Chicago Trip, Part 1

I don't have time to download pictures right now--I have to resize and then Bubbleshare and it's going to take a million years--so this will be the verbal update and part 2 will be the photo update. :o) Let's see....the day after the concert...Ava got to meet some old family friends of ours: my mom's friend Jan and her daughters Jessica and Alison, and Jessica's daughter Janna, whom I'd never met. It was great to catch up with everyone! (It's also a riot listening to my mom and Jan talk, they're basically an older version of MJ and me ;o) That night Craig and I went to go see Wall-E...our first movie date in something like eight months. Great movie, by the way: family-friendly without being stupid. Most family-friendly stuff makes me want to kick myself in the head because it's usually pretty cheesy.

Fourth of July, my grandparents and aunt, uncle and cousin came over so Ava got to meet more relatives and we had a lot of fun with everybody. I miss my family like crazy. I swear, if not for the insanely long and freezing winters...I'd be very tempted to move back up there. But I am definitely not cut out for winter, I can barely tolerate the short, mild winters we have here in NC. Anyhow...we left after a late breakfast on the 5th and stopped overnight in Charleston, WV--Ava did much better this way and slept great at the hotel. Not us though...her little noises pretty much kept us up all night. But that's ok. :o) We made great time on Sunday and arrived home around 3pm and even though I miss everyone even more than before and even though I miss Chicago, it's good to be back in our own space again. I'm telling you though...I feel even more like an outsider down here than ever before. Everybody here has their family close by except us, and most people here don't quite "get" my particular brand of weirdness. For example, when we were at the movies, they showed a preview for a cartoon called, "Beverly Hills Chihuahua." It was terrible...the creators of it need to be beaten with sticks. The preview alone made me want to burn out my eyes and ears. I said to Craig, "THAT WAS HORRIBLE! I would rather stab myself in the head with an ice pick than ever see that again!" Apparently I said it loud because the guy in front of us started CRACKING UP and repeated it to his wife. That wouldn't amuse most people here, they'd just think I'm insane. (Which may very well be true, but they'd think it like it was a bad thing.... ;o)

Also--I miss the food. OHHHHH do I miss the food!!! Here is a sampling of what we enjoyed up there:

Portillo's

Noodles & Co.

Corner Bakery

Fannie May Candy

I'm telling you, all we have around here is fast food or ridiculously expensive restaurants! Or the same old boring chains: Olive Garden, Chili's etc. Not that they aren't good from time to time, but I like really good, reasonably priced places to eat. The only place I've found here that's local and pretty much awesome is Bella Monica. But, it's all the way on the other side of town and it's a place I'd rather enjoy sans baby.

Oh yes, in other news, I took Ava for her first "photo shoot" at Sears yesterday. We got a few pictures that turned out okay. Why only okay instead of adorable? Because she had a meltdown of epic proportions while being photographed. WONDERFUL. And I just got a plain white background instead of doing anything exceptionally cute or fancy--I had a coupon for a free sitting fee and 10 x 13 pic, and I got a few others. Now that I know I have to take her over within seconds of her napping and eating (to try to catch her best mood), I can plan another session and really do it up cute. Not too cute though...I don't do too cute. ;o) Tomorrow is the 6 month checkup (details regarding her latest weigh-in and such will follow) and on Thursday we have an appointment following up on something. Either her tailbone or her kidneys, I can't keep it straight anymore. (See how worried I am? ;o)

That's it for now, I guess I should probably start dinner...just salad and leftover Vidalia Onion Soup from yesterday (I make awesome soup) but I promised Craig homemade croutons for the salad. I randomly made up my own recipe yesterday and they were simply AWESOME.