Mom's Here! & Other Things

As it is every year, December has been a busy, busy month.  Starting with multiple holiday parties the first weekend of the month and continuing through the new year, it's nothing short of a miracle that we manage to make it through the month (relatively) unscathed.  As clients want things in their homes finished up before company arrives for the holidays, blogging has taken a back seat.  Hopefully that will change in the new year, but I'm not promising anything :)  So, I just decided to do a brain dump post & hope for the best.

I've frequently mentioned how much I love my mom & how much she rocks, right?  Well anyway, I do & she does and we had a blast when she was here a couple of weeks ago.  It was an impromptu trip, but we managed to fill every last minute with things to do. 

Things like shopping downtown, Kriskindlemarkt, dinner at the Walnut Room, cleaning, decorating, cleaning & decorating outside (9 garbage bags later...thanks mom!), cooking & baking.  It was so much fun!

Next up?  Derby, bien sur!  She has been such a good girl this year, so there are a few things in her stocking.  We used this picture for our Christmas cards (which STILL HAVEN'T ARRIVED) & then I realized that I forgot to "sign" Derby's name on the card.  I feel really bad, so I may go out and buy a paw shaped stamp and stamp beside our names :/  Sorry Derb!

This is what she does when we leave - it cracks me up!  We were able to catch it on the camera before she sat down.  I wish the quality was better because I love this picture.

We've had lots of holiday parties & this one with our friends is always a favorite.  We do the secret santa thing where you can steal gifts if you don't like yours.  The only rule is that the item you bring must be in your house at the time that you receive the invitation.  There are always funny gifts as well as great gifts.  The camo Snuggie is an annual tradition & this year, I ended up with it (after giving up my precious candle!).  It was funny, but I'm gifting it to my nephew for Christmas :)

Oh yeah, we also managed to go to Paris as well!  We had a blast & I will share more details of the trip in a later post.  Can't wait to go back!

How has YOUR December been so far?  I can't wait for Christmas! 

Weekend in Columbus

Mr. Q had to go to Ohio for a meeting, so I decided to take advantage of the situation & tagged along :)  I was able to spend a lot of time with family & friends, so I was a pretty happy girl.  I also got to meet baby M, the adorable daughter of my best friend from kindergarten - high school & college roomate freshman - junior year.  

Table for 18, please!  Dinner at Marcella's (yum).

This was my second Ohio State game of the year!  Luckily, we won this time :)  Our seats were in C Deck (the top tier) and 3 rows from the tippy-top of the stadium.  It was like climbing a ladder to get to our seats & I made the trip 3 times.  Burning. Quads. Ouch.

Oh, she is so, so sweet.  I wanted to pack her into my suitcase and bring her back to Chicago with me!

I love going home to Ohio & can't wait to see everyone again at Christmas!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Summer Concert Series

An oft asked question in casual conversations is "What kind of music do you like?".  An easy, crowd pleasing response is "I like all music!"  When people ask me that question, I know my answer is genuine - I really do like all kinds of music.  Country, rap, indie, pop, rock, musicals, cover bands, symphony, everything (well, there are really only a couple of heavy metal songs that I like, but I think you get what I mean).  Take, for instance, the line-up of concerts so far this year:

• Lady Gaga
• Bon Jovi
• Billy Currington
• Kenny Chesney
• Uncle Kracker
• U2
• Nikki Minaj
• Britney Spears
• Maroon 5
• Carrie Underwood
• Peter Frampton (which I missed in favor of U2)
• Lifehouse
• Chicago 

Last week was a big week for music.  U2 one night; Nikki Minaj and Britney Spears 3 days later.  They were both AWESOME.

Of all the concerts I've been to, I have never seen U2 - this was a HUGE concert for me!  And they rocked the entire time they were up there.  It was insane.

A couple of nights later, we were dancing our booties off to Brit Brit.  I have loved her from the beginning and through all of her craziness.  When out dancing, I request Britney so often that DJs will sometimes see me coming and say "we're not playing any more Britney tonight"...LOVE her.

What concerts have you been to this year?

"Goin' to the Chapel..."

"& SHE'S gonna get maaaried"!  "She" being the lovely lady pictured with me below:

I am so excited for Andrea, one of my best friends & one of the truly best people I know. She is one of the first friends I met when I moved to Chicago.  We met at a mutual friends party (who none of us even talk to anymore!) & exchanged numbers to go shopping.  We finally went shopping a few weeks later & have been best friends ever since.  That was in October of 2003!

We have been through a lot together over the past 8 years.  We've supported each other through the good times and the bad.  Laughter, tears, births (not ours!), deaths, new boyfriends (& now husbands!), break-ups, new jobs, new homes, WEDDINGS; I am so blessed to call her friend. She is always in my corner & will rally with me until the end!

Andrea, I am so happy for you and Charlie.  Who would have thought that the guy in the window of Belly's on your 30th birthday would turn out to be your HUSBAND?!  Ahh, that lovely little thing called fate.  "You know what this is?  This is fate, Edward, that's what this is" :)

You are a beautiful bride & I know tears will be streaming down my cheeks when I see you come down that aisle.  I am honored to stand up with you & celebrate this incredible sacrament.  I love you!

Brain Dump!

Due to my absolute lack of blogging lately, I have a lot of things to share.  These are all things that I originally planned to dedicate an entire post to, but that just is not going to happen.  So, here are the Cliffs Notes!

My mom, sister Nen & friend were in town the weekend before we went on vacation.  We typically shop, eat & drink sangria when they are here, so it was a treat to do something different this time!  Million Dollar Quartet has been calling my name for some time & we all went to the Apollo Theater (where my amazing friend is the GM) to see it.  It was so much fun - everyone gets involved and sings, claps & even dances around.  It's a pretty incredible story about the night of 12.4.56 when Jerry Lee Lewis (my favorite in the show!) Johnny Cash, Elvis Pressley & Carl Perkins got together for an impromptu recording session & the awesomeness that ensued.  Go see it! 

Next Up: OPRAH!

Finally!  My mom & I have been wanting to go to Oprah for YEARS! It finally worked out & I was able to surprise her with tickets!  She was having a bad day & said that this definitely cheered her right up :)  My mom & Petey Quiche came to Chicago at the tail end of our vacation, so when we got back I was able to hang out with my mom again!  Yay.  & so soon after their last visit (see above).  The taping was a classic Oprah show - updates from past memorable guests.  Some were sad, all ended up happy.  I am surprised that I didn't cry considering the tears were falling yesterday while I was watching from my sofa!  When Stephen Paletta, the winner of Oprah's Big Give, came on the audience was surprised with $1,000 Visa cards to start our own foundations via giveback.org.  Now I WILL write a separate post about that.

I need to take a screen shot of my mom & I together in the audience.  This is one that a friend posted on FB.  The girls that sat next to us in the THIRD row (hello bright yellow & pink!) were really sweet.

Okay, moving on to concerts...

A few days after the Lady Gaga concert, we were back at the United Center to see BON JOVI!  Livin' on a Prayer (and Pour Some Sugar on Me by Def Leppard) is one of my first favorite songs that I remember & that wasn't something we sang in music class.  My friend Micki & I would listen to it over and over...  Bon Jovi is hot & so was this concert.  So glad I was able to check him off of my concert list!

So far for this spring/summer we have tickets to see: William Fitzsimmons (go see him. seriously), Ray LaMontagne, Maroon5, Carrie Underwood, some 80s bands (ask Ted, I can't remember!), Zac Brown Band & Kenny Chesney.  To name a few ;)

And finally (because this post is getting waaaay too long), St. Patrick's Day!

The Chicago River is dyed bright green every year on the weekend of the St. Patrick's Day parade downtown.  You can see the difference in the middle row - the beginning of the dye & after (love me some Shamrock Shake!).  It was my first time going to this parade (the South Side Irish Parade was an entirely different experience..) & we had front row spots.  It was freezing, but we huddled together & really enjoyed it!

There! I have set a goal & schedule to help me blog more regularly, so thanks for hanging in there!