favorite songs from 2012

these are all songs that were added to my library in 2012. as opposed to previous lists, most of these songs were actually released this year, so i don't feel too guilty about including a couple of oldies, so to speak. there's no particular order going on here, btw.

if you're on spotify, you can listen to the list here. if you're not, or if you just want an actual cd b/c that's how you roll, let me know and i'll try to get you one sooner vs. later.

not quite a year in review, but close enough

happy almost 2013! i'm putting the finishing touches on my "favorite songs of 2012" playlist, but in the meantime, i decided to revisit some things i'd wanted to accomplish this year. you might remember earlier this year that i had a whole list of things that would be (back) in my life in 2012. i'm pleased to report that some of those things have happened. specifically:

--a smartphone with a data plan - aka my early birthday present to myself

--a trip to the dentist - ok, so technically this was a quasi-emergency visit b/c one of my teeth was giving me fits, but i'm counting it

--a job that doesn't suck - granted, it's part-time and there's no benefits, but yay books!

--arts/cultural/entertainment outings and live music (as in going to concerts more often) - these didn't happen as often as i would've liked, but something's better than nothing, i suppose

--dining out - the 2 best burgers i had this year were both at burger bar. the lobster fries at edzo's made me dance in my chair a little bit and it's possible that i shed a single tear of joy.

--disposable income - again, not as much as i'd like, but i am beyond grateful for having any at all.

--at least one trip to the casino, preferably on christmas eve for jesusjack - i can't believe i had the foresight to put this on my list, but it happened and i only lost $50, so i'm happy.

what will 2013 bring? hopefully a full-time job that doesn't suck and an apartment of my own in chicago. if i get that far, i'm pretty sure i can get some of the other things i want to fall into place, or at least be in a better position to make some things happen. maybe then i won't be as emotionally exhausted as i was when i wrote this back in october. i still stand by that post, though. it might've been some of the best writing i've done on the blog this year.

anyway...there's football on and there's a drink at my feet and i should pay attention to both of those before i call it a night. if i finish my 2012 faves playlist before i start celebrating nye, i'll post it - otherwise, i'll see y'all in 2013. :-)

still celebrating

i'll spare y'all the details of exactly how much alcohol i consumed last weekend. i will say, though, that this year's jubilee, so far, has been one of the best i've had in the past, oh, five years or so. a huge thank-you to any and all who helped me celebrate, even if it was just via happy birthday texts/calls/tweets. fanfuckingtastic, i tell you.

i'll be in the city tomorrow-wednesday for a catsitting gig, so if you're around and you wanna hang out, let me know. my current plans include going to brew & view tomorrow to see "flight." sunday after work, i'll be at burger bar trying their december burger special, which may or may not include wild boar and pork belly. you don't have to order it if you don't want to, obviously, but i am b/c i'm crazy like that.

safe travels to all who are hitting the road this weekend. :-)

see y'all in a few days...

i want to write about the shooting in connecticut and how i'm feeling about it as a non-parent and about how i can only imagine what parents must be feeling like right now. i also want to write about the changes in my life between my b-day last year and now. amidst all of that, there's a "hey, it's (almost) my birthday" post yearning to be free. suffice it to say that i can't really make sense of any of those post ideas, or any of the other 5011 ideas bouncing around in my head right now, and therefore i will spare y'all the brain dump for now. 

do me a favor, though. hug your loved ones extra tight after you read this. if you have children, give them a hug from me (which you should be doing anyway, but especially now). kthx.

updated all december everything list o'fun

36 in 7 days. to say that i'm excited would be a slight understatement. my b-day staycation has been booked, b-day brunch reservation has been made...things are shaping up kinda nicely. woo!

here's a updated list of what's on deck:

saturday 12/15 - brunch w/bff and a few other folks is still happening. my evening is still free as of this  writing, though i will likely be out somewhere drinking b/c, well, it's my b-day weekend and i'll drink if i want to.

sunday 12/16 - i'll be watching the bears game at the beer bistro on madison in the west loop. feel free to join me for 25-cent wings and delicious beer and football, if you're into those kinds of things.

thursday 12/20 - still planning on seeing "the world of extreme happiness" at the goodman. pretty sure tickets are still available. if you're going, let me know so we can attempt to link up before or after the show.

sunday 12/23 - dinner at burger bar on clybourn. their special burger for december involves wild boar and pork belly and therefore i am going to try it out b/c it's my b-day month so why not?

monday 12/24 - jesusjack! nothing says merry christmas like gambling on christmas eve, right? (don't answer that.)

oh, and for those of you keeping track, i found another 10 cents at work yesterday, which brings this month's found money total to $30.35 and counting. :-)

answer: $30.25 (and counting?)

question: how much money have i found since the beginning of december? like i needed another reason to love this time of year, right? :-)

this week i got to hang out with bff (woo!) and finally introduce her to the delicious wonder that is fried lobster (even more woo!). i found $20 of that $30.25 last night while i was waiting for the bus after work. i got to hang out with some of my favorite sister girlfriends while attending a friend's exhibit opening, and today i hung out with a couple of former co-workers and saw all kinds of cool arts and crafts at the one of a kind show.

next weekend? brunch and mimosas and football and more drinking and steak and more drinking and probably more fat girl happiness and yeah, more drinking. i still haven't decided on where i'm watching the bears game, but if i manage to do so before sunday, i'll let y'all know here.

i'm also thinking ahead and pondering the feasibility of hosting an inauguration day brunch. stay tuned.

tomorrow, though, i get to hope for a bears victory while praying that i continue resisting the urge to punch anyone in the face while at work (yayboo).

recipe review: red rice with sausage and peppers

happy tuesday! well, it wasn't so happy for me this afternoon/evening, b/c i was felled by a migraine just as i was leaving work and didn't manage to approach a sense of normalcy until damn near 7:30. i'm pretty sure my original plan for the evening was to work on job applications and then make dinner, but since i was actually quasi-hungry and since i knew i'd be spending at least a couple of hours "working," i decided to make dinner first.

there was a sale on smoked sausage at jewel and i knew i'd be buying 2 packages of it. one's in the freezer for the next time i decide to make smoked sausage and broccoli, and i decided i wanted to try something new for the other package. unsurprisingly enough, most of the recipes on my hard drive that involve smoked sausage are some variations of jambalaya or other rice-based dishes. i didn't want to go overboard with buying extra proteins like shrimp or chicken, so when i found this recipe, i figured i was on to something.

here's what i did: i made the rice last night b/c i had a bit of downtime and i knew i could just put it in the fridge until tonight. i used about, oh, 3 teaspoons of minced garlic. i cheated when i went to the store and bought a pre-chopped celery and onion mix, b/c i wasn't interested in buying a whole bunch of celery when i only needed one stalk. let's say that i used anywhere between 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of the celery/onion mix; i didn't measure it b/c i was just spooning it in from the container. i used regular diced tomatoes with the juice, and instead of salt/pepper, i used seasoned salt...maybe a tablespoon? i tend to eyeball when i'm adding seasoned salt.

verdict? decent enough. i might make it again if i had some leftover rice and some smoked sausage on hand. we'll see how i feel about the leftovers later this week. :-)

week in review, all december everything/celebratory happiness edition

ok, so the bears lost (sigh) and northwestern's mens' b-ball team lost to uic (double sigh), but fun was still had. as planned, i went to ellen's holiday party and then went to karaoke last night. holy crap i drank a lot of tequila. i still can't believe i woke up sober this morning. i mean, i started with costco tequila, so you'd think that would equal instant pain and suffering and all of the regrets, but no. hm. maybe i just need to drink more tequila? i think i can handle that.

anyway - saw a lot of folks at karaoke that i hadn't seen in months, and folks sang songs that they knew would make me laugh and/or entertain me to no end, and i'm totally counting those serenades as birthday presents. my manager at work actually gave me my first b-day present of the year on friday, which was unexpected and happily surprising. 

oh, and i found $10 while i was at karaoke last night, and i found a quarter while i was at work today. i win all of the things!

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