Tuesday October 7th, 2014. Happy Birthday Mom! After work, I drove Beth and Paige to Chicago, and we went out to eat for dinner at The Edge. A pretty tasty restaurant bar that reminded me more of a Denny's than a Chicago bar. That night, we watched a couple episodes of Freaks and Geeks while Beth & Paige enjoyed another of Molly's Cupcakes.
On the morning of Wednesday October 8th, I woke up at 4:15 AM to catch the Full Hunter Blood Moon. I stayed up for 2 hours taking pictures of the moon and watching Freaks and Geeks. I tried not to make too much noise as Rachel was asleep behind me, as I leaned out the window snapping photos of the moon. The rest of the day is a blur as I was pretty tired from being up from 4-6AM that morning.
Thursday October 9th I had my parents take my squeaky car in to the shop, ended up being a break issue... again. Luckily part of it was covered by warranty. Still an expense I didn't want. That night Rachel and I made bacon wrapped steak for dinner, with a side of sliced potatoes. We had some garlic bread as an app while cooking. The meal was so delicious, even though the bacon might have been slightly undercooked. Next time, I precook the bacon in the microwave to get it slightly started. While dining on this tasty meal and having a bit of wine, we watched the final episode of Freaks and Geeks, a solid show that I can officially say I have watched every season.. even if it was only 1.
On my way to work Friday October 10th, I was pondering semi-truck driver blind spots as I was passing a truck. I was looking right at him in one of his mirrors when he started to merge over toward me. As my car bumped over the safety rumble strips on the side of the road, I drove on the shoulder for at least 10 seconds until I fully passed the truck. I guess they do have blind spots! Yikes! That evening at work I was treated by a lax mom to some starbucks hot chocolate (she asked if I wanted coffee, I said hot chocolate) and treated to a lax dad to a couple drinks and some apps after work. On my way home from work, I had to stop halfway at a gas station to pee, and then had to pee really bad right when I got home. I also peed right before I left work, man do I have a small bladder.
Once I got home, I threw on some nicer clothes and headed for the bus to meet out with Brian, Adam, Rachel, & her brothers at Bench Mark in Old Town. The bus was taking forever, so I ran to Bench Mark. Not too bad of a jog. I had a couple of drinks with my friends, enjoyed chatting, & then Rachel and I headed out for the bus. The bus again, took forever, so we ended up walking home. On our walk home, we stopped at Angelas Burritos and Rachel got a quesadilla. When we got into our apartment I went right to bed and she stayed up to enjoy her meal and watch a show. A couple of hours later, she came in and told me she fell asleep with a quesadilla in her lap. Oh how I love her!
Saturday October 11th began with me finding some pictures from our Spartan Run. Check em out!
For lunch I ate a whole loaf of garlic bread by myself, how depressing... then headed to Lagunitas Brewery with Brian and Adam. The brewery was pretty awesome, starting with Willy Wonka music as you enter. The place was huge, 300,000 square feet, largest brewery in Illinois and one of the largest in the USA. I had a flight of a few different beers and then we went on a tour. The tour guide was hilarious and we learned a little bit about the history of Lagunitas. Brian had insider info (he had been there before) and told me to ask how the first logo (a dog) came about. I did and the story was absolutely hilarious, I will not spoil it here, just ask if you go! I still do not know the difference between any beers, I just drink them.
My flight of beers. Kronic, Maximus, Sux, Red.
Picture made entirely out of bottle caps
Brian and Adam listening to Willy Wonka Music.
Beer
Once I was back at my place, Rachel and I got ready and headed out around 4pm to go to Joliet for the concert that night at MoJoes. We got to her brother Phil's place and had a few drinks while watching some How I met Your Mother. We then headed out to MoJoes, found a parking spot in a shady parking garage, and went into the show. Couldn't find a fourth to go with us, so I had to eat a ticket, but not a big deal, I have wanted to see Zebrahead since freshman year of college now. Once we got into MoJoes, we noticed that there were 3 rules, and only 3 rules, posted about 10 feet in the air off to the side of the venue. A very odd location, regardless, they were as follows:
1. No Moshing.
2. No Stage Diving.
3. No Crowd Surfing.
A pretty funny collection of rules, that were all broken, but we saw more of a stage walk by the lead singer of Zebrahead as he walked into the front rows, rather than a stage dive. We caught the end of Survay Says, then Allister (the hometown Chicago based band) performed and they put on a solid show. Zebrahead came out next to the Team America theme song. As they took the stage, the rapper singer introduced themselves, "We Are MF Zebrahead B!t#h. Zebrahead put on a fun, loud show. It didn't really sound like the CD, and I'm not sure if that is the sound they go for, but they were having fun, messing around, and even brought people on stage to chug beers. It seemed like a super loud, big party on the stage. I wish Zebrahead played more off of their MFZB album, but played Hello Tomorrow, Rescue Me, and Falling Apart, so I was pretty pumped for those. Although, they didn't play my all time favorite Zebrahead song, Strength, one of the guitarists had an awesome walrus mustache. Bonus points to him. The guitarists of Zebrahead also threw a ton of guitar picks into the crowd throughout the whole show. I thought this was pretty cool, a nice souveneir for fans. After Zebrahead, MXPX came out and finished off the night. They played a bunch of songs and the lead singer gave a great message throughout the show about sharing music with everyone, not giving up on your dreams, and doing what you love. They have been around for 22 years now, and still aren't that big, but keep at it. I like that. They played Chick Magnet and ended with Responsibility. My 2 fav songs by them. Great show. Listen to a couple of these bands songs while looking at some pics from the show.
On the way home from the concert, we picked up some Wendy's (I had 3 chicken sandwiches) and listened to Zebrahead the whole way home to Chicago. Great night. I would rank this concert in the middle of concerts I have seen. It wasn't top material, as all of the artists are wayyy past their prime, but it was a good show and I am glad I got to see Zebrahead live. Successful night.
The next day, Sunday October 12th, was the day of the Chicago Marathon. We woke up, and cheered on our friend Tori, running around to 4 different spots along the race route to cheer her on. The race went right by our apartment which was pretty cool to see. Around mile 25.2, the last time we saw Tori running, Rachel ran with her for a bit to give her some motivation. We knew a handful of other friends running the race, but didn't see them. I think we were pretty luck to see Tori so many times and time it up so perfect. It was very hard to try and find someone you knew as hundreds of people ran past you every minute. Later, we met up with John near Millennium Park and congratulated Mr. O on his 5th marathon. Perhaps I will run the marathon next year. It was my first one watching even, and it was a very cool atmosphere where everyone is positive and cheering each other on. Enjoy these photos from the day. Including some shots from around the city.
Once Rachel and I got home that evening, we invited Adam over. I finished hanging up the photos around our map, which turned out to look pretty amazing. Thinking about adding a second layer around the outside for more photos! I also deleted over 1500 country songs from my computer. Country music just doesn't do it for me anymore. Sorry fans of country music, ain't my bag of tricks no more. Gonna try to trim down my itunes even more in the coming weeks, as it still sits at 46,563 songs. We watched the Bears get the W with Adam, then Rachel cooked up a tasty Alfredo chicken pea pasta for dinner. So tasty to go along with our fancy fruity drinks with sugar coated glass rims. After dinner, Rachel, Adam, and I watched Dallas Buyer's Club, a touching and riveting true story movie about AIDS. Fantastic film that made me dislike the FDA and other government agencies for how they treated people with HIV and basically used them as guinea pigs, testing chemicals out on them. It made me think a lot about the food I eat and how many chemical preservatives are in them as well. I need to start eating fresher, healthier foods.
On Monday October 13th, Rachel and I both had the day off so we walked over to a local movie theater to see the movie Gone Girl. The movie was super creepy, and really good. I highly suggest it to all those looking for a good mystery thriller. The movie theater also had the most amazing seats ever. They were individual, reclining leather seats, with drink holders and food tables. Incredibly comfortable, especially for a 2 1/2 hour film. The theater had "combo" deals for popcorn and a drink, that were the same exact price as if you bought them separately. Stupid, but I am sure people fall for it all the time, ordering more thinking they are getting a deal. Smart move movie theater, smart move. Keep giving out those popcorn/drink "deals"!
The rest of our Monday was spent watching House of Cards. We finished season 1 and are on season 2. Season 2 started off with a bang, the show is getting really good! I cleaned up some around the apartment, organizing drawers and I also found the missing jewel stamps. Thank goodness!
See ya next week friends. Looking to finish Devil in the White City this week. It has been a great book so far, excited to see how it ends up.
Josh