_sarah_

Picture it. Chicago. 2004.

I was supposed to leave early in the afternoon so I could beat rush hour traffic, but an emergency at work caused me to delay my arrival. I got a hold of Lady_Sappho to let her know and then threw a bunch of stuff into suitcases. Gomez watched me pack, and he was extremely unhappy that I was leaving for a third weekend in a row.



The drive was the best ever. Traffic in Michigan averaged 90 mph and only slowed down to 80 mph once it hit Indiana. (For the record, Michigan's speed limit is 70, and Indiana's is 65/55, depending on where you are).

I did get stuck on Lake Shore Drive, since it was 5:30 PM, but I expected that. Lady_Sappho called to let me know she'd be late because of a tie-up at HER job, and I assured her that I was stuck in traffic and probably wouldn't end up waiting for her to get home.

After a freakin' HOUR trying to find a parking spot within six blocks of her apartment, I finally settled for a pay-to-park lot relatively near her. The rate wasn't too bad, and it was better than parking in the next neighborhood and schlepping everything onto the subway. I had my suitcases, pillows, and a huge bag full of board games and movies.

I managed to haul it most of the way to her place. She called as I was a couple of blocks away, and I told her where I was. She came out to meet me and helped me carry some bags since I was pretty much exhausted and bruised at that point. It was 75 degrees and humid. So much for nice, crisp Halloween weather.

Anyway, once we got inside and I changed into a lighter t-shirt, we made plans to go to Trader Joe's (my favorite grocery store) and then dinner. We ended up at Bangkok, a Thai place on Halsted.

While we were finishing, a sweet lady approached us and asked us if we wanted to buy some roses. She said she and her kids hadn't eaten all day and that they were sleeping in their minivan. She was trying to get enough money for groceries and, possibly, a cheap motel room.

So, of course we bought some roses. I even gave her a bit extra. She blessed us about a billion times and smiled so broadly I almost started crying.

As we were walking home, we heard her yelling from a mini-van. She was in the passenger side and had spotted us walking as her son (?) drove the van. She yelled, "Bless you! Thank you!" and gave us that big smile again.

These are our flowers:



We spent the night watching Labyrinth, one of our favorite movies, and then we went to bed around 1:00 AM. PARTY ANIMALS!!!1111

Because we went to bed so early, we woke up around 10:00 AM. We decided to spend the day shopping. Ooh! I'd never really been "shopping" before, since I've never really had "money" for "shopping". These things were unknown to me until my promotion and raise.

We went down to Michigan Ave (THE place to shop while in Chicago). Our first stop was H&M, where she found a zillion cute things and I found a great boatneck shirt on clearance. I also managed to pick up a black cami, as I've been in desperate need of one for a while. It was also on sale. I'd never had a boatneck shirt before, so I was unsure about the idea, but it look fabulous. I need about ten more.

After H&M, we wandered Water Tower Place. She showed me a really cool vintage jewelry store, and we looked at shoes we couldn't afford. I've never been a shoe girl, but the recent trend of bringing back vintage styles has me praying for a higher Visa limit.

My back was misbehaving, so we headed over to The Cheesecake Factory to rest and eat some lunch. Our waiter was so fucking cool. He was flamboyantly gay, but not flaming, and he amused the hell out of us. I wanted to take him home and keep him as a pet.

He suggested a fabulous peach drink (I LOVE peaches), which made me think he was psychic or something. Not only did it taste amazing, but it even looked just like a peach! The coloring is a bit off, thanks to the weird-ass lighting in that place, but you get the idea.



He was a bit miffed that we didn't want to order cheesecake (we had stuffed ourselves on pasta). He gave us a puppy-dog look and said, "This isn't The Pasta Factory". (You had to be there). We ended up ordering a piece to split, and he danced away. Literally.

Onto the party...

After I frosted the cupcakes I'd baked and cut Cruelty's wig so it would look like the Goblin King's wig (from Labyrinth), Lady_Sappho did his makeup. I had fun cutting it, and I'm glad it ended up pretty close to the pictures we had. (Later, someone asked, "Are you a stylist?" I said, "No. I just lived through the 80s. That was enough.")



She did a GREAT job with the makeup. He's a theatre director, so he had a bunch of stage stuff. Yay.

Then, it was time to style the wig.





Party pics!

Mother:


Never let a Shakespearean actress near a skull:

(Hamlet didn't smile during that scene... I'm not sure why I'm laughing).

Goblin King, Goblin King, wherever you may be...


Goblin King and "Royal Flush"


Dance, Magic, Dance


I'm never letting Cruelty use my camera when he's drunk ever again...


Lady_Sappho with The Republican:


Would you like a tarot reading?


More drunken camera usage:


I think Tarantino should use banjounion next time... DAMN...


That was the last picture I took before I declared myself Too Drunk to Function. Of course, that's when everyone ran up and asked for tarot readings. Oy.

I met lots of cool people and gave some pretty good readings, despite my drunken, emotional state. I even talked to a cute guy, at length, about credit reports. Go figure.

Lady_Sappho and I took a smelly cab home and passed out shortly after getting into bed. I don't even remember putting my pajamas on, and she said we talked for a bit before falling asleep, but all I remember is apartment-cab-apartment-bed-dark.

As promised, claremarie called us in the morning and asked us to meet her and slumberjackIL for brunch. Lady and I rolled out of our respective beds and got ready. Because I was a complete retard this weekend, I forgot to drink water before I went to bed.

Mistake.

I had that hollow head feeling that I hate so much, and we hadn't really eaten since dinner at The Cheesecake Factory the previous afternoon. I felt like hell, but I knew breakfast and tons of water would help.

I saw this on the way to their place. I thought it was cool. (I guess I WAS tired).



We went to The Lucky Kettle (?), a surreal little place in Evanston. It looked like your average mom & pop diner, but no... They had family portraits on the wall, which were just a bit creepy since they didn't really fit. Well, I'm not sure what WOULD fit. The decor was... odd. The ceiling was covered with tin foil balls, for example.

Then, they handed us the menus. This is what I mean. See..? What the fuck?!?



Welcome to the Family? Scrumptious Lovenest?

Anyway, the food was delicious. I had a big fruit bowl, some scrambled eggs, a tiny steak, and real whole-wheat toast. Oh, and tons of water.

We went back to their place afterward, and everyone went into picture mode.

Still not 100%, but feeling much better:


Lady needs a nap:


Claremarie has an adorable face (when it isn't covered with her camera):


This was so sweet. They were looking at SG, and slumberjackIL reached up to rub Claremarie's back. I thought it was romantic:


Poor Claremarie had to work, so Lady and I went back to her place. I packed my crap, piled it into her car, and rode with her to the parking lot. We dumped everything into my car, and I began the journey home.

I'm so tired, but it's been a great October. I got to travel, I saw tons of cool friends, and I attended two kickass Halloween parties. Yay.