Let the countdown begin

Today is our negative 1 year wedding anniversary!!! :)

Hot and Cold

I'm blogging from the couch today with a hot toddy. I've been fighting this cold since last week. It seemed to trick me into thinking it was going away and then SIKE! or PSYCH! however you want to spell it. The first sign of students on campus and I'm already catching their diseases. But from what I hear, there's some sort of plague going around.

On Saturday I tried to enjoy my day with minimal stuffiness and headache. My mom was in town so we met her for breakfast in Oak Park. And then took her to see the conservatory where our wedding will be next year around this time. We also wanted to see what the weather could potentially be like and what the garden would look like this time of the year. It was so beautiful and natural with sort of an overgrown feeling, but not in a bad way at all. I loved it! And the indoor part of the venue was equally as lush and green. We also talked about some logistics of the event. I hope it's just like this next year on September 26th!

the Monet Garden

me and my mom

(click here for more photos of the wedding site!)

After that it was home for the normal weekend chores.

In the evening we tried a new restaurant on Devon with Julie and Rusty. Uru Swati, between Rockwell and Talman. It was really good. We had TONS of food, all vegetarian and it was only about $16 per person including tax and tip. The inside is really cute, with a handpainted city-scape lining the room. The samosas were delicious and so were the Malai Kofka??? I think that's what it's called. Some kind of dumplings. YUM! We were totally stuffed and had to roll ourselves home.

On Sunday I accompanied Steve to the Puma store, and the MCA, but soon fell ill due to over-exertion, most likely. It's too hard to stay home and rest with such beautiful weather outside.

Colds are JERKS! Time for naps.

White Peach

Have you ever eaten a white peach?

I recently went to Whole Foods and grabbed a handful of peaches not realizing what kind they were. My new breakfast routine involves a smoothie before my bike ride to work, with fruit, plain non-fat yogurt, a splash of milk, and sometimes a tiny splash of vanilla. REAL vanilla. When I get to work I eat a hardboiled egg and a sprouted grain english muffin with natural peanut butter.

Anyway, I grabbed one of the peaches and cut it open, suprised to see the pale inner flesh of the fruit. I thought, "what is wrong with this peach?" so I looked at the label and realized that it was not your typical peach, and continued making my smoothie. IT WAS SO GOOD! These peaches are so sweet and the flavor is so smooth it should be called the Peaches-n-Cream-peach. Try it!

Labor Day Weekend 2008

Yes it's fall and yes we celebrated Labor Day with a visit to the old Nyktas family.

In the grand scheme of things the Labor Day Weekend trip to Ohio seemed like an afterthought at first. I couldn't finish blogging about our trip to New Mexico before we went on another. But it turned out to be one of the best weekends we've had in a long time. And it made me really wish that we could be close enough to our families to see them more often.

We started to weekend off with Steve's 10 year High School Reunion on Saturday evening after the long drive down. George let us take the Z3 to the event..... I don't know why, he just likes it when we use his nice things. The though of attending your partner's high school reunion may sound frightening to some of you but I actually had a good time for the most part. Only a few boring parts. But I had already met three of his friends from that time in his life and I know them pretty well at this point. So it wasn't too bad.

The following day we had a gathering at George's house with all of the family members we never get to see. And some new ones we hadn't met before - Isaias and Emma. We also spent some time in Covington with Lynn, drinking pisco sours, the national beverage of Peru (just for fun.)

On Labor Day we decided that the drive up to Columbus was worth it to be able to see the triplets, so we did! Here you see Steve holding Eric and Drew. We sort of ended up crashing a friend of a friend of his brother's Labor Day party, but they didn't seem to mind. Plus they had a pool!!! So I was able to enjoy my second and last time swimming for the entire summer.

I know that Fall "officially" starts at the equinox on September 25th, so I guess technically summer should still be winding down. We've had great weather this week (after the weekend monsoon). But I'm already starting to think about christmas knitting projects..... hhhhmmm....

Class Chameleon

There's been lots of buzzing about this website called www.yearbookyourself.com. So I decided to try it out and boy is it funny!..... so funny that I took the liberty of plugging in Steve's face as well. I've always wanted to experience living in other decades, so i guess this is as good as it gets. Also - more proof that you can't believe something just because someone shows you a photo of it.

Sarah circa 1952 (looks like my father disguised as a woman)
and Steve circa 1950 - such a dapper young fellow

Sarah circa 1954 and Steve circa 1956
I thought this was high school... why do I look like an old lady?


Sarah & Steve in 1960 - don't we look smart?


Sarah from 62' & Steve from '64. This is when we were clean, conservative folks.


another mannish look from Sarah in '68


whoa! is that Steve from 1970 or is that George Nyktas!


I guess hair started getting out of control in the 70's. The funny thing is, this is EXACTLY what I looked like in 1998. I guess I was a 70's-chick-wannabe


um... yeah 1982


How androgynous of you, Steve, in 1984.


mid 80's


and last but certainly not least 1990.


There is more, but I don't think I should show you.

sigh...

I am so bad at blogging lately. I haven't been keeping up. We had an extremely fall-like weekend including over 48 hours of straight rain. You'd think that would be a great opportunity for staying inside and blogging, but NOOOOOOO...... instead I went thrifting and spent the majority of my time watching tv in my pajamas and organizing our collection of... you know... those things.... CD's! Yeah that's it, cd's. I mean who listens to cd's anymore? How lame is it to have a cd collection? It sort of feels like when I was 14 and I acquired my dad's record collection. But anyway, some other rainy day I may actually sit around and listen to some cds. compact discs. Maybe that annoying skipping sounds that cds make will become what the crackle has for vinyl. Okay maybe not.

Oh, AND I bought a fur coat!! It's GORGEOUS. Freaking gorgeous. It was $15 at VD. Village Discount. VD = Village Discount.

Someone, ask me to go some place where wearing fur is appropriate! STAT!

Also tried a new restaurant. Union Pizzeria in Evanston. Sort of a fancier pizzeria place. Wood fired. SO DELICIOUS! Not the best place for large groups (we had 13 and we had to wait till EVERYONE was there to be seated). But OMG the pizza was so good. I could not stop eating it. We had the goat cheese and potato pizza, which also had caramelized onions. And the lamb and eggplant pizza.

Yes gosh-dernit I ate lamb AND bought a fur coat all in 24 hours..... maybe that's why last night I had a night mare that I was being chased by a man wielding a shotgun. hmmmm...

I promise to be better at blogging in the very near future.

Western Vacation - Day 5: Back Home Again

The next morning we awoke refreshed and ready to make our way to the Denver airport to return the Yaris and fly home. Unfortunately we forgot to take a photo while Lacey was there last night so here is Annie and I. They are two of my best friends from high school and it was great for the three of us to be together again. I hope to see them again before our wedding.... but you know how time flies.

At the airport there were no problems or pat downs to be had. Just a smooth ride into Chicago. We were so happy to see the cats and I know that they were glad we were home. I always have this pull between wanting to be a homebody and the curious desire to travel all over and see new things. I love puttering around the house, talking to Elvis and Monkey, and doing my daily chores. But there is so much excitement in putting yourself in a different environment, seeing unfamiliar landscapes, and visiting old friends.

Also, this was the first real vacation that Steve and I have ever been on. We both had a great time and want to explore other parts of the country that neither of us has seen before. Fortunately we will be going on a honeymoon next year and there are many many places to choose from.

Elvis making friends with the monkey finger puppet

Western Vacation - Day 4: More Wandering in Santa Fe, Then Off to Colorado Springs

The fourth day of our vacation was just as full of things to do as all the rest of them. We started off with breakfast in the garden of the hotel where there is actually a tee pee that you can reserve for dinners of twelve or less. The hotel is owned by a local group of Native Americans and the inside of the tee pee is decorated with paintings by a man from the Picuris Pueblo.

After breakfast we took a dip in the hot tub and pool, and then it was on to more shopping and sightseeing. The first stop on our journey was the San Miguel Church, which is the oldest church structure in the U.S. The original adobe walls were built by the Tlaxcalan Indians from Mexico under the direction of Franciscan Padres ca 1610..... copied from the sign.

Then we shopped around for a bit and had lunch. I bought some local yarn from New Mexican alpacas. I hope to make a lace scarf out of it, for myself. Another knit-related item I purchased - a cute little bunch of finger puppets!!! They were irresistible! I'm being serious, I just had to buy them. In the plaza we perused the items at the Indian market, where people came from nearby pueblos to sell their wares.

Let's see... what else.... I kissed a buffalo... within hours of eating a buffalo burger. We wandered around a bit more, and then we headed out for Colorado Springs to make our way back home.

In Colorado we spent the evening with Lacey, Annie, and Josh. Annie prepared a lovely dinner and we all played a funny board game together. And most importantly, we got to meet Charlie, Josh and Annie's dog! Charlie is a one year old black lab who likes to play fetch with a basketball. She's adorable and loves to play. Annie put us up in their newly furnished guest room.

Charlie Sue Easterling

Western Vacation - Day 3: Ghost Ranch and an Evening in Santa Fe

Day three of our trip was probably the best Monday I've had in a very long time. We started with a perfect breakfast at Cafe Abiquiu. I had poached eggs on top of corn cakes, topped with a creamy chile sauce, goat cheese, basil, and bacon. O.M.G. If you are into spicy breakfasts you would love this one. After photographing some of the local fauna at the Abiquiu Inn (grasshoppers and lizards) we headed off to Ghost Ranch. They have a great hiking trail there that is free and open to the public. It is not terribly difficult but I would not recommend this hike to grandma.

We started at the bottom (photo on the left, see Chimney Rock in the background?) and ended up at the top, right next to Chimney Rock (photo on the right). It was about 3 miles, roughly 2 hours, round trip. We saw quite a bit wildlife, though on a smaller scale that I had hoped (I really wanted to see a mountain goat :) and, as you can imagine, some beautiful scenery. Click here for the panorama. And then click through the photos.

a lizard on the trail

I had remembered to put sunscreen on all exposed parts of my body part except my feet. And I was not wearing traditional hiking footwear. My chacos helped me get to the top! Miraculously, the tops of my feet were not burned. Steve had somehow missed a small crescent shaped spot on his neck when applying sun screen. That is how he got his Native American name - Red Moon Neck. He wouldn't let me take photos of it.

the magnificent chaco sandals

After that I had the fabulous idea to visit Ojo Caliente, a local hot spring. My vision of a natural hot spring (a small dirt trail leading to a a cluster of rocky, warm pools surrounded by a wooded forest area) and what we actually encountered (a resort with a restaurant and a handful of kitschy, tourist-trap shops) were two totally different things. I might have paid to soak in the pool of diverted natural hot spring water had I packed my own beach towel. I should have done my research. Anyhow we had a nice lunch. I think I might want to go back there some time.

Then it was on to Santa Fe! We checked into our room at Hotel Santa Fe, a very nice place that was just a quick jaunt on foot to the plaza area. I wanted to go swimming right away, but Steve wanted to shop. So we started wandering around town. First we found Kowboyz, a vintage western wear place. It was somewhat pricey but the woman gave us a good deal on some things. I bought a pretty skirt and Steve picked out an elephant skin belt with a beautiful western belt buckle (photos to come) and a vintage shirt. There were tons and tons and TONS of other nice looking shops. Santa Fe is definitely a shopping town.

We eventually made our way over to the Plaza where there was a live concert taking place. A beer seemed in order so we decided to go into a place called the Ore House for some libations. It had a large veranda upstairs over looking the plaza that seemed like the best place to enjoy some drinks and the live music. Steve had one of the best margaritas I've ever tasted and I had a local beer. However the service was TERRIBLE. I'm definitely going to yelp about that place.

Finally we enjoyed a late dinner at Tomasita's, a recommendation from Kaitlyn (a native Santa Fe-an). It was really good. We consumed large quantities of margaritas, blue tamales, and various desserts, all served by an extremely entertaining native Chicagoan who had been waiting tables in Santa Fe since 1990. If you see Adrian at Tomasita's, tell him we said hello.

a view from Chimney Rock

Busy Bee

Since I've been back from vacation, not only have I been catching up at work and trying to get back into my biking routine, I have also been visiting with several awesome friends this week. The weekend was spent doing chores and unpacking from vacation (and picking up lots of crap in the yard - will explain later.) We attended a going away party for our friends Troy (on the left) and Sara who are moving back to Michigan. (Good luck, you guys!) And also managed to cram in a long overdue dinner with Craig and Latha. Then Monday rolled around, and I had the opportunity to spend the evening having drinks at the top of the Hancock building with Rachel and Lisa who were in town from Albuquerque for a conference. I had originally wanted to visit them while we were in New Mexico but we did not make it as far as Albuquerque on that trip. We had a LOT to talk about since I had not seen Rachel in about eight years!..... pretty much since high school.

hanging out with Lisa and Rachel on Mich Ave

On Tuesday my friend and former neighbor, the marvelous Brittany, came to Northwestern for lunch and she brought me an entire picnic - sparkling water, tuna pasta salad with dill and grilled asparagus, and a homemade plum tart! It was a nice little surprise. And I could go ON and ON about the tart!!

a picnic with Britt

Other than that we are trying to get ready for yet ANOTHER trip this weekend to Cincinnati. And I've been helping Steve a lot with some art things that have been going on...

I promise to blog about the rest of the vacation soon, folks.

Stay Tuned...

Days 3, 4, & 5 of the vacation coming soon! I promise!

A lot of stuff going on here... :)

Western Vacation - Day 2: from Denver to Abiquiu

Sunday morning brought some sunny skies to Denver and breakfast at a wonderful vegetarian/vegan bakery (Watercourse) with Joe. I was too busy enjoying myself to take any photos of Joe, Andrea, or Putza the black kitty. But you should definitely check out the Watercourse menu and considering visiting there if you are in the Denver area. I recommend the Amsterdam Hash - awesome vegetarian gravy! Joe let us ride some of their spare bikes to breakfast, which was an experience all in itself. (I really wish I had a photo of Steve in the Dale Earnhardt bike helmet! ha ha ha ha)

Once our bellies were filled we were on the road. New Mexico welcomed us with not one, but two full strength hail storms - another aspect of the strange weather, I guess. We went off the main highway for a more scenic route along 64. At first the landscape was very woody with lots of evergreens. Not much different from places I've seen in Colorado. We passed through Cimarron near the Philmont National Boy Scout Ranch that my dad has often spoke of. He spent two weeks there as a kid with his boy scout troop, and there he celebrated his 14th birthday. In Cimarron we stopped for lunch in a leaky rural diner. I can't even remember the name of it but there was only one waiter, resembling the truck driver type. And when the rain started coming down again, he quickly began arranging buckets under holes where water was coming through the ceiling and dripping off the chandeliers. ha ha - adventure dining, eXtreme dining... I gues that's what you could call it. I think Anthony Bourdain would have been proud of us. Not because the food was good, because it wasn't - but because we took a chance.

We saw lots of elk crossing the road, and there were several places to pull over the Yaris and take photographs.

After passing through the Sangre de Christo Mountains, we found the landscape I had always imagined when I thought of New Mexico - dry, scrubby, rocky, and red. As the sun began setting we found our way to Abiquiu in Chama Valley near the San Juan Mountain Range. The Abiquiu Inn was a great place for us to stay. There is a wonderful gift shop and a little gallery inside. You can also book tours of Georgia O'Keeffe's home and studio nearby. This is what originally drew us to the area, but we decided to explore the landscape Georgia fell in love with instead of the studio tour. We took one of the economy rooms at the inn, which was very comfortable, except the tv did not work. Cafe Abiquiu turned out to be an excellent little restaurant, although we were initially disappointed in their lack of libations. It turned out that we were too exhausted for tv and alcohol. We were both asleep by 10pm in order to rest up for the hiking trip the next day.

Western Vacation - Day 1: Denver and Boulder

Well we are back from our vacation so of course I have to blog about the whole darn thing. Last Saturday Steve and I woke up before dawn (or, as my Auntie would say "the crack of screech") to catch our cab to the airport. The initial reason for this trip to the Denver area was our friend Elizabeth and Ben's wedding in Boulder. In order to make the most of our vacation days we decided to fly in on the day of the wedding, but everything had to go just right in order for us to make it to the wedding on time - fly in, get luggage and rental car, drive to Joe and Andrea's (where we were staying), 30 mins to change our clothes, then drive to the wedding.

This created a challenge with how I would do my hair. I didn't want wear my every day hair to the wedding. Plus I'm getting tired of my hair cut at the moment. I knew I wouldn't have time for washing and blow drying and curling and setting and whatnot after we arrived in Denver. So I opted for the pin curl! I washed my hair before the flight and it only took about 20 mins to put up in about 30 bobby pins. Yes, it did look kind of crazy all day walking around airports and such, but I didn't care. The other option was to tie my leopard handkerchief around my head in 40's-housewife/aunt-jemima style, but that didn't seem like the best idea.

It also created another problem - my hair pins went off in the metal detector! So I had my first pat down at the airport. It was a little bit scary, but the female security officer was very nice and I was happy to comply if it meant that our airports were safer. Just a few moments of discomfort for me. Okay, enough about my hair. It ended up looking okay. See photo on the left.

For some reason our flight to Denver was not direct. We had a 2 hour lay over in Oklahoma City - a place neither of us had been before. First of all the official name of the airport is WILL ROGERS WORLD. I'm not kidding. It is a smallish airport. But the people working there were so nice. They told us to "Come back and see me again, hon!" when we ordered our lunch. So I guess I have to fly back there for lunch again, someday...

Our connecting flight was slightly delayed, giving us even less time to get ready for the wedding. We arrived and left Joe and Andrea's place in a tornado of suitcases and hairpins and pulled up to the wedding location about 5 minutes after it was supposed to start. Luckily for us, things like that don't go as smoothly as planned and the ceremony didn't start until about 30 mins later. (I'm sure we will experience this next year at our own wedding!)

The ceremony was very simple and beautiful. We've been to quite a few weddings in the past couple of years and it's so great to see my friends making these commitments using so many different customs and things. Elizabeth and Ben's wedding started with all of the guests tying up colorful ribbons as a symbol of our wishes to them starting their new life together. Above is Anne and Jeff (left) and Elizabeth's stepdad, Eli (right). There were no attendants - just Elizabeth and Ben - and they were married by a yoga instructor. It seems like there would be a better word than instructor... master? teacher? Anyway, it was very spiritual. It was very serious, and then at the part of the ceremony where the couple drank wine out of the same cup, Ben pulled some silly straws out of his jacket! It was the perfect touch for them. They are both such fun-loving people. And then Ben broke the glass, which is an old Jewish tradition.

The weather was unseasonably cold for Boulder this time of year - chilly and wet and in the mid 50's! But during the ceremony the sun broke through the clouds and the picturesque mountain scenery came alive just for Elizabeth and Ben. And the rushing river in the background added the perfect touch for a beautiful union of my two beloved friends.

Not to mention it was a great opportunity for me to break out my purple velvet blazer and wear it with my new red shoes. And Steve looked great in his new blazer and the shirt I picked out for him :)

After that we all wandered over to a couple of heated tents in the yard, where we enjoyed great food and old friends! I got to visit and hug and laugh with some of my favorite Dean Hall girls (Sally, Anne, and Holly) and even one that I had heard a lot about, but had never met before (Sabrina!). This was the first wedding that I attended where quinoa was served.... so yummy.

Following the reception was an after party at a place in downtown Boulder. An open bar and plenty of dancing with Anne and Jane (Ben's mom!) So fun. Unfortunately, Steve and I were pretty exhausted from our journey so we headed back to Joe and Andrea's place, where they graciously put us up for the night, and we slept like boulders :)

Morning Meltdown

This morning I had a bit of a meltdown. Just one of those days, ya know? And no I do not have any pictures to document it.

It ranked right up there with that one evening in Ann Arbor, but wasn't quite as bad. The night I am referring to is the one in which we were two broke people living in a tiny, stuffy studio with our cat on Ann St, where Steve practiced his oil painting. My best friend came to visit for a few nights and we decided to go out to an Italian place for dinner, mostly because I had found this coupon for a buy-one-get-one-free meal! First one waitress splattered me with olive oil. Then when I went to the bathroom there was black water bubbling and spurting out of the drain in the floor. And after our meal, our waitress told us that we couldn't use the coupon even though we had shown it to her prior to ordering our entrees. The only thing that kept me going was knowing I had these great pasta leftovers to take home. But that was ruined by the sudden downpour that started on the walk home, causing me to slip and fall while running, spilling my leftovers across the sidewalk, and to break the handle of the purse I was using, which used to be my grandmother's. I ended up in our suffocating studio, wet and wrapped up in towels, crying because I had no creamy sauce with sun dried tomatoes.... only a broken purse.

I think of this night often when bad things happen to me.

So in retrospect and in light of reviewing these horrible events, I suppose this morning wasn't so terrible but it seemed enough to push me over the edge. After I was already pissed about my hair, as I was leaving for work, the zipper on my purse came right off, and then when I went to ride my bike, the chain somehow was dangling down and pedaling wasn't getting me anywhere. I threw my bike to ground and started crying. But Steve came to the rescue. We drove to work and then I went and bought a new purse. And, it turned out, my hair didn't look so bad after all :)

cat pee..... again

Elvis peed on the other chair this morning..... grrrrrrr!@#$%^&*

He must be stressed about having a house guest for the week. Little does he know that after the house guest leaves, we will be leaving for vacation. He's going to be really upset..... :(

He needs some extra love.