Back in the Saddle (or ballet shoe)

I’ve finally done it. I went back to ballet class.  It’s been years since I was in dance class.  The mirror has not been my friend (but that’s another story for another time).  I got a great deal on Groupon for ballet class at the Joffrey Academy of Dance.  I purchased the Groupon in January, but it took me until April to get my ass to class.

There was the issue of the lost ballet shoes.  I had two pairs of relatively new ballet shoes, and they disappeared into the ether of my closet.  It’s kind of okay because when I had my mother sew the elastics on the shoes, she used black thread.  Did you hear me?  She used BLACK thread on my pink ballet slippers.  Oy, mother.

So, it took a couple of months for me to purchase new ballet slippers.  Then, it took me a couple of months to sew the elastics on.  (I used bright yellow thread).  Then, it took a couple of weeks to gather the courage.

So, three weeks ago I made it to a Sunday morning class.  It wasn’t as bad (read: painful) as I thought it would be.  I thought I wouldn’t be able to walk come Tuesday, but I was pretty okay.  The studio is beautiful.  It is right on the corner of State and Randolph just north of Marshall Fields.  Two of the walls are floor to ceiling windows, and it is just an amazing city view.  I’ll have to take an evening class to see the night view.

I learned that if I raise my eyebrows during relevé, I can balance much better.  I also have decided that arabesque is an unnatural position and should not be required in people over 40.  I also learned that I get much dizzier than I ever have before when doing turns across the floor.  On my second week of class, the teacher was trying to give me a correction after a turn sequence, and I was so dizzy, I couldn’t even see her.

Sunday mornings are a great time for ballet class, so feel free to join me.  I’ll be the chick hiding in the back, wearing all black.

April Girls' Dinner

Six of us headed to Grange Hall Burger Bar for our April dinner. 

The joint was really cool.  The music selection was the best I’ve ever heard in a restaurant, but then again, I am a sucker for 70’s tunes.  The décor was really cool, too.  The plates, the bar, the wine glasses, etc.; it was so cute.

The burgers were good, but I would have to say that the burgers and selection are better at Burger Bar.  Grange Hall definitely worth a trip, though.

March Girls' Dinner

March?! Are you kidding me?  Why the heck am I so late with this?  Umm, no freaking idea.

March’s dinner was at Salatino’s.  There were six of us there for dinner. I texted Nancy (our seventh diner) to see if she was on her way, and she completely forgot about dinner, even though, we’ve been meeting on the third Thursday of the month for YEARS!

I hate when I take so long to write about dinner because I forget all of the juicy details.  From what I *can* remember, it was pretty good Italian fare.

I'm very, very, very smart.

Have you seen these?

I’ve seen people wear these shoes at the gym.  Of course, they are the skinny runner types that wear them.  But, what I am wondering is how sizing works.

You see, my middle toe is as long as my pinky finger.  It is one helluva long toe.  You know how they say; a long middle toe is a sign of high intelligence.  I believe that one just like I believe it’s lucky for it to rain on your wedding day and also when a bird shits on your head.

Anyway, what do the makers of these shoes do when someone such as me with very high intelligence wants to wear their shoes?  Tell me if I’m wrong, but I’ve never seen a pair with an extra long middle toe like I would need.

February Girls' Dinner

February’s dinner took place at the brand, spanking new Bread & Wine on Irving Park Rd.  There were 10 of us in attendance!  Some of my devoted readers (all two of you) may have noticed that there was no post about January’s dinner.  Well, that is because there was no January dinner.  I know!  Very disappointing. 

February more than made up for January’s disappointment with the ten of us.  We had three new ladies join us.  And, listen to this…we walk into the restaurant, and I’m told our friend, Julie, who lives in Kentucky, called and sent our table two bottles of wine.  That was, like, the nicest thing ever. And, it got us off to a great start for a total of seven bottles of wine for the evening.  Not bad for a Thursday night!
 
I think our newbies, Andrea, Meredith, and Linda enjoyed themselves.  Of course, we’ll see if they show up for March’s dinner. 

For dinner, people ordered: chorizo tacos, chicken breast, fettuccini, and striped bass. We had a cheese and meat plate and delicious herb fries for an appetizer, and we ordered one of each of their desserts.  Well, that’s not completely true.  I, of course, ordered my own dessert because I still haven’t progressed enough to share my dessert.  And, let me tell you, the sweet potato doughnuts with caramel sauce were amazing.
 
The restaurant is brand, spanking new, and little bit loud right now, but I know they are planning on fixing that.  The food was really good and I really like the look and the vibe of the place.

After dinner, a few people went back to Aimee’s house, and more wine was consumed.  I know one person ended up sleeping on the couch because she was too intoxicated to drive home.  If anyone wants to rat her out in the comments, that would be great.

I took a little bite.

Listen to this. 

My cousin treated me to a trip to NYC. She TREATED me to a trip to NYC.  I’ve never been to NYC, and Melissa made it happen for me!  I was able to take a little bite out of the Big Apple.
 
It was a wonderfully fantabulous weekend.  I arrived Friday morning and met Melissa and Andrea at the hotel, and then we hit the ground running.  We hit 5^th Avenue (or do you say: Fifth Avenue?), Central Park, MoMA’s café, Grand Central Station, and Greenwich Village. 

 



Andrea and I ventured to Grand Central Station and fell in love.  There was a certain calm and peacefulness to it.  My friend, Beth, told us about a new bar inside of Grand Central called the Campbell Apartment.  It was AMAZING.  It is very small, and so very cool.  We sipped on our yummy cocktails and snacked on some delicious cheeses.  Heaven, I tell ya.  Seriously, any day that contains laughter, cocktails, and cheese, is going down in the books.

 

After filling up on cheese, we picked Melissa up at the hotel, and took the subway to Greenwich Village (where I asked to see the pope), for a fabulous dinner.  Beth was right on with another recommendation.  We went to Bianca and it was cheap and tasty as hell.  We had a bit of a wait, but the bar next door is very accommodating. 
 
After dinner, we stopped in Times Square where my cousin and I had a pose off.  It was hysterical, she would take pictures of me, and then I take would pictures of her, and we’d be doing to same poses.
 




Saturday was a walking marathon.  We took the subway to SoHo, walked around NYU, to Little Italy, through Chinatown, and then we walked half of the Brooklyn Bridge.  And we got our Mary Tyler Moore on on the bridge.  Awesome, right??  After that, we went to a decadent dinner in the Meatpacking District to a beautiful restaurant called Spice Market.  Every single item we ordered was fantabulous.  That includes the pitcher and a half of ginger margaritas.  Oh, I would love to have my girls’ dinner club there.  YUMMY!










After dinner we went to see a Broadway show.  We saw Memphis, and again, it was awesome.  The singing and dancing…..well, I guess that why it’s Broadway.  There were some talented people on that stage.

On Sunday, we walked around a bit, but the weather was much colder, and our legs were a bit tired from WALKING TO BROOKLYN the day before.  All we managed to do was belly up to the bar at a nearby Irish pub, drink some cocktails and eat some grub before it was time to take a cab back to the airport. 

The trip was fast and furious, and deliriously fun.  I am so happy that I am getting to know my cousin all over again.  She’s patient and kind and generous.  BUT, she has the Mikolajczak sense of humor.  Now, I, for one, LOVE the Mikolajczak sense of humor, but you’d better have tough skin.  Being with Melissa is like being with her dad and my dad.  She reminds me so much of them.  I love it. I love her.  And Andrea is the ridiculously happy Costa Rican.  She is so sweet and kind, and she is always happy.  I had the time of my life in NYC and also took away some life lessons from these amazing women. 

Thank you, Missy.  From the bottom of this cold, hard Mikolajczak heart, I thank you.  And as my brother, Tiger, says, “Mikolajczaks 4Life”

Where the hell have I been?

I tell you where I’ve been; I’ve been in Dillon, Texas.  I’ve been there for a couple of months now, and because of Dillon, I’ve haven’t written on my blog, I haven’t Tweeted, I haven’t done much of anything interesting.

You see, I was way behind, and finally started watching Friday Night Lights. BRILLIANT!  Last night, I watched the 76^th and final episode and cried like a baby.  I don’t know what I am going to do without my friends from Dillon. 

Who woulda thunk that I would fall in love with people from Texas?!  All of the “y’all”s didn’t even get to me.  This show is about football and the people in Texas who are crazy about football.  But really, it is SO much more than that.  I wish I could express and review and explain all of the reasons why this show was so brilliant and magnificent and funny and warm and touching, but I know if I tried I wouldn’t do the show justice.

The show made me laugh and it made it me cry.  It really touched me.  I absolutely loved the actors and the characters of this show.  I wish everyone could have a love and relationship like Tammy and Eric Taylor.  They listened to each other; they tried to understand each other.  They walked in each others’ shoes, and their love made me melt.


The actors were so ‘real’ to me.  My favorites were Matt and Landry.  Their interactions were so natural and they made me laugh every time they were together.  It was like they weren’t acting, just talking to each other like real people.  Their dorkiness was so real, it was amazing.

So, I haven’t blogged in over a month and it’s because I was in Dillon, with my new friends.  Man, I loved them, and I am so sad that they are all gone.  So, if you were late getting to the Dillon party like I was, do yourself a favor, and take a trip.  I promise you will love it, and I will want to talk about it with you.  Seriously, that show made me drop off the face of the earth for two months so I could watch five seasons worth of shows.