Quick Snapshot: Illinois

So, unlike New York, I am going to make the "virtual trip" to Illinois brief. There is a LOT to cover, so you should be thankful! I will LIST (bet you saw that coming) the main events:

1. Saw Grandma Quack Quack

We had a fantabulous time with her, ate at a delicious Mexican restaurant, updated her on all of our life's events, and listened to her update us on her life's events!

2. Rehearsal/Rehearsal Dinner

The rehearsal was great and fun to attend (talk about deja vu- 7 months ago WE went through that); the rehearsal dinner was delicious- Chicago deep dish pizza, salad, m&m's, Hershey's Kisses, and Reese's Pieces, etc. Top all of that food off with fun-filled conversation, reconnecting with old friends, and the night was perfect!

3. Visited Old Places in Naperville/ Took Care of My Macbook

Downtown Naperville was beautiful and bustling with people! It was an adorable little area of town with cute, local shops, but it was full of modern shops as well- Apple, Starbucks, etc. They even had a Benefit Cosmetics free standing store! I was psyched! The inside was adorable. Recently we ran a hard drive scan and found out that my hard drive was in the process of failing, so since downtown had an Apple store, we decided to take mine in on an emergency basis to be fixed while visiting Illinois. Thanks to running into an old friend who happened to be an administrator at the Apple store (score!!!), my laptop did, indeed get its surgical procedure accomplished by the following day!

4. River Walk

During our visit to downtown Naperville, we walked leisurely along the river walk, watching the no-so-intelligent ducks swim against the current… thim thar' is smurt duckies.

5. Wedding

The wedding was gorgeous as was the bride. Alyssa and Andrew (bride and groom… you can figure out which was which) were both glowing with love and excitement. The reception was also lovely; Travis and I danced to a few songs and had an overall good time!

6. Visited Downtown Chicago

This was fabulicious! We took an upper deck bus tour where we learned an incredible amount of information from our personal Wikipedia tour guide. He was extremely knowledgeable about the city of Chicago- it was truly amazing. I am surprised his brain has not exploded yet. That… would be a messy bus tour.

7. Visited with/Had Dinner with the Marquez and Baker Families

After touring Chicago, we hung out with Karen, Dean, Karen's friend Ann, Dean and Karen's son- Jake, and his girlfriend- Frankie. We received a tour of their lovely home and then headed out to dinner once Aubrie and Matt Baker (Dean and Karen's daughter and son-in-law) came to the house. The dinner was Mexicantastical! I had tamales and Trav had a quesadilla- yummy yum yum! After royally stuffing ourselves with the most gas-producing food known to the human race, we headed back to the hotel to pass out… oh… not from the gas… just 'cause we were tired.

8. Saw the Bakers' Home

The next day, we woke up later than normal, went to Starbucks, and then headed for Geneva which was a bust to say the least. The place was more dead than a morgue run by Casper and his pals. However, we did find an adorable little baby shop where we saw some cute cribs… needless to say, before long, I had to escape!!! We then had a yummy lunch at Portillo's where I got a chili cheese dog like my dad had suggested… which started barkin' later if ya know what I mean… but oh well, live and learn. I'm pretty sure the lining of my stomach is nonexistent now. After eating, we headed to Aubrie and Matt's place (if you forgot who they are, see above). It was a beautiful townhouse that was wonderfully decorated! Aubrie clearly has her mom's sense of decorating style. Simply beautiful!

9. Had Dinner with/Visited with the Petersons

After that lovely visit, we went to meet with some old friends, the Petersons. The friend that was an administrator at the Apple store was Nicole, the eldest daughter of the Peterson family. She couldn't make it to dinner that night (she is married and working after all!), but we did get to see the parents, Eric, and Robyn- the girl who was my friend when I was a fetus. Robyn and I discovered that we were clones- both obsessed with the Beatles, both obsessed with Starbucks, both obsessed with sweets and chocolate, and the list goes on… I began to wish that we had lived in Illinois when I was older!!! That way we could have been friends when we actually could remember being friends! Oh well, I guess that would have been bad considering I met the love of my life in Florida!!! Anywho, we had an amazing dinner and visit with them (notice every event seems to center around food… just thought I'd point that out), but then it was time to head back to the hotel because Sharon Peterson (the mom) started feeling ill. :( We bid them farewell and then took our leave.

10. Bye Bye, Illinois!

Finally, yesterday, it was time to head 'em up and move 'em out! We met Aubrie and Karen for some breakfast at Baker's Square restaurant (once again, food.), and then we said farewell to Illinois in all its splendor. We had a long drive ahead full of Enchanted, Everybody Loves Raymond, Phase 10, and sleeping! We got home last night and crashed out… traveling was exhausting, but sure was fun!

There was a quick rundown of our trip to Illinois. Hope you enjoyed it! Perhaps you will visit soon and get to experience the wonderful city of Chicago and the overall great state of Illinois. If not… sorry for rubbing this amazing trip in your face. Later!