Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! We can't get Charlie into one of those doggy costumes, so his little orange bandana will have to do. I have always loved Halloween and it's an extra special holiday for us because Jody and I met at a Halloween party 8 years ago. I was a cavegirl and he was a thug...and the rest is history. While we won't be in full Halloween mode tonight because of the wedding, here's to a great Halloween for all of you!

Suprise!

This past weekend, we threw a surprise 60th birthday party for Jody's mom out in the South suburbs. We have been planning this party for months with Bonnie and Roger and Jason and Heather, and it went off without a hitch. It was a fantastic evening with friends and family and Jody's mom was totally surprised by it all.

The evening started with a limo showing up to Jody's mom place and all of her close friends from the North Shore waiting for her inside the limo with champagne. They didn't tell her where they were headed, but she figured out that they were definitely meeting up with Bonnie and Roger. At that point, she had no clue that the "kids" were in on it too.

When they showed up at Francesca's, she got her second surprise when she came into the room and all of us were in there. The party was a sockhop theme since she was a child of the '50s. So there were pictures of '50s icons all over, old photos of the life and times of Jody's mom, adorable centerpieces that Bonnie worked on, and a bunch of candies from the '50s all over the tables.

We had a yummy Italian dinner and everyone gave speeches toasting Jody's mom. It was really sweet to hear all the ways she's touched everyone's lives in different ways. Bonnie also put together a mix CD filled with '50s music and the group loved the tunes. After dinner, speeches, cake, and, of course, plenty of booze, the whole crowd busted out into a dance party, complete with a conga line. It was quite a scene (particularly entertaining for me, the lone sober one) and plenty of fun. I'm pretty sure our party outlasted everyone else in the restaurant, give or take a few people left at the bar.

We had so much fun planning it and it was awesome to see how happy it made Jody's mom. Thanks to everyone who helped coordinate, plan and celebrate! We had a blast.

Here Comes the Bride

With Beth's wedding just days away, I realized that I never posted any pics from her bachelorette party last month. So, before she heads down the aisle, I better get posting.

We had her bachelorette party late last month and it was a blast. We started out at her place for dinner, gifts and drinks and then we headed out on the town in a trolley. As we got on the trolley, Beth got a big surprise when Paul was sitting in the back. As one of Beth's closet friends, Paul had to be part of the festivities. So, he joined the party as the lone dude and I'm pretty sure he loved it.

Beth and Paul showing mad dance skills at Cans.

After that we drove all around the city and took a few photos around town. Even though the trolley driver gave us some scares driving us down Lake Shore Drive and through Cabrini Green two, yes two, times, it's hard not to enjoy a trolley.

DeAnne and Jennifer getting blown away as we drove down Lake Shore.

We made a stop in Bucktown at Cans and spent a little time in the bar before jumping back on the trolley. The night ended at the Evil Olive. While me and a few others headed home at this point, the rest of the crew had a good time at the bar and turned a non-dancey bar into a full dance party.

You can make a dance party anywhere...Julie and DeAnne prove this outside Cans.

The only down side was the trolley ride back to Beth and Jeff's place with me and four other girls. The driver actually took us onto the Kennedy and was flying down the freeway at like 70 mph. Now, in a normal vehicle this would be fine. But, in a trolley with no seatbelts and wide open sides, it was freakin' scary. Most of us were too scared to stand up, but eventually Cari saved the day and got up to tell the driver to get off the highway. Luckily, the driver listened...and proceeded to drive us through the hood on Diversy. But, we survived.

Anyway, it was such a fun night and Beth was the perfect bachelorette! We can't wait for their wedding this weekend.

Executive Experience

Although I've tried keeping political comments to a minimum on the blog, it's been a while since I've brought up the election. With only 9 days to go, I have to bring up something that's really annoying me.

Whenever John McCain is asked to defend Sarah Palin's lack of experience and the public's general perception that she is not ready to be vice president or president for that matter, he always talks about her "executive experience." In fact, I just saw an interview with him where he said: "Sarah Palin has more executive experience than Joe Biden or Barak Obama." This is where I get confused.

Yes, I know McCain's been around forever. He has served the country as a war hero and as U.S. Senator. I realize that he's been around way longer than Obama. But, hey, where's is McCain's "executive experience"?

When McCain says Palin has more experience than Biden or Obama, I'm hearing: "Sarah Palin has more executive experience than John McCain." So, are we to assume that he would seek executive advice from Palin? Um, scary....and doubtful.

You see, McCain and Biden have a pretty similar political resumes. Actually Biden has been in the Senate 14 years longer than McCain. And it's not like McCain had any notable executive experience prior to going to Congress. Now, I know McCain is not running against Biden, but to say that Palin is more experienced than Biden just makes McCain look bad to me. I mean, a lot of things about him and his whole sleazy campaign make him look bad to me right now, but this is something that's really been bugging me.

Yum

Even though everyone around me seems to be complaining about the major temperature drop going on, I'm loving it. This weekend just totally felt like fall: my favorite season. I love fall because I look forward to busting out the warmer clothes, I love the leaves on the ground, Charlie is way more fun to walk, and I am obsessed with boots. But one of the big reasons I love fall is because it kicks off pumpkin spice latte and hot chocolate season.

So this weekend, I tried hot chocolate with a twist: the Hazelnut Hot Chocolate from Starbucks. Mmm. So good. When I ordered it yesterday the barrista asked me if I had ever had one before, and when I said no he told me that I might want to take a seat before trying it because it was going to "knock me off my feet." I figured he was just another quirky barrista at our friendly West Loop Starbucks, so I went on my way. No, I did not take a spill on the sidewalk, but I gotta admit I was struck by it's awesomeness. It was pretty rich and I'm sure loaded with too many calories, but it was totally worth it. Seriously, how could anyone not like fall?

Swimfan

In an effort to get as much wear possible out of my maternity swimsuit, I've recently added swimming into my workout mix. It's hard....and I even spend a good amount of my swim time with a kickboard. So yeah, I have a whole new appreciation for Michael Phelps--not that I needed any more reason to admire him.

Here's my problem, though: swimming is boring. In yoga and group exercise classes, I don't need much entertainment because the classes themselves keep me busy. When I run and use the machines at the gym, I listen to music or watch TV. But, with swimming I've got nothing. My gym doesn't put music on in the pool area and I obviously cannot bring my iPod in the pool. So what am I supposed to do? Mostly I just stare at the clock, watch other swimmers who are much better and faster than me, and count in my head for some reason. Not too stimulating, let me tell ya. So, any swimmers out there have any tips for how to pass the time in the pool?

Another pool issue I'm having is whether or not to wear a swimcap. They look ridiculous and since I am using a kickboard for a good part of my swim routine, it seems silly. But, I put a lot of time and money into products that make my hair feel softer and make my salon-made highlights look as natural as possible. And I know from my hair magazine days chlorine is a big hair killer. So I should probably slap on a swimcap too, right. Hmm, who knew swimming could be so tricky?

Through Four-Legged Eyes

Yes, I’m still reading “Jane Eyre.” Pathetic, I know. But, I have another excuse. Again, I took some time out to read a different book: “The Art of Racing in the Rain,” by Garth Stein.

I’d definitely recommend this book for any dog lover out there. While you don’t have to be a dog lover to like it, it definitely appeals to dog lovers. The story revolves around a race car driver and his family, as seen through the family dog’s point of view. It’s a really creative way to approach this kind of novel and, honestly, it would not have been as strong of a story without the doggy narrator, Enzo. Enzo’s views of the family's ups and downs and human nature in general are totally endearing and made me step back and look at life from a different perspective. It was an especially fun read for me because it made me see Charlie in new light and really try to figure out what exactly goes on in his mind. In the book, Enzo is a pretty smart pooch who has learned pretty much everything he knows from observing the humans in his life and from TV naturally. Enzo is sure that in his next life he will come back as a man and he can’t wait. However, he notes that not every dog is ready to come back as a man. Apparently, some dogs still have plenty to do in their next lives as a dog. I’m pretty sure Charlie loves being a dog too much and is not quite “ready” to go human.

Anyway, if you do read this book, here’s a quick warning: It is a major tear-jerker. I have been a bit more weepy than normal (seriously, an email forward got me all choked up today), but this book really brought on the waterworks. I started reading it on the plane and I made a fool of myself crying my eyes out on the plane. But that was nothing compared to the serious bawling that went down as I finished the book. Charlie always knows when I am upset, so when I was crying as I read the other night, he came over and put his head on the bed to make sure everything was okay. Of course, that set me off even more.

So if you’re looking for a good cry and an inside look at what dogs may be thinking, check out “The Art of Racing in the Rain.” It’s a quick and easy read…and fully entertaining.

For me, it's back to Jane Eyre. Hoping to finish it by the holidays. We'll see.

Deli Bust

The light at the end of the tunnel...3 lbs of gummy goodness

I love bank holidays. Before Jody worked for bank, I actually didn't like them mostly because we didn't get mail. But, now I'm a fan. You see, when Jody has bank holidays and I'm not too busy with work, I'll take the day off too. On days that I'm too busy for a full bank holiday, at least I get to have lunch with him.

Since I am pretty busy juggling a bunch of deadlines right now, I just took a long lunch off with Jody to celebrate Columbus Day. We headed to a new place in River North: Steve's Deli. Jody had been really excited to try this place since he first heard about it. There is another Steve's Deli in Detroit, and this is their first Chicagoland restaurant.

We didn't know that yesterday was Steve's Deli's opening day. As regular restaurant goers, we don't typically go to new places in the first couple months since they usually have a lot of kinks to work out before hitting their stride. But, we figured how could they really mess up a deli? The answer: they can mess it up plenty.

Seriously, Steve's Deli was a disaster. It was jam-packed with people waiting in both the takeout and eat-in areas, and the managers, servers and hostesses were all totally clueless. We waited for about 30 minutes for a table (no big deal) and then waited another 30 minutes for a waiter to even come by our table (bigger deal). That's after we asked two managers if they could send a waiter over.

Looking around the restaurant, we realized that only one table had food in the whole place. Everyone else was just sitting there with empty water glasses looking irritated, constantly glancing over their shoulders for their waiter or their food. Once food did start coming out, almost every table seemed to be getting the wrong food, cold food that was supposed to be hot, regular soda when it was supposed to be diet, and so on. Two ladies sitting by us finally told the waiter that they couldn't wait any longer and they were leaving (they had been there almost two hours waiting for just two simple sandwiches!). And you know what? The waiter just let them leave empty-handed. No gift certificate. No cupcakes. Not even a freakin' bagel.

We actually fared better than most patrons...mostly because we actually got our food. Of course, our order was wrong. I ordered a half sandwich and got a whole one (no biggie) and Jody ordered a hot, lean overstuffed pastrami sandwich and got a cold, fatty, chewy, super-skimpy pastrami sandwich instead. Everyone knows how much Jody treasures his food, so this was all bad. But we figured if we sent anything back we would never see our food again. So Jody powered through the nastywich.

I highly doubt we'll be back at Steve's anytime soon. Even if they do get their act together, the pastrami was still way subpar and that typically puts a black mark on any deli in our world.

Even though it was a pretty annoying experience, it was kind of entertaining just to see an entire restaurant of disgruntled customers. I've never seen that in any Chicago restaurant before, even brand new ones.

No worries, though, the entire lunch outing was not a bust. When we ran into CVS afterward, I heard Jody a couple aisles over proclaim: "Oh my Lord!" And when I went over there he was happily holding up a 3-pound bag of gummy fruit slices that were marked at 75% off. Sweet. He was so happy that it was almost like the pastrami incident never happened. Almost.

The Schirels 5.0

This weekend Jody and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary! In some ways it feels like just yesterday that we got married and in other ways it feels like we've been together forever. All I do know is that it's been an awesome five years and I'm looking forward to a lifetime's worth of more. So to, Jody, thank you for being the best husband ever; I love every minute I spend with you!

This past weekend felt a lot like our wedding weekend, actually. Unseasonably gorgeous weather and the Chicago marathon. To celebrate, we went to dinner at Topo Gigio, a yummy Italian place in Old Town that we haven't been to since our early dating days. Then, we headed over to Second City to see "Campaign Supernova."

Dinner was good and the show was pretty good. Not the best Second City production we've ever seen, but decent. We thought they'd have some good stuff with it being a Presidential election year--and plenty of things to make fun of with these candidates. But, they didn't do too much election stuff. In fact, the last skit was a musical number basically about what bad shape our country is in right now. Not too funny. I mean, I don't even think they were trying to make it funny, give or take a few shots at Palin. It was mostly a pretty depresssing way to end the show. Regardless, we hadn't been to Second City in years and we had a really fun time. We ended up actually staying out until almost 2 a.m., which is way late for us. Yup, we're totally old...and also totally fine with that!

Halfway Home

Hooray, I'm out of the teens! We've past the halfway point of the pregnancy and now we have less than 20 weeks until the Baby! I know there's still a ways to go--and grow--but I really feel like this has been such a long 20 weeks. I'm just hoping the second half goes a little quicker.

We had our 20-week doctor's appointment and ultrasound last week. Everything looks good at this point. Aside from the cranky ultrasound tech who actually said we had a "bad baby" because he/she wouldn't move into the position she wanted it to move, the ultrasound was fun. Very cool to see the Baby again...it had been too long since 12 weeks. The tech said that Baby was moving around like crazy, but just not the way she wanted him/her to. So, she started jiggling me, pushing and just being general rough to try to move the Baby. Needless to say, Jody was none too happy about this. It was actually pretty cute to see how worried and pissed he was getting. The jiggling didn't do much, so the tech made me walk up and down the hallway of the doctor's office for like 20 minutes. Again, Jody was annoyed and kept trying to block my way to make me stopping walking. But, you know, I follow rules so I kept walking. When we got back into the room, the Baby had moved into the right spot and we were good to go.

I also started feeling the Baby move this week. Very cool. For some reason, when we were at Yom Kippur services on Wednesday night, especially during the rabbi's sermon, the Baby was going nuts in there. Maybe the Baby, like me, was ready for the rabbi to just wrap it up and stop quoting so many books and articles. Who knows. All I know is feeling actual movement makes it all seem even more real.

We got about 100 ultrasound photos and only a few that look like an actual baby. Here's one of the Baby sucking its thumb...

Grand Canyon and Chopper Time

One of the things my sister (aka the Pregnancy Guru) told me when I first got pregnant was that pregnant women and the geriatric population are a lot a like. It makes sense. Think about it: they both enjoy water aerobics, modified yoga, a mild diet and a slow shuffle as time goes on. Now, I can add a love of helicopters into the older folks and pregnant ladies similarities.

Last week on the first day in the Grand Canyon, we actually did get a chance to hike. Of course, it was pretty easy hiking. The first day, we hiked a bit around the South Rim with Chris, Karen, Andrew and Melissa. For the four of them, this was just a little warm-up for their big hike into the Canyon the next day.

While we would have loved to get up early (well, maybe not that early) to take on the big Canyon hike with everyone, Jody and I did another flat-ish hike along the South Rim. Even though it was pretty easy, it was still gorgeous and we got a chance to see a lot of wildlife: a ram, a family of long-horned sheep and even a condor. Very cool. If I were an animal, I would definitely want to live in the Grand Canyon. Not only it is a gorgeous setting, but the animals there are so protected and respected that I feel like they have a pretty good life. Here is the picture of the ram:

After that, we headed to the Grand Canyon airport to catch a helicopter tour over the North Rim. We figured if we couldn't hike down into the Canyon, a helicopter tour was the next best thing. And apparently, other "restricted" people had the same idea. When we walked into the helicopter place, it was chock-full of seniors. Of course. These are my people now, so even though I was pretty nervous to get into a helicopter, they put me at ease.

The chopper tour was pretty awesome. We flew into the Canyon and got a close look at it from a very cool vantage point. The best part was seeing the entire span of the Canyon from the air, which gave a true sense of how massive it really is. Here are a few more photos showing the Canyon from overhead:

Well, the Children Are Our Future

Sure, he sucks his thumb like nobody's business. Sure, he hasn't mastered a toilet yet. Sure, he's only a year old. But, c'mon even Connor knows what's up.

Here's a big endorsement from one of Obama's littlest supporters. I, for one, think we ought to listen to him because, really, his generation is going to be paying for and cleaning up the mess we're making today. And if that's a little too heavy for you to handle, then just look at how darn cute he is. It's hard to disagree with a face like that, right?!

(Thanks Joannie and Mike for helping Connor make his endorsement public!)