skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Last week was my birthday! The big 25...Being that I am a quarter of a century old, of course I celebrated in style: I took Eric home to meet the family! We flew from Milwaukee on Friday night, and spent the weekend in Michigan. It was Eric's first time in my native state, which is unfortunate because as most of you know, Michigan is really no place to be in January.
We had a great time with my family, spent lots of time with Kelly & Eric, and I was really happy that Mark made the drive up from Detroit to see me! (Although there is a sneaking suspicion that in fact he was sent on a mission to meet the new guy...) Mom & Dad threw me a pizza themed fiesta, and we all enjoyed DeLuca's for dinner. We spent a quiet day in on Sunday watching football (Go Giants!), and Eric and I departed early Monday morning.
For those of you who haven't met Eric or seen me lately, I'm posting a picture of him and I...Notice I cut off all my hair! Hugs & Misses...
Well, I am back in Milwaukee and getting ready to start 2008. I spent a fabulous ten days back in Michigan, and spent both Christmas and New Years with my family. To get the trip started, my flight out of Milwaukee was cancelled, so I had to make the six hour drive home all by myself. When I moved here, I vowed to never drive home unless I was going for good. But I feel better knowing I can do it any time I have to now. But only if I have to.
While my whole trip was great, there were a few highlights:
Lunch with my girls: On my first day home I had lunch with Becca and Sarah. I think it is possible it's the first time we've all been together since NYE last year! Such a long time.
The holiday's with my family: My whole family spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day together. It was a great day of relaxing, and I can't think of a better way to have spent the day. I got great gifts, and I can't wait to use them all!
Baby Bella: Kelly and Eric got a dog! Her name is Bella and she is a Vizsla. You should google it and see the pictures. Bella is a baby right now, so she is tiny! I am looking forward to seeing her when I'm home again in a few weeks.
Updated wedding plans: We did some wedding planning while I was home, and I think we've picked a bridesmaid dress. Of course we're all getting excited for Lindsay's big day and Kelly and I loved the dress that we picked...Now if only we can figure out what color!
Catching up with friends: I saw a few friends I haven't seen since I left home, and that was amazing. It feels good to remember that there is a way to balance both of my lives.
But, like they say, all good things must come to an end. My dad drove me back to Milwaukee yesterday and flew out this morning. I'm back in the office, and getting excited for all the things 2008 will hold. Eric will be back in WI on Friday, and all will be right in my world.
Thanks for checking in...Hugs & Misses...
It's been a month since my last post...almost literally. So: To get back on track I'm going to do a super quick recap on the important things that have happened:
1. I went home for Thanksgiving. It was a really quick trip, but I was sooo happy I got to go. It was the first time since I've moved that I was back home--though thankfully I'd seen (almost) every member of my family in between there! I spent the holiday with my family and Mandi, and over the course of the weekend also got to see Bri and Paul. My sisters, mom and dad and I did the early morning shopping on the Friday after, and everything I bought I returned the next day. Sadly, (actually very happily!) we'll be too busy to shop next year!
2. Bri, Seth, and Scott came out to visit me. Last weekend Brian and the Boyz were in town. It was, seriously, Man's Weekend at Jackie's. I enjoyed having all of them around, especially since I hadn't seen Seth or Scott in so long. We went on the Miller Tour which was cool, and played the newest version of Trivial Pursuit.
3. Life in Milwaukee hasn't changed much since my last post. Work wise I am crazy busy because 2040 Lofts is undergoing some major renovations this month. My new 42" Plasma has been installed (look for pictures in the near future), I decorated my Christmas tree with Eric and Judy, and I'm counting the days until I come home for Christmas. Eric left last week for the holidays, but I'm spending lots of time with Sarah and Josh to keep busy and avoid being lonely! I fly out Saturday morning and I'll be in MI until January 1st.
Hugs & Misses....
It's true...My family came to visit. My mom and Kelly flew in last Friday to spend the weekend experiencing Milwaukee. How we fit so much into so little time I'm not sure, but it was an amazing weekend, and I can't wait for my dad and Boozer to be able to come now!
The ladies got here Friday a.m. and I took the day off. Oh. Excuse me. I called in "sick"! A quick tour of the building, and then we were off to Miss Katie's Diner. Miss Katie's is a piece of Milwaukee history. It's a tiny diner that overlooks a very urban part of the city. When I am there looking out the window I can only think, "Yes. This is the Midwest." I love it! I think mom and Kelly did too. We spent Friday at the mall, because we figured Christmas shoppers would take it over on Saturday. We shopped for hours, and Kelly and I bought matching hats. We dined at the Cheesecake Factory for lunch, and took a trip to Target to buy me an iron (I don't own one, and mom's didn't fit in the suitcase!). Friday also included a trip to MetroMarket, which might have ended up being mom and Kelly's favorite place of the trip. See the picture! That's right, wine in the grocery store here in Wisconsin! 
We had dinner at the Milwaukee Ale House, which is a local brewery in the Third Ward. I've been wanting to go there since I came to Milwaukee and I was so happy mom and Kelly got to go with me. We got home at an early (or so I thought) 9 p.m. and I promptly tucked Kelly into bed...
Saturday we did a TON of local stuff. First, we had breakfast at this little cafe that Laura and I discovered on her trip here. It was delicious, and I'm going to go there with anybody who comes to visit me! We visited the Public Market, which is one of my favorite places in the city, we went to the park and saw the Veterans Day Parade, we watched UofM battle Wisconsin at my favorite bar, and we ate a fantastic dinner of deep dish pizza at a lovely restaurant for practically free...All in all, Saturday was super busy, and wonderful. That night we went to the Ambassador to have drinks with Judy and Eric. It was kind of sad because the bar was full so we sat in the restaurant and lost some of the appeal but still, it was wonderful. I really wanted mom and Judy to meet, and I wanted at least some of my family to meet Eric.
We woke up early on Sunday and went to church. It was nice to have somebody to go with, and of course, the church was beautiful! It was a quick day, and at about 1 Eric went with me to take mom and Kelly to the airport. It was sad to see them go, but I am of course super excited to be going home in a week to see everybody again!
Hugs & Misses, xo.
Alright...so I took my first trip outside of the city! Last weekend (yes, yes it has been a while) I went to Chicago to see my sister (Lindsay--the younger, not married but engaged one), and my mom and dad came down to see us both.
Friday night my sister and I were alone in her adorable apartment in Lincoln Park (I really love it--all lofty and cute!). The highlight of the night was: I took the train from Milwaukee into Chicago. When I got to Union Station it was POURING rain. So, I jumped in the first cab I could, and gave him the address. He drove me to....well....somewhere near Lindsay's apartment, then told me that he didn't know exactly (as we headed in the wrong direction!) and told me to get out. He actually kicked me out on a random corner in the pouring rain in Chicago! Thankfully, another (nicer) cab drive stopped and picked me up and took me where I was trying to get (which turned out to be about 5 blocks the other way).
Mom and Dad got into town early Saturday morning, and we filled out time eating and shopping. We spent the morning in Lincoln Park shopping and then went downtown. The city was super crowded. There was people EVERYWHERE!
Check back next week to see & read what happens when Mom and Kelly show up in Milwaukee this weekend! Hugs & Misses...
I'm writing in red because this week I did a bloody good deed...I donated blood! I know, many of you have done this before, but my one try in the past went poorly. There isn't much to say about it, so I'm just going to tell you that I survived, but felt really crappy for the rest of the day and all day today (the day after). The pictures are me donating, and me & Sarah after we were done. Enjoy!
Ok, I'm a week late. A week ago, Laura came to Milwaukee and was officially my first visitor. As those of you who know me well know, I'm really bad at taking pictures, so you're just going to have to believe me that she was really here.
We, like most of you who will read this, had beautiful weather last weekend. Laura & I took advantage of that in the following ways (these are just the highlights):
Friday Night: Friday night Laura, Wes, Eric, and I went to the bar at the Ambassador Hotel. We enjoyed a Friday night in October with a temperature of nearly 70 degrees. While we were there we met a fascinating guy named Dave. Dave first caught our attention walking down Wisconsin Ave. without a shirt on (hence dubbed "Naked Guy"). He was denied access to the hotel (where we later discovered he was staying) because he had no shirt. If you were wondering (and come on--you were!) he gave his shirt to the lead banjo player at The Rave (and no, we're not sure where Banjo Guy's shirt was). Well, it was a good thing Dave picked our table, because he told us all about the company that he runs, The Original ScrewDevil (not to be confused with the copy-cat ScrewDevil). He even gave us a all a free shirt (which he got from his car after Eric literally gave away the shirt off his back so that Dave could go in the Ambassador and get his keys). It was a night to remember.
Saturday: On Saturday I had to work at a stupid open house all day. Laura did a lot of reading and homework (I know, I'm a bad person!). We escaped the building in the afternoon and went to the Public Market (my favorite place!) where we bough
t crab legs and veggies. We ate in my apartment and spent the night playing Boggle with Eric. Eric won, Jackie & Laura drank wine and beer.
Sunday: Sunday was a day of adventure! We ate breakfast out doors at a lovely cafe and it was delicious. It also happened to be the Milwaukee Marathon (sadly, same day as the Chicago Marathon), so we wandered down by the lake and saw part of t
he run. The picture is where the start & finish were. We also went to the Art Museum which is the next picture. This museum was an addition to th previous one. It cost almost $10 million and was designed to look like a ship coming into the harbor. Sunday night we watched the Housewives with Judy and just hung out. Monday morning I took Laura back to the ferry and sent her on her way back to Mt. Pleasant. I was sad, but I didn't cry (which probably surprised us both!).
So, that's the story of my first visitor. If you think that this sounds like a wonderful time, that's because it was--and you should try it by visiting Milwaukee very soon. Hugs & Misses...
