One-thousand...

Um, dear people reading this, NEWS ALERT: this is my ONE THOUSANDTH POST. I know. I KNOW. Wow. I'm not sure how to commemorate it, as I planned to just write the second half of my Chicago trip and then I saw that stat on my dashboard. Maybe I'll re-hash the site a bit? Expect that this week. After spending more than a year with everything purple because of the wedding, I'm done with it! Tried to Live Forever shall be revitalized! Or just the colors will change. TUNE IN FOR THE BIG (or small) REVEAL! And here is me excited to share this news:

He's always popping on my lap when I'm at the computer! What a ham.

Also, expect about ten posts this week, I'm not kidding, my drafts are a pilin' up!

However, I will try to epilogue my adventures in Chicago right now! Where was I?

Saturday night! Motion City was gearing up to play their album COMMIT THIS TO MEMORY! Me being me, I was beyond excited, and my friend Sam was even moreso. As Adam was to put it later: nobody deserved to be there more than Sam that night. Agreed!

I digress.

So when we got to Lincoln Hall, we ate a little dinner with Jesse, and I caught up with Josh's lovely wife Jill for a bit. Then we found our spots on the railing for some more Ultimate Fakebook show. I'm not going to lie, Justin and Matt were totally geeking out to UF; it's always fun to see the people who's music geeks you out geek out themselves. (Did that sentence make sense? I don't care.)

And so the band took the stage for Commit This and I started jumping up and down and singing along to "Attractive Today." Adam was rocking out as well, and by the third song in Sam appeared next to me as she was alongside some not-as-enthusiastic rockers previously and we jumped up and down and screamed together like wee girls and it was most fun. As I've learned from most concerts I've been to, it's always best to be next to someone who is as into the music as you are! In a related note, I dearly missed my friend Katie Brown during "Time Turned Fragile" as we both do a splendiferous job of imitating Tony's drum breakdown and segue into Jesse's keyboard part.

(Yes, I am really this nerdy and into my husband's band. Admitted.)

Afterwards, Sam and I were sweaty and exhilirated with the AMAZING live show. I'm not biased here when I say that MCS puts out a great live show; that's how I first discovered them! When we saw Jesse backstage, we were almost of equal sweat with him. That's gross, I know.

Jesse and some of us were quite famished so after the show we went to a BBQ wings place down the street from the venue. It was delicious, though I really hate wings (I ordered the pulled pork sandwich), and we had an uproarious meal.

"Uproarious," Jessica, really?

YES. Here's why: most everybody except for Adam and I ordered wings, which you can get in a range of probably twenty different flavors/degrees of hotness. Jesse ordered some wings that were the second to most hot flavor. He ate one and telling us about his body's trial in doing so - hot throat, sweating, eyes watering, etc. Sam, I believe, remarked on this description and tried half of one of the hot wings and then Jesse challenged her to eat the rest of it without drinking anything until we paid the bill and got to the next bar for $20. Sam agreed, and I don't know why it was so fascinating and hilarious, but it was. Sam took it like a trooper! She was sitting there as we finished off our beers, as the waitress charged the bill wrong and had to fix it, and for the ten-plus minute walk to the bar in which we got lost several times. She said when she opened her mouth in the cold she thought it would help with the burning feeling in her mouth, but it only made it worse. OWWWWW. BUT SAM MADE IT! We got to the bar, she drank some water, and a milk her boyfriend Jim had purchased for her, and honorably collected her $20.

Bets with hot sauce = far more entertaining than I thought possible. Congratulations, Sam! Bravo!

After a quick jaunt at the bar, we headed back to the hotel in our exhaustion. The next day, Sunday, I'd be flying back to New York, and I was a bit bummed...

HOWEVER, as we got up for the continental breakfast usual, and headed to a nearby sports bar to catch some football, I got an alert on my phone mere minutes before I hopped a cab to the airport: FLIGHT CANCELLED. Now, I had friends flying that day at 3pm and 5pm and 7:30pm. My flight was at 4. My flight, incidentally, was also the only one that was cancelled! What the what? Anyway. It ended up being a blessing in disguise as I got to spend the evening with Adam and Jesse and Jamie and a suprise visit from none other than Sarah who flew in from Detroit. LUFF.

And Motion City Soundtrack was playing EVEN IF IT KILLS ME, their last album and the one they were recording when I met Jesse. Barftime alert, but for real, I was so happy to be able to see them play that album! It's like a live show of my decade nearly - you know how everyone's spouting out these "best of the decade" lists?! All three of their albums would be on mine and they each were the soundtrack to some pretty great years and pivotal events in my life. I was especially looking forward to the band playing the last track, the title track, and I was not disappointed - though I'm a huge "Last Night" fan, hearing "Even If It Kills Me" live was beyond. It was the first time they'd ever played it live. And it was absolutely brilliant.

Jamie from Oh! How Lovely! got to enjoy her first Motion City show and Sarah from Sillygrrl was back! I'd last seen Sarah at Bamboozle two (wow, it was really two!) years ago for Motion City's set. It was fun to hang with the blog friends! I also got to see Ang one more time before I left, as she stopped by my hotel to say bye when my flight was still on time. What a gal!

After the show, Adam, Diaz, Jesse, and I headed to a diner across the street to satiate our appetite (I mean, I'm not bouncing around as much as Jesse, but I do feel tired after jumping and screaming after shows. Ha.) Then we went back to the hotel and I was pooped. POOPED. My flight had been rescheduled for the next morning, so I decided to stay in and sleep since I had to get up at 7am.

I honestly can't believe how jam-packed the weekend was with FUN!! I love my friends, I love Motion City, I love live shows, I love exploring and adventuring, and above all I love my husband. RAD. Two days after I got home, I was off to Massachusetts for Christmas with the family. But that is a story for another time!

Thank you for reading, readers. My 1000th is dedicated to you <3

Indoor living, lacerated to the bone.

My Chicago weekend marks another great, amazing, splendiferous weekend of 2009! I was sitting at the airport looking back on all the fun I've had this year, and I almost can't believe it. I almost can't believe the year is basically OVER!

Last Wednesday, I met up with Erica after work and we got a car to LaGuardia, an airport inferior to JFK in my opinion. Anyway, we waited at the gate for a while and with minimal delays (besides Erica yelling "Mom" for me from two rows behind - I'm such a mom these days to my friends?!) made it to Chicago. Her dude Diaz picked us up as the kindly gentleman he is, and they dropped me off at the Days Inn in Lincoln Park to meet up with my hotelmate for the evening, Adam.

Jesse and the Motion City dudes wouldn't be arriving from their rehearsals in Minneapolis until the following day, Thursday, so Adam and I had the night to BE ON VACATION. I called up Ang, who lives in Chicago and blogs at Loud & Proud, and apparently could get to the area quickly - she took us to a little bar with cheap sangria and we had a lovely evening! She's completely adorable and hilarious and our collective sangria conversation didn't end until around two in the morning, and Adam and I were so surprised how late we were up! But, time, flies, fun, etc.

Angie!

On Thursday morning, Adam and I made the most of the free continental breakfast and woke up at 10:30. Well, actually, I was up at 10am and then tried getting Adam up at 10:30 with a quiet "Adam?" at which he practically bounded out of bed, ready to shower and eat. Just learning each other's habits!

And I tell you what: that breakfast was delicious. Adam here just scored some donuts, but I remember having a smorgasbord of cereal, donut, toast, fruit, and coffee. You could also make your own waffles. And it's all free! (Everyday we woke up in time to get to breakfast before the 11am shutdown time.) These type of things excite me, and thus, I blog them.

After breakfast, we walked to the brown line of the El and met up with our friends Jim & Sam who were also in Chicago for the marvelous shows.

We had a plan: Art Institute to see um, art, and because it was where the friends go in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Yes. Then eats, then Millenium Park, some minimal shopping, etc.

Grabbed this shot of Adam and Sam taking in some pieces.

Adam got this shot of me looking at Georges Seurat's A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. Very Cameron, you see. This whole area of the museum kept in step with my reading of Madame Bovary, so that's probably what I was thinking of in this picture. The rest of his fabulous photos from the entire weekend are on his flickr HERE.

We saw some great and sometimes weird art, and then we looked for somewhere to eat. We found a restaurant called Midtown and settled in. I'm not afraid to say that I had the best sandwich of my entire life there - a roasted pear, brie, and turkey sandwich. Holy majoly, I devoured it. With a desert pear margarita. Reasonably priced and delicious - I'm sitting her typing and drooling just thinking about it.

Then, of course, we stopped at Dunkin' Donuts because Jim simply CANNOT LIVE without the chain. (True story: Jesse made me take a picture of him next to the Dunkin' in Aruba on our Honeymoon FOR JIM.) Also, Sam conquered her fear of revolving doors (finger accident as a kid) since every building in Chicago has one. We stopped at one of the millions of popcorn stores downtown for Sam, and then at a beauty supply store for me since I am a sucker for nail polish (duhhh). I also totally forgot my makeup bag for the trip, so I look very pale and monotone in all pics of me. But I didn't get makeup, who cares.

Then we headed to Millenium Park to see the mirror bean thing among the other sites:

I think you can tell that we were having an incredibly fun day - and my friends, if I haven't mentioned it before, RULE! They are THE BEST! We wandered away from the bean to see the ice skaters below and decided that we should attempt to ice skate! Jim and Adam were skating pros, given their hockey backgrounds, but Sam and I hadn't ice skated in quite a while. They also gave me hockey ice skates since they were out of figure skates in my size, so I was at an added disadvantage at never using hockey skates before!

However, damn my ankles, it was so much fun! Sam and I would hold on to each other, the dudes, if a precarious moment ever arrived, and neither of us fell on our asses! (A tragedy I kept on imagining in my head.) The rink was playing holiday music over the loudspeaker and we couldn't help but feel festive and sing along as our cheeks reddened in the cool weather. I truly loved it.

Then Erica and Diaz showed up for a hot minute to say hello and check in on our whereabouts before heading off to a dinner together!

Sam gives an enthusiastic thumbs up!

After returning our rental skates, we headed back to our hotel in Lincoln Park to await the impending arrival of my husband and friends. During the day, Jesse had been texting me from their eight hour journey, which stretched to longer when they blew a tire on the road. Sadface.

But not to worry! They all arrived in merry spirits and we told them about that sangria place around the corner and decided to eat and drink there for the evening (thanks, Ang!) and this time the sangria was only $2 a glass. Actually, everything on the drink menu was half-off! That's what I call vacation money-savvy. Or something. Ang rejoined us that night, along with Erica and Diaz.

The next day I made Jesse get up for the continental breakfast OF COURSE, and then he was off to interviews and rehearsals at the venue for the imminent I AM THE MOVIE show that night. Adam, Jim, Sam, Erica and I then decided to walk to the nearby Wrigley Field where the Cubs play. We were blown away by all the rooftop seating for games we saw on nearby apartment buildings! Amazing! The stadium and area also reminded me a lot of Fenway Park in Boston, as both are situated in the city without giant parking lots surrounding it like the majority of stadiums.

We ate at some placed called the Cubby Bear or Bar or something, I don't even know. It was a giant multi-floor bar that...on that Friday in the off season was...you guessed it, completely empty. But they did have a really funny playlist playing basically every pop-punk act that was popular from 2001-2003. Mainly Taking Back Sunday, I'm not kidding. Weird.

On the way back to the hotel, we passed by some sweet shops, like a vintage place where I bought a couple of sweet rings and the boys got shorts and stirrups that matched the shirts of their favourite hockey teams. Guess what they wore under their clothes that night for the show:

Precious, no? We got to the venue and caught up with the dudes for some food and pre-show hangs. I also checked in with some people who came to the show - Dan and lovely reader Brittany! Then I settled in the balcony to watch Ultimate Fakebook, who are definitely amazing and should definitely be checked out!! Then I got really stoked because Motion City was about to play their entire album I AM THE MOVIE from start to finish!

 

Erica and I in the bar at Lincoln Hall before the show! (via Sam!)

Remember, I've been a fan of Motion City before I met Jesse, and it was with this album and...actually, before Epitaph even released this album. I sang and rocked along and it felt like 2003 and I was SO HAPPY. Everybody was really belting it out that night and I was caught up in the excitement generated by that crowd. Also, loved hearing "Shiver" and "Red Dress" and "Perfect Teeth" and hey oh, hows about everything?

Jesse was a bit nervous leading up to the shows, as they had some intense rehearsals for some songs they had NEVER played live before. Each night they played at least one b-side and/or one song they had never played before to an audience. However, after the show, Jesse and the dudes had the biggest smiles on their faces and I'm sure they felt quite accomplished with having conquered that feat. I was so proud of Jesse, and it was so fun to rock out with a room full of people who all loved their first album.

Afterwards, we went to a karaoke place Diaz recommended which was pretty fun, but Jesse and I were starving! (By the way, when we entered, Diaz was singing Hole's "Celebrity Skin.") Jesse and I got some foods and returned to the bar only to be faced with a wall of people who would hardly budge for us to get to the back. After some futile attempts and rude people, we decided to head back to the hotel - and Jesse was already exhausted from the evening's show! I mean, here's a picture from that night:

Yeah, we're kinda nuts. (Via Sam!)

On Saturday, after the requisite breakfast haul, Jim, Sam, Adam, Jesse and I went to a local games store that sold old gaming systems and technology. Jesse got really excited about this, of course, and he bought an Intellivision. Yeah. And games. Then we settled in at Noodles, which is one of Jesse's favourite places to eat, and it was soooo yummy. After a walk in the rain, we were happy to be warm and eating mac'n'cheese and tomato soup together.

The dudes then decided to try to hook up this new (old) gaming system, and the girls and I got manicures! I finally found a place (called, no kidding, Nail.com - no, it's not the address of their website, either!) that carried Essie's Mint Candy Apple color that I've been loving. It was a fabulous treatment for a reasonable price, PLUS they had free wine AND a parting gift of three pairs of socks all wrapped up like a a gift. I mean, amazing, am I right??

My manicure, and those rings I bought the day before!

And that night was when Motion City would be playing their second album COMMIT THIS TO MEMORY------

To be continued...it's time for me to start my journey to Massachusetts for the holidays!

A quick preview: some awesome bloggers came out to the show on Sunday night!!! -