Another Girly Weekend

I had an unbelievably awesome weekend. Friday night, Drew and I went out to dinner with our friends, Donny and Khristy. They brought two of their kids. Jett is 2 1/2 and Dex is only a little over a week. And Khristy looked fabulous for just giving birth! We ate dinner at Chili's and then went to Menard's to do a little home shopping. We were going to get some of the supplies that we need to DIY a mirror project that we're going to do, but then we remembered that there is no way that a sheet of plywood would fit in Snowball (my Cavalier).

Saturday started out uber boring with me cleaning the house while Drew worked. I loathe cleaning! Absolutely loathe it. But, the end project is so, so worth it. I vowed that I would never let my bathroom get as dirty as it was again.

My sister came over and after I finished getting ready, we headed out to meet our mom and our aunt for dinner. We met at Backyard Bar and Grill.

After dinner, we decided that we weren't ready to be done with our little girl's night, so we headed to Burlington Coat Factory to do some shopping.

We couldn't pass up the opportunity to make fun of the hats! I ended up purchasing a really cute lime green strapless dress to wear to Angela's rehearsal dinner.

After shopping, Rachel and I decided to drop by Josh and Angie's house. I haven't seen them in ages!! I know, I know, it's not good manners to just drop by unannounced, butit was such a fun surprise. And they were really happy that we did.

Josh just had to show me his brand new purchase!

He drove by a garage sale and just had to snag it. He says it was the best $15 of his life! And I have to agree. That grill is simply awesome.

Today, my sister and I practiced our shopping skills. I picked up a bunch of cute things. I'm sure you'll see pictures soon.

I told my sister that I would make lasagna tonight for dinner. Except that I've never made lasagna. And Drew was going to come home tonight to eat and bring his coworkers. The pressure was on. And, if I may brag, I made an amazing lasagna! I couldn't believe how good it was. And it was very easy too. Just sorta time consuming. Everybody else loved it too. Drew's coworkers volunteered me to make dinner every Sunday night. We'll see about that one!

Anything But a Mini Van

Drew and I have been talking for a while about replacing "Snowball". Snowball is my car. She's a 2002 Chevy Cavalier. I bought my car in December of 2004 after my car at the time died a quick death. Basically, I ran into a bridge on a snowy night. It had everything to do with weather and nothing to do with my driving. Besides the fact that I stupidly took a country road instead of going through town.

Anyways, Snowball has been a fabulous car! I haven't had any trouble with her until January or February when we had to replace the water pump. And she just rolled over 100k miles.

We drive Snowball everywhere. Drew's truck sucks gas like crazy, so he only drives that to work and back. We're both ready for something with a little bit more room. And since kids are in the future, we need something that accommodate car seats and strollers a little more easily.

We went car shopping tonight. I have known that I wanted an SUV type of vehicle. I originally thought that I would want a smaller SUV, something like an Equinox or Escape. After some thought, I think I might want something a little bigger to grow into too.

We first went to a dealership and was immediately drawn to the Chevy Traverse. I think I may be in love!
This car is beautiful. The one that we were looking at has a black exterior with black interior. There are so many features to this car. There are three rows of seats, and the 2nd row has bucket seats. Behind the 3rd row, there is a decent amount of cargo room; enough for a stroller or groceries.

The Traverse had a backup camera, OnStar, blind spot mirrors, rear entertainment package, digital dual temperature control, and many more. It was a beautiful car. I wanted to drive it off the lot immediately.

But, I can't buy a product without looking at some other options. So we went to the Ford dealership. After discussing what we were looking for, we were shown a Kia Sorento. We took a quick drive in that and realized that we weren't crazy about the ride. Then, we moved onto the Ford Edge.

This car offered basically the same options as the Traverse, but only had one row of seats in the back.

I just can't say that I like the Edge more than the Traverse. When I think long term, if we have more than two kids, especially if we have two in car seats, it'll be a tight fit in there. I would rather buy a slightly larger vehicle now, then have to stress about finding something to fit into then.

So, dear readers, do any of you have either of these? Do you have something similar that you love?

A Sister Type of Weekend

My sister, Rachel, was in desperate need of some girl/sister time this week. I found out that Drew was going to do some contracting work all day on Saturday, so I asked her if she wanted to go to the mall and spend the night. She, of course, happily agreed.

Rachel has never been to Gurnee Mills mall, so I told her that we'd go there. To say that she was stoked is an understatement. We got there around 12:30 and, since I was famished, went to lunch at Rainforest Cafe, where she had never been either. We had crappy service. End of story.

I usually try to stay out of the stores that we have here, but the display right inside the door at Victoria's Secret caught my eye. There were mannequins and a table filled with White Sox and Cubs merchandise. And that's when I saw it. This amazing little shirt. And since Drew is a die hard Cubs fan, it couldn't be more appropriate. How cute is that shirt? I was just giddy over it and I couldn't wait to come home and show Drew.

Drew worked all day today, as usual, so Rachel and I spent the day together again. We ran to our mall here because I wanted to get my rings cleaned and we went into another clothes store. And Rachel talked me into buying a pair of skinny jeans. Me! In skinny jeans.

Now, yes, I know I'm thin. But I don't usually wear pants that are that tight. Or short. Or tight. They feel like they are spray painted on me. But Rachel said they look cute. And I'm all about looking cute. Now I just have to find some flats. When did I get so old?

I had the best time with my sister this weekend. I so wish that we could spend more time together like this. And with Drew's new job, it may be very possible. If she wants to spend time with her old sister that is.

Our Homey Home

Drew and I decided to go shopping at IKEA yesterday. I convinced him that we should go shopping yesterday as opposed to today because it would be easier to get our place organized if we went shopping first.

Drew had never been to IKEA... until yesterday. That excited me so much!! I was so shocked when he came to me and told me that he wanted to go. My jaw kinda dropped and I looked at him like he was crazy. He obviously had no idea what he was getting himself into. My darling husband, the man who hates shopping, wanted to go to a home goods shopping mecca!! I wanted to squeal.

We got to IKEA at about 11:00 AM. We went straight up to the the top (3rd level) and began wandering around. We found a bunch of pieces that we liked and wrote them down and took pictures. After walking around the entire 3rd level, it was about noon, so we decided to grab some lunch.

After lunch, we went down to the 2nd level and began wandering around there. We found some more stuff that we liked and wrote those down too.

Then, it was time to make some decisions. We ultimately decided to purchase:

* a bookshelf
* a table for behind our oversized loveseat
* 3 shelves
* a BIG picture for the dining room
* some curtains

After struggling to get all of those items in Drew's car, (Ya, that wasn't very bright. We didn't actually think about how we were going to get everything home. But then again, I don't think we thought that we'd buy so much either.) and discovering that we picked the wrong color in one piece and one piece was damaged so that led to exchanging them, we headed back home.

We got home somewhere around 5 and promptly began putting things together. We put the bookshelf together, the table together, assembled the picture, and began hanging the curtains. We also organized the kitchen too. Drew and I didn't go to bed until after 3 AM!!! We both just want to bring some organization back to our home. We've been living in chaos for months because of the wedding and now, it feels so good to make our place feel like home.

As soon as I finish this post, I'm going to go get Drew out of bed so that we can begin work today. We don't have too much left, but we've still got a full day of work. Plus, I need to finish laundry. Boo!!!

Oh, and I'm sure you're wondering about pictures right? Well, I'm not posting any!!! Haha!!! Now, I'm forcing all of you to come over and see our new homey home in person. Ya, I'm evil like that!!

Home, Sweet Home!

Drew and I arrived back home yesterday about 8:30 PM. I don't think that we have ever been so happy to walk through our front door.


And I don't think Simon has ever been so happy to see us. I have missed my little baby so much. He has been so lovey lately. Especially this morning when we woke up. He's normally quite affectionate in the morning, but this morning was particularly excessive.


Drew and I had a busy day today. We woke up and made some breakfast. I can't tell you how good it was to eat some normal, good tasting food. We got ready and made a list of things that we wanted to do today.


Our first stop was to go vote. Somehow, my voter's card found me, at our new address, but Drew was still registered under his parent's address. So, we had to vote in two different places. I voted first, then Drew did.


After voting, we went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I have been looking forward to this day since we registered. I have wanted (and we've needed) new silverware for a while. We made a beeline to the silverware, purchased it, and my day was complete!!!


However, we had a TON of gift cards to Target, so we ran there next. We quickly filled our cart with things that we both wanted and needed and left that store in quite the excited mood.


Drew and I then came home and began unboxing and putting away all of our new stuff. Now, we live in an apartment and this apartment doesn't have the biggest kitchen. Ya, all these new toys really make me want a house with a huge kitchen!!


We only got about halfway done and we'll probably finish the rest tomorrow. We want to go to IKEA and will either do that tomorrow or Thursday. My vote is for tomorrow, but Drew seems to want to go Thursday. I'll let you know how that goes.