Bucket List Checks

Summer in Chicago is amazing. It’s what everyone cracks it up to be. It is the reason we all deal with the rest of the year. It’s simply and utterly fantastic. But I will say, since I’ve been here, they have been two things I’ve wanted to do: see the famous Air & Water show from a rooftop and see the famous Air & Water show from the water. Luckily, fate stepped in last week and delivered.

My friends Courtney and Jill recently just moved and have their own private rooftop (which is as highly coveted as having a yard or balcony). They had a day of grilling, Top Gun looping and good friends laughing. And then it seemed as if we had our own private fly overs from the Blue Angels. It was loud and it was a rush.

The next day, we were heading out on the boat for the show. I’ve seen this show a handful of times as we used to come up for it when we were younger (and those were the only times I caught the show on the beach). But by sea? The show is on a whole ‘nother playing field. As I sat on the back of the boat soaking up the sun with Barry (the yellow lab), a fighter jet came out of no where scaring the beejezus out of us both. Yet it was exhilarating, to sit there on a picture perfect day with your heart racing, your thoughts completely drowned out by the engines and being out on the water.

You did good this summer Chicago.

The Checks Keep on Happening

This past year has been a crazy year of firsts. Going on my first blind date, my first trapeze class, my first Blackhawks game as a Chicago resident, the first time I read over 50 books in a year, the first time I took a challenge to write a novel, the first time I went rafting and the first time I spontaneously hopped a plane to travel.

But I didn’t stop there. This year also  marks the first time I marched down Michigan Avenue in the Festival of Lights parade as a balloon handler. With Kara, Sarah, Durda and Amanda, we manned the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer balloon. The balloon, as big as a house, was a beast in the wind. Thankfully, we only had a couple of scares while walking down Magnificent Mile, including the reindeer game of getting Rudolph’s head stuck in a tree.

It was a fantastic time with the gals and I’m not sure if we had more fun creating a spontaneous sing-a-long while moving down the street or helping deflate the balloon at the very end. All in all, such a worthy bucket list item.

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A First and Hopefully Last

Grandpas aren’t just good for teaching you how to hold a golf club, play Rumy or teach you the art of chocolate milk making. They help make sure you keep your blog up to date and fresh. Well, at least mine does. Nor (of Nor/Nan fame for all of you who drive the roads in STL and see him in his Caddy with those personalized plates) informs me every time I talk to him on the phone I haven’t updated. So, this one’s for you Nor.

Last week, I checked something off my bucket list no one believed I hadn’t done before. The wish? To pull an all-nighter.

Now I know, how could I possibly graduate from college without pulling at least one all nighter per exam time? Or how did I manage to not stay up the whole time during the All-Night Grad party (bleachers = nap time)? It’s beyond me. Guess we’ll just chalk it up to the fact I know what I’m like with just 6 hours of sleep and it’s not pleasant. So why should I submit society to anything less than six? But last week, I did it, survived and actually managed to go out in public with friends.

It all started on Wednesday. After a successful first date night (which I believe that phrase is usually an oxymoron), I had to chat with everyone under the sun about it. Which leads to the 4 o’clock hour rolling around and me still wide-eyed. So I sleep for maybe 3 hours before heading in to Werk. Needless to say, it was a glasses kind of day.

After weening myself off my usual 8-10 hours of sleep with that Wednesday night antic, I stare Thursday in the face. Thursday was my last midnight showing with Harry Potter. I don’t need to go into detail how traumatic this night was going to be for me, let alone coupled with an all-nighter.

It’s 2:30 in the morning as we wizarding-lovers finally make our way to the streets. Between the sugar high and special edition 3D Harry Potter glasses, I know sleep is no where in the near future. So after going home, I realize I’m not tired and proceed to read in the hopes I’ll fall asleep.

But I don’t. Because when I’m in a book, I can’t stop reading. And I won’t stop reading until I finish. So much for chapter breaks.

Then I see myself staring at the clock reading 8:15 and it dawns on me, that not only did I read Commencement in one night, I just pulled my first all-nighter.

And there you have it. My all-nighter didn’t include memorizing notes, a whirlwind evening in a foreign city or pain spasms preventing me from a slumber. Mine involved a goodbye to my favorite literary characters and a book about graduating and entering the real world.

A proper way to celebrate the night when it all ended.

Note: As Maggie can attest, my nights’ of sleeplessness caught up with me on Sunday as I managed to only wake for dinner. Jet lag isn’t just for international affairs…

Just fillin’ the bucket ‘o life

Last weekend Molly was in town, which meant I not only got to hang with a lovely Kansas lady, but I also got to kick it with her amazingly fun sister Emily. The last time Molly came in town, was the day I lost my job, so I was a bit nervous about her returning. But no worries, still employed!

I’m glad that when she comes in town she bakes cookies and always wants to dance. Two things I just can’t get enough of. So after a pretty low key Friday night (I mean, compared to our Saturday, insanely low key), we ventured up to Wrigley to see some of the boys. After being there for a bit, we grew a bit tired and decided to head back to Emily’s. The traffic was literally insane on Clark, so we walked a bit/debated just trekking back to Em’s on foot.

And that’s when we spotted them.

Sitting there, begging to be of use: A rickshaw.

It was on the bucket list to ride one. And lord did we ride this one. Poor guy stood most of the time pedaling us ladies (note: I’m sure passerbyers thought we were enormous). But impressively, said biker/puller managed to smoke a cig the whole entire time. By the time we got to Emily’s I felt so bad. Dude’s calves had to have burned and throbbed the next day! So we tipped him 150% of our $12 tab. And seriously, that was cheaper than sitting in a cab eating away at a meter.

Seriously, look at how excited all of us are to be crammed in a little buggy.