Chicago Part II

My first trip outside of my neighborhood was to the lake with Kristen (roommate) and Mindy (friend from NYC) last week.  We packed our lunches and Sophie and headed for a relaxing day lake side.  Well, Kristen, Sophie and I relaxed while Mindy ran like a mother - who knows where, probably to New York and back.  I kid.  However, don't be mistaken, the girl is a beast and has mad skills.  I wish I had a fraction of her discipline but mostly feel content sending prayers to the Almighty One above thanking Him/Her for never giving me the desire to run like Forrest Gump.

I digress.  

The lake was lovely and peaceful and captivating.  

The park that runs alongside the lake is equally as lovely.

The water is ridiculously beautiful and blue!  It feels much more like the ocean than the lake.  I'll take it!

I'm not the only one who enjoyed chillaxin'.  Sophie has found her new favorite spot in Chicago.  

Can you tell? :)

She did really great all day until a man walked over ogling her and asked, "Does she bite?" Of course I responded with an emphatic, "No!" So the man reaches his hand down to pet her and she goes ballistic barking at him.  Poor man probably peed his pants.  That dang Sophie made a liar of me but it was funny as hell.

Yesterday, I had my first Chicago Public Transit experience.  It was great and so easy to use.  Who knew?  After using the subway in NYC, this seems like a flippin' breeze.  

If you ever want to visit, this is my stop. :)

My frist train ride took me downtown to The Loop for a little walking, sight-seeing and shopping.  

First stop.....

Millennium Park is phenomenal. 

Just see for yourself...

Then, I crossed over Michigan Ave and headed to State Street for some Shopping.

I crossed the River to catch a different train back and am glad I did that because otherwise I would not have been able to experience this glorious site.

I mean, really, Chicago is gorgeous!!  And, I live here! Yay me!!

Oh yeah, and, one more thing....although I haven't been here yet, this is less than a mile from my apartment.

Quick, someone pinch me!

Chicago - Part I

The scoop:

The Move - It went amazingly well.  It was supposed to rain the entire trip and other than a few drops, it was clear.  This was a miracle because we sort of had boxes and the bar stools to my table packed/strapped in the back of my Dad's truck a la The Beverly Hillbillies.  I was nervous at first and then realized that there wasn't anything I could do if it did rain so I decided to be thankful for every mile travelled that I did not rain. I prayed many prayers of Thanksgiving along the way! 

Side Note:  Although the trip went well (no car trouble, no tickets, no major mishaps, etc.), it was the looooooongest trip of my life.  At one point, I honestly thought Chicago must not exist. 

 The Apartment:  It is FANTASTIC!  We have the garden apartment in the building which means it is partially underground.  I was a tad worried about this because, as some of you know, I can be a bit claustrophobic. (Just ask Jerry or Jennifer about my encounter with the poor lady in a China Town shop in NYC!) Turns out the apartment has a ton of large windows with great light coming in, more storage space than we know what to do it and is ridiculously cute. I. Love. It.

Side Note:  You can hear the train, which can be rather loud at times.  No worries though. I'm already used to it.  Prepare yourself if you come visit though.  It can be quite alarming at first! :)

The Neighborhood: Heaven. The people are great and the houses/apartments are lovely.  There are trees and grass and a ton of things within walking distance (two train stops, two starbucks, whole foods market, GAP, restaurants, banks, cleaners, auto repair places, parks, doctor's office, vet,...should I go on???).  In addition, Wrigley Field is about 3/4 of a mile and the Lake is only a 1 1/2 miles.  Amazing!! 

The Roommate: Let's be real, I haven't had the best luck with roommates in the past (my first roommate in college gave me lice.  i'm not kidding!). However, my new roommate, Kristen, is fantastic.  She's good people, y'all.  

The Sophie: She's doing great! Who knew she would transition so easily?  My Mom & Dad are convinced she is a "Country Dog", well, I am here to tell you that she is now a "City Dog".  She loves to go on walks, loves the lake and I found out yesterday that she loves the dog park.  I even took her with me to Starbuck's yesterday morning where I tied her up outside while I ran inside to get my drink.  She even liked that and so did all the people walking in.  They all stopped to pet and talk to her. She loves the attention and I'm convinced she loves Chicago.  However, it might be a different story when January/February roll around.  Stay tuned. 

The Job Search:  Still on-going.  Still sending resumes and e-mails.  However, I freelanced yesterday and  will today as well with Sesame Street.  My friend, Mindy, who is a researcher for Sesame Street and also BFF with my roommate (we all went to the same college), has been in town visiting and working.  She needed some help with the study she is doing and asked if I'd like to help and I responded with a "Hells Yes!" :)  In addition to the experience and some extra cash, she also gave me an Oscar the Grouch eco bag!  Jealous??

The Friends: Now that I live in a city where I know absolutely no one, it is pretty interesting that the weekend that I move in, my friend, Mindy, and my friend, Lisa, were both in town.  Crazy, right??  Lisa was in town with her husband and baby and I had the pleasure of hanging out with them this past Saturday night.  It was lovely.  While I am on a mission to make new friends, it was great seeing old ones when I arrived.  

That's it for now.  I have so much to explore (I've barely even been out of my neighborhood!) and am so grateful for this new opportunity.

More to come soon.....

CHICAGO or BUST!!

The time has come. The countdown has counted down. The truck and car are packed.

Dianna is moving to the Windy City!

Love Fest 2011 (or, Going Away Party)

You've heard it once and here it comes again...I have the most lovely friends! And, at the top of the list happens to be one Brandy Stroud.  She and her husband, Robert, have always been so kind to me but they outdid themselves with kindness by way of the most fantastic going-away party. Ever.  

I mean, check out the invitation.  It was a pretty good indicator of things to come.

Perfect, right?  I don't have a picture of the envelope that it was sent out in but it was equally adorable complete with a google map that showed the route between Shreveport and Chicago as well as emblems for the Cubs and Bulls.

The love is in the details and if the invitations weren't love enough, Brandy had these ridiculously adorable cups made for the party.  

Admit it! It doesn't get much better than that, right? :)

Ready for more fabulousness???  The wine for the occasion was none other than.....

Cupcake!  Oh, it almost sent me over the edge! 

The most fabulous thing about the party was being able to spend time with friends, family and co-workers sharing old memories, mutual best wishes and lots and lots of hugs!  I'm not much on goodbyes so there was also a lot of "When I come home to visit" and "I can't wait until you visit me in Chicago" flowing around.  The party was delightful and being surrounded by such amazing people, I couldn't help but be reminded of how blessed I truly am. 

While we were all laughing, sharing stories and having a good time, Big K and Mags figured they would do their own thing. 

Triple love these kiddos (and Big J, Big K's big brother who is not pictured)!

Oh, I love them....

and them....

and them...

and them!!! 

And, while I'm at it, I should go on and profess my love for everyone who came to the party.  I can not express how grateful I am for the people who are in my life and the love and encouragement that they give and the life lessons that they teach.  I don't know what I did to deserve them but I sure as hell am smart enough to understand what they are worth and how fortunate I am.

Brandy and Robert have a fantastic chalkboard bathroom where they had people write words of love and sweet farewell wishes.  How cool is that?  

My Dear Sweet Brandy,

I am so so so lucky to have you in my life and am so thankful for your friendship.  Your kindness and generosity is at the core of who you are and its an inspiration. I think the world would be a better place if there were more people like you! Thank you for the party but more importantly for the memories and for making me feel loved beyond comprehension.  

Love you,

Dianna

unbirthday party

Two of the people I will miss the most after I move will be my fantastic, hilarious and most of the time silly nephews, Austin & Tyler.  I have loved living close to them and being able to attend band concerts, football games, piano recitals and birthday parties. 

I was feeling a little sad at the thought of not being able to see them very often and not being around to celebrate milestones with them but it didn't last long because I quickly decided that life is what you make it.  So, I decided to make a birthday party!

I decided to celebrate their birthdays early this year for 2 reasons. 1) I'll be in Chicago for both of their birthdays and more than likely not be able to make it home to celebrate with them and 2) they will be able to use the gifts I got them when they travel to NYC in a few weeks to visit Jerry (aka Bubba).

I gathered all the necessary items needed for a fun birthday party (party hats, birthday plates, cake, ice cream, balloons, noise makers, and of course presents!) and headed to Atlanta, TX to surprise my cutie patootie nephews with a birthday party.  

They loved it and I loved that they loved it. :)

Here they are opening their gifts.  

One thing you should know about Aunt Queen is that she never wraps gifts just one time.  Where's the fun in that?  So...

As you can see they had to unwrap not one but three packages to get to the real deal.

Kindles!!!

I stayed for dinner, cake and ice cream and even stayed to set their kindles up and load some books on for them.  By the time I was walking out the door, this is what was happening.....

It makes an aunt's heart happy.  

Dirrrty Shreve Bucket List Update

A couple of months ago, I created a bucket list of things to do before leaving the Dirrrrry Shreve!

 (Click here to catch up if you missed it!)

 I have actually managed to cross most of the items off my list, including these:

#1 Eat Crawfish

I never made it to the Crawfish Palace but I did make it to Kenny & Pam's annual crawfish boil and it was fabulous.  Check!

#2 Kidnap my sister, Jennifer, and take her on a sister date!

Our date included fantastic manicures & pedicures, a delish dinner, shopping and yummo ice cream to top the night off.  I love my sister and will miss her terribly. Check!

#3 Tell my students I think they are fabulous and that I will miss them.

I made a point to try and touch base with most of the students I have worked with this past year before school was dismissed for the summer.  There were lots of hugs and words of encouragement and even a few tears. ::sigh::  A highlight was being able to have the awesome privilege of celebrating graduation with these kiddos.  Oh, how I will miss my Woodlawn babies!! Check!

#4 Take my nephews camping

Well, as you will soon be able to tell, camping didn't happen.  However, we decided to trade camping for a fun outing to Party Central. And, fun it was!

We rode go karts!

We rode water bumper cars where my adorable and slightly sneaky nephews forgot to tell me that you don't just ride in the water bumper cars, you also spray one another with the built in water jets. Brats! 

Needless to say, they attacked me the moment we got into the boats.  One was shooting water at my face and one was shooting water at the back of my head.  Two against one wasn't fair, I tell you!!

Unfortunately, I looked a HOT MESS afterward. 

Although it pains me to admit it....it was loads of fun! :)

Then, it was on to miniature golf. 

I didn't get pictures of the arcade and junk food but those were present during our night out too!  I love my boys and love being their Aunt Queen. Check!

#5 Spend a Sunday at Louisiana Downs with my Dad

We did just that and even decided to bring Barbarito along.

Good times at the track.  I enjoyed my mixed Icee as usual and didn't pick one single winning horse, as usual. :) Check!

#6 Girls Night with the Vivian crew

As it turned out, Vivian Girls Night consisted of only Sharon and I.  I'm not complaining though because that night was probably one of the most enjoyable nights out I've  had in a while.  We ate at one of my favorite restaurants, saw a very hilarious move that made both of us cry because we were laughing so hard and then to top it all off we ate some delish ice cream from Marble Slab.  Check!

#7 Girl Day with Peyton & Sharon

I love this kid and her mama so very much and had been promising little Miss Peyton a trip to the new fro yo place.  So, last Sunday we took off for lunch, shopping and fro yo.  It was delightful.

I adore Sharon.  She is one of my oldest friends and it is an honor being in her life and being able to watch her become a wonderful mother, wife and person.  She inspires me and encourages me and I hope we are friends forever!! Check!

#8 Eat as many Humphrey's as I can get my hands on!

Let's just say, I've kept my promise. Check!

#9 Have a girl's sleepover at Toya's house

Unfortunately, the sleepover never happened because of scheduling conflicts but I did get to spend a little QT with my dear friend, Toya, last weekend.  We went to dinner with the wonderful DJ and Helen Wise and then ventured over to Robinson Film Center (#10 See a movie at RFC) for dessert and a movie. Toya is an amazing friend and although I'll miss her terribly, I know we will be friends forever and something like distance can't touch that.  She and I are already planning her trip to Chicago to visit as well as other trips that we want to take together this year.  I love me some Toya and am so grateful for her friendship! Check!

#11 Visit Janet and her family

My sweet Janet (a young lady I mentor) has become part of my family and I had hoped to take a trip to Lafayette to visit her and meet the newest member of her family, Jaida.  Unfortunately, we had a difficult time matching our schedules so I haven't been able to drive down. Fortunately, she drove up this weekend with her boyfriend to visit his family and made the time to stop by for a quick visit.  I'm so proud of her and so thankful she is in my life.  I'm convinced she has taught me waaaay more than I have taught her.  She has become a fabulous mother and is taking steps every day to better herself and the lives of her daughters.   

Please meet sweet Jaida:

Precious, right?!?

Please meet the very adorable Karmyn:

Sweet, sweet girls.  All three of them!! Check!

#12 Spend the night with Nana

Although, I didn't get to snap any pictures, I did venture over to East Texas to spend some time with my Nana.  I took her to eat dinner and to see a movie and then went to church with her the next morning.  Good times.  Check!

#13 Have a garage sale

The garage sale was a smashing success! I even pimped out my nephews' lemonade stand by making them cupcakes to sell too.  They made a small fortune and I got rid of a lot of shiz and made enough money to make it worthwhile.  Check!

So, there you have it, I've been a busy girl lately.  There is only one thing left on my bucket list (a visit to Betty Virgina Park) and I still have a few more days before I move so this may very well happen as well.

::RaisesGlass:: Here's to living life intentionally and taking time to do the things and spend time with the people that matter. There is no time for waiting.  Get after it, people!!  Too many wonderful, exciting things are begging to be explored and experienced. In the words of Marianne Williamson, "Every bird that sings, sings for you.Every breeze that blows, blows for you. Every sunray shines for you.If you only knew how loved you are."