Chicago - Day 3, Recap, and PHOTOS!

so, i am now home!  watching buffy, cuddling w/ angel (the kitty, not the vampire detective - altho, he's here, too).  today was pretty glad.  : )  we slept til 10:30, ate some breakfast, watched a movie (the swimming one w/ kevin costner & ashton kutcher?), and headed out.  we did some shopping at macy's - mom wanted some bath stuff for her, as yesterday she got christmas pressies for the aunts but didn't get anything for herself!  heh.  

then, i wanted to grab lunch at Portillo's.  idk where i'd heard of it - food network, likely!  but i happened to see one a few times as we drove around during the weekend.  since we'd passed it more than once, i thought i knew where it was.


i was wrong.


we drove around for an hour looking for this restaurant i'd seen several times!  lol  mom was a trouper, she just kept looking for me!  finally, tho, after we'd driven so far that we could see the City up ahead (the closest we got to the actual city...), we gave up & said we'd just grab lunch somewhere else along the way home.

then, suddenly, God shined His light upon us in the form of a different Portillo's!  

good times, and thank You, Lord!  i mean, it wouldn't have killed either of us had we not found it, but it was just really neat timing, and it could only be a blessing, ya know?  : )  


the rest of the trip was pretty uneventful, and nice.  we saw a rainbow - but no rain!  *laugh*  so mom said it's not really a rainbow... but it was pretty!

ahhh.  and soon i should get to bed, since i actually have to GET UP in the morning.  LOL  first, i'm going to go back & edit Day 1 & Day 2, adding pictures in.  be sure to check back w/ those posts soon!  : )  


it was so nice to get away w/ mom.  it was nice to remember daddy, and there were some tears, but those were more tension releases because of all the CRAP going on, rather than being sad about daddy.  even tho we are, we're okay.  ya know what i mean?  


this trip was perfect, was healing, was what i needed and hopefully what mom needed.  tomorrow starts november, the month of celebration of me!  (and grammy, boo, bret, juli, renee, kaylie, kate...heh)  november, the month of THANKSGIVING.  november, the month of a special giveaway!  this one's not sponsored, tho, just something i've put together, so it's not as fancy as the last one.  but i think y'all will like it... : )  


okay, more on that later.  i really am going to add photos now!  ttfn!  loves!

Chicago - Day 2

today was quite a lot of fun!  slept til 10:30... had a really wierd dream, tho.  april was visiting, and we were just hanging out talking, and then rebecca was there, and they were hanging out, talking.  i was still okay, and we were all chatting.  but then, then summer arrived, and we were all hanging out.  and it was still okay.  and then, it was like they were having a party, josh dumahel arrived - i think he was seeing summer (which is odd since they are both, well, married to other ppl.  LOL)  anyway, so there was now a party, and i felt very left out and not at all welcome at this party.  and we were now at my old house (the one that is foreclosed, not the one grammy lives in now).  and there was a little girl who must've been my daughter, but i knew she lived w/ someone else. 

i woke up to potty, went back to sleep, and thought the dream was over.  i was telling mom about it, and she said she saw someone in my room doing magic, and did i invite those ppl from north carolina, because she suspected that they were witches.  and i had a flashback of being in NC & hanging out w/ a wiccan group.  and i was really scared that they had found me & were doing black magic in my room.

wierd, right?  anyway, i felt totally discombobulated when i woke up!  LOL 

after i shook the cobwebs from my eyes (haha), and ate a little breakfast, and watched willy wonka (the johnny depp version), mom was all ready to go & we hit the road. 

our first stop was WM to get some cards for canasta tonight, and mom needed a few other things, as well.  actually, i needed a few things, but only remembered to pick up one of them.  whoops!  good thing WM is everywhere!  : ) then we were finally on our way to the zoo.  we got there about 1:30 or 2, i think.  must've been close to 2, because we were there for 3 hours & they closed at 5. 

it's a really neat zoo!  we saw giraffes & a polar bear & some rhinos & some penguins... : )  and other stuff.. (pictures added).  there was LOTS of walking, of course!  and after all of yesterday's walking, mom & i were both ready to drop at 5!  heh.  they of course were all decked out for halloween, too, but we both did really well...

after the zoo, we decided to go to PF Chang's for dinner.  i'll do a little menu post later.  i'd been wanting to eat there for awhile - april & her family really like it there.  i don't want to spoil the other post by mentioning my thoughts - never mind that i did that for Weber Grill yesterday!  ; )  *laugh*  anyway!  after dinner, we wanted dessert, but i wanted to try this place called Moonlight Chocolate Cafe.  i'd read about it in a magazine & seen it on Food Network - and Penelope (mom's garmin) said it was only like 2 miles away.  perfect, right?  wrong!  the place penelope told us to stop, that the cafe was right there - parking lot.  :(  it was the parking lot to some sort of mall, but neither of us really felt like walking around in the dark to find it - if it was there.  we couldn't see it from the road, anyway. 

le sigh.  so we just came back to the hotel & ordered dessert in from some take out place.  mom was calling in the order & i went downstairs to have a smoke.  i was just about to go back in when the fire alarm sounded!!  so i walked around to the front door & they said it was a false alarm.  whew, thank God!  but the fire dept still had to come out & shut off the LOUD alarm! 

when we got back up to our room, mom called for the food & we popped in Just Like Heaven (SO CUTE) and played canasta.  : )  mom won.  :(  *laugh*  dessert was scrumptious, but  - you guessed it - that'll be on the menu when i return home.  heehee.  gotta keep you guessing, or something like that!!

after the game & the movie, i came back downstairs... and got locked out and trapped on the back porch of the hotel!  the card readers wouldn't read my key card to let me back in.  how rude!  thank God i'd had the presence of mind to bring my phone, so i was able to call mom to come down.  actually, i told her to call the front desk, but she came down.  so, here i am, back toasty warm in the hotel, writing to all my darling blog buddies!  : ) 

and now i think i shall head back upstairs & hit the hay.  sooo tired!  i'm not used to all this walking around in the fresh air!  *laugh*  tomorrow we were gonna try the aquarium or museum, but since we got dessert (which, w/ delivery was just about the price of admission at one of those!) ... i think we're just going to head for home.  or, mom wanted to go back to macy's, too, so we might do a little more shopping. 

it's kinda funny - we came to "chicago" but didn't actually make it into the city!  haha!  that's okay, tho, because it was nice to make a new trip.  ya know?  chicago is full of dad memories - which is good, but it's nice to make new mom-memories.  : )  and i hope to be around - and for her to be around - to make many more!  we did reminisce for awhile on the way up here, and at various times during the trip.  but when we got teary eyed we just kinda stopped for a bit. 

we are happy, though, and remembering him in happy ways, and still feeling his love.  : )  i hope everyone's had a fab saturday!  take care & ttfn!  : ) 

Chicago - Day 1

just had lunch at weber grill. A.maz.ing! Our waiter was knowledgable and awesome. Now we are on our way to Woodfield Mall!

*********

what an awesome day!  i got up at 8 & did some stuff around the house - and finished packing!  lol  i watched some buffy & bret came over to get the key & drop off a cd he wanted aunt sheryl to listen to.  i told him he could take back the pop cans to get some money & make a key for himself.  : )

mom picked me up at 10:30 & we headed out.  it was a very nice drive.  beautiful day, great weather!  we had to stop a couple of times because there was a rattling in the back that we couldn't figure out and it was driving mom batty!  heh.  finally she figured out it was coming from the very back seat, so she adjusted it & the sound went away, thank God! 

we got into town about 1:30 or 2, checked in to the beautiful staybridge suites.  i LOVE staybridge!!  the lobby is beautiful, and there's free coffee available at any time.  they have a library w/ books (which is great since i did something very un-carrie-like & forgot to bring a book w/ me!).  they also have movies available to borrow!  we borrowed No Reservations & Just Like Heaven, which i'm too tired to watch tonight, but tomorrow when we get back to the room we'll hopefully feel like watching.  i haven't seen either of them since they were in theatres, and i really like them!  : )  there's a business center w/ internet access (which is why i'm blogging, yay!).  there's continental breakfast in the morning & a fitness center & FREE laundry service!  woot! 

after we'd explored the room - kitchenette w/ dishes & separate living & bedroom areas - 

we headed out to lunch at Weber Grill.  i've wanted to eat there ever since mary & i saw one while we were in schaumberg several years ago.  : )  as i said above, which i sent here right after we ate - it was amaaaaazing!  beautiful restaurant, the service was excellent, and the food delicious!  our waiter even gave us extra pretzel rolls to take w/ our leftovers.  YUM!  there'll be a whole menu post when i get back, with pictures!! 

after lunch, we headed over to woodfield mall for some retail therapy.  : )  we went to Lush, Godiva, Macy's (got some Philosophy products, they smell soooo nice!), I <3 Chicago where i got a multitude of postcards (some will be going out to you, my dearest blog buddies, when i get back - of course i didn't bring anyone's address WITH me to send them out from here!  d'oh!)... oh, we visited the sanrio store, for some hello kitty mini notebooks.  i can't resist them!  : ) 

we were at the mall for 4 hours or so, and figured we walked about 2 miles in that timeframe.  fun!!  heh.  we decided not to get dinner/dinner, and just head back to our room & eat our leftovers.  still delicious!  : ) 

now i'm ready to SLEEP and it's only 10:30!  LOL  it's been so busy, tho, and tomorrow will be another day of walk walk walking. : )  we want to go to the zoo, the aquarium & the field museum.  idk if we'll get to all of them tomorrow, we might have to finish up on sunday, or our next visit.  but whatever we do, i know we'll have FUN!!! 

for now, i must check on a couple sites & then zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz land!  : )   i hope your fridays all went well, and that any halloween parties you went to were a blast!! 

ttfn!  love ya! 

some stuff

post cards:

from russia, via tallahassee, fl.  i don't know that i've ever been to tallahassee, but it always makes me think of a romance i read in HS called Tallahassie Lassie.  LOL  no, really!  that's what it was called!  no offense to the author, but the title must've been the most interesting thing about it.  i rememeber reading it in the mall one day as i was waiting for ... someone, or something.  i remember the cover, i remember where i was sitting while reading it, the way the sun shone, and that i was thinking i wanted to go to florida.  do i remember anything about the story?  one of the characters might have been involed in radio.  


*hahaha!  okay, i guess i DID remember more than just the cover and title.  i just googled & it's about a romance btwn rival DJ's!  hahaha!  : )  

this one's from my nephew, stephen.  i love exchanging postcards w/ him!  i can't wait to find a good one for him in chicago!  

aunt janie sent this card, which plays the charlie brown theme music.  : )  she sent mom one, too, thinking of us at this difficult time.  so sweet of her!!  i am so blessed with my family, they are all awesome in their own unique ways!!

and finally, something that is on my christmas wishlist!  : )  i may end up getting it this weekend - it's free w/ the purchase of $30 at hallmark, and i have quite a bit of hallmark shopping to do!  heh.  and clothes shopping.  and post card shopping.  and pretty trinkets for my dear friends who are getting christmas gifties from me shopping!  do i sound a little excited about the shopping??  : )  


i also need a new coat.  mine is still warm.  and still has a wonderful hood!  but has some aesthetic issues.  *laugh*  i'm very picky, tho - i went a whole winter w/o a coat a few years ago because i couldn't find one that i liked.  thankfully, that was not a HARSH winter... lol  i definitely need a hood, because i don't wear hats, and keeping my head covered last winter helped me not get as sick, i think.  something about not having howling wind go thru my ears, perhaps?  heh.  


today was a good day.  i was boo'd at work, and i got a cringey feeling, but it was closely followed by the happy elation of presents.  and it was CUTE, too!  i'd have a picture - sandra took one, and emailed it to me, but i didn't get it, so i'll have her send it again monday.  : )  it's a gothtini glass w/ some candies, and a mini beanie baby bear dressed as a vampire.  too cute!!  


not as many phone calls, really quite quiet on that front!  still very busy all day, and there were some issues... but it was all good at the end of the day!  


and then there were tacos.  mmmmm!  i met mom at sancho's & had the most delicious tacos in the QC.  and the chips!  and the salsa!  and oh, their salsa!  i don't like cilantro so much, but in their salsa, i don't mind it.  heh.  mom & i had a good semi-planning time for our trip, and then jen texted and there was some irritated time, and then dinner was over & we hugged & said our goodnights & see you tomorrow's & i love yous.  


i'd planned to go to WM on my way home, but decided anything i really need i can run in & get tomorrow before we hit the road.  : ) so i just came home & pre-jammied up & attempted to watch Glee.  computer froze.  twice.  but then the second time it recovered itself before i shut it off, and then it worked fine thru Glee & No Ordinary Family.  now, the rocky horror glee show ... how did i feel about it?  hmmm.  well, the music was wonderful!  john stamos singing "hot patootie" and the dancing that ensued when he sang it felt like the normal Glee.  the rest of the show - felt like the brittany/britney episode.  and while the music was AWESOME the thing that made Glee a household name was sorely lacking in both episodes - the writing!  


anyway, i really, really am liking No Ordinary Family.  if they don't mess w/ THEIR formula, i can see them lasting awhile.  (i'm also looking at YOU, Heroes, when i mention the "don't mess w/ what's working" scenario.  grrr.)


i got to chat w/ april for a little bit.  


watched some Buffy, too.  LOVE!  


and oh crap, it's now midnight!  i still have to get up in the morning, just not AS early!  LOL  


and in conclusion - this article made me go WHAT?  why do we allow ppl to get away w/ this kinda crap?  we should not treat ppl this way - fat, skinny, black, white, short, tall, gay, straight, young, old, men, women.  we are all PEOPLE, and we should all be treated with respect.  


so there.  


: ) 


ttfn!