weekend in review

weekend in review:

friday evening justin takes on

"solo dad" role

just look at that confident, 'i can handle this' look

{sigh}  i love that man.

when the nissan quest is a rockin'.......

this mama is on her way to chicago.

all. by. myself.

and i really, really, really rock out to the radio

and sing at the top of my lungs when i'm alone.......

and (ahem) break out my mixed cd justin and i made

back in 2003

does mr. big's 'to be with you' ever get old?!

{yeah.  whatevs.} 

takes me back to the boombox days....

                                                                         first stop:

this hilarious place called mars cheese castle

of all things wisconsin

to bring some goodies for my illinois friend.

okay, so then i get to chicago

{why hello there, NATO...}

and i find my friend, Sandi, in the trump tower....

(the TRUMP!)

where we stay for 2 nights.

we are welcomed by incredible chocolate covered strawberries

and a delish fruit tray.

{ mercy. such goodness }

sandi and i had a perfect weekend:

of gorgeous spring weather for lots of city walking

of waitless restaurant eating (thanks to NATO)

of incredible sandwiches here

and fondue here

of vera (love!)

of relaxing and sleeping in til we woke up on our own

(wha?  i know....a.mazing)

of long, wonderful, uninterrupted talks

and just plain fun.

oh, and sprinkles cupcakes, of course!

sunday morning

i drove my 2 hours home in less than 2 hours

(oops.  blame it on my mixed cd excitement and this song)

i do actually incorporate praise songs in the midst rockin out

and i can think of about 10000 reasons i love this song.

it was fun to see my kiddos

who were excited to see me, and i them

and of course justin....

who rocked it this weekend.

i cannot thank him enough for being so wonderful.

{love you, babe!}

in the evening we tried out this place for justin's bday dinner

(yeah....6 days late.  we've been busy, k?)

justin ordered a burger for burger lovers

and enjoyed it.

they have endless fries which is great for our fam

and our waiter handled table of kiddos who are 

not used to any hamburger restaurant fancier than mcdonald's

extremely well.  earned a good tip for that for sure

{right, babe?}

L to the dubs O to the L

this is getting to be a long blogpost.

have a good day, all!