I originally wasn't going to post this but I figured what the hey... our group has grown to 20+ people so I guess the more the merrier? (Plus there are some bloggers that us FG* girls are pretty close with who still haven't joined the group and I wanted to put this out there in case they missed my emails!) If you're interested in joining in on BWMRW 2009 and you're a blogger (must have a blog- one stipulation!), you can join us at BWMRW 2009. Apply for the group and please post your blog in your application.
In case you're wondering what "group" of bloggers this consists of... well, its most of us "*First Generation" girls: Me, Kim Berrisford, Heather Morrison, Leslie Collins, LeeAnn Howard, Kasey Laughlin and Maria Cook along with some other blog friends we've met through this wonderful addiction.
Currently we're voting on location, so if you're wanting to go and you have an opinion on where it should be (sorry, a select few locations have already been chosen and the voting is in process....), you can vote on one of the selected locations now!
Showing posts with label Blog World Meets Real World. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blog World Meets Real World. Show all posts
Monday, November 3, 2008
Monday, March 31, 2008
Chicago Weekend Recap
Finally... Porter is asleep. 1hr 20min after putting him in bed. Punk. That's all I have to say.
So... Chicago. I don't even know where to start. There is so much to write about!
Let's begin with Saturday. Our day in the city. We woke up and were out the door by 9:30am. Impressive for 7 girls sharing one bathroom, right?
We walked a few blocks to the Rockwell Train Station and boarded the train to the city. We mostly gabbed and chatted and of course took some pictures!
(FYI... not all of these pictures were taken by me. We collaborated all our images so I have no idea whose is whose anymore without looking at the pic data)
Once we arrived in the city, we headed to the Cultural Center for some maps and warm coffee. It was FREEZING and most of us stupidly wore spring jackets. Duh!
We spent a little time shopping- LegoLand, Sephora, Chiaroscuro etc... just some places we don't get to go to in our normal towns. 
By this time we were all hungry. The train ride into the city is about 15 stops or so, and took us about an hour. We headed to the delicious Gino's East on Superior Street. YUM! Lunch was pricey (pizzas are between $20 and $30 for one topping!) but with 7 of us splitting it, it wasn't so bad. It was definitely worth it.
After lunch we went to the Hancock Building and took a few pictures out front.
From there we continued back on the Mag Mile and shopped, shopped shopped. Literally, until we nearly dropped. Shopping wasn't all that exciting for me. In fact, I guess it was a bit depressing and I was envious of everyone else in their regular bodies trying on regular clotehs for this summer. *sigh* There were so many clothes I'd love to have bought but I'm in no condition to be buying regular clothes HAHA! We ended our shopping at Gap and then hobbled on to The Cheesecake Factory for one amazing dinner. The wait was about 70 minutes, but well worth it. And their cheesecake... ooooh... to DIE for.
After dinner we hopped on the bus to take us down the Mag Mile to the train station. The train ride home was hilarious. The 7 of us were in the back of one of the cars, and there was one guy sitting in front of LeeAnn and I and across from Leslie and Kim. Les nonchalantly asked me about who I was going to have in the delivery room and from there our conversation bounced around with everyone's stories about who they had in the delivery room (what do you expect... bunch of moms... our conversation always turns to birth stories HAHA!). You could see the guy's face in the reflection on the window and he was clearly thinking "OMG get me OUT of here!" Then we started getting silly... I mentioned that my hands smelled like my dinner (Grilled Chicken Sandwich and Onion Rings) and then we began joking about how Maria always swears that she stinks like Subway after she eats there and we all were cracking up and coming up with silly ideas like "Ok, once we get off the train we're going to find a Subway and we'll have Maria close her eyes, we'll send someone in for 2 minutes and then we'll do a lineup so Maria can sniff out the Subway visitor." The guy passenger was trying SO hard not to laugh at us. You could see him smirking as he attempted to turn his head from our view. I'm sure that was just hilarious to him... the group of us on a Saturday night discussing a Subway Sniff Out game!
By the time we were home we were exhausted. Les and Maria headed to bed while the rest of us played a round of Nertz before calling it a night.
Sunday morning came all too quickly. Maria, Leslie and I were the last ones woken up at 10:30am and we started rushing around to take showers and clean the house up before having to be out of there at noon (the cleaning lady was due to arrive then). We did manage to set up a few group shots before we left.
We all said our goodbyes and Kasey, Heather and Kim headed off to the airport to drop off Kim for her flight. Us Michigan girls didn't go straight home, though... we took a trip to the outlet mall in Michigan City, IN and got some great deals.
All in all, it was an awesome weekend. Like I said before, I can't wait until next year! I think if I'd had one thing to change it'd be that I wouldn't have been pregnant. The weekend was so tiring to me (although I know it was exhausting to everyone else as well...) and I was in pain most of the weekend with my hips and legs and back. Ugh. I would have enjoyed it a lot more had I not been fat and achy.
So... Chicago. I don't even know where to start. There is so much to write about!
Let's begin with Saturday. Our day in the city. We woke up and were out the door by 9:30am. Impressive for 7 girls sharing one bathroom, right?
We walked a few blocks to the Rockwell Train Station and boarded the train to the city. We mostly gabbed and chatted and of course took some pictures!
(FYI... not all of these pictures were taken by me. We collaborated all our images so I have no idea whose is whose anymore without looking at the pic data)
Once we arrived in the city, we headed to the Cultural Center for some maps and warm coffee. It was FREEZING and most of us stupidly wore spring jackets. Duh!
We spent a little time shopping- LegoLand, Sephora, Chiaroscuro etc... just some places we don't get to go to in our normal towns. 
By this time we were all hungry. The train ride into the city is about 15 stops or so, and took us about an hour. We headed to the delicious Gino's East on Superior Street. YUM! Lunch was pricey (pizzas are between $20 and $30 for one topping!) but with 7 of us splitting it, it wasn't so bad. It was definitely worth it.
After lunch we went to the Hancock Building and took a few pictures out front.
From there we continued back on the Mag Mile and shopped, shopped shopped. Literally, until we nearly dropped. Shopping wasn't all that exciting for me. In fact, I guess it was a bit depressing and I was envious of everyone else in their regular bodies trying on regular clotehs for this summer. *sigh* There were so many clothes I'd love to have bought but I'm in no condition to be buying regular clothes HAHA! We ended our shopping at Gap and then hobbled on to The Cheesecake Factory for one amazing dinner. The wait was about 70 minutes, but well worth it. And their cheesecake... ooooh... to DIE for.
After dinner we hopped on the bus to take us down the Mag Mile to the train station. The train ride home was hilarious. The 7 of us were in the back of one of the cars, and there was one guy sitting in front of LeeAnn and I and across from Leslie and Kim. Les nonchalantly asked me about who I was going to have in the delivery room and from there our conversation bounced around with everyone's stories about who they had in the delivery room (what do you expect... bunch of moms... our conversation always turns to birth stories HAHA!). You could see the guy's face in the reflection on the window and he was clearly thinking "OMG get me OUT of here!" Then we started getting silly... I mentioned that my hands smelled like my dinner (Grilled Chicken Sandwich and Onion Rings) and then we began joking about how Maria always swears that she stinks like Subway after she eats there and we all were cracking up and coming up with silly ideas like "Ok, once we get off the train we're going to find a Subway and we'll have Maria close her eyes, we'll send someone in for 2 minutes and then we'll do a lineup so Maria can sniff out the Subway visitor." The guy passenger was trying SO hard not to laugh at us. You could see him smirking as he attempted to turn his head from our view. I'm sure that was just hilarious to him... the group of us on a Saturday night discussing a Subway Sniff Out game!
By the time we were home we were exhausted. Les and Maria headed to bed while the rest of us played a round of Nertz before calling it a night.Sunday morning came all too quickly. Maria, Leslie and I were the last ones woken up at 10:30am and we started rushing around to take showers and clean the house up before having to be out of there at noon (the cleaning lady was due to arrive then). We did manage to set up a few group shots before we left.
We all said our goodbyes and Kasey, Heather and Kim headed off to the airport to drop off Kim for her flight. Us Michigan girls didn't go straight home, though... we took a trip to the outlet mall in Michigan City, IN and got some great deals.All in all, it was an awesome weekend. Like I said before, I can't wait until next year! I think if I'd had one thing to change it'd be that I wouldn't have been pregnant. The weekend was so tiring to me (although I know it was exhausting to everyone else as well...) and I was in pain most of the weekend with my hips and legs and back. Ugh. I would have enjoyed it a lot more had I not been fat and achy.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Adios Chicago!
Well, I'm home! We had an AWESOME weekend and I am a bit sad that its over so quickly (although, I am excited to spend time with my little guy tomorrow and its so nice to be back home and see my hubby).
I am really surprised that I didn't blog more this weekend, but we were out and about most of the days (exploring the city, eating grub food, hanging out and riding the super fun public transportation) and by the time we got home at the end of the day (err... early evening) we were so exhausted and so busy laughing and gabbing and gossiping and playing games that we never really took a break to blog. I will quickly recap that it was so nice to hang out with all of these girlfriends for the weekend and to finally meet Kim. She is just as nice and sweet at I imagined her being (although a bit shorter and quieter than I imagined), and she fit in perfectly and we all got along so well this weekend (you know how you hear those horror stories of girls trips where catfights break out and all that drama... eww). I really look forward to doing this trip again next year.
I am way too tired to recap everything, so like everyone else from the trip has said... I'll recap tomorrow (hopefully during naptime!) with pictures and more details.
I am really surprised that I didn't blog more this weekend, but we were out and about most of the days (exploring the city, eating grub food, hanging out and riding the super fun public transportation) and by the time we got home at the end of the day (err... early evening) we were so exhausted and so busy laughing and gabbing and gossiping and playing games that we never really took a break to blog. I will quickly recap that it was so nice to hang out with all of these girlfriends for the weekend and to finally meet Kim. She is just as nice and sweet at I imagined her being (although a bit shorter and quieter than I imagined), and she fit in perfectly and we all got along so well this weekend (you know how you hear those horror stories of girls trips where catfights break out and all that drama... eww). I really look forward to doing this trip again next year.
I am way too tired to recap everything, so like everyone else from the trip has said... I'll recap tomorrow (hopefully during naptime!) with pictures and more details.
Maria has a.....
BLOG?! A BLOG! Yes, a BLOG! She swears her life is too boring to blog about, but since she joined in on the BWMRW trip we decided she needed to have a blog. So, here it is! Go ahead... welcome her to the blog world and leave her a comment!
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Chicago Girls Weekend Day 1
Well, we're here and we've successfully completed our first day in Chicago. When LeeAnn, Leslie, Maria and I left Michigan, this is what the weather was like...
The weather in Chicago was fairly nice, especially considering all the snow Michigan had. It was about 50* and sunny and gorgeous. On our way to the condo, we passed through several different cultured areas... a few blocks of Mexican stores, then a few blocks of Korean stores and then a Phillipino area and Vietnamese area.... pretty interesting. Here's a Mexican store:
We arrived around 11am (Chicago time) and were pleasantly surprised at the house. Beyond expectation. It is amazing. I'll post pictures later. We then went to pick up Kim and went to Al's for lunch. Afterwards, Maria, Leslie, LeeAnn, Kim and I took the train and bus to the Windy City Scrapbook store. Awesome stuff! I managed to spend a bit of money there but it's worth it, right?
On our way back we met up with Heather and Kasey and went to dinner at good 'ol McDonalds.
We spent the rest of our evening back at the condo munching on snacks, playing Imaginiff and Loaded Questions. Its now nearly 2am and the last of us are just getting ready for bed. I can't wait for a long day in the city tomorrow! The train ride was lots of fun today- can't wait to go on public transportation again. I wish we had that around Jackson!
Anyhow... I'm out of here. I feel like I don't have much to say, except that so far this weekend has been awesome and I am having a great time hanging out with these girls. More later!
The weather in Chicago was fairly nice, especially considering all the snow Michigan had. It was about 50* and sunny and gorgeous. On our way to the condo, we passed through several different cultured areas... a few blocks of Mexican stores, then a few blocks of Korean stores and then a Phillipino area and Vietnamese area.... pretty interesting. Here's a Mexican store:
We arrived around 11am (Chicago time) and were pleasantly surprised at the house. Beyond expectation. It is amazing. I'll post pictures later. We then went to pick up Kim and went to Al's for lunch. Afterwards, Maria, Leslie, LeeAnn, Kim and I took the train and bus to the Windy City Scrapbook store. Awesome stuff! I managed to spend a bit of money there but it's worth it, right? 
On our way back we met up with Heather and Kasey and went to dinner at good 'ol McDonalds. 
We spent the rest of our evening back at the condo munching on snacks, playing Imaginiff and Loaded Questions. Its now nearly 2am and the last of us are just getting ready for bed. I can't wait for a long day in the city tomorrow! The train ride was lots of fun today- can't wait to go on public transportation again. I wish we had that around Jackson!Anyhow... I'm out of here. I feel like I don't have much to say, except that so far this weekend has been awesome and I am having a great time hanging out with these girls. More later!
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