The Morning After

Notes that I took on Monday, June 16


Today I...

• Ate waffles at Nice Matin (just as good as I remembered!)
• Completely by accident, found the New York Public Library (had planned to just get subway to 42nd Street and walk to 5th, but stop actually let me off right there. Yess! Sometimes, am brilliant!)
• Walked from library down 5th to 57th - just cuz. Stopped by Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall (ahhh!), Carnegie Hall
• Ate at a deli down the street from City Center (not Carnegie Deli - too crowded and was hungry) and had massive piece of cheesecake. I had trouble deciding which to order and waitress said, helpfully "Do you want to look at them?"
• Took N train back to 42nd and wandered around. Shopping.
• Found myself in front of the St. James theater (again, completely by accident) and picked up my ticket for tuesday performance
• Saw "The Happening" - for god's sake, don't see that movie. Was terrible. Should have waited 35 minutes to see the Zohan.
• Went on nighttime bus tour. Still daylight. Got rained on while we came back from Brooklyn. Had to wear unattractive plastic bag style poncho with hood. Tour cut short.
• Bought umbrella, went back to hotel.
• Changed clothes, went to dinner at Ristorante LaGrolla on Amsterdam Avenue.
• Ate (delicious) risotto with salmon, safforn, peas and scallions.
• Lost umbrella (damn)

Notes that I took on Tuesday, June 17th

Today I...

• Ate another waffle (helloooo, lovah...)
• Took the wrong train while attempting to go downtown and ended up in Brooklyn (grrr. Not brilliant.)
• Shopping for birthday present at South Street Seaport, rapidly got tired of touristy kitsch and went (somewhat inexplicably, yes?) back to 42nd Street. More shopping. This is what I do when left to my own devices??
• From there went to Lincoln Center to buy "This Charming Man" by Marian Keyes (had to get something to read on the flight home!)
• Went to the Historical Society. Replica of guillotine worth $6 (student) admission
• Went also to American Museum of Natural History.
• Realized am totally uninterested in Natural History-style exhibits. An hour and a half (and $11 student admission) that I am not getting back.
• Because I am SO.INCREDIBLY.PARANOID about missing curtain, I arrive in midtown ridiculously early. Eat at Junior's (but no cheesecake) and wander around for the hour and a half or so before it is time to head back to the theater.

Time for the show. Ohmygod. I could again go on & on & on & on & on, but then this would be a really long post & you all probably would not like me very much. I think I have said that I could listen to Gypsy every minute of every day of the rest of my life and be happy. I am not kidding here. If I lived in NYC, I would go and see the show a whole lot. I would be happy. Broke, but happy. This marked the 10th time I have seen Patti do Gypsy, and every time, I marvel. I know what's going to happen, I even know some of the inflections they will use, the movements they will make, and yet, I am entranced, enthralled, enchanted, every single time. It was even more special this time around because so many people were there to support the cast after the big Tony wins. It - oh, I can't even describe the thrill I felt. The anticipation beforehand, anxiously bouncing around in my seat when the lights went down, cheering wildly for Patti's first entrance, and then for Boyd's, and then for Laura's.... until the audience was nearly told off for being so vocal... then we all settled down... I have tried to explain the experiences I've had in the theater to people who don't know, who don't go to live theater and have no clue what I am talking about. It was like a spiritual experience. Is that too much to say? It's how I feel.

Afterwards, booked to stage door, and got a fairly decent spot. Got shoved to the front when Patti turned up, which was good, but I always get so overwhelmed, I couldn't rub two brain cells together to form an intelligent sentence. It always seems to me that saying something like "you were great" or similar doesn't really capture everything I'd mean to say to her, doesn't convey the impact, the specialness of the occasion, so I can't even say anything, which is annoying, but ah, maybe next time!). The lady next to me said something to her about knowing a teacher of Patti's - "Which teacher?" Patti asked, while scribbling her name on extended programs and stagebills. The lady said something rather incoherent and Patti clearly had no idea what she was talking about because all she said was, "Huhhh..." and moved on. You either got it, or you ain't.

As for me, it was in a cab and back to the hotel for frantic last minute packing.... The next morning I left for LaGuardia by 8:00. United had canceled my return flight since I had not flown with them on Sunday, and so I spent a little bit of time getting that straightened out. No other problems and back home...

Let me just say this, kids, it's gonna take me a long time to get over this one...

I love New York in June...

I know it's been almost a whole week since my (all too brief) vacation, but you know how it is... I got home after another problem with United Airlines (never again!) and crashed immediately. Thursday and Friday at work were nuts. Thankfully, we are NOT moving next week so I don't have to worry about packing up my office while also trying to coordinate our annual meeting.

Pictures to come, but here is a little recap of my most excellent vacation...

Sunday, June 15
Have all the demons in hell come to torment me??? In the midst of a torrential rainstorm, United decides to cancel a flight to LaGuardia. Yes, mine. Interestingly, my bag proceeds on to its original destination. In a panic, I call the "customer service" line - they cannot get me out of O'Hare until later that afternoon, by way of Detroit and DC, landing me in New York at 11:00 pm. He claims he cannot check any other airline. Ha. I call the United reservations line. This time, they tell me that they can't get me out Sunday at all, but Monday morning. He claims to have tried other airlines but comes up with nothing. I am freaking out. Do I just go home? But what is the point of flying out Monday morning just to leave Wednesday? What about my Tuesday night fourth row Gypsy ticket???

Desperate, I call American Airlines. While I am talking to a representative, we get cut off - in the middle of booking me a flight that will get to LaGuardia by way of Boston (or is it Cleveland?) leaving within hours and landing me there at 4:00 pm. I call back, and lo and behold, this new representative finds me a DIRECT FLIGHT to LaGuardia leaving that morning and getting me in at 2:00 pm. Clearly, God loves me and wants me to get to Sarah's Tony party. I catch the flight - and we sit on the ground for close to 2 hours, while they hold the plane for people making connecting flights. We waited there for about 7 people. I had brought a book that completely sucked, which didn't help the endless wait.

Finally, FINALLY, I arrive at LaGuardia. My bag was chillin' at the United baggage claim.

AT LAST, time for Sarah's lovely party. She rolled out her red carpet and greeted us all in style. Oh my gosh, it was so much fun. I loved being with people who could talk about theater, who made jokes and funny comments, and who understood the need to rewind the DVR so that we could watch Patti's winning speech a few more times (and in slow motion!)... Speaking of.... Oh! I was SO excited for her to win! And August: Osage County! Steppenwolf love! :) I could go on and on (and on and on) about Patti, but I won't. Overall, it was a great night, wonderful company and who could ask for more than that??

Sloshed back to the hotel having had many cosmos and champagne (to toast the diva!). SO glad I got there!

"Shut UP! It's been 29 years!"

I know I'm a little late with this post, but, well, whatever... Congrats, Patti!

summer in the city!

Sticky weather? Check! Three fans blowing on me while I sleep? Check! Some kind of street festival every other week? Check, check, money order! Oooh, it looks like it's Summer in Chicago! Yesterday the head honcho asked me, in his gorgeous, gorgeous British accent, if I "would get to take some time off, ever" - and I am happy to report the answer to that is YES. Woohoo! As I've been looking at my plans for the summer, I am busier than I thought I would be. Take a look:

Sunday June 15 - thru June 18 Off to NYC for a brief vacation (brought about by the need to burn off several PTO days that I am unable to carry over. Twist my arm!)
On the agenda - a Tony party with a gracious hostess and people who are as excited about it (if not more so) as I am!
Also am planning to see some shows (okay, "show" at the moment. Care to guess? I am working on finding something else to see in the brief time I am there. Heaven forbid I just see one show while I'm out there ),see some sights and eat some waffles. Looking forward to all of this very much.

June 21 - Jane's birthday surprise! This may or may not include skipping town, a monster truck rally and a hayride ho-down (I can't really say it's a surprise and she may be reading...) but it will be lots and lots of fun. Woo!

June 23 - Betty Buckley at Ravinia! I'd almost given up on this, since I was very unwilling to shell out beaucoup bucks for the trio concert series. Apparently other people felt the same way, because when I saw single tickets had gone on sale, there were lots of good seats still available.

Late June - the last of our big meetings, and our BIG move to our snazzy new digs. So I realize that I will no longer physically be located on the 13th floor, the blog name will remain "Life on 13" since "Life on 3M" does not have the same ring and makes it sounds like I have an unfortunate adhesive addiction. Maybe if I still worked at Archiver's (HA!) Life on 13 is a state of mind, baby.

Then in July, it's back to Ravinia for Dame Kiri te Kanawa's farewell gala concert. Who knows what else I will get up to???

That's MISS BIG, to you!

Something funny that came out of this weekend (aw, heck, there were lots of funny things, but only so many that I can list on here) was when my friends and I cast ourselves in Sex and the City. Nobody admitted to being a Samantha, but we do have a Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Steve. My friends decided that I should be "Big" - since out of all of us I make the most money and have the most glam career, if I had my own place it would be large and awesome, and that they could see me swooping into somebody's life and being mysterious. Nice.

So, yeah. BIG. That's me.

Inside the "Mecca of Beauty"

What better way to spend a sticky, rainy Saturday than bag shopping with my girls? For her birthday gift, we took Beth to what she referred to as "the Mecca of Beauty" AKA Zola Jones. This little storefront was crammed with one-of-a-kind bags designed by Jason Loper. Oh my god, they're so cute. I dithered in there for a good hour (at least) trying to decide between two styles. I polled all my friends to see which one they liked best otherwise known as "purchase by committee" since I can't make important bag or shoe purchases without at least a few people around to consult with. I bought two (!) and I LURVE them. If you find yourself on Montrose, go and check out some bags.

the things I do for my divas...

I watched an hour of The View just to see you, Patti LuPone. I swear to god, I felt brain cells actually melting away during the first, what? 40 minutes of the show? Oh, but it was all worth it.

I should have just waited for the You Tube clip. Since I'm so concerned about your brain cells, just sit back and watch...

Moral Dilemma

Firstly - the spelling of 'dilemma'
Secondly - This whole election fandango. I cannot - CANNOT vote for a Republican, but I don't really care much for Mr. Obama. I don't like the thought of not voting at all though, so what's a girl to do?

Any Obama fans out there? Can you explain to me why you like him? What am I missing? I am serious about this, I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt now that he's the candidate, but I just don't see that he's done anything for me, personally, as a citizen of Illinois.

DENIED

So golly gosh darn it - I had recently discovered an open airwave from which I could poach me some WIFI from my bedroom. But I guess all of my midnight web-mding (oh, I wish I was joking. I've become completely OCD) alerted them to my presence on their network because when I tried to get on today, I was booted off. Gravy train is OVER. Damn.

Sunday, in the park

This lovely little park was dedicated to my cousin David, by the good people of Naperville. It was a really nice example of a group of neighbors pulling together to create something beautiful on a piece of what had been condemned land. They got everything donated - flowers, pavers, benches, and labor from Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, and the folks at the Morton Arboretum. Everyone welcomed me and my family for a good old neighborhood picnic with snacks, cake, popsicles and sno cones. It was unusual for me, since we barely know our neighbors' names over here, let alone circulate a neighborhood newsletter. But it was a beautiful day and everyone could not have been nicer.

A very fitting tribute to someone who loved his home, his family and his country and who was taken away from us all too soon.

ahhh, the weekend!

This has been a whirlwind weekend for me.... I will need some time to recover. Think the boss will buy that (no, I didn't either).

Friday night: Sex and the City with the girls, Heidi, Kim and Amy. Some smart soul (Heidi) bought the tickets the day before. Good thing, too, since all the evening shows were SOLD OUT. We got there at 7:00 after having a bit of dinner and there was already a huge line of (mostly) women, waiting to get in. I have to admit something here - I did not see much of the series when it was on tv (no HBO, see?) but I had seen some episodes, I knew who was who, and what was going on, generally. Despite that, I was really excited about the movie. Maybe I didn't have as much invested in it as some longer term fans of the show, but I don't think that really matters much. And it did not disappoint me. I loved every minute of it, and so did the audience in the theater - from the moment the title credits started rolling, we were all hooked. At the end of the movie, there was a round of applause and even some tears. Was it predictable? Yes. Fabulous clothes and unbelieveable shoes? Mais oui! Girl power? By the bucketload. I totally recommend it - grab some girlfriends and go. It is not so much a date movie though, but it is a total chick flick.

Saturday: Beth's birthday surprise (well sort of). We'd planned to take her to see Avenue Q for her birthday. And it was supposed to be a surprise, but she knew about it anyway. C'est la vie, and it's not like it was any less enjoyable. Off to brunch first, where I continued my quest to find a waffle equalling the ones at Nice Matin. (guess where I will be having breakfast when I am in NYC in a few weeks??). The waffles at Walker Brothers came close, but not quite there. We braved the Edens construction (oy) and got to the theater in good time. Stumbled into a very weird parking garage that was valet even though it was not marked as such. And it closed at 6:00. What kind of parking garage, in the theater district no less, closes its doors at 6:00 on a Saturday?? I ask you,

Avenue Q was the first show I ever saw on Broadway, and it rang especially true for me back when I saw it (it was in 2003 or 2004 I think) - being out of college, trying to make it as an "adult", all that stuff. It was just as good this time around - fun songs, laughs and of course, raunchy puppet sex. The show came to a halt after the "George Bush!" line in the song "For Now" - as I had suspected it would. This is Democrat country, son. Where, as Heidi pointed out, the polls close at 7:00 and the Democrats are awarded victory at 7:05.

Post show we had to haul it out of the parking garage, and we journeyed to Lincoln Park for cupcakes. We went to Swirlz on Belden, for I had heard tell of a banana nutella cupcake and I needed to sample it. Overall, the cupcakes were good, but not totally fantastic. After that, it was off for some good old Chicago style pizza at Lou Malnati's and some girl talk. We have all known each other for so long (in fact, we kind of dazzled these shopkeepers in a store we visited. "You all know each other?" they asked. "Since Kindergarten?!?!" Yes. It is true.) that we just can talk about anything and everything. We are all so old now that we frequently talk about our various ailments (sad, no?) jobs, guys, etc etc. But it was lots of fun. Thanks for listening to me whinge on about MY current ailment and my Web MD obsession (I need an intervention here! It is a terrible habit!) and happy birthday, Beth!

Today - in a matter of hours, I will be off to Naperville with my family. The city is dedicating a park to the memory of my cousin, David Caruso, a Marine killed in combat in Iraq a number of years ago.

And then tomorrow, it will be back to work again.

faith restored (at least for now)

A few things to restore my faith in humanity...

Yesterday I had to go and get some bloodwork done. I had to go to the hospital for it, an outpatient thing. Not a big deal at all, but naturally my hypochondriac sensitivities went into overdrive and I was reaching for a paper bag to hyperventilate in when my name was called. The (cute) tech who was drawing my blood noticed my anxiety as he secured me in the chair (it had a little swinging arm thing that snapped into place, kind of like an amusement park ride. Except a really crappy not fun one.). He noticed huge gobs of white fur on my pants (yes sirree, I am one Klassy Ladee!) and asked if I had pets. We chatted away about cats and he loved the names of my two (Start and Finish). I really appreciated his efforts to take my mind off the huge needle that he was plunging into my arm, so Robert in the Lab of Lutheran General, I thank you very very much. That little bit of kindness made my morning.

This morning, as I waited for the train in the rain, I got good and wet. Soggily, I clamoured on board and looked for a seat. There was not one to be found. Then, a businessman moved some papers off the seat facing him and told me I could sit there, if I wanted to. That little bit of kindness made a wet morning a little happier. So thanks, Metra Man!


** If you are interested, I got a clean bill of health from my test results.

Happy Friday!

I can't stop watching this... For extra points, double click impatiently so that many You Tube windows open at the same time, and she's singing along with herself in stereo.




Thanks Bob! I saw this on your blog and shamelessly bloglifted it for my own...

everybody just say "ah"

Hello, my name is Kristen and I am a hypochondriac ("Hello, Kristen" you chorus). I am also a drama queen. So. When I get sick and I don't improve rapidly to A-game status within oh, about 24 hours, I.FREAK.THE.HELL.OUT. I jump straight onto the computer and attempt symptom analysis on Web MD or MayoClinic.com. Naturally, my mind goes instantly to the bad place. I will scan conditions and try to match their symptoms to mine. (Oh my god! Do I have that? I think I have that! I'm dying! Arrgh!)
I can't be the only person that does this. I think too much about everything and that only makes it worse. I never used to question doctors or the efficacy of antibiotics before. Now I'm all like, "So that's what I've got, huh? How do you KNOW?"

I know this is not healthy for me but I can't help it. I am sick right now and completely freaked out about it because I am kind of uncomfortable and not appearing to improve at the pace I would like. I've also discovered an Immediate Care Center near my office so it is not necessary to schlep out to Niles whenever I get a symptom.

Anyway. I am trying to wean myself away from WebMD, since it's not at all helpful in determining what it is I ACTUALLY have and only makes me feel worse. Let's hope when I see my doctor tomorrow, she will give me more drugs...

elephant = squirrel + toaster

So.... yeeesss. Last night me & the girls braved the elements (not only torrential rains, but also the nutbags and Cubs fans that ride the CTA) to see Eddie Izzard (I would direct you to his website here, but it's apparently disappeared into cyberspace, as I have not been able to access it at all today. Too many jokes at the PC's expense? It is funny, since he even did a bit about updating your computer...and the wonders of Wikipedia.)

I don't know how to explain one of Eddie's shows for people who haven't seen him (and if you haven't seen him - WTF? Go and Netflix his "Dress to Kill" please. I'll wait. You can thank me later.) except he can make things like the title of this post make total sense. Really. It is true. He was on stage for about 2 hours, and it flew by. At the end of the show, I was thinking "Waaah! It can't be over ALREADY!" I could sit there and listen to him for many more hours. I think I laughed the whole time. The act is very stream-of-consciousness but it never seems rambly. It's just completely hillarious. I haven't done him justice in this post, but just trust me, it was a great show. It looked like the theater was pretty well sold (and how he has moved up! The first time we saw him was at the Royal George Theater, very small and intimate. Then he was at the Shubert/LaSalle Bank Theater and now the Chicago Theater!) and the crowd was with him the entire time. He raised the roof just by showing up on stage.

Also, I must give a shout out to the restaurant we went to - La Rosetta on Madison, across from Chase Tower. If you go, order the house rigatoni. The sauce is like crack. I kid you not. Oh, so good...

think inside the box this weekend...

Eddie Izzard at the Chicago Theatre

If you feel like getting some culture, go and check this
out. It's all contemporary choreographers and it's a lot of fun. It features a Blue Man Group-ish, work called Inner Space (guaranteed to have you sitting there scratching your head going "how are they doing that??"). This work features three dancers in a teeny, tiny, plexiglass box (see a picture here

It's Official...

I have seen more Tony-nominated shows this season than I saw Oscar-nominated films. It's only three (Gypsy, Sunday in the Park with George and August:Osage County) but still. I would give you predictions, but I don't feel incredibly qualified and it would all be guessing and general shout outs to people I like.

So we'll just have a giant shout out to people I like instead:

Yay for Gypsy!

Also yay for Chicago Shakespeare Theater who won the Regional Theatre Tony Award. Back in the day, I did several school projects involving them, including a marketing audit and box office review.

I'll have the chicken, please

On Saturday, we're seeing Eddie Izzard!
Watch. Laugh.

Hill no, she won't go!!

So last week the Sun Times printed a headline urging Senator Clinton to drop out of the Presidential race (so much for the impartial writing of the news, huh?). I believe the words emblazoned in the headline were "Give it Up" - I was so tempted to respond to this, but I was not able to put my thoughts down in an eloquent manner, that is, without the liberal use of the word "fuckheads."

Fortunately, a fellow reader put it into words for me:

The best candidate
I'd like to know why you're calling for Sen. Clinton to exit the presidential race. As of today, counting the entire popular vote (that is, the actual people who voted, not some delegate process that few understand and even less approve of), Sen. Obama leads by less than one-half of 1 percent. That's far from a mandate. Sen. Clinton is staying in the race for those of us who believe she's the best candidate -- and there are a lot of us.

Lisa Young, Lincoln Park


I promise I won't veer into political topics very often, but this headline just really pissed me off...

all that and a butterfly vendetta

Vair vair busy weekend. Started off with lovely dinner at Mykonos on Friday with Heidi and Jane. Our quest for cupcakes went unfulfilled, but we found some gelato and planned our farewell to youth trip to Australia (summer of 09, baby! Anyone turning 30 like us or hitting a milestone?? You are welcome to join us...) also planned revenge on a certain incompetent Big A manager (I am Italian, remember. "Io voglio vendetta!" Or, as Heidi put it "Farfalle vendetta!" which means either she has a thing against pasta or a thing against butterflies. As Jen Lancaster said, we are a very vengeful and stabby people. I think she was talking about Sicilians specifically but I think it applies to us all.)

Saturday - hair cut!!! It is back to being dark. And rather than going with the usual, I let Cathy's scissors run wild... She said "You know what I'd love to do on you?" and then she told me and I said "Okay." A hairdresser's dream, really because how many times do customers really give the stylists carte blanche to do whatever? But I felt like a change, so here we are. It's one of those shorter in the back longer in the front things and I am very happy with it. We will see tomorrow if anybody notices. Or if I can get it to look even remotely like it looked when I left the salon.

Also went to drop off the dress for its alterations (finally!) and met up with Heidi and Jane again for yes, cupcakes, and a movie (Baby Mama).

Today I've been alone with my horrible allergies, cleaning my closet and discovering the secret of the universe. Well, fine not really. But I think "discovering the secret of my missing playbills" doesn't sound nearly as exciting. Found one of the Rent ones (no idea where the others are. None.) and also Heidi claims that she went to Cats with me in 2002 with our friend Emily and her (then) boyfrield Mark. Emily? Do you remember this? Did you see Cats? Was I there? This truly does not ring any bells for me. I remember seeing Eddie Izzard together but not Cats.