Chicago

To understand why this trip was so special, you should start reading here.

A couple weekends ago I went to Chicago with 6 of my old college roommates.  Roommates that have turned into friends and then sisters as the years have ticked by.  Roommates that I really, really, really, really love.  We call ourselves the Greenladies.

It was not without some effort that six of us met up in Chicago - three of us were pregnant, five of us are moms (the sixth one is well on her way, being one of the pregnant ones), four of us live out of state, three of us flew in, one of us drove nine hours, and four of us convinced spouses to Mr. Mom it for the weekend.  But we did it.  We did it, and boy howdy was it worth it.

The four of us who managed to de-kid ourselves for the weekend stayed in a posh Hilton right off of Michigan Avenue.  We could walk to breakfast, shopping, and the lake (although we never quite made it to the lake - has anyone ever told you how cold it is in Chicago?  And they don't call it the Windy City for nothing).  The other two girls came in during the day to join us.

We did things that can't be properly appreciated in words - like go out for brunch and sit around talking for a few hours because we could.

We hailed a cab to drive across town to a great pub for dinner.  Okay, technically Christine hailed a cab.  The rest of us cheered.

We fed our bodies with coffee and our souls with conversation.

We admired plants, without having to stop any little people from running through them, pulling the leaves off, or eating them.

We were cold.  And to be cold was a kind of luxury, because there were no little fingers or toes getting frostbite and pleading tearfully to mommy to make it stop.

We went to The Bean.

And we did a little flirting at the Lego store.  Megan met this really cute guy...

Keren and I both danced with a new friend too.

It was heavenly.  Some of these girls I hadn't seen in years and it was as if we hadn't missed a day.  It may be years until the stars align for us to all be together again (but when we do, let's go somewhere warmer).  The rest of my pictures are here.

Nory, by the way, was absolutely fine without me, my worry was all in vain.  Dan is a fantastic Dad.  They went to the zoo with Uncle Lindy, the mall, on a hike with Finny, to Jon Clarke's house to watch a football game, and managed to keep each other busy and happy all weekend.  But by the end I sure did miss them!