weekly highlights

sunday: went to michigan and it was fabulous
monday: lazy, glorious day. the only thing on the agenda was bingo with my seniors and jon & kate + 8.
tuesday: yeah yeah yeah's concert of course
wednesday: finally got a good night's sleep
thursday: dinner date with the bf at a restaurant that we've been dying to try
friday: it's freaking gorgeous in chicago! and i'm going to the turkish festival for lunch with all my coworkers. mmm kabobs.

can't complain. hope you all had a nice week too!

i'm spoiled rotten.

last night i went to see the yeah yeah yeahswith my man. for free. and sat in the vip section. it was awesome. this isn't out of the ordinary. my man works in the music "biz" and can get us free tickets to practically any show in chicago. we have seen some amazing shows together but the absolute best=lollapalooza 2007 artist passes. i honestly don't know how he got that but i didn't ask questions. it was pretty unreal wandering around the artist lounges and running into perry farrell-literally running into him-and sitting on stage for the black keys and m.i.a. i love going to shows with him and i'm so glad that we can do it so often.

the bf isn't the only one that gets me into shows and other free vip situations. one of my best buds got a hook up and took me to madonna for free. INSANE. same bff took me to an absolut mango launch party that was full of free alcohol, giveaways and entertainment. she has also managed to get us complimentary bottles of champagne, vip seating and give me a free ipod touch....she's nuts. another friend took me to a cubs game a few weeks ago. another bff took me to a fancy fundraiser earlier this year. she also knows the manager at one of the bars we frequent so we get free food and drinks there. another bud knows quite a few stand-up comedians and gets us into shows for free and usually a bit of quality time with the comedian afterwards.

i do get some decent things on my own. when i worked for luna i got to fly out to cali a few times and always had a ton of luna goodies and product. when i was in undergrad i got to go to san diego for a leadership conference and meet comedians and bands through the organization i was involved with. i have also gotten some pretty nice hookups through my current job. free cubs game and trips to d.c. and baltimore. but the only thing i was able to offer my friends was free tickets to xanadu. right up there with madonna right? when i write everything out it seems absolutely out of control how spoiled i am. you'd think with all these hook ups and freebies i would have a lot more money.

i'm one lucky girl.

my happy place.

on sunday i drove up to southwest michigan and visited st. joseph's and new buffalo with my parents and the bf. when i was little my family would spend a week with family friends in stevensville, michigan at chalet on the lake (http://www.chaletonthelake.com/) and visit all these great spots in st. joe's and new buffalo. me and the bf drove up separately from my folks and grabbed some huge, delicious granola cluster cookies from tosi's cafe (http://www.caffetosi.com/) then some vanilla caramel fudge from kilwin's (http://www.kilwins.com/) before heading down to silver beach in st. joe's for a few hours before it got too chilly. it was great to get some sun, look at the water and all the boats. after the wind picked up we went back to the shopping area before heading to redamak's (http://www.redamaks.com/) in new buffalo for dinner. it is the holy grail of burger joints for me. the burgers are seriously the fattiest, to die for, melt in your mouth deliciousness that i crave each summer. i know that the burgers taste extra special to me because of all the memories i have there but i've gotten the bf pretty addicted too! they don't have plates there, the burgers come wrapped in wax paper. they also don't serve coffee and won't put lettuce or tomato on your burgers - just ketchup, mustard, pickles and a huge slice of onions. after dinner we ALWAYS play games in the game room. me and the bf have our fav - crusin' exotica. it's a hilarious racing game that we've have actually gotten pretty good at over the past few years. after the games we head to oink's dutch treat for ice cream down the street from redamak's. they get their ice cream from sherman's dairy (http://www.shermanicecream.com/) in new haven. it is thick, creamy and oh so yummie. i ALWAYS order blue moon like all of the 3-7 year olds. but it's tradition! then we drive home and i feel like i'm going to die from eating so much. also a tradition.


some of my happiest childhood memories involve these places and these areas. i love that practically nothing has changed and i can go back and feel like a kid again. i remember the kids burying each other in the sand, cruising on my multi-colored zebra float, my dad holding me and covering me with a towel when it was too windy, making smores and so much more. it's still totally my happy place filled with those memories and some more recent ones too.

7 Years and Counting.

yesterday was the big 7 year anniversary with my man. wowzers. it makes me feel old. we had a great night together. we exchanged cards and gifts before we went to dinner. we definitely got each other the same card. i couldn't believe it! it's nice to know that we feel exactly the same way about each other - enough so that we pick out the same greeting card :) he actually managed to surprise me for probably the first time in a few years! he got me a leopard print locket with one of my fav picture sof us inside - see above. i love it! it's very rock and roll but also very sweet. totally my style. i got him some items he really needed and a gift card to his favorite bike shop. then we went to the black duck for dinner. that's where we had our first chicago dinner date back when i was 19 and he was 18. it's one of our favorites and it brings back great memories.

this year has been so great for us and i feel like i continue to get happier in our relationship over time. we laugh more than we fight and we get to spend way more time together than in the past. we do fun things together like summer festivals, concerts, new restaurants and trips. we do nice things for each other regularly. he surprises me with flowers often and does the dishes after we cook and i bring him his favorite types of candy and send him ecards all the time. that sounds cheesy but i think it shows that we think about each other throughout the day. i swear it's the little things that make the difference!

i'm excited to see what the future holds but right now i am happy and loved and i couldn't be any more lucky.