Bobby had a business meeting on Thursday so technically this qualified as a "business trip" so lucky for us we shacked up in the ever so inviting Four Seasons Hotel and as luck would have it we were upgraded to a suite. And let me tell you, it's even sweeeter when the suite is on someone else's tab.
This was the view from our window. One big one in the room with the bed and one huge window in the sitting room. We were on the 43rd floor so all of the cars below looked like Matchbox. It was incredible at night too.
We were lucky to have some friends come along for the fun. A'lyce made my shopping more enjoyable and we loved having friends to converse with over dinner.
Speaking of dinner, I had salmon TWO nights while we were there. I don't even like salmon.....usually. I'm more of a white flaky fish kind of gal. More specifically I prefer a white flaky fish that tastes like chicken. Just keepin' it real. However, the salmon was delish. I'm assuming that I probably wouldn't have liked it if it had come from Captain D's or something but somehow if you're in a nice restaurant you really can't go wrong.
A sad thing in any city is walking past numerous homeless people. What is more sad is that one homeless man, in an attempt to get these fellows to give him money called out "Hey! Hey Tony Soprano!! Hey Kirk Douglas! How 'bout some change, man!" Then he added, "And ladies, I ain't forgetting ya'll either. Ya'll are like supermodels!"
Supermodels? Maybe A'lyce but not me for sure. Worse off, have you seen Kirk Douglas?? Let me refresh you:
We were lucky to have some friends come along for the fun. A'lyce made my shopping more enjoyable and we loved having friends to converse with over dinner.Speaking of dinner, I had salmon TWO nights while we were there. I don't even like salmon.....usually. I'm more of a white flaky fish kind of gal. More specifically I prefer a white flaky fish that tastes like chicken. Just keepin' it real. However, the salmon was delish. I'm assuming that I probably wouldn't have liked it if it had come from Captain D's or something but somehow if you're in a nice restaurant you really can't go wrong.
A sad thing in any city is walking past numerous homeless people. What is more sad is that one homeless man, in an attempt to get these fellows to give him money called out "Hey! Hey Tony Soprano!! Hey Kirk Douglas! How 'bout some change, man!" Then he added, "And ladies, I ain't forgetting ya'll either. Ya'll are like supermodels!"Supermodels? Maybe A'lyce but not me for sure. Worse off, have you seen Kirk Douglas?? Let me refresh you:
And Tony Soprano?? Better than Kirk for sure but still not quite a compliment:
Needless to say, after suggesting that Bobby appeared to have one foot in the coffin and Jason was perhaps overweight and balding the poor man didn't get any moola. I personally would've given him ten bucks for suggesting that I was supermodel material but unfortunately I didn't have my purse.
Some other things I didn't bring with me were my common sense nor my spectacular comfy shoes. Wait. I really don't think both can coexist. You really can't be wearing spectacular shoes if you're all comfy. Anyway, after walking block upon block in the city the first night in some stiletto pumps, I quickly decided that I would prefer that someone chop my feet off and just let me walk on my bloody nubs. It really couldn't have been any worse. As with child birth though, I forgot the excruciating pain and wore a pair of wedges the next night. Hello blisters on parts of the foot I was unaware that I had.
Needless to say, in an attempt to salvage my feet we ended up taking cabs the rest of the night and there will be no mention of how I used napkins from the movie theater to bandage my wounds.
Needless to say, after suggesting that Bobby appeared to have one foot in the coffin and Jason was perhaps overweight and balding the poor man didn't get any moola. I personally would've given him ten bucks for suggesting that I was supermodel material but unfortunately I didn't have my purse.
Some other things I didn't bring with me were my common sense nor my spectacular comfy shoes. Wait. I really don't think both can coexist. You really can't be wearing spectacular shoes if you're all comfy. Anyway, after walking block upon block in the city the first night in some stiletto pumps, I quickly decided that I would prefer that someone chop my feet off and just let me walk on my bloody nubs. It really couldn't have been any worse. As with child birth though, I forgot the excruciating pain and wore a pair of wedges the next night. Hello blisters on parts of the foot I was unaware that I had. Needless to say, in an attempt to salvage my feet we ended up taking cabs the rest of the night and there will be no mention of how I used napkins from the movie theater to bandage my wounds.It was a great trip with great friends to one of my favorite shopping destinations. I am now going to save a quarter a day so that I can go back to Chicago and make my dream of owning a pair of Jimmy Choo designer shoes come true. These in particular are fabulous:
At a quarter a day I can go ahead and clear my calender for summer of 2022. I'm pretty sure it's wide open that year.
At a quarter a day I can go ahead and clear my calender for summer of 2022. I'm pretty sure it's wide open that year.
Little Buddy was Mr. Picture Poser. There may or may not have been candy involved.
Bobby's attempt to make Cade have a normal kid smile instead of his iguana neck cheesy ball smile landed me a great photo op.
Pyro Bob had a souped up arsenal this year under the guise of helping out a former coach of mine. On one of his usual tent stops he found that my high school softball coach was manning the tent to make some extra cash in the summer. Basically he was using his good nature to help put food on the table for the man, his wife, and three kids. It had nothing to do with the fact that Bobby LIVES to shoot fireworks......
Now, contrary to what some believe, Bobby follows all rules and safety regulations regarding fireworks and any other flaming balls of hot paper and gun powder. I don't know why our neighbors fear their house burning down this time every year.
We had the usual smattering of children watching army tanks, little china houses, and red hot doodads spinning out of control in the street. And, as every year past, they (Bobby) loved every second of it.
They were pretty loud though.
And what's the Fourth without colored smoke bombs??
We had some good eatin'. Barbecue if you're into that (which I'm not), mac and cheese, hashbrown casserole and any other yellow/white starchy food you can name.....and homemade ice cream which I AM into.
And the men played cornhole (not pictured) and this ball-on-string game that I cannot recollect the name of.
We had a great evening spending time with our buddies and watching Bobby's pyrotechnic show. Mixed with all of the neighbors fireworks it was actually a site to see. Praise the Lord for being able to live in America, for freedom to worship as we please, and that no one walked away from our house with third degree burns or missing appendages! Happy Fourth!
He did get (usually) at least one hit a game. He looks pretty relaxed with the whole arms crossed thing going on in this pic. Makes you think that it's old hat to be standing on second base. 
Bobby was one of his coaches this year. I think he would describe the experience as slightly rewarding and mostly incredibly frustrating :) The ol' Captain D's Rays pulled out only one win this year and it was pretty brutal. You know things aren't looking good when your playing teams with matching bat bags and pullovers.......in 7/8 year old baseball. Seriously? Give me a break.
He did, for the first time, get to sit in a real, true dugout. And that was all kinds of cool. Don't be judging his Kareem Abdul Jabaar sports glasses either. My heart can't take it. The kid needs some extra eyes. What can I say?
Once again we teamed up with our buddy. These two made a pretty good match for each other on the baseball field. I think the best quote from my Cade was: "I hope next year we get to keep all of our good players....and me and Cade Ashman." Ha. Both of them showed considerable improvement from the beginning of the season. I was proud of how hard they worked. 
