Chicago!
June 2006
Finally, A New Post...

Hey there gang! Yes, yes, I KNOW there haven't been any posts in like years, but the summer has proved to be busier than expected. I knew that having a 4 year old only child out of school was going to be busy but DAMN! When you're your child's best friend and play mate (not centerfold, gutter heads), you're in the trenches morning till night. Trust me, I totally dig hanging with him, but it really limits my time to, you know, clean, write, etc. So, it's 7:28 AM, he's still asleep (fingers crossed)...let's start rolling.

Jen invited me to her sister, Cheryl's, baby shower in Chicago (okay, Libertyville, but it's really close to Chicago). You know I'm game! Don't know if Cheryl actually WANTED me there, but hey, I'll blend...right. Fly in Friday, hit downtown Saturday, baby shower on Sunday, fly home Monday. Quick and painless, unless you're planning on making a HUGE dent in your bank account while hitting the stores in Chicago. Did that... And any of you that REALLY know me know that I don't do baby showers. Come on! A room full of women oohing and aahing, pretending to be interested in one another, all wishing they were somewhere else. Am I right?!? Admit it. I was going to have to tweek the occasion in order to survive. Vodka in, smiles on - more on that later.

So the best view of the city to be had was, get this, in the ladies room of the John Hancock building. No joke!! Dude, you walked in and POW!, Lake Michigan, the shore, downtown. Awesome. I couldn't have been the only tourist in town to be taking pics from the restroom. Okay, I was that day...hey, at least I gave them all something to talk about when they went back to their table. "There's that weird blond that was taking pictures from the bathroom." Classic.



















Me on Michigan Avenue, ready to begin the shopping extravaganza. I'm tellin' ya, Chicago has the ultimate in shopping!!! Couldn't hit every store if we tried, and we did. So, money in wallet? Check. Plastic just in case? Check. Comfy but stylish shoes on? Check. Two fabulous friends to bring down with me? Check. Check. Off we go...

First stop, Aldo Shoes to get Jen outta teacher gear and back into the real world. No more slip-ons dammit! And this is Tami, very cool chic who also, in the end, lugged home her share of goods. Of course, you gotta try on the sunglasses while standing in line. And of course, I had to get them...

Any one ever heard of Lush? This place rocks!! Take your "normal" bath and soap shop, pump it full of roids and house music, and you have a tres cool store full of very hip scents and products. The reason we were there? Tami's husband, Dan, needed some more foo-foo soap. No joke. Yes, I got Terry some foo-foo head shaving stuff. Now he smells pretty.

More shoes! Didn't know stripper heels were going to come to the mainstream. Of course, I bought them. Come on, if you want your husband to not care about how much you spent, sport a pair of these and your worries wave bye-bye. Trust me.

The dare? Try on the fugliest pair of shoes and pretend they're awesome. Tami did her best...icky shoes.

Martinis on the 98th floor of the John Hancock, the ultimate in tourist stop. Had to do it. Had to have two.

Everybody say HI to Debbie! This is Jen's mom who graciously put me up for the couple of nights. Thanks, Debbie, for the new bedding and late night stories...

And meet Matt. Day of the shower (hosted in a restaurant) and we're looking for shots. Rule of Thumb: If you're going to attend a family function/shower/event involving more than 3 other females, in the immortal words of Joey Ramone, you want to be sedated. Trust me. And Melissa and Jen did. The story? It was only 11:30 AM and the bar didn't open till noon. Come on, Matt! I explained the situation (family, females, blah, blah) and he graciously accomodated us. He got a fat tip. So, two shots later and...

...we looked like this. Meet Melissa, Jen's sister-in-law. Love her!!!! Totally hilarious, totally Italian. She was our new "shots before family" recruit. She has since gone out on her own in the shots department, having at least one before family gigs. She's quite thankful. No prob. Glad to be of service.

You've met Debbie. Now, meet her husband, Don. Love him, too. Don is in better shape than any of you fools! This guy works out 6-7 days a week, eats his cereal, yogurt and kiwi every morning and could out run any of us. Rock on, Don! Jen is very blessed with 2 great parents.

Even after a long day of shopping, we still enjoy each other's company. Why are we smiling? Vodka.

One more shot of the girls before the day is over. Now it's off to ohh and aah...heavy sigh.

Dude, I almost forgot!!! Meet Mike and Cheryl, the impending parents. This child is going to be very loved. We wish them the best.

UPDATE: It's a girl! Ella was born in July, almost induced as Cheryl was late. She's healthy with a thick head of black hair and looks just like Mike. Don and Debbie couldn't be more thrilled!



All in all, the trip was awesome. I HIGHLY recommend Chicago to any and all. Hoping to get out there again in the fall before Jen heads off to Chile or somewhere else in South America. Also hoping to have a motorhome by that time to drive out. Keep those fingers crossed and donations coming? Seriously, we'll need the gas money.

Have a fab rest of the summer and remember...life is short - play hard and play often. Cheers.