more fun birthday events

Since I last wrote I have just been on the go go go go go! I think this is how my life is just going to have to be from now on. I can sleep when I'm dead... right?  Jay will yell at me if he reads this post, he thinks I need to cut some fun out of my life (aka facebook, blogging, and doing unnecessary things like crafting and writing an obscene amount of cards to people I love).  He is probably right. I do work full time. I am also a full time student. I need my sleep... but I really enjoy all the extra things I do with my time. I would rather have less sleep and more fun.  

Anyway... after my trip up to Sturgeon Bay with the girls, I worked Friday night, then napped for a couple hours and then it was go go go.  My annual family picnic was this weekend.  We play tug-o-war, have sack races, balloon tosses, eat lots of food, dance, play basketball, sand volleyball and take pictures... all wearing primary colors.  My dad is one of 14 children... we all wear green.  Then other big groups of extended families wear blue, red, yellow, and white.  It is fun. We play games as family teams. I think this year my extended green family won most of the games.

 green vs. yellow

green totes won.

 

 my cousin maricel (the big kid)

with my cousin's girls Madison (left) and Mia (right) and their friend Maggie (2nd from right)

Straight from the family picnic, Jay and I headed to our friend Madeline's house for a birthday party.  Madeline and I have the same birthday, so it makes celebrating double the fun!  We played beer pong, cranium, hung out on the porch, and ate lots of yummy foods.

a back seat view of some of my pals playing cranium

whoa close up! of madeline and me:)

We stayed the night at Madeline's house, then woke up Sunday morning to head downtown.  Part of Jay's birthday present to me was to take me on the Spirit of Chicago, a boat that sails along the Chicago coast. The other part of my gift was a vintage leather camera strap for my canon rebel xs!  We boarded the vessel and had a table for two, decorated with a blue balloon for my birthday.  We ate delicious food and then spent most of our time outside on deck enjoying the sunshine, the beautiful skyline scenery, and each others company.  We don't get to spend a lot of alone time in the summer, because every minute we are together is on the weekends and every weekend is booked full of parties and picnics, concerts and events where we are usually with my family, his friends, my friends, or his family.  So, we cherished the couple hours we were alone.  We can't wait until we live in the same town again.  He is at school at the University of Illinois getting his PhD (finishing this fall or next spring, yay!)

Overall I got no sleep this weekend, but it was totally worth it.  What a great way to be brought into the 25th year of my life.  

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My Spring & Summer Fun To Do's

• DONE Go to the beach
• DONE Go to a museum
• DONE Seek out photo ops 
• DONE Go to Ireland (June 2-7)
• DONE Kentucky Derby party @ Mike and Shley's (May 1)
•  DONE Visit the Sears Tower (not Willis darnit!) Skydeck
• DONE Have a bonfire
• DONE Paint pottery
• DONE Lake Geneva trip with my favorite ladies (June 17-19)
• DONE Pride parade (June 27) 
• DONE Summerfest for the 4th of July in Milwaukee, WI
• DONE Go to a concert
• DONE Go to my cabin  (July 10/11 and Aug 7/8!!)
• DONE Play tennis
• DONE Go camping
• DONE Sturgeon Bay, WI for my birthday with a few of my best ladies (July 21-23) 
• Go for a long (for me) bike ride
• Ride a roller coaster
• Hot air balloon ride
• Have a picnic
• Go to the zoo
• Volunteer
• Play bocce ball
• Gamble at a casino
• See a movie in grant park
• Go to a cubs game
• Pitchfork music fest (July 16-18)
• Chicago Jazz Fest (Sept 3-5)
  
• Paint with acrylics
• Oktoberfest Chicago (Sept 24-26)
  
• Family Picnic (July 24)
• Possible South Carolina Trip (mid September)

Sturgeon Bay Birthday

Just got back from my mini trip with 5 of my favorite ladies to Sturgeon Bay, WI for my birthday.  While I should probably be sleeping (I have to work tonight) or doing homework (lots of stuff due), I am choosing this instead.  I want to remember all the details of our trip and this weekend is going to be busy busy busy, so I want to get it all out before I forget it all.

We left Wednesday morning and arrived in Sturgeon Bay Wednesday afternoon.  First stop? The beach.  We set up camp and enjoyed the sun.  It was so nice to finally relax and not think about work or school.

 Franke, Me, Maricel, Lisa and Lauren at Sunset Beach (Manda took the picture)

Lauren enjoying the water

Me and Franke... tummy time!

After getting our fill of sunshine and relaxation, we went on our way.  Our bellies were growling at us to feed them... so we decided on something quick and easy so we could go home, get our dancing shoes on and go out on the town.  We saw Hardee's and voted a YES, because we always see the thickburger commercials and quite the many of us have never eaten a thickburger, since we don't have them near us.  Turns out no one ordered a thickburger and we ate chicken tenders instead... thickburgers have an entire day's worth of calories in one sandwich... grooosss. 

After filling our bellies with greasy goodness, we went to our hotel and dolled ourselves up.  We had some cocktails and danced around to some fabulous tunes.  (We found out the next day that people complained of our noise... oops!) 

I love birthdays not only because they are a time of celebration and fun fun fun... but because my friends get me awesome presents!!  I opened up my presents this year and nothing has changed... I received wonderful things!  

From Lisa I got a ruffled gray jersey dress and fancy necklace. Which I ended up putting on and wearing all night.

From Lauren I got a pretty salmon colored linen top with brass details and a canvas belt to match.

From Franke I got a Casino-themed gift, complete with: Champagne, lottery tickets, dice game, chocolate gold coins, 21 the movie, a hand-held poker game, and a promise to take me to the casino this summer.

From Maricel I got a gallon of wine and a peacock ring holder. 

From Amanda I got a canvas bag, a canvas for painting, new brushes, and 3 rubber stamps to add to my ever growing collection.

I was so happy to have received such wonderful things! 
Thanks friends, you rock my world.

After we opened presents we hit the town. Turns out Sturgeon Bay has one street, three blocks long, with about 5 pubs.  We hit 4 of them.

In the hotel being goofy.

The drinks were so cheap compared to Chicago prices that we may or may not have went a little crazy.  We danced, we sang, we ate pizza, we took shots, I got a shirt at the last bar that everyone in the bar signed.  

posing with one of Sturgeon Bay's many statues of a sturgeon fish

my Van's Pub shirt

i love these ladies

 can u tell we had a fabulous time?

Butt loads of fun!

The next morning we woke up and went out to lunch at a place called Family Thyme restaurant. It was adorable and family owned.  

Lisa and the cute menu.  

 

After lunch we stopped at a cute little candy shop and bought delicious desserts. 

We drove north and went to Westwood Shores Resort to visit Jay's aunt.  She works here and lives in Sturgeon Bay.  The place is gorgeous and next time I am up in Door County I will definitely be staying here.  The suites are huge and they have two pools and a spot on the lake with paddle boats to rent for free.  Each suite comes with two bedrooms, a family room, a kitchen, a bathroom with a jacuzzi, and a balcony with a table and chairs that looks out toward the lake. A beautiful place.

Looking out at the lake.

 the girls in front of the resort.

We went to Door Peninsula Winery and went on a winery tour and tasted a bunch of delicious wines made from fruit grown in Wisconsin.

 happily tasting wine.

 I think I was tasting a wine called sunset splash. Yum. Summer day in a bottle.

 One of the many wine racks.

We went to Egg Harbor, a town north of Sturgeon Bay, and walked around.  We shopped around at a bunch of the cute shops in Egg Harbor.  We are major dorks and bought matching sweatshirts. 

When we got home, we took a little nap after our exhausting day, then went to Chef Andy's Nautical Inn for a very nice dinner.  I ordered Pan-crusted Halibut.  So. Unbelievably. Delicious. I recommend this restaurant 100%.

We went swimming when we got home and then it was 11:30pm before we knew it and off to bed we went.   We woke up this morning, left straight away and here I am!  I have to work tonight and then tomorrow more family and birthday festivities!  

Annual family picnic tomorrow, then straight to Madeline's house. Madeline and I share the same birthday, so she is throwing a birthday party in honor of our awesomeness!  

Time to nap before my 12hr shift at work!

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My Spring & Summer Fun To Do's

• DONE Go to the beach
• DONE Go to a museum
• DONE Seek out photo ops 
• DONE Go to Ireland (June 2-7)
• DONE Kentucky Derby party @ Mike and Shley's (May 1)
•  DONE Visit the Sears Tower (not Willis darnit!) Skydeck
• DONE Have a bonfire
• DONE Paint pottery
• DONE Lake Geneva trip with my favorite ladies (June 17-19)
• DONE Pride parade (June 27) 
• DONE Summerfest for the 4th of July in Milwaukee, WI
• DONE Go to a concert
• DONE Go to my cabin  (July 10/11 and Aug 7/8!!)
• DONE Play tennis
• DONE Go camping
• Go for a long (for me) bike ride
• Ride a roller coaster
• Hot air balloon ride
• Have a picnic
• Go to the zoo
• Volunteer
• Play bocce ball
• Gamble at a casino
• See a movie in grant park
• Go to a cubs game
• Pitchfork music fest (July 16-18)
• Chicago Jazz Fest (Sept 3-5)
  
• Paint with acrylics
• Oktoberfest Chicago (Sept 24-26)
  
• Sturgeon Bay, WI for my birthday with a few of my best ladies (July 21-23)
• Family Picnic (July 24)
• Possible South Carolina Trip (mid September)

My Toys' Story

I saw a "double feature" with Ashley M last Friday.  We were angered, appalled, confused, annoyed and downright flustered with the pricing of movies these days, especially when you intend on seeing a 3D movie... like TOY STORY 3 in 3D!

So, we decided after seeing Toy Story 3, we would sneak into Despicable Me and get our moneys worth...darn it! 

 After laughing and crying through Toy Story 3, we should have definitely seen Despicable Me prior to Toy Story 3, because Despicable Me was not that great in comparison.  Toy Story 3 was amazing and everyone should see it.

Anyway, I started to think about my toys from my childhood...

My favorites?

Legos

... I used to always build houses, that was it, always houses.

Teddy Ruxpin

... i loved reading with him. Now when I look at him though, SO creepy! Right?

Polly Pocket

I think this is almost the same as the one I used to own.

Barbies

What little girl didn't like Barbies at one point?

Ninja Turtles

My mom used to bribe me with Ninja Turtles haha. I was a really good dancer as a kid, in jazz, tap, gymnastics classes galore. I would never want to perform at family events, so my mom would bribe me. haha. I ended up with a lot of Ninja Turtle accessories.

Life the board game

Pillow Bear

... which I still have... in my room... in my closet.  :)  My Pillow Bear is like my "Woody".  I would take him everywhere.  We used to take a lot of roadtrips when I was a kid, because my parents didn't have money for cruises and European trips back then, so we traveled all over the U.S.  Along with me came my pillow bear.  I wish I could remember what name I used to call him.  He is so cute.  His nose is crooked because it fell off and my mom had to sew it back on, his flannel shirt has holes in it, his feet have stains all over them from me dragging him around. I love him.

I wonder what toys my mother has kept for me stored in her basement...