BURBERRY!!! But guys, not at Nordstroms, I swear.

7/29/16

Another niece, her BFF (who is hilarious) and my Sister-in-law arrived in Chicago on Monday.  We got pizza at Uno’s, and the gals all “shopped”.

I am proud of them as they tend to be garage-sale/thrift-store shoppers, which I am too.  In fact, one of the HIGH points of Ohio was an amazing tag sale in a fancy-town Elyria house where I got these items:

--Original copy of “Profiles in Courage” as well as an annotated copy of Churchill’s history of the English-speaking people for my dad. 

--A late 70’s Burberry Trench for $20

--A nice Leather black bag from Italy

--A few gifts for a few pals that they will receive on their birthdays

--a brand-new Cusinart ice cream maker for $17!  $17!!!

---A martini shaker

My mom got more of those awesome wool plaid blankets (she is obsessed--we have a longstanding joke with my mom. I was shopping at a cheapy "10-below"-type store, and she held up an item and asked "What do you think?" and I said "You can never have enough plaid".  She got super-pissed, huffed and stomped away and now that's our response to anytime she brings something home).

It was a ball to walk through this house.  We saw a ton of ladies my mom’s age, in their brightly-colored sensible capris, hauling tons of knick-knacks to the front room.  It’s nice to be in Elyria---my mom knows everyone it seems, and I feel part of something bigger in terms of community. 

I forget my bike lock, and parked it next door to the house where they were having a produce sale, so they said they’d watch the bike if I bought produce after. I said “Sure no problem” but ended up spending all my $, all my mom’s cash and only had $.50 for a cucumber afterwards. Sorry entrepreneurial neighbors!

But biking on Abbe road BLOWS!  Though I did pass an authentic Elyria High car wash fundraiser, which made me laugh because we had a “Car Wash” song in our musical, Band Geeks, which was based directly on our Elyria High Marching Band experience.  

There are some Band Geeks fakers from NY who came out with a play that was conveniently set in NE Ohio, in the 80s, and had a very similar story line and was called “Band Geeks”.  Those guys also were at the same NY festival we were at with Band Geeks.  But, legally, it seems, there’s nothing we can do but bitch.  

Anyway, I took a picture of the car wash on Abbe Road, and was delighted when a few kids said “We can wash your bike, too”.

Back to Chicago--my nieces very carefully considered every purchase for it’s value, would it go with what they already own, etc.

They mostly bought cheapy cheap shit at Forever 21 on clearance.  I don’t like shopping very much, so I spent some time reading/sitting while Amy, my saint of a sister-in-law corralled the gals. 

I did get to return some blouses I no longer need as I don’t go in to work everyday, and I have a negative balance on my credit card.  (As I write this, I know I am masking the name of that missing credit card out of shame and guilt.  OK, it's a Nordstrom card!  But I only shop there because you can return everything, and Macy's were such assholes when I wanted to return some fake UGGs that hurt my feet.  I feel Elyri-ashamed for betraying my bargain roots.  Anyway, that is the GIG part of this blog!)

We ate and shopped and came back home to watch Bernie and Elizabeth Warren yell at everyone and then we all CRASHED.

"You're not the only one who can take a cat nap"

7/27/16

I left Ohio last Friday with 2 nieces in tow (ages 10 and 13).  They are cousins and get along pretty well.  On the drive there, we were delayed quite a bit because of construction, so we all sang Wizard of Oz songs, as these ladies had just been in that show at Pioneer Theatre (the summer theatre camp in Elyria, my hometown.  It’s celebrating it’s 40^th anniversary!  I never got to do it, but my brother did, as well as my bffs Kristin and Amy.  I’m not too bitter when I go to see the shows, but I do carry some resentment in my heart #blessed?). 

They shorten the name of it to “Pioneer”, and can talk for a long time about who is who, and I’m so happy they get to live out my childhood dream. 

The older one loves Hamilton, so we made that our jam, too.

Upon arrival, I was so glad they were here to help me unload my bags that I always overpack when I go home in the car.  They are hearty Eldridge stock, so are good little pack mules in to my condo.  And the older one folded all my clothes---she did a great job, too.

We had a blast!

We slept in, hung out, avoided thunderstorms while attending an amazing block party, walked Pickle a ton, made 2 batches of homemade ice cream, played cards on the roof deck, went to the beach but couldn’t swim because of the poop water, went to Mariano’s AND Sparkle Target, made our list of things to see and do in Chicago, went to the saddest splash pad I’ve ever seen, and then finally got ice cream at Dunkie.  We also secured permission for the 10-year old to watch Glee, and had a ball dancing and hanging.

During the giant storms Saturday and Sunday evening, they introduced me to “Once upon a Time” and I LOVED it!  The younger one kept trying to spoil it, but the older one shut that down quickly.  Those guys are 2 of 8 girl cousins, and are entangled in a 8 cousin girl knot that no one can unravel—but these 2 have a good dynamic outside of that rat’s nest/group of pals.

Sunday afternoon they came to see Neutrino!  They LOVED it, and even helped pour water for everyone as they entered.  Such helpers.  Of course, I am completely biased!

(plug for Neutrino:  https://www.laughoutloudtheater.com/chicago/show/12-neutrino-project-the-instant-movie)  Please come!

Monday morning was especially nice, as it was the first Monday morning when I was downtown, and not working.  What a treat!  We hung out at the dog beach and then drove downtown with Pickle, while I swam what felt like an ocean but turned out to be 558 meters.  Ohio street beach has some ok lane markers you can follow, but no measurement is indicated, so I walked the path I had swam to get an estimate.

We were all hungry and so we drove back home, and 10-year old niece petitioned for Glee watching---which we did.  She also took a nap, and when she woke up she declared “You aren’t the only one who can take a cat nap, Aunt Becky”.  Right she is, she comes by it naturally.  Another BFF told me in Texas “Napping is your superpower”.  Right she is.

T in the P!

7/23/16

RNC done!  I ended up not getting as many rides as I thought I would---and most of them were people escaping Cleveland because of work.  I did meet a writer for the Eric Andre show –he was super-nice and I checked out the clips they’ve done---funny.

I did ride down one day via bike and that was AWESOME!  Biked to Ohio City, and ran in to Mo Rocca, and gave him directions to the West Side Market.  Had a lovely beer in a garden outside, noted that all the cops in Ohio City were from Elyria!  And then I biked that giant bridge that goes across the flats to downtown. 

I bumped in to protestors at Public Square, along with that bad-ass Cleveland Police Chief.  (Later, I was telling stories at Elyria HQ on Gulf Road, and none of us could remember the name of Public Square.  Kitty kept calling it Terminal Tower Square---and I kept saying “I don’t think so” and then we looked it up and it’s PUBLIC.  As my dad Bruce said “It’s so obvious, but none of us could think of it”.)

And then I saw so many cops from all over!  South Carolina!  A ton of Georgia!  I spoke to some Georgia ones, and asked if they had ever been to Cleveland---they said no, and I recommended that they take a break and swim in Lake Erie to cool off!

West 4^th (or is it West 9^th) was media row, and MSNBC had a giant, clear mini-recording studio, and people were waving their freak flags all over. I loved it!  I spied a blanket with Trump, a peace activist handing out flower pens “for peace”, and a t-shirt with the original T in the P Trump logo!

I never actually made it to the Q, as I got hungry and really wanted a burger.

Oh! My nephew Tad is moving to downtown Cleveland---so got to see his apartment.

Have I mentioned yet that if you are from NE Ohio, you refer to Cleveland as “DOWNTOWN CLEVELAND”?  It’s funny, because in the Chicago-land area, it’s always “The CITY”, which I think is a NYC suburb thing, too.

Ended the day with a dip in the pool at Elyria HQ, and watching the RNC live.