Two Thumbs Up for the "3-Way"

Don't be gross....that is NOT what I mean, thank you very much! I'm referring to something much different, and extremely delicious.

So I ended up spending the majority of last weekend in Cincinnati with AK. It was a bit last-minute (story of my life, right?), but it ended up being super fun! I've only spent a little time in Cincy previously, most of it being 4 years ago when I was working in Dayton...we'd go to Cincy when we really wanted to have some fun.

Anyway, we crammed lots of good times into about 48 hours....here are the highlights (which will eventually lead to the 3-way):

1. The 5 hour drive there on Friday...with cheesy popcorn, beef jerkey, sunflower seeds, Sour Patch kids, Mountain Dew, a Pepsi slurpie, XM Radio, and sooooooo much singing and car dancing. It's amazing the dance moves you can pull off in a moving car.

2. Stopping at Walgreen's, CVS, and a super sketchy gas station, all within a 3 minute span

3. Going to the movie theater, pounding drinks in the theater bar in 15 minutes (3 between the 2 of us), and then FINALLY seeing "The Hangover - Part 2"....except that it was super disappointing! So much so, that yes, I fell asleep for awhile in the middle of it. Oops.

4. After the movie theater, heading to an amazing little place that I had never heard of before this last weekend...anybody ever heard of this place?

Skyline Chili. Wow. I believe they are only in the Indiana/Ohio area, so it's not surprising I hadn't heard of it before. There are multiple locations, but this is the one we showed up at around 1:00am after the movie:

I think it might be one of the original (if not the one) locations. They kind of have their own language there, so AK coached me before we went, so I would understand the lingo and hopefully fit in. What they're so known for is their chili, which is a special recipe that includes things like cinnamon and chocolate...but you would never really know it. Sounds a little strange...but it's DELICIOUS! So good. And then their signature dishes are the Cheese Coney and the 3-Way. Pictured here (Cheese Coneys on the left, 3-Way on the right):

I devoured it. And would have finished it all, if he hadn't told me halfway through my 3-Way that I would most likely have a stomach-ache from it the next day at some point. It didn't sound pleasant. So I got nervous and stopped about 2/3 of the way through it. Stupid move. I felt fine all day Saturday, and I threw out the rest of that goodness. Boo.

5. Also eating lunch at a different Skyline location on Sunday before leaving town (had to get one more fix!)

6. Buying lanterns....but really wanting the fancy wine cooler that can completely chill a can of beer in one minute flat...whoa.

7. Backing out of the most narrow driveway ever...and NOT running over any grass

8. The "couples shower"....still not 100% sure what that is...but I totally approve of it after the experience on Saturday night! So much fun.

9. Learning what "beer monster" is...haven't tried it yet, but intend to sometime very soon

10. The 4 and 1/2 hour drive back to Chicago on Sunday (oh yeah...made better time on the way back!)....see #1 from above. Basically the same as that...just a little more tired this time after all the fun.

Super great time! And then we capped it all off with an al fresco evening in downtown Chicago on Sunday. Yummy appetizers, incredible entrees (best fish tacos ever!), and a few too many of these:
Mmmmmmmmm....dirty martinis with blue-cheese stuffed olives? The best. It was perfection. And yes...we did both make our flights on Monday morning, even after the martinis. Whew.

Longest. Day. Ever.

Or at least in quite awhile. (Let's be honest...I'm the queen of bad travel luck)

Alright...so it should have been a nice and easy travel day - ORD to MSP to TUS. Piece of cake. On the ground in Tucson, ready to work by about 12:30pm local time. But no...didn't work out quite that way. Here's the most succinct rundown I can give of such a long, freaking day:

5:45am CST - wake up...to pouring rain, thunder, and lightning in Chicago (bad news on a travel day)

6:55am - get in cab to head to ORD...weather still awful

8:10am - arrive at ORD...not surprisingly, my first flight is delayed because of the weather...spend the next 35 minutes working with the Delta agent to fix my itinerary since the delay is long enough that I will miss my second flight (d'oh)...result? No possible way to get to Tucson today. So I get rerouted to fly to Phoenix instead. (double d'oh)

8:45am - head through security....get selected for random additional screening (oh, come on!)

9:15am - board first flight

10:05am - take-off from O'Hare

11:10am - land in Minneapolis...for 3.25 hour layover (blah)

2:25pm - board second flight...get settled in nice window exit row seat in coach...BUT get called up to first class at the last second (finally, a bit of good luck!)

3:00pm - take-off from MSP

3:50pm Arizona time (yes, it's a real thing) - land in Phoenix...get luggage (saw a cute dog while waiting for my suitcase...pet him and talk baby-talk to him...feel a little calmer) and head to rental car center

4:30pm - pull out of PHX in the equivalent of a tin can with wheels (cheapest option for last-minute one-way rental car) to start the 120 mile journey to Tucson...and for the entire drive, here is all there was to see:
and this....
and some more of this....

Seriously?? Horribly boring and not-scenic drive. Desert, desert, and more desert. And it was about 105 degrees. Dry heat? Yes. Does it matter when it's over 100? Not as much as I was hoping....boo.

7:15pm - arrive at hotel in Tucson...check-in....drop off luggage in room very quickly...switch from high heels to tennis shoes

7:30pm - head to TUS airport to turn in rental car

7:55pm - turn in rental car...head to baggage claim to grab a taxi to head back to the hotel...stub toe on curb on the way...curse in front of small children (it hurt)

8:30pm - arrive back at hotel...immediately put on pajamas...and start the work that still needs to be finished tonight...yawn a lot (my body is on central time...maybe even eastern from the weekend in Cincinnati)

So from the time I walked out of AK's place this morning to the time I got to settle in my hotel room in Tucson, almost 16 hours went by. In that amount of time I could have flown to India, for gosh sakes. Oh Monday, Monday...I really did wish it were still Sunday....alllllllll day long.

Joy to the WAH

My company has this fabulous little thing called "WAH"....WAH = work at home. It's amazing. It's spectacular. It's such a treat! And I'm on WAH this whole week!! A whole week at home in Santa Monica? Yes please!

So why is WAH so wonderful? Let me tell you...WAH is the best because:

1. You can sleep until 7:58am, roll straight out of bed, turn on your computer, and be working right on-time by 8:00am

2. If you're a contact wearer, you can go ahead and be a four-eyes for as long as you like...all day, if you choose!

3. You actually have time to make a real breakfast....scrambled eggs, breakfast sandwich, real oatmeal, smoothie...whatever you want!

4. You can work in your pajamas until lunch.....orrrrrrr all day (which has happened before, and will most certainly happen again)

5. You can do your laundry and clean during the work day

6. You can actually see your friends on WEEK NIGHTS!!!

7. If you live in the right area, you can go for a sandy walk on this beach during the day for a break:
8. Or....you can go for a run during the day on this beautiful bluff:
9. You can eat lunch at 10:00am...or at noon...or at 3:00pm...you're on your own schedule

10. You can take frequent dancing-with-yourself breaks all throughout the day

11. You don't have to deal with anyone face-to-face (hello, no make-up!)

12. You can listen to Seinfeld reruns in the background any time you wish

It's pretty much the greatest thing ever. I haven't had much WAH time in the past 10 months, but this week has been splendid, and I am looking forward to (hopefully) more WAH in the near future. It's quite good for my sanity. Aaaaahhhhhhhhhh.

You Know It's the Real Deal When...

....this girl:
...who bleeds cardinal red, wears Bucky Badger tattoos (and dreams about him), sings "Varsity" and "If You Wanna Be a Badger" in her sleep, wants to serve cheese curds at every major event of her life (and on every day that ends in 'y'), writes "Ohio State" on the ground just so she can spit on it, and thinks (actually knows) that Madison is the greatest place in the world...willingly and publicly drinks out of this cup:

(little plug for the Tervis Tumbler...they're the best cups in the world!)

What the hey?!?! Yeah, it's true. That's mine. And I drank iced tea out of it already this morning. And water out of it yesterday on my flight. And lots of things out of it last weekend. It's almost a habit. Scary.

But to all my fellow Badger fans, don't worry...I'm not converting!! I am a Badger for life, and am still planning to leave Bucky Badger in my will. I'm just welcoming another one into my world, for AK. As long as I don't own anything that says "Buckeyes"...can't we look to Bucky's loving gesture below, and try to all get along?

Aaahhhhhh, the Lake House

It was a bit of a last minute weekend for me (I was originally supposed to be in LA), but life's fun like that...and I'm not sure things could have turned out any better! I ended up getting to spend the weekend here:
AK's family has a sweeeeeeet lake house on Lake Wawasee, just outside of Syracuse, Indiana. And I was lucky enough to get to spend the weekend there with him, and then a super fabulous couple, ED and BW. The four of us had a ridiculous amount of fun.

We drove there from Chicago on Friday afternoon (roadtrip!). Pretty smooth drive, not too much traffic, once we got outside of Chicago limits. I played DJ in the front seat, so obviously we had great music to jam to on the way there.

Our first stop upon arriving in Syracuse, was this place:
How great is that?! Beef's Booze Barn?!?! Love it. We had a great little stop there. Everyone was super friendly, they had a giant, fully-stocked "beer cave," and most importantly, they had Firefly sweet tea vodka. Perfection!

Next up? This place:

Bale's Butcher Shop. I almost didn't go in. I wasn't sure I could handle being in a butcher shop. I was a vegetarian for over a year and a half, and just recently started slowly adding small amounts of meat back into my diet. But that has been a BIG deal for me. So when we pulled up here, I wanted to stay in the car. But they wanted me to give it a try...so they yanked me in the place with them. It was actually fairly cool, and they had a lot of great stuff that wasn't meat (i.e sweet horseradish pickles)....in addition to 18 tons of cow, pig, chicken, and a few things I couldn't even identify. I'm pretty sure ED is in love with this place. He talked about it allllll weekend after this stop. He probably wants to have his wedding someday right there in Bale's.

Next, a quick stop at the grocery store, and then it was time to play. We got to the house, and let the fun begin!

The rest of the weekend included:

* Beautiful weather (whew!)

* Boating on the lake (both during the day and also at night)

* Lots of yummy drinks

* Many, many minutes (hours?) spent playing drinking games...the most crazy of which was "Land-mines"...has anyone ever played this game? It's a little ridiculous (but great), and here was the end result:

Each of those empty beer cans represents a land-mine that you can't hit with the quarter or any part of your body. I forget all the rest of the many rules, but we had a freaking blast playing this one. I'd like to play again for sure.

* Swimming in the lake (some people ended up getting pushed right in off the boat...luckily, I was not one of them)

* Playing croquet in the yard (it got pretty heated and competitive, not surprisingly)

* Watching the sunset over the lake (so peaceful)

* Hunting down suncreen from a tiny little boat-up bait shop that sold pretty much everything you could ever imagine

* Sleeping in....and some good naps too (pure bliss)

* Go Fish...which eventually turned into a good game of Go Drink

* A midnight steak dinner

* Fishing for Walter the Walleye off the dock....using brat pieces (my suggestion!)...but to no avail...he out-smarted us

* "Scrambles" for breakfast (including a whole dozen eggs...farm fresh, of course)

* Life vest "diapers"

It was seriously such a fun weekend! I'm so happy I got to go, and so grateful to AK for having us! It was just a taste of the awesomeness of that place, so I'm definitely hoping I'll get to go back again. And maybe, just maybe, we'll meet Walter next time....

Lake houses rule.

Dear American Airlines,

I have a few bones to pick with you after my flight yesterday. Seriously...did you all decide it was "pick on Lindsay" day? It kinda felt like it.

1. Please listen to me when I say that I know my bag will fit in the overhead. I fly pretty much every week of my life...I've had that carry-on for over a year now...I KNOW it will fit. Unless I'm about to walk on a Boeing 767 (and even then I can usually cram it in), I'm 100% sure. So when I'm entering a 737, just let me be. I know you, and all the other passengers, don't want to hear me throw a hissy fit. And I don't really want to waste my energy on it. So stop being annoying, and just let me take it on!

2. Your flight attendants should probably learn how to NOT smash the drink cart into every seat they pass going down the aisle. Seriously? They had to have been doing it on purpose. Which is great for me, when I'm enjoying my inevitable plane snooze (I pass out for about 20-30 minutes at some point during pretty much every flight I take). It's really nice to be rudely awoken by a 200-pound Coke product holder on wheels jamming into the side of my seat, about 6 inches away from my leg.

3. As part B to #2 above...apparently your flight attendants don't know that a death stare from a passenger should warrant an apology. Even if they don't mean it. At least humor me.

4. Please don't seat me next to a super annoying guy, who has no sense of personal space and boundaries, and asks me questions about my entire life, and breathes his Burger King breath in my personal bubble, and doesn't understand that my nose being buried in "Gone With the Wind" or my laptop means "Leave...me....alone...jerk-face."

5. And finally, if you're going to FORCE me to check my bag at the gate (even after my tantrum), at least put a more solid identification tag on it when you pry it from my hands. I'm not amused when my bag shows up in baggage claim with zero identification, because your flimsy little paper tag fell off (most likely when the baggage handlers were throwing our bags against the wall for no reason...I'm pretty sure they all do this...there's no way my stuff can get THAT messed up just being set on a plane). Exactly how would you have found it if it had gotten lost?!

Not my best flight experience. I'm pretty sure my blood pressure is at an abnormally high level, still, from going through it all. At least there was a "wangtini" waiting for me upon my arrival. Those make everything better. But that was no thanks to you, American.

Sincerely,
Aggravated Passenger from seat 15C

Memorial Day Perfection

I was lucky enough to not only get to see all (well, most) of my friends over the holiday weekend, but also to have a fabulous visitor too! One that makes me endlessly happy. Yay!

Not landing at your home airport until 5:00pm on a Friday after a long week on the road is never easy. Especially when it's the start of a holiday weekend, and you just know that pretty much everyone else has already started their fun. However, it turns out that when you have someone waiting there for you, it changes everything! Way more fun and exciting, and you definitely stop cursing the world.

Let's see...how to sum up Memorial Day weekend...eating (though much less than 3 meals a day), drinking, sun, sunburn, great music, a really BAD movie, popsicle spitting, and sleeping late. Yes, that's a pretty good summary. Really, both of these pictures tell the story:

Other highlights include:

* Running into random people who are 3 degrees separated from you, and then becoming friends

* Being told you look so happy and comfortable and relaxed at a restaurant, that people just getting there to sit down want to try and "replicate exactly how you guys look"

* Your waitress telling you you're so cool that she wants to pull up a chair and join the fun

* Cursing Brad Pitt because his new movie is sooooooooo awful, that you have to mourn the 2 and 1/2 hours of your life you spent watching it (well, 1 and 1/2....I slept thru an hour of it)

* Vodka and Crystal Light (dangerous....MS, I'm glad you survived!)

* Trying to replicate the "Wangtini" with other similar-to-spicy-pickle items (i.e. pepperoncinis)....and failing...but still drinking them (even though they might smell a little like gym socks)

* Running to catch the sunset on the beach, but missing it by approximately 1.5 minutes...but then still staying to admire the orange sky for a half hour

* Cruising the Pacific Coast Highway

* Randomly catching a whole string of awesome songs (i.e. "Unchained Melody") on the radio (AK's find!) on a peaceful, relaxing drive home at 1:00am

* Grilled cheese....lots of 'em :)

Pretty much a perfect long weekend - it's so nice to have had such a great time, but also sad that something I've been looking forward to so much is over! Time sure flies when you're having the best time ever. But no time to pout...on to the next good time.