Footloose and totally free

My good pal Krista scored some free-to-us tickets to see Kenny Loggins in Fayetteville last night. Before yesterday, only two of the 6,000+ songs on my iPod were Loggins tunes, and one of 'em was an obscure song from "One Fine Day." So I wouldn't call myself a super-fan, but I was excited about the concert anyway.

Turns out Kenny is a great show. Granted, I didn't enjoy myself as much as the drunk people all around us (free booze at the VIP reception), but I knew all but one song. And when he did "Footloose" during the encore, even the uptight blue-haired ladies in the audience sashayed and clapped along.

We also enjoyed a fabulous pre-show dinner at Bordino's in what was my first--but certainly not my last--visit to that great restaurant. Overall, it was an awesome night!

My apologies for neglecting the ol' blog lately. I've become so high maintenance that I don't have a lot of time to write. Between all the running and tanning and looking fantastic all the time, my pithy self-reflection and random observations have been suffering.

I am packing to head to Hot Springs in the morning for a student meeting, then it's on to Little Rock for more work stuff mixed in with dinner with Joe at Pei Wei and lunch with the Tullgren's on Friday. And then I have... praise Jesus... nine days off in a row! Ok, so I'm doing some random work in there, but I've scheduled a whole week off. Need to burn some time. Need to de-stress. Need to be still.

Lookin' good

I'm happy to report that Hope survived her first day of Kindergarten and, more importantly, so did Mrs. Howard. I didn't learn much about her academic endeavors, but she happily described recess, her new friends, and what she wore. She is so much like her sister (and a little bit like her aunt).

It's been a great week of work. Tonight I joined Kelly for yoga at the gym (my goal is to look like her, but I don't think it's happening), and now we're hanging out at her place. I can't wait to move to Rogers and be her neighbor. I can see my office from my bedroom window here.

Tomorrow after work I'm headed to Tulsa to hang out with Joe and the Tullgrens all weekend. We've got major plans of lounging by the pool and taking naps.

It's a beautiful night... the weather is crisp, and football's on TV. All is well in my world. (And yeah, I met LB one year ago today, but who's counting? Enough!)

Arkansas, not Australia

I spent the past four days driving across northern Arkansas. I had a great time in Mountain Home, relaxing and cooking. Melbourne was a different story. The Hornets made it to the state semifinals yesterday before getting beat in OT by the home team. There were some bad calls, but we had our chances and didn't take advantage of them. Taylor played great, and I'm really proud of him. The great news is that they are a team of juniors who are now hungry to come back next year and win the whole thing. All in all, 33-2 isn't a bad year.

On Friday morning I had a massage, followed by a nap, lunch, and shopping. Friday evening we met some of Chris and Estella's friends at the country club for a three-hour meal of prime rib, tiramisu and lots of talking. Yesterday Estella taught me how to make eggs benedict florentine for brunch, then I went to the game. Last night we made shrimp and grits for dinner, then saw "Taken" at the theatre (four stars... intense, but very good).

Now I'm back in Siloam, doing laundry and getting ready for a busy week. And still feeling smitten, but that's another story.

Sweet home Siloam

Even though I was sad to leave Chicago, it's really good to be home. Wow... that was the first time I've thought of Siloam as home. Major milestone.

We didn't do much today except pack, ride to the airport, eat lunch, fly, and drive home. Granted, we rode to the airport in a Town Car (which I highly recommend) and ate at Macaroni Grill, but still, it wasn't too eventful.

Now I'm doing laundry and thinking about all of the stuff I need to do at work. I'm actually excited to get back to my to-do list, even if I'm no longer in the Windy City.

At least I have my memories. Here are a few pics to share.

The Wrigley Building



Opera House



Lindsay, Chris and me, during the fireworks over Lake Michigan



Once again I left Chicago without a visit to Wrigley Field, but maybe next time. We had a fabulous trip! Check out all of the pics if you're bored. I know you are, 'cause you're reading this blog.

Side note: I'm thinking about buying an apartment in the new Trump Tower in downtown Chicago. A studio goes for a mere $800K.

Goodbye, Chicago!

To answer Lonnie's earlier question, no I will not be detailing my bodily functions. I will, however, describe my fantastic dinner in great detail.

After two good sessions this afternoon about branding (in reference to marketing, not cattle identification), we boarded the Chicago First Lady to see the city from our perch atop a ship on the Chicago River. It was mostly an architectural tour, but it was really fun to see the Windy City from a different perspective. I took some great pics, which I'll post when I get home and find my camera cord.

We made a brief stop at Fannie Mae candies, then changed for dinner. We returned to Joe's tonight, this time with Chris in tow, and had the same waiter as last night. He was thrilled to see us (was it our beauty or our $40 tip?). Tonight's menu included the best crab cake ever, followed by another fabulous filet, topped off by chocolate fudge pie that was unbelievable. On a scale of 1 to 10--Western Sizzlin' being a 4 or so--tonight's steak was a 12 or 15. Best ever!

Chris is ready to go home and see his wife and boys. Lindsay is excited about seeing her husband and son. I'm sad to leave Chicago. And it's not just that no one cares if the old maid spinster comes home, it's that I'm so in love with this city that I don't want to leave tomorrow. Suddenly dinner at Callahan's in Siloam just doesn't cut it.

I heart stuffed pizza

Four years ago I came to Chicago for a meeting and had my first slice of Giordano's Pizza. I've had dreams about it since.

This morning I got up at 5:45 a.m. to attend a 7 o'clock breakfast meeting (see... my life's not all sunshine and roses), then went to a session about data at 8:15. Thankfully I had a venti latte to keep me awake.

Chris, Lindsay and I walked down Michigan Avenue for a bit, shopped at the 14-floor Macy's store (formerly Marshall Fields), where I gazed lovingly a $400 handbag that I did not buy, then we headed to Giordano's for pizza. It wasn't quite as amazng as I remembered, but it's hard to top last night's steak at Joe's. (Oh, and I had some more directional issues, which I'm sure LiLar and C-Ray won't let me live down.)

I'm headed off to more meetings.

Death by steak (and crab)

Well our first 24 hours in Chicago were a culinary nightmare. After last night's mediocre dinner, this morning's (very cold) brunch was just bad. My love affair with the Windy City was in jeopardy.

Lindsay and I slept until nearly 9 a.m. She allegedly had a hard time going to sleep; I did not. So I got a good solid 11 hours to make up for yesterday's exhaustion.

Tonight LiLar and I cabbed it to Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak and Stone Crab. It more than made up for our other bad dining on this trip. Let me just say, it was an experience. Not only was the food perfect (I had a filet and stone crab claws; Lindsay had sockeye salmon), our waiter was just fantastic. It was one of the best--if not THE best--restaurant experiences I've ever had. And since it was our first trip to Joe's, our waiter brought us some key lime pie that was to die for. And now I'm stuffed.

Tomorrow we have four sessions and some city exploring to do, including Giordano's Pizza for lunch (my fave!). We made reservations to go back to Joe's tomorrow night since Chris played hooky tonight and wrote a paper. Yum! Tomorrow night we're doing a cruise around the city on the lake.

I'm back in love with Chicago. I may never come back to Arkansas.

North by northeast

I've always taken great pride in my sense of direction. While most women find themselves stopping to ask how to find a location, I can usually, even without Lola's able help, figure out if I'm headed north or south, east or west.

I take it all back.

After a relatively simple a short plane ride from Tulsa to O'Hare, we bravely picked up our luggage and boarded a bus which took us to the L station. I've seen the movie "Shall We Dance" no less than 20 times and have evidently romanticized riding the L train. Remember how Richard Gere looked out the window and saw Jennifer Lopez gazing out of the dance studio? Surely a ride on the train would be memorable.

Well it was, but not for any romantic reason. Mostly because Chris almost fell through the door and Lindsay and I couldn't stop laughing, and then when we finally got to our stop (which we only knew because he called the hotel and asked which stop to take by using the word "y'all"), we couldn't figure out where to go. I juggled my luggage while accessing the Google maps on my iPhone. Yeah, that didn't help. A nice traffic cop gave us directions, and we proceeded to cross Chicago traffic no less than 10 times while dragging suitcases and walking at least a mile, all the while unsure of our destination. We finally got here.

Tonight we took a cab down to the Navy Pier which was kinda cool. We walked around looking for the Italian restaurant, then ended up at a barbecue place that was completely disappointing. The best part of the night was the Ben and Jerry's ice cream, cake batter with chocolate icing.

Now we're back in our fabulous room, in bed at 8 p.m. But we're exhausted from the travel and the incessant walking.

I forgot my camera cord, so no pics until Thursday.

I've been everywhere, man

Let me preface this post by admitting that I'm a brat. A spoiled brat who has a cheese-ball life. The past four days have merely confirmed that.

On Friday, my event ended at 9 a.m., so I took a minor detour on my way to Mountain Home through Branson for a bit of shopping. My outlet shopping experience has always been that it's either great and you find lots of stuff, or you find zilch. My shopping fell into the former category. Not only did I find Ann Taylor suits for $50, I found shoes for $19. And it was such a beautiful day, that I walked down the cobblestone pathway at Branson Landing and felt pretty bratty.

Estella, Chris and I had dinner at El Chico on Friday night. Then, on Saturday morning, I had a fantastic massage, followed by lunch at the club with Estella and Heather, a two-hour nap, and an evening movie.

Yesterday I went to church with Estella and Chris (ET had to play handbells); Chris let me drive his vehicle, and let me tell ya, there's no cooler feeling than driving up to the club for Sunday brunch behind the wheel of a Porsche. Nice.

After brunch yesterday I took a nap, then we went to see the worst movie ever, There Will Be Blood. I want three hours of my life back.

I had a meeting in Mountain Home this morning, then I drove for three hours in the deluge. Now I'm in my hotel room, getting ready to meet Joe for dinner at Michelangelo's.

Hey... I told you I was a brat.

There you go, Jen. The weekend update.

Another one bites the dust

Well, I've been on the job 22 days, and I've lost two staff members (that's 22% of my total staff, for those of you keeping count). Wow.

Tomorrow's my last day in the office until next Wednesday. I'm off to Eureka Springs tomorrow for a couple of nights, then going to Mountain Home on Friday for three nights of rest, relaxation, cooking and fellowship with Chris and Estella. Joe's not coming, so we can cook green stuff this time.

After a meeting at the hospital Monday morning, I'm headed to Central Arkansas for more meetings, but at least I get to see friends and fam.

All for now... time to pack!

Guten tag!

Life continues to be a series of good news/bad news and good days/bad days or, as Paula Abdul would say, "all the many shades of all my favorite colors" (would someone please check her medicine cabinet?). But I digress.

My weekends have been lifesavers these past few weeks because they not only allow me to catch up on my sleep, but to be lazy and watch TV and not have to think. Or stress. I'm so happy that I had a week off between jobs to get my house settled, because quite frankly, I've done next to nothing to it since. My project for today is to get my office set up so that I will only have one messy and disorganized room left in my house.

I left work an hour early on Friday because, frankly, it all became too much and I wanted to run away and hide under the covers. I know we all have days like that, but I generally figure out a way to make that happen.

Back to the good news... turns out '08 may be the "Year of Lori" after all. This looks to be the year that I cross yet another thing off my life list. It's all very unscheduled and not at all a done deal, but it appears that I have a need to obtain a passport before the end of the year. I do so love to travel and I've never been outside of the U.S., so the possibility is thrilling. Now I need to learn some conversational German. I'll keep ya posted.

Last night I went over to "The Corridor" to shop at Target and meet my friends Kelly and Amanda for dinner and a movie. Our waiter at Carrabba's was a total tool (he mocked us because we didn't know Italian... I'm sure lots of folks in Rogers do), but the food was pretty tasty. I managed to not completely ruin the diet with my entree, but the three or four or eight pieces of bread weren't so healthy.

And you know how I love me a romantic comedy, and we saw one of the best movies I've seen in a long time, Definitely, Maybe. The critics hated it, but I thought it was wonderful. Even better than 27 Dresses.

I got into bed at 2 a.m. Now I need a nap.

This should be a very short week since I'm only in the office for three days, then I'm on the road for a week. But I found a cool hotel in Eureka Springs with a big bed and no Internet. I bought two books last night at Target so that I can simply relax and read while I'm there. Then I'm off to Mountain Home to hang out with Chris and Estella, where I will get a massage and have gourmet cooking lessons.

All things considered, I have a pretty good life.

P.S. Congrats to my wonderful nephew, Taylor, and his Hackett Hornets, who won their 28th game in a row on their way to a regional basketball tournament victory. On to state!

A new chapter begins

I can't believe I actually start the new job tomorrow. It's been nice to have nine days off, but since I've spent the majority of that time packing or unpacking, it wasn't much of a vacation. Luckily I didn't develop the bad habit of sleeping in during that time.

Joe, Chris and Estella came to Siloam yesterday and as of this morning, I can park in my garage and I only have two rooms that aren't straightened up and livable. I've made tremendous progress in the settling in endeavor. I'll post some pics of the new house soon.

Weekend recap

Well I'm back from my weekend of marathon interviews, kitchen slavery, and hours in the car. On Friday I spent 9 a.m. until nearly 5 p.m. in continuous interviews. It was exhausting, I nearly lost my voice, and even I finally tired of hearing myself talk. I think things went as well as they could have (thanks for all your prayers!). They're interviewing at least one other person this week, so I probably won't know anything until later in the week, or even after the holidays.

I arrived in Mountain Home around 7:30, and Joe and I spent the evening dipping cherries in chocolate and making a savory cheesecake. Then we got up at 7:30 yesterday morning and started getting ready for the party. Estella and Chris' house looked beautiful, the food was amazing, and about 75 people came and went in a five-hour time span. Joe and I spent that time washing dishes, refilling food, and running around like crazy people. Estella served Italian chicken vegetable soup, a pumpkin curry (which sounds icky, but was really very good), and a creamed cauliflower soup. We also had chicken salad, cheese ball, and Godiva-chocolate-covered pretzels.

We slept in this morning, then Estella made a yummy breakfast of pancakes, bacon, and eggs. I got back to C-way around 2:30 (just over two hours, can you believe it?), took a nap, and have been laying around like a slug since.

Here are some pics from this weekend.