holiday potluck

Amazing food and even better company makes for a great potluck dinner!

la la la

I had to do a quick trip to LA last weekend for work. The flight there was sorta shitty and super-long due to strong headwinds and I didn't get to fly Virgin America with my colleague. We stayed at The Downtown Standard... which... for being around as long as it has been is still pretty awesome and super-cheap. The sticker of a pooping man on the T.P. made me smile for hours.

The weather on Friday was rainy and very unLA. The place still managed to look pretty... too fucking pretty if you ask me. How can folk stand so much beautiful all the time?!

Anyhoo... had a chance to meet two bloggers I've been a big fan of for quite a while.. they brightened the rainy day for sure. PopMuse and Bloghungry... the LA blogging power-couple... met me at Dusty's in Silver Lake for a great meal and even better conversation. After eating we headed to The Faultline for a beer. The guys asked me a lot of questions about the New York bear scene... and after visiting their bearish bar I assured them that it was same shit different city.

Here's a NSFW pic of me and the boys and the.... art.

After a short but restful sleep and my best 5k time yet I headed over to the USC v. UCLA game at the Coliseum. I fulfilled my work obligations and made a mad dash to the airport for yet another long and bumpy ride. This one was totally worth it though because JP and mussels at Hopleaf were waiting for me at the other end.

autumn weekend

starved rock

Last Saturday, JP and I took a little roadtrip to Starved Rock State Park. It's about 80 miles outside of Chicago and real close to JP's hometown. It was a super-nice Fall day. Perfect for hiking through the woods and canyons. Not only did I get to hang out with JP in a beautiful setting, I also had my first Jimmy John's experience. Yumm!

finding mr. wright

wow. so much frank lloyd wright in one place!

JP, his friend chris and i took a little trip to oak park, il on sunday. oak park is a quaint suburb just outside of chicago. it's the home to the frank lloyd wright home and studio as well as a huge collection of buildings (mostlyprivate residences) designed by mr. wright.

i took a bunch of photos, mostly of unity temple and a few of some of the wright houses we passed on our walk around town. photography wasn't allowed at the FLW home and studio which was unfortunate. it was really amazing and as the guide stated several times, you can really see where FLW was experimenting with new things in his house that we see turning up in later works.

more oak park pics.

not only is he great at eating sausage... he's also one hell of a runner!

my buddy JP is running the chicago marathon this weekend! he's been training his ass off for over six months.

despite the above photo of him choking down a sausage at the san gennaro festival, he's in great shape and ready for the challenge. a couple of his friends and i are even planning on running with him for a little bit (evidently this is allowed and commonplace in chicago). i'm a little daunted by running even a mile or so... can't imagine what 26.2 would be like?!

the great thing about the training program that JP's in is that it's also a fundraiser for the AIDS foundation of chicago. he's already pulled in a good haul for the foundation and is still accepting donations.

if you feel like making a donation and checking out JP's training notes, you can do it here:

JP's AIDS Marathon Donation Page

good luck JP! can't wait to root you on!



enjoy some marathon music:

elo_hold on tight.mp3

architecture in helsinki_heart it races_trizzys rusty tincan mix.mp3

chromeo_fancy footwork.mp3

black kids_not gonna teach your boyfriend how to dance with you.mp3

emma bunton_downtown.mp3

amerie_take control_estaw remix.mp3

purple crush_running up that hill.mp3

basement jaxx_make me sweat.mp3

UPDATE

more music:

acid runner_mr. ed meets tweety.mp3

plasmic honey_chariots of fire.mp3

erase errata_marathon_adult mix.mp3

Vinny's B-day BBQ AKA Labor Day BBQ AKA Brazilian Day BBQ

What a perfect day for a rooftop BBQ! And.. what a fucking awesome bunch o' folks in attendance!

Food: J.P.'s chipotle deviled eggs and white trash truffles, Chris Fay's watermelon rum balls, Peter's guacamole, a beautiful cake from Tompkins Square Bakery, Andrew J.'s margarita cookies and cranberry white chocolate pistachio cookies, Colleen's cous cous and chickpea salad, Vinny's meat, my grilled shrimp and baked beans. Yumm!

People: Andrew J., Farmboyz, Jeff and Tom, Greg B. and friends, Melissa, Courtney, Italian models, Brian and Eric, Colleen and Leah, Travis and Jesse, Gay-face AKA Peter, Michael, Stefan and Alex, Jim, Carl, David, Chris Fay, Erik Hanson, Cody and Mike, George, Matt, Robert, Jeff Jackson and Anthony, Bryce and Neil and a ton of others.

Special thanks for Michael AKA Brillianttrash for the AMAZING photos below!

Paul's BBQ In Bushwick, originally uploaded by BrilliantTrash NYC.

Paul's BBQ In Bushwick, originally uploaded by BrilliantTrash NYC.

Paul's BBQ In Bushwick, originally uploaded by BrilliantTrash NYC.

Paul's BBQ In Bushwick, originally uploaded by BrilliantTrash NYC.

Paul's BBQ In Bushwick, originally uploaded by BrilliantTrash NYC.

tennis anyone?

I got a last minute hook-up for US Open tickets last Friday. What an amazing friggin' day! We had courtside seats that were eight rows back. The highlight of the day was seeing Serena Williams play. She's a friggin' tennis-monster. Loved it!

More US Open pics.

keep with me forward

i'll have what the back-up band is having.

p.s. T- 42h 15m

i can see a hurricane tonight

warm welcome, Crew, rodger's park, blueberry-orange sorbet, chipotle deviled eggs, cheese dip, sleeping in, architectural cruise on the chicago river, duck fat fries and shrimp & pork sausage at hot doug's, big chicks, jackhammer, touche, bad biscuits and gravy, charmer's, italian beef at portillo's, millenium park and the bean, market days in front of sidetrack, Dale from Top Chef in a dunking booth, superlitive mussels at hopleaf, andersonville, beach, evanston, a tough goodbye.

more chicago photos