Hello my Friend! So, it’s about time that I finally re-cap Chicago, San Fran and the BVI’s trip. Whew…I’ve been lazy, we’ll start with Chicago. I headed back to Chi-town in April to see all of my girls and meet my new nephew, Brennan. He was a month old and now he’s 3 1/2 months old…so cute by the way and that’s not just because I’m related. I’m way behind on this post as I realize that three of my friends that I saw there–have since had their babies!! Congrats Steich, Kelly and Jules!
Get ready, this is going to be a long one…oh and with this new blog format all the pics will be in a gallery, instead of within the post…not that you really care, but that’s that.
I was envisioning my weekend back to the city like it was the same weather that it was in Florida…ya know-sundresses, flip-flops, etc. Ah, that was NOT the case. They were still in winter. Huh? Really? I proceeded to text everyone for days before, just to see if the weather Gods had decided to make my trip at least the spring one I was craving. So, I overpacked like usual and headed to the big city . Steich picked me up from the airport and we bee-lined for downtown. We had a great lunch at LuxBar, chilled at the bar at Tavern on Rush (me-wine, her-coke…what a trooper) and then made it over to Sprinkles (my first time). Wow, that’s a tiny little place, but fantastic cupcakes! Each one looked immaculately perfect.
Since Steich was prego, she headed back home and dropped me off at Christina’s. It was time for a girl’s night at Volo in Roscoe Village. Lisa, Julie and Bec joined in (with a showing by Bec’s sis Amanda too) and I was ecstatic to see them. I miss my girl’s nights…so comfortable knowing so much about those close friends that you learn from years of friendship…from college to after college, to marriage, to babies. It felt like old times, except for the fact that there are some of us in the burbs, some with kids, some in Florida..ok, as much as the old times as it could be. But, we can still rock it! We had so much fun, laughed our butts off and didn’t want the night to end. So, Christina and I stayed up till 3am chatting our faces off and continuing our wine fest. The next morning I hung out with her twins, Grant and Gracie. Christina was the hostess with the mostess as the kids and I lined up on the counter for our breakfast casserole and monkey bread (that’s what I call it, the greatest warm cinnamon bread thingy). They showed me their toys, we bonded and examined hair gel (that Grant uses to make his hair look cool, it starts young)….all this as I tried to get over my wine hangover because next up was Wrigley Field for the day. Ya-hoo!
I had jam-packed my weekend hoping to see as many of my friends and family as I could. I must say, that by the end of this, you will agree that I did a pretty amazing job at it. Dollie (Michelle) picked me up and we were off to the best stadium ever. Ah…my old roots. My very first apartment in Chicago back in 1997 was with Bec and Lisa right on Sheffield next to the El. We had a roof-top deck and were next to Sports Corner. It was the best of times! So many memories….ok, back to the present…we got a fab table outside good ol Sports Corner, met up with Bec and enjoyed people-watching with all the Cubs fans and frenzy. Such a happy place……I just couldn’t believe I had moved 7 years ago. It was a surreal feeling…it felt like I was right back in the swing of things….except for the fact that there were some new bars and some with much-needed renovations, it was pretty much the same…..down to the awesome sound of the El in the background…
Later that afternoon Kim took the train in from the burbs (yay Kim) and we partied it up on Clark Street. Back in the craziness of a “Cubs game-day”. Nothing better. We were squeezed into The Stretch like sardines and I was in such a happy place. Whoop-whoop. Miss these days (and Bec’s cousin Erik made a showing, hey Erik)! Not slowing down, half of us made it back to the hotel to wait for Linsey (it was her bday and we were in the mood to celebrate), the other half went to get us a table downtown at Public House and meet Tara. We walked in and I was in heaven. The DJ was amazing (ah, he was from heaven also fyi) and we rocked it out all night (props to Linsey for knowing songs that I was more than happy to go and request from Mr. DJ. I acted like I knew what I was requesting, but had no clue until the song(s) actually came on and I realized “oh, I know this one”). We danced our faces off (Kim was the dancing queen, no fear in that girl, nothing’s changed in that department–love it), we slowly became the entertainment for that area in the bar and I continued to repeat that “everyone must want to be our friends, because we look like we are having so much fun”. Haha. Poor sober Dollie must have heard me tell her that 20 times all night long (only I knew she was sober, so we must have been a riot to watch and listen to all night). It was an absolute blast and we all danced down memory lane and didn’t want this night to end either. So, when in Rome….we made sure it didn’t. I was not 36, I was young people!!!
Bec, Linsey and I stayed out, went to a hoity-toity late-night club, Cuvee (where we had to wait outside with the rif-raf until Bec pulled her strings and got us in-gotta love our Iowa connections, they come in handy). We stayed till close and ended up at Bec’s place. I had to meet her gigantic Great Dane doggie, Violet, and we ending up taking her for a little ride in our cab (don’t ask, but our cabbie was pretty cool). We made it back to the hotel at 6am. I mean, come on!!!! That’s right my friends, we’ve still got it in us. Ok, maybe it’s only once in a blue moon, but I’ll never forget it. Oh, and it was Easter Sunday, so as Linsey and I wandered into the room acting like it wasn’t actually 6am, Dollie was heading out for the drive to the burbs for church and Easter egg hunt festivities (I think…actually that part I don’t completely remember exactly, but I know it had something to do with Easter haha). I only managed to sleep for a couple hours because I was going to Kelly’s, before spending the next two days with my brother. I met and played with her little man Connor for the first time, as she waddled around, ready to pop with their next babe any minute (she had a girl). We had a great day catching up and chilling. She probably got a kick out of my stories from the previous two nights (and was slightly proud I’m sure, because Kel was usually right there with me back in the day). It was exactly what I needed.
My brother, Sheryl and the man of the hour (or month), Brennan, picked me up and I spent the next two days adoring my new little nephew. My mom was already planning to take the train in the next day to spend a few days with them, so it was perfect timing and I was so thankful I got to see her. I held Brennan, took pics of him (sleeping, awake, when he wasn’t looking, when he was), learned some new techniques of how to calm down a baby from my brother (he’s such a great Dad, now that is pretty amazing to see), hung out with Sheryl (what a superwoman, I would be exhausted), spent some much-needed family time with everyone, went through my brother’s baby books (and laughed at the gifts people gave back in the day), had great food, including learning how to make a ham (which I had never done–it’s surprisingly, very, very easy) and Skyped with my Dad. How times have changed. Skype is pretty awesome…my Dad got to be a part of our moments. It’s heart-warming to see my parents as grandparents, the pure joy. It was the perfect end to my crazy weekend and I loved it.
We should be back (this time with CW) around the holidays and I’m already looking forward to it!!! I don’t think there will be 3am and 6am nights (maybe that will only be reserved for girl’s nights…no offense, just a little treasured piece of girl fun, haha)….and maybe to prove to ourselves that we’re still hot stuff and can jam with the best of them.
On a side note…aren’t you proud of me for being able to re-live that entire weekend? Yep, it was that good =)
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