Chicago Girls Weekend Recap

After much delay, I finally got several weeks worth of photos uploaded off my camera, so here's the recap of my first weekend away from the sweetest little boy in the world!  I missed him very much, but had a blast and NEVER cried.  I got some good sleeping in too, though my body automatically woke up at 7:30am since we never sleep in that late!  It was also weird to be traveling so "light."  I had plenty of room in my suitcase and limited items in my carry on.  I remember I use to bring so much stuff with me pre-baby, never mind what I bring now when I do travel with Tommy. 

My sister-in-law Maria hosted the weekend at her place in Chicago.  Every year, she, my mother-in-law Cathy, their cousin Mia, and Mia's mom Denise do a girl's weekend somewhere.  Since Mia is getting married in July, they decided to turn it into a bridal shower/pre-wedding celebration weekend and invited more of the Beurskens women into the fold this year.  Not everyone was able to make it, unfortunately, but besides those 4 and myself, Mia's sister-in-law Kim flew in from Arizona and Aunt Cindy drove up from Bloomington, IL. 

Friday night started off with a champagne toast at the house before we headed downtown to go to the top of the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) for drinks and some photos.  We were tight on time and had to forgo the drinks, and the only picture I got was of the view - I'm sure Maria will have the group pics up shortly for us to enjoy!  Next we headed to The Hubbard Inn for dinner, which was excellent!  I ate everything put in front of me because I never really ate lunch due to the timing of my flight.  After dinner, we went to a club called Enclave.  Yes, ME in a CLUB.  But we went early, like 9pm, which meant we were essentially the first people there.  Maria's trainer was hosting a party for a book release for another client of his, so that's how we got tickets.  And there were FREE cocktails!  I'd never been in a club where you have to "buy" a table in order to sit down, but Maria got us hooked up with a table for free since she had connections!  We didn't stay that long as everyone was a bit tired and it was so loud that it was impossible to have much of a conversation, so we shoved 7 of us in one cab to go back to Maria's.  No pics from the dinner unfortunately, and the ones from Enclave are ones that Maria's husband would probably kill me if I posted - or Maria would post some crazy ones of me from that weekend!

No eyes were lost when Mia opened the champagne

View from the Willis Tower

On Saturday we had a nice breakfast before heading downtown to Millenium Park and Michigan Avenue.  The weather was more fall-like and spritzing at times, but we had fun walking around and taking pictures.  I'd love to go back to Millenium Park in the summer to hear some concerts and let Tommy run around - he'd have so much fun!


Aunt Denise, Maria, Cathy, Aunt Cindy, me, Kim, Mia @ Millenium Park



Millenium Park at the Cloud Gate sculpture in Millenium Park

The original girls weekend party animals

View of Michigan Avenue

We "settled" for some treats from The Flirty Cupcake van since the line for Garrett's Popcorn was ridiculous!

Next up we went to my FAVORITE grocery store in America, Whole Foods.  I've only been in this one in Chicago; there are a few in NJ, the closest about 30 minutes or so from our house.  We were cooking dinner in that night at Maria's and needed to pick up a few things.  Mia, Kim and I snuck off to the liquor section.  Unlike NJ, where grocery stores who have liquor licenses have to actually sell the alcohol separately from the food, this Whole Foods has everything right in the store, and even has SAMPLING.  You can even buy a beer and walk around with it and do your grocery shopping!  We just ended up sampling some wines, and I purchased a bottle for a contest that we were having the next day at the shower.  I ended up with only ONE photo from Saturday night because I may have had some wine.  And I am not really that much of a wine drinker.  Eight glasses is where I stopped counting...I know Maria has some crazy photos of me, as we were trying to choreograph a dance for Mia's wedding.  Yes, there was a lot of wine...but I do remember eating a delicious dinner of pork tenderloin and "new" potatoes, which I happen to have the recipe for and plan on trying to make this weekend! (the potatoes, not the pork).  And everyone can't wait for the wedding to see me dance some more...as I said already, I have seen some of the photos that Maria took...

The lone photo from Saturday night's after dinner dance party.  Maria had some wine too.

And while I did sample wines on Sunday as part of the game we had to bring wine for, I have no idea how I ended up with not one photo from the bridal shower!  Arrggghhh!  We had a blast toasting Mia and watching some funny videos of her fiance answering questions that Maria had sent to him that he then videotaped for us to watch at the shower. 

Sunday night I got to visit with my friend Renee and her family, including her mom, who lives in NJ less than 30 minutes from my house.  I've known Renee since 1st grade when we were in CCD class together, and then we played soccer together for several years, and also went to high school together.   She is probably one of my longest lasting friendships!  She moved to Chicago over 10 years ago, and we've been able to connect a few times while visiting my in-laws.  She just had her 2nd baby in December, so I got to meet baby Nicholas for the first time.  He's a big boy, and his brother Zach is a great big brother too!

Me with Zach and Nicholas

I almost did not make it home on Monday, as my flight was cancelled due to mechanical issues.  I'm not a seasoned business traveler accustomed to knowing what to do when I get this information, but fortunately I found my way to the custmer service area - where there were NO customer service agents, just kiosks and phones, several of which did not work.  The kiosk was telling me I could fly out on Tuesday at 6am, but I kept trying and got myself booked on the 3pm that afternoon as well as on the standby list for the 1pm.  Twenty-six of us were on the standby list...and miraculously, they found seats for all of us!  I got home later than planned and didn't get to pick the Tomster up at daycare like I hoped to, but I did make it home that night to kiss and snuggle with my sweet boy.

Although I missed Tommy, it was a much-needed weekend away that was probably good for all of us. I got recharged a bit, and he came to rely less on me and more on others - like Daddy and Grandma and Aunt Karyn and cousin Lexi.  I knew he was in good hands all weekend, which is probably why it wasn't that difficult for me to let loose and get a little crazy.  Special thanks to Maria for hosting all of us and planning a fabulous weekend, and to my mom, sister and niece for helping out watching Tommy to make things easier for both John and myself!