Sunday, September 26, 2010

I live to simulate another day...


So SIM got done Friday at 9:10pm and I promptly went to get my fun on. Power hour at Brant's is always a good way to start the night. :) Actually before that I took a break to have Birthday dinner with Kyle. He took me to 4Olives which is swanky-er than I knew. It was AMAZING. He also brought me flowers. Very pretty ones...
See? :)

He's a nice boy. Anyway, the rest of the weekend was pretty much engulfed by sports. The cats won but I didn't see it live because of the crazy weather and my wimpy outlook on said weather. But it was ok because watching it at Leslie's over pizza sitting on a couch was much more enjoyable than sitting through the end of the cold and then through some steamy heat and burning sun to watch my cats play like a high school team and just pull out the win in the end. Anyway I digress. We spent some time with Preston (Kyle's BFF) and his family that evening and then some more time with friends in Aggieville. Today we watched the Chiefs game at Tubby's (again with Preston and his girlfriend Alex) before Kyle left for home. They won too. Which is good because I figure Kyle would be crabby if they lost. He'll be in fine gloating mode since my Broncos lost too. Awesome for me. Anyway. I digress again. This evening I went to play flag football for my department. It was double header night and we just couldn't pull out a win to save ourselves. But true to our unofficial name, we will show continuous improvement (team Kaizen!). Football is always fun even when we lose.

We get our next SIM project tomorrow (it's technically posted now but I'm too scared to look at it) and I have to knock out a quick CAM lab report tomorrow before class so tomorrow is shaping up to be super fun. On the bright side, Stacey brought me cookies tonight for my birthday so I have those to look forward to...

PS Chicago pictures are uploading and I'll try to pick out highlights to post soon. I'm just too tired to do it now.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Windy City Love Song

So when I last left you, dear reader (Mom), we were on our way to Gino's East. It was amazing. After Gino's, Taberie, myself, and the boys went to go find Coyote Ugly. Bad news is, it's been closed for at least a year. Good news is, it was located right next to a couple other clubs. People, my lady bits were far too covered for me to have been there (in my Sperry's and Cardigan to boot!) and paying $9 for a drink just made it all the more... uh... special. Let's go with that.

Friday we spent most of our day at the trade show. Good times. It was a lot of walking and my normally comfy dress shoes wore a blister in my heel. Irritating. Saw lots of neat stuff (mostly reruns from last time but still worth looking at) and had fun running around with the other K-Staters. After we finished up there we headed down to the US Cellular Stadium for a Sox game. We didn't get to see a win but it was lots of fun and we got a free hat for 1/2 way to St. Patty's day (I love that Chicago celebrates 1/2 St. Patty's day). After the game we grabbed some beverages from the 7 Eleven across from the hotel and just enjoyed our own cheap company for the evening.

This morning we got up and headed up north to Murphy's Bleachers to watch the ISU game with the other K-Staters living in Chicago. It was a great time and as always we ate too much. It was a long ride home on the El (I have no idea how I'm supposed to spell that but whatever... it's short for elevated I think) feeling so stuffed but after a win for the Cats (again!) I can't complain. After we got back we took a long scenic (we stopped in Millennium Park!) walk over to the Sears (Ok Willis but no one calls it that) Tower to see the view. We got to stand in the new glass boxes that hang over the edge and take artsy pictures of each other and the Chicago skyline. Good times. Afterward we went to go stuff ourselves at Hackney's and we ended dinner by deciding to walk back home after all (we needed the exercise bad) and we got to see the crazy sculpture that looks like a baboon. I'll put up a picture later...

Tomorrow we depart at 10 to head back home. The highlight will likely be the World's Largest Truck Stop in Iowa. I missed it on the way up in favor of not getting out because I was sleeping. Judge me if you want but those 3 hours brought me to almost 8 and I survived the rest of the day because of it! It's gonna be a long day.

Pictures of the trip will get put up...when they get put up. This week SIM is due so it may be ill advised to hold your breath. It'll happen though.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Chi-ca-GO!

We arrived in Chicago this morning after touring ArmaLite on the way in (they make rifles...damn good ones!). We drove all night so I needed a shower and a nap like nobody's business but we couldn't check in to our rooms until 3 so we had to kill an hour. We walked down to Navy Pier just to look around and then came back for said naps and showers. Oh and before we did anything we ate at Hot Doug's. Amazing hot dog place. Go there. Seriously. North side of Chicago. Do it.

Next up on the agenda is the Hancock building and then dinner at (I think) Gino's East (I could be mistaken but I guess if I am I could just lie to you). Probably play it a bit low key this evening so we can enjoy the trade show tomorrow but I guess we'll see...

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

It's been...one week (since you looked at me)

Ok so it's been another week (and another W for the Cats! Holla!) and I have (again) not much to report. Especially since I've called to talk to Mom and she's about the only person reading this on the regular (no offence to anyone else using this for some attempt at entertainment but I have doubts you exist).

I had a traumatic experience the other day while dropping off my rent. I was marching over to my landlady's house next door in the light rain (rain being relevant because I was just in a hurry to get this job done and get back inside) when I stepped on something that made a fantastic crunchy sound. I didn't pause to look at whatever it was and just wondered what it could have been. On my way back down the driveway I found to my dismay it had been a snail. This is distressing for a couple of reasons. 1) I killed something. Poor innocent little snail never saw it coming. 2) I like snails (at least in theory, I haven't really had many real life experiences with them). They're cute. I know they're pests but that little swirly shell is just kinda nifty. And I smushed it. I am sure Karma is on the prowl and has my number. I'm just waiting for the hit.

Tonight I had dinner with a rep from Conoco Phillips (free dinner at Harry's Uptown. FREE! Ritzy and FREE!) and a few other ladies from the college of engineering. It was pretty dang good and I wish I could afford to eat there more often. Also I think I may be in love with Conoco Phillips so bonus points there. I'm gonna try to work some game on them at career fair next week. Better dust off the ol' resume...

In the larger events category, Susan leaves this week. I'll be on a trip (I'll get to that) so I won't actually be there when the band-aid is ripped off but we keep having send off's and farewells and it's painfully real that she's leaving. Damn you Virginia Tech and your better title and pay increase. Damn you. Tomorrow we're going to the famous Brookville for all you can eat fried chicken tomorrow for a final goodbye. I swear it's like we're trying to force ourselves to have a proper anxiety attack over this with all these goodbyes. That or we're trying to get me to put on a second spare tire. Either way I don't like it.

On a happier note, it's time again for our SME trip to IMTS (International Manufacturing Trade Show) which is in Chicago! My bestie Andrew won't be there (doing work crap in TX which is super lame and just terrible timing) in spite of the fact that he moved away from me to be in Chicago. Whatever. It's still going to be a fun trip. We get to walk around a HUGE convention center full of kick-ass stuff (water-jet cutters, CNC machines, laser inspection equipment, and the list goes on!) and spend time exploring Chicago. We're also planning on a baseball game (beer and hot dogs!) and we'll tour ArmaLite on the way there (they make rifles!). Gonna be a sweet trip. I'll report back later (probably much later because when I get back I'll have a lot of catching up to do). We leave tomorrow night and don't come back until Sunday night (soooo much driving). Unfortunately that means I'm doing laundry right now to prepare. Ugh.

So anyway I'm going to fold some of said laundry now. Oh the exciting life I lead...

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Holy AWOL Batman

So I've been effectively ignoring this sucker for a while. My bad. It's not like I have such a whirlwind lifestyle that I can't update, in fact it's more the opposite. I am doing nothing worth talking about and then when I do I am busy doing that thing and can't tell you about it. I also usually forget to tell any good stories after the fact. Blogging may not be my calling...

Things I think that might be worth mentioning (sorry if I'm wrong):

Robbie got an office... mine! We are now office mates! It's gonna be awesome. By awesome I mean we'll get nothing done. Oh well. It'll be fun.

I learned a new recipe: eggplant bruschetta... it's amazing. Like life changing. I had never really eaten much eggplant so I was just feeling adventurous and it turned out phenomenally. If you want to have your life changed please see one of my new fave food blogs: smittenkitchen.com specifically http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/08/eggplant-salad-toasts/print/ . Hang on to your butts people. It's gonna blow your mind. Also see http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/11/mustard-roasted-potatoes/ if there's anything left of your brain... these will polish it off.

I visited Kyle at the end of August for a wedding and I have now been to Power and Light! It's pretty fun... basically an upscale version of Aggieville. Good times.

This past weekend we put a tally in the win column for the Wildcats... always a good time. I had forgotten how much I missed gameday... tailgating before hand, standing in the sun while I get burnt to a crisp, cheering for the cats and telling the refs how to do their job... ahh... so glad it's fall again.

Last night we went to watch Fiddler on the Roof...on the roof of Fiedler Hall. Yea. I know. A laptop, a projector, and 70 ft. of extension cord require an epic venue. Mission accomplished.

So all in all it's been a semi-eventful couple weeks. Hope you don't feel cheated by not getting this info live. Trust me...it wouldn't have been much more interesting in multiple installments.