My husband collects T-shirts. 

Actually my husband collects a lot of things (guitars, electrical cords, old VCRs and DVD players, I could go on for quite a while here, but that is for another post). 

Over the years he has made a hobby of collecting T-shirts.

I can't really recall when it started, perhaps the first pig roast? Ok, he helped me remember - Grumpy Smurf. I saw it while shopping and it reminded me of him. He'll get that without offense. He wore it to the first pig roast and everyone loved it. 

The next year, he shopped for a shirt with the pig roast in mind (seen here). He wore it and everyone loved it. 

Then I found the "perfect shirt" during the offseason (at Kitson in LA, for those of you who will appreciate this), you see where this is going...

He's taken it upon himself to 'surprise and delight' friends, fellow vacationers, business colleagues, etc. via his T-shirt collection - pretty much anyone who spends time with him remarks on it. 

I'm actually quite found of the hobby. He's a pretty quiet guy. I love that he has embraced a way to communicate his sense of humor through a simple T-shirt. In fact as I write this, I realize it is just another brilliant execution of efficiency, he's continues to impress me. I also think he smiles on the inside when he wears them, which makes me smile (awww) .

The problem is, as with most collectors I'd guess, he is unable to throw things away. This point struck home today, though not for the first time, as I was putting away the laundry. 

There just isn't enough room for all the T-shirts. 

I have edited down the collection over the years while he was on the road (he knows this, though I'm almost never caught b/c I throw away things not worth missing). In general I think men collect T-shirts, so even before he officially took this hobby on, he was already stacking 60 shirts, easy. 

The oldest, though he contests this, is a "Mid-Summer's Night Classic" given to him by his brother from 1993. Is it necessary to hold on to this and keep in the regular rotation? 

I would argue no. 

But this shirt lays with the 'untouchables' (e.g. would immediately notice missing).  

So what do I do? We're out of room. I've offered real estate on my side of the closet but he has declined. I'm left to stuffing all the shirts into three cubbies. Yes, three cubbies, of our closet system dedicated to T-shirts and not enough. 

What to do? 

I'm looking for answers here. 

Isn't it ironic that all I do is complain about being busy (at least it seems that way to me), yet am immediately bored by relaxing? 

I don't sit still very well. 

This weekend was unique in that we had nothing planned and relatively few things to accomplish. So few in fact, that everything was pretty much wrapped up by yesterday afternoon. 

My fall-back when I run out of things to do on my list (I'm a huge list person, work and personal, I swear by them - mostly b/c I forget things but more on that later), I buy stuff.

Nothing about this coping mechanism is positive. Most things I buy when I'm looking to fill my time aren't things I need. Yet, it is the thing easiest to fall back on. 

Usually the purchase requires some sort of action - like the composter (let the record state, I did need a composter). I bought it, assembled, then researched compositing online. But once I'd gathered everything in the yard and kitchen that could be composted (I'll admit I also eyed other peoples' lawn clippings while walking the dog and considered taking them home with me, ultimately I resisted thank God), I was right back to where I started. Bored. 

I tried to take a nap today (I was tired by my lack of activity). I don't nap. It didn't work. 

We took Stella to the park for a bit and played frisbee, but it started to rain. 

I watched TV, Gossip Girls (as good as everyone says), but as quickly as the boredom-remedy came to me, the show was over. 

And now it is 6:30 and we're too unmotivated to even decided what to do for dinner.  

I find myself missing my dear friend "busy and over-committed" after just 24 hours of not running frantic from one thing to the next. Could the adrenalin rush and stress be addictive? I'd hate to think so but signs seem to be pointing to yes. 

Fortunately tomorrow I have a dentist appointment (root canal saga didn't make the blog but should have in retrospect) and the office is right next to Nordstroms. I need a b-day present for Quinn and Emily (both late in spite of being on "the list," I suck) and of course I need some new shoes. I have a dress that needs tailoring too, and I need a new bike lock. 

Phew, I'm stressed out just thinking about it :)

Sweet, sunny Saturday!

Woke up early this moring and took Stella to the dog beach. Seeing her happy makes me happy. She ran all over the beach, went into the water on her own (remember she is afraid) and chased dogs in circles. We waded out beyond her comfort zone and she actually swam! Too deep to touch so she paddled along - very, very close to me. When she was a puppy we did this and she would swim up and try to hook her paws on my waist so she was taller and could walk on her hind legs. She tried the same again today but mostly did OK. She was afraid, the look her in eyes bordered on dog abuse, but she was totally afloat and lived to tell about it.

I dropped her off and Chris and I went for massages. Glorious. Came back home and worked in the yard for a bit. Garden is doing great. Spend a wonderful hour on the lounge chair reading and getting some sun.

AND - best of all - I bought a composter! Now what to do with it is another story but I'm learning how, see here. I've gathered all my recent weeds, tossed in the morning's coffee grinds and am doing a lot of reading on how to make this puppy work. N&P gave me tips during Jackfest. Of course they have manure, straw, tons of leaves, all the things the sites say are great. I have none of those things. I'm going to ask my guys at the Farmer's Market tomorrow if they will bring me manure from WI. Crazy but I'm serious.

My goal in '08 was to start recycling. This is selfish recycling because it will be great for the garden. Lots of pictures coming later of swimming Stella and garden growing tall. I'm off to read more about composting...

Ok, made it to Friday night. Hooray. Huge day today, lots accomplished. I even squeezed in a trip to the vet. Make that two trips because the cats are so crazy they can't go at the same time because they completely work themselves up into a frenzy. Cats. So now I have to book back to back appointments, with a 10 minute window in between, to allow for the travel time to drop off one, scoop up the other.

So this morning I pull the cat carrier out of the garage (too horrifying for the cats to leave in the house) and literally grab the first cat I see to expedite the process - Fakker. She is usually the worst b/c she is afraid of everything in the world. She was sleeping and I caught her off guard. In she went, growling that fateful meow all the way to the vets' office. As it turns out, she was perfect. Absolutely perfect (in spite of what her file says - not sure exactly, but they eluded to how she was much better than what her chart says). We were in and out in 10 minutes.

Apparently Bisco and Stella were alerted of Fakker's curious absence, though she just moved upstairs from her permanent residence in the basement last month. They must have had a conference and determined she was at the vet and Bisco certainly wasn't going there next.

I opened the cat carrier gate, Fakker popped out and went along her merry way. I picked up Bisco with the same swift motion as earlier, and as leaned back to dunk her in the carrier she held out her front little paws on either side and blocked her entrance. Seriously. And then in a blink of an eye, all four legs were flailing, claws were out and a horrible growl came out of her tiny body. I dropped her, not before receiving a blood-drawing scratch to my forearm!

I considered abandoning the appointment all together, the only reason I didn't is because I hadn't paid yet. Crap. Ultimately Chris had to wrestle her down, you can't even image the scene, like taming a lion.

Long story longer, we got to the vet and I was too scared to even open the carrier, mostly because I was afraid she wouldn't get back in. Oh wait, forgot to mention that she was hissing and throwing herself against the walls of the carrier the whole way there. Awesome.

We were seen by a lovely vet who owes a cat herself, convinced me to take the top off of the carrier, and wasn't afraid. She also advised me to step back. She draped towels over Bisco, who continued with same spitting, hissing and growling, and gave her the shots. End of story.

This was all before 10am.

NOTE: No cats were hurt writing this blog.

Oy, another crusher of a week at work. When will we relax and enjoy summer?! I was supposed to take off Thurs-Friday this week (and all of next) but clients had other plans for me. No big deal, we have a huge launch on Monday and it was naive to think I'd be able to get away. Almost wrapped up, not without a few major challenges. Lots of near vomiting this week and I had my first work panic dream in years last night. I won't even go into it but definitely need a break soon.

Either way, we're almost to the weekend which I think should be work-free (famous last words). We've been going and going most of the summer. This weekend we simply relax. We literally have no plans and I'm thrilled. The house is still semi-trashed from the pig roast and I have a million errands to run.

Maybe we'll go to the dog beach.

Anyway, couple new party pics on the side. Sorry for the delay. Back with more fun news later.

Wow, that may have been the roast with the most! Early signs point to maybe the best ever. What made it so great? It could be that we woke to drizzle that slowly evolved into full on rain mid morning. Not so great when you have a 220 lb pig twirling on the spit in the alley! But by noon the sun came out, along with a beautiful blue sky and a nice breeze.

We also had a really awesome crowd this year. Probably 120 people, but the randoms were kept to a minimum (in years past we've had lots of people literally walk off the street and come in). Yesterday was mostly just great friends and great friends of friends.

The food was amazing - Bob of course delivered spectacular pig, as always. K made her delicious broccoli salad and the rest was ordered in from Smoke Daddy. We had mac & cheese, cole slaw and the most delicious corn bread ever. Yum!

We had special appearances from all the sisters - C's and mine - which was a great treat. Lots of great favorites from out of town. Tons of kids (and expecting moms) who were all wonderfully behaved (may have been that they finally received a kid's table and special fixings to keep them happy). Parents of friends I adore and haven't seen in too long. Boys that tucked in wives and returned for a late night out. Overall just a great event.

A few pictures are below, I'll rotate them in this week because there are lots of great ones.

Thanks to everyone who came and played and lent a hand and brought ice and drinks and fun times!

Today we rest.

Yippee! The weekend starts early for me tonight. I had a super productive week at work and am thrilled to be finished so I can focus on the pig roast preparations.

House is clean (thank you Renata), Stella is clean (thank you Doggy Style) and just a few loose ends to take care of tomorrow so we're all set for Saturday. Sis is coming in tomorrow night. C's sisters heading in Saturday. It may rain but temps look fabulous (read: not 100 degrees). We have lots of other fun people in town so it is shaping up to be an incredible party.

Lots of good pictures soon to be shown. Happy Thursday!

Just when you thought it couldn't possibly get any more exciting in the backyard, I have a surprise. It appears that we have a giant mulberry tree among us. To clarify, the tree has always been here. This summer, however, it is suddenly laden with berries all over it. C cut a branch and took it to a local florist shop. Apparently the lady popped a berry in her mouth right in front of him and said "mulberries!"

Not completely convinced myself (she may have dropped immediately following his departure, how would we know?), I googled it and sure enough, it IS a mulberry tree! F and I couldn't contain our excitement and proceeded to gather all the low hanging fruit (finally a true use of that annoying business phrase) and collected two big bowls full. They look and taste like a blackberry only a bit sweeter.

In fact, there are two cardinals sharing a snack in the tree as I type. You wouldn't even believe all the berries if you saw them yourself. I took them into work and shared them with everyone and found most had never eaten one (though they all sang "here we go 'round the mulberry bush,") yet everyone loved them!

Apples, mulberries, do we really live in downtown Chicago??

Five more days till the roast and busy trying to get the house ready for the party. We've had a ton of rain so the garden is going crazy. The tomato plants all look fantastic, lots with baby toms already started. Long week of work ahead before the next party so need to get busy so I can take Friday off and prepare.

Still pretty tired from crazy weekend, time to catch up and prep for the next big adventure!

Another weekend away - this time to NY for R&I's wedding. We flew into the city Thursday night and caught up with friends, local and those in for the wedding. Great pizza place with true Italian flatbread pizza. I managed the whole week with no bread and singlehandedly undid all my efforts with a big truffle pie. We hit a few great bars in the neighborhood and slept back at T's. Her new place is awesome, so fun to see it finished after looking during construction this spring. It is in Chelsea, such a great area.

Friday C sprung out of bed and went walking for coffee, bagels and lox (his new favorite after last weekend in the mountains). He arranged for "Babaloo" to pick us all up and take us to Rhinebeck. Hilarious guy in an old school limo, calling him "boss" the whole ride up. We checked into the place and hit town for lunch. Later we returned for a fun night of dinner and drinks once everyone had settled in to the mountains. Oh yes, somehow we found ourselves back in the mountains, Catskills this time.

Saturday we visited town again and then relaxed by the pool for the afternoon. The wedding was at the Belvedere Mansion where we were staying. A pretty place tucked in the hills. It was to be outside but a storm came through just before go-time and festivities moved inside. By the time the ceremony was through, the rain had stopped and we had a great night of dancing, dinner and friends. C led the boys through an awesome "Sigma Nu sweetheart" and S "killed" with his best-ever rendition of "hava nagila" - two great performances! A few pics of the weekend are below...

Long trip home today but finally back and excited to be home for a bit. Pig roast this weekend. If you're reading this, hopefully I'll see you Saturday. Get ready for some delicious pig!

Happy Father's Day to our two great dads! Sorry we couldn't spend the day with you but thinking of you and can't wait until our next gathering!

Saturday was the big, blowout party and people continued to pile in. We spent a pretty lazy day roaming the property. We took a couple hikes in the nearby hills (I guess they are mountains too, just not as steep as the AT). B&C bought property next to N&P so we scoped out their new digs. Land is for sale on the other side so we hiked up the property line to check it out. C considers, though I'm hoping it is a fleeting idea in the excitement of the weekend, since it is a 12 hour drive from our house, but I digress.

I caught up on some reading, awoke the slumbering pup for a few trips around the pond and down the driveway. I worked all weekend trying to get her in the water. We tried from the one side of the pond where the water is a little more shallow. The most progress I made was belly deep. I dove off the pier and swam over, hoping to coax her in, but she wasn't buying it. That said, she was everyone's favorite guest - her smile and happiness with being outside contagious to all.

Music played all day from the various guys on their guitars. Horseshoe tournements marked the passing of time with reigning champs challenging a new group to take them on. We lit boxes of sparklers by the campside, first time for O who is just eight years old.

And just like that we pack up to leave. The trunk is piled high with tents and gear. We roll down the hill and anticipate turning our cell phones back on with equal dread and curiosity. Stella sleeps in the backseat, snoring all 12 hours, dreaming of Jackfest '09.

Friday morning began with Stella whining at the tent entry, pleading to get outside and run. I unzipped us and set her free while I headed to the outhouse. Back up, I mentioned this is camping right? I guess we could have literally been going in the woods but the outhouse was enough of a departure for me. I am still a city girl afterall...The coffee is poured strong; bagels, fruit and lox are waiting on the table already. There are just about a dozen of us at this point and the morning is quiet.



I checked out N's gardens because they are amazing. She has huge plots filled with lettuce, spinach, asparagus, potatoes, I could go on forever. Amazing display. The flowers are wild, the pond filled with fresh mountain spring water. It is so wonderful here.



Several of the girls headed out for a big hike with N as our guide. She has expored all the trails in the area and took us on a great seven-mile trip along the AT, straight up the mountain during the first leg. Stella tapped her canine instinct and played the perfect role of hunting, trail dog. Running ahead a 100 yards to check things out and then return to ensure we're all still following her up the trail. It was tough but beautiful and when we came out at the top the clearing showed mountains and countryside as far as the eye could see - cheesy but you'll see for yourself in the pictures.



Upon returning home we took a dip in the pond and commensed eating and relaxing. New guests continued to arrive and populate Tent City. The core crew has been friends for probably 20 years. They are a totally different type of people - they compost, grow and hunt their food, have no TVs and are happy being an hour from cell service. The pace is relaxed, but this is how they live. It is refreshing, totally liberating, to be so out of touch, but at the same time I think I'd go crazy with just a couple more days. I woke Saturday and was surprisingly thrilled to see a newspaper. I picked it up to catch on the news only to realize it was dated February 28...

Driving home from Jackfest with 426 miles left to travel before hitting Chicago...so a few updates from the trip. It is completely remote up there, lost cell service about an hour from Jackfest so unfortunately no live blogging. I'll start backwards with the rundown in a few posts.

Jackfest is the annual celebration in the mountains of VA that we've been lucky enough to be invited to for the last three years. Connection to N&P is just two degrees of separation - great friends of Carrie's PIL. It is a big camping weekend filled with gourmet food, hiking, backyard games and campfires -- with HQs being N&Ps property (see picture of day).

Thursday - picked Carrie up in Cinci so we could make majority of the trek together. Long drive down, pulled up to the house about 11ET (12-hour drive) but they were ready for us. We poured out of the car and headed straight for the cooler and campfire. It took Stella about 10 minutes to realize she was leashless on 10 acres of land. As soon as she did, the wild loops around the house and pond started. She'd return every 10 minutes covered in dew and panting like crazy.

Tent managed to be put up with no input or labor from me, probably as wonderful to me as C. The guys did a great job getting her up and the upgrade from a two-man to an eight-man tent can't really be appreciated fully unless you're sleeping inside yourself but it was basically like moving from a studio apartment to SFH. Spacious!

We fell asleep with frogs croaking outside our tent and woke to the same Friday morning...