The end of June always poses a problem for me; I venture into a drugstore looking for the perfect Father’s Day card.  Except, my dad doesn’t fish, fart, or play golf.  Further, he doesn’t attempt to fix things around the house only to break them even more.  Occasionally I find a card referring to baseball that is kind of clever, but that probably happens once every leap year.

So what’s a daughter to do?  Where is the card referencing the suit-wearing, intelligent, professional father?  Is it possible my dad is the only one to drink Martini’s and Manhattan’s at fine city establishments instead of burp-inducing beer whilst relaxing on a backyard hammock?  I know he’s one of a kind, but surely this can’t be true.

Why must all Father’s Day cards depict an antiquated caveman-esque father figure?  Are people’s father’s really the way Shoebox & American Greetings makes them appear?  These are the ones they make year after year though, so they must sell… A homemade card may seriously be the way to go when you take into consideration the utterly stupid cards available and the recession.

The feminist in me wants to say: “Haha men, this is the stereotype you get,” but then I think of my father and get angry at the discrepancy between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day cards.

Mother’s Day cards are all flowers & hearts, thanking them for a job well done raising the defiant teenager we all were.  Father’s Day cards are opened and display a message along the lines of: “I would have gotten you something more but I didn’t have enough money.  P.S. Can I have a raise in my allowance?”

They say parenting is a thankless job– for father’s that appears to be true.

Things I Live For: Nibbles coming in this weekend for Phish; Coupons

Quote of the Day:“My apartment is infested with koala bears.  It’s the cutest infestation ever.  Much better than cockroaches.  I turn the lights on and the koalas scatter.  I’m like, come back!  I want to hold one of you and feed you a leaf!” –Mitch Hedberg

Three of my favorite things in this world are cameos, covers, and Tom Petty.  Kenny Chesney hit that trifecta this past weekend, leading me to avow that that was the best concert I have ever been to.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, because the awesomeness really started 24 hours before the show.  Biggie and I went to the Cubs game on Friday afternoon and I mentioned beforehand how awesome it would be if Chesney was the “guest coductor” for the 7th inning stretch.  Turns out… he was!  Check.  Then, the guy sitting next to me who is convinced my name is Elsie (pretty much everyone out there thinks that’s my name…sweet) told us that Chesney’s tour bus was parked in Wrigleyville.  Biggie and I decided to make it our mission to find what bar Chesney was partying at after the game.

His bus was parked outside the Wild Hare.  A quick sweep of that bar, and no Chesney.  So despite out morals, we ventured into Sluggers, Cubby Bear, and Murphy’s.  No Chesney.  But I did take a picture of me with his tour bus and I opened the door to it but unfortunately Biggie stopped me from walking onto it.  Which is probably for the better, because I certainly didn’t want to spend Saturday night in the clink. 

It was spent instead, at Soldier Field!  There were a whole bunch of bands playing before him so we just tailgated in the parking lot until a little before Chesney went on.  The crowd provided some excellent people watching– it was definitely a diverse group, lots of young people.  Suburban. 

So we eventually made our way into the show.  From the moment Chesney took the stage (via a little chair lift thing that hovered above the crowd), he rocked all night.  He played all the jams, and it was super high energy and exciting.  Plus, from the seats we had, we were able to see Navy Pier’s weekly firework show during Chesney’s set. 

So, as to the cameo– Ryan Dempster came on during “Back Where I Come From.”  Legendary.  You could tell there were a lot of Sox fans in the stadium…  I think their inferiority complex was taken to a new level at that moment.

The covers– Chesney left before the encore for maybe 2 seconds.  He came back and played the Eagles “Take it Easy,” SMB’s “The Joker” (did not smell any pot the whole time during this show… go figure…) Petty’s “Mary Jane’s Last Dance”!!!  Marley’s “Three Little Birds”  and Mellencamp’s “Hurts So Good.”  I should note that a lot of the fans had no idea what these songs were, which was pretty weak. 

But all in all, it was an awesome show, an awesome Chesney filled weekend.  If you want to have as awesome time as I did, step one would be to start listening to some Chesney.  May I suggest: “When the Sun Goes Down” “Beer in Mexico” “I Go Back” “Young” “Back Where I Come From.” Just pick up “Kenny Chesney LIVE!” and you’ll have everything you need to be awesome on that CD.  Next up is Summerfest and I can’t wait to see him again.  If I were you I’d get your tickets ASAP.

(You’re welcome Nibbles).

Pet Peeve of the Day: My failure to get posts up

Quote of the Day: “Have no fear of perfection.  You’ll never reach it.” –Salvador Dali

Going to see Kenny Chesney for the first time tomorrow at Soldier Field… Can’t wait!!!

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Pet Peeve of the Day: Jeans in the summer

Quote of the Day: “Sometimes Iget discouraged – sometimes I feel so down – sometimes I get so worried and I don’t know what about – But it works out in the long run – Always goes away – And I’ve come now to accept it as a reoccurring phase” –Tom Petty

I’m getting a little worried — we’re almost halfway through June and I still don’t have one Summer 2009 jam yet!  You know, the song you hear in the future that will forever remind you of “Summer 2009.”  Usually it’s a pop song that’s on every radio station.  But sometimes it can be a song you recently discovered that just reminds you of a certain summer.  (For example, I have a summer jam circa 2000: “Hide Your Love Away” by the Beatles.  Certainly not a new song.  And certainly not a story that is going to be explained here!)

Anyway, last year I had my song locked in by Memorial Day.  “All Summer Long” by Kid Rock.  Quintessential summer jam.  Maybe I haven’t listened to enough radio this year or watched MTV for all the hot new music videos that they’re forever playing.  Whatever it is, I need to find my song(s) fast!  Do you have your summer 2009 jam yet?  Because I apparently need to be pointed in the right direction this year!

Some of my past favorite summer jams are (wow, lots of one hit wonders here!):

• 1996: “How Bizarre” OMC
• 1998: “Still Not a Player” Big Pun (RIP)
• 1999: “Summer Girls” LFO (Unfortunately I haven’t heard this one since 1999!!)
• 2005: “Without Me” Eminem
• 2006: “Summer of ’69″ Bryan Adams (it’s an Aussie thing) 

And finally, a timeless summer song that will ALWAYS be in my summer jam rotation: “Boys of Summer” by Don Henley.

Things That Scare Me: Driving over train tracks; the Yellow line

Quote of the Day: “Like sitting on pins and needles; things fall apart, it’s scientific” –Talking Heads

I am highly fascinated with the recession.  Not a fan of it, but fascinated nonetheless.  I think it has definitely made things more interesting (and stressful!)  With all my free time, I have been scouring the internet for ways to save, coupons, and any other helpful tips.  So today I bring you a couple things I’ve learned so far that may help you during this recession:

I was curious how to use up foods I already had on hand to avoid another trip to the grocery store.  But, I didn’t know where to start.  What was I going to do with oats, pasta, rice, broccoli, chicken stock, apples, and peanut butter that was new and inventive?  (Believe me…. pasta with broccoli, olive oil, and parmesan cheese is PLAYED OUT).  So, I came upon this awesome website that allows you to enter the items you have on hand, and then they give you recipes.  (http://www.supercook.com/)  It was here where I discovered a way to turn some of my big box of oats and quickly rotting apples into a delicious apple crisp! (And if I had to do the math, I bet it doesn’t cost more than $3… and it serves at least 6 people!)

The recipe is super easy and quick (and slightly modified by me because it called for a whole cup of white sugar and I’m not a fan of lots of sugar.  Believe me, it’s sweet enough!)

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 3 apples cored and chopped
• white sugar and cinnamon for dusting

Preheat oven to 350.  Combine the brown sugar, oats, flour and butter in a bowl.  Mix until crumbly.  Layer part of the mixture on the bottom of an 8×8 lightly greased pan.  Spread apples on top of mixture.  Sprinkle apples with cinnamon and white sugar.  Layer the remaining oat mixture on top of the apples.  Cook for 40 minutes.

I didn’t even have ice cream to spoon over this and it was still delicious!  If you have these items on hand, I recommend you try this.  (And despite all the butter and sugar, I like to think the healthiness of the oats and apples balances all that out…)  Do you have any recession friendly recipes that you rely on??

Besides food and cooking, you still want to enjoy some relatively cheap entertainment in this recession.  But many of the museums have high admission prices.  I recently discovered that Bank of America has a “Museums on Us” program:  with your Bank of America card, you can obtain free admission to many museums on the first full weekend of every month.  In Chicago, those museums include the Museum of Contemporary Art, The Art Institute, The Chicago History Museum, and the Shedd Aquarium!  That is a great deal.  Go here: http://museums.bankofamerica.com/ to find a museum near you!

Further, if you are in Chicago, The Art Institute is free every Thursday & Friday from 5 – 9PM until Labor Day.  The MCA is free every Tuesday.  Go here for more free days: http://www.chicagohotblog.com/chicago-museum-free-days

So those are the tips I have thus far.  Do you have any tips you’d like to share with everyone?

Pet Peeve of the Day: Foolishness

Quote of the Day: “Can’t sing but I’ve got soul” –U2