Some highlights

Edible Arrangements

Jade's No6 clogboots

PURPLE!

Tracking our order of Domino's NEW pizza

FOR THE LOVE OF THE (SPILT) GOOSE

Accident

BACKHAND SLAP!

lol

Classic Combos

Birthday Bashers

Legendary Leaders

Birthday Party Highlights

I am technically no longer on Spring Break, but my mind is still in break mode. Here are some highlights of two weekends ago, one of the best but least remembered weekends of all time. Thank goodness for cameras.

Thug mugs abound. Somehow mine got inflated a little.

Jeffrey Campbell MEL in action! Excuse the toes, they're kinda squished. But really, who has sexy toes?

Nar looks nonchalant about the wetness of parts of his pants and the state of his seat. I think the expression on Mordecai's face best captures his condition throughout the evening: despite being unable to see/recall anything, he's still extremely cheerful.

No one remembers this. Somehow, Joe ended up on passed out on the floor, I ended up sitting and sprawling on him while brushing my teeth, and at some point, I got my own camera to take photos of Nik climbing up our hallway walls. I like how Amit is framing the picture on the right, his hands exclaiming "WHY?" How does he have the capacity to attempt making sense of insanity as it's happeing? This must have been Amit, pre-UV Lemonade chugging.

There was only one other female present at this party, and she was designated driver. All others had to decline the offer to join us. Why do girls gotta be ambitious and hardworking? Or not in Chicago? What does that say about me? Thus, we end up with slapping matches and wrestling rumbles. Notice Joe injured on the sidelines.

I think Amit is yelling at Joe about "cheating" in Fantasy sports, though really, it's just meticulous stat tracking that no one else cares or knows enough about to do. As far as I understand the people in this picture, I think it depicts everyone and their personalities quite accurately. Shirtless but pleased; seemingly angry but really, just destroyed; disgruntled; chill. Mordecai is passed out at this point, and notice that Shaun is also MIA.

The night/early morning ended in vomit, lettuce, snow, and Meijer. The next day I was greeted at the door with a gas bill and the lease renewal.

Some other important cameos and events to note: Jamie sprinkled the kitchen counter with candy for me and I think there's a Blue Raspberry Mad Dog 20/20 for Joe in the fridge as well; his roommate Toru sat in the corner reading "Nana," absorbed as anyone ought to be if they got caught up in that story; and Sean graced us not only with his presence, but with an EXTREMELY CHOCOLATEY cake and goggles from the future. They deflect bullets futuristically, but not hangovers and post-Spring Break blues! Damn, summer where are you?

Jeffrey Campbell MEL

I pretty much calculated my day around the arrival of this package. It came from Oregon, stopped at Kentucky, and then arrived at my door this afternoon.

As I read more about clothes, shoes, and bags online by anyone and everyone, I am finding that a lot of what comes into style really does trickle down from the runways. I go into stores now and can roughly identify the origins or the inspirations behind clothes, shoes and bags at mass-friendly stores, from H&M to Bebe to Club Monaco.

So I had been reading about Aldo's SMEAL (MOLAVI is similar, possibly less insane heel/platform combo) here and there, and Mordecai being a supporter of all things Judas Priest-inspired offered to acquire a pair for me for my birthday. Apparently, these are more or less knock-offs of or heavily inspired by Balmain's studded crystal sandals. I visited a couple of Aldos dowtown and scoped them out in person. But then while flipping through the latest Teen Vogue (April 2009), I noticed a similar pair, the MEL, by Jeffrey Campbell for $50 more. Zara had a pair out as well apparently, but 1) I hate the Zara at Old Orchard and 2) they probably wouldn't have them due to either the store employees being blah or legal issues. I thought the Jeffrey Campbells looked more like the Balmains and generally looked more sparkly and fun, so I hunted these suckers down. Akira's and Lori's didn't carry them, and I diligently checked Solestruck.com everyday. They were finally up on the site yesterday! So I ordered them to be delivered overnight, and they were on my feet almost exactly 24 hours after I placed the order.

The shoes are surprisingly comfortable; I think it has to do with the platform up front so that the feet aren't angled so steeply. The rhinestone anklet is mad shiny and indeed sparkly fun! The heels feel stable and I think are thicker than the Aldo or Zara or Balmain versions, so I am very content with that. BTW, my birthday has passed and I am healthy and unbroken **KNOCK ON WOOD** Let's hope nothing happens this weekend with these shoes.

I thought I'd share some other birthday spoils.

My mom and I have been out and about since I'm on Spring Break (it's a proper noun folks, must pay homage to the blissful week of rest!) and we stopped by the Levi's store in Wicker Park. It was love at first sight with this jacket, even though I look like a child (I had a Land's End jacket in this color growing up) or like I'm going to visit the Niagara Falls. My mom bought it for me, saying "Why not? It's the day after your birthday." Here I am posing in the way a Japanese baseball player stretched when he was on deck, waiting for his turn to bring Japan victory. (Can't remember who it was.)

Today I went to H&M in the early evening and began doing damage to the H&M gift card generously given to me by Mordecai's parents. Again, under the influence of fashion show-and-tell blogging, I went straight for this jacket. It's weird how tastes suddenly change or evolve; I've never been a big fan of light-wash denim, but I'm all for it this spring. Maybe I am overly eager to celebrate spring's arrival.

Baseball card updates (they are related to the celebration of my birth) will go in another post--those are harder to write about because I'd like to scan them but that entails scanning them. I have a good cover for my Fantasy League baseball card collection too, so look out for that in the next episode.

Early acquisition

Just as last year, I received an early birthday present around this date from my parents today: this year, the much coveted iPhone. With the ability to constantly track my email, my music, the weather in Chicago and Yokohama, Facebook, Twitter, baseball, fashion, the world in GPS map form, Pacman energy pellets, and so much more, I thought my life was going to undergo a revolution or uprising today. But things have been pretty quiet, and I think this is for the better. I'm still very happy with my new acquisition.

My love for purple has not subsided; you know I had to get on the purple iPhone case. The other day, I noticed that the laundry hanging on the new clothing rack was largely purple, or variations of it. This weird website claims that "too much purple and you don't tend to live in this world." LIKE THIS IS A BAD THING! SO BE IT!