hazelnuts

So if you know me, you possibly know that my favorite band is Sister Hazel. (As to the title of this post, you might not know that Sister Hazel fans are known as "Hazelnuts"). Thursday and Friday nights this week were spent going to see Sister Hazel at the House of Blues Chicago. Both nights were amazing in their own right. Thursday night was cool because we stood way at the front and the energy up there was amazing. Unfortunately, some of the other fans up there were not amazing. Thursday night's rendition of Strange Cup of Tea, which is my favorite song, was probably the best I'd ever heard. Friday night, however, was probably the best Sister Hazel show I've ever seen (and I've been to over 10). The playlist was awesome and they really hit every song. Especially cool was when they sat down and did three songs acoustic. But my FAVORITE part of the night was during the encore when they played Starfish which is one of my favorites that I've never heard live before (it's on one of their older albums). SO exciting (especially because earlier in the night I was telling Bryan about how I loved that song but it bummed me out because they never played it at their shows and then they did!).

OK, need to go to sleep now...

bored

It's 9:30 on Tuesday night and I'm sitting here in my parents' house in my pajamas trying to decide if I should just give up and go to bed now or wait it out, bored out of my mind, until it's a more appropriate time to go to sleep. My parents have already gone to bed and my brother is out. I have no plans tonight and, as a result, am doing nothing. This is such a strange winter break... It's like there are spurts of activity. I'll be really busy for 2 days then really bored for 2 days and then busy again. I'd prefer a steadier stream of stuff to do and people to see but oh well.

The next few days should be better. Well, the next few nights at least. Tomorrow night I'm going to a get together thrown by a friend who doesn't live here anymore and who I haven't seen in forever. Definitely looking forward to that. And Thursday and Friday nights I'm going to see Sister Hazel play at the House of Blues, which is always amazing. Thus ends my busy period, leaving, of course, Saturday night, New Year's Eve, as returning to the "nothing to do" phase. OK, nothing is a little harsh. I have tentative plans to do something with Tyler, we just don't know what yet.

I'm not sure why you're still reading this... I'm not sure why I'm still writing it...

In case you were interested...

my new haircut

Anyway, I said that I'd post a picture of it when I could and this is a picture taken on Christmas. I don't think I hate it anymore but I still miss my longer hair.

merry christmas

Wow. It's hard to believe that another Christmas is done. It barely even felt like Christmastime (at least to me it didn't) and all of a sudden it's over. It was a really nice day though. Lots of family time with both my immediate family and the extended family and some friends. I received some wonderful gifts (the highlight being the Bose speaker/dock for my iPod) and hopefully people liked the gifts I gave. Overall, the event that is Christmas exceeded my expectations.

One more week at home. This break seems so short. And I haven't really seen many people yet... Hope to remedy that in the coming week.

Merry Christmas again. And, of course, Happy Hanukkah.

here we go!

Well, it's 8:15 Christmas Eve morning and the dog woke me about an hour ago. Now I'm just waiting for my parents to get home from their workout so that my mom and I can start running errands. No more Christmas shopping or anything, just the grocery store and the fish market. Then we're going to see Walk the Line later today (yes, I've already seen it...).

Being home has been wonderful. I spent about a day and a half doing nothing but cooking (I make nut mixes as Christmas presents for extended family). Last night, I went out with the IHC crew which is always a good time. We went down to the Flat Top in my old stomping grounds (the one in Old Town) and then went back to the O's house to watch Mr. and Mrs. Smith. I was very ambivalent about seeing it when it was in theaters but it was really good! You could definitely see the real chemistry between Brad and Angelina.

Not much else happening. Still don't have New Year's plans. I guess I have a week to figure that out...

whoa

Got a haircut today. This will take some getting used to. I wanted it at my shoulders but instead it's about an inch above my shoulders (meaning that he cut off about 2 inches). Don't know yet whether I like it...

In other news, I finished Christmas shopping so now I can just enjoy being home and hanging out with the dogs :)

home sweet home

Well, I finished finals and made it home in one piece :) Got in last night (flight was only delayed 2 hours). As for the bankruptcy final, well, I think it went well but you never can tell and it's not something worth dwelling about because I won't get my grades until the end of January.

Today has been a busy day, yet I got NOTHING done. I went to the eye doctor and the dermatologist, but I STILL have done NO Christmas shopping... I looked today but found nothing. Hopefully I'll have better luck tomorrow. Oh, also getting my hair cut tomorrow. So excited for that!

Anyway, if you're around Chicago I want to see you while I'm here. So just in case you read this before I call you, let's do something! I'm here until the 2nd of January.

study break

Thought I'd take a much-needed break from studying bankruptcy to update you on my life for the past few days. Yesterday I took a final. I think it went ok, but I'm VERY cautious about even thinking that because exam grading is SO arbitrary. Didn't do any more studying yesterday -- had to free my mind of all that was M&A so that I could cram it full of bankruptcy. I planned on being a blob in front of the tv all afternoon but, alas, those plans were shot down when I learned that the heat in our building wasn't working. It didn't turn back on until sometime in the middle of hte night. It was COLD!
I've been studying like crazy all day today. I'm feeling pretty comfortable with the material but this professor is known for her sadistic exams. So, more preparation is definitely in order. And with that, it's back to the books for me!

the eve of exam 1

I have my first final tomorrow: Mergers & Acquisitions. I think I'm ready for it and if I'm not, well, I'm not sure what else I could do. I've pretty much re-read half of the course material and read case summaries for the rest. I've taken my outline from 70 pages down to 12 and then made it into a 1 page (front and back) sheet of notes that I'm allowed to take into the exam with me. Sort of weird since most law school exams here are open book open note... Anyway, exam is tomorrow morning, "in class" and I just found out that it's in a room with virtually no outlets so I hope I finish before my battery dies...

So excited to go home Monday!

Walk the Line

Just got home from seeing Walk the Line (the Johnny Cash biopic). LOVED it. Totally brought out that closet country fan in me :) Don't know if the people I went with liked it but I loved it. It was so real. And Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon were amazing. Joaquin sounded eerily like Johnny Cash and, while Reese didn't really sound like June, I prefer Reese's voice anyway! I definitely recommend this movie.

In other news... I found out today that I passed the MPRE (that nasty ethics test that I had to take early last month). YAY!

a bad start

Ugh, my day got off to a rotten start today! I had planned on working out, then coming to Starbucks to do a few hours of M&A studying. To do that, I needed to print a 75 page document that I was going to use in making my outline. So I go to school to print it first thing this morning and waste 45 minutes trying to print it, only to finally learn that for some reason the print system refuses to print it. NO clue why. But anyway, it's seriously hampered my studying this morning and put a major dent in my productivity. I guess I'll go to Kinko's this afternoon and try to print it there. I cannot wait until finals are over... Go home one week from today :)

backtrack

Wow, I wrote something and posted it and just realized how vulnerable it made me feel to actually write and post it. It was maybe a little more personal than I needed to get, so I've deleted it. Don't know why you need to know that...

boredom

So it's almost 5:30, I've been working all day (studying for finals, working on my paper) and I now find myself with NOTHING to do. I have no more work to do today (because if I did it today, what would I do tomorrow?) but I also have a minimum of 5 hours before I can go to sleep. Everyone at law school is too busy studying to do anything so I'm just BORED! And to make matters worse, I have a feeling that this is what every night until the end of finals will look like... Me sitting around doing NOTHING watching BAD tv. *sigh* I wish I could just take my finals now and get them over with and go home where I might still be bored, but at least I'd have the dogs (and my family) to keep me company...

Thunder and Snow

So every time I've been outside walking somewhere today, the weather has gotten progressively worse...

Walk 1: Home to Starbucks, 15 minutes.
It was snowing. This wasn't actually so bad. The streets were ok (there was about an inch accumulation at this point) and it wasn't too cold.

Walk 2: Starbucks to gym, 5 minutes.
Rain. Rain that froze again when it hit the ground making a big slushy ice sheet. It is some sort of miracle that I didn't fall and die while walking to the gym. And don't get me started on the puddles at the intersections...

Walk 3: gym to home, 20 minutes.
Snow, wind, and thunder. I didn't know that there could be a thunderstorm while it was snowing... I am soaking wet. The snow is coming down fast and the wind is creating whiteout conditions. Oh, and it's all falling on top of the ice sheet created by the earlier rain.

Needless to say, I don't plan on leaving my apartment again today.

um...gross!

From Yahoo News:

Coke to launch coffee-infused Coke Blak

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE:KO - news), the world's No. 1 soft drink company, on Wednesday said it will launch a coffee-infused soft drink called Coca-Cola Blak in various markets around the world in 2006.

The news of the launch came hours before Coke Chief Executive Neville Isdell was scheduled to address financial analysts and investors in New York.

The new drink, a combination of Coca-Cola Classic and coffee extracts, will be first launched in France in January before being rolled out in the United States and other markets during 2006.

A Coke spokesperson said Coca-Cola Blak will be a mid-calorie drink, similar to Coca-Cola C2, which was launched in April 2004 and contains half the sugar, calories and carbohydrates of regular colas. The formula for the new beverage is expected to vary based on local tastes.

Analysts have said one of the keys to the company's future is capturing more consumers who have moved away from sugary soft drinks to diet versions, or to healthier low- or no-calorie beverages.

some thoughts

I am bored. Therefore, you get to hear me expound on some random topics.

1. Winter
I am not friends with the cold. Certainly not friends with the kind of cold that involves terrible windchills and air that pierces your skin. I like to complain about the cold even though I have always (minus my 4 years in college) lived in places that get very cold in the winter and will continue to do so for the rest of my life. Usually, really cold weather/winter makes me reminiscent for Colorado because it didn't get as cold there, but according to my brother's away message it's significantly colder there then here, so I won't do that today. Instead, I'll just bemoan the cold generally.

2. New Year's
Someone (at law school) asked me the other day whether I had plans for New Year's. This was not an invitation, as she will be in DC and I will be in Chicago, but gave me pause because I had not even started to think about New Year's. I have had some really bad ones in the past and, as a result, don't put a lot of pressure on it as a "special night." That said, I'd rather not be sitting at home by myself. Is it even time to start thinking about these things? I mean, I'm not interested in a big blow out type event (especially seeing as I have to come back to school on the 2nd so would like to be relatively conscious on the 1st) but I need to do something...

3. Finals
Finals suck. Not much else to it. Tomorrow is my last day of class, next Friday is my first final. I am not happy to have 8 days between my final class and my first final (my second/last final is the following Monday). With only 2 finals, I have no use for 11 days of nothing but studying. Oh well, I'm sure I'll keep busy enough and hopefully I'll be really prepared...

There's loads of other topics that I could write about, but you're probably bored of me by now (if you kept reading at all). So I'll save the rest for another time.

Is something better than nothing??

From the Chicago Tribune

Aldermen reach deal on smoking ban

By Gary Washburn
Tribune staff reporter
Published December 6, 2005, 2:27 PM CST

Aldermen reached a tentative agreement today on an ordinance that would make virtually all indoor public places smoke-free, but would give drinking establishments up to three years to comply with the law.

Final language of the accord was being fashioned this afternoon as some aldermen sought a two-year deadline for full compliance. The full City Council is expected to vote on the compromise measure Wednesday.

Ald. Patrick O'Connor (40th) said aldermen wanted to resolve the controversy "in a way that was amicable, and it was getting pretty ugly around here the last couple of weeks."

"Ultimately, people knew we had to do something, and that pointed it toward making some peace," O'Connor said.

Ald. Burton Natarus (42nd), who had sought an exemption for taverns and separate bars in restaurants, expressed satisfaction with today's accord and said restaurant industry representatives were on board.

Joel Africk, chief executive officer of the American Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago {ndash} an organization that had pushed for a smoking ban without exemptions {ndash} said he did not yet know if his group would support the compromise.

"It's tough for us to accept three years' more exposure to second-hand smoke," Africk said.

Today's developments in the City Council's Finance Committee followed a sometimes raucous session Monday involving three hours of discussion and debate on Natarus' measure, introduced as an alternative to a more stringent proposal by Ald. Ed Smith (28th).

Smith wanted to include all taverns and bars in the ban. He had the backing of the Lung Association, the American Cancer Society and Chefs and Owners United for Good Health (CHOKE), a coalition of more than 110 dining establishments.

Smith's backers said the ban was necessary to protect the health of consumers and restaurant workers.

Natarus was supported by such trade groups as the Illinois Restaurant Association and Illinois Licensed Beverage Association, which had argued a draconian smoking ban would harm small mom-and-pop restaurants and bars. Mayor Richard Daley has hinted he favors the Natarus proposal.

can't sleep (again)

It'd be awesome if I knew why I can't sleep. I went to bed 2 hours ago and recently got back out of bed because I found it pointless to keep lying there. *sigh* And it's not like I did nothing all day, which generally does make sleeping difficult. I was actually really productive! I did my bankruptcy homework for the rest of the week, I worked on my 3L paper, and I started studying Mergers & Acquisitions. All of this on top of a workout (cardio and weights) and going out to dinner. So I certainly used up energy today and have thus not answered the question why am I still awake... I WANT TO GO TO SLEEP!

December what?

How on earth did it become December? Apparently December is the month of Salvation Army bell-ringing people in Harvard Square which drives me crazy. As if there weren't already enough panhandlers in the square, I need someone else ringing a bell in my face asking me for more money? Right...
I should probably start studying for finals this weekend but I probably won't. Maybe a little work on my paper, homework for next week, and definitely grocery shopping. I have no food. Oh well, TGIF.