December 31, 1999: New Years Eve

On New Years Eve Day, Carol, Eddy, Aunt Elsie, Grandpa, Mom, and I took a bus tour that went to Hollywood, LA, and Beverly Hills.    We stopped at Mann's Chinese Theater.   We had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe which overlooked Cedars Sinai Hospital.     Hard Rock Cafe was attached to the Beverly Center in Beverly Hills. It's an enclosed mall where some movie stars can be seen. 

Our tour also took us to Venice Beach which was so much fun for people watching. Carol and I got henna tattoos on our wrists. They were so cute.  Neither one of us wanted a permanent tattoo so we thought this was the next best thing.   

For New Years Eve, we had dinner at this seafood restaurant.   We got our first taste of sushi, which I didn't like.    Then, Carol, Eddy, Mom, and I went to Long Beach and watched the fireworks that overlooked the Spruce Goose and Queen Mary.   I will always remember where I was when we celebrated entering a new century.     We got home and watched the news where all of the cities/countries showed their 2000 celebrations.   Got to see my hometown of Chicago celebrate with fireworks on TV.    We blew our horns and let out a bunch of noise with the party favors that Carol bought.  

December 30, 1999: Los Angeles

We flew to Los Angeles on December 28th and stayed with Carol Wong.   Carol lived in Cerritos.   We drove into LA and visited Laura Vandermuelen. The traffic there was horrible.  There were about 6 lanes of traffic and no one seemed to use their blinkers.   I don't know how I got us around LA, but I did.  Laura lived on Detroit St. which was off of Wilshire Blvd.  Laura had a real nice place.  Her roommate was Kristy Walker.     Laura took us all around Beverly Hills, Sunset Blvd, Rodeo Dr, and by Arnold Schwarzenegger's home.   We had lunch on Sunset Strip at the famous burger joint.    Also, we made a surprise visit to Jake Messinger at his work.   He worked in this store that sold gifts, cards, etc.  Estelle Getty, who used to play Sophia on "Golden Girls" used to frequent this store that Jake worked in.  Then, we went to Burbank to see the Jay Leno Show.   Arsenio Hall and Jimmy Buffet were guests on Jay Leno's show.   

Fall 1999: UIC in Champaign and Springfield, IL

I decided I would take a road trip to Champaign, IL to visit my friend, Adenike, whom I met in my photography class at Harold Washington Community College in downtown Chicago. Adenike and I were movie buddies and went to the movies all the time when she lived in Chicago.    After community college, she decided to transfer to UIC in Champaign.      I had never been there before, so it was nice to visit her.     She had a part-time job in a coffee shop.

We decided to take a side trip to Springfield, IL to see where Abraham Lincoln's house was.      Then, we drove around Springfield to check it out. There wasn't much to the town. Then, we came back to UIC and spent time hanging out.  I had a great time on this trip.  

June 12-13, 1999: Motorcycle Races in Newaygo

Went to Michigan for the weekend to work at the motorcycle races in Newaygo.   Sue and I stayed at Jerry's house.   Jerry and Terry were friends of Sue's sister, Chris.    I had never seen such a messy house in my life.    There were beer cans, food, trash, and clothes laying around everywhere.    Jerry won 10 million dollars in the lotto a few years ago.   We worked from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.  In the evening, we went to Andy's graduation open house.   Terry and Andy are stepbrothers.    I met Mike Tabaczka at these races.  He did their website and photography for the races.   

May 28-29, 1999: Joy's Visit to Chicago

My cousin Joy took the train from Ann Arbor to Chicago to spend the weekend with me.    I met her at Union Station and then we took the Metra train out to Downers Grove to my apartment.   We went to the IKEA store and to Pier 1 Imports.   I got my living room chair at IKEA and this fountain and stand at Pier 1 Imports.    Joy and I ate at Dave and Busters off of I-355 on Lake St.    When we got back to my apartment, we worked on putting together the chair and stand.   

On May 29,  I took Joy to Information Resources so she could see where I worked.   We went shopping on State St and had dinner at Ed Debeviks. I took her to Navy Pier.

Then, we went to this Female Impersonator show which was hilarious. Yolanda and Lilly had told me about this place.     There were alot of bachelorette parties going on here.    One of the guys dressed up as Cher. Joy and I laughed so hard.  

May 15, 1999: Dave Mathews Concert

I went back to Michigan to visit with friends and family. Sue Arnouts and I went to the Palace near Detroit to see the Dave Mathews concert.    He performed a great show.   

May 8, 1999: Dawn Mehrens

I met Dawn Mehrens at one of the Information Resources parties several months ago.  We were in line for food and just started talking.  I asked her what office she was in and she had said she was living in Muskegon and working on-site at Gerber Baby Factory.    I remember I was shocked that someone from Chicago was living in my hometown of Muskegon. Ever since then, we were friends.    

Anyway, today, I went over to Dawn Mehrens house in Countryside which is near the city of La Grange.  She made us delicious burritos.