it's (almost) all december everything time!

i was going to post this on saturday, but then i realized that some of the celebratory-type things i'm doing are actually happening on saturday, and therefore i figured it'd be nice if y'all had a bit of a heads-up so you could plan schedules accordingly.

here's a partial list of events i have on deck for the next few weeks. i'm sure there will be updates/changes as december progresses, so stay tuned for details. if you'd like to join me for any of these shenanigans, please let me know so i can be on the lookout for you. wanna suggest something else? i'm open to that as well. most of these events are free (woo!) unless otherwise noted.

saturday 12/1 - if you're not already going to ellen's (insert holiday of your choice here) party, then you should join the karaoke-based fun at third coast comics that night. karaoke starts around 7, and i'll probably be there around 9-ish b/c i'm stopping by ellen's party first. yes, i actually sing at this karaoke party. i also drink as if i don't have to work the next day, but i do, so if you want to ply me with tequila that night, i'm cool with that. yes, i've already decided that tequila will be my drink of choice on saturday. blame rick bayless' new book - i read it yesterday and have had margaritas on the brain ever since.

monday 12/3 - i know nothing about cigars, and i know enough about scotch to know that i like drinking it, and that's why i'll be at this tweetup on monday evening. no, you don't have to actually have a twitter account to attend, but it helps. think of the new people you can meet! the cigars you can sample! and, of course, the scotch. mmm...scotch.

i should also note that radiothon 25 (!!!) starts on monday night. i have a message somewhere with more details and links for listening online and such, so let me know if you want/need that info.

thursday 12/6 - my friend veronica is working towards yet another degree, this time at the school of the art institute. she has an exhibit opening on thursday from 5:30-7p at the saic's sullivan galleries downtown.

saturday 12/15 - i'm having brunch with bff and a few other folks, but the rest of my afternoon and evening is free as of this writing. i heard a rumor about some sort of "night of 1000 santas" party/bar crawl happening that night, so i should probably buy a santa hat or something if that actually happens and i actually go.

sunday 12/16 - bears/packers. working on sundays has really cut into my football viewing this season, which is why i made sure to request this day off weeks ago. i don't know where i'm watching the game yet, though. i'm open to ideas that don't involve me ending up at a packers bar. :P

thursday 12/20 - i have a ticket for "the world of extreme happiness" at the goodman. tickets are still available as of this writing if you want in on some free theatre action.

you'll notice that my actual b-day (12/17, for those of you who might be new to this) isn't on the list. my current plan is to take myself out to dinner at primehouse (mmm...steak...) that night, and that's as far as i've gotten. i might (ok, probably will) need to recover from that weekend's shenanigans, so taking it easy is probably the wisest thing i can do. which, of course, means i will somehow plan on doing 29 other things that day.

recipe review: chicken and orzo skillet

i got a later-than-planned start on dinner tonight, but since i'd gone to the store yesterday and sketched out what i wanted to cook this week, i wasn't that worried. the menu for tonight called for a chicken and orzo skillet. i was dreading waiting for the water to boil for the orzo, until i realized that the house i'm living in right now has an electric kettle and therefore i had boiling water in about 5 minutes. woo!

of course i made a few changes/substitutions to my version: 1 large-ish tomato instead of 2 medium ones; 1 pound of boneless skinless chicken breasts (i had four and they were about 4oz each) instead of chicken breast halves; regular tomato paste instead of no-salt-added b/c i didn't specify the latter on my grocery list and just bought regular; a 6oz bag of baby spinach instead of 3 cups b/c there's no such thing as too much spinach, given its wilt factor; and a 4oz container of crumbled feta instead of the 3oz called for in the recipe b/c, well, feta is delicious.

verdict? as weird as this sounds coming from me, given my relative intolerance for spicy foods, the crushed red pepper saved this dish. as i was mixing in the spinach and feta at the end, i realized that the chicken wasn't seasoned and therefore i was worried about the flavor. i shouldn't have been. the red pepper added just enough kick to make this palatable. i'd probably make it again, but i'd use a larger skillet - i think i had a 10-inch skillet tonight and mixing in the orzo and spinach w/o having half of it spill out was challenging at best. and maybe i'll add some garlic, b/c, well, garlic also is delicious. just sayin'.

this week in celebratory happiness, post thanksgiving edition

gobble gobble! hope y'all had a relaxing thanksgiving weekend. me? i was catsitting and took myself out for thanksgiving dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, and then watched football and way more "trapped in the closet" than any sane person should admit to. seriously. i've been laughing damn near nonstop at r. kelly in triplicate singing "oh shit" since thursday. friday night, i saw one of my favorite musicians in concert, and i got to hang out with one of my favorite sisterfriends/concert-going buddies.

oh, and northwestern won, and michigan lost (and y'all know it felt weird as all fucks to be rooting for ohio state on saturday b/c oh how i hate ohio state) and the bears won, and green bay lost, and there was much rejoicing in the land.

here's hoping the coming week doesn't suck. :-)

this week in celebratory happiness

remember last week when i said i wanted to try to do at least one thing per week to celebrate my birthday? this week, i got my hair cut for the 1st time in who knows how long, and damn near cried when my stylist refused to take any money from me. i finally upgraded my phone last weekend and am still getting accustomed to this touch screen keyboard hotness. funny thing to say in 2012, i know, but it's true. and tonight i'll be kicking off the holidays with some former co-workers, which is almost always guaranteed to be a good time. so, yay!

hope y'all had a good week. :-)

edited at an insane hour on (technically) sunday morning to add: i almost forgot to mention my twitter-based win from this week: free shoes from dsw! and i definitely forgot to include the free grub i won from grubhub in last week's post. my bad.

mmm...smile juice...

oh, internet. this smile juice post from animals talking in all caps knows my life and wins all the things. that is all.

it's the beginning of the most wonderful time of the year!

yes, i am talking about my birthday celebration/season. y'all should've seen that coming from 4359 miles away. i knew it was going to start sometime in november, but i was honestly waiting to see how election night panned out first. now that that's over (woo!!!!!!!!!), the festivities can begin. and like four years ago, i plan on celebrating from now until inauguration day. my slightly ambitious plan is to do at least one thing per week for myself, like a mini-birthday present. this week i ordered my 2013 le petit prince calendar. i'm also planning to upgrade my phone, which, as you know if you've seen my phone, is waaaaaaaaaaaaaay overdue.

i have no idea what year 36 is going to look like. (also, 36? jfc i am getting old.) i can't bring myself to make a wish list yet, seeing as how my 2012 wish list still has most of its original entries on it. i also can't bring myself to write out a full reflection on how year 35 played out, b/c holy shit i did not anticipate things panning out the way they did. am i still slightly dazed and confused as to how it all came about? damn straight. am i thankful? absolutely.

speaking of being thankful...if you're in town for thanksgiving and don't wanna cook, let me know. i'm taking myself out for thanksgiving dinner (yup, as part of my b-day celebration) and you're welcome to join me.

for now, though, i'm going to continue decompressing from this work week. hooray for dvr'd shows and chocolate. :-)

and speaking of november

if you haven't voted already, i hope you have plans to do so, either today or on tuesday. i will be hosting election night shenanigans this year - if you'd rather not sit at home by yourself watching the returns come in, you should stop by. i don't know if i'll be drinking in celebration or out of sheer misery, but either way i'll be unsober. if you didn't get an invite via email, let me know & i'll forward you the details. kthxbai.

holy crap it's november

on my way home tonight, i was prepared to do a post about how utterly insane things have been at work yesterday and today. i mean, really insane. a co-worker & i had to threaten to call security on some assclown this afternoon and then i had to remove myself from the situation before i chased after said assclown. and yesterday, a soon to be former co-worker got physical with a supervisor (hence the "soon to be former" part) to the point where the supervisor had to seek medical attention. yes, i work at a library. no, you wouldn't normally expect this kind of behavior at a library. i told you it was crazy.

that's the cliff notes version, though. my original plan was to go into slightly more detail about those incidents and how some folks at work, self included, were reacting to/coping with things.

after dinner, i was going through some files and came across something i'd written a while back:

"...i'm not as concerned about the destination as i am about the journey. if only i could be as zen about the rest of my life."

 i don't know why that struck a chord with me tonight, but it did, and i decided to share it here and not get bogged back down into the details of work-related insanity. happy friday.