been a while. 2 months, to be exact. here’s the run down:

1. great shows: i got to see the get up kids do a 10 year reunion show, and david bazan came to chicago and played at a spectacular new venue.

2. we went to nashville and i ran another half marathon. it got warm and my legs felt horrible for the last 3 miles, but i cut 17 minutes off my previous time and finished in 2:13. was a good day.

3. we got another dog. she’s a corgi mix, so stocky and really short. she is getting into the routine a little more every day - i think hershey is a great influence.

4. made my first ever thanksgiving dinner - turkey with a spice rub, chipotle cornbread stuffing, sweet potatos au gratin with leeks and glazed carrots. success!

5. i’m super excited to have some time off work. this year has been grueling at times, but in a good kind of way. hoping next year is a little more laid back - first trip already on the calendar - santa monica in january. i like it.

6. early bday present - 88 key weighted keyboard. i got this on friday and have probably spent at least 8 hours playing since then. its really the first time i’ve played since 1998, so needless to say, some brushing up is in order.

now if you’ll excuse me, i have 10 years of missed hanon exercises to make up for.

girl 1: so my health insurance is all messed up
girl 2: why? what happened?
girl 1: i don’t know. well i do know. HR kept sending me meeting invites about our cafeteria plan
girl 2: yeah? what does that have to do with anything?
girl 1: exactly. i was like “so we have a new cafeteria system for lunch. i’ll figure it out, i don’t need to go to the meeting”, so i didn’t go to any of the 3 meetings they scheduled. well it turns out, that was the meeting where they talked about our benefits.

confession: i was at the saucer last night in nashville. a song was sung. that song was the growing pains theme song. i’m pleading the 5th on whether or not dc talk was involved.

dear chicago marathon,

i hate you for being so hot the year that i decide to run and so cold the year that i don’t. i also hate you for my toenail which has still not recovered from last year. and the 3 months of physical therapy. and the end of the race where there is no crowd except a few random people yelling blatant lies like “you’re almost there” and “looking good”.

i don’t regret skipping you this year, but you better watch your back because i’m coming for you. someday. when you least expect it.

xoxo,
crystal

ps. i got a shot of this year’s winner at mile 7!

don’t freak out, i didn’t get fired again. but i do work from home again. our company asked the two of us if we’d be willing to make the jump to home office and we were totally up for it. this is nice, as i’m training for a half marathon in nashville next month (yikes) and i can do my runs midday. i usually have a decent number of meetings during the day, and all my coworkers are on IM, so its easy to stay in touch, but i will admit that i made it from 8am to 3.30pm one day this week without uttering a word aloud.

i consider it one step closer to my lifelong goal of becoming a hermit.

the fda banned cloves today. that’s right, they’re illegal. i’m not “a smoker” but i buy a pack of cloves once a year, in the fall. its kind of a tradition. if its 45-60 degrees, kind of misty out, they’re perfect. last year’s pack still has two left.

but as of tomorrow, i become an illegal drug trafficker as i comb the city trying to find out where to buy some.

strangely enough, smoking a clove is now illegal, but the CTA and mcdonald’s have paired up to deliver us free 800 calorie burgers tomorrow, complete with 41 grams of fat.

at least before we could choose our own poison.

all my favorite bands of yesteryear seem to be celebrating 10 year anniversaries of pivotal albums that i loved when i was 20.

i just got tickets to see the get up kids. they are going to play something to write home about start to finish. this makes me want to scream in a high pitched very girly voice.

first, jimmy eat world, now this. also on deck for the next month: david bazan and mute math. come to find out, sunny day real estate is here on thursday, but we can’t seem to secure tickets at a reasonable price. that is pretty much my last missing piece for “concerts i wish i’d have gotten to go to in the late 90’s early 2000’s, but didn’t”. blast.

what is going on?

exhibit a: david bazan’s recent search volume

exhibit b: david bazan on abc news?

i can’t lie. i really like the state of iowa. between the iowa state fair on sunday, and meals that rival thanksgiving dinner for business lunches, these people know how to pack some food away. my perceptions of iowa were shattered, though, in two ways:

1. the life sized butter cow (pics to come) at the fair is NOT made of solid butter.
2. the windmills in charming pella iowa are FIVE YEARS OLD. apparently a few years back they realized they could make some $$ by playing up the dutch-factor of their town (you should see the “v” section of the phone book…), so its all a facade. very epcot-like

even that won’t ruin iowa for me though. i ate filet mignon at a restaurant called Udders last night, where you grill your own meat. it is in the middle of nowhere. literally. there are no other businesses or buildings for that matter in sight. when we came out, it was pitch black. a little creepy, but i’m ok with it. you don’t get a lot of pitch black in chicago.

i had perhaps the most intimidating moment of my career on this trip. 3 of us had to do an executive presentation. i’m not sure what i thought ‘executive’ meant, but the night before as i was updating my slides it came to my knowledge that this meant the CEO, CFO, CIO, and 10 of their colleagues. um, what? this wasn’t really concerning to me until the part where i was waiting outside the board room (yes, it looked exactly as you think it did) and noticed the fortune 100 magazine covers all over the walls. one of my contacts at the company leans over and in a very serious voice says “this is a BIG deal”. of course they had questions for me, but it was pretty easy stuff and i didn’t choke. whew.

ready to be home. i’ve been told at least 6 times this week “you look really tired”. ugh!

its the home stretch. two flights today, one more on wednesday and i’m done.

after flying home from nashville this morning, i managed to sneak in a trip to the greek festival that happens about 2 blocks from where we live. pastichio, grilled chicken, salad, and a whole assortment of pastries. it was so good, i had a conversation with myself about it while i was eating.

hopped a cab to o’hare, where my plane caught on fire. we flew in it anyway. every non-southwest flight makes me love southwest a little more.

upon arriving in des moines, the fun started. you might be mocking me right now: “ha - what kind of FUN did you have in des moines?” said fun included a trip to the iowa state fair:

1. ribbon tater fries
2. hand dipped home made chocolate ice cream
3. journey. live and in concert.

yeah you heard me right. betcha wish you were in iowa tonight, huh? also on the menu(not all consumed by me personally): deep fried twinkies, deep fried oreos, deep fried snickers, walking tacos (small bag of doritos crushed up, add taco parts), chicken lips (fingers), a whole lot of corn dogs, gyros, and a fried pickle with cream cheese covered in pastrami.

points awarded to iowa.