Monday, April 29, 2013

Michelle the Superstar


my sister michelle is a freakin' movie star! she has gotten the lead for three plays at her school this year.  she sings like mariah carey and acts like reese witherspoon. we were able to go out and see her perform in little women.  she was fantastic and beautiful! great job baby!

we were also able to help make some maple syrup with dad! rich told me that he wants to have our own maple trees someday, and even though my thirteen year old self would hate me for saying this, i agree!
whenever we make maple syrup, i always feel like a witch stirring a cauldron! :)

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Four Lakes Flood

here is a not funny story:  in chicagoland, it rained for three days straight and then it downpoured on the fourth night.  in the morning, our little village of four lakes became a giant lake.  our neighborhood was on the national news.  we had the national guard in our town because the streets had turned into rivers.  there were people being evacuated by boats and tanks from their houses.  the road access into four lakes was cut off, so shari (who was in town for business) and i ended up running over a mile to get to our condo to rescue puma.  puma was safe, but everything else was sheer craziness.  the lake in our backyard was literally about three feet away from flooding our condo.  a lot of our neighbors had their houses completely under water.  no one was hurt/killed, but so much property has been ruined.  my heart goes out to all the people who were affected by the flood.  we will definitely be getting flood insurance! here are some pics from the flood. there are a lot more, but they are on my phone.  i will try and add them later. 





Friday, April 12, 2013

Boards Passed!!!

rich passed his first set of boards today!  great job on all your hardwork, love! i never stop being amazed at how brilliant you are.  i love you forever. xoxo. 

the proof


Saturday, April 6, 2013

Little Sister


my sister laura is going through a divorce right now.  i am sad that her marriage ended, but i know it is for the best.  she came to stay with us for a little bit, and it was amazing having her around.  she is such an inspiration to me.  she is so fun and selfless.  i am proud of her for being so strong through all of this.  i love you laurabora. :)

Monday, March 11, 2013

Visit from the KiDs

"it was sure nice of you to take them out! is this their first time shopping?"
--trader joe cashier to rich, referring to my parents :)

my parents came to visit!  it was a blast, and i was depressed to see them drive off.  i'm so grateful they came because i know how busy they are.  we packed a lot of stuff into their visit.  the first day they got here, we took them to see rich's school, my hospital, went car shopping just for fun, cooked chicken tikki masala and watched the news and a movie.  that was supposed to be our lazy chill day, but it ended up being pretty busy.  one of my favorite things is to hear my parents and rich discuss politics. warms my heart.  :)

the next morning, we catched the metra for downtown.  we walked through the city and on lakeshore drive to the field museum.  it was a nice day thankfully because it ended up being over a four mile walk!  i thought it was supposed to be just over two...oops! lol! good thing my parents have energy like toddlers! the field museum was ginormous and awesome.  rich and i had no clue how big it was.  after a few hours of being there, we all collapsed on a bench in the dinosaur exhibit for about an hour. haha! we are wimps! we learned a lot about the  cryolophosaurus though! :) after the musuem, we went to giordanos for some famously delicious chicago deep pizza.  yummy!  then we went home and watched the news again.  yes, we are junkies!

the third day, we took my parents to the signature room.   the view was amazing.  i love that restaurant and my parents.  after dinner, we took them to see the "million dollar quartet" which is a musical inspired by the recording session that brought elvis presley, johnny cash, carl perkins and jerry lee lewis together.  based on how much parents were movin' and groovin' along with the singers, i think it is safe to say they liked it! :) it was a pretty sweet play, and it was highly recommended for when the parents/in-laws visit.  we finished up our weekend with a trip to trader joes' were my parents practically bought every sugary sweet item in store!  ahah, i think my mom is trying to fatten me up.  we got cheesecake, coconut ice cream, moose tracks ice cream, black licorice, macadamia nuts, dark chocolate covered pomegranates, dark chocolate covered gingers, raspberries, blackberries and coconut cookies! we were like little kids in a candy store. the cashier thought we were hilarious (see above quote).  the sweets were tasty though and now, thanks to my parents, we have delicious treats everywhere! it was an awesome weekend, and we had a fabulous time.  thanks for visiting mom and dad! we love you.  XOXO!

there was a blizzard right before they came.  i was worried they wouldn't be able to make it, but it stopped and made everything look all "white christmas" for us. 
rich showin' off his place of learnin' to the in-laws

my mom wanted to see the area where i go on walks when talking to her, so we put on our boots and trudged through snow! troopers!

my two favorite men riding the metra and making my mom and i laugh.  "he is eating all the proceeds!"
I LOVE MY MUMMY
rich was supposed to be studying for boards, but he took a three day breather.  thanks a lot studycakes! the trip would not have been any fun without your face!
dad doing business during a pic! he is efficient! :)
dad, me, an elephant and tyrannosaurus sue (in the background, to the left)
my dad is hilarious! after walking like 8 miles and standing all day, on our way out of the museum, i turn around and see my dad doing this!!! lol! i love him.  boys never stop being boys, right?!
"if the dad-in-law can do it, so can i!" :)
love him forever :)
best and most cute parents ever :)
best kids ever ;)
my mom is so cute.  she was so worried we were gonna get mugged.  her expression says it all i think!  she has a point though...chicago is dangerous!
at the top of the john hancock building in the signature room.  sorry the pic isn't that great.
life can be pretty wonderful :)

Monday, February 18, 2013

LoVE DaY


i know a lot of people say that you should always show love for your significant other and you shouldn't need a special day to do that, but i for one am grateful there is a holiday devoted to lovin'.  this valentines day was a hit! i should say valentines week because we celebrated all week. :)  rich surprised me with roses, a cute card and tickets to jersey boys for saturday! i made cookies for rich, got him a monogrammed mug and tickets to the chicago auto show for friday...and yes, i was trying to impress him... 

i love my hot pink roses!
there is beef jerky inside of the brown bag, but beef jerky just isn't as cute as cookies.
i baked!
the chicago auto show was HUGE! it is the nation's biggest car show.  we wished we would've worn better shoes because we did a ton of walking and our feet hurt, but it was cool seein' so many ridiculously sweet cars.
most legit car that we have ever seen
also a legit price tag! lol

"a 54' convertible too...light blue"
beamers are a beautiful thing
true.
seriously??? this was the most pimped out van i have ever seen.  inside it looked like a limo--complete with blue lights, velvet, speakers and champagne holders.  i wanna party in this van! lol!!!
my personal favorite

rich at the car show was like me at a clothing store. he did not want to leave! he was so obsessed with this car. we went back to see it like four times.
on our way to see jersey boys!!!
we are a big deal
i went shopping with lisa (from work) and she said i needed to dress "chicago" so naturally i am wearing a zebra-ish print dress. thanks lisa for helping me broaden my style! rich liked it.

yummy, yummy, yummy delicious food!
bruce wayne ;)
this food seriously was so good

Add caption

jersey boys was amazing! definitely worth seeing. 
i love you, rich

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

kelly cat comes to chicago

kelly was in town for business, so he extended his trip and was able to hang out with us.  i have such an awesome father-in-law.  we miss him already. 

at one of america's oldest theaters, the tivoli.  they are handsome. :)