Number 47: Wear a feather boa and movie star glasses to the grocery store -- Or a Mustache Around A Street Festival

Ah... the street fest. The quintessential must-do for every Chicagoan. Starting in early April, we begin buying oversized mugs guarenteed to get us one dollar off our next refill, making excuses for why we're not paying the "suggested donation" at the gate, and taking pictures of us acceptably drinking in public.

Good times, guys.

But not all street fests are created equal. And so, ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce... Taco Fest. I'll start off by saying that one of the particular perks of this fest is that we had to do zero traveling as it was right at the end of our street. In fact, it screwed up my run and my errands on Saturday afternoon. But Sunday, Taco Fest redeemed itself. (And it had nothing to do with the tacos.)

Before acquired any food or beverage, we acquired some mustaches for participating on THIS:

Yep, that is literally a mustache ride. Gross name? Sure. Fun? You betcha.

Then came the funner part. (Yep, I went there.) Wearing the staches. I'm not sure when the stache became a fashion statement, but we rocked the hell out of them on Sunday afternoon. From group shot...

to acting natural...

to taking care of business...

we sported staches everywhere. And apparently people noticed.

My favorite conversation?
Guy sitting on patio at Mystic Celt: Oh man - did you lose a bet or something?
Me: Nope. Why?
Guy: You know... (Gestures to the stache.)
Me: I really don't. (Walks away. End scene.)

So, the mustaches had nothing to do with Taco Fest but they did help promote what is my new favorite pumpkin beer - the Jack-O-Traveler. I'm actually surprised I've never heard of this company before since they are Vermont based, but I'm really glad I discovered them. It was like drinking a piece of pumpkin bread. AKA Heaven. Anyway, I understood the staches... what I really didn't get was the appearance of A CAMEL at Taco Fest. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but when I see a camel, I think Mediterranean food... not Mexican. But there it was in all its camel glory.

And while I avoided climbing up there, I thought it would still be a good time to have my picture taken with said camel. You know, until it was hungry since no one probably fed it any tacos and it decided to eat my hair. But hey, no harm, no fowl... er... dromedary.

Here are the things I learned about sporting a stache.

- I have no shame when it comes to wearing ridiculous things in public. And I love it.
- Drinking is pretty easy while wearing a stache. Eating, however is HARD! How do you do it, men?! I had to take mine off to eat my tacos. My delicious duck tacos.
- After awhile, you get used to the stares. (This is me assuming all staches get stares, not just mine.)
- And... this. While photos of staches are hilarious, photobombing will always be funnier.

 

You stay classy, Chicago. Lord knows we're not.

MBFTIBMTTIF: Runaway Baby

Before we get started... please click this link. I'm in the mood to give this blog a soundtrack today.

Feeling good? Alright, let's start. With 17 days left til the race, I've got a lot to catch up on. Here was Week 8 in numbers.

2.5 with a stroller.
3 on a treadmill with wet feet.
6.5 in the rain.
8 in the snow.
4 out of anger and confusion.
All 18 miles out of choice.

I think I'm officially a runner. I signed up for this marathon out of a desire to do something for me. All 18 of those miles were for me. Week 8 happened to be the week of the Boston bombing. That week, Monday's miles were to cope with the shock. Friday wasn't much different. I've been tossing ideas around in my head in regards to my feelings about the event, and frankly, many other people have put my thoughts into words in a prettier fashion and you should probably read this, this, or this. (Okay, that last one is just hilarious.)

Dealing with the one year anniversary of a friend's passing, plus Boston, plus the normal turbulent tumult of my ever transient twenties has made the last few weeks less than excellent. But instead of bringing everyone down further, I've made a small departure from my usual blogging style and compiled a list of ten things that made me feel better over the last few weeks  -- hopefully some of them will lift your spirits as well.

1. RUNNING. On Monday, April 15, I ran through Diversey Harbor. Nay, sprinted. I was angry at the news and I couldn't slow myself down until after mile two. I was missing the Boston skyline and instead had this insane view of Chicago midstorm. Boston in my heart, Chicago on the horizon. And I felt better.

2. THIS LINK came to me from my good friend Dani. As someone who is paid to look after a tiny person, I can say that I have multiple experiences like this every day. Henry is a fan of shutting himself in his dog's kennel. Why? I do not know. But it makes me laugh each and every time.

3. TURTLE RACING. What's that you may ask? Exactly what it sounds like. Go to the bar. Buy beer. Get tickets. If your ticket gets pulled you choose a turtle. If that turtle wins the race, you get a free drink or a tshirt. We didn't actually get to race a turtle but I'm 100% going back. It was 100% hilarious and 100% worth the beer I drank out of a solo cup. I recommend this wholeheartedly. 100%.

4. OMG EDITH. Special shout out to THE BLOG THAT PRODUCED THIS MEME.

5. EATING STUFF. Making good use of all of the food Chicago has to offer also helped out over the last few weeks. Right now I'm trying to decide which was better. Eating this Chi Dog Pizza at Dimo's or getting free rhubarb pie last week at Bang Bang. (Side note: Free pie officially makes us regulars! I've always wanted to be a regular somewhere. Couldn't have picked a better spot to make our own.) Shout out to Leor for being present on both food-tastic

occasions.

SERIOUSLY THOUGH GUYS. THAT'S CHICAGO DOG PIZZA.

6. LOVE. Phone calls and texts with my loved ones. I spent so much time on the phone during the week of the bombing. I talked to my parents, my friends in Boston and beyond. And I was overwhelmed at the number of texts I received asking if my family and friends in Boston were okay. Thank you to everyone who looked out for me. I appreciate the gesture more than you know. (Except I just told you, so now you know.)

7. SARA BAREILLES released a new single. Which means a new CD and another tour. Gosh this girl is incredible.

8. THIS ARTICLE. Please tell me these are real comments and not something made up by a comedian. Please, please, please. Not sure you want to click one more thing? This is a preview:

HOW CAN A STRANGER TELL IF TWO PEOPLE ARE MARRIED?

You might have to guess, based on whether they seem to be yelling at the same kids.
- Derrick, age 8 

HILARIOUS RIGHT!??! Get reading.

9.  CULOTTES. I'm happy to report that I've gotten a lot better at biking since last year. But one thing that drives me crazy is always having to wear shorts under my dresses and skirts while I bike. Well, thanks to Target, my problem is solved! Check out these babies, you only THINK they're a skirt. THEY'RE ACTUALLY SHORTS. Mine are adorable like this:

10. PRIDE. I've run with this hat a lot during the past few weeks, and all I can say is, I'm so proud to be from Massachusetts. Proud, proud, proud. And that's helped me getting through. (And yeah, that's Ollie the Owl and me showing some Boston/Brandeis pride. And maybe a little sadness.)

PS - That's me trying to look disheartened. I realize now that I kind of look like I'm saying the Pledge of Allegiance. Deal with it.

Well, Erika, (you might be saying), that certainly was random. It sure was, dear readers. But here's what I've got. Messy things are going to happen every day. Sad things are going to happen every day. But so are the happy and the silly. So all I've got for now is -- just keep running.

Til next time my loves.

xoxo,
E

Number 17: Go commando

Okay, everyone is thinking it so I'm just going to come out and say it. My posts have been a little emotional lately. And long. I like to write, but I also started this blog to do something fun. So, this will be short. Here is what I have to say about Task Number 17. 

I tried this. I do not like it. It's like... underpants were created for a reason. (I'm just NOT Jon Hamm, okay?! Stop with the pressure.)

The end.

(Except how could I end WITHOUT showing this clip?!)