fiiine dining

My tummy kind of hurts from laughing again. I just watched Zach struggle through building a dog dinner table with my crappy tools because I said I thought it was a good idea. But check it out, it totally was a good idea! What a nice dog dinner table!

Melissa & Ivo's wedding is in 40 days.

ants555ants: what kind of jewelry should we wear?
ants555ants: did you decide yet?
ants555ants: or does it matter?
le modulation: oh you can wear whtevs
le modulation: i'm not concerned
ants555ants: ok
ants555ants: i will make us all friendship bracelets. out of my embroidery thread
le modulation: hooray!
ants555ants: just kidding.
le modulation: i'll make chokers out of hemp
ants555ants: and glow necklaces
ants555ants: to honor your raver heritage

Projects are really easy when you open them up and realize you did most of the work on a previous day before getting sick of it and putting it down.

from: orders@roomandboard.com

Dear Andrea Fontana,
Thank you for your order. We hope you have enjoyed shopping with us.
The following is a confirmation of your order xxxxxx.

Ohmigod. I just ordered my first, real, grown-up, I-am-the-first-owner couch. In custom fabric, no less. And because we needed to be so picky, it won't be ready until the end of June. Hopefully by then we may have paid it off. Yikes. Let this couch not be the death of my naughty naughty dog.

I am working on the gayest looking spreadsheet ever:



TGIF! I'm gonna plant some seeds this weekend. And go pick out couch fabric for when my stimulous check comes. Good times. Oh oh. And post some helicopter photos! sorry sorry.

Right now
Waiting for nails to try. Watching puppies on Animal Planet. Zach fell asleep on the couch during the news and is now missing the puppies. Should I wake him up? Nah. I mean we watch puppies on tv all the time. But these puppies are dang cute. Still, these little moments of coziness & quiet are maybe more valuable.

a few hours earlier
Tonight I made baby bok choy for the first time. Not quite right, but not too far off I guess. Better luck next time. I'm thinking the correct combo is just oil & salt, with the soy sauce added after the fact. But what type of oil?

and an hour or so before that
I've been really into walking to and from the metra train these days. It's only a little over a 30 minute walk, but it's a nice transition for work brain to not-work brain. The weather's perfect but it's going to take me a while to get used the pollution. The sidewalks along the main streets are always filthy, and the first leg of the walk in the afternoon has you under giant overpasses where the air is probably 70% exhaust fumes.

in about four months' time
About 25 friends from college are planning a Labor Day camping trip in Michigan. I kind of cant wait for some fresh air and lightening bugs. Yet anxious to see all these people again. Not sure what the root of my issues are, but I pretty much assume that people I've lost touch with - yeah, I assume they don't like me. Issues. I know. We all have them.

about two hours from now
...I'll most likely still be laying awake watching the streetlight on the corner changing the colors on my bedroom wall, thinking about grade school, the lottery, balloons, movies in the park, idealism, weight loss, nutrition, maybe some the vast majority of things I own only for their sentimental value, and maybe the fact that I probably am not prepared, emotionally, to admit that I'm only holding on to these things for this reason at this point in my life.

I'm gonna go put The Big Chill at the top of my Netflix queue.

Everyone is so upset at work lately. Be cool.

I wonder if I would chill out a little if I cut out caffeine. I've never given it serious consideration before. The thought even gives me the creeps. Decaf usually tastes so baaad....

Zach just drew this picture of me with an etch-a-sketch.

Helicopter trip pictures to come. First I need to sew a pair of pants so that I have something to wear to work tomorrow.

HOly crap! My surprise birthday present is a HELICOPTER RIDE!!!!!! We have to reschedule it for tomorrow because it's raining today, and apparently helicopter rides aren't very fun in the rain. I can't believe this. This is totally on my list of "things I want to do before I die." I have the most amazing boyfriend ever. He's even afraid of flying and he's going to do this for me.

!!!! This will probably be wayyy better than mowing a lawn.


We're watching Master P take us through a tour of his house on MTV Cribs right now. He just described his giant aquarium as eloquent.

In a minute we're going to pick up some friends and go see the Unicorns and Dragons at the Field Museum. Why did I just capitalize Unicorns and Dragons?

Work is kind of lonely and stifling lately. I don't like high cubicle walls. And I feel as if the air I've been breathing lately is stale. Thankfully tomorrow I get a change of scenery and get to go work in a plant. The plants are usually nice and warm. And I get to walk around all day. Hopefully I'll not run on auto pilot tomorrow and forget that I'm supposed to go to the plant.

I have a new watch. It's pretty. Sparkly. I keep looking at it. This makes me hyper aware of the rate of time passage today.

And you know, most of the time I'm over it, but today I'm wishing I had a window. Even if it's raining.

I hope it stops raining by the time I have to get off the train tonight in the city.

Whoa. Dog rental? It's like iGo dogs. Or an escort service. ??

I admit, there were times I would've liked to rent-a-pup before Fannie came along.

Birthday weekend birthday weekend birthday weekend. I know it's only Monday but Spring is in the air and I actually have something to look forward to this weekend!

On Friday my friends are meeting up at my favorite sushi place where we can all get tempura goat cheese with walnuts and apples salad. I hope they give us the special little room for our table. And I hope we have birthday hats.

On Sunday we're going to see the mythic creatures exhibit at the Field Museum! Unicorns and dragons and chupacabras! o my.

But Saturday is a surprise day. Zach is not telling me much of anything about this day. He did say I'll be able to sleep until at least 9:30 that morning. I'm guessing so far - an elephant ride? Hot air balloon ride? Do I get to mow a lawn???

This is gonna be the longest week ever.

Offices are so cold. Always. Argh.

I haven't been this excited about a birthday since I was maybe six.

Like laying in a field of poppies

Last night I slept for fifteen hours. No, I don't have a cold or anything of the sort. Not that I'm aware of. I made it out into the sunshine and did some walking around and eating and shopping. But I've been awake now for about 5.5 hours and I'm pacing around my house, tidying things up, dieing to go back to bed. I'm sure if I were to lay down right now it would be about two minutes before I were sleeping again.

Can't seem to stop yawning.

I think something might be wrong with me. I feel drugged.

CNN looks pretty great this afternoon.



Some day I might have to take an afternoon off just to watch Oprah.

This can't be real.

Well how about that? For months there's been a billboard off I-94, facing Presidential Towers (where Oprah is rumored to live) with the message "Oprah, please do a show on puppy mills. The animals need you." The plea is accented by a picture of a sad lookinng Pomeranian. I've giggled at it, but I have to admire their creativity and, well, balls.

Today I recieved the following email from the Humane Society:

Dear Andrea,

I invite you to watch an extraordinary hour of television tomorrow (Friday, April 4): "The Oprah Winfrey Show" is scheduled to air a special episode highlighting the cruel realities of puppy mills.

Millions of "Oprah" show viewers will be shocked when they learn of the underhanded tactics and deplorable practices used to mass produce purebred puppies and designer dogs, as seen in an investigative report by Lisa Ling. Animal lovers nationwide will also see what impact these “factories” have on pet overpopulation.

Again, all I can say is - well how about that?! I feel happy.