Busy Week!

Friday night I met a girl named Eileen for drinks. I had met her a couple weeks earlier at a Chamber of Commerce function. Her parents own the flower shop in town and she runs it for them. She was really cool and we had a great time chatting. It was nice to find someone cool my age without kids to hang out with. I can't wait to meet her friends as well!

Right after I posted last time my friend Missy from my softball team came into town to visit. She stayed down in the city with a friend of hers that had to move here for work. Saturday I got a chance to head into the city to hang out. I was brave and took the train all by myself into the city and opted to take the train to the end and walk to where I was going. When you get off the train it is like an airport that enters into a mall like place that is similar the Westlake. I got outside and I was all turned around. I have no idea which way was which so I decided to start walking. Unfortunately I picked the direction where nothing was open for me to stop and get directions. I started to notice familiar landmarks and reverted to the path that my mom and I took last time I went down. I ended up having to call Missy and ask for directions and it turned out that I took an extra 3 mile walk around the city than necessary.

When I finally reached my destination I was delighted to find that Missy's friend Lincoln had a huge plate of Mac and Cheese waiting for me! It was the good kind too, the Velveta Shells and Cheese. I haven't had it since college and it was delicious!! After I warmed up we ventured out to see the Bean in Millenium park. We hung out there for quite awhile taking pictures and I have decided that the Bean has got to be the single most photographed site in the city. After that we checked out Navy Pier. I was a little disappointed because it just seemed to be like a carnival type place where parents can take their kids to spend excessive amounts of money on them. I am going to have to go back when it is warmer out. Maybe I was missing something? Next we decided to go check out the parade which was going down the magnificent mile in order to light up the street. It didn't take us long before we got tired of the cold and the crazy amount of people down there. We decided it would be a good idea to catch the L train to Wrigleyville before the crowd let out at the parade. It was was a good opportunity for me to learn how to use the L. It was really easy and we checked out Wrigley field and grabbed a beer and some food before I went home to hang out with Phil who had been studying all day. It was exciting to hang out in the city with someone from home!

For Thanksgiving we headed down to Phil's uncle Ted's inlaws in Oswego. It was a little over an hour away and there was absolutely no traffic! We had a good time hanging out there and meeting Phil's aunt and cousin for the first time. We headed home just before dark so we could find our way and headed back to our neck of the woods to go to Julie's sisters. Her entire family was over there so we finally got to meet all of the people she tells me about. We had dessert there and picked up Meggie who had been hanging out with them all day while we were gone. She was of course that star of the show over there and didn't stop moving all day long. There were so many people to follow around waiting for them to drop something on the floor:) She was so wiped out when we got home she did not move for the rest of the night!

The next day we went into town for the annual tree lighting. It was a very cute small town celebration with apple cider and hot cocoa and chestnuts roasting on an open fire. By the way I am never eating a chestnut ever again! Nasty!!! As it got dark the choir sang Christmas carols and the Olympic gold metal backstroker Matt Grevers was the honorary tree lighter. I had no idea he was from Lake Forest? He was very very tall! The tree and the street looked beautiful and it was a fun time. The perfect way to kickoff the holidays!

After the tree lighting ceremony Phil and I went to a potluck at the home of Eileen's brothers. It was full of people that we didn't know so it was a little scary but I knew Eileen and we hung out with this cool couple, Dan and Cassie, most of the night. They sell Ferarri's and Aston Martins for a living. The had many stories about really rich people that are addicted to buying these kinds of cars. Cassie's dad owns the dealership and she was saying that up until like five years ago no one ever really bought any cars. Now they sell over 250 a year! Including personal deliveries to Michael Jordan who has a full sized gym sunk into the ground on his estate!

Saturday Phil and I decided to get out a bit and took a trip down to Evanston which is where Northwestern is and is kind of like a mini Chicago. We just walked around and grabbed lunch. It was a beautiful day and Phil finally got a chance to ride the train!

Sunday and today I spent the day working on getting all of the painting done. I was planning on finishing up today but that did not happen. Hopefully this week. I am making Phil help me with the floor on Sat. I am hoping to have everything done within the next week so that when we get back from Seattle everything will be done and pretty!

Yesterday I assembled the Christmas tree! We were planning on getting a tiny real tree but we couldn't really find what we were looking for and decided it would be much easier to just buy a fake one with the lights already on it. I don't care what anyone says, I love my fake tree! And so does Megs:)

Finals are over and it's gettin cold!

I know it has been awhile since I have done an update but there has been a lot going on. Phil just finished his finals the week before last and had the last week off of school. We spent the entire week hanging out. Finals and the weeks leading up to them were stressful and emotionally draining for the both of us and a week of relaxation was much needed! Luckily all of Phil's hard work paid off and did very well on all of his finals! I think now that he knows he is capable of doing well and can enter next quarter much more relaxed and much more confident.

As a reward for a hard quarter Phil and I went on a little getaway up to Wisconsin. We stayed at a cute little inn near Lake Geneva and just took it easy and spent time together for a couple of days. The weather was terrible! 32 degrees and freezing rain, so we decided to shut ourselves in and order food, sit by the fireplace, watch movies and not do a thing. It was wonderful! The place was so relaxing and they gave us wine every night. There was really no reason to leave anyways.

On Thursday night we planned on going downtown for dinner and a show to celebrate my birthday, but unfortunately we both woke up sick that morning and spent the whole day in bed and on the couch. I honestly think that our bodies were just rejecting all of the crap that we ate on our trip. Phil made it up to me the next day by making me a salmon dinner.

Instead of going to the city and walking around in the freezing cold we decided to try something different and went to the circus. We had so much fun! It was such a good show and we were happy we made the decision to do it. Not only were we in awe of the circus acts but also of the overpriced crap they were selling there. $10 for a bad snow cone in a plastic clown cup and the fact that they were selling beer at the circus was also kind of funny!

About a month ago I quit my job at the bar in order to spend more time working as an assistant to my neighbor Shauntel who is a financial advisor. We are building her business up after taking a few years off and I help her with she may need. We spend a lot of time networking and going to functions with business owners around the area. We are hosting a wine tasting and discussion in order to meet potential clients. You know people are going to show up if food and alcohol are involved:) Shauntel is also introducing me the variety of committees and clubs she is a part of. On Monday she took me to her Junior League meeting, which is a philanthropic group of women who raise money for a number of good causes from helping the homeless to creating scholarships.

I am also working in a wine shop, which is owned by Julie's best friend Kayla. It is called Cellar Gate and I am going to have to get some pictures of it because it is a truly unique and beautiful place. It has been popular from the start. Besides the owners and the chef, me and a girl named Megan are the only employees and we usually work in the evenings on the weekends or when they have a party or event during the week. It's not really like work when I am there. I absolutely love Megan and the chef, Vee and we have a great time together pouring wine and eating food in the kitchen.

The night that the wine shop opened I was pouring a wine tasting and I met some very nice people. One couple is a doctor and his wife who is a physical therapist. I got talking to them about Phil and why we moved to the area and to the other lady that was with them about finding friends in the area that were my age without kids. We all exchanged numbers and I called and had a great conversation with Jodi, who has kind of become my mentor due to the fact that she knows exactly what we are going through and are planning to get our husbands together to chat. Elisabeth, the friends of theirs wanted to introduce me to her niece who moved to the area recently and is also a physical therapist. On Tuesday night Elisabeth had Becky and I over for dinner so we could meet and the three of us had a great time hanging out!

I will be forever in debt to Julie for all she has done for us. So I have decided to help her get into shape as payment. We sat down a couple of weeks ago and set some goals for and and we have been walking almost every morning. It is nice to have someone to get out there and walk with everyday, and I know Meggie is appreciative. It is our time to catch up on gossip. She has become my best friend here and I don't know what I would do without her. I call her my Midwest mom. I will get a picture of her eventually. I don't think she would appreciate me posting one of her at 8 in the morning before our walk after she has just rolled out of bed!

It's starting to get cold. Lots of random snow flurries. Winter is going to be interesting:)

Everyday Life

So in case you have not heard, I have gotten a job at a pub a few blocks away from our house as a bartender. I work Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday during the day. On the weekdays it gets pretty busy during lunch time and then near the end of my shift which ends at 5pm. On the weekends it is pretty busy from noon on. Just like any place there are regulars and in my case there are about 5 or 6 people that I see everyday for at least 4 hours. On the weekends they get there around noon and are still there when I leave. It is a cool place but come on now!

I am also going to be working a handful of hours every week for our neighbor who is a financial analyst. She was recently divorced and she is in the process of building her business back up again. As she gets busier I will be working for her more. I am eager to learn more about finances and this should be the perfect opportunity! She is a very smart woman so I know she will be busy in no time!

I got to have my first girl time last Tuesday night. My midwestern mom, Julie, has a friend who is opening up the most adorable wine shop in Highwood (the next town over). Julie, her two daughters Melanie and Colleen and their friend Megan and myself all spent time there drinking some wine and eating Chinese food. It was fun to get out and hang out with people for a little bit. I will probably be spending some time working at the wine shop as well. I didn't have my camera with me but the next time I head over there I will take a few pictures.

Phil has been doing a whole lot of studying. He has finals in a couple of weeks and he wonders all of the time how he is supposed to cram all of the information into his head. He is usually gone all day during the week, and then spends weekends and nights studying. We try and take a walk together every once in awhile so we can talk a bit. If we are lucky we can go out to dinner on one of the weekend nights and watch a movie or something. We are usually so tired that hanging out at home together is all we want to do when we get a chance.

I spend my days off running errands, cleaning and working on the apartment. I have been painting furniture that we have acquired and we still need to do quite a bit of work on the apartment. We need to paint all the walls, get our new ceiling fan installed, and put new kitchen floor in. Once I am done with that then I can get some pictures on the wall. We plan on having a girl workday so that we can get it all done quickly. Everyone here is very nice and willing to lend a hand. Once I have done all that I will take pictures of the inside of our place. Hopefully this will happen within the next couple of weeks.

After Phil's finals are over we plan on taking a few days off and staying in a bed and breakfast somewhere. Maybe we will go up to Wisconsin, which is where people go to vacation around here. It will be so nice to relax and spend a little quality time together. Although since we got a new tv and a couch, being at home is a lot more comfortable.

The weather has been getting crisper although we have had some 70 or 80 degree days mixed in there. The leaves here are beautiful and I am hoping that there are still a few left when we head up to Wisconsin. Most days are sunny during the day and colder at night. Not too different from home, so far.

We have missed going to football games this fall. It doesn't really seem like fall without football so it is a little wierd. Not that many people go to the football games at the high school and no one is really into college football here. All the care about is the bears. It is funny because no one here likes Matt Hasselbeck and everyone can't believe that the Hawks got rid of Shaun Alexander. Funny huh?

Not much else going on. On friday night I am going to Fright Fest at Six Flags with Melanie and her boyfriend and a couple other people from work, so that should be fun. Wish Phil could come!

Miss you all, and I will start posting more when I things start to get a little more exciting.

Lake Forest, IL

I went out today and took a few pictures to give you an idea of what it is like here. It was a cloudy windy day. Whenever there is hurricane activity down south we usually get the end of the storm up here, so it should be pretty stormy this week, then hopefully it will go back to 80 degree sunny days!

This is our little old house. We live upstairs. I will post pictures of our apartment when I am done with it.

If you walk to the end of our street there are train tracks that take you into the city. On the other side of the train tracks is the train station and Downtown Lake Forest. This is Lake Forest high school.

Just down the road from us is Lake Forest beach.

Here are some examples of the crazy houses we live around. The garages to these houses are bigger than our entire house!