I’m thankful for…

• my family that love and support me.
• my friends that make me happy.
• my best friend who I enjoy talking and listening to almost everyday.
• my independence for the last 2 years.
• my job that I absolutely love and enjoy doing.
• my apartment that I have slowly but steadily furnished.
• the CTA for providing me with transportation everyday.
• my laptop for without it, I’d be lost!
• CSS3, jQuery, Ubuntu, Chrome, VLC, and Eclipse (to satisfy my inner computer nerd).
• Tumblr for providing me with hours and hours of enjoyment and distractions.
• Netflix and its instant streaming for providing me with hours of television to watch.
• Joss Whedon for Buffy, Firefly, Dr. Horrible, and Dollhouse.
• my newfound love for free movie screenings.
• J.K. Rowling for HARRY FREAKIN’ POTTER.
• the finale of Lost.
• Schubas and Lincoln Hall for having lots of awesome shows.
• Chicago Comics for being my local comic book shop.
• Fables and The Walking Dead for being consistently entertaining comics.
• relationships; even though they can be turbulent, they still provide lots of good memories.
• the city of Chicago for being a wonderful place and giving me a home.

What are you thankful for?

I’m glad you were such a big part of our family’s lives, Lola.

yummy! i luvs the ice cream from here!

I miss you, Lola. I love you very much.

- Stayed at the W for the weekend. Pretty swanky place. I didn’t think I was at a hotel when I saw the lobby. It looked more like a bar/lounge place. Turns out it really was a lounge on the bottom floor, but the check-in was there as well. Drinks were a bit pricey, but the place was pretty impressive. The bar on the top floor was so-so.
- Met some family at a family reunion on Friday. Lots I’ve never even met before. Being in a room full of Asians I didn’t know was a bit unsettling.
- Had a night out with some of the cousins I just met. They are pretty awesome. Gotta hang out with them more. We partied at Red Ivy. Some of them knew the manager type guy (I forget) so we got the hook up with some free drinks (and two of us were under-aged but got in).
- I went shopping at the Nordstrom and Macy’s here. I am so jealous. They’re much bigger and have more awesome stuff than the ones in Annapolis. Spent a good chunk of my money on some new clothes, but I’m really happy with ‘em!
- I’m now staying at my cousin’s apartment. She’s got a cool place. Nice location.
- Went out for a walk with my other cousins (I’ve known these guys all my life). At one point, my little cute nephew was running around and this group of people with cameras started taking pictures of him. And he started posing! He totally loved the attention. hehehe. He is totally a chick magnet. lol
- Yesterday I walked over to the Shedd Aquarium. Not as big as the one we have in Baltimore, but they certainly had a larger variety of animals there. My favorites: Glass Lizard, Komodo Dragon, Giant Japanese Spider Crab, and Tasmanian King Crab. Just the sheer size of those animals impressed me. Aquariums are awesome.
- Today I went to the Field Museum. There was LOTS and LOTS of stuff. It’s been forever since I’ve been in a museum though. My favorite exhibit has to be the animals display. There were just so many that I’ve never even heard of before. And although they’re stuffed, they are so life-like. You get to see them all up close… I swear I almost felt like they would just jump out at me. My favorites are the tiger, Andean Cock-of-the-rock, and Aye-aye (soooooo creepy!).

At first I was all like “Damn! Why the hell did I leave warm and sunny Florida for this cold and windy place?!” But I grew to like it here. Chicago has such a different feel than NYC… like less hectic? I can’t really describe it now.

I’m still here for a couple more days. There’s still lots more to see.

Drove up to Delaware on Friday evening. At around 11, I went out with my two cousins’ husbands (both named Doug, lol) to a bar somewhere on Main Street in the middle of University of Delaware. I started out with some Miller Light drafts (which, I think, I shouldn’t have: “Beer before liquor will get you sick quicker.”) and then big Doug (the one married to my older cousin) started getting serious by having me down some shots of Washington Apples and then getting me some Crown and Coke. Now that stuff was awesome… needless to say, I got pretty hammered real quick and I hardly remember anything that happened the rest of the night. I don’t even remember how the hell I got into bed… My phone died that night and I didn’t bring my charger, so for the rest of the weekend I had no cell phone.

The next morning I had a horrible hangover. Even after some morning stomach sickness (i.e. puking -_-), I was still a little buzzed. So I must have looked a bit odd when we went to church in the morning for the baptism of my cousin’s son… and I was one of the godparents! I made it through the whole thing though. It was a simple ceremony and I didn’t have to do much but stand there and make some responses. Yay me! I’m a godparent! lol, I hope no one tells my godson that I was a little drunk at his baptism… omg I promise I’ll be the most awesome and fun godfather ever! I’m gonna spoil this kid rotten, lol.

The rest of the day was spent at the reception. There was plenty of food and drinks… I ate what I could and tried to drink as much water as possible. I was supposed to drive back home that evening, but I really wasn’t in the mood and also I just really wanted to spend more time with my cousins. We caught up on what’s going on in life: work, relationships, family… It was really relieving to be in their company. It’s so weird that we grew up together and now we’re all adults… I still remember when we were still kids and all I did was play Nintendo when I went to visit them. I practically consider them my sisters. Also, as a sidenote, I read more of A Feast For Crows—SAMWELL ROCKS. HEHEHEHE. (Why do I do that only for characters who get to hook up? hm.)

The next day I felt so much better. I watched a DVD of Dane Cook – Vicious Circle. Hilarious shit. Went to eat with my aunt, uncle, older cousin, big Doug, and their really really REALLY cute daughter. And when I say cute, she is just so adorable… she really makes me smile. After that, I saw The New Guy on DVD. I hadn’t heard amazing things about that movie, so I had never given it a chance, but big Doug said it was great. And it was! It wasn’t that stupid of a movie, and really, it was really inspiring to see a character who was regarded as a loser and nobody in high school totally re-invent himself and thereby gaining a ton of self confindence as he became someone that people cared about and stood up for. And Eliza Dushku was in it too… shh… keep it on the dl, but she’s one of my favorite actresses too… ;P

After that, I decided to finally drive back home. I made it back before the rain came and slept early so I could get to work the next day…