Favorite Events: Aisha and Dave's Wedding

We had Saira's sister's wedding last night. It was so much fun and we all had a blast dancing and hanging out with the Javedullah family. The reception and ceremony took place at the Planetarium right on the water in downtown Chicago. All of the girls in the wedding party were wearing beautiful scarlet sari's, had tekas on and had henna on their hands. It was so interesting to see the different traditions the Pakistan and Philippine cultures have. The ceremony of marriage was done according to the Muslim faith, but then they also incorporated the cord, gold coin and veil tradition of the Philippines. My roommates, Alessandra and Sarah, along with myself, wore the traditional saris as well. I will have to post pictures of us as the outfits are so cool.

At the reception there was a tea room for the Pakistani guests as they do not drink alcohol and don't do the American dancing and typical craziness. They had a band playing with a woman singing popular local songs. I couldn't understand any of it, but it was very cool and in stark contract to the DJ playing the Black Eyed Peas!

Favorite Sports: Olympics

I have become obsessed with the Olympics and have truly spent at least 30 minutes watching the Games each day. I actually may have watched several hours on some days (I will admit it). I think it is so cool to watch these athletes push themselves to such levels that they seriously have no fears. All they want is to win, and for the most part, they want to win not only for themselves, but also for their city, country, family and basically all the values they have always stood for.

Chicago is very excited about having Shani Davis and Evan Lysacek as its own Olympic heros. Evan is actually from Naperville, about thirty minutes from here, but that definitely doesn't stop the city from claiming him in all the press releases and television segments. I definitely have my favorite athletes this Olympics though: Bode MIller, Lindsey Vonn, Shawn White, and of course, my favorite, Apolo Ohno, who despite his success is so humble. I was very excited when he got Bronze on Saturday to make him the most decorated winter Olympian in America. I still say that the one Korean skater who pushed him should have been disqualified, but I guess nothing can ever be fair and the way Apolo addressed the situation was with the same maturity we have seen all along.

I do just have to ask what is going on with Russia's Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin's costumes though?! Did anyone else think that was just slightly offensive? They made their skin dark, they put random markings and
From an Aboriginal perspective, this performance is offensive. It was clearly not meant to mock Aboriginal culture, but that does not make it acceptable to Aboriginal people. There are a number of problems with the performance: random markings, making their skin darker, their actual routine! If you have no seen it, check out the picture and then google them. It will be worth it for water cooler discussion.

Favorite Animals: Tommy's Bissell Competition

We entered Tommy in the Bissell MVP context so that he could:
1. Be on a Bissell Box
2. Get a vacuum cleaner with the faintest possibility to clean Tommy's hair around the apartment
3. Get a $10,000 donation to the pet charity of our choice (Red Door Shelter or Northern Lights!)
4. $500 shopping spree for Tommy. (i believe he may share with Maddie)

Make sure to vote for him!

http://www.bissell.com/mvp_PetDetail.aspx?id=8590038701

Favorite cities: Akron!

Mike and I went home to Akron this past weekend from Thursday to Monday. Much fun (other than being sick! ew!)

We went to the Hoppin' Frog brewery, which is right in Akron and just won the 24th best brewer in the world for 2010 by RateBeer.com, a Web site that allows regular beer drinkers to offer their opinions on thousands of beers. They have won quite a few other awards too. Anyways, at $10+ a bottle, they better be good. However, I did not really enjoy any of them as most were I.P.A.'s and very hoppy. Anything that doesn't include "light" or corona in the name, I typically don't like! Here is their website: http://www.hoppinfrog.com/

In addition, we saw Wolfman. AWFUL! Save your money for another show as the gore made me laugh and I was honestly just waiting for the show to end.

Other than that, we had many wonderful meals and had a nice time with Mike's family and friends! I am going to go watch the Olympics now though!! (so obsessed)

Favorite Events: post-bachelorette party

Last night was Saira's sister's bachelorette party. We had all of the women (they were thirty so they are officially women and not bitties or girlies) over at our house for some wonderful pasta, presents and Peter Pecker games. Afterwards, we went to LaSalle Power Company and ended up actually staying there until it was way past our bedtimes.

Love that bar though and now I know why Saira always wants to go back there every weekend. We had a blast dancing to all the music and Saira let me go "shopping" in her closet. I picked out a romper=a one-sy that had a ruffled shirt and shorts, which made my dancing moves come out a bit more than typical. I may have actually danced for four and a half hours straight with a couple pauses here and there when an awful song would come on.

All of us are very excited for the wedding that is coming up in three weeks! Sarah, Alessandra and I all have saris for the event and mine is currently en route back to the states from Pakistan! I will definitely post pictures.

Happy belated birthday Keith and Kevin! Hope that Brendan won his hockey game yesterday for ya!

Favorite Movies: Could I be a trekkie?

After Mike and I went to dinner and to a piano bar, we decided to swing by Blockbuster to get a movie to watch. Going through the aisles, we came across Star Trek. I heard it was good and he had wanted to see if for awhile since it is backordered on Netflix and can't get it in his typical fashion. (For those of you who don't have netflix I highly recommend paying the $10/month and getting movies delivered to your home/work. It is awesome and you can also "watch instantly" online.)

Anyways, Mike ended up falling asleep because he was so exhausted, but I stayed up, eyes glued to the television, watching the movie. Okay, Chris Pine does look good with his blue eyes with matching blue outfits, but I loved every moment. The movie had something for everyone and there really wasn't a dull moment. I <3 Spock's ears and eyebrows, and thought that that the scenes depicting him as a child were even better. I swear I will never let my child have a bowl-cut ever though after watching it! If you haven't seen it, watch it. And personally, I hope that they make a sequel.

Live long and prosper (haha)

it's been busy

So I have not written this week because it has been so busy! There have been some amazing happenings here in the Windy City. Just for a glimpse here is my list of amazing adventures:

1. Well this week marked February 2nd, which is Groundhog's Day. I swear I am going to go to that festivity one day. It is on my bucket list. Sadly, for those of you who did believe that a groundhog could tell the future forecast, Phil only has a 39% record for accurately letting us know if we have another six weeks of winter or if we will have an early spring. Therefore, I think that they should probably switch around his predictions.

2. Mike and I celebrated our two year "back together" anniversary and the mark of when we picked up Tommy from Indianapolis. For those of you who did not know, Tommy is actually from Detroit, proving once again that Michigan only breeds the best. Mike and I are having a nice date night tonight to celebrate.. very excited as I love going out downtown when I am NOT working.

3. Alessandra got into medical school at St Kitts! I cannot wait to visit her if she does end up going there. The dorms look like villas and they recommend wearing shorts and loose fitting clothing because of the warm weather. What a change that will be from the windy city of Chicago. What is even better is that if the students don't want to live on campus, they can stay at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort. This is a 5 star resort that has several pools, restaurants, a spa and gym, and a golf course. Can you imagine?! I think I went into the wrong field sometimes.

Anyways, I am off because Mike is here early. Love you all lots!