Eating and Watching Our Way Into Fall
This past week was pretty normal and uneventful. I worked the full 5-day week, and I had 3 Audit review sessions. Alex bought linguine that went unused when his mom was here, so on my night off from review, we made lemon linguine out of it, recipe courtesy of Paula Deen. Naturally, we had to reduce the butter and sour cream amounts to avoid the heart failure that comes as a side effect of all Paula Deen recipes.
This week also marked the start of Fall TV programming for several shows. I haven't dabbled into the roster of new shows, most of which we won't be seeing on the air a year from now, but I did watch a couple season premieres from returning favorites, namely Glee and Dexter. Between the 2nd section of the CPA exam, a full workload, and little vacation time for the remainder of the year, I'm not sure if I can take on more than that, although now that we have Tivo, all bets are off. The Glee premiere was ok; I wasn't too enthused that they started their musical numbers with a hip hop song. Seriously, the only one of the gang who doesn't look totally lame doing rap is Puck. They should just stop with this music genre. They semi-redeemed themselves with a Lady Gaga number, which was nicely understated compared to the entire episode they did on her in Season 1. They've added new characters, including an It's Pat gym teacher. The character may be female, but it's difficult to determine the gender of the actor him/herself. The best part of the new season is a hot blond transfer student, who first appeared on the show naked, in the high school locker room showers. As any gay man will tell you, that is the ultimate sexual fantasy. On top of that, I love blondes. On top of that, he sings very well. So he's probably my favorite part of the new season. We also have Dexter, which is far more serious. The season premiere was probably the saddest episode of the series, as Dexter was reeling from the brutal murder of his wife at the very end of the 1st season. The most heart-wrenching part was the flashbacks to their first date, where they were so cute together. Thankfully, the preview for the rest of the season seems to be more suspense/thriller-like, which is what drives the show in the first place.
This week, I also found out some good news: I passed the 1st section of the CPA exam. It took almost two months from taking the exam in late July to find out my score, which is difficult on the stress-load. But that's over with, so it's a big relief. Now I can focus on the 2nd section, which will be taken on October 18, and be done for the rest of the year! There's an online ethics course to complete, but that should be a cinch to do between Halloween and New Years.
This weekend was one of the more uneventful weekends, but for Alex it was long overdue, and for me, it was just nice having lots of free time to be productive. It made the weekend actually feel like a full two days. We did some clothes shopping, and I found a couple pairs of work pants that actually fit. It's usually impossible to find pants in my size because I'm so short and thin; I usually can only find sizes small enough online. I also got a shirt that was half-off, so I was pretty happy with my purchase.
On Saturday evening, we went over to Dave & Katie's new apartment in River North. Being that they're in a downtown neighborhood, it's only fitting that their apartment is in a 46-story residential building, which most likely was going to be sold as condos but the recession hit and now they can only get renters. Oh well. Their apartment has floor-to-ceiling windows and has spectacular views to the south, overlookin the Chicago River, the Sears Tower, the Merchandise Mart (where I work), the Aon Center, and Trump Tower, among all the other skyscrapers in the Loop. We could even see the fireworks at Navy Pier, and, if you turn your head a certain way, the edge of the John Hancock building. Katie cooked up a delicious dinner of chicken breast with sun-dried tomato cream sauce, roasted potatoes, and acorn squash. And for dessert, dutch apple pie with whipped cream. It was a splendid way to transition into fall. We stayed for the evening, chatting and watching a Will Ferrell SNL DVD, then left before the Brown Line trains stopped for the night.
On Sunday, while out on our errands, we tried out the Blue Sky Bakery & Cafe that opened up across the street from our local Trader Joe's. For a review of our experience, check out my other blog: http://chinorthside.wordpress.com/
So that was my week. I will say, my life isn't going to be all that fun until I finish the next section of the CPA exam, because that is my priority right now. But we all know what's coming up after the CPA exam, and I'll give you a hint: it involves costumes.
With love,
Fallen Bitch
This week also marked the start of Fall TV programming for several shows. I haven't dabbled into the roster of new shows, most of which we won't be seeing on the air a year from now, but I did watch a couple season premieres from returning favorites, namely Glee and Dexter. Between the 2nd section of the CPA exam, a full workload, and little vacation time for the remainder of the year, I'm not sure if I can take on more than that, although now that we have Tivo, all bets are off. The Glee premiere was ok; I wasn't too enthused that they started their musical numbers with a hip hop song. Seriously, the only one of the gang who doesn't look totally lame doing rap is Puck. They should just stop with this music genre. They semi-redeemed themselves with a Lady Gaga number, which was nicely understated compared to the entire episode they did on her in Season 1. They've added new characters, including an It's Pat gym teacher. The character may be female, but it's difficult to determine the gender of the actor him/herself. The best part of the new season is a hot blond transfer student, who first appeared on the show naked, in the high school locker room showers. As any gay man will tell you, that is the ultimate sexual fantasy. On top of that, I love blondes. On top of that, he sings very well. So he's probably my favorite part of the new season. We also have Dexter, which is far more serious. The season premiere was probably the saddest episode of the series, as Dexter was reeling from the brutal murder of his wife at the very end of the 1st season. The most heart-wrenching part was the flashbacks to their first date, where they were so cute together. Thankfully, the preview for the rest of the season seems to be more suspense/thriller-like, which is what drives the show in the first place.
This week, I also found out some good news: I passed the 1st section of the CPA exam. It took almost two months from taking the exam in late July to find out my score, which is difficult on the stress-load. But that's over with, so it's a big relief. Now I can focus on the 2nd section, which will be taken on October 18, and be done for the rest of the year! There's an online ethics course to complete, but that should be a cinch to do between Halloween and New Years.
This weekend was one of the more uneventful weekends, but for Alex it was long overdue, and for me, it was just nice having lots of free time to be productive. It made the weekend actually feel like a full two days. We did some clothes shopping, and I found a couple pairs of work pants that actually fit. It's usually impossible to find pants in my size because I'm so short and thin; I usually can only find sizes small enough online. I also got a shirt that was half-off, so I was pretty happy with my purchase.
On Saturday evening, we went over to Dave & Katie's new apartment in River North. Being that they're in a downtown neighborhood, it's only fitting that their apartment is in a 46-story residential building, which most likely was going to be sold as condos but the recession hit and now they can only get renters. Oh well. Their apartment has floor-to-ceiling windows and has spectacular views to the south, overlookin the Chicago River, the Sears Tower, the Merchandise Mart (where I work), the Aon Center, and Trump Tower, among all the other skyscrapers in the Loop. We could even see the fireworks at Navy Pier, and, if you turn your head a certain way, the edge of the John Hancock building. Katie cooked up a delicious dinner of chicken breast with sun-dried tomato cream sauce, roasted potatoes, and acorn squash. And for dessert, dutch apple pie with whipped cream. It was a splendid way to transition into fall. We stayed for the evening, chatting and watching a Will Ferrell SNL DVD, then left before the Brown Line trains stopped for the night.
On Sunday, while out on our errands, we tried out the Blue Sky Bakery & Cafe that opened up across the street from our local Trader Joe's. For a review of our experience, check out my other blog: http://chinorthside.wordpress.com/
So that was my week. I will say, my life isn't going to be all that fun until I finish the next section of the CPA exam, because that is my priority right now. But we all know what's coming up after the CPA exam, and I'll give you a hint: it involves costumes.
With love,
Fallen Bitch