Halloween 2009

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Here are a few pictures from our festivities!
Crystal Skull Vodka- by Dan Aykoyd- We must admit- we mainly got it to save the bottle afterwards... :)
Me- making some Vegetarian Chili
Poe- She decided to be a cat for Halloween- I know, a stretch to the imagination, right?
The Halloween Room- Thanks to A and Tori for the pirate banner! Everyone loved it :)
Jon as Robin Hood with his pretty sword
Me as Maid Marian with my pretty sword and dagger
Our friends Cherise and Wes as Julia Childs and Paul
Our friends Rory and Tonya as Lightly Toasted and I Can't Believe Its Not Butter
My infamous Kitty Litter Cake
Our friend Kevin- who got strange looks from a kid on the train who believed he was a real junkie... oops.
Our friend Stephanie wearing our Scriblenauts hat (a video game) and Megan had a milk mustache and was a housewife because...
Her boyfriend Rob was the Milkman and J was a character from a new comic book
Jon as a Scribblenaut

Hope everyone's Halloween was awesome!!!
Take care!

Oh Golly Gosh! New Post!

Holy cow! It has been WAY too long! Let's see- Since I last did a decent post, we have moved into our new apartment and are all unpacked- see new movie tour below! Jon has two jobs- one with Gamestop and one with a different Barnes and Noble than he was working with before. The two part time job thing is kind of stressful for him and we never see each other, but we are making ends meet a bit more than when he was unemployed. So he rocks for taking that on.
Emily visited two days after we moved into our new place in July. Pictures are below. We had a blast even though it was way too short of a time. I finally got to go up the Sears Tower with her and Jon and we got to stand in the new glass outcropping! Yay! It was awesome- I could totally curl up and read a book up there!
We also went to Mike and Mary's wedding in Massachusetts- two of our college friends. It was so beautiful and wonderfully done and we are so happy for them! It was also nice to see some people from SMC we hadn't seen since college.
Otherwise, honestly, nothing much else is new. Poe is doing well, getting a wee tubby, so we are watching her food intake, but she really is a wonderful part of our family. I am working on our halloween costumes- you will have to wait and see for that one- but if all comes out well, they should be awesome and re-usable. Now you are curious aren't you? Hah!
Enjoy the photos and the video tour!

Oh right- we went to the Bristol Renaissance Faire- Here is Jon in his Ren Shirt I made for him the night before haha!

Our friends Ryan and Katie who just moved to Toledo OH :(
And our friend Kristin who just moved to Portland for Grad school with our friend Nick (everyone is moving away!!! :-( )
My ren faire getup
Mike and Mary's Wedding

The view from the yacht club reception
Jon and I at the wedding
Here is a Dr Who shirt I recently made for myself...
And a Nightcrawler one I made for Jon- I am most proud of this one- don't ask me how I did it so well, I don't even know!
And we also went to a Cubs V Phillies game (where the Phillies SLAUGHTERED the Cubs! Yay!) Here I am with our friend from college, Kevin, who just moved out here
Our friend Laura came with us too!
Here they are! Yay Phillies! Go Phillies!
Jon at the top of the Sears Tower- he is not too fond of heights...
A view from the top- my work building is right behind the red building.
On the skydeck- an all glass outcropping which I LOVE! Those are my tootsies and Emily's are the pink ones.
A picture on the Skydeck of Em and I
Lego version of the towers of Chicago at the Museum of Science and Industry- Including the spire they haven't built yet- in fact, they ran out a funding, and it is just a hole in the ground... That's the spiraling one.
Cap'n Johnny Tarr at the helm (wink wink, Ian)
Capt Absinthe at the helm (wink wink again Ian)
A 1971 Aston Martin Lagonda Limited. *swooooon*
This is the Earth... Round. It was a ball they projected the real image of the earth around- it's pretty sweet.
POLAR BEAR! This is literally the first time we went to the Lincoln Park Zoo when the bear was actually there! Em was good luck!
Oh and I got my hair cut!

Poe! :)
And- the moment you've all been waiting for...
Here is the tour of our place- Enjoy!!!



Hope all is well with everyone! Take Care!
~Kirstin and Jon

New Apartment- Tour Part 1- still unpacking...

Hello All!
Here is a video tour of our new Apartment! It is still a MESS- but we are still in the process of unpacking- so there will be a part two where we are all organized and pretty- but everyone kept demanding pix so we did one better and made a vid tour! ENJOY!



I have so much more to update everyone on, but since it is 10:17pm, I need to go to bed for now- more updates later: Emily's visit, Jon's interviews, Poe's reaction to a new abode, etc! Aren't you excited? :)

~Kirstin and Jon

We are alive here!

Hi all!
I know, I know, we are terrible about updating... But here we are!
So, We have had a couple people visit recently, Tina and Jon, Dustinopolis, and Ian. It has been, while somewhat overwhelming, wonderful to see some of our dearest friends. Here is a bit of a photo update (although we don't have any pix from Tina and Jon's visit because it was one eve- but we still had a blast!! :) )

Here are D-bru and Jon at the Lincoln Park Zoo- this was as close to a real polar bear as we saw that day :( Sadly... but still, it had enough life to attack Jon... Hah!

A lion lounging
I love this shot because of his eyes :) Super!
And here was what we were the most excited about during D's visit- the 25th anniversary of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! It wasn't as thrilling of a set up as we had hoped, just a van and martial artists, but we still were thrilled to get a pic with Mikey! :)
We had a lovely (but way too short) time with Dustin! We hope he had as much fun!
And then Sir Ian de Gauthier III Esq. came to visit and he and Jon met me at work- so here is me, at work, at my command central :)
Us at a bus stop (a little earlier than we wanted to be up, but we were off to see the Museum of Science and Industry's Harry Potter Exhibit!) It was a ton of fun to see props and costumes from the movies!
Us at the Field Museum (where the Pirate exhibit of the Whydah is)- Jon and Ian demonstrating how far evolution has come...?
Jon and Ian at the Bean in Milennium Park
Field Museum again- we were displaying our inner pirate!
And then they displayed their inner Cleopatra.... :) Who's the fairest of them all?
I REALLY wanted to buy this shirt for my niece, Miki, yet it was way overpriced since it was at a museum, so, Miki- this picture is for you!
This is one of my favorite sculptures in Chicago.
Jon and I at Buckingham Fountain
Buckingham Fountain during the high fountain bit of the water action :)
And this we enjoyed with Ian the last night he was here. Jon had had it since graduation of High School and finally opened it.
Smelling the bouquet- it was a wonderfully smooth with a lovely seaweed aftertaste (which tasted rather wood-smokey). What a loooovely drink!
A aerial glass shot.

Needless to say, we enjoyed our friends visiting greatly, and are looking forward to those of you who have said you will be on your way later this year! :)

Now here are a few fun pics of Poe:


She is def the princess of the house, but is highly confused right now because we are packing to move across the street July 1 and she keeps losing her hiding spots and roosts. Luckily (thanks to mom) she has her cloth boxes which never disappear :) She will definitely be happier in the new place, whether she realizes it yet or not!

Today, I went to our friends' Laura and Theo's Bridal Shower (well it was Laura's, but Theo came at the end to help open presents). Here are a few pics of the day, which was wonderful and I was most greatful to be invited!
Here's a shot of the table- the Aunts made an appetizer platter of a martini glass of Cashews and little chocos surrounding it. Also, one of the aunts made place markers out of sticky note pads and wrote all our names on them in beautiful calligraphy.
Here is the happy couple- Theo is glaring at me for taking a surprise photo. :) I was the designated photographer for present opening (which just confirmed for me- I am my mother! Haha! Although, in my case, I don't think that's a bad thing ;-) )
Theo and an extremely nice relative (sorry, Laura, I met so many people today, I can't remember their names! I am a bad bridesmaid! :( ) I love this photo!
Laura got a belly dance scarf from her dance teacher, Sonya, and therefore had to demonstrate why scarves were awesome in belly dance! :)
And Sonya was in charge of making a bouquet out of all the bows which Laura decided worked loverly as a hat!

All in all, a wonderful day.
Otherwise, as I mentioned before, we are packing up slowly to move July 1. We are trying to bribe friends to help us move with free beer and pizza! Ha, this might be the last time we can get away with moving with friends since we will have a LOT of stuff this time, and next time, we will have too much. Maybe we will have to hire movers next time. We will see... haha!
Jon is still job-hunting, I am still at the Academy, Poe is still happy, and life is pretty good. As soon as we are out of the dungeon Apt and into the nice 3rd floor one with a dishwasher (YES!) and Jon finds a job and we can get fully settled, life will be excellent in our opinion!
Now, I will leave you with a short vid of Poe! Take care all!

Hello All!
We thought you would like some updates about life! First, as usual, some pictures!

A new Dunkin Donuts opened right around the corner, so we decided to get a dozen... but we got the special instead... Poe kitty in a box!
She just loved this box- too bad it had chocolate in it, so we couldn't keep it for her.
She has also decided she is a parrot, and hangs out on Jon's shoulder sometimes while he is on the couch.
Here is Jon's new Guitar: A Talman Ibanez Artcore in a gorgeous blue!
Close up shot
If you can read upside down, here is the stamp inside the semi-hollow body.
I think she was hoping we would feed her...
Jon enjoying the Dunkin Donuts Special...
Me grilling indoors (but trying to feel like we are outside...) on our NEW George Foreman Grill! (Don't worry parents, we got it for FREE- yay for Chase reward points!)
A shot of our first meal on it- Applewood Honey Mustard Chicken! (The next eve I made Halibut, because Jon was at his performance and he doesn't like fish... more for me!)
We then tried to order a Dominos Pizza, and once again, got the Poe kitty Special!
And then we found we had bought a cat from Whole Foods! (She loves to play with bags)
My newest sewing project- a satchel bag for work.
And a glamour shot, just for fun!
Tonight we made sushi with the rice cooker that E and TJ gave us! THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!
Chopped some Avacado, Imitation crab, cucumber and carrots for the insides...
And here is our first rolled sushi log!
I know it is not Christmas, but I love this shot! Yum Sushi!
Jon wa sukaseru desu! Sushi wa oishii ne? (Jon is hungry. Sushi is yummy, no?) I might be wrong about the word for hungry... E and TJ?
Me with plate o' sushi!
Jon with plate o' sushi!
It came out a little dry with the rice, so we have to figure out how to get the rice a little more moist... but all in all, a success!
UPDATES:
~Jon is still temping for the American Heart Association and is still job hunting for a permanent job... cross fingers, pray, hop on the seventh day (preferrably not while serving soup), sacrifice a goat to Baal, you know, whatever you do, it could help Jon get a job! :)
~I am still enjoying my job, and still extremely thankful for having it
~Jon's last improv show is this Sunday (hopefully I will remember the camera this time... oi). HE hopes he can do more in the future, but is not banking on it. He is more excited about his writing class, which also ends soon- they had to write a sitcom script and Jon wrote a Flight of the Conchords script (complete with two original songs) which will have a dramatic reading on a date TBA. (Thank you to Austin for getting us hooked! A friend of ours taped all of season 2 for us, and we are going through that now! We also have tix for them when they come through the end of April!!!! Thanks for a good TV and entertainment tip! :) )
~Poe is doing well- no more cold or cough or reverse sneezing (so weird). She loves her leopard mouse (which was originally bought for Kitty, my family's old cat, but she never touched it) and her laser pointer- she goes bonkers for it (See video on last post). Getting her is by far the best decision we have made in the last few months!
~Our stupid apt had the drain clog and the screen door ripped and the freezer going crazy... and the FINALLY fixed all three (at least it seems with the freezer). It only took lots of bothering and calling the maintenance man and the apt company to get it done. WE WANT A NEW PLACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are looking at possible rent to buy option for our next place- which essentially means we will be putting part of the rent towards a down payment for the place we are living in- with the option to buy the place when the lease period is up. If not that, then we hope to rent a condo at least. We will see.
~Jon's Dad, Mom and Sis came to visit and see Jon's improv show three weekends ago- and we had a blast hanging out with them and enjoying their company! We had not seen Liz since her high school graduation, so it was awesome to see her again, although we did miss Zach, who was called to NY to help with a democratic campaign (we are so proud of your hard work! Way to go!) Thank you to Jon's parents and sis for coming! It meant so much to Jon to have you see his show!
I think that's all. Hope you enjoyed our update! To all our east coast family and friends- WE MISS YOU! TAKE CARE! LOTS OF LOVE! (oh and COME VISIT!)
~Kirstin and Jon

For Your Entertainment...

Hi All! Here are a few pictures and a fun video for your entertainment! Did we mention Poe is wonderful???

Poe VS Mouse

Mom sent Poe some new toys (Thank you!!) and the cat immediately decided that "Daisy Mouse" (a yellow catnip toy) was worthy of an attack: