helikedmyshoes | Entries tagged with the elements: winter

Hi.

It was -28 here in Chicago today (with the wind, -7 without it - YES, -7 WAS THE HIGH FOR TODAY), making it only THREE DEGREES warmer than it was at the North Pole. THE NORTH POLE, PEOPLE. I did not sign up to live with Santa, okay? Get out of here, arctic air. I hate you. You made my face freeze the way I suspect botox does, and I couldn't feel my legs for half an hour after I got home.

THE NORTH POLE.

If anyone needs me, the cats and I will be under the down comforter making sure our toes haven't fallen off yet.

OMGOMGOMG NEW BATTLESTAR IN LESS THAN 24 HOURS. I am going to squee my way through work tomorrow! MY SHOW! I LOVE YOU, SHOW. Never ever leave me.

I drove by Solider Field tonight (on my way back from dropping Adam at the airport), where the Bears are playing Green Bay tonight (apparently a big deal? I HATE FOOTBALL), and people were out in the parking lot tailgating.

TAILGATING.

IT IS 17 BELOW WITH THE WIND CHILL.

What is wrong with people?!

Also, seriously. Who goes out and watches football in below zero weather? This is CHICAGO. In the middle of WINTER. AND Solider Field is ON THE LAKE, which means strong winds. SERIOUSLY. WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?

Photos from the past couple of days, last Wednesday right after the deep freeze and then after the snowstorm Sunday night.

[car windshield]
and i know i have been
driven like the snow

( where the sea is the sky )

According to weather.com, it is currently 0 degrees here in Chicago, but it feels like -16.

THAT IS COLD.

I have two words for you: Ghost. Rider.

Hell yeah.

Also. I was unimpressed by Grey's last night, but I did like the musical selections. Anyone able to point me in a direction where I'll be able to find out what they are and perhaps even download them?

It's sunny and clear and cold here in Chicago. I'm on the train on my way to being late for work. Oops. I watched the sun coming up over the frozen lake today. Winter is beautiful in its brutalness.

A quick update, with more to come later.

+ I passed all my tests last Thursday at Bandera, waited on the GM, did a great job, and finished my training. We worked out my schedule, right now I will be working Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday lunches with the ability to pick up weekend night shifts once they feel I can handle it. I had my first shift yesterday. I had three tables and walked with $18. This is what happens when it is -25 outside.

+ My friends came in to town for the weekend and we had a blast and I did not want them to leave. Barrington, the Oak, karaoke at Trader Todd's, the Art Institute, the cold, the drinking. I miss them all terribly.

+ It's been below 0 here for days and days. People are not meant to live in this kind of cold. I have stayed in the house as much as possible, thank god for free heat.

+ Adam and I finally got caught up on House, and started watching The Job. It is Rescue Me as a half hour police show. Denis Leary is wonderful and all these familiar faces keep popping up, like Hilary from Fresh Prince, the first mom from Fresh Prince, and Jen's grandmother from Dawson's Creek aka Mary Beth Peil. We got through 5 episodes last night. One good thing about the cold is all the time to watch shows I never got a chance to.

+ I need to eat something.

+ Things feel different, but maybe it's me who is finally changing.

+ Was there new BSG on Sunday?

+ We had some people over for the Super Bowl and had a lot of fun even though the Bears lost. Things were a bit hairy around 4 when we realized the game was on CBS, the only channel we don't get, so we had to run to CVS and buy an antenna. Crisis was easily averted. I started drinking wine during the preshow and didn't even pay attention to things after Prince played. Anna and I played Trouble which was TROUBLE with only the two of us, we had pizza and laughs and fun all around.

+ FOOOOOD.

It is currently -12 outside with the windchill.

WTF winter GO AWAY. I am done with you.

The high - THE HIGH!!! - for the weekend is single digits. THAT IS INSANE. I am not a polar bear! I need me some heat.

There was a 7 car accident on the road when I drove Adam to work today. Crazy.

I feel crappy. Maybe I should eat something.

I have not been outside all day.

The snow that is falling right now looks more like volcano ash. It is big and fat and lazy on the breeze.

edit: I just went outside to throw out the garbage, and the snow seems to be hanging suspended in the air before it starts moving back up into the sky. Yes, the snow is going the opposite way it normally does. And there's no wind to speak of. Weird. (I am just obsessed with snow lately, aren't I? What gives?)

My head is so full of food and wine I think it might explode.

TEAM LOGAN. (I'm just practicing.)

I miss Tori. I haven't been spending as much time with her as usual. Maybe that's why I feel weird.

Adam and I have started watching Heroes. We're only 1 and a half episodes in (we fell asleep halfway through 1.02) but already I am loving it. I don't want to kill ~~Jess~~Milo Ventimiglia, which a strange new feeling. Even though he did beat out my friend Louis for the part of Rocky's son in Rocky Balboa. It has sucked me right in, I'm in for the ride with this one. Friday Night Lights is next, after we get caught up on House S3, though Adam has already informed me he wants no part in FNL because he is lame.

I really need TiVo.

Sometims I really need to be an adult about things. I think this is one of those times. (<-- not about TEAM LOGAN. which must be in caps. about life stuff concerning other people and other feelings.)

i knew you pigtails and all
girls when they

fall

The snow tonight is like the kind in fairytales. It feels magical.

Adam and I saw Pan's Labyrinth yesterday. Fantastic. I highly recommend it. It was devastating and uplifting, rocking betwen war and imagination, a beautiful, haunting film that was stunning and horrifying yet soothing. They are marketing it as an adult fairytale, which obviously cannot be as wholesome and sweet as a children's fairytale - the gore was all the more awful because it has no place in my perception of a fairytale. But all fairytales are about hope and bravery, and this certainly has its share. Go see it. It's incredible.

I met up with

_venus_ and her friend Keri for lunch today. Jessie and I finally met after meeting 7 years ago online. It's strange, all of you people who know me so intimately that I have never ever met. A lot of times that makes it easier to confess, because you are real but really only on paper because I don't know how your laughter sounds or even what you sound like when you speak or how tall you are when you stand next to me or what it's like to give you a hug involving arms and torsos and not 0s and 1s. But I know a lot of secrets, a lot of fears, a lot of hopes. I dare say I know you all better than most of my friends - I am proud to say it.

Anyway. Tangent. I met them downtown and we went to Miller's Pub for lunch, which was packed with Bears and Saints fans when we arrived but quickly thinned out. Jessie is adorable and crazy for wearing heels in Chicago in the middle of the winter.

ashley, she took a picture for you but I don't know how well it came out, hopefully I look like my hot self in it. ;)

I had the Bears/Saints game on while I studied, and I couldn't help but root for the Bears even though I hate football. I got caught up in the excitement of it all, I guess, I couldn't help hoping that the Bears would win, being the home team and all that. A part of me wanted the Saints to win, to bounce back after Hurricane Katrina and a 3-13 record and go to the Super Bowl the very next year, but I think making it to the championship game was not too shabby either. Adam and I talked about having a Super Bowl party, given the enormous TV and all. It will be different than other years, cheering for a team that I am constantly surrounded by support for. I still don't care, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy myself.

I am in the midst of studying my 140 page binder for my upcoming training week at Bandera. I have two tests every day of my training (there are 6 days), tests on the seating chart, the computer abbreivations, the appetizers, the soups, the sides, the entrees, the desserts, the liquor, the red wine, the white wine, the artwork on the walls and then I get to serve the GM and take a final written and verbal test.

I understand the need for such thoroughness, especially considering how much they pride their service and how big a part of the dining experience is it. Still, can we say overkill? None of the ingredients are listed on the menu, so I need to know EVERYTHING in case of food allergies or just for general questions, and each dish has between 6 to 12 ingredients. And there are about 40 dishes. THAT IS A LOT OF FOOD IN MY BRAIN. Plus the wines, plus the ARTWORK (wtf?). Yikes. No playing for Serena this week.

And now I am going to get back to work. I feel like I'm at Purchase again, though with less distractions. And by distractions, I mean blowing off work to drink with the boys. Sigh. Miss you. See some of you in two weeks!

I woke up this morning (for the second time, after Adam left) to snow. And then the sun came out, and now it's cloudy but looking to break.

I would very much like to get out of the house today, but there is laundry to do right now.

Also, I had a dream about a fancy hotel with peach colored walls and beautiful bathrooms, and Josh and Adam and I embarking on yet another trip, and then suddenly I was on a boardwalk watching people enjoy the ocean before I was whisked away to take a test that I had not at all prepared for. My handwriting was horrible, but I think I managed to bs my way through the essay.

And now it's defintiely sunny out.