New Years Shit Show
Alas, we have reached the end of this holiday period, this December madness, with New Years festivities.
After my mom left on Tuesday, Alex and I enjoyed two days of tranquility Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. On Thursday I had a shortened day of work, and Friday I had off. Jeremy was scheduled to fly into O'Hare via JetBlue Thursday night around 9:15, and I planned on picking him up with the car. Then Jeremy's flight got cancelled. Fortunately, this is Chicago, and direct flights to here from any city in the contiguous United States are aplenty. First we tried Southwest, which had a direct flight to Midway leaving about the same time as his other flight and getting in around 9:00. That flight sold out within the 3 minute time span from when I first looked and when I went back to it while on the phone with Jeremy trying to figure out what to do. Then I tried United: sold out as well. Then I tried American, which still had a direct flight leaving at 7:40 and getting in at 9:30 to O'Hare, albeit double the price of the Southwest one when it was available. So after yelling at JetBlue customer service for their poor management (it really was their fault - they scheduled a pilot who was over his limit on flying hours), Jeremy walked over to the American counter and bought the last available seat on that plane. So all seemed well, except that his American flight got delayed - several times. He took off nearly two hours after scheduled time, but fortunately the plane made up some time in the air, because he only arrived an hour and a half late.
As for me, I was monitoring his flight at home and its consistently changing departure time, then its consistently changing arrival time. Eventually I left about 15 minutes before the most updated arrival time. Fortunately, Irving Park and the Kennedy were both wide open, and it took me a mere 20 minutes driving. I was standing at Jeremy's baggage claim just shy of 30 minutes from leaving my apartment. I ended up waiting for him about 10 minutes or so because he was was seated in the very back (go figure - last ticket), but he arrived, his luggage showed up on the carousel shortly thereafter, and before we knew it, we were bolting back down the Kennedy to my North Side abode. The whole ordeal took little over an hour from when I left to when I got back.
But Thursday evening didn't end there, oh no. Almost immediately after we got home and dropped off his belongings, we were back out, this time on the Brown Line, for a little trip to Boystown. We met up with Gina and Dana at DS Tequila Company, which opened in July and neither Jeremy nor I had been to before, and got some drinks. It's actually a nice setup. Then we made our way over to Roscoe's, but by then it was so late that they were closing the dancefloor and beginning to push people back to the door. Keep in mind - we didn't even get out to DS Tequila until after 12:30, so it was nearly 2:00 at this point. So once we got kicked out of Roscoe's, we made our way over to Berlin, but being that Berlin is one of the only places around Boystown with a 5:00 am license, the line was half a block long, so we ditched that idea and tried Clarke's for some greasy food, but the line there was too long as well, so we then decided to go home and eat and hopped on the CTA. The Brown Line train didn't come, so we just grabbed a cab. Then we made bacon nachos, which were delicious at 3:00 am.
On Friday, Jeremy and I joined up with Dana, Eric, Gina, and Dana's friend Meredith who also flew in for lunch at Big Star. Ironically, the last time I was at Big Star was a year ago, with Dana and Jeremy. Since then, they've expanded their space with a new indoor patio and their hours with lunch. So we got there around 1:30, and being that we were a party of 6, were entitled to one of their large wooden booths. Although they were all full upon arrival, thankfully no one was in front of us in the queue and we got the first table that became available, which was not even 10 minutes later. The lunch was outstanding: chorizo tostada, pork belly taco, taco al pastor, and a fish taco. I downed all of them easily, with a couple beers of course. Following dinner, we had great luck catching a Damen bus right away, but the ride was slow as hell due to Friday traffic, so it took us a half hour to get from North to Montrose, where we grabbed sundae's at Margie's and returned to my apartment.
At the apartment, Alex had returned from work, and he had Mark and Jerry in tow. They had already planned dinner, so we quickly headed to Whole Foods, got the necessary ingredients (mostly wine, cheese, and bubbly), then returned to nosh for a while. The pre-selected dinner - beef roast - was done around 9:00, but I was still quite full from all of the other previous eats of the day, so I had only a modest amount. That put me practically into a food coma, combined with a lack of sleep from the night before (I didn't make it to bed until 4:00 am, and I can't sleep past 10), and I was on the verge of passing out before midnight - although I resisted. Going out to a bar was turning more and more into an idea that was not going to happen, but we had a bottle of Prosecco (an Italian bubbly) to keep us festive. The New Years television shows all sucked balls - Dick Clark can barely even speak anymore and should retire (I'm sure he has enough money), Ryan Seacrest was annoying and fake as usual, and Jenny McCarthy (whom I've always loved since her MTV days) was not helping the situation, although she did have a blonde moment that was kinda funny (Spectator: "I'm here with my friends Eric and Michael" Jenny: "Great! And what's your name?" Eric: "Eric," Jenny: "And you?" Michael: "Michael"). We then turned it to the Chicago special, which was even worse. They botched the countdown. The screen showed one number, and they were chanting another several seconds off. But we made it to midnight, whenever that actually was, sipped some Prosecco, and Mark and Jerry headed home (I guess they were sober enough...?) and I pretty much passed out.
On Saturday, we had a pretty low key day, although Jeremy and I did make it out to Target to get some standard household items, as well as Mario Kart for Wii, which was long overdue. I got some CPA studying done, so at least I was somewhat productive. When evening fell, Jeremy, Alex, and I hopped on the Ashland bus back to Wicker Park for Dana's birthday dinner at Lillie's Q. We got there earlier than expected, and before everyone else, so we told them we were a party of 9, giving them time to get a table together, while we enjoyed a drink at the bar. The table was ready shortly before eventually everyone showed up, almost at the same time despite coming from three different directions. Dana, being the birthday girl, sat at the head. We got some hush puppies and fried pickles, giving us a chance to try out the 5 different sauces (4 of which were barbecue) on the table. Then the entrees came - I believe everyone got either pulled pork or baby back ribs. I had the latter, and they were delicious with the Hot Smoky sauce. It was a royal dinner that lasted nearly 2 hours before we high-tailed it across the street to Piece for (what else?) pizza and beer. The place was packed, but somehow we were able to get the pit all to ourselves, which came in quite handy when our party size doubled within an hour. The rest of the evening was spent socializing, eating delicious pizza (including their chocolate pizza, which I finally got to try), and taking a few shots on the kareoke stage.
If Saturday was low key, Sunday was lower key and not productive at all, but I think we're all entitled to those days every once and a while. We didn't even leave the apartment. In the morning, for brunch, we made a delicious croque monsieur, which is basically a ham and cheese sandwich doused in bechamel sauce and baked in the oven, making it this delicious, fatty tart. We also broke out the Mario Kart for Wii and started playing that, which is quite hard, but that's the way I like it. Alex then watched "Presumed Innocent", a legal thriller from 1990 starring Harrison Ford that didn't interest me in the least, so Jeremy and I played Mario Kart 64 in the bedroom, then Jeremy got hungry and ordered some pizza (he was still asleep while Alex and I were enjoying the tart). After the pizza came, we played a game of Mario Party, took a break from games with some Family Guy, then Alex and I returned to the Mario Kart for Wii, still not able to beat the Vs, even on the same team. We'll keep trying.
Monday it was back to work for Alex and I. Jeremy had a job interview, then a flight home. So that was the end of New Years, the end of the holidays, the end of guests staying at our place, and the return to normalcy that January always brings. I'm looking forward to that.
Next up: The 2010 Year in Review.
With love,
Kart Bitch
After my mom left on Tuesday, Alex and I enjoyed two days of tranquility Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. On Thursday I had a shortened day of work, and Friday I had off. Jeremy was scheduled to fly into O'Hare via JetBlue Thursday night around 9:15, and I planned on picking him up with the car. Then Jeremy's flight got cancelled. Fortunately, this is Chicago, and direct flights to here from any city in the contiguous United States are aplenty. First we tried Southwest, which had a direct flight to Midway leaving about the same time as his other flight and getting in around 9:00. That flight sold out within the 3 minute time span from when I first looked and when I went back to it while on the phone with Jeremy trying to figure out what to do. Then I tried United: sold out as well. Then I tried American, which still had a direct flight leaving at 7:40 and getting in at 9:30 to O'Hare, albeit double the price of the Southwest one when it was available. So after yelling at JetBlue customer service for their poor management (it really was their fault - they scheduled a pilot who was over his limit on flying hours), Jeremy walked over to the American counter and bought the last available seat on that plane. So all seemed well, except that his American flight got delayed - several times. He took off nearly two hours after scheduled time, but fortunately the plane made up some time in the air, because he only arrived an hour and a half late.
As for me, I was monitoring his flight at home and its consistently changing departure time, then its consistently changing arrival time. Eventually I left about 15 minutes before the most updated arrival time. Fortunately, Irving Park and the Kennedy were both wide open, and it took me a mere 20 minutes driving. I was standing at Jeremy's baggage claim just shy of 30 minutes from leaving my apartment. I ended up waiting for him about 10 minutes or so because he was was seated in the very back (go figure - last ticket), but he arrived, his luggage showed up on the carousel shortly thereafter, and before we knew it, we were bolting back down the Kennedy to my North Side abode. The whole ordeal took little over an hour from when I left to when I got back.
But Thursday evening didn't end there, oh no. Almost immediately after we got home and dropped off his belongings, we were back out, this time on the Brown Line, for a little trip to Boystown. We met up with Gina and Dana at DS Tequila Company, which opened in July and neither Jeremy nor I had been to before, and got some drinks. It's actually a nice setup. Then we made our way over to Roscoe's, but by then it was so late that they were closing the dancefloor and beginning to push people back to the door. Keep in mind - we didn't even get out to DS Tequila until after 12:30, so it was nearly 2:00 at this point. So once we got kicked out of Roscoe's, we made our way over to Berlin, but being that Berlin is one of the only places around Boystown with a 5:00 am license, the line was half a block long, so we ditched that idea and tried Clarke's for some greasy food, but the line there was too long as well, so we then decided to go home and eat and hopped on the CTA. The Brown Line train didn't come, so we just grabbed a cab. Then we made bacon nachos, which were delicious at 3:00 am.
On Friday, Jeremy and I joined up with Dana, Eric, Gina, and Dana's friend Meredith who also flew in for lunch at Big Star. Ironically, the last time I was at Big Star was a year ago, with Dana and Jeremy. Since then, they've expanded their space with a new indoor patio and their hours with lunch. So we got there around 1:30, and being that we were a party of 6, were entitled to one of their large wooden booths. Although they were all full upon arrival, thankfully no one was in front of us in the queue and we got the first table that became available, which was not even 10 minutes later. The lunch was outstanding: chorizo tostada, pork belly taco, taco al pastor, and a fish taco. I downed all of them easily, with a couple beers of course. Following dinner, we had great luck catching a Damen bus right away, but the ride was slow as hell due to Friday traffic, so it took us a half hour to get from North to Montrose, where we grabbed sundae's at Margie's and returned to my apartment.
At the apartment, Alex had returned from work, and he had Mark and Jerry in tow. They had already planned dinner, so we quickly headed to Whole Foods, got the necessary ingredients (mostly wine, cheese, and bubbly), then returned to nosh for a while. The pre-selected dinner - beef roast - was done around 9:00, but I was still quite full from all of the other previous eats of the day, so I had only a modest amount. That put me practically into a food coma, combined with a lack of sleep from the night before (I didn't make it to bed until 4:00 am, and I can't sleep past 10), and I was on the verge of passing out before midnight - although I resisted. Going out to a bar was turning more and more into an idea that was not going to happen, but we had a bottle of Prosecco (an Italian bubbly) to keep us festive. The New Years television shows all sucked balls - Dick Clark can barely even speak anymore and should retire (I'm sure he has enough money), Ryan Seacrest was annoying and fake as usual, and Jenny McCarthy (whom I've always loved since her MTV days) was not helping the situation, although she did have a blonde moment that was kinda funny (Spectator: "I'm here with my friends Eric and Michael" Jenny: "Great! And what's your name?" Eric: "Eric," Jenny: "And you?" Michael: "Michael"). We then turned it to the Chicago special, which was even worse. They botched the countdown. The screen showed one number, and they were chanting another several seconds off. But we made it to midnight, whenever that actually was, sipped some Prosecco, and Mark and Jerry headed home (I guess they were sober enough...?) and I pretty much passed out.
On Saturday, we had a pretty low key day, although Jeremy and I did make it out to Target to get some standard household items, as well as Mario Kart for Wii, which was long overdue. I got some CPA studying done, so at least I was somewhat productive. When evening fell, Jeremy, Alex, and I hopped on the Ashland bus back to Wicker Park for Dana's birthday dinner at Lillie's Q. We got there earlier than expected, and before everyone else, so we told them we were a party of 9, giving them time to get a table together, while we enjoyed a drink at the bar. The table was ready shortly before eventually everyone showed up, almost at the same time despite coming from three different directions. Dana, being the birthday girl, sat at the head. We got some hush puppies and fried pickles, giving us a chance to try out the 5 different sauces (4 of which were barbecue) on the table. Then the entrees came - I believe everyone got either pulled pork or baby back ribs. I had the latter, and they were delicious with the Hot Smoky sauce. It was a royal dinner that lasted nearly 2 hours before we high-tailed it across the street to Piece for (what else?) pizza and beer. The place was packed, but somehow we were able to get the pit all to ourselves, which came in quite handy when our party size doubled within an hour. The rest of the evening was spent socializing, eating delicious pizza (including their chocolate pizza, which I finally got to try), and taking a few shots on the kareoke stage.
If Saturday was low key, Sunday was lower key and not productive at all, but I think we're all entitled to those days every once and a while. We didn't even leave the apartment. In the morning, for brunch, we made a delicious croque monsieur, which is basically a ham and cheese sandwich doused in bechamel sauce and baked in the oven, making it this delicious, fatty tart. We also broke out the Mario Kart for Wii and started playing that, which is quite hard, but that's the way I like it. Alex then watched "Presumed Innocent", a legal thriller from 1990 starring Harrison Ford that didn't interest me in the least, so Jeremy and I played Mario Kart 64 in the bedroom, then Jeremy got hungry and ordered some pizza (he was still asleep while Alex and I were enjoying the tart). After the pizza came, we played a game of Mario Party, took a break from games with some Family Guy, then Alex and I returned to the Mario Kart for Wii, still not able to beat the Vs, even on the same team. We'll keep trying.
Monday it was back to work for Alex and I. Jeremy had a job interview, then a flight home. So that was the end of New Years, the end of the holidays, the end of guests staying at our place, and the return to normalcy that January always brings. I'm looking forward to that.
Next up: The 2010 Year in Review.
With love,
Kart Bitch