Sunday, May 20, 2007

Knapp Girls in Chicago...Minus One

My mom and my little sister took a bus to Chicago yesterday. The women in their church get together every year and take a Chi-town shopping trip. So, my mom and Rachelle signed up. Instead of taking the bus back, though, I met up with them and we took the Metra back to my condo for the night. Today I drove them back to Michigan where I am staying for the week. I decided to take a week off work for a much needed vacation. Ben is in Maryland until Tuesday when he'll fly to Detroit so I can pick him up and we'll visit Chris and Vicki...and Genna.

So...yesterday in Chicago... We shopped a little and walked a lot! Mom and Rachelle arrived about 10am, which is 11 to them. So we went to a shop, then walked over to Ed Debevic's for lunch. They had never been there, so i thought they should have the experience. It was fun! For those of you who've never been there or heard of it...it's a diner where the waiters' job is to be mean to you. :) Two of the waiters sang to Rachelle for her birthday and gave her "The World's Smallest Sundae". After lunch, we shopped a bit more, then took a cab up to North Ave beach where we rented bicycles. It was a ton of fun to ride our bikes up and down the Lake Michigan coast. It was probably the best weather we've had all year...just gorgeous! There is something about Lake Michigan that makes me extremely happy and feel so at peace. This was definitely my favorite part of our day Saturday. We drove down to Navy Pier, then back up to the beach to drop off the bikes.

Afterwards, we hit up the State Street shopping area where I introduced Rachelle to the store, H&M. She bought a really cute outfit and another shirt, but before we left she decided to return the outfit. Ohhh...the fickle days of a 13 year old. We then rushed to the train station to catch the 4:40 train back to Wheaton. Once we arrive at my condo, we cleaned up a bit then headed to dinner at Cafe' Buonaro's which is a delish "mom & pop" Italian restaurant in the old train station in Naperville. Then after dinner, I took them to the quaint downtown area of Naperville to have dessert. Our dessert was at Ethel's Chocolate Lounge where you can get dessert fondue! Yummmmy!!

Dessert wore us out! We were ready to hit the sack by the time we got back home. This morning we woke up, went to church, came home and ate our leftovers for lunch. Then mom wanted to go to IKEA ..especially to pick up some ginger cookies that are $4 at the grocer store but only 99 cents at IKEA. :) Rachelle bought a squiggly mirror for her new Hawaiian room, then we got back on the road to head home to Michigan.

Tomorrow I think we are going to spend some time in downtown Rockford and Grand Rapids. I'm going to see my Grandmother Borrello too!

I'll update more later this week when we get to see little Genesis! Can't wait!

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Google Image Search

Here are the rules: Put the answer to the question in Google Image search function, and you have to use the FIRST image that comes up--you can't use quotation marks when you search:

The city and state you were born in: Grand Rapids, Michigan
The big building with the slanted roof is the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel where we had our rehearsal dinner and where we stayed our first night after our wedding. Aaron and Emily also stayed here for their 1-year anniversary.

The city and state you grew up in, that you consider "home": Belding, Michigan


The city and state where you currently live: Wheaton, Illinois


Your first and last name: Nikki Gladd

Yeah, not sure who that is... they say his name is Bobby Gladd.

Your grandmother's name: Mary Jane Borrello
Again, no idea...hmmm.

Your favorite food: pepperoni pizza
yuck...this pizza looks nasty

Your preferred drink: Sweet TeaYour favorite smell: new house
A favorite song: Our Wedding Song by Dan Rood
A place you have lived: Nashville, Tennessee
A place you have worked: Hallmark Services Corporation

A place you want to visit: Napa Valley, California

That wasn't too interesting... Oh well. Maybe you can repost this on your blog and come up with better pics.

How Many Since 3/19/07?