Hope you had a great day! : )
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Cheap date
Tonight, we went to Dragonfly Mandarin for dinner. I had bought one of those gift certficates where you spend $28 and get a certificate for $50. In addition to that, we had a buy one entree, get one free coupon to use. So, in the end we spent $14 + $28 = $42 (the bill came to $79 with tip & tax)... not a bad deal at all! : )Just in case anyone wants to check out some of these websites that sell the half-price gift certificates... here you go:
Drive deals
WLUP Emmis Deals
The MIX
WXRT
Weekend in Detroit
Matt and I (and a few other TP folks) spent the weekend in Detroit for John & Erin's wedding. We had a great time! : )
On Friday, we flew to Detroit. We stayed at the Atheneum Hotel in downtown Detroit (right by Greektown). On a sidenote: we were NOT impressed with the hotel or the customer service at the hotel... I think we just had a bad experience there, because everyone else seemed to be fine.
On Friday night, Matt and I decided to hang out in the bar and wait for the others to show up. We figured that everyone would make it to the bar eventually. We were right. We all went out to dinner at Pegasus and then hit the Greektown Casino. I turned in early around 12:30 and Matt continued to gamble.
This is when the first incident at the Atheneum took place... I came back to our room to go to sleep and my key wouldn't work. I always have problems with those stupid electronic keys, so I thought it was just me. I went down to the front desk to get another key and it didn't work either. Turns out the battery in the lock on the door was dead. Now, this seems like an easy fix, but it really just is not. There is no way to even open the door unless the battery is working... seems safe, right?!? Since it was 12:30am, they had to call an engineer to come to the hotel and replace the battery and give me access to the room. In the meantime, they gave me another room to sit in and wait. I didn't want to fall asleep so I watched tv (ironically, one of my favorite shows was on tv - the Golden Girls!) At one point they were telling me they wouldn't be able to fix the door until the next day and I was NOT happy about that. FINALLY, they were able to get the door opened and they fixed the lock. By the time I got back into my room and they were done messing with the door, it was 2am. Matt didn't get back until 3am, so he missed all the fun.
Saturday morning when we woke up, there was another incident with the stupid hotel keys and getting in and out of the room... the keys did not work AGAIN! The hotel staff didn't really offer much of an apology either. Plus, our room was hot (most of the weekend) and the cable went out.
Anyway, we got all prettied up and went to the wedding ceremony, which was at St. Joan of Arc Church in St. Clair Shores.
After the ceremony, Erin's parents had a party at their house for the guests with snacks and drinks. It was a nice afternoon and we sat outside in the backyard.
By the time we got back to the hotel, we had about an hour to kill before the reception started, so we had a few drinks in the hotel bar.
The reception was a ton of fun! The first hour was drinks/appetizers and then dinner and dancing. The band (Intrigue) was really good. We were on our feet dancing the entire time! And the best part was that Erin & John had supplied pairs of Old Navy flip-flops for all the girls to wear!
After the reception, Matt went to the casino to gamble again and me, Jeannette and Carolina (she's from the Netherlands) went to Fishbones to see the band that was playing there. I introduced Carolina to touchscreen Photo Hunt. I'm a big fan!
On Sunday, we slept in a little and then headed over to Comerica Park to watch the Detroit Tigers vs. Chicago White Sox. Erin's parents had bought tickets for us all to go (so nice!)
Welcoming the wedding party...
After the game, Matt and I grabbed a quick bite to eat with Dan, AJ and Carolina at another Greektown restaurant. I had some more saganaki (flaming cheese)... so good!
Matt and I went to the casino and played roulette and lost. Luckily, Matt was up $200 already, so the loss wasn't too terrible. We went to take a short nap before going out for dinner and wouldn't you guess it... when we got back to the room, the keys didn't work AGAIN! This time it was because they thought we were checking out on Sunday instead of Monday and locked us out of the room. It took a couple of tries before we could get back in the room, but we eventually made it. I was getting tired of riding up and down that darn elevator!
We totally crashed! We woke up a few hours later and went to Fishbones for dinner. The food was really good and we topped it off with a stop at Cold Stone Creamery. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped off and played a few games of Photo Hunt.
This morning (Mon), we flew back to Chicago. We logged in some time napping on the couch and now I'm laughing at all the funny pictures I (and Colin, Matt, whoever had control of my camera at the time!) took.
What a great wedding and weekend! : )
To see all the pics, click here.
On Friday, we flew to Detroit. We stayed at the Atheneum Hotel in downtown Detroit (right by Greektown). On a sidenote: we were NOT impressed with the hotel or the customer service at the hotel... I think we just had a bad experience there, because everyone else seemed to be fine.
On Friday night, Matt and I decided to hang out in the bar and wait for the others to show up. We figured that everyone would make it to the bar eventually. We were right. We all went out to dinner at Pegasus and then hit the Greektown Casino. I turned in early around 12:30 and Matt continued to gamble.
This is when the first incident at the Atheneum took place... I came back to our room to go to sleep and my key wouldn't work. I always have problems with those stupid electronic keys, so I thought it was just me. I went down to the front desk to get another key and it didn't work either. Turns out the battery in the lock on the door was dead. Now, this seems like an easy fix, but it really just is not. There is no way to even open the door unless the battery is working... seems safe, right?!? Since it was 12:30am, they had to call an engineer to come to the hotel and replace the battery and give me access to the room. In the meantime, they gave me another room to sit in and wait. I didn't want to fall asleep so I watched tv (ironically, one of my favorite shows was on tv - the Golden Girls!) At one point they were telling me they wouldn't be able to fix the door until the next day and I was NOT happy about that. FINALLY, they were able to get the door opened and they fixed the lock. By the time I got back into my room and they were done messing with the door, it was 2am. Matt didn't get back until 3am, so he missed all the fun.
Saturday morning when we woke up, there was another incident with the stupid hotel keys and getting in and out of the room... the keys did not work AGAIN! The hotel staff didn't really offer much of an apology either. Plus, our room was hot (most of the weekend) and the cable went out.
Anyway, we got all prettied up and went to the wedding ceremony, which was at St. Joan of Arc Church in St. Clair Shores.
After the ceremony, Erin's parents had a party at their house for the guests with snacks and drinks. It was a nice afternoon and we sat outside in the backyard.
By the time we got back to the hotel, we had about an hour to kill before the reception started, so we had a few drinks in the hotel bar.
The reception was a ton of fun! The first hour was drinks/appetizers and then dinner and dancing. The band (Intrigue) was really good. We were on our feet dancing the entire time! And the best part was that Erin & John had supplied pairs of Old Navy flip-flops for all the girls to wear!
After the reception, Matt went to the casino to gamble again and me, Jeannette and Carolina (she's from the Netherlands) went to Fishbones to see the band that was playing there. I introduced Carolina to touchscreen Photo Hunt. I'm a big fan!
On Sunday, we slept in a little and then headed over to Comerica Park to watch the Detroit Tigers vs. Chicago White Sox. Erin's parents had bought tickets for us all to go (so nice!)
Welcoming the wedding party...
After the game, Matt and I grabbed a quick bite to eat with Dan, AJ and Carolina at another Greektown restaurant. I had some more saganaki (flaming cheese)... so good!
Matt and I went to the casino and played roulette and lost. Luckily, Matt was up $200 already, so the loss wasn't too terrible. We went to take a short nap before going out for dinner and wouldn't you guess it... when we got back to the room, the keys didn't work AGAIN! This time it was because they thought we were checking out on Sunday instead of Monday and locked us out of the room. It took a couple of tries before we could get back in the room, but we eventually made it. I was getting tired of riding up and down that darn elevator!
We totally crashed! We woke up a few hours later and went to Fishbones for dinner. The food was really good and we topped it off with a stop at Cold Stone Creamery. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped off and played a few games of Photo Hunt.
This morning (Mon), we flew back to Chicago. We logged in some time napping on the couch and now I'm laughing at all the funny pictures I (and Colin, Matt, whoever had control of my camera at the time!) took.
What a great wedding and weekend! : )
To see all the pics, click here.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Cubs win
Last night, Ross took Dues^3 out to the Cubs game. We had amazing seats, just 9 rows back behind home plate. The weather was perfect and the game was exciting.
A great thing about going to a game is that you get to eat food that's bad for you and drink beer. I loved these little caps filled with ice cream! It didn't really fit my head so well.
But I swear you could hear the ocean if you put them up to your ears... I think someone may have had one beer too many at the game!
Styx sang at the 7th inning stretch. Yeah, you can't see them in this pic at all.
Lou started pacing in the dugout... I was totally hoping he'd come out and get in a fight with the umpire so I could get a close-up of it. Didn't happen.
In the end, the Cubs won the game and the crowd was happy. : )
When we got home, I tried to get the cats to wear the cute caps... no luck. What babies!
A great thing about going to a game is that you get to eat food that's bad for you and drink beer. I loved these little caps filled with ice cream! It didn't really fit my head so well.
But I swear you could hear the ocean if you put them up to your ears... I think someone may have had one beer too many at the game!
Styx sang at the 7th inning stretch. Yeah, you can't see them in this pic at all.
Lou started pacing in the dugout... I was totally hoping he'd come out and get in a fight with the umpire so I could get a close-up of it. Didn't happen.
In the end, the Cubs won the game and the crowd was happy. : )
When we got home, I tried to get the cats to wear the cute caps... no luck. What babies!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Weekend in Michigan
On Saturday morning, Matt and I drove to Colon, MI. The drive there was particularly AWFUL because it was pouring rain. Like the kind of rain that makes it almost impossible to see the cars in front of you until they brake and the red lights come on. Matt was glad when we finally made it to the lakehouse his family had rented. I was, too!
The place we were staying (Vista Gardens Lakehouse) was a big house that used to be a bed and breakfast. There were 5 bedrooms, each with a full bathroom. The family that owns the house actually live there and just leave when it's rented out.
There were also some of Matt's family staying at a bed and breakfast not too far from the lakehouse... where the owner was kind of scary (he told them that he had been known to chase people out of the house with long sharp knives... huh? is that supposed to be funny???)
The weekend was made up of lots of eating, playing games, sitting around the campfire, singing, eating (did I mention that one already? there was a lot of great food!), paddleboating, watching the traffic on the lake (lots of swans and geese), golf, etc. The weather was good off and on. It was mostly cloudy and humid, but there were patches of sunshine and the nights cooled off some.
Here are a few pics from the weekend...
This HUGE picture was on the wall in the hallway and it was just strange; staring at us when we walked by.
This is Max... he's such a fun dog! He belongs to Matt's aunt Helen and uncle Ed that live in Texas.
Matt and I dominated in the cornhole game his cousin Molly and her husband Paul brought. They left on Sunday and took the game with them, so we started playing horseshoes then... which Matt is really good at. We were the champs at that as well. I love being Matt's partner because he wins at everything!
After we finished the horseshoes game, Max decided to start digging in the horseshoe pit. At first, we thought he was going to go to the bathroom, but then he just layed down and took a nap!
Everyone took a turn out on the paddleboat... even Max!
This is right after the water balloon toss... Matt and I won this game, but not before I got soaked.
Matt's cousin Kyle and his wife Leslie's kids are so cute! Delaney with her pile of bubbles... and Addison climbing up a chair (I wish I could have taken a video of her laugh, it was great!)
I just thought this picture was super cute... Delaney with her grandpa sitting on the dock.
Matt and his mom hanging out in the backyard.
Matt's aunt and uncle picked up a bunch of those glow in the dark necklaces and bracelets for us all to wear out by the campfire.
We roasted marshmallows on the fire for s'mores.
We went golfing... we had to stop for about a half hour while a storm blew through.
Matt with his banana split (minus the banana)
On the way home from MI, we stopped off at an actual Pizza Hut restaurant for lunch. We had the lunch buffet and it was superb!
To see more pics from the weekend, click here.
The place we were staying (Vista Gardens Lakehouse) was a big house that used to be a bed and breakfast. There were 5 bedrooms, each with a full bathroom. The family that owns the house actually live there and just leave when it's rented out.
There were also some of Matt's family staying at a bed and breakfast not too far from the lakehouse... where the owner was kind of scary (he told them that he had been known to chase people out of the house with long sharp knives... huh? is that supposed to be funny???)
The weekend was made up of lots of eating, playing games, sitting around the campfire, singing, eating (did I mention that one already? there was a lot of great food!), paddleboating, watching the traffic on the lake (lots of swans and geese), golf, etc. The weather was good off and on. It was mostly cloudy and humid, but there were patches of sunshine and the nights cooled off some.
Here are a few pics from the weekend...
This HUGE picture was on the wall in the hallway and it was just strange; staring at us when we walked by.
This is Max... he's such a fun dog! He belongs to Matt's aunt Helen and uncle Ed that live in Texas.
Matt and I dominated in the cornhole game his cousin Molly and her husband Paul brought. They left on Sunday and took the game with them, so we started playing horseshoes then... which Matt is really good at. We were the champs at that as well. I love being Matt's partner because he wins at everything!
After we finished the horseshoes game, Max decided to start digging in the horseshoe pit. At first, we thought he was going to go to the bathroom, but then he just layed down and took a nap!
Everyone took a turn out on the paddleboat... even Max!
This is right after the water balloon toss... Matt and I won this game, but not before I got soaked.
Matt's cousin Kyle and his wife Leslie's kids are so cute! Delaney with her pile of bubbles... and Addison climbing up a chair (I wish I could have taken a video of her laugh, it was great!)
I just thought this picture was super cute... Delaney with her grandpa sitting on the dock.
Matt and his mom hanging out in the backyard.
Matt's aunt and uncle picked up a bunch of those glow in the dark necklaces and bracelets for us all to wear out by the campfire.
We roasted marshmallows on the fire for s'mores.
We went golfing... we had to stop for about a half hour while a storm blew through.
Matt with his banana split (minus the banana)
On the way home from MI, we stopped off at an actual Pizza Hut restaurant for lunch. We had the lunch buffet and it was superb!
To see more pics from the weekend, click here.
Goodbye Sophia
I am a huge Golden Girls fan. Today, one of my favorite Golden Girls, Estelle Getty, passed away... so sad.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Sushi celebration
On Friday night, we had a little (belated) celebration/sushi night with our bowling and volleyball teams. So, me, Erin, Brett, Hany and Brandon went to Tank Sushi in Lincoln Square.
We had lots of great sushi and fun drinks... also, Brandon got us a bottle of sake that was actually really good. Well, I thought so. I think Hany liked it better after she dropped a cherry in it.
We had lots of great sushi and fun drinks... also, Brandon got us a bottle of sake that was actually really good. Well, I thought so. I think Hany liked it better after she dropped a cherry in it.
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