• Amazing People,  Best Thing Ever,  Favorite Things,  Fun in Chicago,  Something That Could Change Your Life

    Superstitions Be Gone: Cubs Win the 2016 World Series!

    November 3, 2016

    Chicago is a very happy city today. I am a very happy person today. I am nearly too exhausted to write about this but I’m going to give it a shot: bear with me. I was up until 2am and slept in a most terrible manner for the duration before my eyes sprung open again at 6:45am. I suspect it was because internally I sensed that “Good Morning America” was coming on and I didn’t want to miss the World Series recap, which I enjoyed immensely. Let me back up. Chicago Cubs. Cleveland Indians. What a World Series: a real nail biter. Game 7, though? I literally thought I was…

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  • Best Thing Ever,  Childhood Memories,  Fun in Chicago

    World Series 2016: Go Cubs Go!

    October 28, 2016

    My very favorite baseball team is the Chicago Cubs. Actually, my very favorite team in any sport is the Chicago Cubs. When you’re from Chicago, it’s kind of a rule that you have to pick a baseball team, because we have two. You HAVE to choose. The Cubs or The White Sox North Side or South Side Red, White, and Blue or Black, White, and Silver Wrigley Field or Comiskey Park (It’s not technically Comiskey anymore but go with it.) The thing is, I don’t actually remember picking the Cubs; I only know that I’ve loved them for as long as I can remember. One example of how fiercely I…

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  • Amazing People,  Best Thing Ever,  Childhood Memories,  Music

    The Concert of My Lifetime: Billy Joel at Wrigley Field

    August 27, 2016

    When I was a kid in the seventies, we had a pretty nice-sized vinyl collection thanks to a friend of my dad’s who owned a record store and shared lots of the albums that he no longer needed. The square covers always had a 1/2-inch notch cut out of the top and a sticker that said “For Promotional Use Only: Not for Resale”. These days I’d have to sit and think about which albums were in our collection in order to talk about them except for two standouts, “The Jacksons” and this one, Billy Joel’s “Piano Man”: When I was six and seven, that album cover both intrigued and terrified…

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  • Family Fun,  Fun in Chicago

    #MemorialDaySuperSale at Gurnee Mills: Don’t Miss It!

    May 27, 2016

    Jim and I moved back to the Chicagoland area from Norfolk, Virginia in the summer of 1991, just a couple of months before an amazing new mall opened for business. Gurnee Mills was its name, and we were so excited about it. The two shopping centers closest to our house were sorely lacking in many areas and the possibilities this new thing had in store were thrilling to think about. Our home in Kenosha, Wisconsin was only about twenty minutes away from Gurnee so we made frequent visits to the mall. When D was a toddler, we went to Gurnee Mills on Halloween for trick-or-treating. There were always things going…

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  • Family Fun,  Favorite Things,  Food,  Fun in Chicago,  Travels

    Like Food, Drinks, Fun, and Shopping? Go To Rosemont!

    February 15, 2016

    If you know me at all, you know that I don’t hesitate when offered a chance to travel somewhere and spend a night in a hotel room, even if it’s close to my house. That’s why, when the Village of Rosemont in conjunction with the Loews Chicago O’Hare Hotel, recently invited me to do just that, I responded within seconds of reading the email. Disclosure: I was provided with complimentary accommodations, food, and drink during our overnighter. I’m sharing my own experience here, and all opinions and photos are mine. Rosemont, which is only 2.5 square miles in size, is located about twenty-five minutes away from my house (and thirty…

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  • Blessings,  Confessions,  Favorite Things,  Fun in Chicago,  I'm Apparently Old.

    So Long, 2015!

    December 31, 2015

    Another year is gone (I think I have whiplash!) and Jim and I will be spending another New Year’s Eve like boring older people. In fact, last night as we were discussing our exciting plans (basically watching movies on Netflix), our older son, who is headed to Wisconsin to do a bar crawl with friends, was sitting there thinking, “That is such a LAME New Year’s Eve.” No, I’m not a mind reader but his eye roll and head shake told me all I needed to know to make a good guess regarding his thoughts. Good thing he won’t be around, I guess. I mean, Netflixing IS a really good…

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  • Best Thing Ever,  Confessions,  Music

    This Week’s Obsession Is Brought To You By Missy Elliott.

    November 15, 2015

    I happened to be on Facebook Thursday morning when… Okay wait, I’m almost always on Facebook so that’s nothing new. WORK, you know. Heh. Anyway, I happened to scroll my newsfeed just minutes after Missy Elliott posted that her new single, “WTF (Where They From)” featuring Pharrell Williams, was live. I actually screamed. And then I screamed again when I clicked on the video and found that I was in the first 12,000 people to see it. I mean, that’s exciting. Missy Elliott has been a favorite of mine for years. I listen to her album “Under Construction” ALL. THE. TIME. “Get Ur Freak On” and “Lose Control” and “Lady…

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  • Favorite Things,  I've Got Mad Skillz,  Jim Has Mad Skillz,  Pretty Pictures,  Travels

    Epic Road Trip: Check!

    October 22, 2015

    I just drove in from New Jersey and boy, are my arms tired! Ba dum bump! Wait, that’s wrong. That’s an airplane joke. My arms aren’t tired at all because I didn’t fly to New Jersey. Also, I’m not a bird. Maybe I’m breaking that down a little more than necessary. Maybe you’re clicking awaaaay….WAIT! Over the past few years, my fondness for road trips has grown immensely. There’s something about being totally in control of where I’m going, when and why I’m stopping, and all kinds of other things. When I was planning my third annual fall visit to see my sistuh-from-anuthuh-muthuh and the rest of her (our!) family,…

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  • Pretty Pictures,  Travels

    How To Do Memphis In Three Days (If You’re Me)

    October 4, 2015

    Well Memphis, it’s been fun. I think it’s safe to say that I used up every available moment enjoying what this city has to offer, except for the two hours yesterday afternoon when my back and the blister on my foot indicated that laying on my hotel room bed watching “Friends” would be a better option than sightseeing. Memphis is incredible. It might be my new favorite town in Tennessee, and I lived in Knoxville for five years! (Shhh, sorry Knoxville.) There is no shortage of things to do (or places to eat), and if I had a few more days (and more travel money!) I could have easily filled…

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  • Best Thing Ever,  Something That Could Change Your Life,  Working On My Fitness

    Go Float! (Part 1)

    September 21, 2015

    Disclosure: I am writing this post in exchange for flotation therapy at Anicca Float Club, which I can’t wait to tell you about. As usual, all opinions are mine. I had no idea that floating was a thing. Well, maybe I did. I can’t imagine that it has been a thing since the 1970’s and I could never have heard of it. Maybe I had gotten wind of it at some point but if so, I stuffed it into the recesses of my brain. I have too many other things to think about/obsess over…which is probably why I ended up floating. Confused? Let me explain. I am in a constant…

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