fun filled march!

i'm getting so excited about everything i have planned in march! rob and i are going to see the punch brothers next week, i have some dates planned with my high school buds, a meeting with stef to discuss save the dates & invites for the wedding, i have some awesome events going on for work including an irish whiskey tasting, i've got some birthday celebrations mixed in there, a valentine's day redo, my first bulls game and i'll be gone for a whole week in bladensburg for a student service trip - i'm so nervous and excited!

what a great month!

sick valentine.

i came down with the stomach flu on monday morning and i'm still recovering. i spent valentine's day in pajamas on the couch rather than at the french restaurant rob had made reservations at. i ate a piece of toast instead of the duck i had planned to order and had gingerale instead of a glass of wine. but regardless of the circumstances, i still had a lovely valentine's day with my valentine. rob took great care of me. he made sure i had different medicine and plenty of fluids at all times. he brought me get well/valentine's day flowers to brighten the room and he insisted we open gifts that day. he got me tickets to the ballet this spring - a absolute favorite activity of mine! and a terrarium class too! i can't wait for both! he's so damn thoughtful. i got us bulls tickets and a coffee and chocolate tasting. we have so many things to look forward to! even though i was couch bound on actual valentine's day we spent the weekend doing fun things. on saturday night we went to a 70's themed roller skating party which was a riot and we had a blast. no falls! and on sunday we went to the depaul women's basketball game vs marquette with my parents. they won and we had a great time! we'll have our dinner date eventually to make up for this germy valentine's day, but all i really needed for a happy valentine's day was rob!

tired traveler.

we got a new staff member on board that will be coordinating our regional programs. i have had the opportunity to go with her to orlando last week and atlanta this week to help her with our events in those cities. last week it was 80 degrees and sunny in orlando and we had enough time to get a nice lunch and i got a workout in before our event. after the lovely event we grabbed drinks and food and got to bed at a reasonable time. the next day we checked out late and went out for brunch. i didn't land back in chicago until 4 p.m. so i just went straight home and relaxed. it was great! for atlanta we had early flights and i was super tired when we arrived. all i really cared about was getting some quality comfort food and that mission was accomplished. first thing we did was go to Gladys Knight's Chicken & Waffles in midtown. the servers were so friendly and there was a good mix of locals and tourists. we both loved our chicken and waffles! afterwards we didn't have a ton of time before our event so we just did some work before heading to the venue. the event went well and afterwards we grabbed dinner with other staff at an american/southern tapas place. my favorite tapas were fried green tomatoes, bbq pulled pork egg rolls, spicy mac & cheese and krispie kreme bread pudding. we had a great time chatting and eating but by the end i was so tired! when we got back to our hotel i could not sleep. i had drank way too many diet cokes at the event and was totally wired so that 6 a.m. est wake up call was pretty brutal and so was not being able to sleep on the flight and coming straight to work. even though my eyes are burning, i'm so grateful to have the opportunity to visit new places, meet alumni in different parts of the country and get out of the city for a bit. i'm always happy to come home to my beloved chicago though!

week with friends

this no school thing really has it's perks. it's totally allowing me to be a bit more spontaneous and to enjoy weeknights again. last week was jam packed with friend time. on tuesday the shaklees came up for dinner and we got a lot of quality time after their trip to the planetarium. we had so much fun with meg, ry & their girls. wednesday i got to have dinner with tara & ryann before tara and i took a dance class at the joffrey. thursday we had an alumni volunteer outing at PAWS and my friend/fellow alumna, nicole came to help out. we didn't get to catch up much but it was still great to see a familiar face. on my way to the train i ran into tara & shalva who were grabbing tea close by. what a great surprise! on friday my friend leah let me know she was at a bar across from our place so i was able to swing by and catch up with her and her boyfriend before heading to dinner with our friends dan & kate. i couldn't help thinking how lucky i was to have such a friend filled week! the rest of the weekend was great too! on saturday rob and i went to an indie bridal fair and saw our friends val & chris and jen who was with another friend from high school. great running into so many people there! after that i got to grab tea at the sofitel with ryann and later we went to dinner and a depaul women's bball game with my parents and after that i met caitlin & mary out for drinks and dancing. seriously a great day! the next day we got to skype with the liebls and see all of luke's new exciting tricks like twirling and jumping off a chair :) such a cutie. then we went and picked up foster kitty #10 - fairy. she's a total love bug and we're so happy to have her!

truly one of the best weeks and weekends i can remember! i'm so lucky to have more time now to see friends and family.