Stacy

Folks, this is Stacy. Stacy, though she went to Notre Dame, is part of the extended Wash U family. Over the past few years we've come to know Stacy as a friendly and adventuresome young lass. Proof of adventuresomeness: She and Chris (one of Eric's old college friends) just got back from Alaska after dogsledding and attending a wedding in an igloo. And speaking of dogs, when Eric and I went to Mexico last year Stacy came to stay with Max for a week. He loved Stacy so much that he wouldn't let her sleep in past sunrise and mourned her leaving when we came back. (He stood out in the park and looked for her everywhere.) What I personally appreciate about Stacy is her love of a good quality chocolate malt. I too have this love. So much so that I am willing to sneak malts, for both Stacy and I, into a movie theater inside of my purse. And when I pause to find that my cell phone is floating in a purse-full of foamy malted dairy product, I'm not the least bit phased. I also enjoy that Stacy is the first person to tell me that I am not insane for liking to run to music that most people nap to (Iron and Wine, Elvis singing gospel). She too runs to mellow tunes. Stacy has also recently been kind enough to let me subject her to my tell-me-your-five-favorite-things request. And here they are:
1. Avacados
2. Puppies (to her all dogs are puppies)
3. Eighteenth Century/Romantic/Victorian Literature
4. Outdoor Activities (Hiking/biking/dogsledding)
5. Postcards

Adam

Let me introduce to you, Adam. We actually met his lovely fiance first (in DC) and I hope to introduce Cristin sometime too so I'll save that story, but now they are Rogers Park neighbors and are quite fun to kick around town with. Anyhow, in such a short time, there are already so many funny Adam stories. One that I particularly like is the one about the hot dog in the thermos. Turns out, Adam's mom would send young Adam to school with a thermos of very hot water which held a hot dog, threaded with string so that Adam could pull the hot dog out of the water without having to dip in. Personally, I think this is potentially brilliant. She would even send along hot dog accouterments. The things is, and you really need to hear him tell the story, but after all this, he always ended up being the kid at the lunch table with a thermos full of luke warm hot dog water. And a string.

Adam has a fun and informative blog, is the only other person I know who gets the magazine The Sun besides myself (and those I send it to), and he's a fabulous gourmet cook (enough of one that it gives me a complex when I try to feed he and Cristin at our place.) :)

And Adam's five favorite things are:
1) Naps with the dog on the couch every afternoon
2) Popcorn
3) Pacing outside on late night phone calls in the summer
4) Watching his Dad be a son with his parents
5) Reddit.com

Steve

Let me introduce to you our friend Steve. Eric met Steve years ago at Allstate and got to know him while they were both managing the actuarial training unit. Before that though, I recall Eric talking about this guy Steve at work who was getting married in the spring but returned to work after Christmas and announced that he and Sarah had decided to just get the job done over the holiday. Family and friends were all gathered anyway. I remember thinking that they must be two brilliant people. Come to find out, they are. Eric says that it should be noted that Steve is the messiest grapefruit eater on the face of the planet, that it's not particularly gross but that you don't want to be the next person to happen upon that spot in the Allstate cafeteria. Steve has since moved on from Allstate to an office with a much better view (of Millennium Park and the lake) but remains one of our favorite people in Chicago. Steve is wonderful for many reasons but one is that he has an uncanny knack for scoring Wilco tickets. It's awesome.
1. Steve's favorite sports person is Brett Farve. (I happen to know that he is in Green Bay at the moment and quite possibly has no feeling in his arms or legs and that Mr. Farve thanked Steve for freezing his ass off by throwing a game-losing interception in overtime of the NFC championship game.) (Steve, do you want to change number one to something else?)
2. Steve's favorite movie character is John Bender from The Breakfast Club
3. His favorite food is white popcorn
4. His favorite extra curricular activity is biking
5. And Steve's favorite band is Destroyer

Sarah

This, folks, is Sarah. I met Sarah what seems now like ages ago. (Ages= five years.) I think it was at a Cubs game, a work outing for Eric who happened to work with Steve, her husband. Anyhow, it was good timing because I had only been living in Chicago for a few months and I was starting to think that my only acquaintances were going to be actuaries, not that there's anything wrong with that (but there's a little something wrong with that). One of the things that made both Eric and I know we would like Sarah forever was her lifting her elbows in the air and declaring that when she was a kid, she liked to put them in her playdough. It still gives us a good laugh. (I'm thinking you had to be there.) It's been wonderful getting to know Sarah over the years. I can count on the books she lends me being fantastic, the music she recommends being addictive (she's responsible for my being a Greg Brown fanatic) the recipes she hands over being delicious/involving cheese, and her gardening tips being genious if not utterly useful (did you know that you can eat some of the weeds that grow in your yard?)
I put Sarah on the spot today and made her tell me her five favorite things. And they are:
1. Mashed potatoes
2. The Odetta Christmas Album
3. Her (Phat) Bike
4. Spending a whole day reading
5. Getting personal mail

Eric

Most of you already know him pretty well, but I couldn't go an entire year with out a little blurb about my prom date. I'll spare you mushiness and keep it short. But I must say that after five years of being married to a man who (erroneously) thinks that his opinion of music is the end all, I still think of him as my all time favorite person. Some of the strongest evidence I have for my claim that he outflanks most people is that he's scary smart, like genius material, and (there are two parts to this) he sticks with me. This is huge folks. I would venture to guess that this would be difficult for a person with unusual mental ability since I tend to live sort of like a monkey. I usually leave all of the kitchen cupboards wide open. I keep none of my shoes in my closet but instead on every square inch of our apartment floor (and sometimes furniture). He's constantly needing to ask me things like "Is this half of a blueberry muffin that I just found in my sock drawer... yours?" Oh and I really like to dance in the car (no-not when I'm driving, when he's driving). He remains nice and friendly during all of this which has to mean that he's much nicer than me, because I wouldn't be able to stand any of that stuff. Also, I make him do things like tell me his five favorite things for my blog. And here they are in no certain order:

1. Diet Pepsi
2. The Wonder Years
3. radio airchecks
4. oldies music
5. living in the past (not necessarily his past, he says, just the past)

Daddy Squeeze

I've just heard that my uncle Dan will be receiving an achievement award tonight at the North East Accordion Festival in Minneapolis for "bringing nationwide attention" to the squeeze box. I must say that if it weren't for Dan, I might have always associated the accordion with Saint John's parish polka mass. Instead, I've grown up hearing Dan play Country Blues, foot stompin' Zydeco, French Cafe Music and rocking out on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion. Yeah-Dan has proven that a person can accomplish whatever they wish with an accordion and it's always fun to listen. Congratulations Dan! We hope you're bringing the box home for Thanksgiving!

LK

Let me introduce you to LK. We met almost four years ago as members of the writing program at DePaul and I was sure we would be friends as soon as I knew that she liked fast food hot dogs and authentic bluegrass music. I later learned that she likes to jump up and down and shake her booty any time there is any kind of a beat in the air- she is a dancing queen. And that pretty much sealed the deal. Just a couple of years out of grad school and she's already an award winning writer who kicks my butt around and makes me write things and turn them in to her like homework assignments. Actually, it's a mutual thing (she's not as bossy as I make her sound). It's a true gift to get to talk shop with a talented writer on a regular basis. I've learned loads from Miss LK.
Oh and LK's five favorite things are:
1. Riding the train
2. Chicken enchiladas
3. Playing cards
4. Making little kids laugh
5. Dorky folk music

Erin

I should introduce you to some of the fine residents of Chicago. This is Erin. She lives across the street from us and our dogs are quite fond of running around through the park together. I haven't known Erin for all that long but I already have a favorite story about her. Several years ago, she lived above a little antique shop which she found herself sharing with a few other unexpected guests. Once, after she adopted her dog Clara, she woke to find Clara ready to pounce on her bag of dog food. The bag of food was moving. Erin peeked inside to find a mouse helping itself to a bountiful breakfast. Now, Erin is a friend to the animals and doesn't have the heart to kill any living thing. Enter scene: hav-a-hart mouse trap. It's a no kill contraption. She baited it with peanut butter, dropped it in the bag of dog food and hollered down, "You'd better be in this trap when I get home from work!" And much to her pleasure, it was. She released the little guy at the lake where it could enjoy the beach, sand volleyball, and kayaking. This happened once more except this time there were two mice in the dog food and when she took them to the beach to join their friend, one of the mice ran all the way back with her to the car. I think she's pretty mean for not letting it come back home with her. ;)

Today Erin told me that her five favorite things are:
1. Clara
2. Halloween
3. Her Mom
4. The Des Moines Farmers Market
5. Books