A Weekend in Chicago

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Do you remember when I told you about how Princeton was protesting the month of October?  If not, you can read about it here.  Well, November came in with a big bang and a trip to Chicago.  Princeton was not a happy camper...

The good news is that he had a good time visiting with Grandmama and Super Pops (my mom and dad) and when we returned, he hadn't destroyed anything else out of anger.  It was a win-win situation!

Stephen and I had been looking forward to our trip for the longest time, and were thankful for a reason to get away.  We had friends who were tying the knot in Chicago, and we couldn't wait to get there!

As soon as we drove into the city, we headed to one of our most favorite restaurants, Joy Yee.  Joy Yees is a pan Asian restaurant located in Chinatown (I wrote about it here when my sister and her husband visited).  For the past couple of months every time Stephen and I go out to eat, Stephen has shared his craving for Joy Yees.  Thankfully we were able to satisfy this craving on this trip.  It was a night of a double win, as our good friend, Shea, joined us on our Joy Yee extravaganza!  Unfortunately, we have no pictures to document this :-/

Joy Yee, we love you!

Stephen proudly showing us what he's going to order :)

Our meal: Coconut Curry Chicken and Chicken & Shrimp Pad Thai

Stephen double fisting our Bubble Tea choices.  Mine was on the left: a Mango Freeze.  Stephen's is on the right: a Berry Freeze.

On Saturday we enjoyed time with our good friends, Matt and Amy before heading off to Carnivale (a great Brazilian restaurant in downtown Chicago) to enjoy a wonderful wedding!

It's such a fun and beautiful atmosphere, with DELICIOUS food!

They served our table family style with food that was out of this world!  

 Stephen and I are blessed to have such good friends.  Here are our good friends, Debbie and Stephen - both were in our small groups in Chicago. 

The Bride and Groom

After the wedding, Stephen and I headed to our dear friends, Mike and Amanda's apartment (Princeton's previous owners) to hang out with them and our other dear friends, Matt and Amy.  We enjoyed a great night of food (more food?!) and Balderdash.  You can never go wrong with Balderdash and this crowd!  We laughed until we cried!

On Sunday, we were privileged to worship at The Moody Church before we spent the rest of the day hanging out with friends and loving our home away from home even more. 

We even got a chance to drive past our old apartment...

 We love Chicago and miss it daily.  The people make the place, and God definitely blessed us with an amazing Chicago Family that we'll have for the rest of our lives. 

Have you ever been to this great city?  If so, what's your favorite thing to do there?

I Love Freebies!

Living in Chicago was SO awesome because I would be walking down the street and see something that someone else had put out for trash that I could see a treasure in.  I know that might disgust some of you, but let me settle your fears and tell you that NOTHING I have ever picked up off the street was in the actual trashcan or dumpster - all were just sitting on the side of the street next to the dumpster (not that I wouldn't contemplate pulling things out of the dumpster if the *right* item needed rescuing!).  I scored this awesome tray off the side of our street that someone else had deemed "trash", as well as this arm chair (Charlie the Chair, if you will....he's still awaiting to be 100% completed, although he's WAY more clothed now than this post leads you to believe).

In March, 2011 I was in our apartment getting ready for our trip to Salt Lake City to visit friends and go skiing.  Our apartment overlooked the side of a high rise building and I could see down into the area that was used for the dumpsters.  Next to these dumpsters, a certain piece of furniture caught my eye...

 I loved everything about this dresser - the size (it's a little bit higher than waist level), the drawers (I love the 2 smaller on top) as well as the pulls!  At this point in time, Stephen and I knew we were going to be moving back to Kentucky sooner than later and that a house was in our near future...furniture was going to be a must!  The only problem with this charming piece was the lack of a top piece of wood.  That's right ladies and gents, this dresser was topless!

{censored!}  Make sure you're 18 or older!!!

Despite Stephen's disbelief, this did not stop me from wanting this dresser to be mine.  My sweet husband went outside in the snow (it's March in Chicago) and carried this sucker down to the dungeon basement of our apartment building.  There it sat until the end of July when we were packing up our moving truck to head back to our Old Kentucky Home.  Our truck was literally filled to the brim and I almost lost this wonderful possession.  In fact, Stephen contemplated (I could see it in his face) trying to convince me to accept my loss and leave Debbie the Dresser in Chicago.  That moment only lasted a couple of seconds as I know he could read the longing on my face!

Fast forward to April, 2012 months after we have moved back to Louisville and Debbie (the Dresser) has been hanging out in our garage yearning for attention.  It was my Spring Break and I knew I needed to make room in the garage (my parent's old dining room furniture is also hanging out in there - even as I type...I haven't gotten around to tackling that monstrosity!).  So, if you ever come across your own slutty dresser that has lived a topless life and needs a face lift, here are the steps I followed:

1. Measured the opening in the top that was missing a wood piece.  Went to Home Depot and picked out a thick piece of wood and had them cut it to size ($18).  Used Elmer's Wood Glue ($6 - big bottle) to glue it into place and then used finishing nails (had them in my little kitchen nail kit from Target) to hammer it in around the perimeter.  

2. After attaching the new top piece, there was still some gaps around the existing trim and the new top.  I applied a liberal amount of wood putty ($8) to fill in the gaps.

3. I impatiently waited for this wood putty to dry and then I used sandpaper that I already had to sand down the wood putty I had put into the gaps.

4. I also used the same tub of wood putty to put on the drawers to fill in any scratches that I knew would be evident when I painted.  I also waited for this putty to dry and then sanded it down smooth.  (Before I did this, I removed the pulls)

5. My friend Jen told me about this blog where the blogger repainted her credenza.  I literally did exactly what she did, only I used a different color.  I went out and bought this Zinsser primer ($17) and I brushed it on, doing about 2 coats.

6. While I was waiting for the primer to dry, I pulled out some Krylon ORB spray paint that I already had on hand for this lamp project and I used it to spray paint the pulls for Debbie.

7. I used Rustoleum's High Performance Spray Enamel in White ($6 per can, I used 2 cans) to spray roughly 3 coats of white onto freshly primed Debbie.

8. I used a paint brush and sprayed the ORB spray paint onto a paper plate and then dabbed my brush into it to paint the keyholes without getting any ORB paint on my freshly painted drawer.

9. I did a thorough cleaning of the inside of Debbie (don't forget, she was a dirty dresser - that topless thang!) and then reattached my pulls.  I had my studly hubby (and a friend) carry face lifted Debbie up to her new home in our guest bedroom.

  The Price Breakdown:

-Dresser - free!

-Wood piece for top - $18

-Wood Glue - $6

-Wood putty - $8

-Primer - $17 (I bought a quart with lots left over)

-Spray Paint - $6/can, I bought 2 so $12

-Sand paper - had it so free!

-ORB spray paint - had it so free!

Grand Total: $61!  

Talk about a CHEAP piece of furniture!

What a transformation!!!

With a little elbow grease and paint!

Here is Debbie the Dresser enjoying her new life in the guest room:

What about you?  Have you found any treasures that someone else has put out for trash???  Tell me about your adventures!

I'm linking up with:

Fingerprints on the Fridge; TidyMom; Shabbynest; It's a HodgePodge Life; Finding Fabulous; Chic on a Shoestring Decorating; Simply Designing; My Romantic Home; Happy-Go-Lucky; Craftionary; Addicted2Decorating; Young and Crafty; Your Thriving Family; Tatertots and Jello; A Vision to Remember; Lolly Jane; Positively Splendid; Sundae Scoop; Making the World Cuter; Homemaker on a Dime; Sumo's Sweet Stuff; Sew Chatty; Craft-O-Maniac; CRAFT; DIY Project Parade; Etcetorize; Create With Joy;  Polly Want A Crafter; Boogie Board Cottage; Between Naps on the Porch; Keeping It Simple; Mad In Crafts; Sew Can Do; 

A trip back to our first home!

A couple of weeks ago, Stephen and I trucked it back to Chicago for the first time since we moved.  The whole time we were driving in, we were getting misty-eyed and nostalgic, missing our beloved city.  That came to a screeching halt when we drove around for an hour looking for a spot to park our car!  Parking is DEFINITELY not something I miss about that city!  

We stayed with our good friends, Matt and Amy and yet, somehow, we didn't get a picture with them! How does that happen?!  We enjoyed catching up with friends, and pretending like we still lived there.  We drove past our old apartment, and got really sad.  It's so funny because I went kicking and screaming to Chicago, and then was so sad to leave it.  You can read more about that here.  

I made sure I went into the Walnut Room at Macys to see their annual Christmas tree...it was only a year ago when Stephen's sister and her husband came up to visit us and we enjoyed the Walnut Room for dinner with them...seems like yesterday!

The BEST part of Macys at Christmas: Holiday Lane!

The entrance....I felt like such a tourist.

Macys on State Street.  Have I mentioned that I love Chicago???

 Stephen and I on the Michigan Avenue Bridge overlooking Trump Tower and the Chicago River.  We have a picture of the two of us on this bridge 6 years ago before we were dating.  He always says, "that's when you hated my guts..."  He's a funny one!

One of the biggest reasons we ventured to Chicago: our good friends Mike and Amanda had a sweet little baby, Baby Emma!  She is TOOO cute!  

On Sunday, before we split town, Stephen and I got to have lunch with our Small Groups.  I was so happy to spend some time loving on, being loved on, and catching up with these amazing ladies in my life!!! 

All in all, it was a great trip!  It went by way too quickly, but it was much needed for my heart and soul.  I miss Chicago a lot.  I miss what our life looked like up there, our church, and our family of friends.  I know that we're in a great place now and that we're where God has called us, but it sure has been hard!  I'm looking forward to visiting again and again and again, and to all the new memories and good times that will be had here in our New/Old Kentucky Home :).

Showering a Friend With Love

Meet my dear friend, Amanda:

I met Amanda through Stephen when I moved to Chicago.  Stephen and Amanda's husband, Mike are in the same small group and are close friends.  Mike was a reader in our wedding and I have never heard Stephen say anything but great things about him.  When I moved to Chicago, Amanda welcomed me with open arms and it wasn't long before we were close friends.  She is energetic, determined, loving, caring and compassionate.  Better yet, she's all these things in the name of the Lord.  I absolutely, positively LOVE Amanda.  When Amanda decided to join our small group a year ago, I was ELATED!  I was now going to get to see Amanda on a regular basis ALL the time!   EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE (the sound Amanda makes when she's excited)!!!

Meet Amanda and her dear husband, Mike:

At our household, we absolutely love these two.  We love them so much that we let them help us move...hahahaha, yeah right.  That's one of the reasons we love them so much: because they helped us move; because they are always looking for ways to bless other people.  Did I mention that Stephen and I love these two???

Meet Mike and Amanda's future baby girl, Bugaboo:

Ever since Amanda and Mike spilled the beans about this little girls arrival into our world, we couldn't get enough!  I knew right away that I wanted to help throw a shower for Amanda because I wanted a chance to shower her with love and blessings that she had shown me on a daily basis.

Insert good friends and ladies of my small group.  These wonderful ladies joined forces with me and we successfully threw Amanda a shower that we were hoping would knock her socks off!  It was absolutely SO much fun thinking of ways to surprise and love on Amanda, mainly because she is a girl with no expectations.  She expects NOTHING for herself, meaning that we could have shown up with a bag of Doritos and Amanda would have been so thankful to us for providing food.

We threw Amanda her shower at church, as this was the only shower that she had and it was going to be a well attended one (40 peeps, holla'!).  We wanted to take away the feeling that you were in a church room and make it feel very intimate and home-y.  I think we did a good job (if I do say so myself!).  Let me share with you some of the details from the shower:

With 40 people coming to this shower, we did all that we could to cut the costs wherever we could.  One of the ways we tried to cut the costs was with the cake.  Thankfully, my sister-in-law makes cakes on the side and she showed me how to do it when I threw a shower for my sister back in the spring.  These were box cake mix cakes from Aldi.  Here's what I did: I made a 3 layer cake using 9" cake pan.  I then took store bought icing and layered the cakes as well as iced them on top.  After icing the entire cake, I added a top layer.  The top layer is a marshmallow fondant using a variation of this recipe.  I followed the technique used in this video to put my fondant on top of my cakes.  I saved some fondant to color (the pink and green) and then rolled it out and cut into different size circles using cutters I bought at Michaels.  I used food coloring to dye leftover white icing (pink and green) to pipe around the bottom of the cakes.  The pink cake is a white cake with white icing while the green cake is chocolate with chocolate icing.  Seriously people, this wasn't hard - it was just time consuming!

Here's our wonderful spread of food.  There was so much goodness on this table that just remembering it makes me hungry.  That caprese-like salad that you see in the front was store bought from Costco and it was GOOD!  If you shop at Costco, look for this salad, buy it and enjoy it for me!

Here are our decorations adorning the middle of the food table.  I made a banner using my beloved Silhouette and then my friend and fellow hostess, Amy made tissue paper pom-poms to cover up the sticky tack used to hold it up.  The print in the middle was our gift to Amanda.  This owl design is from fabric that Amanda used to create Bugaboo's baby bedding.  My sweet friend and fellow hostess, Debbie (who is a graphic designer) took the fabric and made this print that was then used for the invitations.  Amanda loved the print so much that we sent it off to the printers and had it blown up.  We then went to Hobby Lobby and got a mat custom cut for this poster (have you ever done this?  Hobby Lobby is the bomb-dot-com and a custom cut mat is NOT expensive).  The picture frame came from Michaels during one of their huge sales that included frames (lucky for us!).  Now, that picture is hanging in Bugaboo's room and goes splendidly with her bedding.

We went a simple, yet colorful route with the table centerpieces.  Amy took ball jars and used scrapbook paper and yarn to add a splash of color to them.  She then went out in the wee-hours of the morning and stole cut beautiful hydrangeas and other flowers from the yard of her apartment building.  The white table cloths were from the dollar store (score!) and the balloons came from the grocery store.  In an effort to save time the day of the shower, I stopped by the party store the day before and bought balloons for the big day.  It was an incredibly hot July day and as a result, as I tried to stuff these balloons into the car, I lost 3 of them as they touched the hot exterior of the car.  I then awoke on Saturday morning to the remaining balloons hovering low, right above the floor as I glared at them and their failure to last even 24 hours.  Thankfully, Amy was willing and able to pick up new ones at the grocery store right before the shower.

To the left is a picture of the favors that were put at every seat on the tables.  The little sign on the left is a votive candle that I hot-glued "Pray for Mama and Baby Shih" to the bottom (you guessed it! I used my Silhouette).  Amanda really wanted her guests to have a candle that they could light when they found out she had gone into labor.  The idea is that they will see the candle and use it as a reminder to pray for her while she is bringing this sweet baby into the world.  The brown bag is filled with color coordinated Sixlets that were picked up from the party store.  I cut out onesies and then glued plastic to serve as a window into the bag.  

The picture on the right shows the table that people saw when they came into the shower.  It was decorated with more of Amy's beautiful pom-poms and a huge calendar of September (the month the baby is due) to make a guess of when they think the baby will come.  Whoever guesses the time closest to Bugaboos actual arrival will receive a prize for being so good at fortune telling baby deliveries!

A picture of one of our games - 1 minute to fill in the blanks regarding popular Nursery Rhymes.  The one who had the most correct in 1 minute won!  If you'd like me to send you a pdf of this, shoot me an email - it's a great, quick game to play at any baby shower.

Needless to say, we had a fabulous time celebrating Amanda's soon to be entrance into Mommy-hood and the soon to be arrival of Bugaboo.  Stephen and I can't wait until she makes her debut - we're headed  back to Chicago to meet this amazing little girl! 

(all pictures are compliments of my sweet friend, Amy.  Kudos to her and her awesome photography skills!)

I've linked up to THESE parties this week (As well as Today's Creative Blog, The Thrifty Home, Savvy Southern Style, Sew Much Ado )