Day 144

I type this blog entry as I am on a flight out to Dallas for the first of my four Edward Don & Company Conferences. Every other year they do one big one where all of their reps nationwide gather in one place like we did last year in Dallas for a 4 day conference, In odd years, they do local conferences like the one I am attending this weekend. They last through Saturday late afternoon, which is kind of a bummer, but as work conventions go, they are usually a pretty good time. This time I am working with the southwest regional manager and our local Dallas rep (whom I never met). So odds are I’ll be doing the majority of the work and schmoozing. But sometimes I’d rather have it that way. I like to control my own destiny if possible. I get back Saturday night.

I'm still recovering from an epic weekend in Cleveland. The news out of Chicago last weekend which I missed unfortunately was the engagement of my friends Dave and Sara. Readers of my blog have heard Dave’s name mentioned several times. Dave and Sara have been together over 4 years now – they met in Florida when Dave was in law school and Sara was undergrad at UF. It took Dave long enough (hahahaha) but this past Saturday, her friends were throwing a little b-day party for her, and Dave came home in the morning from being out and had a shopping bag with him. He told Sara he got her something to wear at the party that night and she should open it. In the clothes box was a ring box and she opened it up and before even looking at it, she tackled him in joy. I was so upset I couldn’t be there for her party and to celebrate with them, but we will make up for it. I am truly happy for the both of them and so proud of Dave. He definitely picked a winner. I for one am crazy about Sara.

Today is the 30th birthday of my one true female friend I made in Lawrence. Sure, I have plenty of friends from school, but I really came away very close with just one woman. That would be Sheri. Sheri was Leah’s roommate freshman year at Naismith Hall. She is from Overland Park, Kansas, and when someone who has never heard of anyone from Kansas sees this, the immediately think “hillbilly.” That is why you should never stereotype anyone. Sheri is as cool as they come. From the day she came into her room to find me eating potato chips on Leah’s bed to the day to the day she was a bridesmaid in our wedding to her 30th b-day, she has always held a special place in my heart. We have spent some seriously hilarious moments together in our 12 years of friendship. We even lived together junior year in college and besides the mess and her hair being all over our bathroom sink – she was about as good as a roommate could be. My favorite Sheri – I have so many – has to be the time we went for Ice Cream at Baskin Robbins sophomore year. We were sitting outside eating; I’d say 5-6 of us. I said “My ice cream smells funny, anyone else?” I grab Leah’s, I said “her’s is fine, Sheri, let me see yours,” I smell hers. I said “it stinks” and she says “let me see” and goes to smell it. I of course smashed the ice cream right in her face and say “come on! Only you at age 20 and my cousin’s kid at age 3 still fall for that joke.” Uncle Keith did that to me growing up like a million times….Anyways, to Sheri on her 30th – you are a true friend, a great person, and things are only going to get better in your 30’s, because after all, 30 is the new 20. That is what we 30 year olds now say…. p.s. I would have put in a photo of us, but i'm out of town and don't have access to my scanner.

Song of the Day: "Mona Lisa" by Slick Rick

Day 143

Great weekend in ctown. As you know, we went home for Sean and Nancy's wedding. We drove in Thursday night and Friday had a lot of things to do including the inspection of our new house. Things went pretty well, all things considered. We were told its no better or no worse than any other house inspection. It was amazing though to be walking through "our house." Great stuff.

Now on to the weekend festivities. The rehearsal dinner was at Maggiano's. I will say this - it is a great place to have any sort of big party. The room was upstairs away from the restaurant and was a huge room. The food there is great. Fried Ravioli, Calamari, and Bruchetta teasers were available. Easy and well located bar in the back of the room. Plenty of room for a cocktail hour and the tables weren't on top of each other. The dinner was family style; Caesar and the Maggiano's salad; Two types of pasta and Chicken Parm. The food was great. During dinner, I actually haven't laughed so hard in years. Between our running "It seems like yesterday that Sean....." jokes, watching the Buatch and his father in action, and the alcohol, it was classic. The highlight of the evening by far was the Buatch's speech. For those who don't know him, he is definitely one of a kind. Like Stiffler in the American Pie movies, his defining characteristic is that he uses the F word incessantly. But nobody has a bigger heart. Between Sean, Sean's dad, and me, we had all talked to him about not cursing during his speech. Deep down though, I was hoping for vintage Buatch. He ended up giving a hilarious speech and finished with this gem: "I know everyone was worried that I would drop a ton of F bombs, so I am going to make up for it now." He unbuttons his shirt and shows a t-shirt that says "Fuck You, You Fuckin' Fuck!" It was amazing. Everyone loved it.

The wedding day was pretty hectic. We had a brunch with all of the boys at 10:30 at Corky and Lenny's. As good as the food was - I could not believe how empty it was in there. We got there right at 10:30 and no joke, there were about 15 tables available and no line. This was a Saturday morning. I know they are coming off the salmonella incident, but now people should know it has never been cleaner and the food is still good. Our friends Jeremy and Amy stopped by the house so we could see their new baby Molly. We played some fetch with Casey on the driveway and the backyard. Then Leah, Mark P and I hit up Dairy Queen on Chagrin before taking P on a mini-tour of the c-town burbs. I had to be at Oakwood at 3:30 for pictures. I forgot how painstaking that whole process can be. Trying to get 50 people or so to stay in the same place, having the bride and groom take a million pictures, and dealing with the nazi-wedding planner is tough. The wedding didn't start until 7, so we had a lot of down time.

Finally when the guests started to arrive, we had to do some ushering. What was cool for me was that I really knew a ton of people at this wedding, between my friends and all of the Clevelanders. Jordan, the other co-best man with me, and I had to light three candles and pull this piece of cloth down the aisle. Of course, with my shaky hands (thanks to the Warren family!) and nerves, watching me light the candles was an adventure. Then the way the cloth was folded, everytime one of the folds came up, it was a serious yank, and I dropped my side, not once, but twice. It was strange - I don't remember being that nervous since my wedding day when we were waiting to walk down the aisle. It had major flashbacks all weekend from our wedding since it was at the same place. Watching Sean walked down the aisle with his parents was great. It also made sad - I made that same walk with my father on one of my arms more than 4 years ago. Nancy looked beautiful walking down the aisle, and the ceremony was short and sweet. One other thing that happened was my constant battle with my yarmulke. I hate wearing them. I always am so uncomfortable with it on and it always feels like it is going to fall off. So I didn't wear one walking down the aisle so I could be normal. When I got up by the chuppah, I put it on. Leah says I looked so uncomfortable and stiff. You want to know why? Because I was. My back was so tight. I couldn't wait to take it off. The ceremony was luckily short and I took that thing off my head within 3 seconds of Sean breaking the glass.

There is nothing better than that Oakwood cocktail hour. Great teasers (Mini-Burgers, chicken skewers, shrimp, sushi, mini-potato pancakes with Salmon), and stiff drinks. Lots of Grey Goose went down my gullet Saturday night. The reception itself was a lot of fun. The band was solid (the lead singer was an unconfirmed Eric Dickerson) and the dance floor was packed all night long. They served a pretty good sized Filet, cooked to my liking. I gave my best man toast and introduced myself as "co-best man, and co-president with Nancy's mother of the Move "Sean to Cleveland" Club." I told this story which is 100% true. When Nancy first moved here, we went to lunch, and I was telling her about my friend Sean who I wanted to set her up with. She asked me "what is his last name?" I said "Fox." She said, "Nancy Fox, that's sounds pretty good." And there we were 4 years later at their wedding. Some final highlights of the evening: Kim Fox and Mark P on the dance floor; watching Buatch attempt to break dance; seeing the wedding planner attempting to move one of Nancy's friends from her chair because it was "blocking the aisle" (which wasn't true) and seeing that friend telling her to "F Off."; dancing with Leah all night; seeing the video of me and the lead singer tearing up the dance floor the next morning on Jordan's camera. Jordan - burn that tape! Lastly, I have to mention how beautiful Leah looked Saturday night. The dress, the hair, the makeup - the entire package was amazing babe....

To Sean and Nancy - I know I speak for all of our friends when I say that the wedding was so much fun and we hope it was everything you could have asked for. Have a great time in Maui.

A P.S. to the weekend - I came home to a broken Tivo. I called and them and told them what was happening - they said its dead. A new one is on its way....

Song of the Day: "My Friends" by Red Hot Chili Peppers

Day 142

Later today, we leave for Cleveland for the big Fox/Green wedding. We are driving in with Casey and a car full of our wedding gifts that are more than 4 years old and are still in boxes. What is so funny is that when we bought this condo, my mom and dad drove all of these gifts in the boxes from Cleveland to Chicago. They have sat in the boxes now for three years, and we are now schlepping them right back to my mom's house so they can sit there until we move into our house in August. We have our inspection tomorrow as well. Very excited. But on to the most important aspect of the weekend. Sean is my best friend from college. I was lucky and privileged enough to be asked by him to be one of his co-best men with his best friend from high school. Its funny to me because we have come such a long way. I am saving my best material for my rehearsal dinner speech tomorrow night, but I remember Sean from freshman year, yet he has no recollection of me at all. He said the only thing he remembers about me was that I was "that weird guy with the station wagon." We were in different groups of friends - mine all dropped out after one semester. When I went back to school sophomore year second semester, I moved into an apartment with three of his friends (Caplin, The Buatch, and Franco) right next door to him. It's been on since then.

Pretty much every KU hoops game I went to in college was with him. We were roommates Senior year. We went on a graduation trip (even though I hadn't graduated yet) for two weeks in the Summer of 98 (known in these parts as "The Summer of Todd"), driving from one end of California to the other. Or as we call it, "our gay trip - romantic getaway." We flew into San Diego and out of San Francisco. Visited and stayed with randoms that we knew along the way and had some classic moments (The Barb photo, Eldy's Grandmother, me being sick for a change, the haight/ashbury scam, PB, the birth of the "Confirmed, unconfirmed game). We hit 4 of the 5 California ballparks for Baseball games. Unfortunately looking back, we tailored out LA portion of the trip way too much towards the movie Swingers. The trip was amazing and a part of the best summer of my life. What I can't believe looking back now is that trip was 8 years ago. Where did the time go?

Anyways, Sean is from Chicago and I moved here right after school. We've kept right on where we left off in Lawrence here for the past 8 years. I saw my man struggle and go out on a million bad dates. He was my original set-up guy. Then Nancy Green moved to Chicago. I have known Nancy for years as she is a friend of my cousin Debbie from high school. When Nancy first move here, we went to lunch and I told her I had a guy for her. Sean was having a party at his house that weekend, so we set it up that she would come to the party. Essentially the rest is history. I am proud to be standing with Sean on his wedding day, as he did with me 4 years ago in the same place - Oakwood Country Club. Again, I am saving my good material for tomorrow night and for my toast at the wedding on Saturday, but I just wish them both a lifetime of health, happiness, and KU Basketball National Championships.

Song of the Day: In honor of Sean - his favorite tune from our KU era "Hit Em Up" by 2Pac

Day 141

So I was advised by my mother and my grandmother (evidently the only wise ones) that I should jinx this by telling anyone yet, but the house that we loved so much in Orangewood is ours. We have signed the contract and sent it over to their realtor and we are awaiting the owner’s initials on everything, but according to our realtor, this is a formality and “it is a done deal.” My mom and grandmother said “never count on anything until the papers are back and signed” and while I agree with that, I am too excited to hold it in anymore. I am writing this entry 30,000 feet above you all on my way to Louisville for the next couple of days for yet another meaningless GFS trade show. This is the last of the four of these. Four down, one to go. Next weekend is the Edward Don Texas/California convention in Dallas. Back to the important stuff. This house has everything. It is so perfect. Leah knew it when she saw it the first time, and so did I. It was “the one.” The layout is perfect for our needs – it has a first floor office for me to work in. Three bedrooms upstairs – the master on one end of the hallway, two more on the opposite end of the hallway. It has a huge basement, nice deck, etc. It’s the house I always wanted. We close at the end of August, so after we sell our place (hopefully soon), the plan is to live with my mom for a little before we move into the house. We cannot wait. (EDIT: I found out from my mom that the contract has indeed been signed!)

The whole process of buying a house is interesting to say the least. Why is it that the negotiation aspect of it is so ridiculous? We saw the house a couple of times, we made an offer, they waited two days, and rejected it. They countered. We told them we came in with our best offer, which they already knew, and we would stand pat. We waited another week. They came off their price significantly. We said, we were at our top figure, but needed a few days to think. Three days later, we met in the middle and got the deal done. Like Rafal said to me yesterday: “to quote Larry David, compromise is two parties getting together to settle something and both walking away unhappy.” They wanted a certain price, they didn’t get it. We wanted a certain price, we didn’t get it. Bottom line is a deal is done. Anyone want to buy our condo?

I have to thank my mother on this. She was incredible throughout the whole house hunting process. She was so diligent. We received email listings every day or whenever new ones came on the market. If we mildly liked one, she went and saw it the next day. She took Leah, Stacey, and Jessica to see a few houses when they were all in town. She took Leah and I around when we did the day trip two weeks ago. Without her, this wouldn’t have gotten done. Period. I owe you big time mom. Whenever you need us, we will be there for you – that is a promise!

Song of the Day: “Deacon Blues” by Steely Dan – dedicated to the great Rob Paradise.

Day 140

Stay tuned....I may have some cleveland related good news later in the day. just cant jinx it yet....

Day 139

Happy Passover to my fellow Hebrews! Passover is by far my favorite jewish holiday strictly because of the food. I love eating Matzah and Haroset (spelling?) is the whup. Since we moved here, we usually do a seder with Leah's family friends the Rosenstein's, in the burbs. Last year we had a small seder over here - Jessica and Justin came over - and it was great. No service, just food. Last night we didn't do anything as we didn't go to the Rosenstein's (they had 50 plus people) and tonight we are going to Jessica and Justin's, as Justin's parents are in town. Should be an interesting situation this evening between the Enid factor and the fact that Justin's sister is newly outed as pregnant.

This brings me to happy Passover memories. As a kid, we usually had some sort of seder at our house. Kenny and Linda, Kathy and Julie would be there. As would Nancy and Keith, Amy and Debbie. My grandparents were fixtures as well. My dad, ever the comedian, was the leader, or as he called himself - "The Wrestling Rabbi." Dad would come down the stairs in a graduation robe with a "Go Tribe" white scarf as a tallace (spelling?). He also had a Tribe yarmulke. He had a joke for everything. Like one year the Basketball national title game was on the first night of Passover, and in the middle of a reading he said "and God said take UConn and the points." He always made it so much fun. I will never forget when I brought Leah home for the first time, April of 1995 for Passover. Dad did his usual routine and I think Leah thought our family was a little goofy. Then came when we had to go over for dessert to her Grandparents house. Now anyone who knows this dynamic, we are the ultimate in reform J's, and The Cleveland Robuck's are the epitome of conservative J's. We get to the house, and everyone is around the table singing songs while Leah's Aunt was on the piano. I couldn't have been more uncomfortable. We sat down, had some bad kosher desert, I was bombarded with questions, all to which I had no clue how to answer, and then came the whammy. They wanted me to sing along. I of course knew none of the songs. They wouldn't take no for an answer. It was brutal and quite the introduction to Leah's family. I had never even met her parents at this point.

I've got a little to report on the house front. We went back to the owner and said we wouldn't come off our figure and let him sit with that for a few days. Yesterday, their realtor called our realtor twice wanting to know if we could make a deal. We told them the same thing, we are sticking with our figure. Some things have happened this morning that I don't want to jinx, so I will stay quiet on this, but if things go the way I hope, you will get the full story on Monday in my next blog entry. Again, keep your fingers crossed.

I love this warm weather. Life just seems to improve when the weather gets better. There is no better summer city in America than Chicago. The lake, Wrigley Field, the different neighborhoods are abuzz with outdoor seating at eateries. It is just the best. Odds are we will only be here for half of this summer, so I feel as though I must get as much in as I can. We have gone on long walks with Casey each of the past two nights since it has been so nice here. I forgot how hot she gets during the summer. We couldn't have been outside more than 5 minutes before the tongue was already out. She is such a lazy dog, but I lover her for it.

Song of the Day: "A Children's Story" by Slick Rick

Day 138

We had a great weekend with my in-laws. Max and Stacey came in town, as did Scott and Lauren. Scott and Lauren stayed here, much to the dismay of Casey who really wanted to sleep with her grandparents this weekend! Friday was a strange and long day for me. I had a sales meeting in Effingham, IL, which is 215 miles south of Chicago. This isn't even close to any sort of major airport, so I had to drive pretty much 3 and a half hours for a 40 minute presentation and then drive 3 and a half hours back. When I got to Effingham, it was 70 degrees and sunny. Absolutely beautiful. By the time I drove back to Chicago, it was cloudy, windy, and 45 degrees. I was in the same state. Very strange. Anyways, the drive was MADE by my Sirius radio and listening to the Howard Stern show. Also, nothing better than getting home, turning on the Tribe home opener, and seeing the first batter, the dreaded Casey Blake, hit a 2 out grand slam. The Tribe has won 5 in a row, you gotta love that. Friday night we went to the Athenian Room (I know, I was just there). Seriously, that place is the best. Its such a tough call when going there between the Chicken Kalamata, the Skirt Steak, and the Gyros. I went with the Gyros since I was going to Wildfire the next night.

Saturday was interesting. As you all know, I am not one who likes to go down to Michigan Avenue shopping. On top of that, I don't like shopping in Michigan Avenue when it is cold and windy. The summer is one thing. You are outside, you throw on the shades and people watch. It is all good. The wind was particularity strong, but the sun was out. We had to be down on Oak by 10:30 for Stacey's dress fitting, and we actually got a street spot, right on Oak and Michigan. It was the spot of a lifetime. It was like George Costanza, I spent all day talking about how exciting I was about this parking spot. I fed the meter every two hours, since we were down there until 4 PM. I know what you are thinking right now - Todd spent almost 6 hours down on Michigan Avenue on a cold Saturday. Well, with everyone in town, it was family day and Lauren had never been to Chicago so we wanted to show her around. That and the fact that the Tribe game was not on TV. hahahahaha. I think I was pretty good if I do say so myself. I just wasn't made for a long day of shopping. Although, you give me a comfortable chair in a department store and I am fine. We went to Wildfire for dinner Saturday night and you cant have a bad meal there. I went with one of my go to's - the filet medallion trio, Parmesan, blue cheese, and horseradish crusted separately. I also buried a cookie skillet with ice cream and chocolate sauce.

Yesterday, after a brunch at the best brunch place in the city (in my opinion), Southport Grocer, Leah and I did a super clean up job of the condo and prepared for our open house. We are not putting our place up on MLS because really in our building there is no need to. The only place I put it up was on Craig's List, http://chicago.craigslist.org/rfs/148875315.html, and we put a flier in the front window of our condo building. We were scheduled from 1-3, but there was another showing on our same floor from 1-5, so we extended it. All I know is that it worked. We got all of the traffic from that showing and everyone who came in here said that our place showed so much better. Since the other one is a 2 bed with only 1 bath, is empty, and has nothing but white walls, we have the advantage. I was hoping we would get 5 people in here. We ended up having 14 groups who signed in. Nobody did a walk in and leave move. Everyone who was here asked questions and walked around for a while. I had at least two groups ask for move dates, which was a good sign I think. Overall, it was a success. The only casualty was that I broke one of our three candlestick holders.

As for our house offer. I'm sure you are curious to know what happened with that. Essentially, our offer was countered with a price that we won't go to, but our realtor seems to think that we are the ones holding the cards and the longer we wait, the better position we are in. They haven't had an offer yet and have been on the market for 5 months because they are priced too high (according to our realtor). She seems to think if we wait them out, we will get the house. So that is the plan for right now. We already came in with our best offer and won't budge from it. I'll keep you posted. If it is meant to be, we will get the house. If not, its on to the next one.
We will be back in Cleveland in two weeks for Sean's wedding, so if need be, we can see more houses on that Friday.

Song of the Day: "One to Grow On" by UMC's

Day 137

Back from a long two days in Cleveland. Leah and I left Tuesday morning early. My mom picked Leah up and I headed to the IX Center to set up my trade show booth. That took around an hour or so. Leah and my mom went to see my cousin Debbie and her new baby Jordan and take a look at a house in Solon. The house was ok, but nothing special that I needed to go back and see. After I was done setting up, I met them at a house in Pepper Pike on Lander that we had seen online and thought had potential. We weren't crazy about it either. It had an older decor to it, didn't have a main floor office area for me that I was looking for, and because the owners had bad allergies, almost the entire house was either in hideous tile or wood flooring. So that one was a no go as well. We then went to Corky and Lenny's for a quick lunch before seeing another couple of houses.

I know what certain readers are thinking - how can you go back into Corky's after the Salmonella incident? My mom brought up a good point, the place has never been cleaner. The wait staff all of a sudden has done a complete 180 and are very nice. The food was good, but I have never seen it so empty in there. My mom, who never set foot in there when we were growing up, has been there a few times lately and said she "feels sorry for them." The corned beef was still the whup. Anyways, our next stop was to see a house in Moreland Hills. In a random coincidence, this was the house of Selznick's old girlfriend's mom. She was a bit on the kooky side. Her house had definite potential, but not for us. The main floor was great, but the upstairs was too small for us. There was a house for sale right across the street that we hadn't even heard of and ended up going to see later in the day. When I walked into this one - a Ranch house with a big basement with an in-laws suite off of it, I liked it a lot. I thought maybe I could see myself in this one. It had a big master bedroom, beautiful eat in kitchen with sky lights, and 5 bedrooms. This had some solid potential. Leah liked it, but wasn't as crazy about it as another one she had seen 3 weeks ago in Orangewood. That particular house only had showings on Fridays and Saturdays. Leah had to fly back, so the only way we could get in to see it was if my mom could get a hold of them and I could see it that night.

After taking Leah to the airport, I met my mom at the Orangewood house. I walked in and after walking through the house, I knew this was "it." My mother in law, a veteran house buyer from all of her years of moving, had told me that I would know when a particular house was "the one." I had that feeling. The house has everything we want. Three bedrooms upstairs, the master being on the opposite side as the other two. A perfect main floor office for my work. The kitchen was magnificent with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. The basement was huge and finished. A nice yard for Casey to run around. In the neighborhood we want to live in. There are several things that need to be talked about on both sides, move in dates, bid prices, etc. But I think we are going to bid. I just hope we can get this done. We shall see, but I will keep you all posted! Keep your fingers crossed.

We have a big weekend planned. My in laws, and Scott and Lauren are coming in town for the weekend. Casey is very excited to see her favorite grandma. We will be crossing off two more restaurants on our list as Friday night we are going to the Athenian Room and Saturday night Wildfire. Plus three Tribe games on TV!

Speaking of the Tribe, lets prop them up for taking two out of three against the White Sox. Of course, the two games they won, I was in a trade show and didn't see a second of either. Tomorrow is the home opener at the Jake and for the first time in 8 years, I won't be there. I have a sales meeting I couldn't get out of that day and the game is at 3 PM EST. Last year was an emotional one, as Matt and I took mom and we left the aisle seat empty and put dad's Indians hat on it. The Tribe lost that day, which was more proof to me that there is no divine intervention, because Dad would have intervened that day if he could have. The way I see it, I may not be there for this year's opening day, but I won't miss one again for the rest of my life if I can help it.

Good luck to my friends Amy and Jeremy Goldberg today. Amy is being induced and she will be having their second child to join their beautiful daughter Stella.

Song of the Day: "A Day in the Life" by The Beatles

Day 136

It is absolutely pouring here today. Had a crazy storm here last night, but that didn't stop Major League Baseball from screwing my Indians. The Tribe started their season last night by playing the White Sox. After a rather in-auspicious start where our #1 starter CC Sabathia got hurt and looks like he is headed for the DL, the Tribe tied it at 3 on a two-run homer by Eduardo Perez. Then the perfect storm hit. It poured for three hours. It hailed. Casey began to freak out and wouldn't sit anywhere but on my lap on underneath the chair in the office. Games are rarely restarted after a 2 hour rain delay. This one was three hours and for some reason around 11:20 PM CST, they decided to restart the game. Within 5 minutes, it began to pour again. Tribe reliever Fernando Cabrera couldn't find the plate through the rain drops and the next thing you know, it was 6-3 White Sox after Jim Thome's 431-foot blast. What a kick in the teeth that was for Tribe fans like me. Thome is my all time favorite athlete and is now playing for the enemy. I hate seeing him in a Sox uniform. I went to sleep around midnight with the Tribe down 7-3. They eventually lost 10-4 and the game ended at 1:22 AM. What a joke. Not the greatest way to start the season for my boys. The worst part of the evening which I had been looking so much forward to was the opening where they re-capped the Sox World Series run last year and had clips from that a-hole AJ Pierzynski talking about it. Made me want to vomit.

I didn't end up going to the Final Four as stated in Thursday's entry and as pissed as I was to miss out on it, it turned out to be a good move. The games were both non-competitive and pretty much boring. My boy Dave went down to Indy as he is a Florida grad and had a great time. He called me from his seats and sounded so jacked. Here is a lesson when it comes to scalping tickets outside a game. The closer you get to game time, the lower the ticket prices drop on the street. I had told Dave to wait as long as he could to get his seat and it worked. He said 2 hours before tip time, the seats were all close to $200 over face value. By 15 minutes before tip, he ended up paying $150 for a seat that was 5 rows behind the Florida bench. He did say that the great seat and being in the Florida section made all of the difference. Ags and our buddy KC were down there as well and had a little different experience. With no rooting interest and average seats, Ags told me it was a great experience, but the games were boring which caused kind of a slow night and less raucous atmosphere. We ended up having Mark P over, got some pizza, drank some beers and tried not to fall asleep during the second game, UCLA's blowout of LSU. Tonight, I predict UCLA beats Florida 62-56.

Friday night we went out with Jaime and Steve and Ags and Julie to Cafe Baba-Reeba for Tapas. That is another one off of our list of places we need to hit before we move. We love their Red Sangria, but Jaimo and Leah were convinced that they barely put any alcohol in it because it tastes so good. My top dishes there are they beef tenderloin with Blue Cheese on top, the beef skewers with grilled onions and horseradish sauce, and the spicy potatoes.

Speaking of food, I weighed myself Friday morning and I was back to the lowest I had been in ages, 157. Then I ate. And ate. And ate. My food intake this weekend was an old-school weekend for me. Saturday, I went solo mission to Hot Doug's, another place on my list. Gregg turned me onto it 4 years ago. First off, the line was literally out the door and around the block. Hot Doug's is a Sausage/Chicago Hot dog place that is second to none and unique in the city. The original location was on my street, Roscoe, when I first moved here. There was a fire in the apartment above it, so they had to close down and move. Doug, the owner, is this very eccentric guy who takes serious pride in his place. His picture is above. Their menu has your basics for Chicago; Your Chicago Style dog, Italian Sausage, cheese fries, etc. But what makes this place different is the variety of specialty Sausages available. Every week he has several specials. Sometimes is Alligator Sausage or something like that. They serve Duck Fat fries on the weekends which are the whup. My order: A Three Chili Wild Boar Sausage with chipotle dijonaise and jack cheese, A Wild Mushroom/Chicken Sausage with Asiago Cheese, and an order of Duck Fat Fries. I buried all of it. Hey, give me credit, at least I didn't have cheese with my fries. I waited essentially 30 minutes for the food and it was well worth the wait. Then for dinner, we had the pizza. I weighed myself yesterday morning - 160.5. Is it possible to gain 3 and a half pounds in one day? I guess so. Bottom line here is that Hot Doug's is a must go to place in Chicago. It is on California and Roscoe, between Diversey and Addison. Don't forget my man Doug's slogan "There are no two finer words in the English language that Encased Meats, my friend."
http://www.hotdougs.com/

Must give two birthday shout-outs today. The future Mrs Ags, Julie Markowitz turns 30 today. She has been a solid addition to our little family crew. And the great Todd "Fritzer" Friedman also turns 30 today. Todd and I go all the way back to Agnon pre-school. We were in each other's weddings, he was a major part of "The Summer of Todd" in 1998. Actually, it wouldn't have been half as fun without him that summer. We have so much hilarious history, 5 calls during every Tribe game, speaking in our own language, the screenplay we never finished, The in-famous "Can't you wait and F'ing hour" incident, our Vegas trip last month, and so much more. Much love Fritzer - welcome to the 30's.

Off to C-town tomorrow for work and to see 4 houses. I will keep you all posted if we find something we loved.

Song of the Day: "Down With the King" by Run DMC