So Tired

So, in honor of Veteran's day, there was no seminary.

I still planned a lesson last night, made DH buy ribbon for an object lesson on his way home from class, and then I woke up early, showered, dressed, and walked down to the lobby of my building. I waited there for 15 minutes before I realized...we don't have seminary today.

I was a little frustrated with myself. :) Now I'm super tired and can't get out of the funk I picked up from my confusion this morning. I just need a good nap and maybe a book.

My boss probably won't mind, right? It's not like I'm paid to work or anything...
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...For Amy

So this post is for my friend Amy (AD from here on out)..

AD - I've sent you emails, but I have the sneaking suspicion that they are not getting to you. It may be that I can't type to save my life, or I have the wrong address or something equally silly. I'm posting my email address so that you can invite me on your own, since I can't seem to get my act together...

rachelmossferguson@gmail dot com

You're great. Thanks for dealing with my technical ineptitude. :)
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Copper-Bopper

This is what my mom calls the dog. The dog that loves me best...:)






As you can see, Copper loves her costume. It's a black t-shirt (very slimming) with a spider cape attached at the collar and then a hat that conveniently covers ears with a giant spider on top.

By the look of pure joy on her face, you can tell she's glad that I'm there...making her put on a stupid costume...that doesn't really fit...
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Numb

So I had another dentist's appointment today.

Has anyone ever tried to put make-up on when your face is numb up to your eyeballs? Applying concealer required a whole new skill set...
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He-larious

So I forgot that I had like this hugely important vendor meeting today, so what did I wear to an office that no longer has a dress code?

Yep. Jeans and a cotton v-neck gap sweater in orange...seriously. I had my hair in a ponytail and next to no make-up on. It was not pretty.

So I did a quick search and figured out when the nearest Ann Taylor opened (10am, perfect for an 11:30) meeting and I found the closest sales person and told them I needed an ensemble.

It was fantastic, 20 minutes later I had a glorious pair of wool slacks, a synthetic blend plum colored sweater and a creamy undershirt. I looked professional (except for the shoes, but I hit a payless on the way back and got a cute pair of kitten heels in a goldish cream.

I fixed my ponytail, put on some make-up from my emergency work stash, and off I went.

Anyway, as I was racing to Ann Taylor I saw this guy walking along Michigan. Now I get it, we all have to have a place to put important things and sometimes pockets are just not big enough. Besides, what better way to show your manly-ness than with a camouflage fannypack!




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The infamous cord

A-ha! I found the mini-usb to usb cable to connect my card reader to my computer and I "stole" it back. I'm pretty sure since DH never reads this blog, he'll never know it was me who went into his super secret hiding place and took out like the only white cord there...

So does anyone else always want to spell cord with and h, i.e. chord? As in chord for music? Maybe it's just me and my musical geekiness (I did play 3 instruments in jr. high)

Anyway, this will probably mean tons more posts with lots of pictures (hopefully).

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sad

I haven't posted any pictures.

DH took my memory card reader (actually he took the usb to mini-usb cable that I used with my memory card reader) so, no fun pictures.

Which is kind of sad, because this weekend we dressed my parents dog up in her Halloween costume from last year and took tons of super cute pictures.

Poor Copper was so unhappy. She had to be squeezed into a shirt that was too small with a dorky cape attached to it, and THEN to add insult to injury, it came with a little hat that Velcros around her head with a wiggly spider on it.

It cute and mostly hilarious because she can't stand to have it on for more than a few minutes and only allows for us to dress her because it's me, and she doesn't bite me. :)

So...someday soon, I may actually get another cable and I will yet again, post photos like a fiend.
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Walking...It's an Art not a Science

I walk a lot in the city. I walk from the train station to my office or to the bus stop. I walk to pick up lunch, and I walk around Michigan Ave. just to get some air.

Because of this, I get to see a lot of people. How they walk, who they're with, what they're doing that day. It's interesting. When I worked in the Loop, I would always seem to be frustrated about how people couldn't seem to walk at a "normal" pace (which was whatever pace I was at that day).

I've since slowed down a bit and really noticed the people that are around me. Some walk fast, some slow. Some swing their hips a la Marilyn Monroe, and others act like their smushing bugs with each purposeful stomp.

I decided last Friday, that walking is really more of an Art than a Science. The mechanics are all pretty much the same; left, right, left, right, in a forward or backward motion, but the execution is as varied as the people.
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What a weekend!

DH and I are trying to be more social. We tend to be really busy and so when the weekend rolls around we're lucky if our laundry gets done and food gets replenished. Doing things "just for fun" has just been too much work!

But, I have been feeling antsy. I needed social interaction with people, so about a month and a half a go we, along with two other couples, bought tickets to a play. A musical even. Yes. A musical. DH was such a good sport to go to an expensive restaurant for lunch, deal with all the traffic and people downtown on a Saturday and sit through a performance that he wasn't entirely sure about.

The play was called Turn of the Century and it had Jeff Daniels in it (that's how I got DH to buy into it) :) It was really entertaining and reworked a lot of classic bradway showtunes as well as a few modern classics from this decade and last.




All in all it was a really great Saturday spent with some really great friends in a really awesome city.

Now, lest you think that this is all we could muster, we went for broke this weekend. We had a Stake Conference for our Church this weekend so our Sunday meetings went from about 5 hours to about 2. It was a huge blessing, because my mom had invited us for dinner and she made her famous lasagna.

As soon as he heard, DH canceled any plans he had for the afternoon just to be sure we wouldn't miss that cheesy goodness. It was delicious. Mom, you do great lasagna, it's like you lived in Italy for 18 months or something.

After sleeping off the lasagna for most of the afternoon, we met two other couples that night, for a quick game of Settlers of Catan. It's a super fun game.

We had no idea how seriously involved they were though. Frankly, I was shocked at the level of skill shown to me last night. Although one of the players has a "good luck charm" of sorts, as witnessed below...

Yep. That's his wife, being totally embarassed. :) They're super cute together though, don't you think?

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Sailboats. Do they stay in the harbor all winter?

For those of you who are curious. We have like a gazillion sailboats hanging out on the harbor all summer, but we happen to live in the midwest, where it gets cold and windy. The waves get pretty bad in the winter and so sailboat owners have to put their toys away for the season. How do they do this? They're on a gian lake that only leads to other giant lakes in colder weather?

Well, we have the Chicago river. To be honest I don't really know where they go after they get on the river, but frankly, it can't be as interested as when they go along the river. See what I mean.

.

Yup. All the bridges along the Chicago River open up. They stop traffic (generally during rush hour) and have all the sailboats just float on through. To get a better visual, watch Batman Begins and when they are lifting the bridges to isolate The Narrows, they're actually just keeping all those North Siders on their side of the river. :) It's just like that only with boats in the water and no batmobile. or famous people.

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It Rained again today...

Due to popular demand (Okay, MH - this is for you) I am posting a photo of me with my sassy coat and way fun boots. I try to stick my pants in my boots to show them off properly, but these pants are a thicker gabardine and I tend to look like a drag-queen pirate if I do...

Here's a fun photo of DH. He's humoring me and my mad camera skills on a Sunday morning heading to church.

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Concealer

I think I'm finally getting older...beware, scary pictures ahead.

I've always had pretty good skin growing up, so foundation was never really something that I ever used a lot of, and concealer was only used about 2 months of the year during the darkest days of seminary (and that one week right before the HS production of Faustus my junior year).

I took a picture of myself yesterday wearing my awesome green shoes and I looked at my face and thought, jeez...have you heard of make-up? So today, I wore concealer AND pressed powder. Besides the sleepy eyelids, it's shocking how much healthier my skin looks and frankly how much more awake and put together I feel.

In the pictures below, I have the exact same colors on. Seriously. Concealer and Pressed Powder are the only add ons.

(don't mind the creepy red-eye. I'm working with my photographer on that)

So sad. I'm too young to get older...
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My DH, what a guy

So this is why I love my DH. While I am gone at seminary, he gets up and makes me a lunch and packs it in my appropriately girly lunch box. What a guy...


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"Matchy, Matchy, Green Squared"

...Movie quote? Anyone? Come on. It's only like the #10 best chic-flic filmed in Chicago. Still nothing? Okay. It's at the bottom of the post.


I love matching. It's a documented issue. I would rather have ugly and matching than beautiful and mismatched. Thus, when I find something truly beautiful and 'matchy', the sun shines and the world is at peace.

Exhibit A: These truly awe-inspiring green shoes that match my favorite green sweater. I'm part Irish, so I tend to think this emeraldy goodness suits me.

?Return to Me? Come on. David Duchovny, Minnie Driver...Bonnie Hunt? Jim Belushi?

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It rained on Wednesday

I actually really like the rain here in the midwest. For so long I was in Utah where it mostly just spits dirty raindrops over everything causing serious irritation and then gloomy Guses seem to appear out of nowhere.

But not here in Chi-town! We have beautifully torrential rain that would sooner flood your basement than spit at you!!

Anyway. Rain out here makes me happy, mostly because of the accessories that I get to wear.

These are my rain boots. I have an awesome rain coat too. I don't have a picture of my exact coat. But it sort of looks like this. Mine isn't double breasted, it's just a plain trench. I still love it. I wear it with my sassy boots and then I feel great.

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Love at First Sight

Okay. Lose the ooky model with the bad hair and just look at this dress...just breathe it all in...ahh.



I feel as though life has just improved for the better.


For those that care this is from Marchesa (spring 2009, ready-to-wear).

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Conference Weekend

I stayed in all weekend and watched conference.

For those who are unaware, I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

I really enjoy our semi-annual conferences. They are so very uplifting and hopeful. I felt like a bit of a boob this weekend, because I was tearing up at just about every talk. Two that really struck me this weekend were in the Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning sessions.

Saturday Afternoon Elder Jeffrey R. Holland spoke about the ministering of angels and how the Lord sends special messengers to deliver ordinances and doctrine that are too important to miss. Being that I'm a seminary teacher and we are studying the New Testament, I think about how often Christ was ministered unto, and how many of those key players in the restoration of the Gospel in the meridian of time also played key roles in the final restoration in this dispensation.

The other speaker that really resonated with me was Elder Henry B. Eyring. He wrote the home teaching message last month and it was on a similar topic. He spoke of Unity and it's importance in our lives here on earth and in the life to come. I thought about Dave and I, how we are unified as a couple as well as being a part of a unified extended family, both on his side and mine. It reminded me to be more of a peacemaker and advocate for my family so as to help build a greater unity of purpose and inclusion.

If you're interested in seeing these talks, or missed them the first time. Click here, and then select the speaker that you would like to hear.
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What Could Have Been

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Back to Conformity

So apparently we were only supposed to be different for about a week.

I was looking out my window at some of the seriously awesome architecture here in Chicago and I have a really great view of the Carbon and Carbide Building.


It was built during prohibition, so...guess what they were missing?? (Can you say Champagne!!) Anyway, DH has another name for it, but it's not approriate for mixed company.

Speaking of champagne, I heard a funny quote yesterday, "Champagne for me real friends, and real pain for my sham friends". Get it? Hilarious.

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Looking Out My Window

This is the view from my office. I have a nice office with a door and a window and real wood cabinets. My favorite part has got to be the view from my window. It doesn't show very well in this picture, but I can see the Chicago river from my office and all of the goings on in the plaza. It makes my day great.

So I was watching people out my window last Friday and I saw them constructing this goofy looking Chicago sign, so after work I went to take a look...

I'm not completely sure what this is about, but it is TOTALLY awesome. The entire sign was made of "green". It wasn't up when I got back in on Monday so I'm not sure what purpose it served over the weekend, but it was still neat to see.

So yesterday I came in to work, sat down and got to work on some leftover projects from Monday when all of a sudden I heard a thud...and then another...and another. This is what I found.

Yep. I had a feathered friend attacking my window. Apparently when the sun hits the window just right it becomes a mirror and this little guy was defending his territory (against himself). It always brightens my day to see wildlife downtown (other than pigeons and purse dogs), he only stayed for about an hour and then I guess the sun no longer reflected his image.

Funny Story. Tribune Tower just recently unlocked all their windows so that people can open them and get a little fresh air. A lady on the 6th floor left her window open overnight and came back to an office with a trespasser. A bird had flown in during the night and couldn't get out! It had ruffled all her papers and made a royal mess of her office...I guess this isn't that funny. Seriously, you had to be there.
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