Flugtag - September 8, 2012

If you don't know what Flugtag is, it's a Red Bull Event where people make crazy flying contraptions that they launch off of a huge ramp into Lake Michigan...or whatever body of water exists at the event. Well, it was on a Bucket List for Betsy and something that a group of us had always wanted to see...and it was in Chicago this year and we decided to go!

After an EARLY train ride into the city...we made it to the beach where Flugtag was to take place....only to see a gian sign flashing "REDBULL EVENT CANCELLED." We just couldn't believe it...this had to be a joke! Nope...due to marine conditions (swells) they cancelled the whole thing.

We got to see the ramp...and some flying machines...only to find out that they were all being destroyed.

 

 

 

 

 

It was incredibly dissapointing!!! After standing around and debating next steps, we thought the best thing to do would be to cross something else off of Betsy's bucket list and go on a bar crawl!

 

It was a beautiful day - aside from the poor marine conditions. We walked along the beach and saw the swells they were talking about. Betsy and I put our toes in the sand and lake...Brian stayed on land - didn't wnat to get sand in his shoes! We finally made it to Bar 1 - Oak Street Beach...where we paid about $7.50 for a beer...but it was cold and it was good!

 

 



The picture didn't really turn out...but when you sat at the bar, you felt like you were at an exotic beach. The lake looked like the ocean and all you could see was blue water and sand...and then when you turned around, right behind you was this:

The crazy blend of nature and city!

We finished our beers and walked the rest of the way to Navy Pier. We grabbed some chicken gyros and parked it outside for a quick lunch break. We got to witness a very public fight between two black women arguing about how one of them didn't know the other...it was great "dinner theatre." We also saw this cute dog who just didn't want anymore sun!

So, as I mentioned before, we decided to cross something else off of Betsy's bucket list...apparently she wanted to ride the Water Taxi! I know, sometimes it's the little things. How we can have Flugtag and Water Taxi together on the same list I can't tell you! In addition, she added a drink at the Trump Tower to the list...so we bought tickets to take the Water Taxi to the Trump Tower!

 

Turns out waiting for the Water Taxi takes longer than walking to the Trump!

We had more than enough time for some commemorative photo shoots!

 

The nice thing about both the Water Taxi and the Trump Tower was getting some great shots of buildings from a new perspective...tons of pics ensued!

We ended up meeting up with Will at the Trump Terrace for cocktails. Turns out those $7.50 beers were a bargain in this town!!! I guess they factor the Terrace views into your drink prices...at $18 for ONE glass of wine, I sure tried to appreciate that view!!! Betsy and I savored every sip...Brian even joined in on the fun with a $15 beer...I've never seen him drink that slow before!

We wrapped up our fun filled day with one more drink with Will before hitting the train home. We all were a bit sunburned, tired, and poorer! But Betsy got to cross off 2-1/2 things from her Bucket List (come on, an attempt at Flutag has to count for something) and we had a fantastic day in the city!

Update: Book Club Party

Many moons ago, I hosted an elaborate book club party for my girls! We meet monthly to begin with, but after we hadn't been reading or meeting in a while, I booked a Lia Sophia party and spent hours on Pinterest to host a party to get everyone back together! I think it was a total success!

I turned an old book into a welcome sign...this greeted you as yoou walked in...along with me and some drinks!

I covered a picture frame we already hanging up with old book pages to show where the DRINKS would be!

I made champagne cocktails by pouring champagne over fruit popscicles! There were some pregos so I had a water bar - ice water + mint, lemons, watermelon or strawberries. I prepped all the foot the night before I made these book themed food markers. The drinks and food were a hit!

 As noted above, the water bar was setup for my pregnant girlfriends. I had planned a lot of this party with Sadie in mind since I know how much she appreciates a good theme and effort...she just happened to go into labor early that morning and missed the whole thing! But, we got a sweet little baby girl so I think it's worth it!

Speaking of babies...my godson also made an appearance! Bradley's first book club!

I loved every minute of planning and executing this event...cheers to the next one! I'm already planning the Book Club Christmas Party!

College Girls - 2012

Last weekend us college girls got together again for our annual weekend! We had a blast! Aside from the speeding ticket on our way down - things were PERFECT! We had a fantastic day to sit outside, drink beers (or vodka + water if you are wierd) and get coaching on intro to parenting 101!

Jackie had me up EARLY - we left around 7:00 AM! It paid off because we got there early enough to play before Carson even got up from his nap. We got to see Logan and Kayden together again and they were ready to play!!!

These boys loved hockey! It looks like Jackie did too!

Logan got photo bombed! That's my lovely foot - I guess I thought I was funny after a few Apple Smirnoff Ice's!

Kayden liked me better than Nichole so she had to bribe him with kid-friendly cheetos!

Did someone forget to tell Logan that there are NO popsicles in the garage?!?! Don't let mama see!


It felt like ages, but Carson FINALLY got up from his nap...and we managed to get some playtime in before his next one! That boy eats and sleeps like a true champ!

It was so great getting together with everyone again - and I love that I get to see their kids! We all have so much fun together still! The only difference is that we get WAY less drunk and got to bed a lot earlier!

We were all buzzed and tired...the boys were dirty though which means BATH TIME! I did say it was intro to parenting, right? I learned a lot...like a bathtub full of 3 boys is fun and also envokes some tears!

I can't believe we only do this once a year...I don't think they will all fit in the tub together in a year! Thanks for a great weekend!!!

Poor Ninja...

After many, many, many weeks of Ninja suffering from some puzzling "disease" and costing us a pretty penny in vet visits....we have a solution! Ninja has some kind of fungus and now requires regular shampooing & meds - at least for the next 6 weeks. He got his first bath last night...Poor Ninja!!!

Update: Bradley Michael Cunningham

Happy belated birthday to Bradley Michael Cunningham - born on June 27, 2012. We were lucky enough to be at the hospital to celebrate his birth with the Erickson/Cunningham crew and friends. I got to witness a few of Betsy's labor pains (actually one of the most painful looking things EVER) before getting banned to the waiting room...only a few minutes later Bradley was born!

We got to go see him in the NICU the next day and a little while after that got to hold him. On top of all of that - we were asked to be Godparents!!! We love this little guy so much already...

Right before B got to come home we got the chance for one last baby-free hurrah with Betsy and Pat in Lake Geneva...I guess you had to be there to know how that all went down! It was a ton of fun and the following week Bradley FINALLY made it home!



Anniversary Recap

Well, we had a FANTASTIC first anniversary! We decided to stick with the traditional gift-giving for wedding anniversaries as a fun tradition. So, this year the theme was paper. Now before I get into details, I must recognize that Bri is getting REALLY good at thinking about gifts and I need to step up my game!!!

I thought I was really clever to get him funny paper shooting targets...they are pretty cool if I say so myself. I thought the Zombie targets suited him nicely and I really liked the idea of these games to play to make shooting more interesting/fun for the less serious crowd (ME!).

Now here comes the REALLY good gift! As Bri explained, he wanted to get me something that was special and that would last forever so that I could remember our first anniversary...he wanted it to be special! The bad news was that he waited until April 30th to shop for it...so I got to play a guessing game to figure out what it was and then he showed me the picture online...so, the gifts in the mail!

It's a first printed, first edition signed copy of my favorite book - Summer Sisters! I love it!!!

After gifts, we went to Meson Sabika for dinner. Who would have thought you would need reservations there on a Monday night!!! Oh well, noted for next year. We had a seat at the bar and had a drink and some goat cheese and olives...what more could we ask for? We were seated soon after we got there where we were treated to complimentary champagne and compliments from strangers...the compliments from strangers being that a woman told me I looked like the girl from the Hunger Games...I WILL TAKE IT!!!

After dinner we went to Fox & Hound for drinks. They had a huge beer offering and we tried some new ones. I let Bri pick for me and he selected Dragon's Milk which was disgusting!!! But, I felt like I was in Game of Thrones and was the Calisi...AKA Dragon Mother.

Happy Anniversary!!! Here's to many more!!!

Happy Anniversary!

Happy 1-Year Wedding Anniversary to us! We spent this past weekend reminiscing about what we were doing a year ago today at any given time. It's 2:00 on the 30th and a year ago today, I was running VERY late...I had hair and makeup finishing up their work on me while my girls ran around trying to make everything go perfect and smooth and try not to forget ONE detail...my mother-in-law was calling me to try and figure out whether we would be outside or inside for the ceremony because it was one hell of a windy day...Bri was probably at the bar gaining some liquid courage!

It's been a crazy year and we are still so happy that we are married!

We are going back to Meson Sabika tonight for dinner. We hope the weather holds up and isn't too rainy and cold so we can walk around and relive our ceremony. We'll probably head to Fox & Hound for some after dinner drinks too!

We celebrated this past weekend with Brian's parents who happened to be in town. It was also Chris' birthday, so we had a fantastic dinner...a 3-hour dinner that left us happy and full! We dined at Topolobampo...a Rick Bayless restaurant and it was DELICIOUS!!!

As for gifts...we decided to go the traditional route and give each other something paper-themed. I guess we'll see how that goes later tonight!

I think one of the most exciting parts of tonight is that the GD tier of cake that's been taking up a good chunk of freezer room will be gone!!!

Lucky!!!!!!!!!!

The Siedors are feeling LUCKY! I bowled a 165 on Tuesday night AND we WON THE LOTTO!!!! Holla! OK, so we only won $7 on the lotto...but it was still quite thrilling to have 3 numbers line up...yay!

Garage Sales

While my parents in California are busy unloading clutter for their new house and selling off anything possible at their garage sale a few weeks ago, I sat in Chicago plotting my map for the St. Charles Park District community garage sale that was this past Saturday. After a brief search, I called Brian to meet me with cash so I could buy a new dining room set...look at these gorgeous chairs!!!

Loved the chairs, but they've got to go!

Bri surprised me yesterday by organzing the pickup, assembly and positioning in the dining room so it was all setup when I got home...one look later I decided it was going up for sale! It just is NOT our style...so, for the record, Brian, I'M SORRY!!!

Anyways, back to garage sales...it was a looong day. We met up at 8:00 AM and I was pretty close to on time so that is a legitimate starting point. I didn't get home until after 3pm and I came full of loot! Actually, after the dining room set, I really only came with a little loot, but we are storing some newly purchased furniture for Lindsay. Lindsay is moving to the burbs in a few weeks and is just a hop, skip and a jump from our house in Bartlett.

Here's Lindsay getting loopy!

She decided not to drive all the way back to the city, so she came back to our house where we were supposed to nap before going to a BBQ, but instead we drank a bunch of beer and helped Brian hang one of his new finds!

So, now we have to get the new table sold soon so our good old Viking Table goes back into place. Then, I need to break it to Lindsay that we are no longer selling the Viking to her! Sorry!!!

We're Gonna Bowl Tonight!

So, I think we have found a fantastic Friday tradition! This would replace the old Friday tradition of drinking and dance parties...read the blog more often if you don't know what I'm talking about! Anyways, for the past 2 Friday's in a row Bri and Lo have found BOWLING! And we love it!

The previous Friday, us Siedors met up with the Trimarcos for Domo (Hibachi) and Bowling at Wheaton Bowl. It was so quiet by the time we got there...I guess it was pretty late...that we practically had the place to ourselves.

We ended up teaming up and playing 3 games...I must say it was AWESOME especially because I bowled a Turkey!!! We spent a lot of time razzing Bri who could not manage to get strikes at the same time as the rest of us!

Then this Friday our friends the Cunnhinghams joined us...and again, AWESOME night! My Bets had to bowl with a kiddy ball that wasn't too heavy but she did great still...there's a little kiddy ball under that shirt now too!

We didn't have any Turkeys this Friday...but I did bring my camera this time and snapped a few photos of everyone TRYING to act natural. I swear, this camera comes out and everyone tenses up. I'm working on it though!

I like these two pictures...I think it really depicts the love triangle well!

Don't worry - she was pouring for everyone else!

Photo by Bri but I did the editing!

Hopefully the tradition will continue! More to come on that though...the in-laws are here this Friday...maybe they will want to bowl too!