things are a-flyin'

shots anyone?

birthday cards were flying all over the office last tuesday. finally, the party of all parties—celebrating at least 10 birthdays in the team that had just passed (and one even going as far back as january, oops). jokes were flying all over the place as the cards caricatured each celebrant. jim was all of a sudden david bowie. frankie ending up as a tattoo on pamela lee's thigh. steve having a his own rap CD with complete lyrics, doc abrahams having a full article on a made up national inquirer issue, julian his own sweater catalog with photos of everyone posing in his tattered sweater. bottles of stella, guinness, corona, and heineken went around the room, adding to the fun atmosphere. and with the party on a bit of a limited budget, i had ended up donating the bottle of bombay which id been keeping at my desk. dixie cups of bombay sapphire went around the room. and the shots were flying. my throat was burning but the laughing, shouting went louder and louder. we were asked to shush a couple of times coz it was still office hours after all. nevertheless, it was great fun. very much well worth the donated bottle and all the effort that'd gone to all the hallmark sweatshop cardmaking. in a way, making me realize that we really all are after all suckers for a little bit of appreciation. and some alcohol to go with it, doesnt hurt too.

gin lane bar

after the office merrymaking, some of us continued the party at nearby gin lane to celebrate earle's upcoming weekend marriage. really beautiful bar/lounge. bit of hoity toity but not really coz i was there in my sneakers and jeans. nice chill cozy atmosphere. martinis (some shaken not stirred), wine and beer were going around the room again. and funny conversations and jokes were flying with them. after a few rounds there, we were hungry as horses and headed to nearby pita grill. continuing the fun with a bit of a menu fight, hopefully not scaring our server too much. we got our well earned tasty grub, did a bit of a survey at the end of the meal on whether roaches or rats scare us more, and after that, calling it a night. me realizing once again how lucky i am with the type of atmosphere and people i have to go work in and with. or maybe that was just the alcohol in my blood.

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the drake hotel chicago

speaking of flying. my upcoming domestic flights are finally confirmed. october 7th i head to dallas. 9th i find myself in chicago. spend the night there at the uber-sweeet hilton drake hotel and make my way to detroit the next day to spend 2 nights there. and eventually find my way back to the big apple on the morning of the 12th. only to hit baltimore and washington dc the week after. nice. nothing like a bit of travelling to get my mind off the big holiday to hong kong and the philippines in november.