smash and grab

Mac Book Pro = $2000
Timbuk2 Laptop Bag = $60
Logitech Mouse = $30
Book = $15
Various notebooks = $10
The pleasure of working with the Chicago Police Department = priceless

Last Thursday, I met up with my friend after a busy end of day at work, I will admit that I was late, slightly frazzled and annoyed with the rain. I found parking around the corner from the where we were meeting and dashed in immediately. Now, I had my laptop with me, and on the rare occasion I go somewhere other then home after work, I put it in the trunk, seriously every time. Well, except this time, I left it in the car and is always the case, hindsight is a bitch. I knew it was dumb and it had crossed my mind several times to return to the car, but laziness prevailed.

Upon returning to the car, I unlocked my door and heard my friend utter "um, Amber...," which in my experience with things, never ends well. And without fail, I went around to her side to see the window completely smashed out and the laptop gone. I think I might have gone into shock. I guess it still surprises me that a person would break a window before dark, in a busy neighborhood to steal something and gets away with it. I just really hope that kharma comes around in a way that can only be seen in a Saw movie.

Anway, I called the police not once but twice. The first time, I am pretty sure the guy hung up on me, from what seemed like a mix of boredom and indifference but left me with the impression that he was in fact going to dispatch someone my way. No one ever showed, so I called back, and said that I reported it and I was afraid that I had given the wrong cross streets. To which this woman told me that I had to report to a police station and the next ten minutes were hands down, the most frustrating and aggravating that I have ever experienced. After a whole lot of wimpering and explaining, she grudgingly wrote up a report. And upon asking what was stolen, I said a computer and she asked what kind of computer and I said a Mac, and then she asked how to spell it...enough said.

The aftermath that ensued was unexpected. The next day, as I was moping in a puddle of self pity my boss called to tell me that she was picking me up. I was car-less, due to the window being fixed. She arrived and we went straight to the Apple store, where I picked out a lovely new iMac for work and 20 minutes later the computer was in the trunk. She then informs me that we will drop the computer off at work, and then she was taking me to a spa and I could get whatever I wanted, her treat. One facial later, she took me out for drinks and dinner. Seriously, how amazing is my boss?

As for the laptop, B is optimistic that it will be covered by insurance. Luckily, my work files were backed up that very day, I had only lost a few hours worth. I am most sad that I lost a good chunk of photos and it really is a kick in the pants that I lost my entire design portfolio, including my web site design. I realize that something worse could have happen, but I have kicked myself repeatedly for knowing better and doing something so careless.

In a closing note, Ethan commented that the car seemed very clean. To which I explained what had happend and that when we got the window fixed, they vacuumed the car out. Ethan took it all in and responded that we should go to their house and tell him "No thank you." I couldn't have said it better myself.

the night max wore his wolf suit...

Last night B and I went to see Where the Wild Things Are and it was truly spectacular. It is rare that I see a movie based on a book and actually like it more then the book itself. I thought the genius of it was that it filled out the story seamlessly and it kept the same beautiful sense of magic and imagination that the book has. Granted we read this book at least once a week, so I pretty much know it by heart, but it was still fun to see the story unfold and hear all of the lines from the book sprinkled in.

I have read that it has taken 5 years for this movie to be made and can understand why. The overall creative vision was so thoughtful and well crafted and the writing was touching, funny and smart. And the boy that played Max was incredible. The music by Karen O filled out the landscape of the movie, in a surprisingly complementary way.

I think that in less capable hands this movie would have been more along the lines of a kids movie and much less engaging for adults. It surprised me just how adult the story line was and how much melancholy and alienation really played into it. I am sure that having a child, certainly affected my emotions and how I saw the movie but I am certain that I was not the only one who cried, there was much sniffling going on, but there was also a lot of awe and laughter as well. I guess that it is safe to say that I haven't seen a movie that I liked this much in a long time.

many a birthdays

This past week, there has been a whole lot of birthday celebrating. We celebrated my good friend Kelly's birthday by meeting for dinner at her favorite (and most mediocre) mexican restaurant in Chicago. We frequent this place more then is merited, but for all the sub par food there is a sub par margarita that makes things a little better. I can't argue with how conveniently located it is either and rarely is there another person in there, so our boys pretty much have the lay of the land.

It was also my brother Justin's birthday, which is celebrated by a phone call of birthday wishes and a present that usually rivals holiday packages in it's arrival. I am sorry I am not more punctual.

Friday, we went out for our good friend Nathan's birthday. We had dinner at the May Street Market, which we have bee meaning to go to for some time. We went with the prix fixe menu and enjoyed three courses of deliciousness. After that there was some hanging out and eventually made it out to a bar with my favorite game, shuffle board! It reminds me of Michigan, though I have found them to be quite scarce around these parts.

The rest of the weekend we spent sans Ethan, recovering from a late night out and then the following day, went to celebrate, yes that's right, more birthdays. B's granny and papa share the same birthday and his aunt bean's is within the same week as well.

Happy Birthday to all the October birthdays!

rain delay

This past weekend we took a trip out to the pumpkin patch for some good old family fun. We had seen earlier reports of rain but somehow in my mind if it wasn't due until the afternoon, we could certainly still go with hopes of beating the raindrops. Unfortunately nature won the race, and we were met with some misting rain when we got there. We hung out for about an hour and went to the petting zoo, then Ethan rolled some pumpkins and we had some lunch. After that, Ethan was desperate to see him some pig races, so we went and as luck would have it, the downpour began just as the races had. Just when we thought it couldn't get any worse, we took cover under the roof of the "turkey shack," where stuffed animal turkeys were doing the can-can to a rousing techno beat, which after hearing a few times, we decided it would be best to make a run for it. We returned home, wet and defeated.

The rest of the weekend, we didn't do a whole lot and it was kind of nice. We ran the usual errands and felt abnormally productive. I have been back on my cooking kick, and we have been planning a week worth of meals, making grocery lists and following through. It feels so strangely adult, like I will soon be starching my sheets and lining the kitchen drawers. But I will admit, I love the fact that we have family dinners every night and am happy to feed my son things outside the realm of hotdogs and pasta.

We have been passing a lot time by watching Mad Men. We are finally in the home stretch of being caught up, I wouldn't want to know how many hours of our lives we have dedicated to watching this show over the past few weeks. But in short, this show is amazing, and if you haven't watched it, you should, and if you have, we should talk. And on that note, I must go, so we can watch yet another one before bed time.