Fortune Cookie

Once a month I take the girls out for a lunch date. Then Brent separately takes them out on a daddy-daughter date on the weekends. Not only do the girls look forward to a little one-on-one time with us, we have a lot of fun with them. I was craving Chinese so I took the girls to Big Bowl. They have special chop sticks for kids and watching the girls try to eat any significant sum of rice with them is hilarious. All the suits having a power lunch ooh and ahhh over their pigtails and bows. It's a lot of fun.

It says, "You will inherit a large sum of money."

When the fortune cookies came, Liesel snatched hers up right away. I think she got a good one. I'd like to think we'll be able to amass a large sum of money in our lifetime to pass it on to her! Here's hoping :)

Girls' Weekend, Part II

Brent told me to enjoy myself so I ordered room service. I
love the mini smoothie, fresh fruit, pot of hot chocolate and
orchid. The pancakes were the best I'd ever had!

One of the best parts of the girls' weekend was SLEEPING IN!!! Sometimes I feel like that luxury will never again be an option in my life. To block out the rising sun and just let my body rest, rest, rest until I was completely refreshed was heaven. I think I regained about 10 years of life that morning.

We don't look THAT scary, do we?

We had appointments at the Aveda Institute and lazily got ready for the day, hanging out in the thick robes provided by the hotel. I recently had my hair done so I opted for a makeup application. Julie and Vanessa got a great deal on cuts and styles.

Julie really loved The Bean. Or is it her reflection she loved?

We checked out of the hotel and then headed to Gold Coast Dogs for some quintessential Chicago-style hot dogs and cheese fries. We decided to picnic at Millennium Park. After paying a limb for parking, we warmed ourselves on the cold benches with our comfort food. I was so hungry and I ate so fast I think I scared children. We headed over to the crowd surrounding The Bean and joined in the photo op. I'd heard about it, read about it and seen pictures but really, that is one of the coolest sculptures! Narcissus herself would have spent a lifetime checking out her reflection from all different vantage points. Memo to me, memo to me, I need to take the girls there when the weather warms up.

Does this sculpture make my butt look big?
A great place to check out your rear-view

I drove Vanessa and Julie down the Mag Mile and then we headed for our last stop: The T-Shirt Deli. The place looks like a real deli but rather than cold cuts and cheese, you select a t-shirt and logo. Turns out you can even bring in your own t-shirt which helps keep the cost down. There is also an option to create your own logo which was my grand plan. Once we got there, my mind went completely blank and all I could think of was "got scottish egg?" I decided to get the one that looked like a Coca Cola logo but said "Chi-town" instead. They wrapped it up like a sandwich and threw in a bag of chips, clever eh?

Check out the reflection of the city! Seriously so cool.

How cute is that? I'm thinking it would make a great present.

The drive home took longer than expected. We'd walked around a lot in the cold and it was really dark. I was happy to see all was well on the home front and the cousins were having a ball with each other. While we were gone, Isaac reportedly spanked Brent on Wii tennis. From what I understand, both are eager for a rematch.

Modeling our one-of-a-kind t-shirts. I really love Vanessa's!

Before we said our goodbyes, Vanessa suggested we do this kind of thing a couple of times a year. I heartily agreed with her, I had no idea how much I needed this! I'm SO glad she set it up and I got to tag along with my sweet so sweet sisters-in-law.

Girls' Weekend, Part I

When my sister-in-law Vanessa proposed a girls' weekend in the city I have to admit I was skeptical. I feel like I'm at a stage of life where my kids need me and with them growing every second of the day, I don't want to miss a thing. While I keep in touch with my girlfriends, we don't do lunch or go shopping or plan outings together. I'm sure someday I will, but I don't feel now is the time. However, Brent's sister Julie was making a last visit before she heads off to serve her mission in Anchorage, Alaska. So we said goodbye to the husbands and tinies and headed downtown.

The tower is 262 Michael Jordans tall...

...or about 310 Julies tall

Our first stop was (of course) the Sears Tower. Yes it's officially now the Willis Tower but locals look at you funny if you call it that. I don't know that Chicagoans will ever embrace "Willis". Since we went at night, the line was a little more reasonable and we didn't have too long of a wait. We started talking about phobias and I mentioned Brent has a phobia of heights although it doesn't bother me much. Oh how I came to eat those words!

I did it, but that's Vanessa holding my hand and I'm holding onto the side of the building with my other hand.

Julie with the world below her.

On the way down Vanessa commented that she wish she'd gotten
 a "jumping" shot when we had the chance. Can you imagine?

They have glass outlooks which upon approach, feel a little unstable. Let me rephrase that. They feel A LOT unstable! The glass doesn't look all that thick and suddenly I was very aware of my own mortality. Vanessa walked out there without thinking anything of it. Julie was a little apprehensive, but she too got into it. I was happy when we were done with photos and it took me a while to completely relax.  Brent later told me he and his coworkers will sometimes watch the windows move in and out with the wind (after all, tall buildings are built to sway). I was happy to find my fears weren't totally unfounded!
I flipped for the audio tour hoping it would be similar to the one at the Empire State Building in NYC. Unfortunately, it wasn't nearly as entertaining and the device was a little hard to hear. It gave more facts than interesting tid bits. Maybe I need to try it during the day?

We stayed at the JW Marriott which was a GORGEOUS hotel! The staff was incredibly nice and the room was fantastic. After settling in, we went to a restaurant recommended by the front desk called The Gage. They serve "upscale comfort food" which was amazing! We all shared a cheese platter and I'm drooling remembering the fresh honey that came with it. I tried the Scotch egg which is hard-boiled, wrapped in sausage, breaded and then fried. It came with some spicy mustard to round out the flavor.

We lucked out with the weather and were able to walk off our dinner in the (relatively) mild night. After taking a luxurious bath, checking in on my little family, and watching some mindless TV, I crashed.