Chicago + 2 times + 1 summer = FABULOUS!

The Corner Bakery - our favorite eating establishment due to the entertainment

Not that anyone would have questioned, but us ladies had an absolute blast in Chicago! It was 100% stress free and just splendid! Just what us girls needed!

I arrived in Chicago last out of the group and quickly made it to my shuttle van only to have to sit and wait for almost 15 minutes while it filled up and then of course, just my luck, I am the last one to be dropped off. So I raced up to the rooms and was greeted by all my lovely chicas and promptly poured myself a drink!

We played it low key b/c I didn't even get to the room until 10:30. So we just all relaxed and drank in the VIP room. (VIP = vodka in pineapple) We joked, gossiped, laughed a TON and caught up with each other before crashing around 2 am.

Saturday afternoon was spent leisurely shopping on the MAGNIFICENT MILE. I love that street. A shoppers paradise. I controlled myself fairly well and only bought a new red spring coat, some purple leggings, some bangle bracelets and a short sleeved tunic. I was proud of myself for restraining somewhat, but what I really wanted was this or this or this.

Or all three! But I resisted. Even though I REALLY, REALLY wanted to splurge.

That evening Kara, Nicole and myself got ready to head out for dinner and I grabbed the door handle to our room and it broke! The damn thing nearly fell off and we were STUCK in our room! We called the other ladies to have them come down and try to open it and they couldn't. We had a slight meltdown before the "engineer" came up to fix our door and let us out. It was hilarious in the end and thankfully we were only stuck in there for 5 minutes or so.

OMG! OMG! OMG!!!!

We had dinner at Carmine's that night which was a hoppin place! Great chicken parmesan and wine too! Then we wandered out into the neighborhood to see what kind of trouble we could get into. We ended up at McFadden's where we met a bachelor party and they did the N'Sync "Bye, Bye, Bye" dance perfectly choreographed. I think they had spent a lot of time practicing for just such an occasion. It was hilarious. After too many drinks and shots to count we slowly made it back to our hotel. Jenni passed out in the elevator which was so funny. I'm just glad we all made it back to the hotel in one piece. The gracious Lord was watching over us b/c I have no idea how we made it back. I don't remember a damn thing from that part of the evening.

(PSA: Overconsumption of alcoholic beverages may be dangerous to your health and hamper your ability to walk, talk, remember things from only moments ago, recognize whether or not another person is attractive and/or make it home safely. Please drink wisely. *yeah right* The more you know.)

The start of the night at Carmine's for dinner

The whole group of us at McFadden's

Sunday I woke up hungover (go figure) and needed to prepare myself for the White Sox/Red Sox game. I wasn't feeling too great so I think I watched about 10 minutes of the whole game. We decided that since we are old we needed a nap and after the game we headed back to our rooms for a quick nap before getting ready for another night out on the town. Dinner Sunday was at Cafe Ba Ba Reeba which we called Cafe Ba Ba Ba Barann. Their menu is mostly made up of tapas so we each selected 2 since they are generally quite small and sampled a lot from their menu. So many good things but I think my favorites were the bacon wrapped dates, the goat cheese and tomato sauce and the beef tenderloin skewer. Mmmm... so tasty!

All of us at the White Sox/Red Sox game

After dinner we cabbed it over to the piano bar, Howl at the Moon. We definitely howled! My already hoarse voice was basically a goner by the time we were done there! When you are talking and laughing constantly it's hard on the vocal chords and my girls definitely crack me up. We closed the bar down and headed back to the hotel making sure to reinact the elevator scene from the previous night b/c we are cool like that.

Our bathroom line up (way to fuck it up Ang) :)

The whole group at Cafe Ba Ba Ba Barann
Howl at the Moon piano bar

Ang, Me & Meggie
We are good sing alongers
The necessary elevator shots :) (Eat your heart out CB!)
Reinacting the pass out from the night before
This is my beer baby from the weekend. It's getting so big! I'd guess myself to be about 4-5 months along! :)

And those are my Chicago highlights in a nutshell.

In other news the hubs went back to school this week so Tuesday and Thursday nights will be quiet for me. I'll get to watch all the girly shows I want! Yippee! And this is his last semester as he graduates in December. I couldn't be more excited for him! What an accomplishment he will have!

This weekend is the big rivalry game: Iowa vs. Iowa State. We will be heading down for some massive tailgating! ISU knows how to tailgate even if our football team isn't the greatest. Let's hope we can pull this win off though and kick those Hawks asses! Whoopee!

Oh yeah, and It's Always Sunny starts in ONE WEEK FROM TODAY!!! Yayyayayayayay!

Lata gatas! <3 align="left">

Sing Us A Song Piano Man

So I’ve just been informed that a new restaurant that just opened up down the street has dueling pianos every Friday night. Needless to say I am super excited! I love dueling pianos! Our plan is to check them out tomorrow night. I hope it can live up to the high standards I’ve had w/ my previous dueling piano experiences. If it does it promises to be my new favorite hangout on Friday nights. Plus, I looked on their menu online and they actually have listed on their drink menu the best drink ever made (for only $6!):

The MIAMI VICE

Oh, Miami Vice, how you woo me into drinking your luscious deliciousness of pure alcoholic joy.

I’m not sure if that made any sense, but it was my ode to Miami Vice. So much for my sober time. I made it 11 days w/o drinking. It may be a record. I dunno. But I do know it’s been absolutely no fun. I’m sorry but I need my liquor to have fun. Call it what you will. I’m going to happy hour tonight and I’m gonna like it.

Sayonara Sobriety!