's where I know Lizard from). I tried grilled octopus and had to have my usual gyro that I ALWAYS have when I go to a Greek place. That gyro was so tasty, I was upset I left my leftovers. I really wanted to finish them. We had a great seat in the restaurant. It was like we were reigning over our kingdom. Also I almost had my eyebrows singed off when someone below us ordered the flaming cheese and I leaned over to see what was going on. Ha!

Octopus, YUM!!!

When we got back from dinner we sat for a few and then decided to head back out into the night for a walk and more shopping. More so to walk than anything. I brought my camera with me to take a few pictures. I need to get better and taking pictures when I go on vacation. It'd probably help if I had a smaller point and shoot as opposed to my DSLR. We stopped again at Ghiradelli for hot cocoa. It's so good how could you not. Once back at the hotel it was hot tub time again. And then rest. We'd been on the go for over 12 hours.

While the sheets and pillows were nice and cozy for some reason I couldn't get any good sleep. I spent both nights tossing and turning and sleeping in different spots in the bed. I don't think Lizard slept well either. I know Tuesday morning we both woke up at around 430 in the morning and just laid there and talked until we fell back asleep. 

Tuesday was check out and more shopping/walking around. I had a great time in Chicago and really didn't want to get on the bus to leave. I could've used a couple of extra days. Lizard and I decided that we'd make than an annual trip. It seems like the perfect time. Right after Christmas there are are some good sales and lodging is a decent rate. It was good to see Lizard and I'm glad Greg and I finally got to meet.