smooth investigator.

I had barely even thought about Halloween. I haven't dressed up in a couple years, and even then my costume was last minute. (I was an olympic swimmer. Blue one-piece swimsuit, sweatpants, flip flops, goggles... all I had to buy was a swim cap and a toy gold medal from the party store and I was set.)

This year, I didn't even think about dressing up until last weekend. So I thought, "Okay. I'll be a lamb. Or a cat. Something easy." Not so easy. My shopping trip was a bust. But that's what happens when you wait until 5 days before Halloween. And I am just not that crafty.

So... I have returned to an idea that my sister has been begging me to do for about five years now. It is her dream for me to dress up as the sexiest private investigator the Pacific has ever known.

Thomas Magnum, P.I.
Magnum and I share many common traits that would lead my sister to believe that I could be mistaken for the REAL Magnum. Such as our long legs - used for kicking bad guys in their faces, our hot abdominal muscles, our affinity for short shorts and boat shoes, our military backgrounds, and most importantly, our awe-inspiring hairiness... including - but not limited to - coiffure, mustache, chest and legs.

This year I will make all of my sister's dreams come true.

fall in love with fall.

We've had a couple of really beautiful days peek through the clouds over the past couple weeks. It feels like it has been raining for over a month. And it has. But the past couple Sundays have offered a few much needed rays of sunshine. I forget that I actually enjoy fall weather. I barely noticed this year when the leaves changed because I was too busy dodging the rain from house to car to office to car to house. I was able to catch one quick glimpse on a rare dry morning before work.


Last Sunday was a beautiful day to be picking apples. We stopped at the outlets for a quick bite on the way up (and Erica got some cute new high top Converse sneaks). Then it was on to The Holler to fill our 25 pound apple bag. It was definitely worth the trip. Erica and I dissected the minute flavorings of each variety ("It's a bit floral...") while Jonathon and Todd took pleasure in seeing which apples they could throw the farthest.

Below you will see Erica displaying a fine example of the rare, elusive mutant apple. After we scoured the orchard to find the most delicious varieties, we headed back to the farm to unload our treasures and pet the goats some more.

Then we filled our bellies with apple doughnuts, caramel apples (Erica and I built our own), and BBQ turkey legs. And then this happened:

  "Oh hello farm kitty..."

  "HEY! FARM KITTY STOLE MY BONES!"
It happened that fast. After he devoured it, he had barbecue sauce all over his face and chest. And so did we. It was a successful day that led to full bellies and me swearing off apples for about three days. But we will be back next year earlier in the season... those Honeycrisps will be mine.

hills and hollers.

Looking forward to this weekend. After another failed attempt at planning a camping trip, Todd suggested a day trip of fresh, fun, fabulous fall festivities with friends. (You're welcome for the astounding alliteration.)

Apple Holler is about an hour north of Chicago, right off of I-94 in Sylvania, Wisconsin. They grow over two dozen varieties of apples, and even give you a flavor breakdown of each type and what they are good for... like "baking" "sauce" and "eating".

I'll use my favorite apple as an example:

Honey Crisp
[September 11-30]
Honey Crisp apples are larger in size with a red and green skin. Juicy, sweet and Crisp. A good dessert apple. Great for eating!



In addition to the apple picking, they also have pears and pumpkins when they are in season. Well, we missed the pears, but I have a major taste for some oven roasted pumpkin seeds! And I have an empty balcony ready for some spooky jack-o-lanterns.

To actually have a chance to enjoy the fall weather will be the best part of the trip - before Chicago slips into its "Eternal Winter" mode. Today is the most beautiful fall day we've had all season and I'm stuck in an office until dusk. Such a shame. Some hot cider and a hay ride will do me just right.

birthday season.

Flash forward a month and a half.

Here we are, birthday time. Justin and Todd: check and check. Also in the rear view: Gramma Lois, Uncle Brian, Erica and Tam Tam. TODAY: Abby. Coming Soon: Sara, Jacob, Aunt Michelle, Jay, Colin, Emily, and Kate.

This weekend: Stefanie and Stacey

Holy Smokes. Happy Birthdays all around.

Todd and I celebrated his 23rd birthday with a weekend in New York City, which was also a great excuse for me to see Shelby!



It was amazingly warm that weekend, which led to a beautiful Sunday of strolling around SoHo. Quite a peaceful and relaxing celebration.

celebrate.

a photo blog for the day.

My mom, junior year of high school - circa 1965. 















Mom and Dad, Grand Cayman - early 1980s.














Mom, baby Stefanie and Dad - 1983.

Dad, Uncle Mitch, me and Mom - circa 1985. 










Mom, rehearsals for 'On Stage' - circa 1986.

tomato basil asparagus.

I don't always eat healthy.

Let me rephrase. I never eat healthy. At least not on purpose. I love a good medium-rare steak drenched in a buttery bearnaise sauce. I also love cheddar and sour cream Ruffles potato chips. Buffalo chicken strips with lots of blue cheese dressing. And what averages out to be about three or four Coca-Colas per day.

However. I do also love good soups and salads. And fresh crunchy vegetables like peppers and beans.

Across the street from my new job is a market called Urban Fresh. It is Jewel's answer to Whole Foods. (Jewel being Chicago's answer to Kroger.) Urban Fresh is nice. A small but edible looking selection of hot and cold deli items. A small but edible looking salad bar. A very nice selection of produce. And a good mix of organic and name brand groceries. (i.e. I can get my lunch time Coke. F you Whole Foods.)

Lately, I am obsessed with their creamy tomato basil soup. I also get fresh grilled asparagus from the deli counter, cut it into little pieces, and mix it in. Delicious. Today I noticed they also have fresh-baked, individual servings of cornbread. How could I have missed that before? Incredible. Perfect little lunch. I must not overdo it before winter, though. I have a feeling this will be my cold-weather survival meal.

If grocery stores in Chicago ever sold decent lump crab meat, it would be the perfect addition to my concoction. Mmmm...

flip and tumble.

I love The Container Store. I wish my whole life was as organized as that store makes you believe that it can be.

Last weekend, while on a day long shopping adventure with my sister, we ended up in the checkout line at The Container Store. They have the best impulse shopping items in their check out line. Including giant pill-shaped pill boxes, a-la Dr. Mario. (Holy moly, you can play Dr. Mario online! This is the greatest moment of my life.) But I digress...

We were perusing the reusable shopping bags, knowing full well that reusable shopping bags can be kind of a waste because they're bulky and you don't always have them with you. And only end up using them on maybe 25% of your shopping trips.

But then we found these:
flip & tumble 24/7 bag


They sell them at The Container Store, but they have such a cute website. And also have a wider selection of colors, patterns and products that you can buy online. The 24/7 bags are made out of a super-light, super soft material and roll up into little stretchy Popple-like pods. The pods are attached and act as an inside mini-pocket when the bag is revealed.

I got the green one - big surprise. Stef got green and brown. The pod is so small I keep it in my purse all the time. And I actually use it.

Moral of the story: buy these bags.
They're the greatest. You won't be disappointed.

Second moral of the story: play Dr. Mario.
It is also the greatest.

arabian nights, like arabian days.

Oh I come from a land, from a faraway place, where the caravan camels roam. Where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face. It's barbaric, but hey, it's home!

I've just gotten the official word that Todd will being going on for the final seven performances of The Arabian Nights at Lookingglass Theatre this weekend! He's been understudying several roles for the show since it previewed back in May. Now all of his hard work and beard-growing is paying off, and I am so proud.

And now for some photographic evidence:

Look at this baby-faced boy back in April at Wrigley. I think he had gotten his hair cut earlier that day, which would be the last hair cut he has had to date. This was around the time he was cast, so it could also very well be the last time he shaved.





And here we see Todd about a month ago, mid-July, at Six Flags with me and Paul. Beard had been growing for about 3 months and had evened out considerably. (Believe it. He is not so blessed in the facial-hair-growing area.) It has filled out a little more since then, and doesn't look half bad. ¡Qué preciosa!


Come on down. Stop on by. Hop a carpet and fly to another Arabian Night!

new-age blog.

I recently rediscovered my old livejournal account. I hadn't updated it, let alone looked at it, in one year - almost to the day. I guess I stopped being any good at it. My entries were hardly interesting and really just a way for me to document my own life. Which, thinking about it now, is really all I'm looking for in a blog. Just a place to gather my thoughts and keep them for posterity.

I'd really like to be great at blogging - know all of the cool gadgets, link all of my sites, post photos in cool ways... There are so many interesting people with cute, well put together blogs that I get very intimidated. But then again there are also some very un-interesting people that just happen to have excellent blog-keeping skills, which is almost equally as intimidating. I can think "I have so much more to say than this guy, but my blog is still going to look so much more boring than his."

I guess I'm falling behind in my generation as far as Web2.0 is concerned. (Don't be impressed that I know that term either - I hardly know what it means. But blogger is making me look smarter already by supplying this simple hyperlink button.) I just don't know how to be web-cool. HTML? Forget it. All I can manage is facebook. Which is getting lamer by the day, but has become almost as necessary as email in some ways. I don't have a twitter account, and can hardly understand "tweets" with all of the @ signs and secret codes. I don't even have internet capabilities on my phone.

I think I'm going to give it another go though. Perhaps now is the time to retire the old "lj" and fully inhabit my Google account with my sweet new Blogger blog. Maybe I'll even rediscover my Flikr account. But lets crawl before we walk.

comeback special

name:

stacey erin

interests:

photography - planning events and vacations - decorating hypothetical homes and apartments - my cats (Batman and Lester) - shopping - arts and crafts - giving presents - thrift/second hand/vintage stores - old records - making myself sound cool on the internet

favorite color:

green

what is comeback special?

It's a place for me to share what I'm doing - whether that be traveling, spending time with family and friends, tackling a new project, jumping a new hurdle... it could be anything. comeback special is about making the transition into 21st century adulthood with 20th century know-how.

what does comeback special mean?

Is it an "emo" band name? A football play? Find out here.