Sniffle

I just finished reading the new Harry Potter book tonight. Oh my gosh... I was practically sobbing towards the end. I had read that the ending was a tearjerker but I was like, "oh it can't be that bad, besides I don't even cry at sad movies, I'll be fine"... heh. I don't know if this was one of my favorites of the series but it was pretty darn good; I got really sucked into it in the second half, particularly. Whew! Now the long wait for the next book. At least the next movie ("Goblet of Fire") will be out this fall (right around my birthday).

We had quite the heat wave here in Chicago over the weekend. Yesterday I went to a church picnic w/my sister... it was very hot (got up to 102 officially) but luckily it was breezy and not too humid, so it was tolerable. The picnic was fun, I caught up with some church friends, and Lori helped work one of the kid's game booths. Mom & Dad skipped out on the picnic since they were at some other party and a meeting. This is the third weekend in a row that they haven't gone to church with us! Tsk. ;) However, I hung out with them when they came downtown with Lori, Tita Marie & Mark for dinner in Greektown on Wednesday.

On Saturday I *finally* was able to purchase a new suit, which I had been shopping for much of last week without success. Sizing is a problem for me... first of all I have to shop in the boys' dept :P and then, a size 18 jacket fits me but the size 18 pants are way too big, and vice versa with the size 16's. So, I had to go with the 18 and have them take the pants way in. Anyway, I bought a tan suit from the Nordstrom downtown and it will be ready by Thursday so I can wear it to Kathy & Matt's wedding this weekend, yay. After making the suit purchase I checked out the new Hershey's Store on Michigan Avenue... very nice, similar to the one in Times Square in NYC. I didn't buy anything (gasp!) but I'm sure I'll be back there soon. :)

I've been rather spendy this month, I've realized. New digital camera, new suit, two sets of wedding gifts, some CDs, and other miscellaneous purchases. Oh and I just bought my sister a new digicam to replace the one I got for her off eBay that broke a week or two into her Greece trip (doh). I'll be selling that one back on eBay for parts or repair, and I just listed my previous digital cam, so hopefully I'll be able to recoup some of my expenses. :)

Burning up

Yay for three-day weekends! It was a hot and humid one, but fun nonetheless. I took Friday off... I was scheduled to work at the World's Largest Block Party that afternoon, so I took the whole day off and ran errands in the morning. Also met up with Kathy for lunch... her wedding is in two weekends! The block party was fun; I helped out at the food ticket sales booth.

Saturday was my h.s. pal Amy's wedding. She and her new hubby Bill were married in a Greek Orthodox church near my home. I'd never been to a Greek wedding before so it was interesting to see all the rituals, many of which were repeated in threes. The happy couple will be living in Bill's condo just a few blocks from mine, so I'll have some friends in the neighborhood! :)

Yesterday I went to church with Lori and Lola (Mom & Dad were at Starved Rock on another fishing trip). Then we had lunch at home... and I burned two fingers on my right hand from steam that escaped from the bowl of spaghetti sauce that I had heated up in the microwave. Ouchie! I had to keep running cool water over it to ease the pain. Anyway, it's a bit better now... still blistered but not as sore. Mocha was unusually hyper yesterday for some reason. He treated us to multiple "run around the house in circles at top speed" episodes. Crazy!

Finally yesterday I picked up the new Harry Potter book, "The Half-Blood Prince"... Can't wait to start reading it! I have one last MIS 555 assignment to finish, then I can get started on HP. Whoo!

New toy

Yeah, so I gave in and bought the Canon S2 IS digital camera that I have had my eye on for the past few weeks. I have no willpower! But I got a pretty good deal - it was on sale online at Circuit City, plus I had some value left over on a CC gift card. I picked the camera up yesterday at the Bloomingdale store and also bought some rechargeable batteries and a charger, plus a camera case (which unfortunately is too small so I'll have to return it). Anyway, I played with the cam a little bit last night and I think I'm going to really enjoy taking photos with it. It's a lot more responsive than my previous camera. I guess I'll get to really test it out at Amy's wedding this coming Saturday.

I almost got locked out of my condo on Friday. The key wouldn't turn all the way. I managed to get the key back out, and then my next-door neighbor happened to walk by and said the same thing happened to his door lock. So his roomate came out with a can of WD-40, and voila. Problem solved. Thanks neighbors!

Lori came home from Greece on Saturday with her friend Amanda. Amanda's family joined my family at Portillo's for a late lunch/early dinner before they went on their way back home to Indiana. Lori got nice and dark from the Greek sun. :) They had a great time and I can't wait to see photos. Everything they described sounded so beautiful. Later on Saturday, Rhoda, Tita Marie, and Mark came over to see Lori and Mocha, and as usual they brought a ton of food. I'll be eating leftovers for the next few days!

On Wednesday I have to give a presentation for my MIS class. I was initially glad that I was assigned to present on the last day, but now I wish I had gotten it over with sooner. :) Oh well, I'm just glad class is ending soon so I can relax for the rest of the summer.

I've been fighting allergies all morning (they bothered me yesterday too). The Claritin I took this morning is only just now starting to kick in. I had to take an Advil too because of a headache. Gosh this makes me sound like something of a druggie! Anyway. Hopefully my head will be all cleared up before class tonight. Good thing work is kind of slow today.

Buzzed

Going back to work after a three-day weekend is always such a drag. :P But here I am. It's kind of quiet this morning so I have a few moments to blog.

The weekend was pretty nice. Started off with a trip to Taste of Chicago after work on Friday... sampled some toasted ravioli, a chopped chicken lime salad, Bailey's ice cream, and blue raspberry italian ice. All of it very yummy. Then I strolled up to Millennium Park and took some photos of the gardens and the skyline.

Saturday I got my hair cut, and it ended up being much shorter than I wanted/expected - almost a buzz cut - but I suppose it's good for the summer. Plus my hair grows fast anyway. :) That evening I went to my parents' house for dinner, walked around the block with Mom and Mocha, and helped Dad set up his new fishing rod for his Sunday fishing trip with the Galvezes. Sunday I went to the Young Adult Mass at Old St. Pat's and picked up my WLBP volunteer t-shirt afterwards. Saw both Dan and Michael at mass which was nice, since I hadn't talked to them in quite a while. I had pretty bad allergies that day so I took some antihistamine and fell asleep for a little bit, then actually felt energetic enough to go for a short workout when I woke up from my nap. Saw some fireworks from my balcony that evening. Monday I headed out to the burbs again. My parents and I went over to Jaclyn's house for a bbq. Mark was there too. It was a good time.

Here's a pic of the fireworks from Sunday. (Bummer that it ended up off-center)

Fireworks over UIC