Wine,wine and more wine

After buying Vincent some python cowboy boots,we decided to try a new wine bar in Humbolt Park,an area of Chicago Vincent and I had not explored yet.....As we are walking thru the area,we realize that

1.Way too many crazy churches

2.Its a crappy area

So we decided to hop in a cab (which of course took forever,because it was such a crappy area!) and went to our favorite Webster wine bar.....

Sooooo gooooood.........

Male ponytail

Vincent's hair has finally become so long,that he needs to put it in a ponytail.....

I think its kinda sexy....

LOVE

Sometimes I think Vincent loves Dieudone more than anything else in this crazy world......Look at these two......If that ain't love then what is?!.......

Margarita's

So after my "hearing" on Wednesday,Vincent,Evelyne,Wayne and I went for margarita's and Mexican food....I think I remember the food being delicious and the pitcher of margarita's went down quite nicely......

My husband

I went to surprise Vincent at the bus stop yesterday....and I am waiting and waiting and no Vincent,until I get a phone call from my husband,asking where the hell I am!....He got off at a different bus stop,and tells me to get home now!

So I get home,open the door,and this is what I see:the love of my life,waiting with a glass of wine (for me!) and a bouquet of roses......

How lucky did I get?........

Snow and bad hair

After the glorious sunny days we had the past couple of days,we wake up to this:SNOW and Blizzard weather conditions....Welcome to Chicago...

yesterday,we tried out a new bar on Buena...pretty nice,good food (french fries and sausage) and a very strong Old Fashioned for Vincent....

This morning we are taking it easy (Vincent on the couch,blogging...) and this afternoon,Marcellus is coming over for drinks and dinner.

Insomnia and blue skies

Vincent has had a bout of insomnia the last two weeks....We were both trying to figure out why,and thinking of all the reasons why the famous snoozebucket is incapable of sleeping...when his colleague Helen came up with a real simple reason:

Mr snoozebucket has been drinking tons and tons of coffee at work,which he normally does not do,during his months of leisure...thus the insomnia.

Last night,Vincent met me at the Duke for a pint after work (ok,I had the pint,and Vincent had his favorite old fashions (lots of Bourbon!) a couple of chicken tenders,chicken wings and fries,great conversation,and by the time we came home,he fell into bed,and slept solid for 8hours...

He was a happy man when he woke up this morning.

On a different note,the weather has been beautiful here,so hence the picture of blue skies,puddies asleep in a sunny basket,and the boys on their new favorite spot,the bathroom window......

Happy Friday!

bus stop

So today,I picked up Vincent from the bus stop,as he was coming home from work....It reminded me,that when I was a little one,my mom,sister and I would pick up my dad from the tram stop in Den Haag,and I loved it!.......

Except today,I decided to treat Vincent to a little dinner and drinks at Ping Pong,a fabulous restaurant in Lakeview,with the best martinis and wine.....We had a blast....How wonderful was it,to pick up my husband,and have an amazing time drinking a few cocktails,have some appetizers,and talk......people in relationships sometimes forget to do that.....dress up and look good for your man!....and talk.......

I love Vincent.

Our Weekend

The weekend was just lovely...On Saturday,Vincent asked me what I wanted for lunch,and I said:"Steak,Ceasar Salad,French Fries and a nice glass of wine...."

After a few strokes on the laptop,Vincent found a lovely steak place,a couple of blocks from us,and we just had a lovely lunch.... Definitely going back there!

On Sunday,we were going to try this little French restaurant in Lincoln Park,however when we got there,we saw so many scheitkokers thru the window,that we quickly ran away,and thank Budha,we were close to our favorite Columbian restaurant,and had a lovely "meatlovers"brunch,with a fabulous glass (or two!) of Malbec (Don Cano 2007....to die for!)

and today I got my paycheck from my soon to be ex job (?)....$112.....how is a human being suppose to live of that?.....

for fun

And my boys always make me happy......Happy St Paddy's day!

Blah

This is how I have been feeling the last two days.....Just BLAH.....

Tattoo #2

Today I got my second tattoo.I got the idea from Andrei Codrescu's book,"New Orleans,mon amour",a must read for all.

For some reason,this tattoo hurt like hell.It only lasted about 20mins,but I nearly fainted from the pain.In comparison,my first tattoo,Frank the demonic rabbit,which took about two hours,was like a walk in the park....Oh well,it was worth the pain!

Thank you Wayne for coming with me.

And yes....I am drinking lots of red wine right now,to ease the pain.

My two husbands

My wonderful,gorgeous,sexy husband.

On top,ready for the work week.

On the bottom,my atheist,literary cowboy (with the customary glass of wine!)

I love them both.

The boys are playing

This weekend Vincent and I were invited for drinks and dinner at The Rietvelds (Marcel,Petra and Sophietje) and as you can tell from the photos,the boys were having a blast playing their favorite game:Guitar Hero.....I tried to play last time,but drumming,strumming or trying to sing to a computer just ain't my forte.....So I just drank the lovely wine and took pictures....

Mypressi

My gift to Vincent recently.The wonderful portable espresso machine called the "Mypressi Twist"

Nothing better than a good run along the lake,coming home and making myself an espresso....

Life is good.

The Shithole

Since Vincent went back to work,it is now MY job to clean the boy's shithole...

Clearly I love my boys,but man,the stuff that comes of them,unbelievable....so here is the lovely me,and my solution:Masks!

Alain Delon and Dieudone

I have mentioned Alain Delon and Dieudone briefly in one of my posts,but for all of those who think we live with French actors and God loving people....wrong!....

Here are my other two loves of my life.Vincent and I adopted these wonderful cats about a year ago from Paws,and our boys make our family complete.At night,Alain will snuggle between Vincent and I,between our heads and Dieudone will come at around 1am,wake us all up,and demand that Vincent lifts his blankets,so he can snuggle up between his legs....(Don't ask,it must be a male thing/smell!)

We are considering a third puddy,which will be named Julien Clerq,however that will have to wait until our move to New Orleans is complete (we are considering adopting Julien from the wonderful New Orleanian author Poppy Z Brite)

Even though Vincent and I can't wait to add to our family,just the thought of driving 16hrs to New Orleans with three cats on the backseat makes me a nervous nelly,so we shall wait......

Run Lola,run....

So after my excruciating yet wonderful run along the lake this morning,I made myself an amazing espresso (bought Vincent this crazy portable espresso machine,called the "mypressi") showered,and got dressed.....

Thats when it all fell apart.I had found some black pants at the "box" yesterday,which had always been too big for me,even in my "fat days"...so I thought,lets wear them today.

Lets not.Hopefully I will be tech savvy enough to post the picture I took....It ain't pretty.

Thank budha,my loving husband is European,and loves a little meat on his lady....albeit,this is a lot of meat!

I am still laughing.......

mortgages,taxes and cleanup

So after my very productive day and lovely run yesterday,I decided to give my poor aching joints a break today,and went to the "box" (that damn studio I stupidly bought,2months before meeting the love of my life...) so I could try and clean it out,and make my real estate agent happy.....

I check my mail over at the "box" and there is that dreaded letter from my mortgage lender (no names mentioned here....) and those "kut met peren mensen" upted my mortgage by$180 a month...all this because some stupid thing called property taxes in Cook county that went up by 800% last year....Do these people not know I might be unemployed in the next 30days?!....

So here I am on the phone (yet again) with the BANK....and I am being told I actually owe much more,and my mortgage will go up even more in the next few months......I told them I was filing for bankruptcy,and that actually made them shut up for a moment.....

So after giving them something to think about,I hung up (politely) and continued with my clean up.Got a lot done,until the management people of the high rise were eying me suspiciously,as according to some bylaw in their book,owners are not allowed to use the elevators for moving things,unless they reserve the elevator for a $125 fee.....yeah right...I am going bankrupt,remember?.....So I quietly retreated to cleaning up the inside of the "box" and throwing things out via the garbage chute (very loudly...)

Got a lot done though,and proudly donated about 4boxes and 6garbage bags of clothes to my favorite store "The Brown Elephant".....Still have a little left to do,but will try again on Thursday...

Vincent is loving his new job as NAFTA director for a non profit outfit,so that makes me happy...although Alain Delon,Dieudone and I miss him during the day...we were so used to having him around!

Cooked a lovely lasagne last night,and tonight leftovers.....Lola is moe!

Tomorrow going for another hour run along the lake,and in the afternoon,Vincent and I will be heading downtown,so he can get his stitches taken out by the lovely Dr.Sparkle.

Day One

I have had 3days to mourn the "loss" of my so called 19year career in corporate America.Even though I been told by the powers to be,that I am still a "valued" employee,I have been relieved of all my duties,whilst being investigated,because I am a "threat" to the company...

Oh,by the way,for all of those who do not know,the short of it is,I mistakenly filled out a computer report,and it cost the company about $39.

Yes,that is the "threat"...After being a stellar employee for 19years,with a personal file of nothing but accolades,I am now sitting at home,waiting for management to make a simple decision:

Fire her,because we can...or

Lets be logical about this,stellar employee,perfect record,makes a small mistake,lets give her a slap on the wrist,and get on with it....

You make the decision....

So now I have decided that I was allowed to be a depressed sap the last 3days (my poor Vincent,having to put up with this craziness...but hey...did we not make those vows:in sickness and in health!) and I am going to "pretend" that I have been fired (always works best for me,expect the worst,that way it cant get any worse,when I end up sitting in the basement of corporate America,filling out my discharge papers!) and I am going to enjoy my FREEDOM!

First: Stay healthy,and go for a run,great for clearing out those cobwebs and letting go of my frustrations and anger against the clones in the basement.....