Arlington Heights with Lauren & Luke!

Since Mom was in town, we decided we just had to go out & spend the day with Lauren & Luke! Luke will be a year old at the end of August & Mama still hadn't met him! So we headed off for the train. We had to catch the El to take us to Union Station to catch the OTHER train that goes out to the suburbs. The other train leaves every hour so if you miss it, you have to wait another hour. The train ride is about 45 minutes so we were going to be set back another 2 hours! Well, we waited & waited & waited. Finally, at 11:28 I just said FORGET IT! We're not going to make the 11:30 train so we'll drive! So we ventured back to the parking garage (which was like 10 ft away!) to grab the car & head out! We made it about the same time our 11:30 train would have arrived at the train station! Boo ya! I'm just so hesitant to drive around here b/c the drivers are much more aggressive & I'm not familiar with the area yet. We survived though.

We went to lunch with Lauren & Luke and then went to Ikea! I was an Ikea virgin so this was a whole new world to me! We bought some amazing bar stools for the apartment! I hope Matt doesn't mind! :) Mama wanted to get us a housewarming gift (ok this is like my 6th place for her to give me a housewarming gift! I need to settle somewhere! ha) It was a good thing we brought the car but it was a hoot trying to get 3 boxes into the back of my little Honda!

Side note: We can't find "Ranch Style Beans" anywhere in Illinois & Lauren cooks with them a lot. So while I was in OK, I went to Wal-mart & bought 20 CANS of beans for her! The check out lady thought I was crazy!

Anyway, here are a few pictures of little man Luke!

Back to OK!

We went back to Oklahoma last weekend for an amazing wedding! Danny & Matt are pledge brothers & Matt was asked to be an usher. Of course we were honored so we made the trek back to OK to be a part of their big day! Kelsi has become a good friend of mine too so this was a fun wedding for the both of us. It's always great when I don't have to bribe Matt to go with me to a wedding! Ladies, you know what I'm talking about..."I don't even know them, she's your sorority sister, why do I have to go?!" So we'd been looking forward to this one for a while! We decided to drive back since we had a few things to take back for storage & well, it's just nice to have your own car when you have places to be!

We made it back to OK late Wednesday night & spent Thursday with his family in Stroud! It's always wonderful & relaxing visiting with them! Friday morning, Matt went golfing with the boys so I went to see my friend Marcie! Marcie & I worked together at the bank & we'd become good friends. Well, she was pregnant & when I left, she only had a couple of weeks to go! I had been watching Adelyn kick and move in her belly & I had gotten pretty attached! So of course, I had to hold that sweet baby that had kicked my hand so many times! :) (Marcie was a champ & let me invade her belly space all the time! I was just so curious what it felt like!) Adelyn is absolutely perfect! I got to spend a couple of hours over there while the boys finished playing golf & it was wonderful just catching up with Marcie & seeing her sweet baby girl!


Marcie even dressed her in the outfit I had bought for her! A cute little white onesie with a tutu sewed onto it! We were getting swaddeling tips from her friend.


All nice & tight like a baby burrito!


Big Sister Abby the dog!




Adelyn's room! Her mom made the crib bedding, curtains & chair. It turned out SO great! Sewing really is a lost art. I need to re-teach myself!

So then it was off to the rehearsal & wedding! I didn't take any pictures at the rehearsal. :( I was too busy catching up with great friends! These boys all have amazing wives/fiances/girlfriends so they've all become my good friends too! Matt & I feel so blessed that our friends have awesome spouses! It's no fun to hang out with someone's friend if you don't like their significant other! :) Hope nobody feels that way about us! ha!

I was also able to squeeze in a pedi with Joanna! They let us stay with them while we were in town. They're so gracious to let us invade their space for the weekend! We barely got to see them for all the wedding festivities.

The wedding was a blast! Well, until one of the bridesmaids knocked an ENTIRE glass of wine ALL over my new pretty pink dress! I think the dress will be ok. Daddy took it to the cleaners & he hasn't given me any bad news yet so I guess I'll see when I get home! I was so mad but what can you do?! I know she didn't mean to but it was literally ALL over me. And I HATE the feeling of wet clothes sticking to my skin. Luckily, it was towards the end of the night or else I would have had a terrible time which would have been a shame. I'm just glad we didn't get pulled over b/c the officer wouldn't have believed me that I had barely had anything to drink! haha I smelled of white zin!
Here are a few pics from the reception!

More visitors!

I know...I'm behind on posting yet again! I'm trying to get caught up. After James & Jo left we had some other friends in town. Mike & Kathryn! Kathryn is a dear friend of mine & she was in my wedding. She's one of those amazing people that you can go a year without seeing & then just pick right up where you left off! I adore them so of course we had to get together while they were in town!

We went to a place called Sushi Samba & then to a comedy club called The Second City. Now, for those of you who know me, you know I'm NOT a sushi or really even a seafood person, but I wanted to go with the flow so I agreed to eat at this place. I knew surely they would have chicken in some form. :) Well, they did have a wide variety menu but we decided to let the chef have free reign. (I know people, this is CRAZY for me! I don't venture out much on things I'll eat!) We told him what we would NOT eat (Kathryn said NO RAW FISH! Whew!) so they brought out like an 8 course meal of little bits of this and that. It. Was. Awesome. I had to look past the little tentacles but I managed to eat an OCTOPUS! This is huge for me. I won't even try veggies that look/smell funny! That & the calamari were my 2 favs & they even brought out a beef dish!




Ok...our server saw me struggling with the chopsticks so he gave me the KIDDIE just beginner sticks! haha! And, this octopus looks like a spider on my face! eeek!



So after that, we went to The Second City. It's a comedy club where a lot of "comedy greats" get their start. People like Tina Fey (LOVE HER!), Chris Farley, Dan Aykroyd & Tim Meadows to name a few. It was hilarious!!! We had great seats! Just close enough to feel like you were practically on stage but safe from being pulled up on stage!


Then, the next day we went to Giordano's for pizza with Mike & Kathryn as well as my other dear friend, Lauren & her husband, Jason & their little boy, Luke! Lauren was my Matron of Honor & they just moved from Washington (state) to a suburb just outside of Chicago! I'm so so happy we're close now b/c it was so hard knowing she had a baby & I couldn't be close by! So...I went to pick them up at the train station. Well, lets just say I did not even think that a baby equals extra "baggage"! Whoops! Poor Jason was a trooper though! He carted Luke & that stroller up & down the "El" Stairs & finally we made it to the pizza place. I felt so bad! On the way back, we tried to use more of the handicap accessible entrances & such. We still had a great time! I didn't get any pictures of all of us though. So sad about that!

Community Laundry

One of the "sacrifices" I decided to make was to give up having a washer/dryer in our apt. I was being a pretty big brat about this in the beginning, but I had a change of heart. Besides, its part of the urban experience & it builds character, right?! After seeing the apt's that had them, I realized they took up valuable storage space and they were the tiniest washers/dryers on the planet! Usable space is key, people!

So far, my experience with the community laundry has been pretty good. The other day, I was able to do 5 loads of laundry in an hour & a half! boo yah! And the best part, laundry is FREE right now! Normally you have to pay about $1.50 but you have to load the money on a card. Well...the card machine is broken so free laundry for the whole building! Whoo-hoo! I have also come to realize that not all the washers/dryers work so I'm trying to take note so when it does start costing me $$$ I won't waste $1.50 on a dryer that won't try my clothes! :)

Grocery Shopping in Chicago...part 2

So we've used our cute little cart to get groceries, but I tell you what, no matter how you slice it, grocery shopping is a lot of work! I think we've been to the grocery store almost every day since we've been here. I think it will be better when we finally get all the staple items stocked in our fridge & pantry. We donated what we could in OKC & threw away the rest so we're starting from square one. Even still, you have to really think about what you're doing b/c whatever you buy, you've got to figure out how to carry it home. Our strategy so far is to never get a buggy, we always get a basket b/c once the basket is full, you pretty much know, that's all you'll be able to carry home!

I'm also working on getting a few re-usable totes b/c the plastic bags are really mounting up & we've only been here a week! I try to be good about recycling or finding ways to re-use the plastic bags but I have a million already.

We've also learned that they have a delivery service but we haven't priced it yet. One guy in our building told us about peapod.com & supposedly, you give them your list, the day you want it & for $20 they'll bring it right to your door! Interesting! Might be worth it every once in a while! :)

Rollers Trip to Chi-town!

So a few months ago, our good friends James & Joanna Roller booked their trip to spend the 4th of July in Chicago with us! We had been talking about it for months and I can't believe they've already come & gone...I can't wait for them to come back! Jo & I did some serious shopping and we all had a GREAT time! Despite not having furniture for the first half of their visit! They sure are troopers though & we're forever grateful for their help unpacking & keeping us sane!

You may remember my earlier post about the "Moving Fiasco"...well it didn't get much better, but I suppose all is well that ends well, right?! Matt & I are still married (it was touch & go there for a moment! haha!) and most of our things made it through the move without a scratch. Notice, I said most things! RIP: lamp, salad bowl, monogrammed plaque, salad spinner, chair...We left for Chicago last Monday since our contact with the moving company said they "might" deliver our things on Wednesday. Wednesday came & went and then Friday became the next day thrown around in the conversation with the liars...oops... I mean movers! No, I think I still mean liars. So...I came to the harsh reality that we needed to get extra towels/pillows/bedding for our guests b/c we were using the airbed that we'd bought for them! My dear friend, Lauren, comes to the rescue! She lives about 30 mins away & had a spare airbed, towels, sheets, everything we needed to get by until our things arrived! Lauren, you were a LIFEsaver! Thank you so much! (PS: I need you to teach me how you fold fitted sheets, b/c you apparently know some secret I don't!)

So...we picked up James & Jo from the airport Friday morning. By that I mean, we rode the train out to meet them! :) We walked around & shopped most of the day on Friday. We finally heard from the movers Friday afternoon and good news! They were coming Saturday but wait! All the earlier move in times for the elevator were already we had to pay extra for them to deliver at 7pm on a Saturday since that's "after hours". Grrr, so we paid them b/c well, you really have no choice. They have your stuff!

Once that was done, we continued our wonderful weekend with the Rollers! We took them to Giordano's to experience Chicago style pizza, shopping on State St & Michigan Ave (I must find employment ASAP!), the beach, Navy Pier, the Bean and Gibson's steakhouse! Whew! And we still didn't get to do everything we planned on doing but it was a great start and that just means they'll have to come back to cross everything else off the list! :)

Willis (aka Sears) Tower. I haven't figured out how to turn the picture! Sorry!


Best shopping buddy ever!


Waiting for our pizza outside Giordano's! You order your pizza before you get seated b/c it takes THAT long to cook it! Worth it.


The boys enjoying their cigars out on the sundeck.


At the beach! We scoped it out and decided to go back the next day! Lake Michigan is beautiful!


We learned how to make our own lounge chairs out of sand! How did I never think of this before?!?


OK, Lake Michigan is beautiful but C.O.L.D! We saw all these people swimming around like the water was great, well its NOT! It took us about 20 minutes to inch in up to our waists. It really does get better & you get used to it, but, WOW, it was chilly!


Out at Navy Pier, I just love the skyline view from the end of the pier!


The boys standing over the grates looking "buff"! I show you this picture to say to the ladies, be careful where you walk in Chicago, ESPECIALLY if you're wearing a dress! I experienced my latest "Most Embarrassing Moment" after dinner the other night. We're walking back from Gibson's just chatting having a grand time when all of a sudden, my dress is up around my waist!!! I scream & everyone across the street turns to see what's going on! I had just flashed poor James who was walking behind me. Little did he know he was going to get quite the show! All I could do was laugh b/c really, it was pretty hysterical! I did NOT look as graceful as Marilyn Monroe, I can guarantee that!


The infamous "bean"! This thing is really cool when you see it!



Laying on a blanket waiting for the fireworks!

James & Jo, we had the BEST time with y'all! I can honestly say we're like family, if we weren't before, we sure are now! haha! Can't wait for our next trip together! You're always welcome to come stay with us! Love you both to bits & pieces!!!

Chicago or BUST!

Here are a few pictures of our road trip to Chicago!

This was as we were leaving the temporary apt in OKC! Headed to Wichita Falls to spend a couple of days with the folks!


We had just left Stroud after spending a few days with the Wilson's! This was RIGHT before being pulled over for "Improper Lane Use" haha! See the post below titled "Sorry Officer"! :)


After spending the night just outside St Louis, we saw the sign we needed... Chicago North I-55!!!


We picked up our keys!!! Matt opening the door to our new home for the very first time!




First things first! We were starving so we found this great little place that just happened to be having a Taco Tuesday special! If you know us very well, that's probably our favorite so we had some tacos & margs! YUM!


AND! The first night we were in Chicago, we had some friends in town! David & Taylor are some of Matt's fraternity brothers! They were with a group for a business conference and some of them had tickets to the Cubs game so we ventured down to Wrigleyville and hung out! What a way to start! We had a blast!