Progress on my apartment, Saturday recap and lots of pictures!
Last night James came mewing for love right as I opened up the "create a post" box, and in the middle of rubbing his belly I closed my eyes and was then too tired to do anything but get us all ready for bed. He's feeling much better and is back to his usual self but is still having some diarrhea, so I started him on some medicine today - it's a liquid with tuna flavor and I suck it up with the little syringe-thing and squirt it in his little mouth, which is much much much easier than trying to get him to take a pill! Little Emma is completely healthy again, so no medicine for her!
I've just hung up a number of my pictures (after SP left as he came over for a bit) and it makes my place seem so much more comfortable and like home. And I also ordered a carpet and runner online today, as well as a few other decorative items - I'm so excited to get them! Yesterday after work I went first to Pottery Barn to look at a few of the carpets that I liked from the catalog (and that were reasonably priced aka within my means sort of) and found the perfect one, it's soft and thick and just solid red but with a slightly different thick border somehow so that it stands out - oh I'm terrible at describing it, I'll actually post some pictures once I get the rugs (both the runner and area rug are the same kind).
Anyway, after PB, I went to World Market and got a pretty little basket for the babies' toys to replace the old shoe box that they had been sitting in, and I also got another picture frame with openings for three 5x7s - I bought one a little while ago and decided that I needed another (oh and today I ordered a ton of pictures to be printed and they'll be ready tomorrow, so I can start filling these and other frames I've bought - yay!). And then I went to Bed Bath & Beyond and got the little drying thing for in my sink, new sheets and a spectacularly cheap new duvet and sham set, some little shower scrubbers, a paper towel holder and some other little things - and I had a ton of coupons for most everything, too. And today I went to Sears and got a little carpet for outside of the shower, a carpet to put under and in front of the babies' litter pan to hopefully catch some of the litter that somehow makes it's way throughout my entire apartment, and I also got two king-sized pillows for the new shams (and they were on sale, too - yay!). And speaking of the king-sized pillows, they look so fabulous and make my bed look like an actual real gorgeous catalog-worthy bed - why didn't I get these earlier!?! Oh and I also got two rolls of quarters for the laundry machines downstairs but of course I didn't go down and do any today so I really do seem determined to go until my last pair of underwear! Already I'm out of pajama pants so I walk around here in tank top and thong, which I'm sure my neighbors are loving.
So in conclusion, I have made great headway in fixing up and decorating my place! Not that it's nearly done and I still haven't even chosen most of my paint colors, but I'm on my way more now. And tomorrow I'm going on a survey from 7:30 pm to 10 pm and getting paid $100 for it! Oh and also, tomorrow morning a painter is coming to fill in some of the holes in the wall left by the previous tenants (not holes as in punching a wall but holes left due to their decorating - they liked to use these plastic things that they'd stick in the walls and then insert a screw or nail into) and prime over the plaster, so once that's done I'll actually be able to paint - as soon as I choose the colors, of course.
I want to write about my fun Saturday relatively quickly, because it was such a fun day! I managed to wake up and be completely ready at 7 am (those who know me understand how amazing it is that I was ready that early let alone even awake) to be picked up by some guy who then also swung by and picked up The German, and we drove down to the Chicago River on the south side somewhere and met a number of other people who were all, like us, going for the ride to take this guy's sailboat through the Chicago River and out into Lake Michigan. I should have kept count of the number of the bridges that we had to pass under - each one of which had to rise for the little fleet of sailboats (there were only eight boats since it's pretty late to be just getting a boat out to the harbors).
The whole trip took from 8 am to probably about 12:30 or 1 pm, which was actually pretty good timing because we didn't have to wait an extraordinarily long time for any bridge, and the guys raising the bridges didn't decide to go for an early lunch that would leave us all sitting for an hour between bridges. There were fourteen people on our boat so we had quite the crew! I only knew The German, but talked to a number of the others and they were all very nice and very friendly. And I took a number of pictures, as you can imagine! I'll see if blogger will comply in letting me upload a few.
Anyway, after the river and going through the lock to get to Lake Michigan (and in the lock one of the boats in our fleet tied up to us - an amazingly gorgeous and completely decked-out boat that we found out was a Hallberg-Rassy, which wouldn't have meant anything to me before that but The German explained that said Swedish brand is the Rolls Royce of sailboats), we made our way in the very wavy lake to the nearby harbor where we docked. After that The German and I got some gatorade and water and sat in the shade under a tree looking out at the harbor (the same one where his boat is kept) and I at first didn't want to go out on his boat because I was a little tired and had already been in the sun so long, and it was really windy out, too.
But I gave in after The German told me that we definitely wouldn't put up the sails because it was too windy for us, but that I could just get used to some rougher seas. And at first when we were rocked around by the waves, I was a bit scared. And every few minutes we'd get bounced around by some particularly big waves. But whenever The German would ask me if I wanted to go in, I said we could go for a little more. We were just motoring back and forth between the Planetarium and Navy Pier, so the harbor was right in the middle and we could go back in easily. After a little while, whenever we'd get close to the Planetarium and be blocked from the biggest waves that were coming from the southeast, I would get bored and head out towards the more wavy water! It was actually great fun even if it was scary now and then! And I think also after awhile I was learning more how the boat moved in the water and was feeling much safer. Oh - it being a Saturday afternoon and summer in Chicago, weddings abound and wedding parties like to get their pictures with the Chicago skyline in the background. At the planetarium there were once four wedding parties at one time there! I took some pictures of them getting their pictures taken! :) And when we got off the boat there was another wedding party right by the harbor.
Okay, that's that. It was great fun, and then The German came back to my place and went with me to get the air conditioner and installed it for me. And we also got hot dogs from a place near me that were just spectacular! I'm going to try to upload some pictures now, so I'll either be cursing blogger in a minute or breathing a sigh of relief that I can share them. [I was cursing blogger and then read that other people were sometimes able to get the pictures working on newer blogs so I uploaded them to a different blog and then copied and pasted. So it worked but it's still slightly frustrating that it's not working properly!]
I've just hung up a number of my pictures (after SP left as he came over for a bit) and it makes my place seem so much more comfortable and like home. And I also ordered a carpet and runner online today, as well as a few other decorative items - I'm so excited to get them! Yesterday after work I went first to Pottery Barn to look at a few of the carpets that I liked from the catalog (and that were reasonably priced aka within my means sort of) and found the perfect one, it's soft and thick and just solid red but with a slightly different thick border somehow so that it stands out - oh I'm terrible at describing it, I'll actually post some pictures once I get the rugs (both the runner and area rug are the same kind).
Anyway, after PB, I went to World Market and got a pretty little basket for the babies' toys to replace the old shoe box that they had been sitting in, and I also got another picture frame with openings for three 5x7s - I bought one a little while ago and decided that I needed another (oh and today I ordered a ton of pictures to be printed and they'll be ready tomorrow, so I can start filling these and other frames I've bought - yay!). And then I went to Bed Bath & Beyond and got the little drying thing for in my sink, new sheets and a spectacularly cheap new duvet and sham set, some little shower scrubbers, a paper towel holder and some other little things - and I had a ton of coupons for most everything, too. And today I went to Sears and got a little carpet for outside of the shower, a carpet to put under and in front of the babies' litter pan to hopefully catch some of the litter that somehow makes it's way throughout my entire apartment, and I also got two king-sized pillows for the new shams (and they were on sale, too - yay!). And speaking of the king-sized pillows, they look so fabulous and make my bed look like an actual real gorgeous catalog-worthy bed - why didn't I get these earlier!?! Oh and I also got two rolls of quarters for the laundry machines downstairs but of course I didn't go down and do any today so I really do seem determined to go until my last pair of underwear! Already I'm out of pajama pants so I walk around here in tank top and thong, which I'm sure my neighbors are loving.
So in conclusion, I have made great headway in fixing up and decorating my place! Not that it's nearly done and I still haven't even chosen most of my paint colors, but I'm on my way more now. And tomorrow I'm going on a survey from 7:30 pm to 10 pm and getting paid $100 for it! Oh and also, tomorrow morning a painter is coming to fill in some of the holes in the wall left by the previous tenants (not holes as in punching a wall but holes left due to their decorating - they liked to use these plastic things that they'd stick in the walls and then insert a screw or nail into) and prime over the plaster, so once that's done I'll actually be able to paint - as soon as I choose the colors, of course.
I want to write about my fun Saturday relatively quickly, because it was such a fun day! I managed to wake up and be completely ready at 7 am (those who know me understand how amazing it is that I was ready that early let alone even awake) to be picked up by some guy who then also swung by and picked up The German, and we drove down to the Chicago River on the south side somewhere and met a number of other people who were all, like us, going for the ride to take this guy's sailboat through the Chicago River and out into Lake Michigan. I should have kept count of the number of the bridges that we had to pass under - each one of which had to rise for the little fleet of sailboats (there were only eight boats since it's pretty late to be just getting a boat out to the harbors).
The whole trip took from 8 am to probably about 12:30 or 1 pm, which was actually pretty good timing because we didn't have to wait an extraordinarily long time for any bridge, and the guys raising the bridges didn't decide to go for an early lunch that would leave us all sitting for an hour between bridges. There were fourteen people on our boat so we had quite the crew! I only knew The German, but talked to a number of the others and they were all very nice and very friendly. And I took a number of pictures, as you can imagine! I'll see if blogger will comply in letting me upload a few.
Anyway, after the river and going through the lock to get to Lake Michigan (and in the lock one of the boats in our fleet tied up to us - an amazingly gorgeous and completely decked-out boat that we found out was a Hallberg-Rassy, which wouldn't have meant anything to me before that but The German explained that said Swedish brand is the Rolls Royce of sailboats), we made our way in the very wavy lake to the nearby harbor where we docked. After that The German and I got some gatorade and water and sat in the shade under a tree looking out at the harbor (the same one where his boat is kept) and I at first didn't want to go out on his boat because I was a little tired and had already been in the sun so long, and it was really windy out, too.
But I gave in after The German told me that we definitely wouldn't put up the sails because it was too windy for us, but that I could just get used to some rougher seas. And at first when we were rocked around by the waves, I was a bit scared. And every few minutes we'd get bounced around by some particularly big waves. But whenever The German would ask me if I wanted to go in, I said we could go for a little more. We were just motoring back and forth between the Planetarium and Navy Pier, so the harbor was right in the middle and we could go back in easily. After a little while, whenever we'd get close to the Planetarium and be blocked from the biggest waves that were coming from the southeast, I would get bored and head out towards the more wavy water! It was actually great fun even if it was scary now and then! And I think also after awhile I was learning more how the boat moved in the water and was feeling much safer. Oh - it being a Saturday afternoon and summer in Chicago, weddings abound and wedding parties like to get their pictures with the Chicago skyline in the background. At the planetarium there were once four wedding parties at one time there! I took some pictures of them getting their pictures taken! :) And when we got off the boat there was another wedding party right by the harbor.
Okay, that's that. It was great fun, and then The German came back to my place and went with me to get the air conditioner and installed it for me. And we also got hot dogs from a place near me that were just spectacular! I'm going to try to upload some pictures now, so I'll either be cursing blogger in a minute or breathing a sigh of relief that I can share them. [I was cursing blogger and then read that other people were sometimes able to get the pictures working on newer blogs so I uploaded them to a different blog and then copied and pasted. So it worked but it's still slightly frustrating that it's not working properly!]
So, here are a few of the pictures from our fun day!
On this bridge, the whole middle part was raised by the weights on the right. Usually it sits just above the water (and I go over it on the Amtrak when I'm on my way to visit my parents).
This was the Roosevelt bridge raising, and we were leaving the more industrial part of the river and things were starting to get more scenic.
Three bridges were raised at one time!
We were in the more active as well as pretty part of downtown here.
The future Trump Tower and the Wrigley Building to the right.
The Hallberg-Rassy
One of the newlywed couples being photographed by theirselves at the Planetarium.
And a wonderful little cloud that gave us a reprieve from the sun on our walk back from boating, although by the time I finished taking pictures of it the sun was back out :)
