Five Things Friday

1. I've been dealing with a very serious problem these days.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have an addition to lip balm.

Don't laugh. This is a tougher problem to overcome than many might realize.

My first step in recovery was to get informed. I dug up some online self-help articles. Apparently, many lip balms include ingredients which actually dry out your skin and/or prevent the natural skin rejuvenation process. Basically, they spur a vicious cycle. ARGH!!!

I tried going cold turkey on lip balm for a few days. It was awful. I felt self-conscious and awkward. It was the worst when I was leading meetings or having one-on-one face-to-face conversations.

The best remedy so far has been serious lip exfoliation. Someone suggested using a washcloth in the shower. Amen to that! I'm also trying to only use lip balms with natural ingredients like cocoa butter or lanolin. Even so, the recovery process has been drawn out.

2. I am craving a weekend getaway.
I won a Hyatt gift certificate earlier this week and it's burning a hole in my pocket. Must. Spend. It.

I am crazily considering a solo trip to Minneapolis for the Blackhawks-Wild Stadium Series game on February 21 (Adam will be in Pittsburgh that weekend). This is even despite ticket prices being through the roof and my one brutal experience attending an outdoor game.

Other ideas: There was talk of going to New York in March with our friend Lindsay. It's been awhile since I've been to Las Vegas. I've been wanting to do a ski or other winter-type vacation. I've never been to New Mexico and I want to cross it off the list.

The list goes on and on and on and on.

3. Nobody is Perfect
I signed up for Chicago's Perfect 10 earlier this week. The race website and all publicity said registration opened at 10:00 AM CST on Tuesday, and the first 10 participants could sign up for $10.

I logged on at 9:50 AM in preparation to try nabbing one of those $10 registrations. Unfortunately, the first 10 registrations were already sold out! What the heck?

I went ahead and tried registering anyways at the next price point. Sure enough, the system was already open.

I reached out to the race organizers about the miscommunication. Their response was, "We'll investigate and get back to you." However, as I write this, they have not shared anything further.

This makes me nervous. It does not bode well for an event that last year was cancelled 9 days before race day...

4. Operation Tummy Expansion 101
Chicago Restaurant Week has been fun so far! Adam and I went to Texas de Brazil last Saturday and Vivo last night. Both were very enjoyable. We've got plans to check out Sapori Trattoria tomorrow night, and Nia on Monday night.

In other non-dining weekend plans - I'm excited to check out Kingston Mines (a Chicago blues club) tomorrow night, plus a comedy show at Second City on Sunday night! (Can you tell that there is no hockey or football to watch this weekend? ;-) )

I'd been wanting to check out Nellcote's happy hour special (a pizza and beer/other beverage for $10) for a long time. This past Monday, I finally went with Erin and Margaret and it was awesome!

Here's the final dough: A new pizza joint, Forno Rosso, just opened up in my hood. According to their website, they've essentially been given a designation from the Italian government that they "meet strict requirements respecting the tradition of the art of Neapolitan pizza making." Wow! I hope to get over there very soon.

In the spirit of full preparation, I have already gone through my closet, pulled out all of my stretchy pants, and neatly arranged them both front and center. =D

5. "Before" modeling
A few weeks ago, I got both a haircut and new glasses within 24 hours. Here's the before and after:

You can't tell in the picture, but my old frames were black while the new pair is tortoise-shell.

I got about 3-4 inches of hair lopped off. It's now too short to pull back. Yet, none of my coworkers even noticed! I guess that can be both good and bad, LOL.

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Linking up with Mar, Cynthia, and Courtney for the Friday Five.