TRICK OR TREAT!

We spent Halloween 2010 in the Chicago suburbs! I just had to see the world's cutest and most adorable duck, Luke! We spent the evening having dinner with Lauren, Jason and Luke & of course handing out candy to all the neighborhood kids. So fun!


Seriously, how cute is he?!?


He was trying to figure out why Matt was being so weird. I'm still trying to figure it out.

Look, I can touch my toes!

At this point, he'd been in his costume for oh...a few hours and he. was. DONE. Matt's trying to get him to laugh just one more time in his cute little costume!

Happy Halloween, Luke! Uncle Matt & Aunt Beth had a blast celebrating with you! I love being so close to such dear friends. Especially when we can't be with family for fun little holidays!

Mom & Giggy visit Chicago!!!

Last weekend my mom and grandma (aka Giggy) came to Chicago to visit me! They wanted to come and see everything before it got bitterly cold so I imagine this will be their last trip before next spring. We had the best time! I forgot to take many pictures and I hate when I do that. Ugh.

I also should mention some other fabulous ladies that joined us on our trip! Linda is one of mom's good friends. Her son, Jonathon and I went to elementary & jr high together and then they moved to Pittsburgh and now live in Alabama. Mom and Linda went to Napa last fall and had a great time! Linda brought her good friend, Yolanda (I'm not sure I spelled her name right) and we had a blast! Sometimes you travel with fuddy-duddies, but these 2 were far from it! They're so easy to be around and so much fun.

The first day we took the architectural tour on the river/lake and it was the coldest day they were here. Needless to say, nobody was really excited about taking pictures.

I had to take this one though b/c it's so obvious they're related! Look alike much?!


At the Buckingham Fountain. 3 generations! I love them to the moon and back!

Yolanda, Linda, Mom and Giggy at the fountain.



The cutest wicked witch I've ever seen!

These ladies were my good luck charm because the Friday they were here, I got the call for the job I had interviewed for earlier in the week! We went to Tea at the Drake, saw all the sights and went to the Million Dollar Quartet and shopped until we dropped!

I love y'all so much and I'm so glad the holidays are around the corner! See you at Thanksgiving and Christmas!!!

E is for EMPLOYED!

Well the vacation has come to an end, I started my first day at my new job! I accepted an offer on Friday morning from a law firm here in Chicago as their Continuing Legal Education Assistant! The firm has offices in NY, Chicago and DC but their main/largest office is here in Chicago (right around the corner from our apartment--YES!) Basically, I'll be helping 2 other ladies manage the CLE credits for all of the attorneys. I'm so excited about the opportunity to learn something new and meet lots of great people (already made some new friends!)!!!

I was so happy my mom, grandma, Linda and Yolanda could all be here with me to celebrate when I found out! We were a sight to see...I got the call while we were out shopping and everyone thought we were nuts when we all started celebrating in the store!

More details about the fun weekend we had to come on the blog later!!! Right now, I'm pooped! It's been a full and exciting day! I'm thinking wine and vegging out on the couch. Thanks to all my friends and family for all your support as I've been on the job hunt and thanks so much for all the kind and wonderful words of congratulations!!! I feel so loved and so blessed!

CAN.NOT.WAIT.

Mama and Giggy are coming to Chicago on Thursday!!! I can't wait to see 2 of my favorite women on the planet! Seriously, I feel so blessed to call these women my family! They are both so beautiful, graceful, lovely, classy and just so much FUN!

Here are a few pictures of our fun trips in the past!


Giggy & I--Virgin Islands 2002
My grandma took each of her grandkids on a trip for our HS graduation. I wish I had a picture of all of us snorkeling! BLAST! Yes, I realize this is NOT a good picture of me.

Mama & Giggy in the Virgin Islands 2002 Aren't they cute? I think they have the same smile!

Giggy & I in Colorado. Many many of my memories with my grandparents have been made in Colorado. We went every summer when I was little and this was from the summer I lived with them in Durango. Summer 2005

Mama, Giggy & I in NYC in our fun pink trenches! Helllllloooo, tourists! We wanted to be able to spot each other in a crowd. Mission accomplished. I don't remember exactly what year this was...maybe 2004??? {Please note my pudgy round face! eeek!}


Giggy & Mama before dinner at this amazing resort, Keyah Grande, in CO for Mom's birthday. ( Summer 2009)

I can't wait to make some new memories this weekend with these two!!! We're bound to have a blast. Get ready Chicago!

{Side note: One of these days I will muster the courage to show some of the pictures I re-discovered tonight. I wish I hadn't found them b/c frankly I didn't recognize myself in some of them, but I should probably print some and post them on the fridge as motivation. I was quite the chubby bunny a few years ago. yikes.}

Just call me Susie Homemaker...

Or Martha Stewart or some other DIY diva. These last two days I have been CONSUMED with making some new pillows! 7 pillows in 2 days, all stitched by hand! It was kind of therapeutic and the time flew by! I haven't been the biggest fan of the pillows on our couch and I was dying to do something creative and useful with my time this week. {Unemployment might be getting to me...haha!}

I love pillows. I love that pillows are an easy way to change the look of a room. And since I'm usually pretty neutral on big decor items {I think it's a commitment issue} then it's not quite as scary to me than buying an entire chair covered in an amazing fabric. One of my crafty friends makes lots of pillow slip covers and changes her pillows out every so often. GENIUS! So, I copied her idea.

Now, my craftsmanship is not to perfection, but I'm still pretty darn proud of myself! As I get more experience, I might try some other fancy things!

Out with the old...



And in with the new!!!!








I think I'll put the blue and cream floral pillows in our bedroom, maybe even with the zebra! We'll see!



And...then I still have this fabric that I'm going to make 2 more pillows out of for the living room.

Let me know what you think!

Next DIY project: Lauren and I plan on making fun Christmas pillows & wreaths this year!

Warning...sail boats crossing

Saturday morning I woke up and walked outside to the balcony to feel the breeze outside. {Please see previous post} Our building is just south of the river so I looked over and the bridge was up! I've never seen a bridge do this in real life. I kept waiting for a stunt car to try to ramp it and fly over like in a Jackie Chan movie or something. (He's the only stunt person I could think of off the top of my head. haha!) There were lots of sailboats just floating down the river and my only guess is that they were headed to their winter home?!? Just a random assumption. Anywhoo...I'd never seen this before so I ran back inside to grab my camera and snap a few shots. I'll admit it...I'm easily entertained.

HEAT WAVE!!!

Ok...I realize I should NOT be complaining about the warm weather trend we've been having b/c it's about to be miserably cold, BUT I'm ready for the temps to drop back down into the upper 60's!

It's beautiful outside, but our apartment is uncomfortably warm. I LOVE our corner unit with all the floor to ceiling windows, but that also means LOTS of sun! And when the building has turned off the AC for the year, it gets pretty toasty up in here! Last night we both fell asleep on the couches in the living room b/c it gets a bit more air flow from the windows being open than our bedroom. We haven't slept with the comforter on the bed for like a week! Whew! Our poor little tower fan (no ceiling fans which I miss terribly!) has been on constantly and if it goes out, I might cry. I just wish the maintenance staff hadn't jumped the gun to switch over to heat the first weekend we had 50's for highs.

Anyway, although it's a tad warm, I'm still thankful for the beautiful trees changing colors and that I get to steal a glance at them every day!



But seriously...I'm sweating in my apt right now. :)