Last weekend in Chicago

Due to the fact that I've been sleeping in until 8 (except for today) and that I have been on a DO ONLY WHAT YOU WANT TO DO AT THIS VERY MOMENT phase, I did not blog about our three day DIY at Bradalie's last weekend.

The kids went to Minnesota to see their good friends Katie and Pete and to go fishing (more for Brad, however if you recall, Natalie has been fishing at age four and you just don't forget those skills. They are in muscle memory!)

So here she is with her catch, uh, catches (Brad AND the fish)



She does get her outdoor skills from me, if I do say so myself. The fish was about a pound (she thought it was HUGE) and she refused to bait it, take it off the hook, gut it, touch it. You get the picture. We are earthy women, living off the land (as long as it is concrete, attached to a spa and has credit card access. Love you, Natalie!!)



So we babysat our favorite granddog, Bailey, and did some projects for the kids.

Ed put up a gorgeous glass tile as a backsplash in their kitchen.



Then I had the task of recovering the dining/bar chairs. I really thought my project would take less time, HA! I neglected to think about how l-o-o-o-n-n-g it takes to remove the fabric and staples, and staples, and staples.

And then there was the fact that the stapler we borrowed from our neighbor worked only for ONE staple. So off to Home Depot we went to get a new stapler. Now just going to Home Depot, which is relatively close, is a HUGE deal when you have a parking spot you don't want to give up because it is FREE! Timing is everything, people!

So the chairs got recovered...



And we did manage to have a little fun.

On Friday night the two of us went to a nearby restaurant, Province.

We loved the design detail of the utensils and the food is not bad either! (Once again I ate before I used the camera, sorry!)



Then on Saturday we went to the Apple store on Michigan and sat in on a couple of workshops. Now, I love to shop. My heart starts to pound, my blood pumps through at a rate to give me high octane to sustain long hours and my eyes dart so fast my head spins and that is exactly how I felt at the Apple store.

I want to be an Apple nerd! I want to work at Apple! I want to own EVERYTHING APPLE! I want to know Steve Jobs. I want, I want, I want... They sure have all the right marketing tools because I fell for it all.

On my next trip I think I'm going to hang out there for more workshops, even if I already know the information (doubt it) or don't even want the item (doubt it). I just want to be in the atmosphere of all the cool kids. They know how to help you, how to make you feel that even if you are a newbie or an oldie you are JUST RIGHT and in the RIGHT place.

Then it also doesn't hurt that Crate and Barrel is close by and Trader Joe's and more stores that I need to explore.

So we rushed back to Bradalie's, finished our project, and waited for Jolivia to pick us up for dinner. We went to Gilt Bar. It was great fun, great food and great wine with our great kids.




Life does not get better than this!