Bear Down, Chicago Bears!

Dean surprised me today by calling and offering me a free ticket to the Bears game! I have never been to a professional football game before and it was so much fun! We tailgated in the cold and rain for a couple of hours, taking shelter under the trunk door of Dean's Ford Explorer, but once we started walking towards the stadium the rain stopped and it stayed dry for the entire game!
The Bears lost but I still had such a good time!! I met Dean's friend, Brandon, and that guy is flippin' hilarious! He had me laughing so hard my face hurt! And Lisa was there too. It was her first Bears game as well, and she and I sipped hot cocoa together for most of the game.
I must say, even though I loved the game, I have never felt less feminine in my life. I had about 5 layers of pants on, 3 pairs of socks, 4 t-shirts, 2 sweatshirts, 1 stocking hat, 1 winter coat and 1 plastic poncho. I felt like the stay puff marshmallow man. But I stayed warm the entire time, which anyone who knows me knows that I am always cold. So all I cared about was keeping warm. And it worked!

Thanks Sean for forcing me to accept the tickets. You're my new good luck charm! :)

How Crate Does Holidays

The Truth Can be Adjusted

Last night Sean and I took in the film Michael Clayton. It was pretty good but not as impressive as I had hoped it would be. Then again, the more thought I give it the more I like it. Go figure.
Afterwards, I introduced Sean to The Hungry Brain where we chatted over a great jukebox and their finest bottles of Miller Lite. I love sharing stories with friends! Break a leg on final exams, Sean! beginning the 15th...we celebrate being halfway thru law school!!

(S)He Taught Me to Eat Artichokes

Last night, Sean and I went to the Logan Square Public Library to hear Mike and Clare give a talk on local, organic farming and CSA programs. It was a 2 hour panel discussion on how CSA's work and why they are good for the person, community and earth. It was really interesting and it made me really excited for next summer's program to begin.
I have already signed up for next season's CSA, which begins in May and goes thru mid-October. I participated in Mike's CSA last summer and received so much good produce, and a few chickens as well! It was delicious and fun!
Sean also got inspired and has decided to join Mike's produce CSA!!
I have added a link to Mike and Clare's farm onto the sidebar of this blog. Please take a minute to open their website and learn more about their program.

We also got to listen to a farmer named Jody who discussed his meat CSA program, thru Cedar Valley Farms (see link on the sidebar). I am not much of a meat eater but for a reasonable price ($240 for all 3 months) you get an incredible amount of food! Each month your box contains the following: 3-4 Lb roast, 3 lbs hamburger, 1 package of hamburger patties, 1 1/2 lbs whole Italian sausage, 1 package of 4 pork chops, 1 pasture raised whole chicken, 1 pasture raised cut-up chicken and 1 dozen farm fresh eggs. Every month you get all of that!
Now that is way too much meat for just me so Sean and I have decided to go in on the program together. We will each pay $120 and then split the monthly meat. Even that will be a lot of meat but doesn't that seem like a steal for fresh, locally grown meat?!?!

Afterwards, Sean and I realized we hadn't had a chance to eat dinner and all this talk of fresh produce and meat made us even more hungry, so we headed over to Dunlay's for some dinner and a couple of pints. Sean suggested we order the grilled artichokes as an appetizer. I told him that one of my favorite books is titled "She Taught Me to Eat Artichokes" and yet I, personally, have never eaten them before. So last night, Sean taught me how to eat artichokes. How to peel it apart petal by petal, how to dip it in garlic butter and how to scrap the meat off with my teeth. It was delicious...

Stuck

i hate blogger sometimes. it won't let me post links anymore!
anyway...cut and paste this and you can see this week's crossword puzzle:
http://www.chicagoreader.com/pdf/071122/071122_inkwell.pdf

Mike and I worked on the crossword puzzle last night (actually he did most of the work, but I did get 59 across!). Anyway, we have it almost completed but we're stuck on a couple of clues:
38 across?
30 down?
56 across?

*you know who is good at crossword puzzles by the writing utensil they use. i am still at the pencil level. mike is an ink pen guy. did anyone see the documentary on crossword puzzles? bill clinton and john stewart use sharpies to do the new york times crossword puzzle.*

A Handmaid's Tale

It's a new week and I've got a new read. This is another one of the classic pieces of literature that I've never read. I'm really enjoying it!

Leave

I can not stop listening to the Once soundtrack. I think I'm going to burn a hole in my Ipod if I don't choose another album soon. I have a request in to friends to burn me any and all albums by The Frames. If they come up empty handed, I just might have to break down and buy a couple of albums. Wow. That will be a change for me.
Anyway, this morning on the drive into work I listened to the song Leave, which has to be the best break-up song out there. (other noteworthy break up songs: Untouchable Face by Ani DiFranco and most songs by Alanis Morrisette).

It got me thinking about the worst breakups I've had, so far in my 30 years. (Plus last night, I was watching Sex and The City and it was the episode where Burger breaks up with Carrie on a post-it note.)
So here's the list: Top 3 Worst Breakups (in chronological order):

1. T.L.'s and my breakup - senior year of high school. He died. That really, really sucked.
2. C.K.'s and my breakup - sophomore year of college. I called him, at his hotel room, early Christmas morning (he was in Hawaii visiting family) to wish him a Merry Christmas. Another woman answered the phone.
3. R.U.'s and my breakup - less than 6 months ago. He spent the entire weekend with my family and about 20 minutes after they left he asked me to bike up to Edgewater/Roger's Park for a pint, which is about a 25 minute bike ride. Fast forward to 2am, a few pints later and I'm slightly buzzed. We head back to our bikes and pedal for about 10 seconds when he breaks up with me. I was stranded in the middle of nowhere, a bit tipsy, in a kinda dangerous neighborhood in the middle of the night. I had to call my girlfriend (which, seriously Carisa, you are an incredible friend and I will ALWAYS be grateful for you) and wake her up so she could drive to come pick me up. This breakup almost ties with T.L's death.

So in honor of crappy breakups...here are the lyrics to Leave:
I can't wait forever is all that you said
Before you stood up
And you won't disappoint me
I can do that myself
But I'm glad that you've come
Now if you don't mind

Leave, leave,
And free yourself at the same time
Leave, leave,
I don't understand, you've already gone

And I hope you feel better
Now that it's out
What took you so long
And the truth has a habit
Of falling out of your mouth
But now that it's come
If you don't mind

Leave, leave,
And please yourself at the same time
Leave, leave,
Let go of my hand
You said what you have to now
Leave, leave,
Let go of my hand
You said what you came to now
Leave, leave,
Leave, leave,
Let go of my hand
You said what you have to now
Leave, leave...

The Truth Has a Habit of Falling Out of Your Mouth

Last night Carisa and I went to The Swell Season show at The Vic. Oh my goodness, it was the most amazing show I've seen in a long time. And it wasn't just the music that was amazing but the vibe of the theater was magical. Glen, the lead singer, was just so incredibly excited to be on tour and so extremely thankful to all of us for listening to his songs. He would ramble on for 5 minutes or so between each song about how happy he was.
But the part that moved me the most, along with everyone else at the show, was how Glen looked at Marketa, the piano player. The back story to them is that she sang backup on a couple of songs for his other band The Frames. This writer guy heard their songs and loved their voices together and contacted them saying he had written a script for a movie called "Once" and he wanted them to star in it. So the two of them, along with the other members of The Frames, sat down to write music for "Once". Then Glen and Marketa spent a few months filming the movie and in those few months, they fell in love.
And now they are touring the soundtrack and they've been dating for a couple of years now and it is so obvious that they love each other. At the beginning of the set Glen started telling a story about the song he was about to sing. He said the song is about being a simple guy who meets this brilliant, amazing woman and not really knowing what to do because you want to do the right thing and impress her but you just don't know how and you're all nervous because she is so amazing. And then he looked at Marketa, smiled, held up his hands and shrugged.
And then, 3/4 of the way thru their set, Glen looked over at Marketa and leaned into the mic and whispered "You're brilliant". The entire crowd was silent.
You could see her blushing and smiling.

I cried a total of 4 times during that concert. The first three times I was blinking back tears and trying to conceal them as they leaked from my eyes. But that last song, when she broke out into "O Holy Night", I just lost it. Tears were streaming down my face, the whole audience was silent except the sniffles of people around me. Carisa was crying too...it really was just beautiful.

Every woman deserves a man who will look straight into her eyes and whipser, in front of a crowded room, "I think you're brilliant". And every man deserves a woman who will look right back at him and smile from deep within her heart. And I know it's super cheesy but I don't care...I am so looking forward to that day when I meet that guy who looks at me the way Glen was looking at Marketa. And I know that guy is out there...somewhere.

And that is why, no matter how much I want to be Carrie, I know I'm Charlotte.

It's Better Fried

Yum!! Fried Kumla! and a tasty fruit soup with wild mulberries and garden grown raspberries. :)

Happy Birthday Mom!