Magnificent Mile

I had an opportunity of a lifetime to go to Chicago last weekend with my fabulous baby sister and phenomenal cousin for almost free! Can you believe I have lived in the Minneapolis/St Paul, MN area my whole life and never been to Chicago? It's such a close destination. It's a pity I had never visited before, and now I TOTALLY HOOKED!!! It is such a gorgeous city. Granted, we were only in the downtown area (The Loop on the Magnificent Mile?), but still simply splendid.

Below are a few pics from our adventures...

This first picture is taken from 90-some stories in the air from the Observation Deck at the John Hancock Center. The views were breath takingly gorgeous! On your ride to the Observation area, you go up 94 floors in under 40 seconds. The pressure on your ears is immense. My ears popped 4 times in that brief time frame. Lake Michigan overlooking Navy Pier.

Below is the rock star / musician that my cousin Sara had us stalk the first night we were in town. Molly and Sara had tickets to see the Lovehammer concert that features Marty Casey as the lead singer. We went to the pre-concert party at the Rock-it Bar, where the band never showed up for their meet & greet. Next we went to the actual concert at the House of Blues (which was AWESOME!!! -- not the concert, but the actual House of Blues.) After the concert we went to our third bar of the evening, whose name I cannot remember. In any case, we staked out the joint until Sara spotted the infamous Marty Casey and we were able to get out picture taken with me. Yeah us!

Up the Creek?

Have you heard that the economy is shot to heck? Up the creek? Over a barrel? Between a rock and a hard place? In a pickle? On the fritz? And other assorted prepositional phrases?

Yeah. I think I heard that somewhere too.

Fortunately, even though the economy is, well…you know…here’s some good news. You can still take a lovely Caribbean vacation! Yes! In fact, in my current issue of Coastal Living (AKA “that glossy publication that repeatedly causes me to break commandment #10 into teeny, weeny pieces”), there is an entire article devoted to helping good, hardworking folks like you and me save a buck or two on just such an endeavor. And since I am all things magnanimous, I will henceforth share this information with all of you. First on the docket is the fabulous island of St. Lucia. Can you believe such places exist on this earth? Are those angelic voices that I hear, or have I just suffered a minor brain embolism in the face of so much lush tropicality?

Lucky, lucky us! Coastal Living informs me that we can go and stay at the Jade Mountain resort in St. Lucia anytime this year and receive our fourth night FREE!!!! FREE!!! Absolutely FREEEEE!!!!!

Pack your bags! Buy your flip flops! Slather on the sunscreen! Wax your…

Hang on.

Forgot to mention something.

The first three nights? $850.

Per night.

Okay, okay, okay! Don’t despair! I’m sure that was just a little joke to whet our appetites. Let’s move on and see what else they can offer us middle class slobs who stand in Walmart and compare cost-per-oz before choosing a can of garbanzo beans.

Deep, cleansing breath.

Ready!

Oooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh… be still my heart.

The Turks and Caicos Islands are surely the jeweled landing on the staircase to heaven, if not the lobby of heaven itself. Drink it in, my friends. Drink it in.

And guess what??? After June 1st, rates drop several hundred dollars per night! And if you book four nights in a row, you get FREE MEALS!!!!! Where’s my snorkel? Is my passport still valid? Does my camera have batteries? Has anybody seen…?

Ahem.

I seem to have overlooked the fine print.

Staying in one of those cute little pavilions? $1200. Per night.

But yoga classes are free with that! And afternoon tea!

If your windows shatter suddenly, do not be alarmed. It is simply the frequency of my shrieks at this moment.

Okay, Coastal Living. I’m giving you one more chance. Show me something that the teeming masses can enjoy, or I’ll cancel my subscription.

How about Virgin Gorda? It’s a sweet little British spot of fragrant frangipani, sea grape trees, and white sand beaches rimmed by that undefinable blue-green Caribbean sea.

I’m finding it difficult to type, my keyboard being so slick with drool.

The good news? Seven-night stay packages are several THOUSAND dollars cheaper right now.

So now, nights at the resorts run a paltry $700, champagne included.

What are you waiting for? It’s practically free!

Forget drooling. I’m starting to spit.

On the bright side, I think I’ve figured out what sort of relaxing, sun-drenched vacation I can afford this summer.

And it looks something like this.

What Happens in Vegas...

Been busy. So very busy.

Was super lucky and got to tag along on a business with my hubby to good ol' Las Vegas last week from Thurs to Sun. My fantastically phenomenally awesome in-laws took all of the kids while we were out of town. Grand time was had. I got lots and lots of sleep and read a fabulous book. However, I barely, and I mean BARELY, saw my hubby since he was working insanely long days and nights! That was quite the bummer. We did manage to slip away on Sat afternoon to the Hoover Dam. Never thought I would be so excited to visit, but it was really amazing.

Here are a couple of snapshots of our "Dam" adventures.

Dry Heat

While in Vegas, Husband was so kind that he surprised me with tickets to see Carrot Top (comedian) at the Luxor. At one point, CT was talking about the heat in Vegas. He was making fun of folks who say, "But the heat in Vegas isn't that bad. It's a DRY heat." CT then said the best line ever... "Why don't you crank your oven to 450 degrees and then stick your head in there. That's a dry heat so it shouldn't be that bad!"

I have never understood the "dry heat" concept. Isn't it still hot enough to cook an egg on the sidewalk?! (The high temps while I was in Vegas on June 13-16 were between 105-110 degrees.) Granted, it's nice that your skin can breathe and not drown in the moisture already in the air, but to me -- it all boils down to the fact that it's just plain uncomfortable when it gets that hot! Humid heat, dry heat, or otherwise.