Friday Fumblings, Vol. 6 - Tardy Birthday Tumblings, The Sarah Sturm Edition

Well, I took the week off from blogging.  I was feeling under the weather, dealing with a destructive dog, and working on some school work.  And honestly -- sometimes I just need a break.

Back to business:

It was someone's birthday yesterday, and I thought about her all day.  I didn't call her, however, because I never really have been good at timely communication.  I'm working on it...  (always...)  Well, she's my best friend from college, and I've known her officially now for about 15 years.  And yes, that makes me old, but it makes HER even older, since she's older than me  ;-)

Here she is with cute-as-a-button son, Cameron

She's my best friend Sarah.  She's sarcastic, brilliant, loving, strikingly gorgeous, and believe it or not, a little shy at times.  She was president of our class at St. Joe.  A born leader.  Star track and cross coutry runner.  Responsible, thrifty, savvy and most certainly, sweet.

And because she has such a wonderful sense of humor (hint, hint!), I'm sure she's not going to mind these college pics of us  (they are some of my most favorite memories, and I look like a shmuck in them too, so I'm calling it even):

 Christmas dance, freshman year at Saint Joe.  That's Sarah in the pretty blue dress.  Man, we were young!

In my dorm room in Halas Hall.  Yes, we were stuffing our bras.  She always loved when I embarrassed her...  Right Sar?


Oh, and here's me with her oldest, Spencer.  Such a sneaky little thing!  

I'm guessing we were rocking out to Shania Twain here.  Because we were 
THAT cool.

Well, I could go on, but I think I made my point.  She's my friend.  And she rocks.

MISS YOU, SARAH!

HAPPY

(belated)

BIRTHDAY!

Much love,

Chrissy

Friday Fumblings, Vol. 5 - How you gonna kick it?

Gonna kick it ROOT DOWN!  For some fabulous Friday fun, watch this. It's getting me through my morning...

1. We're talking root down...I put my root down.   And if you want to battle me...you're putting loot down...I said root down... it's time to scoot down. I'm a step up to the mic in my goose down!

These guys know what I'm talkin' bout!

 (Photo credit: http://dkpresents.wordpress.com)

2. Great friend Marilyn from Chicago is in Denver today and tonight.  Looking forward to happy hour tonight!

Here's Marilyn and me, circa 2002-ish: (yup, those are pumpkins!)

 And here we are, attempting our version of the Funk Soul Brother dance:

In case you don't know about the Funk Soul Brother Dance, here it is:
 

3. In honor of Marilyn's visit, we're heading to happy hour tonight at a lovely little spot in Denver called, well, you guessed it...

(Image credit: http://www.rootdowndenver.com)

The restaurant / bar used to be an old car service station.  So cool!

(Image credit: http://www.rootdowndenver.com)

I'm off to clean the house and run errands.  How you gonna kick YOUR weekend?

-DTL

Michelle....Chicago....Rhythm on Randolph -- A Most Fabulous Trifecta

Oh, My Michelle!

Nope, she's not actually "mine." I'm not that selfish...  It's just that there are a lot of Michelle's out there in the world, so I like to lovingly refer to her as "My Michelle."  Much better than "Michelle, my bell."  Right?

Well, she's wonderful.  Smart.  Stunning (seriously!).  Thoughtful.  Efficient.  Sweet, savvy, saucy, sneaky, and silly.  A loyal friend.  A most fabulous person!

Why write such a glowing homage today?  You guessed it...it's her birthday.  Of course I feel this way about her everyday.  Today it just seemed fitting to share this with others in honor of my friend. 

In an attempt to keep most of the special nuances of our friendship private (which I respect because Michelle truly values intimacy between friends), I'd like to focus on one (believe me, there's MANY!) of her major life accomplishments that is very dear to my heart.

Rhythm!

I hope that those who are lucky enough to know her had a chance to experience Rhythm.  If the opportunity unfortunately passed you by, in a nutshell, Rhythm was a bar that Michelle and her partners Rob and Doug opened on Randolph Street in Chicago's West Loop.  Please take a moment to read all about it here.  And here.  Here.  And finally...here.  Oh wait...there's some pretty good reviews here!

I know, I know.  Overkill.  I just want you to get the full effect, you know?

Anyway, let's say you've never participated in a drum circle before (gasp!).  I once tried to capture the feeling in words, so maybe this will help: (I gave this to Michelle when I heard that Rhythm was closing)

IN HONOR OF RHYTHM

rap rap rap TAP slap TAP slap slap

rap rap rap TAP slap TAP slap rap!

we clap our hands and stamp our feet

at our favorite place to meet on Randolph Street

long steady beat

we feel the heat of

our throbbing hands as we

SLAM jam jam SLAM

SLAM jam jam SLAM!

ALIVE comes the pit!

our souls commit

in the circle we dance, prance, groove, move, shake, quake, quiver, quaver,

romp, stomp, gyrate, gravitate, twirl, whirl, swirl, reel FEEL.

It's personal.

Your way

my way

his way

her way

their way

our way

djembe!

Shhhhhh.....

easy, soft, gentle, hush,

shh, shh, shush, shush,

easy, soft, gentle, hush,

shh, shh, shush.

hold it- hold it- hold it- hold it

low low low low

slow slow slow slow

sssss llll oooooo wwwwwww

long soft song.....

GONG!

And now for the Rhythm photo montage... 
**Photos are courtesy and property of Aaron Frey and Chrissy Richter**

(Rob, I apologize...I can't find ANY pics of you!  And not for lack of trying.  Ugh.)

Michelle, wherever your future journey takes you, always know that your past is a true testament to you as a person.  No one can ever take that away.

 Happy Birthday, Lovie.
-DTL