Cong Hong I Cong A Gong O

This post just happens to be my 100th. Whoo, I guess.

I spent the last weekend in Chicago. I went to celebrate my 30th year on earth, along with these two, who are aging with me. The first night was low-key, at a bar with a dude playing dj with his mac, and at one time hilariously he tried to accompany his Fat Boy Slim remix with some sadly poor bongo-drumming. And I learned a new language.

Because three is totally a crowd, we decided to invite a few more dear friends to come along with us for our girls night out on Saturday. A few other friends who either live nearby or were miraculously also visiting Chicagoland came up to the city for shopping, kickass Moroccan and more booze. Of course, being that it was a Saturday night in the big city, I invited a couple extra girls out for our big night on the town. So, in the photo below, we have Heather, Brandi, Ernin, me, Paige and of course directly in front of me are Breasty and Chesty. We all had a fabulous dinner out accompanied by some of the best margaritas I've ever had, followed by bar hopping which somehow ended in a heavy metal night club. Like, they played Guns n Roses. It was pretty rocking. Nay, I would say it RAWKED.



As is usually necessitated by a RAWKING Saturday, Sunday was started off with brunch:


Yes. It had pepperoni in it. AND parmesan. AND Guinness.

Of course, the trip was not all booze. Jaci and I spent Sunday at the MCA, which is generally a Sunday well-spent. Jaci and I, of course, being 66% of the initiators of the Sundae Sunday tradition (The Kid being that other third), headed over on this extremely hot day for ice cream, as is our custom:



We spent Sunday night at a barbeque with a bunch of strangers, having been brought to the party by a friend from college, and then spent the rest of the night in a lovely courtyard bar watching hipsters play basketball. Chicago is cool like that.

On Monday, we set back out, this time hitting Millenium Park. There is a Frank Gehry ampitheatre, beautiful gardens...



And The BEAN. The Bean is the single most mesmerizing piece of public sculpture I think has ever been made. On the outside, it looks like a giant, reflective bean. Hence, the name BEAN.



You can walk under it, and look up. It is a huge concave mirror. If you look closely, you can see my camera flash in about 6 different spots:

So, I learned some great things in Chicago:

1. People in Chicago have really cool phones.

2. Hanging out with my best friend, who I admire so much, makes me want to simplify my life. I want to learn how to sew. And take the bus.

3. Don't try to learn a junior high super secret language after your fourth beer. It will make you look like an I Dong I O Tong. But you will have a good laugh for days about it.

4. The 80's are way back, at least at Urban Outfitters.

5. Also in: Crock pot cooking.

In other news:

The Kid graduated from Kindergarten on Wednesday. He's a first grader now. I'm a little stunned about this one. I find I have almost nothing to say, except that I'm proud of him and I love him, and he made really tremendous progress this year.

In still other news:

My sister's dog, Dexter, got married last weekend. Here's one of the wedding stills. My neice officiated. The entire neighborhood attended. Like, had we been home, we so would have been there. Reports are, however, that Dexter and his new bride are sleeping in separate beds, and Dexter apparently has a wandering eye. What a cad.