Tad bit windy today, eh?

Wow, I walked outside this morning and it was like hitting a wall of wind. Crazy!

And the storms last night... geesh! We made it back to Chicago before they all started, luckily. That would have added some time to our drive back for sure!

This past weekend, we spent some time in Indiana visiting with Matt's friends. And he got to play a lot of golf.

We drove to Indianapolis early Friday morning. It felt really early to me, because we had done a wine tasting the night before and I may have had a little too much wine before eating food. Oops.

Matt dropped me off at Starbucks so I could work - yay fun - and he met up with Ryan at Wolf Run to play some golf. It was rainy for most of the day, but he was able to get some holes in.

Afterwards, we stopped off and picked up some food to grill out at Ryan's for dinner and met up with Jenn and the kiddos at their house. Matt made bbq chicken, grilled sweet potatoes and I made a salad. It all turned out very goood! (Despite the minor delay due to the propane running out mid-grill)

I forgot to take any pictures at all this weekend, so you'll have to trust me that Ryan and Jenn's kids are super adorable! : ) Ruby has her own language and plays with her little babies and they talk to each other in this language. Seriously, I had no clue what was going on, but she was very animated about it!

On Saturday, we drove back to Peru, IN and hung out at the golf course for a bit. They were doing this backwards scramble tournament for a local frat. So, for example, you tee off from around the green of hole 2 and end up on the green of hole 1 (I think). Lots of drunk people golfing backwards = debacle! A few carts were damaged, some signs run over. Matt subbed on a team for about 7 holes (the longest 7 holes of his life, I imagine!) We sat and waited at least 20 minutes between holes for a while, until Bob came out and laid down the law. : )

After that, we met up with Bob for dinner at Beef O'Bradys and then crashed back at the Bontragers house.

Sunday, Matt played in the annual Maconaquah vs. Peru golf tournament. Matt's team was up by 4 on the front nine, but Bob closed strong and the teams were tied at the end. Overall, Peru won this year. Boo!

They had a nice hog roast afterwards and we chowed down on some food before our trek back to Chicago.

The weekend totally flew by... back to the daily grind. : (

Happy Birthday Erin!

OH my goodness... you are a year older!

It's ok, though... you are only as old as you act! ; )

Have a wonderful birthday!

Still recovering...

... from my awesome weekend!

On Friday, I took the afternoon off. Crystal got into town around lunchtime, so we headed over to Market for lunch outdoors in the sunshine. Perfect!

JJ got into town around dinner time. We stopped in at Dominicks and got all the fixings for tacos. We made tacos and drank margaritas and caught up with each other. I can't believe it's been over 17 years since we all played basketball together in high school!

On Saturday, we met up with my mom, aunts, cousin and sister for lunch at the Daily Bar and Grill in Lincoln Square. We sat outside and enjoyed more fresh air. Again, the weather was perfect!

JJ, Crystal and I went to get our nails done afterwards and then it was back to the condo to get prettied-up for the night out.

The bachelorette party started off at Erin's house with a pizza party... Pizza Hut = my fav! What goes better with pizza than a pink fizzy drink that tastes so yummy that you forget there's alcohol in it?!? Erin decked me out in tons of fun penis gear and a bachelorette tiara, veil and sash. We played a few games and I opened some great gifts from everyone.

One game was to see who I would say would do the chores around the house. Lauren had the most answers the same as mine, so she won the prize for that game. The other game was what would I take on my honeymoon if I could only take 10 things. There was a 3-way tie for that game, but we had a tie-breaker and my aunt June ended up winning the prize for that game.

While I was opening gifts, Erin asked me questions that Matt had answered for her earlier to see how well we really know each other. If I missed the question, I had to do a shot. If I got it right, I got to give out a shot. I did a few shots, but overall I think I did pretty well. : )

Erin and me in my bachelorette gear


Erin, me and Mom


I got some really lovely gifts!


And some very interesting ones, too!!! : )


My mom got me a very pretty bracelet with my wedding date on it! I love it!


After the party at the house, we boarded the trolley for a little ride around the city. At first, the music kept cutting out and I was worried that we'd be listening to the radio for the trolley ride, but they fixed it and we went merrily along.

Trolley time


Me, JJ and Crystal on the trolley


Erin, me and Hany


Oh, my goodness Mom!


My aunts Lucy and Amy... a little windblown!


We drove down through the city and to the Soldier Field area. We stopped off for pictures with the city skyline in the background.

Group photo on the trolley


With the Chicago skyline in the background


Crystal, Hany, me, JJ and Erin


Crystal likes that penis candy!


June and Erin... so pretty!


Lots of silliness on the trolley


Me and Crystal on the trolley


Typcial conversation for me during the night:
Me: Hi, my name is Stacia and I'm drunk.
Wes (trolley driver): That's just how I like 'em.

I'm sure my mom was proud! : O

The trolley ride was a lot of fun. I ended up with many bruises from dancing around on that thing. : )

The last stop of the trolley was Lincoln Karaoke bar. Ahhh, karaoke... another fav of mine! They have all these separate rooms you can rent out and sing karaoke. Crazy Korean videos play on the screen while you are singing.

This is where the night gets a little blurry for me. : ) I know I was singing a lot (based on all the pictures of me with a microphone in my hand) and I remember having problems figuring out the whole karaoke system, because it was in Korean. Well, I'm sure the alcohol had something to do with that, too.

Kelly sings like a rockstar at the karaoke bar


Korean beer


Everybody sing...


Erin and me belting out Summer Nights... gotta love those strange Korean videos!


Hany told me that at one point, she looked over at my aunts on the couch and they both had their hands over their ears. They may be scarred for life! : )

After everyone had officially lost their hearing, we called it a night. Hany, JJ, Crystal and I were heading home and decided it might be a good idea to go dancing on Division Street... like it was on the way or something. : ) After a little bit of dancing, we finally headed home and crashed!

Sunday morning, I was not feeling so awesome. As Matt always says, I may have been a bit overserved. But, it was worth it. I had a lot of fun and it was great that everyone was able to come from out of town and in town and have a fun girls night out! And a super big "thank-you" to my sister for putting together such a fun night of all my favorite things for me! I love ya, chica! : )

Movin' on up

My office is set up so that there are six cubicles in each aisle (aka six-pack). The cubes are on the outside of the floors (next to the windows) and the offices are on the interior. This set-up lets in more natural light, etc.

If you are a consultant, you get to have a cube next to the window (much better view!) Well, because I work with a small team of people, we all sit in the same six-pack. We are all consultants and there are three other people in my group that have more seniority than me, so I did not get a window cube. In fact, the cube I chose ended up being the worst cube of them all... on the aisle, right near where people eat lunch and get coffee; there is a tv there that some people like to watch Cheaters on during their lunch hour (awesome), and it's near the largest conference room, so people are always roaming around and distracting me. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I said that one would be fine with me.

Anyway, a few weeks ago, my co-worker Peter from my six-pack transferred offices, leaving vacant a better cube spot than the one I was currently in. As is customary when someone leaves, you raid their cube and take whatever they left that is of any value. : ) And in this case, I decided to just move into his cube.

At first, I got the big "NO-WAY" from the office administrator. But, with a little pull from some people higher up, I am now sitting in Peter's old cube and enjoying the new peace and quiet. I literally moved less than 15 feet, but it seems like a whole different space.

I've been told that I am not allowed to broadcast this big cubicle move. Apparently, it will cause scandal in the halls of TP. Others have asked and not been allowed to move. So, if they hear that I got to move, all hell will break loose... whatever.

Oh, and this cubicle move brings me back closer to Matt... he's oh so thrilled, I'm sure. I am now on the other side of the wall and one cube down from him. At least it's not like before, when we were sitting right next to each other. Talk about an awkward way to start off dating someone you work with!

Market Mondays

When Matt and I went to Market on Randolph for my birthday, the waitress told us that on Mondays, eveything on the menu is half-price. Good deal!

Well, we went last night for dinner there and got the bill and everything was full price... huh? So, Matt tells me to ask about it and see if they stopped doing the special. Turns out they did NOT stop... but, the waiter we had last night tells us - you have to ask for the deal to get it.

I guess it is some sort of West Loop appreciation special, so only the West Loopers or regulars who know about the deal will get it. Personally, I think this is kind of shady. If you're going to have a special that is even advertised on your website, you should give it to people. But, whatever... this is why I don't run a restaurant.

So, instead of our bill being $64, it was $32. Good thing I asked!!!

Productive weekend

I drove home this past weekend to accomplish some wedding tasks... it's so nice to be able to cross things off the list, because lately I just keep adding more!

Brett also came home with me to help my Dad out with demolishing our family room and entry way to prepare for the renovations my parents are doing.

While my mom and I were shopping at Hobby Lobby, Michael's, Sam's and every Dollar store in town, my brother, Dad and neighbor Josh were taking hammers to the beams in our ceiling, removing the ceiling, taking up the flooring, etc.

By the way, the Dollar Store rocks! We found a lot of the same wedding stuff at the Dollar Stores for so much less. Literally, the exact same things. It was awesome! We ended up buying out three Dollar stores of their votive candle holders for our NYE reception centerpieces.

On Saturday night, we all went out for horseshoes at D'Arcy's Pint, one of my brother's favorites. I had a turkey ponyshoe (the smaller version), which was delish, but definitely not on the wedding diet.

Some pics from the constuction zone, or should I say de-struction zone!

The family room is EMPTY


Digging up the flooring in the entry way... this ended up being WAY dustier than my Dad and brother expected


I left my purse in the living room a little too long


So much dust everywhere... Mary Jo was NOT happy!


I think we're going to need another dumpster soon

Oprah

On Tuesday night, I skipped the gym and decided to check out the big Oprah party that had the Mag Mile closed down for a day. Hany and I met up and got there just as the Black Eyed Peas were finishing (bummer!) But, we caught the rest of it...



It was super crowded...


... in both directions


There were a few tv screens so we could actually see what was going on


Jennifer Hudson sang a few songs


Then James Taylor sang How Sweet It Is and You've Got A Friend


Getting darker!


Rascal Flatts sang Life is a Highway and Summer Nights - they got the call the day before to perform and hopped on a plane!


Yep, I was really there! : ) We were pretty far back!


Oprah interviewing Rascal Flatts


This was one of those times that I am SUPER happy that I am SUPER tall! Poor Hany was trying so hard to see what was going on the whole time. It was a fun show to see. The show is on TV tomorrow and I'm DVR'ing it. I want to see how the finished product turns out.

Labor/Birth-day weekend

We had a very nice weekend! I'm sad it's over and it's back to the daily grind.

On Friday night, Matt and I cleaned the condo (yeah, we're lame!) and went to DeCero for dinner. Surprisingly, the place wasn't too crowded so we were able to be seated immediately. The food and drinks were really good, as usual. The service was ok at best, as usual.

For some reason, I was up super early Saturday morning. So much for sleeping in! We had a few people over for a bbq in the afternoon and watched a bunch of football. We also ate tons of food, had a few drinks and played Sink the Biz. Good times!

Sunday, Matt and I headed to Macy's to do a little shopping. Macy's was having a sale and I also had a b-day coupon for 20% off. We got Matt a few pairs of jeans and I got a pair of jeans and a dress for the honeymoon.

On Sunday night, Matt and I went to Joe's Seafood to celebrate my birthday. That place is SO good! We had stone crab and stone crab bisque to start, Matt had the bone-in filet and I had the special parmesan crusted halibut plus the Jennie's potatos. Delicious! We ended with the peanut butter pie with hot fudge... heaven on a plate! : )

Monday, we relaxed on the couch and watched tennis. Since it was so gorgeous outside, we went to Market and had lunch outside on the patio. Lucky for us, on Mondays at Market, everything on the menu is half-price, including alcohol! It was so nice to sit out in the sun and have a vodka lemonade. I didn't get to do that enough this summer!

Later, we met up with BJ, Dana, Tony, etc. at Stanley's for a few beers and bags. BJ and his cousin Brad were dominating on the bags game. Matt and I managed to beat them once and then we stopped! : )




Matt gave me my b-day present... a Waterford crystal ring holder - it's gorgeous and I love it! I told him he is setting the standard high for birthday gifts (last year he got me a spa package for me, my mom and sister to get massages!) He said that will stop once we get married. Boo!

I hardly took any pictures this weekend. I need to get back in the habit of doing that! It was such a nice, relaxing weekend!

Next day off for me isn't until my wedding, which is less than 2 months away. Holy crap! : O

The Roof

Last night, Hany and I decided last minute to grab a drink after work. Not sure where to go, I suggested we check out The Roof at the Wit Hotel. The weather was nice, so I thought it would be cool to sit outside somewhere with a view and have a glass of wine. We weren't the only ones with this idea. We waited in line about 45 minutes to get in. It didn't actually seem like that long because we were talking the whole time, so it wasn't bad.

The bar itself is on the 27th floor and partially outdoors. I stole this pic from the web. It was a pretty cool place - good scenery, nice music, perfect if it's not too hot outside. The drinks were pricy and the food selection was not that great, though. It's one of those see-and-be-seen type places... there were some pretentious people there. As a rule, I don't like people that automatically think they are better than you and have an "I'm superior" type attitude. It's just annoying.

Case in point... Hany and I grabbed a quick drink at the bar before sitting down and as we were waiting for our drinks, a girl comes back from the bathroom and joins back up with the guy she had been standing next to at the bar. This "spot" of hers was a few inches into the "spot" where Hany was standing to buy her drink (NOTE: there was PLENTY of room for both to stand there.) So, this girl puts her nose in the air (LITERALLY!) and huffs, like 'how could we infringe on her space' and flips her head around towards the guy she was talking to and proceeds to deliberately back directly into Hany, pushing Hany into the person standing on the other side of her. Hany just looks at me, like WTF?!?! The girl continued to flip her hair around and talk to her guy friend like she was some movie star. She totally knew what she was doing and it was absolutely ridiculous. Hany and I both laughed! I wanted to say something to the girl, but it woudn't have made a difference. So, I didn't waste my time.

Anyway, we found a table to sit at, finished our one drink and then headed to Emerald Loop for dinner.

In the mail

So, the invites for our Bahamas wedding went in the mail today! Yay! I meant to get them out last week, but just ran out of time. Also, I didn't realize how much time it takes to put them all together. I made the mistake of thinking I could just write the addresses myself all nice and neatly. But, they didn't turn out exactly how I'd hoped. Oh well, for the New Year's Eve reception invitations, we're getting a calligrapher (thank goodness!)

Oh, my dad did audition for the calligraphy job last weekend at Hany and Grant's wedding... beautiful! : ) I'm not exactly sure why Matt gets to wear the King's crown, but whatever!



On a side note, I think the most unfriendly, rude, job-loathing people work at the post office in the Thompson Center. Seriously, they were completely awful when I went in there yesterday to see about getting postage for my invites. The woman who waited on me barked at me "what do you want". I asked her to weigh the invite and tell me how much it would cost for postage. She barks at me "zip code". She said I had to tell her a zip code or she couldn't tell me the postage (which is crap, by the way, because when I went to a different post office today, the woman was able to give me the postage needed without even knowing the zip code.) Anyway, I decided not to buy stamps from her because she was a complete witch and I didn't feel like putting up with it. So, today, I went to the complete opposite of that post office - Haymarket - and the two ladies there were like angels compared to that other woman. They found me these cool wedding cake stamps to use and actually smiled at me! I know... shocking!!!

Hany & Grant tied the knot!

This past weekend, Hany and Grant got married in Peoria. Everything went perfectly! It was such a beautiful day! Here's a run-down...

On Friday, we had the rehearsal at the church. It went well, except we didn't have a copy of the program. So, we didn't know the order of anything. But, the minister was so laid back and we weren't worried about how the day would go.

Grant's aunt Carol, Hany's aunt Latifah, Hany's mom Julia, Hany, Grant, Grant's mom Diane and Grant's dad Steve at the rehearsal - sporting traditional Malaysian wear


Afterwards, we had dinner at Bernardi's Italian Restaurant. There was a TON of food! I ate so much, I thought I might explode.

Future in-laws! : )


Matt entertained himself by making foil origami


On Saturday (the BIG day!), Erin, Jane and I met up with Hany and her mom and aunt at the hair salon. She had arranged for us all to get our hair done there and then her aunt was going to do our make-up. Her aunt is a make-up artist in Malaysia and she did an awesome job! I'm usually a little leery of someone else doing my make-up, but we all loved the job she did so much! The people who did our hair was another story, though. : O Hany's hair was perfect, so that was good. The rest of us... could've been better. Luckily, we had Erin around and she fixed us up before heading out for pictures.

Oh, the pictures... we took LOTS of pictures. I think my face hurt from smiling so much! The places they had picked for pictures were awesome! We stopped off at someone's house who had a back-yard all landscaped with flowers and looked out on an amazing view. Then, we went to a house that looks just like a castle. The weather was gorgeous! I felt like I was in a David's Bridal commercial or something. : ) I can't wait to see how the pictures turned out!

Riding around in the limo bus


The ceremony was at the First United Methodist Church. After a few more pics, we hung out in the bride's room and waited for our cue. Hany looked beautiful! Hair + make-up + dress + veil = PERFECT! The flowers were yellow and looked so nice against the color of the bridesmaids dresses.

Final touch-up before heading down the aisle!


The ceremony went off without a hitch. Grant was crying before they even opened the doors for Hany to walk in. Erin and I couldn't look at him or else we would've been blubbering, too! The minister was pretty funny and made everyone really relaxed and comfortable during the ceremony. During the ring ceremony, Grant tried to take his own ring to put on Hany's finger... and then Hany tried to put his ring on his right hand instead of the left. We gave her a little whisper and she switched it up really fast! Too funny! But other than that... perfect!

(FYI - I stole most of these pics from other people because I couldn't take them myself!)

Grant escorts Hany's mom down the aisle


Flower girls (twins!) - one made it down the aisle fine


The other got a little help from her dad


Here comes the bride!


The girls!


"With this ring, I thee wed" - Take 2... putting the ring on the correct hand this time


Unity candle ceremony


Bubbles!


Just married!!!


After the ceremony, we headed to the Mt. Hawley Country Club for the reception. We took a few more pics in front of the fountain there... such a pretty golf course!



Then, headed inside for the cocktail hour. I downed a few glasses of wine to relax me before I had to give my big toast. They did the cake cutting and then we did our toasts. I think I read mine at lightning speed! : )





Hany and Grant did the first dance, bouquet and garter tosses, etc. They did a Malaysian wedding blessing and we also did a Malaysian dance (Joget). And then we danced and danced and danced.

First Dance - At Last (the Beyonce version)


Garter toss - Hany didn't even wait for the DJ to count to three, she just whipped that thing back!


Apparently, I was making an impression with my non-stop dancing. Hany said people were commenting about it to her. You know how older people say things like "oh, she looked like she was having a LOT of fun"... which is a nice way to say "oh my goodness, she was a complete freak! where did you find that girl?!?!" Oh well.

Later in the night, the DJ let Hany have the mic and she did a little karaoke (Madonna!) And even later, I ended up with the mic singing "I will survive". Matt said he was out on the balcony and when he heard that, he says "OH NO, is that Stacia?!?!" Yep! I bet he was SO proud! jk ; ) Brandon did his rendition of The Rapper's Delight, it's his signature karoaoke song and it brought the house down!

After the reception, I was wiped out! I didn't realize everyone (including Hany and Grant) was going out to a bar near the hotel (called the Last Hoorah - fitting, huh?) Matt and Ross went thinking a few people would be there (future bros-in-law bonding time!), but a lot of the wedding reception ended up there... except for the three bridesmaids. Lame, I know. Matt may have been a bit overserved. But, not as much as Brandon, who ended up streaking the parking lot back from the bar to the hotel. NICE! Or maybe Ross was the winner, he didn't even remember the streaking incident and it happened right in front of him. Hmmm...

Sunday morning, Grant's parents hosted a brunch at their house. They have a gorgeous place! Grant's father has worked in a few different countries over the years for Cat, so they have quite a collection of interesting things from all over the world. There place is like a museum. We took the grand tour - so impressive!

We drove back to Chicago and totally crashed Sunday afternoon on the couch! We didn't even move for dinner - just ordered in!