Pink Ribbons are an Excellent Accessory

On Mother's Day - May 14th, we are walking in Chicago's Y-ME Walk for breast cancer. The mission of Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization is to ensure, through information, empowerment and peer support, that no one faces breast cancer alone.

As it is always in fashion to support a good cause, we recommend participating in this event! The race details are as follows:
1- or 3-mile Walk or 5K Run
Mother's Day, Sunday, May 14, 2006
Registration: 7:30 a.m.
Race Begins: 9:00 a.m.
Chicago's Grant Park Columbus and Balbo

If you are not able to participate in the walk, but you would like to donate, support our walkers, Kim and Brendon, by donating through their race pages.

To learn more about the walk visit the Y-ME Race homepage.

International Sporting Rivalry

So the World Baseball Classic is rolling along. As a baseball fan from Cleveland and an American I was really disappointed when Cleveland Indians pitcher CC Sabathia pulled out from the US squad. Now that the games have started, I'm sure he is as well.

The nice thing about the Olympics, the World Baseball Classic, and the FIFA World Cup being played in the same year is how the international rivaly can carry over. In 2002 - after Apolo Anton Ohno had a South Korean speed skater disqualified in the Olympics, the US met South Korea in the first round of the World Cup in South Korea. After scoring against the US, South Korean striker Ahn Jung Hwan celebrated his goal by doing a speed skater dance.

We're fairly likely to see some World Baseball Classic rivaly spill over into the World Cup now. The US Mens National Soccer Team may play Japan in the second round and yesterday the two nations baseball teams played in the World Baseball Classic. Controversy erupted in the 8th inning when the umpires ruled that a Japanese player hadn't tagged up from 3rd base properly - negating the leading run for Japan. Complete BS call that I'm sure if I could read Japanese I'd be able to see it all over the Japanese press today.

Anyhow, the US went on to win by a run, setting up a possible Ahn Jung Hwan moment during the World Cup in Germany in June, stay tuned.

Win Some, Lose Some

Not every dress meets with such a happy ending as my sister's dress below. The custom design business can be finicky at times and from time to time, we do have work that gets cancelled during production.

Usually this is due to an unfortunate set of circumstances for the client - such as their event getting cancelled. However, it is very fortunate for those of you out there looking for an even better deal on piece of custom designed couture.

Just look at those poor, lonely, unwanted dresses. Our wedding dress that was left at the alter - and our bridesmaid dress (never the bride, not even the bridesmaid). Can't you find a good home for them?

We've opened up a new page on the website (you'll see the link above) for unfinished pieces. These are near-complete pieces that we have available to tailor to your fit - and sell you on the cheap! You'll find full descriptions of the dresses on the unfinished pieces page.

So contact us if you're interested in any of these pieces before they go - and check back from time to time to see if we have any additions to our poor, lonely dresses. How can you look at them without feeling for how sad and unwanted the poor dresses feel :(

CTA Run Numbers Don't Mean Diddly-Squat

Chicago Transit Authority trains all have an automated announcement that states "welcome aboard red line run number 802" or some other number. I've always wondered what that meant - thinking that it could actually be valuable information to know that might somehow make my daily commute more efficient.

You'll see the run number in the front window of each train (opposite the happy conductor in our picture). They're everywhere, right?

I thought - maybe the run number is the time of day that the train is supposed to arrive at the Howard station that I pick it up at - or another stop? Maybe the run number is the amount of time taken to go from one end to the other - or between a certain set of stops? Maybe it's an estimate of the amount of people that are on the train.

I figured - at the very least it had to be something relevant to the passengers on the train - given that it is announced on every train, at every stop.

Wellllllll no. Actually, the run numbers, in the convoluted explaination you'll find in that link, are just a set of routes that the train operators get to bid on every quarter - in order that they can jockey for the best routes for eating lunch at a decent hour, or walking their kids to school.

OK - so I believe this system is necessary. But really - couldn't the CTA change the announcement to, say, the time the train is expected to reach the Loop or another key location?

The Results Are In

When I last wrote I had finished my first 2 of 4 fittings for my wedding dress with Anja, and was having nightmares that she might make me up like a clown. It is a little nerve-racking waiting to see if the dress you have pictured in your head will match the final results when you are having a dress made for you, but it is well worth it to have something that is unique, that is made to fit you perfectly, and that is truly your own.

Apparently my sister-in-law likes me after all and my worries and nightmares were all for nothing. My dress turned out to be beautiful – better than I could have expected and more perfect for me and the kind of wedding I wanted than anything I had seen in any magazine or store. I suppose it works that way when you get to specify down to the last detail what you want an how you want it.

So, to fulfill my promise, here are the first of the pictures from my wedding last weekend, featuring my lovely [meen kyolë] dress. Thanks to Anja for doing such a wonderful job and making me feel beautiful!

Cleveland Police Department Logo Looks Like a Pig

Strolling through some of my hometown Cleveland OH news recently and I ran across a story about the Cleveland Police Department's logo.


With a small amount of photoshopping - it appears that the CPD logo can easlily be turned into a pig! While we love cops - and some of us have actually kept the Chicago PD pretty busy at times - I probably don't need to remind you of the somewhat derogatory link between cops and pigs.

The pig's kinda cute if you ask me. The touchy, feely police department.