O'Hare airport three times

So yesterday we go to drop Nikki off at the airport and then we drove home. But she missed her flight, so we drove back and then drove home again. Then this morning, we drove her there again and came back again.

Intense.

But what this really is about is that part in Love Actually is true. Everything at the airport, whether you're dropping people off or picking people up, involves love.

And I got really sappy about it this morning. I just thought everyone should know.

Can our mixed babies be friends with each other?

I already separately asked Steph that, but you know. I will continue to ask until it actually happens.

So Christmas came and went and I was super sad. I haven't updated because I've been busy not being on the computer and it is such a blessing to not be on the computer. I hate that we have become some computer dependent, especially for things like communicating or making plans. Helloooooooooooo. We all have cell phones. (Seriously, I don't think I know anyone who doesn't have a cell phone. My 8 year old brother has one.)

Anywho, I have been having a fabulous time. I thought for sure last week when I felt things weren't going my way, I was going to be crying all the time. Not so. I just breathed deeply a lot and everything was fine. And it worked out fabulously. Seriously.

this was a good year for buying gifts this year for people, especially my mother. We got her a microwave cause she wanted one and we also made her a picture frame and put some of her favorite pictures of us in it. She cried, obvi and sometimes I look at my mom and just hope that I love my kids that much. I'm sure I will, it's just nice to have someone always love you.

Uhm, what else? Cookie orgy was small this year, but still fun. I was exhausted cause I had to workt hat day. Christmas eve was fun, played Apples to Apples Jr. with my little cousins (a gift I also picked out) and my cousin Justice just kept saying "I LOVE this game" over and over. Very good. I'm glad that we got them an educational game to keep them entertained. Although, my dad bought them a Wii, so they probably won't play Apples to Apples that often. Christmas was also very good, I got A LOT of clothes and cookbooks! My fav. And had fun with my family.

We went to Claim Jumper for dinner on Friday night with Shirley and Chris (aka my favorite married couple aka the only married couple that I'm friends with). It was pretty exciting and DELICIOUS as per usual. Maybe I got a little crazy, drank 3 drinks at dinner. Whatever. One was for dessert. Then we went to Bogart's, which was effing hilarious. I was expecting an old people's bar and walked in and they were playing "Low." So, so wrong. There were soooooo many people from high school and Paul set it all up so props to him and hope that the blasian is still alive. Last night we did a power hour. I only did half, if only because all I had for dinner was a smoothie and cheese fries. I have the not hungry disease again, but at least I know why I have it. Oh, but I also didn't want to be embarrassing, which I tend to do.

I have one christmas present left and I am too excited to get it. I know what it is, Veronica Mars Season 3. YES. Michael is getting it for me, but I won't tell him what I'm getting him. I know, I'm the best friend ever.

But owning Veronica Mars Season 3 will come in handy for when a week and a half from now I stay in my house and go into a emotion coma and just watch all three seasons of Veronica Mars.
Or the bootleg Wonder Years dvds I got.
Yeah. You know you want to watch them.

Baby It's Freezing Outside...

It's freezing out. Literally. But also. I am trying to be happy.
BECAUSE IT'S THE SEASON TO BE HAPPY.


right right right
i have to work the next two days, hit me in the face now

Baby It's Cold Outside

It's freezing out. Literally. But also. I am trying to be happy.
BECAUSE IT'S THE SEASON TO BE HAPPY.


right right right
i have to work the next two days, hit me in the face now

Baby It's Cold Outside

So I just got home at 9. You ask, was I working late? No. Was I in a car accident? No. But I was actually stuck in traffic for four and a half hours. I feel like I might die. What really sucks about it is that I only have an hour and a half of time to myself, relaxing before I have to pass out so that I can wake up tomorrow and drive to work again.
Le sigh. At least tomorrow I have stuff to look forward to. Like dinner with Alisha and Brian! And possibly bowling with CHC. I love CHC so I hope so.

Anywho, during my personal relaxation time (aka right now) I have uploaded pictures on facebook but I'm also watching that new dating show Momma's Boys. Idk why. I usually hate dating shows, I think people who go on dating shows looking for true love are strange and I feel as if I don't appreciate them. Anyway, the mothers are on here trying to help their sons find a woman, blah blah blah and the mothers made videos about what kind of woman they want for their sons. And the one woman THE ONE WOMAN in her video said that she said she does not want a black woman, a jewish woman, a fat woman, a tall woman or an asian woman for her son. How ridiculous. Part of me wishes, HOPES that this woman is just doing this to cause drama on television but I think part of me also makes me know that it is probably not true. Anyway. Things like this make me sad, you know. Cause of my life. Aka it's a sad constant worry all the time. But also, this woman gets her comuppance cause her son sure is making out with a black woman in the preview
BOGUS

anyway. i have to go to sleep in like fifteen minutes. Which sucks. I hate this week until tomorrow.

Oh Billy

I was going to make a post about how nice it is that Chipotle is getting in on trying to become environmentally sustainable and just sustainable in general and about how I'm reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle or even, how excited I am for Friday when everyone is coming back and how I've been working out so I can try to be slim and trim for make-out sessions or even how I'm sad that in a week and two days I won't be able to listen to Christmas music anymore and then this happened:

The most ridiculous thing to happen to me today

honestly. just go 2 minutes into it. and then laugh hysterically

My Body Stay Vicious I be Up in the Gym Just Working on My Fitness

She's my witness...ooooooooo weeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Anyway, so I went and worked out today. Which is not anything new, I LOVE working out. Seriously, I think it's some inherent fatal flaw or something. In any case, as many of us know, I also LOVE dancing. Naturally, I dance and work out at the same time. So today, I was on the elliptical and I was dancing and BOOM I knocked my iPod down. There were guys walking by at the time and they saw and made fun of me and then I was embarrassed. But then I started thinking, why? Why am I embarrassed? Why should I be? I'm working out, I'm trying to burn as many calories as possible which means that dancing and doing the elliptical at the same time is ok. Also, those guys were 16 or 17 and I'm grown. Like, I shouldn't be worried about what people a.) I don't know and b.) younger than me think about myself.

But this led me to wonder about why everyone is embarrassed when working out. Maybe not everyone is, but I think there are a high amount of people who are embarrassed. For instance, in college I didn't go work out when I knew that the sports teams were going to be in the gym becuase I didn't want them to see me. Why? I mean, that one kind of makes sense because my school was so small and I saw someone I knew everytime I was in there. But I think that working out is one of those personal things that is just kind of awkward. For instance, you're using and moving your body in a way that people don't usually see it move, in clothes you don't usually wear and you're sweating. None of these sound particularly attractive, so I guess this embarrassment makes complete and total sense.

It's still effing weird though.

This Place is a Prison

So. I am trying not to talk too much about Blagojevich just because I don't think I'm well versed enough in any kind of politics to eloquently explain exactly what I am trying to say and also, I think I voted for him once (I mean, the alternative was Judy Baar Topinka, who in retrospect might have been a good choice). HOWEVER, I will say that I am offended when peopel who are not from Illinois or Chicago, for that matter say to me "Illinois does not care about corrupt politics." And while I think/coudl see that this is possibly true HOWEVER generalizations never go the way that you want them. Isn't something that we learned that generalizations aren't a good way to go about talking about people? Doesn't this statement about Illinois and it's people and their politics reek of some kind of prejuidice? Isn't it not fair to say this about everyone? I can answer that last question with YES it's not fair. I for one am very offended that this is happening and am very offended that our elected official has let us down in many other ways other than this specific instance. In fact, isn't it ok to say that this is almost the icing on the cake? Can't we say that we all pretty much saw this coming? I think it's safe to say yes, but that it's still disappointing none the less. No one is not angry, no one is alright with this happening. So for someone to say that to me is a little offensive, I think. I think it's safe to say that something new in Chicago needs to happen and happen quick.

This post is brought to you by Anderson Cooper, Rachel Maddow and the fact that I keep hearing my fellow Americorps members bashing Chicago/Chicago Style Hot Dogs.

My people are nordic

It is a running theme of my life that sometimes when I'm out at bars, I have an extremely dead face on. Rather, I show no emotion whatsoever, even when I'm with friends and having fun. For instance, just this Friday, I was at the bar waiting to get a drink when a man at the bar starts talking to me and is like "What's the problem?" and I'm like "Nothing."
"Life is too short and you're too pretty to not be smiling. Smile! You're at a bar!"
So I smiled for him because naturally, that's what he wanted. So I tried to be cheerful, really, I do. When he left, he told me to keep smiling because I was the most beautiful girl in the bar (which, to be kind of honest, was quite possibly true).

In any case, this is not the first time this had happens to me. Even people I'm friends with have asked me what's wrong; usually thought, it's older males who tell me to smile. This type of thing also happened on Mad Men to January Jones' character Betty. The guy was like, your face is just so sad to which she replied "My people are nordic."

I said this once when someone remarked I looked sad while at a party, but no one got it.

Oh baby baby if you seek amy tonight OH

Oh Britney Spears. On Sunday, I watched her special Britney: For the Record. I was really excited about it, because duh, I love Britney Spears. However, it really just ended up being kind of depressing, in that Britney's life is kind of depressing. And when I say "depressing" I mean it really, really is. In a section of "For the Record", she tries to go shopping in SoHo. She gets out of the car and there are sooooooooo many paparazzi that she freaks out and you hear her say, over and over "I'm scared. I'm scared." And then they get back in the car and leave. And that sucks. Cause she can't even really get out of the car for fear of like ridiculous amounts of people.

And I know what you're thinking: how can you feel sympathy for this girl? She wanted to be a celebrity, she did this to herself.

And yeah, I'll respond, she did. However, that doesn't mean that she shouldn't be afforded the things in life that we take for granted. She's one of the most followed celebrities in America. I'm sure of it. Even when nothing is going on in her life, there are cameras all over her. And yeah, I know part of it is part of being a celebrity, but it's still really sad. Plus, I like Britney. She may or may not have something wrong in her head, but that doesn't mean that we should follow her around. She does need to have some semblance of life or as she put it "I used to be cool and single."

I mean. Let's just all support Britney.

Originally, this was going to be another post about how awesome Alex Quigley is, but the he didn't play "Possum Kingdom" by the Toadies for me, so now it's about Britney. Expect the rant about Twilight and how it is simultaneously lifting women up and moving the feminist movement back about 50 years. It's coming soon.

Wake Up, Wake Up, Wake Up, It's the first of the month

So it's December. I already had broken the cardinal rule of not listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving, so today there was really nothing to look forward except that it snowed. Like a lot. And it took me two hours to get to work aka I was late.

Then a bird pooped on me.

Just like that. And I wasn't even freaked out because I had my hood up and I just thought it was some wet snow that fell on me, like an ice and mush mix that was dripping off of the roof.
But no. It was actual bird poop. I also walked through one of the health centers with bird poop on me and no on bothered to tell me. I'm sure someone saw it. Like seriously. It was all on my hood, all down the back of my coat. It was obvious.

Now, I know that some people believe that if a bird poops on you, it's good luck. However, I would say that I have already gotten pooed on this year, at graduation. While in my cap and gown, outside, waiting to leave my row. Poo. On my head, on my sunglasses on my program. Bird poo. I still can't say if that luck has gotten to me yet, or if I'm still waiting. I was all about the luck from that time I got pooed on and suffice to say, I don't think it's happened yet.
Unless both of these times are just going to add up and then I'm going to have super duper fantastically good luck for the rest of my life, and then I won't complain.

I'm not a girl...not yet a woman

On Friday night, I came home and "Crossroads" was on. It was pretty much almost the perfect semi-end of Thanksgiving break.

Just kidding, but it was legit.

Yesterday, I bought the Jenny Lewis cd "Acid Tongue." I like it a lot. What came in the cd is like snapshots of them making the cd, and there is a picture of Jenny Lewis and Zooey Deschanel and now I really just want to be their friends for forever. Seriously. They are adorable and I bet funny.

Edited to Add:

WHY I'M GOOD ON PAPER BUT NOT IN REAL LIFE (Dating Edition):
1.) I love sports. I am a girl
2.) I drink beer
3.) I belch out loud sometimes
4.) Did I mention I'm a beer girl?
5.) I sometimes wear glasses that could be interpreted as "sexy librarian lenses"
6.) I'm hot (no seriously. It's true)
7.) I'm not high-maintenance
8.) I like boys. A lot.

Ok, 8 was a give away but seriously. This list is true.

Have you heard, the bird is the word! The bird bird bird the bird is the word

I had a pretty ridiculous weekend, which means that it was AWESOME.
Let's just say that there are documented pictures of this and that also, it's difficult to try to pee on Wrigley Field when you're hanging out with a bunch of cubs fans.
I guess that was A-number one the first problem with that life plan.

I really have nothing else to say, I'm getting less and less witty as the commute time in my car gets higher and higher.
However, Gas is fucking cheap, so someone's winning.
And that person would be me.

I Will Be Your Accident, If You Will Be My Ambulance

So today I caught myself leaving work 10 minutes early so I could beat traffic. Also, everyone had left work way earlier than me but I had a dilemma that I don't even care to repeat cause it's stupid. Anyway, so I was like "YES! I'll be home so much earlier, I'll beat the traffic!"

Then I turn on the radio and Alex Quigley (who I adore, by the way) was like "There was an accident on the Dan Ryan. Sorry Southsiders." (He legit called us Southsiders too, I was like awesome)

But, what this is really about is the fact that when Alex Quigley said there was an accident I thought "fuck, why can't people actually fucking drive. God dammit."
And then immediately I felt bad for not worrying about the people involved in the accident first. What if they were dead? Like, why am I a bad person?
Maybe I'm not though.
It's prob cause I have to drive home everyday and it's starting to slowly kill me along with the fact that my generalized anxiety disorder makes me think about one thing and one thing only over and over and over again.
Sorry about the abbreviations.

And after we got done, I said lady what's ya numba she said 911 hahaha...emergency only

I had two girls today look me in the eye and tell me that lil' wayne was more attractive than chris brown.
also, one of them said "sorry to say, but chris brown is gay." to which I said "chris brown is sooooooo not gay. but if he was, that'd be ok."

picture it, the future: erica getting fired because she told some kids that it's ok to be gay.

anywho
it's only tuesday? seriously?
i want the week to be over and quick.

seriously? lil' wayne?
i even asked them "have you looked at his face?"
seriously. that man, while talented, is NOT attractive.
as my grandmother would say he looks like "who shot john and forgot to kill him"

I don't want to be anything other than what I've been trying to be lately

One of my greatest life downfalls, if you will, is that I LOVE One Tree Hill.
Seriously. I can't get enough of it.

Pretty much here's how it happened: in high school, I watched pretty much any tv show on the WB. You name it, I was probably all over it at one point or another. I recognized that these shows were bad, but still. I watched. I also (and this is life's greatest embarrassment) watched TRL all the time. Mainly because I watched since its inception and also because I liked to complain about how TRL played crappy music and not the whole music video. I was semi-elitist as a teen, and hell, probably still am. Anywho, Hilarie Burton was a VJ on TRL and then all of a sudden she was like "you know. I used to be a psych major and then MTV gave me this sweet job so now I'm totally going to try to be an actress." She landed a gig on One Tree Hill, I started watching.
The rest, as they say, is history.

And yes. Part of the reason I watched this show in the past was to make fun of it. Once I got to college, it was purely for comical purposes and also because Megan thought Hilarie Burton was hot. (I would have to disagree, as I am whole-heartedly a Sophia Bush fan). However, I stopped watching because a.) I was in college. I SUPPOSEDLY was doing work and b.) It just got too ridiculous.
Which leads me to now. I started watching this season but then Heroes started coming on so I stopped. Then I stopped watching Heroes altogether because it sucks (very sad) and now I just tool around on the interwebs during the One Tree Hill time slot. However, there is a channel that feeds my One Tree Hill addiction, and that channel is SOAP Net. Quite possibly the greatest invention ever, on Saturday and Sunday Mornings, SOAP Net plays marathons (literally, about six-eight hours) of Beverly Hills 90210 (the original) and One Tree Hill.
They just feed the addiction, which leads me to watching these shows at all times.

Note: Over the summer, SOAP Net also fed my addiction to crappy teenage dramas by playing 2 hours of One Tree Hill, 2 hours of The O.C. and 2 hours of Beverly Hills, 90210. In a row. Everyday. This is how I spent my time when I didn't have a job. I pretty much miss it everyday.

It's Christmastime in the city...

Oh wait. No it's not, because it's November. And not yet because Thanksgiving hasn't even passed. I was debating and thinking in my mind that maybe the mall is trying to hype people into buying gifts to help stimulate our economy. It's probably not true, but you know. They're trying to get some dinero too. I mean, I helped our economy today by buying a BCBG dress. True effing story, you know. It was on sale! 60. SIXTY DOLLARS.
Ridic.

Anywho, I am all in the Christmas spirit now, planning presents for people and debating what to get whom and when to actually start buying. There was that brief period of time when I didn't like Christmas and I've gotten over that and am obsessed with it. It probably doesn't help that my dad is a jehovah's witness who no longer celebrates it anymore, but different strokes for different folks, know what I'm saying?

Also, the doctor who preview for the christmas special didn't help and nor does continuing to talk about Love Actually.

Up next: Resisting the urge to listen to Christmas songs.

We all go to work

So. I love to commute. And when I say commute, I'm talking taking the metra-el-and bus deal, I'm not talking about getting stuck in traffic for two hours to drive 23 miles. No. That's not what I'm saying.
I'm saying that I love riding on trains. And, I have recently come to love riding buses too, which is strange. I know. But mainly, what I really love about commuting is the walking I have to do between these modes of transportation and my destination.
Take for instance, today. I took the metra and then I had to take the blue line to get to UIC. Not difficult. My walk down Michigan Avenue is always interesting, in that there are so many thoughts that run through my mind: Is it really this cold out? Should I buy a newspaper? Is that homeless man staring at me because I'm hot or because he wants to rip my purse out of my hand and see if there is a sandwich? Shit, my shoe is untied. Is it completely ridiculous to stop on Michigan Avenue to tie my shoes? Shit though. I should do it. GD, it's colder than I thought. Oh, hey hottie. Do you go to DePaul Law School? Do you want my number?

Things to that extent. (BTW, I did tie my shoes on Michigan, only to have the shoelaces come undone and have to stop on Jackson to tie them. I'm sure I looked like a right fool.)

Commuting gives you a certain comradere with strangers that you don't normally have. Everyone walking around has a destination, and at 8 o'clock in the morning that destination is either work or school. Plus, that's when the most people are out. Have you been on Jackson and Michigan after 8pm?
Shit's like the fucking desert. Except without the sand and stuff.

But I love walking and listening to music. It's like number three on the "Things Rico Likes to Do". Ok, it might be number 5. Shortly behind Eat, Watch Baseball, Drink Beer and Sleep. That actually is probably the correct order.

Seriously

I'm going to try to stay away from the emo, I swear.