Lately

Lolla

Greg after a big slip in the mud

Since my last post we've worked our way in to what promises to be a VERY busy month of August. After returning from UNC - Chapel Hill we both came down with colds (boo), and even though we weren't feeling ourselves, we still managed to enjoy Lollapalooza for Coldplay on Friday night & Foo Fighters on Sunday night. My friend Kent often says there's a long list of things you can do in Chicago that you can't do ANYWHERE else, & the longer the list gets the more impossible it becomes to ever leave Chicago. Lollapalooza was one of those experiences. We sat on our blanket in Milllenium Park & watched our city light up with the sounds & sights of Coldplay. One of the highlights was Coldplay covered Amy Winehouse's "Rehab" as a lead in to their tune, "Fix You".  Another highlight was surprise VIP tickets for Sunday for Foo Fighters...But I will say, free drinks + torrential downpours + sticky/slippery mud makes for a very interesting VIP tent... But we managed. Here's a video of Coldplay from Friday! Enjoy!

Lovin'

We also managed to pack in a full day of registering for wedding gifts on Saturday. First of all...I was completely unprepared for the exhaustion that would result from registering. There were times the both of us were just wondering around, aimlessly...confused about what to get & where to find it. We managed, but I've had to make some changes online. One of the biggest challenges was the formal china. WHICH OF COURSE is where they start you right off...in the most intimidating section. I was only able to pick some once I spotted another bride & her mom trying out different napkin rings & table clothes...I solicited their help & then Greg & I finally made our decision. Even though everyone says not to bother with china, I'm excited about the formality & tradition of it. Speaking of formality, after we were ready to stop registering for the day we had lunch in the Walnut Room at Macy's on State Street downtown, which is famous for its over the top Christmas tree during the holidays. I'm so glad we registered in a department store, in downtown Chicago & had a sit down dinner in an historic old dining room like the Walnut Room...I'll be adding that experience to the list of experiences you can't have anywhere else. & We'll definitely go back this Holiday Season to see the tree - Maybe to celebrate 1 year since the big engagement!? Speaking of the wedding...Mom came back for round 1,234,789,876 of dress shopping...we had some success, but no purchases have been made. Looking forward to trying on a special sample I've been crushing on online...Fingers crossed! 

Leavin'...

Sadie...Diggin in her back yard!

Finally...after more drama than I can even think about, we're finally giving up & leaving our Lakeview love nest. I'm most definitely sad, especially for our sweet pups who will lose their backyard to play in. And for my garden...Those sunflowers are JUST about to bloom, & we just harvested our very first home grown Morgan tomatoes . We haven't officially found a place yet, but we're hoping to get word from our rental agent today. We're optimistic that we'll get the place we love & begin taking the steps to move. & HOPEFULLY for the last time for a while. Of course I've already got all kinds of brainstorms, projects & to-do lists compiling in my noggin...Starting with curtains for some very big, beautiful windows! I found a great how-to post at Young House Love for no sew curtains....I think I'll be following this blog a lot in the next few months. This'll mean retiring the old To-Do In Lakeview list & starting fresh with a new list of projects & DIY's. Stay tuuuuned! 

Later...

Meggo

Where'd July Go?

Taste of a Chicago Dog

Well...It's AUGUST! I just realized I haven't blogged since June 24th when Ash Mat had just left! Probably because it's been unbelievably busy for the Latchford-Morgan Duo & Company. First I attended my first Chicago Gay Pride Parade with Jeremy...so much fun! Then Mom & Dad Latchford came for a 10 day visit. The first part of the trip Greg & I worked while Mom & Dad stayed home with the pups. We had good weather that week so they got to enjoy the back yard quite a bit. Greg & I were happy to come home to sleepy, mellow pups! Mom, Meghan & I did a little wedding dress shopping with some success...but we still haven't bought anything, so stay tuned. We also went to the Taste of Chicago, The Grant Park Orchestra's Independence Day Performance, & hosted some friends for a 4th of July Backyard Barbecue - complete with a Cornhole Tournament!

Grant Park Concert

Cornhole

Sadly all things must come to an end, and in addition to my parents leaving, Greg left the following day to go back to Utah for the last 2 sessions of Horizons. LUCKY for me I had Zeta Tau Alpha's National Leadership Conference coming up so I had lots to look forward to. I was invited to NLC to attend the advisors academy, but I was also surprised to be presented with the Della Lewis Hundley Founders' Grant for Graduate Education. It was a thrill & I am so honored!

Drinking from the Old Well at UNC

Towards the end of July Greg came home & we both traveled with Sigma Chi to the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill where we helped host Sigma Chi's Balfour Leadership Training Workshop. UNC was beautiful & it felt great to be back in the Southeast again...I'm beginning to feel my heart strings tugging me in that direction...maybe after graduation. We had a great week with our Sigma Chi family & were sad to leave North Carolina, but we couldn't WAIT to get back to Lilah & Sadie & FINALLY be in the same city together for a while. We've got BIG plans this August...starting with some apartment hunting, registering for wedding gifts, Lollapalooza, My Mom's return to Chicago & buying a wedding dress...hopefully I can mark that one off my Summer To Do List this month! Happy August everybody!

Summer lovin',
Meggo

American Pie...I mean, Cake

Whilst Blog Browsing some time ago I stumbled across a post about layer cakes, which I immediately dismissed as something I'd never do successfully. As Independence Day approached, I was at a loss for ideas for a Yankee Doodle Dessert Table. What I HAD was 2 boxes of cake mix, enough icing for a wedding cake & 2 boxes of food coloring...So I decided to try my hand at layer cake!I made both boxes of cake mix, and divided it up into 3 pans. I colored 1 of the pans red, and one blue...leaving the other white of course! After baking & cooling I leveled out the cakes, iced between the layers & stacked them! Topped off this 3 story treat with some red & blue sprinkles & served it up to my 4th of July guests! Next time I think I'll try to tall, skinny Rainbow Cake...that looks like my kinda dessert! 

Save as Draft

I STILL live here...Thank goodness

Ash Mat "Arriving" at the
George Street Block Party!

Last weekend one of my very best girls (& professional bridesmaid) came to visit Chicago! Ash Mat & I joined Zeta in college in 2003 but didn't fall in love until 2006-ish...not a moment too soon! She & Coop fell in love last Spring when Meghan stayed with her for a little while before Meg moved up to Chicago. We always say "Family is who loves you when you need them" & for that reason, Ash Mat, Coop & I will be family forever. The only thing better than having best friends that love you is having best friends that love each other too...Ok, I'm done with the mush.

Kent in the
Hula Hoop Competition

Moving right along...Ash Mat was in Chicago last weekend. We had a super fun time. We enjoyed some libating, some sight seeing, Mani-Pedi's, & Bottomless Mimosas at Jack's on Southport which was a lucky find. BEST of all though was the surprise block party just 1 block immediately south of my place. Block parties are on my top 5 list of things I love about Chicago. And I'm pretty sure the only reason block parties even happen is because the folks on each of those blocks just want to celebrate the fact that it's summer & we live in Chicago. That's all. It's like a party where all the neighbors close down the street, put out some tailgate games, hire a couple live bands & scream (sometimes quite literally) at the top of their lungs "WE LIVE HERE!" Obviously I couldn't agree more with that sentiment. I have a super special, precious place in my heart for St. Petersburg, Florida...My hometown. But living in Chicago is

Learning how to "Dougie"

simply magical. I was so glad to share the magic with Ash Mat!

One last little lucky find was Mickey's on Clark...We stumbled across this little gem while looking for a place to get a quick bite of lunch before the Zoo on Tuesday. What we FOUND was an outside bar/grill with Strawberry Margaritas, $3 Coronas & fantastic people watching. Seriously, I know I've been in Chicago for over a year & every body's probably sick of hearing it, but I just don't care...I LIVE HERE! STILL! And it just keeps getting better. I totally forgive Chicago for the Blizzard & everything. One more time...I live here, THANK GOODNESS!

Happy Friday,

Meggo

Stylin' up the dessert tray

This all started when I saw these cutey little cupcake tins on Etsy. Of course when I bought them it slipped my mind that I didn't have any mini-cupcake pans (oops!), but eventually I got it together & ordered some. THEN of course I just had to fance these little sweet cakes up with a legit cake decorator. FINALLY after several weeks I managed to round up all of the necessary accoutrement, pick up some Strawberry cake mix (my FAVORITE) & whipped up what turned out to be a big 'ol batch of very stylish cupcakes. Yum! Just in time for Ash Mat's visit! I have to hand it to myself...not bad for a rookie.

Have a Sweet Week,
Meggo

PS - For more cutey little cupcake tins visit The Cupcake Social website!

Plumbing Along

Some of this may be redundant...BUT I just have to chronicle the nonsense that has been our apartment lately. It all started with a "typical" clog that turned in to a full on back up in our sink & tub. The plumbers came out in their overalls (yes, seriously), took the toilet "off" & put some kind of crazy electric snake machine down the pipe which caused a flood of what they call "black water". Later the cleaning crew came out to sanitize our floor as a result of the contamination caused by the "black water". While they were here our landlords friend came over & started nosing around, sassing us because we used a plumber she didn't like. Apparently he's a "snake". She warned that she'd put him out of business & mentioned something about how he must have forgotten who she "works for"...Picture something out of the Real Housewives of New Jersey except instead of a Range Rover she rides in on a Men's bicycle that she "borrowed" from our upstairs neighbors. It's frightening. And funny. 

Anyway while she was there cussing the plumber she also started letting us know how unnecessary she thought it was that a cleaning crew was there to sanitize our floor. We let her know that the insurance company sent them over but she still wanted to know which adjuster we talked to, who called this company, if it was covered under our landlords policy, and ON & ON & ON...No matter how many times we told her that our landlord called his insurance agent she was still under the impression that we had something to do with it. While we were discussing this the cleaning crew blew a fuse. OF COURSE! Our landlord's "friend" took that as a sign that she needed to go out to the garage & bring in several boxes of miscellaneous fuses & start switching them out randomly to see if that would fix the problem. Of course it didn't. 

Obviously the fuse that blew was the one to the AC & the Refrigerator. So Greg went to Home Depot at 11 & brought home 2 industrial extension cords so that we could keep our food from spoiling. The next day when the Electrician came out (2 hours late) he twisted the fuses tightly into their appropriate positions. "They just weren't in all the way. Was somebody fooling around with them or something?" 

That's the end of chapter 1. 

Chapter 2: Greg leaves for Utah for 2 1/2 weeks. Then the plumbing backs up again. We call a different plumber this time. They don't answer. Our landlord instructs us to call the "Snake" plumber back. He doesn't answer. Finally the 1st plumber agrees to come. Until our landlord completely insults the plumber & me by using a racial slur while negotiating the price of the visit. The following day, the "Snake" plumber shows up unannounced & when we tell him we've got yet another plumber coming he says "Well let me know how that works out for ya" & then hangs up. Totally normal. Finally a plumber comes (1 hour late) & says there's nothing he can do unless he breaks through the floor & replaces the plumbing. He leaves saying not to flush too much & don't take long showers in the mean time. 

Of course he's made a COMPLETE mess of my house & the tile floor. So I kept the dogs off of the tile & decided I'd tackle cleaning later. The next day I deep cleaned the entire apartment...mopped, bleached, febreezed...you name it. I even replaced our bath mat. I left for a few hours & came back after 9, looking forward to a fresh smelling, thoroughly cleaned bathroom, hopeful that at least we could treat it gingerly & make it through the upcoming visit of one of my best friends. When I went into the bathroom & found that my new bath mat was completely soaked & there was standing water draining down into my floor I was completely defeated. A few hours later I went in to check again & found a fresh batch of standing water that was again draining down into my floor. But where was it coming from? 

I called in to work today (for the 3rd time) so that the plumber could come BACK & try to fix it. Our landlord is threatening not to pay for the visit 2 days ago until the plumber "actually does something", because obviously if it's not "fixed" it can't be because something more serious needs to be done...no, no...surely it's because BOTH of the plumbers who have been here & said the same thing are incompetent. He's also been in Greg's ear all morning calling us "dramatic' & accusing us of "over dramatizing" the crumbling bathroom floor situation even though it's now been through 4 floods & is absorbing all of the water. Finally the plumber gets our landlord to agree to pay for him to take out the vanity, open up the wall & fix the problem. 

So he's in the midst of that now. re-tracking mud, dirt & toilet run off through my house. I'll be back to work putting this house together in a few short hours I'm sure. But we still have to have the floor replaced, which our landlord's going to fight us on forever I'm sure. To help grease the wheels we're seeking the help of an attorney. It's unfortunate that all of this is happening, and in some ways I feel kind of bad for our landlord. But in the words of my father, "It is what it is". All just 3 days before Ashley gets here & with a looming work deadline, 2 dogs, wedding planning & a traveling Mister. Sheesh. 

Have I said lately that I can not WAIT to stop renting?

Little Women

It's hard to believe that almost 11 years ago my Mom & I drove to Cincinnati to visit our first baby, my niece Christine (10 going on 15...I know, such an "Aunt" thing to say). It's harder still to believe that our second little nugget, Trinity, was just 6 months old when I graduated from high school, and now she's finishing the 2nd grade. Trinity expressed her amazement at this, saying "And 8 years later you're still in college?"

Although I can't believe these little ladies are growing up so fast, I am certainly enjoying their maturity! Last weekend "Uncle Butters" and I hosted Christine & Trinity for the Memorial Day Weekend. I should also mention that I am thoroughly enjoying our proximity to the girls now that we live in Chicago...The "half way point" where we met my Brother to pick up the girls is just a 3 hour drive away.

From the Blue Corner...

Saturday we got up early & enjoyed a Pancake Breakfast care of Uncle Butters. We had originally planned on going to the Lincoln Park Zoo & Millennium Park, but it was raining so we decided to walk to the nearby Belmont Music Festival. The Music Festival features vendors of all sorts of things, including some wrestling masks Trinity was intrigued by. There's also a stage where a number of live bands play throughout the festival. We made our way down to the stage, and the "other Meghan" lead a charge to dance in the rain (which was steadily picking up of course). We got drenched in the rain, but we enjoyed our time dancing, libating & taking in the sights, sounds & tastes of Chicago festival season! We ended that day with a nice long walk to Wrigley Field & a surprise live band across the street, which we enjoyed from our front yard.

Riding the Train

The next morning we had an early appointment at J.Crew Bridal to try on some Wedding Dresses (Eeeep!) and some Bridesmaids dresses. The girls were really excited to ride the L downtown. They were comparatively less excited about dress shopping, because although I'd hoped they'd have some things for C & T to try on, they didn't have anything on hand. Coop & I had fun trying on our dresses nonetheless. Coop has yet to meet a Bridesmaids dress that doesn't like her...stay tuned for March 2012! As a reward for the girls' patience, and because I wanted to spoil them a little, we did some shopping downtown. They each picked out a few things they liked for the summer, and we all had a great time shopping together. Naturally, it pored the ENTIRE time, dashing our hopes of making a Lincoln Park Zoo & Millennium Park visit...we added those things to our "next time" list. We settled for Jenga & Uno back at home with Uncle Butters & the pups.

Later that night we hosted a BBQ for some of our Chicago friends (to show off our bright, kind, talented nieces). Christine & Trinity wore their favorite new outfits & charmed everyone to pieces. Trinity held her own with the boys in several rounds of Uno, a few of which she won.

On our last day together, Memorial Day, it was 90 degrees in Chicago & the girls had been patiently waiting for the sun to come out so that we could go to the beach. We weren't able to spend as much time at the beach as we would have liked (we had to get on the road toward home!) but the girls got to frolic around in Lake Michigan for a little bit.

I'm so proud to be their Aunt! I'm looking forward to many more summer visits to Chicago (among other places I'm sure) & lots more proud moments with these two.

Here are some more photos of our fun weekend!

Bursting with pride,
Meggo