“I need two sesame bagels….

and two pats of butter, please.” was my not-suppose-to-be-spending-ANY-extra-money-but-was-feeling-sorry-for-myself order this morning at Jake’s Bagels across the street from my suburban train station.

After staying up way, way too late baking pumpkin cookies last night, I surprisingly arrived at the train station this morning early, tired and hungry, which led me to Jake’s ordering a bagel for me and one for a co-worker (they are his favorites!) and, of course, those two pats of butter.

I watched as the young gal behind the counter wrapped up the bagels and then put two small plastic containers holding the butter onto a scale to weigh them.

“Do you charge for butter?” I asked.

While placing them into the bag with the bagels, she responded “Yes, these two will be .30 cents.”

They charge for butter now?

I know the recession and all….but, really, charging for PATS of butter when you are buying their bagels….seems so not right.

is money that tight

My office building's women's washroom....

has reached a new pinnacle!

Far worse than the chicken wing left on it’s floor that I wrote about here.

THIS was what I was greeted with upon entering the second stall yesterday…

So today in our shared-with-the-rest-of-the-8th-floor-women washroom, I hung this sign…..

better manners had by a garden gnome

Here's to good friends....

Saturday night was kind of special.
The Lemon Drop Martinis were poured,
Made us say somethings loudly a little more.
So Saturday night (Saturday night),
Saturday night,
It was lifelong friends, food and fun.
It had been way too long.

Hey, I was glad to see ya.

And we raised our glass.

Here's to health and happiness.

So Saturday night (Saturday night),

It was the best!

sunday needed to rest

L.F.M.T.F. FRIDAY!!!

Here is the first LFMTF from this morning's walk into the office...

a new "street art" sticker with lovely little yellow nubs of teeth.....good grief!

A comic book left on the Franklin Street Bridge open to a drunk guy and a child....very dark, not mild.

and this one....I am not sure if I want to figure this out....left exactly as I photographed it....on a railing...Pomegranate Green Tea and a Trojan still sealed in its wrapper.

does not want the clapper

What is up....

must come down.....

leaves of golden falling to the ground!

This season I LOVE.....it is the one after it that chills me to the bone that I HATE!!

winter can way wait

“Note to self…

never wear a skirt there!”



was the lunchtime snippet I overheard from a woman walking out of  Singha’s with a group of  friends today, while I was waiting for a carry out of my favorite soup.

I have eaten inside the restaurant many times…so I know exactly what she was talking about.

When you sit at a table you have to climb over a built up box into a cut out area and then sit on pillows.  So there is NO discreet way to climb in and out of your seat while wearing a skirt.

unless you want to flirt

My lunch snippets' walk...

took me thru the Loop over to State Street, into Macy's Marshall Fields, past the comestic/perfume counters and back outside into the heavy, damp, humid, Indian Summer Chicago air.

I walked Wacker Drive along the Chicago River and ducked into the Merchandise Mart as I shortcutted my way back to the office.

Once inside The Mart I was met with row upon row of upscale patio and beach umbrellas, cabanas (one with a roof that retracted so you could sun yourself when needed - you would hate to be rich and pastey white!), fancy schmancy tables, chairs and every accessory for outdoor living you can imagine……

I was in the midst of the "International Casual Furniture & Accessories Market".

Really?

"CASUAL?"

I live way, WAY below that kind of "casual" style.

by a mile

On Tuesday, September 8th….

Chicago’s schools went into session.

I walked along Des Plaines Ave. that morning as I headed into the office and was sent into a maternal tizzy upon seeing this...


Wasn’t it just yesterday that my kids and I were shopping for Spiderman and Hello Kitty book bags, crayons, boxes of Kleenex and new school clothes?

Back when I was complaining about temper tantrums and their strong willed personalities and my Momma would remind me to enjoy them then...

because little children...little problems,

big children...big problems.

No big problems currently other than my lumpy headed little boy and perfectly pink little girl have grown up in blink, blink, blinks of my eyes.

time truly flies

“Just Google ‘Susan's Snippets’….

I will blog about you today.” I said to Stephanie Miller, who is a west suburban gal that has, thru dedicated hard work and awesome skills, made the USA Olympic Archery Team.


She was at Union Station on this usually Left-for-Me-to-Find-Friday, promoting Chicago’s Bid to host the 2016 Olympic.

There were people handing out rubber bracelets...


and postcards telling the date of the announcement of the winner...

on which Stephanie graciously autographed. (Thanks!)


No matter which side of the fence you are on regarding the Olympics being held in Chicago (HOPEFULLY!!) – you have to give a big SALUTE to all the athletes, like Stephanie, who have dedicated many, many years of their lives to Represent the U.S.A. for an Olympic win!

let the games begin

While commuting into Chicago for.....

20 plus, plus, plus years, I have seen many changes along both the Burlington Northern's and Union Pacific's west line tracks.

Some for the better and others not so much.

One of the changes that I wrote about here is the ever growing amount of graffiti.

Again, I am not condoning the defacing of property, but at the same time - I LOVE artistically talented people.

This morning it would have been hard to miss this new HUGE piece on the concrete underpass right before the train starts its turn into Union Station....

a wise looking owl, perfectly painted in my beloved whimsical fashion.

This piece, I must say falls right about No. 2 of my favorite "seen along the train tracks" graffiti of all times.

Only to be topped by a "tag" in Naperville, also on a concrete underpass, although no artistic talent was shown, it was HYSTERICAL to read for months on end (why I never photographed it with my Snippet's camera, I do not know), until it was paint over by the powers that be...scrawled in black spray paint by an Einstein-in-the-Making - it read:

"You tried to get me but I still LIFE!"

someone with reading and writing strife

My brother Paul is in town....

from his east coast home for a conference at McCormick Place, and happily he decided to combine work with some back-to-his-roots family time.

All of my brothers were together yesterday afternoon putting up this fence at our Momma’s house...


while us womenfolk were inside preparing a “Myra Lee” foodfest.

Being Paul doesn’t live here and misses out on our Momma’s cooking most of the time, she made one of her special dishes for him – her noodles.

Now these aren’t just any old noodles – these are drenched in a homemade gravy TO DIE FOR noodles.

Paul, being the guest of honor at dinner and the misser-outter-of-noodles-most-of-the-year, got to have the first helping....

and it wasn’t until I took this picture that I noticed and commented on how pointy his balding head looks.

Which is probably why under most circumstances he is donning a cap.

Like the one he was wearing yesterday when our mom had these BEAUTIFUL flowers delivered to her house from Paul’s sons, Jacob and David for Grandparent’s Day (way to go KB!)....


But pointy-balding-headed - hatted or not....

i love him a lot

ps - i forgot my four brothers did get help with the fence from our youngest and cutest nephew...

who can say aunt sue

Susan Snippets, P.I.

While walking eastbound at lunch today, I unknowingly-until-it-was-way-too-late walked past a long line of construction workers. They were sitting against a building, eating their lunches, sunning themselves and “people” watching on this beautiful (BEAUTIFUL) September Chicago day.

During my walk, I decided I was going to once again pass the line, but this time I would videotape for a couple of seconds with my Snippet’s camera pointing backwards –to see how these guys behave when a “people” is not watching.

And THIS is what I was able to capture....

The next time I choose to do a private investigator-covert type of operation – I should probably point the camera at something other than me!

no boys only club things did i really see

The Oprahpalooza

I admit that I was one of those that wandered over yesterday to Michigan Avenue to see what was going on.

While there I was interviewed by this Channel 2 reporter.......

as to what I thought might possibly be in the locked box that Oprah had displayed in a storefront window.

I returned to work without mentioning the interview, I figured with all the people, reporters, interviews going on….mine would be left on the cutting room floor.

I was sitting on the train heading west last night when I received this text message from my sister “I just saw you on the news! 8,000 keys!"

My 15 seconds of “Oprahish” fame can be found right around the 2:00 minute mark here…

Channel 2 Interview

oh dear

“Stuffed, Roughed and Not So Ready to Roll”

would be a good title for today, Tuesday, the day after the “last hurrah of summer” Labor Day Weekend.
I officially closed my birthday week(s) as of 10:00 p.m. last night.

No more sugar for a while....my birthday sweets fest really takes a toll on how I feel (I won’t even mention how it immediately, ginormously expands my muffin tops and gut!)

But it was fun while it lasted.

My just-a-year-older sister, Vicki, was in town from that great Bluegrass State of Kentucky this weekend and was part of the baking cookies crew on Friday night (she also threw together a wonderful Thai Chicken Lettuce Wrap dinner – healthy and YUMMY!), stayed the night and accompanied me to the Market on Saturday morning to help sell.

The Market was a complete success, wonderful weather and all the cookies were sold with an hour still left.

Which lead me to this thought…..

BAKE more cookies!!

There were  friends and relatives that stopped by the Market; socializing and dancing  to the music of  The Empty Can Band (okay maybe one trip to the stage to sing also!); another great dinner provided by my Momma; church; a wonderful evening on a friend filled patio – pizza, wine, sharing and caring; yard work done (that would be the “roughed” part of the title – sore, sore, sore from digging, planting and edging – but it is looking great!); and I ended the long weekend with my two "baby" sisters, their families and one last pull-out-all-the-stops fabulous dinner.

I recognize that most everything I do revolves around food….

and family….

and friends.

Not too bad of a deal is that?

although I should be very very fat

Left for Me to Find Friday.....

as we head into this holiday weekend - my wishes for you are clothes for comfort and style.....

food shared with family and friends....

a good drink or two...

and if things start to become crappy.....

turn that frown upside down and shout out Yahoo!!

fresh sidewalk pooh

"Are you counting your bankroll back there?"

I inquired of Jeff, who was sitting directly behind me on the train this morning, counting out bills.

Jeff has been part of my morning train posse for about a year now - happily married, an old school kind of guy, who swears like a truck driver (very hard for me not to gasp! several times during each commute downtown.), but has a thread of my father within him, which makes me feel comfortably safe when he is around.

"No, I collected a couple of bucks from some guys I was with the other night, so here is $51 dollars for your birthday - buy YOURSELF something!" he demanded as he tried to hand me the money.

"What?!?!? I am not taking it!" was my stubborn, I-can-take-care-of-myself response.

"Yes, you are!" he said as he placed it on top of the newspaper in my lap.

"Why?" I weepily asked.

"Because those guys had no problem coughing up a couple of bucks," he said, "and this will end out your birthday week!"

I thanked him, while hesitantly folding the bills up and putting them into my old-lady-little-blue coin purse - at the same time thinking - what can I buy, what can I buy???

a very kind but swearing guy

A Common Sight in European Cities…..

are shop owners outside of their businesses sweeping, washing and tidying up their store fronts.

I think of that practice as I walk the sidewalks of Chicago and see (and smell) the filth and trash that litter the common areas.

This morning as I walked along DesPlaines Avenue, I shot these photos……

all of which are from the perimeter of parking lots.

Parking lot owners are not the only violators, it just so happened that these were the offenders that I saw this morning.  Although it does seem ubber wrong in this case due to the fact that both of these parking lots have attendants, who sit in booths all day long......

during the busy morning and evening rushes and all the time in-between.

So my question would be…..

Why can’t they find the time to walk around the outside of the fence, pick up any trash and deposit it in the “possibly-right-there” garbage can?

make chicago a cleaner city fan