Chicago Weekend

A little belated, but here are some pictures from our time back in Chicago last weekend.  Man, do I love and miss my old town.



My Main Squeeze and
A few of my favorite girls





Mmmm, Portillo's...soo yummy



State Street

Spectacular view from our hotel room



I-L-L-I-N-I at Wrigley!



It was so great to be "home" again!

That's my girl!

Andy was in Decatur this weekend and sent me this video of my cutie pie niece showing off her dance moves...and letting "Uncle" know where he stands when it comes to who her favorite is: 

Oh how I love my little Ella.

Wildflour Artisan Bakery & Cafe...

...is officially open for business!

Mom fulfilled her lifelong weeks-long dream this weekend and opened the doors to her new bakery on Monday.

Andy, Sandy, and I made the trip back to Decatur to surprise her for her grand opening.  It was a quick weekend, and in retrospect, perhaps not the ideal time to come home as there was still lots to do to get the bakery ready, but I think Mom was happy to see us...I think.

There were a lot of blood (I got a splinter on my finger while washing my great grandma's antique Hoosier Hutch), sweat (from lots of cleaning, sweeping, mopping, moving furniture, etc...), and tears (from working hard and sleeping little) but we got the shop into ship-shape condition and ready to greet soon-to-be customers on Sunday afternoon.

Mom is really, really excited to be opened.  With Phase 1 complete, she can now move on to Phase 2 of her project- installing bathrooms, and a kitchen so she can become a full-fledged bakery and cafe.

Congrats Mom and Dad! You have both worked really hard to get the store ready.  I really hope Wildflour is successful.  Afterall, my wedding money is tied up in this venture!  So everyone visit Wildflour and buy lots of tasty goodies so someday I can have my dream wedding.

A Weekend Pictorial

 Story and Pictures

by Meaghan

Friday Night: "Whew, what a week," Meaghan tells Will after work.  "I can't wait to relax on the couch and watch some TV tonight."

"I wish I could join you," Will replies, "but I have to work early tomorrow morning and I'm beat. I'm off to bed."

So Meaghan spends her evening parked in front of the TV and catching up on internet fun while Will dreams of Chicken McNuggets, Monopoly pieces, and all other things McDonalds-related.



Saturday: Will is out the door before 7 AM.  Meaghan takes advantage of a quiet morning at home and looks up new music and concert schedules around town.  Lately she has been especially impressed with Mumford and Sons and has listened to the song "Blank White Page" roughly 50 times in the past week.

Around 11 AM she decides to get off the couch and goes for a run around downtown.  She remembers feeling particularly perturbed by the weather.  While it is a beautiful warm and sunny day, Meaghan is tired of the warm weather and wishing that the cool fall weather would just stay put.  She is far too overdressed for her run, and receives lots of funny looks while she roams the streets. 

After work Will heads to the golf course to play a quick 9 holes while Meaghan decides that there's no time like the present to purge her closet of some clothes.  She is quickly able to gather a garbage bag full of clothes to donate.

Later that evening Will and Meaghan regroup and head to their friend's cabin in the Fairview, TN area for a fall celebration.  It's a beautiful pseudo fall evening, and they enjoy having the windows down for the 45 minute drive to the cabin.  Meaghan gives a rather stirring rendition of Journey's "Faithfully", which causes Will's heart to go pitter-patter.  He thinks to himself, "Man, I am so lucky to have such an amazing girlfriend.  Not only is she pretty and funny and a good cook, but she has the voice of an angel."

The cabin's driveway is long and winding, full of twists and turns and steep sections.  4 wheel drive is recommended and a truck is the preferred method of travel to reach the rustic cabin.  Fortunately Will and Meaghan followed their friend Lee to the cabin, so they are able to hop into his truck instead of maneuvering Will's car down the driveway.  They are extremely glad they chose to ride in with Lee when they come across this:

A family leaving the fall celebration somehow managed to end up in a ditch, with only one wheel touching the ground.  Meaghan finds it particularly funny that the wife of the stranded car is quick to point out that she wasn't the one driving.  Luckily the group is able to pull together  and Lee uses his truck to tow them out of the ditch and send them on their way before continuing on to the party.

The fall celebration is great fun.  There is a full moon, a bonfire, a keg of Octoberfest, and even a bluegrass band playing.  What a great way to spend a fall evening. 

The cabin is rustic but homey and modern at the same time.  Originally built in the 1800's, there is always something to work on.  After he tows the family out of the ditch, Lee comes across a porch swing in need of repair.  In an effort that would make MacGuyver proud, Lee is able to fix the porch swing using nothing but a cooler, a caribiner, and sheer determination.  A man's work is never done.

Sunday: The Titans are in town, so Meaghan and Will are up and atem early to make the walk over to LP Field for the game.  While the first 3 quarters were pretty slow (and boring), the Titans really came alive in the 4th and they pull off a fantastic win over the Eagles.  Go Titans Go!

Sunday night: The weekend comes to an end much in the same way that it started- on the couch in front of the TV.  This time, though, Meaghan has company- Will joins her. 

Hope your weekend was as nice!

The End.

I'm thinking of joining this party...

...because this man is too damn hilarious.

Happy Birthday Ella!

If you see this beautiful Silvermist Princess (who also responds to the name Ella) running around today, be sure to wish her a very happy 4th Birthday!

It's hard to believe that my favorite (and only) niece made her entrance into the world 4 years ago.  I don't know what we'd do without her in our lives.  She is our endless source of

• entertainment
• adorableness
• cleverness
• giggles
•  imagination
• inspiration
•  smooches and squeezes
• Shark Song Singing
• sassiness
• fun.

Hope you have a fun day, Ella Bella! I love you to bits and can't believe you're 4 years old today! My little baybay niece is growing up way too quickly!

New blog title and other random thoughts

I decided my old blog title was dreadfully dull, so I'm changing it up.  Because he came up with my new blog name, Will gets to be front and center on my title picture.  I'm sure he's overjoyed.  But I do love that photo.  It takes me back to Lofoten Islands.  What a great vacation...sigh.  I'm already ready for our next trip, wherever that may take us.

*This weekend has been very quiet for a change.  We bought season tickets for Vanderbilt football this year, so as of late our weekends are revolving around the Commodores on Saturdays and the Titans on Sunday.  Neither team was in town this weekend, which was actually kind of nice.  It's good to hang out on the couch every once in awhile.

*Last Saturday we volunteered with McDonalds at the Race for the Cure.  We served coffee to all the runners and volunteers, which meant we had to be at the race village by 5:00 AM to start brewing the coffee.   I must admit, getting up at 4:30 was rough.  I remember the days, not too long ago, where I wouldn't go to bed until that time, now we're getting up at that hour to volunteer.  My, how the times have changed. 

*We went to our first bonfire of the fall season last night at a friend's house.  I love campfires and the atmosphere that goes along with them.  People were roasting hotdogs and marshmallows, playing bags (or cornhole, or whatever anyone else likes to call it), listening to good music, and catching up with each other.  It was great to hang around a fire and to actually need to wear a fleece to stay warm.  I am definitely happy that fall has arrived.  It did feel very strange, though, to be sitting around a big fire in the middle of Nashville.  A little bit of country in the city.  It was nice to be able to drive home and sleep in a bed instead of a tent though.

*We had dinner on Thursday night with one of my old friends from high school, Kasey, her fiance Ed, and their adorable little baby boy Ryland.  It had literally been years since Kasey and I have seen each other, but we picked up right where we left off.  She and Ed live in California now, but are hoping to relocate to Nashville in the next year or so.  I would love it if they moved here.  We had so much fun hanging out with them- I miss being close to good friends. And I totally swiped their picture from Kasey's facebook page.  Iphones take pretty good pictures!


Kasy, Ed, and Ryland



Playing tourists in our 'hood


*Is there something in the water lately? Some pregnancy additive that I'm (fortunately!) avoiding?  I know so many people who are pregnant, or just had a baby (congrats Erin and Chad! and Jess and Ryan!).  3 friends from high school, my old college roommate, my old Chicago roommate, my old Denver co-worker, a couple of Will's friends from college, etc... We've been frequently Babies-R-Us a lot lately, which is weird seeing as we're childless.  I half-way joked with Will that we're going to have to invest in a pack-n-play so our friends can come visit us. 

*The Colts/Redskins Sunday night game is almost over. 3 minutes and counting to bedtime.  'Night all!