Summer Woo!

Found this online for your listening pleasure...



Oh yeahhh...It gets a bit convoluted at the end. But it's what I was looking for, I suppose.

So I suppose a lot has happened since I last posted. Lots of beach visits, some interesting adventures, and lots of random people sightings. It's pretty weird to see the most random people from college in a new city. Like kid in freshman year seminar (I think?), two people who were abroad with me, old dining hall co-workers...it's crazy! Well, here are some highlights. Two weeks ago, we had a work social event at this place called Castaways at the beach. As it turns out, there was a storm coming in and this place was outdoors, so we left and moved the party to a new location. It was a pretty fun event, I thought. Nice to talk to people outside of work.

Right now, I am watching "Bring It On Again." This is kind of embarrassing to admit.

Anyway, the next day was the third of July, and that evening Carol and I went to see the fireworks downtown. It was super crowded, but we had great seats! To avoid the crowd, we shared a cookie and a brownie at Cosi. Luckily, we didn't get shot. I heard that there had been some shootings down there...yikes!

On the Fourth of July, I went running around the neighborhood and then Katherine came over for dinner. We went to a mexican restaurant (irony? or is that the Alanis Morisette kind of irony?) The waiter gave us free margaritas! It was great! That evening we went to a bar called the Hange Uppe, which had been recommended to me. The basement was all 80s music (well, some 90s and other songs mixed in). Katherine and I loved it! I am planning on taking all my friends there! Also, it's on the red line, which runs all night. It's pretty convenient.

The next day was my first real trip to the beach here. I went up to the Loyola Lake Shore campus, where Katherine is studying for the summer. The beach was steps away from the campus. It was so nice! I love sand...water, well, I don't really care too much about. I think, though, that napping on the beach sounds more productive than napping at home, for some reason. We ate dinner at Giordano's, a pizza place, and met some of the people in her program. Then I had a tour of the campus. It was quite nice, I thought. I really like visiting college campuses. Perhaps I should have tried to become a professor or something...haha. I bet I'd be terrible at that!

That evening we celebrated Rory's birthday, visiting 5 bars, I think. We got coerced into going to some bar that was offering free drinks. The music was on the techno-side, and the dance area reminded me of LaFortune ballroom, which was weird. Couldn't quite put my finger on why, but that's what it felt like. The night ended with me, Rory, and two of his coworkers at the 24 hour Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins. They talked about computer stuff THE WHOLE TIME. I was totally lost. Oh well. Sometimes I wish I had studied computer science so I could understand what my friends are talking about all the time!

The next day, after a long day of laziness, I went shopping at the Gap, which was recommended by Katherine the Ponge (yeah, surprising, I know). I got a pair of jeans for $14. That's unheard of at the Gap. Or...pretty much anywhere. I think it was worth the excursion!

Now on to this week...it was fairly uneventful, except when I broke my key in the door of the building and freaked out. It's ok, I got a new one, but not before my landlord lecturing me...

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This weekend was quite the adventure! Mary and I had planned a nice little weekend. We were going to meet downtown to take the South Shore train to South Bend...but, after a few mishaps, we did not make it, and we were quite sad. So instead, we went back out to the suburbs, got Mary's car, and made it to South Bend by midnight! We first went to Beaubien's house, had some drinks, and walked to the Backer.

The triumphant return to the Backer! It was glorious! Well...wait...

Good: Cover was only $4!!
Bad: They wouldn't let us get purple rains with the drink tickets! (I hope this is not a new trend)
Good: We got long islands instead. And then people gave me purple rains.
Bad: They played Total Eclipse of the Heart and Bethany wasn't there.
Good: So I sang it with Peter Brandt instead!
Bad: The alien came out of Dave's stomach.
Good: Miley
Good: They played Africa! I requested it...of course.
Bad: No, my phone wasn't ringing.
Good: Dancing
Bad: Being smashed by Dave and Brian while dancing.
Good: No, wait...it was amazing. Because they have big penises. Three or four feet, to be exact. Or so says Dave. (No, I did not actually see this for myself. Thankfully. I am skeptical. Haha.)
Bad: I am kind of Brian's nemesis.
Good: He actually called me back the next day and almost went to the dunes with us.
Bad: He didn't actually go to the dunes with us.
Good: Carrie and Ryan were there!
Good: They had an after party!
Bad: The after party lasted til 6am...so late/early!
Good: We slept til noon.
Good: Beaubien made us lunch, and his house feels like it's in the country (compared to living in the city).
Bad: It got hot outside
Good: We went to ND and walked around campus. We saw some friends in a coffee table book at the bookstore. I bought THE SHIRT. We also saw The Shirt the Billboard on our way to South Bend.
Bad: I was an alumna, therefore no longer a student...sad?
Good: I got to walk up the steps of the main building and Mary didn't!

So after that, we went to the dunes. We accidentally got lost in some neighborhood, but eventually found the "real" beach. The water smelled kind of fishy, but you could see Chicago's skyline in the distance...and Gary, IN...ew. We spent most of the time napping in the soft, soft sand. Mmmm....I love sand. My legs hurt when walking off the beach because it was so think!

After a nice dinner at a Fazoli's rest stop (I love their Club Submarinos), we made our way home, and here I am, exhausted. Hopefully I will get some sleep this weekend, and that would be wonderful. I can't wait to go back to the Backer when more of my friends are in town...it could be even more like old times!