good friends helping you make bad decisions

last friday marked the opening of the new west town bikes (with the retail shop, ciclo urbano, in the front) the local co-op bike shop, with new digs on 2459 w division street. the new space is much larger, and what better way to celebrate than invite everyone over to drink and hang out? by the time i got there after work, the place was packed and there were a lot people there i've never seen before. now the weather's getting nicer, it's made me realize how much bigger chicago is, and how many more people i have to meet! christina came over from the messenger picnic and we all hung out until about 10, when they started kicking everyone out. a quick stop for burritos was in order, and then we made our way up to ali's for her housewarming. it was mellow, but really nice to see everyone.

Saturday, christina and i were being old ladies and stayed in until noon so we could listen to this american life and drink coffee (so good!) after some shopping and retrieving cursive tickets, we met up with amy and matt to talk about how we haven't hung out since high school and see what everyone was up to. it definitely struck me how despite our differences and different choices in life paths, the certain commonalities we have from shared past experiences creates a certain bond. We definetely still had a lot to talk about, catch up and hear about other peopl from high school.

so last week, cait got the fantastic idea we should have a good old fashioned sleepover: girls and gay boys only (which we later amended to: or boys that will get their nails painted and watch molly ringwald movies) complete with face masks, cosmo quizzes and watching clueless. so much girl talk, mixed in with gay politics and religion, as well as figuring out "what kind of cosmo girl are you?" (we were "ready to settle down"... um, or not?)


we woke up to a gorgeous morning and decided it was imperative to eat blueberry pancakes and drink screwdrivers on the porch. cait and jason have the most amazing backyard, so we got to watch scout and amos run around the yard while we sat in the sunshine with blossoms falling through the air and made summer plans. summer '09!


after a quick rooftop visit at cait's, christina and i headed opted for another roof, where russell provided us with a gourmet bloody mary spread (that turned out quite tasty!) and despite all the pressure to call in sick, i decided to leave by 2 in order to get to work.


so this is my last week at whole foods (tomorrow's my last day!) and they decided to send me off with 5 closing shifts in a row (which i sometimes hate) but this week, the weather was so perfect, that it was actually a total blessing in disguise. I got to enjoy late nights at simone's, afternoons at hot dougs, cinco de mayo on the twisted spoke rooftop, a long ride with emily and marie up the north branch trail and definitely not least, another extended stay on the handlebar patio. yesterday we got together 10-15 people and racked up a $225 tab in five hours on the patio. great group, so much talking and giggling and planning and yelling and the servers totally love us. (right?)

christina stuck around later and headed down to bar deville with the group, while i headed up north to meet up with some co-workers at baby matilda and later on, the oakwood. it was pretty mellow and by 1:30, i decided i needed to commence the trek back down damen and go straight to bed. christina actually got up in time to get to the track this morning. i stayed home and watched when harry met sally..... oh, motivation. where are you?

up next! cursive, james brown dance party with vegan cupcakes, and dress up night with the ladies. hot damn!