#Chicago

I am just getting around to blogging about our quick little Spring Break trip to The Windy City.
Here's a quick look at our weekend in Chicago,  a week and a half ago now, via my iphone....
Insta-Chicago, if you will.
We packed  a LOT into just a few days, a lot.
We all had a lot of fun, the kids were really good and we can't wait to go back this Summer.
By Summer, the Ferris wheel at Navy Pier will be open then and I promised Charlotte I would ride it with her then.
I don't love rides but I think I can handle a Ferris wheel. I think.
 But maybe I shouldn't promise.

My kids LOVE the city, they are awesome little travelers and it is so much fun visiting new places, or just places completely

different from where we live,  with them.

I love seeing all of these things with them, through their eyes.

We had been planning to go since after Christmas and because of so much snow and bad

 weather,  we decided to wait until it was just a little bit  nicer anyway.

I'm so glad we waited until there was no snow and it was still chilly but not freezing. 

We catch the Amtrak about 45 minutes from home and take it right into the City.

The kids love taking the train and so do I, no traffic to deal with and it is just so easy + relaxing.

And cheap. 

If you get your tickets in advance it is so affordable to take the train, much less than driving...

and that's probably even with paying for overnight parking at the train station.

I think Amtrak should send me + the kids around the country this summer and I

 will blog and Instagram our trip along the way.

Wouldn't that be awesome?

I'd totally be down with that.

I  LOVED when we were getting ready for bed the night before we left and the kids

 were SO EXCITED about our little trip and Charlotte said:

"Mommy I love when you're on the train and all the sudden you get close tot he city and 

you start seeing all the buildings and you look up and they are so tall and there are so many.

That is so awesome!"

Now that just made my heart happy.

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B R A N D . N E W . Y E A R.

Hi there. And Happy New Year to you.

I think 2014 started off in the  very best way possible for me... for where I am right now in my life.
On January 1,  I headed off for a three-day get away all by myself... well, kinda.
The first night my cousin and I had a fun night away that we had been looking forward to for quite a while.
The next morning I headed to Chicago on the train for a few days where I met a brand new friend and spent time with one of my oldest friends, too.
It was good and fun but more importantly for me, for where I am right now in my life, it was really good and necessary.
Being away in a different place with different people and spending a lot of time by yourself too, gives you a different perspective of things back home.
I need to get away for clarity + perspective a lot.... three days isn't possible all that often, but whenever it's possible, I do it.

Just having time to talk with friends, to think, to get wisdom + insight from friends when you didn't even ask for it and they didn't know
it was just what you needed, is priceless.
It truly is.
We can learn so much from others and from ourselves, from different situations and places... from stepping outside the comfort of our normal situations.
I came back home with some answers, lots of questions and a list a mile long of things I want to change in this brand new year.
It won't happen over night, and most likely won't even happen over this next year....But I am going to get started.

I will be back soon with a full post on meeting my friend Shauna in real life, my hopes + goals for the New Year... and more.
I'm still thinking about my "One Little Word" for the year and hoping that this is the year it really STICKS.
I feel like this is the year for change.... How about you?
How is 2014 treating you so far?
Any big plans, hopes, dreams or goals for the new year??

Happy Monday to you. 

Chicago Bound {and an Etsy Shop Sale!}

Bright and early Thursday morning I will be headed to Chicago.

Pearl Jam is Friday night.

We are beyond excited.

Just a quick reminder that EVERYTHING in my Shop is 50% off today, sale ends tonight at midnight.

You should go check it out and snatch up one of those awesome State Magnets for only $2.25... 

just for today. 

Happy Wednesday, y'all.

::::::::::::::

* eta:: the original coupon code was not working, changed to :
PEARLJAMCHICAGO

Insta-Chicago

Last Saturday we took a day trip to the Windy City.
Chicago never disappoints but this was a really special trip; it was the kid's first time there and
their first train trip and they loved it all.
I'm feeling a little shady even admitting that it was their first time to Chicago, seeing that we are
only a few hours away, but when we go it's usually a grown-ups only trip, ya know?
Sorry kids.
Anyway-- the weather was amazingly perfect and the kids were amazingly well-behaved.
I mean really good...like, who are these kids? kind of good.

If you follow me on Instagram you have probably seen a lot of these pictures already.
I really wanted to take my Nikon but I decided against it, no fun lugging that thing around all day, especially since
the kids were with me and I knew that meant I would have extra stuff to carry.
And then there were all the shopping bags....Yeah, so iphone only.

So, you saw the red bag.
That was our main reason for going, Charlotte's first trip to the American Girl store.
Wow, that was something else.
Have you ever been?
I had been in there a few times but never with Charlotte, which was just a tiny bit overwhelming.
Fun but overwhelming...so much to look at, so many people...so many cute dolls.
And it was so HOT.
I don't know if it was just the actual temperature in the store or the fact that we were buying
so much outrageously priced stuff and it was giving me hot flashes.
Yeah, that could have been it.

We left with Julie the doll and a bunch of things she needed, naturally, and some Legos that were
at the top of Wyatt's list.
It was really fun to take the kids to the two stores we knew they would love more than anything else.
And also really fun to say; "Yep, you can get that!"
They were birthday shopping and believe me, they are not used to hearing YES so much.
Both grandma's were with us as well so I think we left Chicago with our birthday shopping finished.

So there's just a little bit of our day.

The kids really liked taking the train, they thought that was so cool.

I think Wyatt used the restroom on the train about 10 times just because he wanted to(gross) and 

they loved the food car and picking out something from that, too.

Lots of good memories.

>>>>>>>>>>

Happy Friday!

It's a rainy, dreary day here and I would like to get back in bed and zone out on bad tv all day
but there are things to do, errands to run and a 2nd grade spelling bee at 2:00.
No bed for this mama.

Happy weekend, y'all!

linking up with Jeanett today....

The Life Of A Hermit .... and Stuff

So this past Wednesday I said to myself;  "hey, I haven't been out of the house since Sunday...."
Sunday!
Okay, and by "out of the house" I mean I had not left in my car to go anywhere.
I had been outside, walked the kids to and from school and all that jazz but I had not been anywhere
in my car.
Kinda crazy.
I have noticed since the kids are in school I have been going a whole lot less....
I mean, let's be honest, I am home by myself so there is no one to escape from and I don't feel
like we all need to get out of the house before one of us(me) snaps.
Anyway, it's different, it's quiet and it's good.
I like quiet.

Last week I called my mom to tell her about how I just realized (yes, just now at my age, I just realized this) that I used to feel sorry for
her when my brother and sister and I went back to school and it just hit me that she was probably just fine with it.
I thought she had to have been bored and sad and wondered what she possibly could have been doing all day without us?
She had to have been lonely, right?
Sad? Bored?
Now it's really funny to me from this perspective.
Like, really funny.

I am okay with the whole hermit thing though, I love being at home and having time to work on shop
stuff and read and THINK whole complete thoughts and daydream.....
It's nice.
And like my mom, I think I'm okay with it now.

Today I was in the living room with the windows open and I could hear kids outside so I looked
out and saw Charlotte's class lined up and ready to go somewhere.
I grabbed my jacket and joined them for a "Fall Walk" to pick up leaves and talk about the trees and changing colors and all of the signs of Fall.
This is just another little reason why I LOVE having my kids go to the neighborhood school right by our house.
This whole school switch thing has been so good for us, for so many different reasons.
I am so, so happy we did it.

********

Well, tomorrow we are headed to the big city...  Chicago, here we come!
American Girl store and the Lego store and the kid's first train trip....oh my!
It's a special little trip for both of my kid's October birthdays : )
They are so excited about it but they do have to get up at 5:00 a.m., so we'll see how that goes.
Wish me luck.
And have a great weekend!

Ring Around The Collar....

 

I fell in LOVE with these little displays at a store in Chicago (okay, it was the American Girl doll store...shhhh...) this  past weekend. These were for "Julie" the doll from the 70's.

Oh, the hanging beads, record players, lava lamps, bean bag chairs, Dallas, Good Times, Fat Albert,  cheesy commercials, bell-bottoms, carrying your comb in your back pocket, the music (both good and bad), The Brady Bunch, Coke and Pepsi in bottles, Kool-aid ....... I love it all. 

Since I was a young child in the 70's I think it would be so cool to be able to go back 

as an adult and see what it was like from that perspective. 

After taking these pictures on Saturday, 

then talking about a *fondue party* with my brother on Sunday, 

I got to thinking about all things 70's ...which got me to watching commercials and 

listening to some popular songs from the 70's...so FUNNY.

So, which era or time would you go back to if you could?

Oh , you have to watch this commercial, if you were around in the 70's you'll remember it:

click HERE.

.......and Have A Nice Day.

 

thE WindY CitY

Saturday was our annual train trip to Chicago for a little Christmas shopping. Usually we go in December but after having horrible weather the last couple of years we went a little earlier this year and we were so happy we did because it was in the mid-60's and beautiful. No ice, snow or wondering if we were going to have to cancel this year. Our group is usually anywhere from 10-20 people...cousins, aunts, uncles, moms, sisters, nieces. We eat lunch, shop, talk, people watch and then later on there's a little more eating, gossiping and shopping, it's a great day. This year my sister couldn't go and we were a little lost (literally) without her as she is the "Cruise Director" if you will....makes decisions, tells us which way to go, etc. And I'm wondering if she had been there if we would have gotten ourselves into the predicament we did at the end of the day. Let me just say that we were at the train station an hour early but somehow missed the boarding announcement (too much gossiping?), were not paying attention to the time and had to run from inside the station all the way to the train-everyone had boarded and we were yelled at by various Amtrak workers along the way, and not a nice encouraging yell, but yelling. It was pretty embarrassing-a big group running like that, carrying all those bags- and pretty humiliating realizing how out of shape I am too. BUT, it was a great day, it's a family tradition that I love and of course we really had something to laugh about the whole way home.

Can't wait until next year!