Chicago- Visited

This is the view of our room from the door... There is a desk/business area right in front of the door, then three steps down to the sofa area. The flat screen TV is on a swivel. In this picture it is facing the sofa, but it can also swivel around to the bed area too.







This picture is from the window and the bed area is to the right, you can see the top of my boyfriends head under the TV. and he is sitting in front of the bed.




Here is the bed area.
(and my backpack...these were taken right before we left.)
OK, so Friday we get to Chicago, find the train (el) and head our way to our hotel. We get into the lobby and know right away, this is going to be great. There are Panic fans outside smoking and waiting for pizza (the hotel was right next door to a Gino's East). We get to our room and immediatly freak out because it is sooooo cool. We have NEVER stayed somewhere this nice... EVER... So we had just enough time to oder the pizza, walk to a liquor store, grab some quinessentail Jim Beam and some cokes and head back to the room. We mix a few drinks, watch the local news and feel very strange in an unfamiliar place. After chillin for about 40 minutes, i ran down to get the pizza. I was SHOCKED at how heavy the box was.. i mean it HAS to weigh at LEAST 7 pounds, easy. Have you ever eaten a 7 pound pizza?? it is AMAZING!! we stuff ourselves, get on our show gear and head to the show.
The shows were at the Auditorium Theater. I think it is the prettiest place i have gotten to see Panic. Some folks there were saying that it had nothing on the Chicago Theater, which we saw from the outside, but to me it was great. We had great seats, got some good drinks and we didn't have to wait too long before the boys took the stage...
After the show, we just headed back to the hotel and hung out in our bathrobes that came with the room, drank a little night cap and retired.
Saturday we woke to rain and wind. I guess there is something to that nickname The Windy City", who knew... So we decided to ditch the baseball game and stay warm and dry. About that time my friend from MI called and said he was on his way, so it was a good decision. and if you read my previous blog, you know what happened Saturday.. (briefly- got lunch, drank beer, got sick, really got sick, went to the show,saw the show, sore throat, home, beer, bed)


The most beautiful birthday present ever!!!!












Sunday we got up and made some plans to hit the The Shedd Aquarium. WE jumped on the bus and it was a great trip down Michigan Ave toward the Aquarium. This place was AMAZING. They have everything from bottle nosed dolphins to humpback wales. They had Dragon seahorses and large sea turtles. We saw a HUGE gilla monster not to forget the penguins and coral. very very cool!!!! the large dolphin tank over looks the shore of Lake Michigan. Very neat place.. The attraction they have right now is a 4-D experience hosted by Sponge Bob. This was very cool. The 4-d meant that the movie part was all in 3-d, yeah you got the cool glasses etc. but the cool part was the interactive stuff. Like at the beginning you are being shown around the ocean by a dolphin. And there are bubbles floating through the air. When the dolphins go up to get some air, you feel a blast of air on the back of your neck. Then when they land in the water after a dive, you actually get a little splash of water that lands on your face. There was a snall segment at the start that shows an old man spitting water and you get water splashed on you.. VERY VERY NEAT!!! a full experience. Then the Sponge Bob segment was cool. It was all 3-d so that was cool and the premise was that SB was looking for a pickle to put on his burger. When the pickle rolls away it goes right by your face and you SMELL Pickle... I KNOW!!! so cool.. well you just have to go to Chicago and see for yourself.
Then we headed back to the room, grabbed some food and got ready for the Sunday show. Night three is always the best. Everyone is all gooey and ready to do it one last night.This was no exception. Great show..
Sunday night we got back to the Hotel, re-heated the pizza for the third time, wound down and settled into bed. I think we both were asleep in seconds flat.
Monday we awoke... cleaned up the room, cleaned up ourselves and packed up. After checking out we headed down to the Sears tower.. This was cool too. I am sure many of you have seen the sights.. but here are some of my pictures from the top of the tower...
View to the east, Millennium Park down below and the Hancock building in the clouds to the left.

To the North...
NorthEast

South.

I call it the bike helmet.














Self portrait...

It was a great trip and we had a blast. I can't think of a better way to spend my 35th birthday. everything was perfect.

Feels like another monday

It really does. when i woke up this morning, it was like it was a monday all over again. Things were just too hard to get going this morning. And i didn't even drink any green beer last night.
I canceled my vet appointment i had for my girlie dog because, frankly, i can't afford it right now. I spent too much this past weekend on stuff that i don't have the extra cash to take her. She will be fine. There was nothing wrong, just wanted a check up.
I think another thing that is getting to me is that i am watching more tapes from Iraq. It is so hard to watch sometimes, although these are FAR less worse than some that i have seen. These kids are true heros in a strange land and it makes me sad.. When i have to transcribe an interview with someone that is so young, i can't help but wonder if they are still alive.
Just a bad situation for some kids that just wanted an affordable way to go to school...

So, did you check out my blocks? What do you think??? thanks, i appreciate that.. Again, since no one but my sister comments, I will have to just assume that they are wonderful and i can do no wrong (see what you created. don't blame me, blame yourselves)
Same goes for my youtube videos. NO one ever comments or favorites my videos.. SO MANY People have watched the ones from the stock show, but only 2 comments on one video and only one favorite-ed on the other.. what gives??? Again, i will only have to assume that they are great and everyone is just so struck by awe when the finish that they have to take a long bath to get t feeling themselves again.. Like i said, don't blame me, blame only yourselves.

Chicago trip is getting closer. I love it when friends tell me that they are flying to Raleigh for those shows, like they are the only ones that are special enough to travel for Panic and I get to come back that we are going to Chicago, sooner than they will be going to NC, and we get a whole extra show.. Are you kidding, Raleigh.. no thanks. Chicago is where it is going to be at..
AND IT WILL BE MY BIRTHDAY.
so, get to shopping people.. it's coming up fast.

I have softball practice this afternoon and then i will know if i get to keep pitching for our team. I really want to, so i have been practicing in my backyard. Our first game in on Thursday. I am in between excited and anxious already. this is only for fun, but i have this weird "work ethic" in me, that if i am going to do something, i want to be able to do it right, effectually, and effectively. so I have this thing that is pushing me to feel a little stressed for this game.. IT IS ONLY SOFTBALL JENN; CHILL OUT... I will let you know how i did. And of course, since i have practice, Big Brother will have to wait until i get home.. and beware all SURVIVOR lovers, it is moving to Wednesdays this week. I don't know if this is a permanent move, but it is at least for this week. So be on your toes..

AND........here are things that i knew before you did...

Today is Awkward Moments Day, a time to celebrate the humor of life's uncomfortable situations (sponsored by Wayne & Laura Gignac of Norwich, Connecticut).- I got this one covered...

Today is Forgive Mom & Dad Day, a day to let your parents down off the wedding cake into a world of mere humans (wellcat.com). DONE!!! And I love you both!!!

Today is National Biodiesel Day. YEAH!!! PRESERVE OUR WORLD

Today is National Lacy Oatmeal Cookie Day. - hence the photo

1982: Singer Teddy Pendergrass was paralyzed from the waist down after his Rolls Royce crashed into a tree in Philadelphia.

1985: Denver and Houston of the USFL set a pro football record with 112 passes in a game: Denver lofted 43 passes, Houston 69.

1989: Researchers in Giza, Egypt, discovered a 4,400-year-old mummy at the Pyramid of Cheops.

1994: Kenner, Louisiana, honored a native son by naming a street Lloyd Price Avenue. His hits included "Lawdy Miss Clawdy," "Stagger Lee," "Personality," and "I’m Gonna Get Married."

1996: Author John Young published The Good Code Book, the first book to list every telephone dialing code in the world from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. It was not a best-seller.

2001: Workers equipped with a bulldozer, face masks and a court order have removed 154 tons of garbage from a man's home outside Madrid, Spain. The job took two weeks, with 30 truckloads of trash hauled away from the house and surrounding lot. Police said the 58-year-old resident, who repeatedly refused requests to clean up the place, lived in a tiny compartment in the back and reached it through a tunnel carved out of the garbage.

2002: The Sun Valley Mall in Concord, California, was closed temporarily due to popularity when 1,500 teenagers swarmed a music store to get autographs from the band B2K.

2005: Doctors removed the feeding tube keeping Terri Schiavo alive after an wide-ranging fight over the brain-damaged Florida woman's care that involved Congressional leaders. She died 13 days later.

Later Taters...

Oh, kiss the mountain air we breathe

Good-bye it's time to fly.
Sparrow climb, the air is thinner,
Open wings cast this valley in the shade.


OK, I know i have used that one before, but seriously, can you blame me? it's a great song... But I am not only using those lyrics (to Surprise Valley by Widespread Panic) to celebrate my upcoming birthday shows that we got the last of the tickets we needed this morning. OR to use it because i am soo excited that we found this special deal on a room a the Affina Chicago Hotel. THEY HAVE A PILLOW MENU. No I am not kidding, you can pick what kind of pillow you want to sleep on. You can change it everyday if you want. I am going to start with the Buckwheat pillow and then maybe move on to the Swedish foam pillow, ending the weekend with a plush down pillow..:) I can't wait!!!!




But that is not the reason i was using this song and those lyrics. See last night my boyfriend and I were watching Celebrity Rehab on VH1. and after a commercial break, they came back to the show and the music they used was Surprise Vally by Widespread Panic. I looked at my boyfriend immediately and said "that's panic". We backed it up, turned it up and sure enough, i know my boys....
We were really enjoying watching the world series this past year (if you have been reading my blog for a while, then you may remember) not only because my team was playing but they would ALWAYS play panic going in and out of commercial breaks this past series. We even had friends that made World Series Set lists from the songs they played and at the end of what inning, too funny..

So, you never know where you are going to catch a tune to two.. keep your ears open.

I am glad it is Friday. I feel that i have to apologize for not updating everyday, but this was a complete no energy week and even less to say. so i didn't say much at all. Yesterday's snack was chocolate chip or M7M or sugar cookies. I didn't eat one and I even took Watson for a walk yesterday. getting exercise is good..
I'm out, have a great friday and weekend...
TTFN