Chicago Weekend Getaway

I've always said I love living in Cleveland. We are within a day's drive to so many major cities and destinations.  Within 8 hours, you could be in New York City.  Within 5 hours, Washington, D.C.  And within 6 hours, Chicago.  For my birthday, Greg surprised me with 4 seats to the Justin Timberlake/Jay-Z concert.  Not sure who I was more excited to see as I've been a fan of both for a VERY long time.  I saw Justin when he was with N*Sync in Pittsburgh in 2001 and again when he was solo in Cleveland while 9 months pregnant with Bridget in 2007.  I have never seen Jay-Z in concert, but was over-the-top thrilled at the thought of seeing him live.  And let me tell you, both were AMAZING! Absolutely electrical performances. 

Chicago is just a kick-ass town for a weekend getaway.  Plenty of shopping, food, bars, nightlife, you name it.  We managed to get in some Magnificent Mile time and introduced Bridget to her first full experience at the American Girl store.  She opted to pick out her own doll with brown hair, blue eyes and freckles - just like her. She shopped for her doll's outfits and I even sprung for a pet for her American Girl doll. She was thrilled.  Meg enjoyed the shopping as well and managed to snag some great deals at Nordstrom. Even Greg found a new murse (excuse me, man bag) at Tumi.

If you've never ventured out to Kuma's for their burgers, you really must.  May possibly have one of the best craft beer lists in Chicago as well.  Worth the trip!

And if you stay in Chicago, be sure and check out the Kimpton hotels.  They get customer service right. The manager's reception included complimentary Sangria and the morning coffee is to die for.  I love the in-room yoga with complimentary yoga mat and they provide maps with distances for runners.  Greg and I enjoyed a nice 3.5 mile run along Michigan Avenue to the Lakeshore.  Hot, but so worth it.

Great weekend and great family fun!

Meet American Girl McKenna, the newest addition to our family.

 

Right before the concert.  We made sure that B wore the Bose headphones to limit the sound.  She was a trooper hanging in there till midnight.  She was so excited that this was her 4th concert this year - Kelly Clarkson, Taylor Swift, and now she can add Justin and Jay-Z to her list.

 

April Was a Very Busy Month

Very little blogging happened in April because so much activity was swirling around that I barely had enough time to check email and keep up with my mindless twitter account.

But here goes with a quick recap of April:

Mom's weekend with Megan at Miami University. I even slept in her dorm. So much fun and thankfully no Natty Light was involved (several Sam Adams', yes).
 

Greg celebrated a birthday and B decorated each of his envelopes.  He is the proud owner of Indians tickets, Brew Kettle brew-your-own-beer experience, and a round of golf!
 

Bridget posing in front of her school's kindergarten art show.  She was so proud of her work!
 

No month would be complete without attending a concert. This time it was Taylor Swift.  She played for 2 hours (who would've believed?!) and it was actually very entertaining (and wholesome).
 

I got a new pair of shoes to help me suck up the Cleveland Rite Aid half marathon training (wow, who knew 13.1 miles could be so far after completing 24 half marathons already?!).

Last, but not least, we're moving! What an exhausting process, but I am totally organized this time.  Every box is labeled with contents and room assignment so that, when the movers arrive, they only have to move actual furniture. Whew - what a month!

A Night of Garbage

Garbage, as in Butch Vig and Shirley Manson. One of my birthday presents was two tickets to see Garbage in concert.  I am such a fan and love love love everything about Shirley.  Seeing them in concert was simply incredible.  I was taken by Shirley's onstage performance as well as her vocals.  Butch Vig's drum performance was mesmerizing and I couldn't believe how much I enjoyed the heavy guitar rifts.  Unbelievable performance lasting more than 2 hours! I even dug up more old Garbage CDs and I think I'm going to do what I can to wear them out again.  What an awesome evening!