Chicago: Totally hands-free!!!

Life isn't fair.

breeders be privileged

I mean, you would very reasonably probably start cursing and shouting about how it was never any of your company's business in any of all possible worlds who do they think they fucking are, God? etc etc because it isn't any of their business.

OH NO PUPPIES

http://edhat.com/assets/dogOfTheWeek/puppies.jpg

Well, yeah, but then you would go ahead and do it anyway.

xpost

Ach well, never mind. I was enjoying thinking about it.

There IS essentially a financial penalty on many employees who have kids, it's called no or not enough maternity leave or even firing pregnant ladies rather than pay them maternity leave.

xp Well actually I was think that'd be the time to find a new employer, but whatever sinks your ship, I guess... :)

labraschnauzers?

xp it's also called HAVING CHILDREN

I'm sort of against the idea of showers, but that's probably because I'm kind of cheap. Wedding presents made sense to me once I realized that they were offsetting the cost of the wedding itself: you're basically paying for the food, cake, alcohol, etc., that you're consuming.

I agree breeders are privileged, as are heteros in general. I also think it's unfair that some kids have parents that pay their ways through college and others have to struggle if they want to go. That is my personal grievance.

I know so many people who have taken their paid maternity leave and then quit.

I like how we're basically talking about nothing now.

I hear that it happens alot unexpectedly. They go on leave but had no idea how motherhood would affect them and end up quitting because they don't want to leave the baby.

At least this thread is jumpin! I was getting bored.

I likee marshmallows

You never wanna eat s'mores with me though.

I like how we're basically talking about nothing now.

As opposed to the availability of parking spots in teh Chicago suburbs?? Surely you jest.

lulz

A few weeks ago I made the Drink of Tomorrow out of the Achewood cookbook. It is essentially a complicated structure made out of frozen mini-marshmallows stuck on toothpicks dropped into Ketel and blue curacao.

And how was it??

Well, the marshmallow satellite was basically for show, but it looked cool and I got really drunk. I was surprised that the marshmallows did not dissolve.

As opposed to the availability of parking spots in teh Chicago suburbs?? Surely you jest.

Might be interesting if you ACTUALLY LIVED IN CHICAGO.

Hence me posting about it on THE CHICAGO THREAD.

Wedding presents made sense to me once I realized that they were offsetting the cost of the wedding itself
That's not the way I see it. I think it's a celebration you're sharing with other people. They are happy for you and buy you presents. You include them in the wedding because you want them to share this life change with you. I can be pretty naive though.

Oooh speaking of marshmallows, I had half a moon pie for the first time the other day. I think I might like them if they were actually made of chocolate...? This one was labeled "chocolate flavor" and it was terrifyingly waxy.

I agree about the reason for wedding gifts. It's a celebration.

Oh Nick, pish posh. It's important to your friends because it's important to you, no matter where you/they live. But it's not more substantial than any other topic at risk for discussion on this thread on any given day. Do sit down and have a glass of water, I think you're getting overwrought.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1393/777022389_6cf1a30f90.jpg?v=0

I wasn't actually complaining about the content of the thread, I just thought it was funny how people were suddenly talking about 10 different things at the same time, so that the posts weren't relating to each other.

Also, apologies to all if I was getting in a huff. I can't help being defensive as I'm married obv., loved getting all the pressies, and hope to some day also have babies (and also expect I'll be getting pressies then).

xp Oh yeah, because that is TOTALLY different from normal.

I want to have a campfire. Where in Brooklyn should I do this?

You guys are ILXing circles around me today. Jeez.

Ok this is why we need new threads: you go away for a few hours, 50 posts happen, you come back and can't see where you left off, so you have to load the entire thread and it takes literally minutes. Amirite, people?

rooftop

Awwwww Sarah I don't think corporations being traditional/conservative and backward-looking is anything to do with being, or GETTING, married! And wedding pres are a lovely way for people who love you to feel they've contributed to your life...and vice versa.

Also, my sister's labor is being induced today!! There should be a new clan member by around evening, altho I guess we'll see how it goes.

I've also been known to just set marshmellows on fire with a lighter, blow them out, and stick them on the choco/graham cracker combo. You can put the choco graham in the microwave for a few seconds to get it a little meltier.

the only time i ever had a problem finding a parking space in oak park was during christmas shopping season or if there'd been a recent snow storm. and even then it only meant parking closer to oak park ave rather than harlem.

why are we talking about this?

xpost- Where in Brooklyn should I do this?
in front of the grand army memorial.

He was talking about parking in Evanston.

But maybe you knew that...

Anyway, I'm going to go see if the boss is in a good mood so I can ask for 3 days off at xmas even though I technically have -2 days left for the year.

Is it okay for an employer to give free smores to employees that have babies if they don't provide free parking?

Gas stoves really ought to make perfectly good s'mores, you've got an open flame and everything...but I want beers and campfire smell and all the lovely outdoorsness, so I guess I'm going to have to wait.

i think i've been to evanston twice. four times if you count the time i passed out on the purple line and rode to wilmette and back.

i drove there once, did not have trouble finding a parking space. i remember we took sheridan all the way up, salivating over the mansions up there. i can't imagine living a life of opulence like that. fuck, i barely remember what it's like to have a stocked pantry at this point.

I see what you're saying about wedding gifts being part of the celebration, except for the fact that a) a lot of the time you're basically just picking whatever hasn't already been picked on the registry (i.e., no personal input) and b) it's not like you get to see the gifts being opened or anything.

I will say, though, that I personally like to find things not on the registry that I know the couple will enjoy, anyway.

Also, when I said that I realized the purpose of the gift was to offset the cost of the wedding, I think I meant that the purpose of spending so much money on a gift was to offset the cost of the wedding. I basically didn't start going to friends' weddings until a couple years ago, so someone had to explain to me that $50 was an absolute minimum and I was kind of o_O at first. But now I totally understand that compared to what the couple spends on the wedding, it's not that much at all.

xxxposts That was what was most tempting to me about the Dan cabin, but then he said you couldn't have bonfires there. :-(

John, your gift was seriously perfect for us.

I'm glad you liked it. :D

xp We have a perfectly serviceable fireplace!

BTW I'd still be willing to host something there but it would take some serious planning.

What would be involved in the planning exactly?

There are all KINDS of graham crackers out there Sarah, it's not a decision to be made lightly.

The fire ban might be over by now. Plus, you could still do a small campfire. Dan's just a good boy about the rules, I made a lovely, roasty, toasty fire on the beach when I was up in August.