The Vintage Bazaar #2

This last weekend, Anna and I had a booth at the second Vintage Bazaar here in Chicago. Last February it was held at the Dank Haus in Lincoln Square and was jammed packed, so to allow for more vendors and shoppers, it was held at the famous Congress Theater. It was gorgeous inside with 60+ vendors. It didn't seem as busy as the Bazaar in February but we still did pretty well and sold about half of our stuff!

Our booth

Anna busy calculating sales

The ceiling of the theater; gorgeous!

Grady's Birthday!

On Saturday, we celebrated Grady's 3rd birthday by going to Chuck-e-Cheese's! Grady had so much fun there playing games and riding toys. We enjoyed pizza there and had cake and presents back at the house.

Grady's favorite was the horse carousel

Daddy and Grady

Yummy chocolate cake!

Daddy playing Grady's new acoustic guitar

Birthday Boy!!

Tomorrow is Grady's 3rd birthday! We will be going to Chuck - e - Cheese's to celebrate and I will post some pictures of the fun! Today he is sharing tuxedo cookies with his friends at school.

Dinner Rehearsal

Two days before the wedding, Alyssa and Jake had their dinner rehearsal at the Columbia Winery in Woodinville. We had a run through of the ceremony and then off to Russel's Restaurant to enjoy wine and dinner with the immediate family and bridal party. We had a great time! After dinner, I went over to Alyssa's grandmother's house to get to know her mother's side of the family. We stayed up until 1 a.m. drinking wine while the men smoked cigars around an outside fire pit.

Alyssa's grandmother and cousin

Alyssa's parents, Brian and Kathy

Myself and another bridesmaid, Lauren

Bachelorette Party

On Wednesday, I threw a Bachelorette party for Alyssa at The W Hotel in Seattle. All the bridesmaids were there as well as some of Alyssa's coworkers and a few high school friends. We had such a great time starting out with presents and games at the hotel then on to dinner at Benihana's. Later, out on the town for a few drinks and some dancing. I had a wonderful time getting to know her other friends and Jake's sisters.

Jodi and Jen (Jake's sisters)

Alyssa, the bride-to-be

Alyssa's bridesmaids

Vacation to Seattle

While Grady and Kris stayed in Chicago, I went to Seattle to be in Alyssa and Jake's wedding. I got in on Tuesday and left Sunday. I had such a great time but was ready to get home to my family by the time Sunday rolled around. When I got in Tuesday night, Anna, Maya and Alyssa came to pick me up and we had a little fun at Alyssa's house. We had a few glasses of wine, smoked from the Hookah and caught up with one another.

Parker's Birthday Party

Today we went Navy Pier to celebrate Parker's 3rd birthday. Parker is a friend of Grady and they share the same class at school. It was a train theme with goodies and unlimited train rides. We had a great time being right on the pier and we enjoyed talking to the other parents. The rain started to hit as the party had come to an end... perfect timing!!

Grady counting his fingers

Grady sitting next to his friend Maddox

Montrose Beach

Today we drove over to Montrose Beach here in the city. It's just about two miles from where we live and easy to get to. We had a great time although the sun hid behind the clouds most of the time. Grady found a huge hole in the sand and had fun filling it up with his water bucket.

Grady's Doc Appointment

Grady went to the Ear, Nose and Throat doctor on Monday. She is not ready, at this time, to insert tubes in his ears via a simple outpatient procedure. She thinks that he is a little old for the tubes and might be on the verge of outgrowing the “fluid in the ears” issue. But if he has a couple more ear infections, she may want to go ahead and do the procedure.

Lincoln Park Zoo

We took a walk over to the Lincoln Park Zoo yesterday to check up on the zoo animals. Most were out and about this day and Grady is starting to like the zoo more and more. We saw a polar bear, a rhino, spiders, meerkats and a ton more! It was getting a wee hot later in the day so Grady and Kris played in the fountain. Very fun!