2009 the re-cap

So much has happened these last few weeks, we thought it appropriate to begin the year with a re-cap of all things panda-y and holiday-ish. First off jess and I both got new tattoos at our favorite tattoo shop. Jess went to our place to get a tattoo with her father. Jess got a piece of cherry pie(her father’s favorite) with a dad banner. And jess’ dad got a touch up on an old rose tattoo he had, with jess’ name above it. And a week later I got an amazing panda tattoo, below are pics of jess’ and I’s tats:






We were very fortunate to have great holidays this year. We had a good time with jess’ folks while they visited over thanksgiving. And we had a great time running around on xmas day seeing everyone(even if i did have to work part of that day). we had a great new years eve eating thai food with sean and irene. Jess’ and I present exchange couldn’t have been better, with both of us getting fun and surprising presents that we both adored, below is a composite:

ryno got:
dinosaur jr : whatever's cool with me 7"
modest mouse : good news for people who like..
mountain goats : sweden
nirvana : in utero(clear yellow)
sea and cake : oui
smashing pumpkins : machina | the machines of god
sonic youth : goo lp(first pressing)
pedro the lion : whole ep 10"
sonic youth stocking cap!!!!

gesso got:
himalayan sea salt
saves the day - through being cool
braid - rainsnowmatch 7" original pressing
kung-fu panda dvd
beetlejuice dvd
and lots of cute oven mitts... and a cupcake apron!!!!
money with which she bought an ipod touch which she is adoring so much right now

here's some pictures of us crazy cats:


not to mention dad/bonnie/santa got us tons of fun things from ten thousand villages, and other thoughtful fun things. And jess’ parents got us pjs. And of course our families/santa gave us money for records and or culinary fun things.

Another amazing recent development that I mentioned in my last blog, was that we got our new coffee table. I urge anyone to take the time when they visit us to check out this lovely piece of artisanal carpentry mastery. Here are some pictures, but no justice will be served unless you see this in person:





yesterday we went to Chicago. We met up with ben and his lady friend jenny and had a wonderful time. we met up with them at the chicago diner, and enjoyed brunch. we then went to reckless records (of course), rag stock, urban outfitters, and a few other stores. we finished the night at mac's, where all four of us enjoyed their fish and chips. and we all loved it! next time though, we are going to smoke daddy! we had a great time with ben and jenny, it was a shame the night ended so soon, but we look forward to seeing them this summer, and whenever they visit these parts!

so after all of that bloggery, we are so thankful we have each other and family and friends to share our lives with. we are so thankful and happy that 2009 is starting off so well. this year for us, will bring tight budgets, a fun summer train ride to california, a possible 2010 wedding date, and our kitties will be turning two!

blogging out from warrenville!

so this weekend jess and i house/dog sat. it was good, and really relaxing. we mostly laid around, grilled out tons, and watched tons of cable, and drank some too. but really that is all we could ask for. this was jess' first weekend since starting school, and i have been needing a break from work. ideally we prefer a quiet weekend, so when we can do so, we go for it. today may have been our only day of really running around(aside from friday, where we had to drop off jess' laptop at the apple store). today we went to breakfast at the warrenville pancake house, one of our fave diners. and then drove back home. after we settled and put all of our stuff back(one nice thing about house/dog sitting, is that we get our laundry done!), i rode my bike back to my mom's to finish watching the house/dog. since jess has school and work tomorrow, it would have been a very busy morning if i had to drive her back to aurora before i went to work(in wheaton). so this way, i can just ride my bike to work, and then ride it back home after work.

here's some random things...last week we sent out a package of vegan goodies to someone in france, well he already got them, and we are going to be getting some french vegan goodies soon! also, i got a new shirt and some new deadformat stickers last week: my sister in-law amie is getting her blog on nowadays and recently posted about brayden having a great time at a carnival! check it, he looks so adorable! also, you'll see i added kevin's blog to our list of friends, and he recently posted a good pic of his work(read: my new tattoos, DUH!) this weekend i was lucky enough to touch base with my buddy ben, which i play mean phone tag with. in fact, all my friends that live more than a stone throws away, know i am really bad about keeping in touch now that i have a really weak phone plan(300anytime mins, and only free weekends). so it was nice to hear from ben!

so tonight, jess and i will be reminiscing of the days when we were separated by hundreds of miles and only getting to see each other for days at a time, while we talk on the phone and watch intervention, thankful that we are merely a 40min bike ride apart. life is wonderful.

more tattoos?!?!

well yes!

last week jess and i got tattoos at ronin, and yesterday i got some more work done.
so my my upper left arm is looking a bit fuller now...not much to say, except to reiterate that kevin pretty much rules my skin!

thanks again kevin!

wisky and cupcake?

so yesterday was a big day. i started off the day with an interview for a part-time job. we went to levi's 1 year birthday party in warrenville. and finally we got some more amazing tattoos!

needless to say the last of those three events was obviously what made the day so great. instead of giving a lengthy explanation here are the pics:



here's jess' tat.



and here are mine.



needless to say we are thrilled with what we got. kevin from ronin tattoo continues to impress us with his patience and his brilliant work. in fact i will be going there next weekend to get my left upper arm worked on. i would strongly urge anyone in the area[or visiting the area ;)] to consider getting work done by kevin. kevin is an amazing artist, which is clearly why his work stands out. thank you very much kevin.

also for the first time in over a year we have internet. for over a year we relied on the very very very poor(that's three f-wording verys!!!!) downtown aurora "free wireless". so we are back!

tattoo street team?

yesterday after work, jess and i stopped by our local tattoo shop. it seems they are in need of a street team, to help them canvas the local area with their business cards and postcards. so jess and i will be hitting up as many places in these west burbs as we can. in the next month or so, we plan on spreading the love so to speak. we plan on hitting some grocery stores, book stores, coffee shops, record store(s), bars, colleges, and anywhere we see a need for people to be in the know about where to get a solid tattoo. oh, and just why oh why would we be willing to do such a lovely service??? for some free tats, DUH! the great thing about this, is that we both have tattoos from kevin, and love his work. so it's a wonderfully fair trade.

here is jess' tattoo that she had done at ronin:


and here is my tat:

the above image may be familiar, since it is from the godspeed you black emperor! album art:



so look forward to pics of new tattoos in the coming months!

tomorrow is jess' last final, and she is super psyched about being done with school. also cinco de mayo is coming up, which actually means far less to me, because that is brayden's 3 year birthday! so uncle ryno will be super excited to celebrate his b-day!