Here's A Brilliant Tip

Do not dice jalepenos for pico de gallo in the morning and then forget to wash your hands and jump in the shower cause you're gross from your first workout in more days than you'd like to admit.
Do not massage a cream cleanser onto your eyes to remove the eyeliner you slept and exercised in. 


Because...washing your face first thing in the shower after you have diced jalepenos and forgotten to wash your hands... will hurt. 


YOUR EYES. Hurt your moron eyes. 


Unrelated:
I've had the privilege to meet and get to know several of my friends' grandparents. They have all greatly influenced my opinion of 'the senior set' in a positive and affectionate way. 
As the years go by, we all lose these people. Losing a grandparent can run the gamut of emotions or you can feel isolated from the loss if you were not close. I have seen several friends whose grandparents have passed; most recently my friend Jones'. 
I knew her slightly more than in passing. Jones lived in her basement and passing through the basement door was like exiting a Mad Men set and entering a punk dive bar populated with drunks, poets and crazies. You would encounter Grandma if you went up to pee (which I did frequently) or if Jones didn't hear you knocking at the back or the window. 
She was just a sweet woman. That's the best word I can think of to describe her. She always remembered who I was when I called the house and chatted with me on many occasions. 
My husband and I both wish there had been a service for her. We would have liked to pay respects, but to also be there for our friend. 
But there wasn't and we couldn't...so...

Grandma Florence Rudy...you are missed. 

I Love My Grocery Store

It is called Valli Produce, and for those of you in the area, it is on the corner-ish of Roselle and Higgins roads. 
I suppose it is part of a small chain of Italian/other ethnicities stores, as there are a few in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago. I don't know why I capitalized that. Seemed right at the time. 
Okay, so they always have an amazing selection of produce... 
           freaking LOOK AT THIS

yeah baby, that's red bell peppers at 99 CENTS A POUND, PEOPLE; baby bok choy, leeks, cilantro, green onions, limes at TEN FOR A DOLLAR!!!!
 fresh French baguettes, and their prices on lunch meat CANNOT be beat. The cashiers are ALWAYS friendly. The gorgeous woman who checked me out complimented my hair-she was sweet. The staff looks and sounds mostly Latina. Not as though that matters at ALL, but I've found that they (meaning Mexicans, Ecuadorians, El Salvadorians, et al) are extremely hard working and friendly. 
It is nice to shop in a place where they play opera in the morning and your cashier knows to NOT bag bread and raw chicken together. 
I just...I'm so fond of this place. Just GET THERE BEFORE 9 AM. Seriously, after 9 it is a shithouse in there. I think they made the aisles like one inch too narrow or something. 
So...two posts in one day. I uploaded some other photos and I really like this one:

its pretty blurry but i like Milo's face. 

I heart iPhoto

This is probably going to be my last post until Monday, as this will be a crazy wedding weekend!!!


I'll be flying around doing random things like:


Making this:

It is called Texas Caviar or something like that. Its basically canned, rinsed black beans and chickpeas with chopped celery, bell pepper, onion, cilantro and a can of corn. Oh, and 8 oz of Italian dressing. I thought that was a bit much, but this is supposed to chill overnight. I made it early this morning and won't be serving it until 6 or 7 tonight, so I think we'll be fine. It is meant to be eaten as a dip with tortilla chips. I'm bringing it to my future sister-in-law's house for Megan and Justin's rehearsal dinner. 

Wait. She's Justin's sister. Justin is marrying MY sister. I don't know if that makes Justin's sister anything to me. 

I don't know. I don't even think I pluralized that correctly. Ah well.

Doing this:

Catastrophe Cosmetic mask from Lush.It has blueberries in it and smells divine. I love iPhoto because I had a blueberry under my nose in this photo and it looked like a booger. But I edited it out! Sweet!  I actually did this one yesterday. I'll do Ayesha tonight with my sisters. 

And maybe letting Milo finish watching Harry Potter:

He very much likes the train to Hogwarts, and the Enchanted Car. I hope we can read the books together when he's older. I tried to get into the books in order to understand the movies, but it never really happened. I do think whatserface is a pretty good storyteller, though. And I am happy she is now a gazillionbrazillionpraskillionaire. 

I like how he has his feet kicked up behind him in this one. 

Have a great weekend to the two (three?) people who read this~~~pray for good weather on Saturday!!!!

The Countdown Begins

Lots to do before Saturday. 

I should not be blogging, I should be downstairs cleaning or sewing or baking or cleaning or cleaning

But I just had a nice shower (I talk about those a lot on here. They have become my way of pampering myself lately) and I smell like Beaversary from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab. mmmmm. 

It doesn't smell like beavers. It smells like cupcakes and sweet things. 

Here is a photograph of the VERY BEST BURGER I EVER ATE IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. (yes-I am shouting that)

It was a special at Kuma's Corner and I did not like the name but that burger...I hope they serve it in Heaven. I really do. 

Bye now!