Monday, October 29, 2007

Mondays always come too soon.

We got back in town yesterday. We had a blast in Chicago! Well my continuing ed classes weren't super exciting, but the hub and I had lots of fun. And just as I had predicted, he spent Thursday and Friday going museum-crazy while I drank ridiculous amounts of coffee trying to stay alert in class. By Friday afternoon I was reduced to doing Sudoko puzzles while they lectured on and on... And as per usual in these seminars, I'm reminded that I'm far too cute to be an accountant.

We stayed at the Club Quarters hotel, off Wacker Dr - right on the river - such a great view! And the hotel staff was great. The hub asked if they had any rooms with a view when we arrived and they upgraded us to the 33rd floor! We got a killer rate too. Always helps to call and ask! The hub got a better rate over the phone than any sites like expedia or hotels.com offered. I'd definitely stay there again. Thursday night the hub and I found a local pizza place so we could have some true Chicago-style pizza. We went to Gino's East and had a sausage deep dish pizza. The hub had never had real deep dish pizza, so we had to do that one night. Then we went to a comedy club later that night, which was fun. I was wearing my UGA sweatshirt because it was about the warmest thing I had packed. The weather report showed highs of 60 each day, but it got pretty darn chilly at night and my little hoodies and blazers weren't cutting it. Anyway, we walk into the club to find a seat and this couple spots us and says, "Hey, are y'all from Georgia?!" Apparently the girl was super excited over seeing my sweatshirt. Turns out she is about to graduate from UGA and is exploring different cities to see where she wants to go. Oh how fun is that... good for her for checking out all kinds of fun options! Oh to be young and able to pick up and move wherever again... but I'm old and 30 now, so I can only live vicariously through those crazy kids. To be 29 again....*sigh*.

On Friday, the hub spent five - yes, five - hours at the Museum of Science and Industry. This is why these little work trips work well for us. I would never want to spend five hours in a place that had "science" or "industry" in its name. Though they did have a Star Wars exhibit I would've liked to have seen. Nerdy I know, but I do love me some Star Wars. So later that afternoon we found a good restaurant online and made a reservation via Open Table - a great site if you've never used it. Our 5th wedding anniversary is actually this coming Friday, but we decided to celebrate in Chicago since I'll be on bridesmaid duty all this weekend for kuntry bride. We went to a great spot called Boka in the Lincoln Park area. Super swanky and fun - it was excellent. Defintiely a bit of a splurge, but we had a great meal, good wine, and good laughs. And we also decided to go ahead and stick it out together another 5 years and then regroup (a running joke we have which I'm sure is only funny to us).

After dinner we... OK wait - the comedy club thing was Friday night. I'm getting my nights mixed up. Thursday night after pizza we did the John Hancock observatory. (Definitely recommend that over the Sears Tower... I've done both before and JH is way faster and a better view, in my opinion.) Yeah, so after our fun dinner on Friday was when we did the comedy thing. OK, I'm straight now. Then Saturday we slept in a little bit before heading over to Navy Pier to catch our boat tour. Our tour guide was GREAT. They can really make or break a tour, and he was so funny. I'll share some pics once we get them uploaded. I think we got some really good ones! After the tour, we walked over to N. Michigan to the shops. I'm trying to be good, so we didn't do much of any shopping... except a stop in J. Crew at the 900 N. Michigan shops (Remember going there, bestest? I thought of you!) Against my better judgment, I walked out with these...


Well I must say that I thought they were on sale because they were displayed with some other sale shoes - apart from the other colors in this same shoe. But no, they weren't. And it was too late... I had already fallen in love. I love their driving mocs and this year's version is just too cute. They're the most comfortable waking shoe EVER. And the gold was just too fun... Soon afterwards we were in a cab on the way to Joe's Sports Bar to catch the GA/FL game. I threw my Fall 06 driving mocs in my bag and put on my new gold ones. I told the hub they would be my lucky shoes. And was I right or was I RIGHT?!


We had such a great time watching the game with fellow dawgs. Although my hair smelled like a cigar butt when we left. I've gotten so spoiled by the smoking bans in restaurants here that I find it annoying when we end up in bars or restaurants where they allow smoking. But what a game! It was truly awesome and what did I tell you about us having good luck when the hub and I leave town?! We're currently trying to decide where we should go next year.

After the game we walked over to the Land of Nod store - just a block or so away. I love that catalog so I was super excited to spot the store in the cab ride over. I was hoping we would come across it, but I wasn't sure exactly where it was. We smelled so awful though, that we quickly left. I felt like we were contaminating the cuteness of the store.

After tearing off our smoke-infused clothing and freshening up a bit, we headed out to Navy Pier to catch the Saturday fireworks. But apparently, they don't do Saturday fireworks anymore. They do Friday night fireworks. Well that would've been nice to know on Friday, but whatever. It's not really a super fun place to hang out unless you have young kids or if you're 14 and like to scream a lot. So the no-go on the fireworks was a little disappointing. No biggie - we had fun anyway. We went ahead and called it a night since we had an early Sunday morning flight. Overall, a fantastic trip! It was the hub's first time in the windy city and I think he really enjoyed it. I will post pics soon.

So now that we're back, we've got a busy, busy week ahead. Kuntry bride's wedding is Saturday! I've got lots of last minute things to do tonight and tomorrow... I've got to get her escort cards done and table numbers... and my color printer totally crapped out on me right before we left on Wednesday. I haven't looked at it yet. Hmm... probably would've been wise to take a peak yesterday. Hopefully we can get it to work or I guess I'll be running to Office Depot. I've got a brow wax and haircut scheduled for Wednesday at lunch... I really hope I don't get caught in the Halloween traffic on the way back - there's no telling when that will start. And yikes - Halloween! Omg I'm so behind on decorating for Halloween... gotta grab pumpkins tonight and candy and all that. Carving is definitely out this year. So sad! We've just been all over the place lately! Um... oh and Auntie Flo made a suprise visit while we were on our trip, so I talked to my doctor today and scheduled my HSG for this Thursday! It has to be done this week, so I had to squeeze that in too. Say little prayers that we'll get the green light to start trying! I'll let y'all know what I find out... Then Friday I'll be all tied up with kuntry bride, so I'm a busy, busy bee!

Well, I better run and make my grocery list for tonight. Back soon!

6 comments:

SCM said...

It sounds like you had a great trip. I love those J Crew loafers and I can't wait to hear all about the country wedding!

DebbieDo said...

Sounds like a great trip! I love the JH Observatory, isn't the elevator ride up a little scary? And the last time I was there we stayed on Wacker Drive as well, right by the river. I think it was the Hyatt Regency. It was for work though.

Glad to here Kuntry Bride's wedding is this weekend, then you can relax afterwards!

Suburban prep said...

Sounds like Chicago was your kind of town.
Glad you liked it.
The weatherpersons have been reporting that it has been a warmer than usual Fall here. Next week is when the real cold weather is supposed to be beginning.
Don't you just love the shopping on Michigan Ave?

Tres Poshe Preppy said...

So glad you had such a fabulous time! I love the Museum of S&I, when I first went I was like blah, blah, blah and then as it turns out, I'm the one that had to be pulled away from the place. Such amazing exhibits! Boka=yum!!!

Somewhere Between Pinot and Pacifiers said...

Sounds like you had a great trip! BTW-LOVE the shoes from J Crew!

Lori said...

Land Of Nod store, how fun! Any pictures?