Sweet Sixteen

My friend Teresa’s daughter, Chloe, is starting her own fashion magazine. Chloe is sixteen! Yup, ya heard me, she is only sixteen and has so much passion and drive and creativity. Teresa and I have always joked that Chloe is my little Leo daughter (Chloe and I are both Leos and hippie-ish).


I was lucky enough to be able to take Chloe’s pictures (and the other pictures) for the magazine’s first issue.

Look at Chloe in all of her gorgeous-ness. Ahhh, to be 16 again.


Chloe and Teresa came by my place Saturday, and when Chloe and I stepped on the elevator, she remembered years ago when her and her little brother spent the night at my house, and I told them to “jump” in the elevator when it was going down. That was over ten years ago, and she still remembers. I love that.

Go get ‘em Chloe. The world is your oyster.


p.s. I did have a couple of great/funny shots of Teresa, but she would have killed me if I posted them.

old friends

My friend since the 5th grade, Beth, came to town.  She's been living in LA for 15 years now, so Friday night, Beth, Sylvia (another friend from high school) and me ventured out for an evening of fun.  Our first stop was the rooftop at Epic.  We stayed there for a few hours and had a great time.




While we were there, we were trying to figure out where to have dinner.  We finally came up with a plan to try to get into Naha.  After all, another high school friend of ours, Terry, is a waiter there.  We called to see if they could squeeze us in at one of Terry's tables, and we found out a great surprise:  Terry is now the restaurant's manager.  Terry made sure we had a great table with delicious champagne and way too much DELICIOUS food.  We ordered three dishes, and twice that much came out.


Beth and Sylvia said the scallops were amazing, and I said that the gnocchi were the best I've ever had.  The halibut was great, the Mediterranean appetizer plate was delicious, and on and on and on.


You'll never believe this, but I ordered the chocolate dessert.  Well, Terry came out with the chocolate and three more desserts.  Heaven!

We sat and laughed and reminisced for over three and half hours.  It was so much fun catching up and also talking about our good old days at Thornridge High School.  It really was a magical evening.  Thanks Terry for taking such good care of us!

common sense is genius

I first met Jessica in 1995 (holy shit, that makes us friends for 16 years). We were thrown together as roommates in a dorm room for two weeks when we went to Gallaudet University in Washington D.C. for an intensive sign language course. I’ve never made friends easily, but it was love at first site for Jessica and me.


Jessica is from Berkeley; born and raised in Berkeley. She is the ‘hippie’ I’ve always wanted to be. In 1995, she taught me the simplest ‘green’ lesson: the water doesn’t need to run the entire time you are brushing your teeth. Common sense is genius.

I went to visit Jessica in Berkeley in 1996, and when I arrived in Berkeley, I finally felt like I was where I belonged. There were vegetarian restaurants everywhere for Pete’s sake! Jessica and I met back up at Gallaudet in ’97, she came to Chicago in ’98, then I went back to Berkeley around '01, and Jessica came back to Chicago around '02. We are in dire need of a visit.

Jessica recycles and composts and does all the things I wish I could do. She has kind heart and is now a great mom. She makes me the best surprises out of things she has around the house or things she finds. I have a dream pillow made from an old nightgown and stuffed with lavender from her garden, a box of treasures made from an old fire alarm box, a dream pillow bag made from old bed sheets, and many other treasures. Jessica is special, period.

The other day, Jessica was telling me about the new system they had installed at their home in Berkeley called greywater. Basically, they had a lot of pipes installed and buried in their backyard that delivers the wastewater from their washing machine, to their plants and garden. Common sense is genius.

Near the end of our conversation, I was telling Jessica how tired I am of the three constants in my life: being in debt, being overweight, and being surrounded by clutter. Jessica said, “Well, all three of those things are something you can do something about.” I swear to goodness, common sense is genius!

Sometimes, someone says something to you that is sheer genius no matter how simple and obvious it is.

Thank you for your genius, Jessica.

Scott and Poi: a great night

Friday night, my friend, Scott, and I went to see our favorite band, Poi Dog Pondering.  I wasn't that excited about the concert.  Scott and I have seen Poi Dog many, many times together.  20? 30 shows?  I wrote about another Poi Dog experience with Scott here.  But the thing about the concerts is that they tend to start and end late, and for this 9:00pm bed-time chick, that's tough to do.
Before I continue with the story of our evening, I want to share a story about Scott and myself.


I met Scott in June of 1990.  He was my boss in my first job out of college.  Scott and I worked next to each other, and when I say right next to each other, I mean our desks touched each other.  Anyway, after working there for six months or so, Scott asked me if I wanted to go out for a drink after work.  After sitting side by side for six months, I thought for sure Scott asked me out after work so that he could tell me how he really felt about me.  He was going to tell me he loved me!!
I was nervous all afternoon.  Finally 4:45 (our quitting time) arrived, and Scott and I headed to the bar at Chili's.  We each ordered a strawberry margarita (that should have been my first clue).  We chatted, and then Scott was ready to confess his love for me.  [sound of needle screeching on the record]  Scott didn't tell me he loved me.  Nope.  Instead he told me he was gay, and that he had been with his partner close to four years (they will be celebrating 25 years together this year).  Anyway, that was the beginning of our beautiful friendship that is now over 20 years old.  Holy shit!  20 years!

So, back to the Poi concert.  Scott and I met for dinner before the show, and we really took our time because we were so used to Poi starting late, or after an opening act.  When we finally arrived at the theater, Poi had already taken the stage.  Luckily we had only missed about 30 seconds of the show.
We took our seats, and got comfortable, and that is when it hit me.  Poi Dog makes me happy.  Seeing Poi Dog with Scott makes me even happier.  I had forgotten how happy their shows make me until I was there in the thick of it.

Untitled from Natalie Mikolajczak on Vimeo.

Scott noticed that the theater had new seats and that explained why my ass was stuck in them when I went to get up!  They must have installed new seats, but much smaller chairs so that they were able to squeeze more seats in every row (that's my story, and I am sticking to it).

It was a fantabulous evening and it is always nice to be reminded what makes us happiest: favorite friends and favorite bands.

BFFs (aka 3 stooges)

My best friends are Don and Marty.  Unfortunately, Don lives in California and Marty lives in Arizona.  We were doing a once-a-year weekend get together thing taking turns at each of our homes.  This year, it sadly didn't happen.
Don and Marty are very funny individuals. They are clever and witty and they never fail to make me happy.  But together!  Together, they are a comedy act.  You can just sit back and be entertained for hours.  Sometimes I feel inadequate because I just can't keep up with them.
The picture above is from 2 years ago when Don and Marty came to stay with me for the weekend for my 40th birthday.  We thought we were freaking hysterical taking these pictures of ourselves with the self-timer.  Every time the camera clicked, we would move our heads a little bit.  Our goal was to put together a flip book, that when you flipped the pictures, it would look like a mini-movie. Well, the flip book never got finished, but this very short slide show did.
I hope you at least giggle when you watch because I am laughing very loudly.

3 stooges from Natalie Mikolajczak on Vimeo.

21 x 2, 7 x 6, whatever it takes

I celebrated my 42nd birthday on August 10, and my nephew, Cooper, celebrated his 7th birthday on August 15.

I had a great birthday celebration. The Friday before my birthday, my beautiful friends, Susan, Aimee, and Jodee took me to dinner at Cibo Matto. It is a swanky place with very good food. I am just so thankful that even though I’ve known these women for over ten years, the past year has brought us so much closer, and that really is the best gift.

The Saturday before my birthday Ignacio, Jodee, Gabby, Camel, and I went to my mom’s house and my bro and his family went as well. It was a very low key day spent poolside, and it was great. It was just what I wanted: calm and easy.

On my actually birth day, Ignacio, my mom and I walked to Trattoria No. 10 for my birthday dinner, then walked to State Street for a little shopping at The Body Shop, and a little frozen yogurt for dessert.

Carter, Cooper, Gabby, and Camel

Carter, mid-trick

Ignacio and Cooper, discussing ab workouts

Jodee, Gabby, and Carter discussing the meaning of life

The Friday after my birthday, my friend Don came to stay for the night before jetting back to LA the next morning. Our old dancing school friends Jenn and Jean stopped by, and we had pizza and snacks and watched the finale of So You Think You Can Dance. Ignacio came home a little later and we started playing some dancing games on the Wii. There was nothing better than watching Ignacio get a higher score than Don whilst dancing to show tunes. Classic!!

Now for Cooper’s 7th birthday, his parents gave him a choice of having a kids’ party or going to the Bristol Renaissance Faire. My man Cooper chose the Ren Faire. We went two years ago for my 40th birthday celebration and he had a good time, and he wanted to go back. So, umm yeah, I chose to go to the Ren Faire when I turned 40, and Cooper chose it when he turned 7.

We had a blast at the Renaissance Faire; it’s really an amazing place. I laughed so hard when Tiger and Cooper were in the ring to fence one another. Tiger had to sit down since he is so much bigger than Cooper, and Cooper got the advantage of being mobile. The object was to pop the balloon on top of your opponent’s helmet with your sword. Tiger and Cooper had on so much protective gear, that you couldn’t see their faces at all. But once the first match began, Tiger starting yelling really, REALLY loud, and scared the crap out of Cooper (and the audience) and he popped Cooper’s balloon. Then entire crowd booed Tiger, it was hysterical.

Enjoy the slideshow.

Bristol Renaissance Faire 2010 from Natalie Mikolajczak on Vimeo.

FALL into MONDO

I have written about my Mondo Beyondo (a class about dreaming big) experiences here and I wanted you all to know that the next Mondo class starts August 30. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate fall and yourself than by the special treat of this class.  If I had the funds, I would give this class away as a gift to many of my friends.

I definitely plan on taking the class again at some point to remind myself of my dreams and to create new ones, as well as meet new friends.

It is very hard for me to meet/make new friends. I have a fear of social gatherings of people I don’t know well. Small talk is painful to me, thinking of things to say is difficult for me, and listening to things I’m not interested in is very much like nails on a chalkboard.

Surprisingly for me, since taking the Mondo class, I have gained a pen-pal, Holli, who lives in Kentucky and writes the Wondering Spirit, and I actually met Laura (in person!), who lives in North Carolina, and writes Laura's Mommy Journal.

Laura e-mailed me and told me she would be in Chicago for business and asked if I wanted to meet up for wine and cheese (I told her she had me at “cheese”). I told Ignacio I was going on a blind-date with someone I had met on the internet, and off I went to meet Laura at Bin 36. Believe it or not, it was painless and I had a great time! I could even say it was easy, and for me, meeting new people is anything but.

Do yourself a favor, and treat yourself to a Mondo Beyondo class. Click the button on the right to sign up and tell me all about how your life has changed at the end of five weeks.

Five girls, one room, no drama.

My much anticipated girls weekend was a success! The five of us met in Scottsdale, Arizona and took it by storm. Well, okay, not much of a storm, maybe just a slight breeze. I flew in with Susan and Aimee, and Jodee and Tracy had to meet us at our restaurant the first night due to flight delays.

Our trip was well planned out; we had dinner reservations every night of our three-night stay, and massages booked for our first full day.

After our spa treatments, we had use of the private pool the remainder of the day. Here is our gorgeous view (above) from the pool. We just sat and ate and drank and read and giggled all day. (well, alright everyone knows I am incapable of giggling...I am more of a guffaw-er)

Our second night's dinner had 3 extra guests. Tracy has a friend who recently moved to the area and I have two friends that live in the area, and they all joined us for dinner. My friend, Marty, told us about the private room at True Food, and the eight us had a lovely time feeling extra special in our glassed off room. Marty and Myron were a instant hit, and Marty kept us all entertained.

Before the trip, I told Marty that I couldn't wait to run into his arms for a big hug. He told me to make sure I ran in slow motion so that it was dramatic. I told him, that if he could hum the theme from "Chariots of Fire" that might make my slow motion run better. As soon as I stepped out of our town car (oh yes, town cars and drivers for the weekend, dahling), and saw Marty, he lifted his iPhone and was playing the theme to "Chariots of Fire", and I ran slow motion into his arms. Picture perfect. I didn't even trip.

The resort was beautiful and just what the doctored ordered. There were two to a bed, and one in the roll-away. Naturally, my bed partner (Jodee) forgot pajamas for the weekend.

My fears about sharing a room and bathroom with 4 other women was unfounded. Everything went swimmingly. There is not even any drama to share. Well, the time Jodee spilled a pitcher of ice water into my loaded camera bag might be considered drama, but nothing was ruined, I didn't overreact (as I can do sometimes), so not even that was drama. We had plenty of DOD's (whatever drink we deemed worthy of our "drink of the day" title), and plenty of snacks (which I, for one, live for) so we were plenty happy.

Hold on, I just remembered a bit of drama. I am one of those people that need to eat breakfast. I can't get by with just a cup o' coffee. One morning, the group of us went to the little cafe' to get a bite to eat 'to go'. There was only one woman working the counter, and the line was long, and I was ready to eat my arm. The worker lady was way too happy as was the customer behind me. I was ready to beat the happy right out of them if I didn't get my egg and veggie empanada thingie ASAP. Really, someone was about to need an ambulance if I didn't get food. Now, that was a close call.

Our last supper of the weekend was at Elements at Sanctuary Camelback Mountain. And, my oh my, was the view delicious, not to mention the food (even though I was being a baby about the menu...yeah, whatever, I'm stupid). Our reservations were for 8:00, and the guests that had our table were taking their sweet time. Lucky for us. Well, not lucky for Tracy because she was having a 'Natalie episode' and was ready to eat her arm. Anyway, the restaurant asked if we would like to eat on the private terrace because our table still wasn't ready. Let me tell you, there was no discussion amongst us, no looking to one another for thoughts, we each just said "yes" to the hostess and ran likes bats outa hell to follow her to the table.

Oh yeah, the five of us on the private terrace overlooking the mountains, under the moon and stars.

We were pretty darn fortunate. Over the course of our weekend, we had a private pool and private dining (twice!!).

I feel really fortunate to have gone on this trip with such wonderful, juicy women. I learned more about each of them, had laughs with each of them, and had a beautiful time with all of them.

p.s. I was successful!  I was the only one to bring just a carry-on.

French February

Aimee picked Bistro Campagne for February's dinner. There were four of us in attendance: me, Heather, Beth, and Aimee. Nice and cozy.

We ordered wine, and I think that three of the four of us had french onion soup. I really can't tell you if it was delicious or not. My taste buds are on strike due to a bad cold.

Heather and Beth ordered fish, Aimee ordered steak, and I had the mac and cheese, french style. Aimee said her steak was too rich, but the other gals tasted it, and really liked it. I brought most of my mac and cheese home in hopes that my taste buds come back real soon.

I plan to come back to Bistro Campagne as soon as possible so that I can really enjoy the tastes and smells. After all, Paris is my favorite place on earth, and I'll take anything that will allow me to feel like I am there, if even just a tiny bit.

Fuego

c

Julie was in town over the weekend, so a group of us went to Fuego for some Mexican fare.

Now, if I were given my choice for my last meal, I would have a tough decision to make. I LOVE guacamole, and I adore goat cheese. I could probably eat those things everyday but Sunday.

Susan, Heather, Julie, Aimee, Kim, Michele, Beth and myself were in attendance. Drinks (except for pregnant Julie), chips and salsa, and guacamole were first. Service seemed a bit slow, so that meant we ate a LOT of chips, salsa, and guacamole.

Fuego also served us with complimentary chicken soup before our meals came. When our meals finally did arrive, they were delicious, but we were a bit stuffed from all we had eaten prior. This is unbelievable, I know, but a few of us even took home doggie bags which is really unheard of for this group.

Unfortunately, Jodee couldn't make it because she was with her father. We did make a toast to Jodee's father's health and wished him a speedy recovery.

It's always a blast when Julie is in town. It's usually always about the food. But then again, when are we not 'all about the food'.

DEADline #48

In my post about the things I want to do before I leave this earth, I wrote about Don and Marty in item #48.

Don, Marty and I have been friends since the '80s. That was a lovely decade with the best hairstyles, EVER. I think I can probably write an entire post dedicated to Don's hairstyles over the past 20 years. Marty and I met in high school, and we both met Don at our dancing school. We weren't fast friends. It took a while, okay, a long while for us to become close friends. I may, or may not have been the hold out.

We had the best time at our dance classes and rehearsals. We practically lived at our dance studio for a couple of years. After Don and I went away to different colleges, we would still come home on the weekends for rehearsals for our shows.

Fast forward MANY years later, and Don lives in California and Marty lives in Arizona, and we are closer than ever. A couple of years ago we started a new tradition. Once a year, the three of us get together for a weekend at one of our homes. We rotate our location each year.

The three of us may not talk as much as we would like, but once we are together, it is mostly non-stop goofiness. Don and Marty are like an old comedy team, and they never fail to keep me in stitches.

A couple of years ago, Don sent Marty and me a song in an e-mail (I can't remember the song, but I KNOW that Don remembers). The song sent Don into a daydream of sorts. I can't remember the exact details of Don's daydream,  but after he got us started, the three of us just ran with his idea.

The three of us would rent a cabin for a week (and the whole dream has a sort of 1950's feel to it). We would drive an old pick-up truck and have to go to the little country store to pick up our staples for the week. We would be wearing overalls and little '50s dresses (I would probably be the one in overalls). We'd sit on our front porch swing and drink lemonade. We'd make pies (well, the boys would be doing the baking, I'd be chopping the wood) and we'd listen to the radio. We might even make up a little dance routine or two.

We'd be laughing, singing, and dancing for an entire week; my boys and me.

Anyway, that is #48.

Man, I love those guys.

2010: It's all about SOUL

Those of you who know me, know that I am not the neatest person. I am close to being featured on the show 'Hoarders'. Right around Christmas, my office was painted and carpeted. That meant I had to clean out all the stuff that had accumulated in my dungeon. I even had the painter paint one of my walls lavender. So, now I have a brand new, neat office.

New Year's Eve 2009 started off with my purchase of a 2010 Kia Soul (loving it). It was time to bid adieu to my '98 Chevy Cavalier. On the way to the dealer, I was talking to Bessie, and telling her that she served me very well for 11 1/2 years, but that it was time for me to move forward. Getting a new car meant that I had to clean out 11 1/2 years worth of crap that had accumulated in Bessie. So, now I have a brand new, neat car.
The week after Christmas, Ignacio started putting laminate flooring in our home to prepare for the arrival of our new furniture. In order to make room for new flooring and new furniture, I had to clean out years worth of crap that had accumulated in our home. Ignacio worked his tail off, and the floors look great. So, now I have a brand new, neat home (except for where I dumped the accumulated crap from the office, car, and living room).

So, to start celebrating my brand new life, NYE 2009 was spent with 13 of us total (including our amazing chefs and Ella G) at my friend, Aimee's house. Our evening was spent eating 12 courses of amazing food and drinking MANY bottles of wine.

Here is a picture of our scrumptious butternut squash soup and one of the many glasses of wine.

Here we have our menu and our chefs Monica and Michael. This is our second year (of many to come, I hope) that we have been fortunate enough to have Monica and Michael cook our AMAZING NYE's extravaganza. You can read all about Monica and Michael at http://www.atablefortwo.com/

Susan was down for the count after course 11. Poor dear, I'm not sure if she was able to eat her dessert (chocolate mousse). Hey! If she couldn't eat it, why didn't I?

Here is the gang at the stroke of midnight. We were bummed that Miss Tracy wasn't able to make it because she had to work the next day in Indy.




Noel, Ignacio, Cecilia, Jeff, Aimee, Nat, Scott, Jodee, Steve, and Susan (Monica and Michael were taking the picture and Ella G was sleeping...too much wine, I suspect).



2009 is over. I made it through - barely. 2010 is starting fresh. Probably as fresh as you can get. I've purged from my office, car, and home. Now, it's time to start cleaning out my body. Oh yeah, my body could really use a purge. 2010 is showing great promise, and I am optimistic that it will be a good year.
 2009 showed me what great friends and family I have (aw shit, I started to tear up, and had to dab my eyes). They really helped me get through this past year. Of all the life lessons to learn, that is a pretty good one.

For your viewing pleasure, make sure you watch the movie at the bottom.....