Chicago…

Friday…

Chesty and I were up at the butt crack o’ dawn to catch an 8am flight. Upon arrival, we headed to the rental car place (I scored 2 days free…woohoo!) and picked up an Alero with Florida plates. I knew we couldn’t go the entire trip without hearing a comment about FL. Sure enough, a guy at the gas station asked if we were on the “extended hurricane flee route”. LOL

Checked into the Westin, ate, and took a nap like true old ladies. The hotel was very nice (the men were too). Lots of hotties in business suits and laptops. I’ve decided my life goal is to accumulate several out of town business beaus and live off the provided allowance. Who needs marriage? I want brief encounters, no commitment and money, please.

Friday night, Alana and I headed out to shop and sightsee. We did some damage at the Woodfield shops. The MAC store there was awesome. Purchase list for the Junkies: Chestnut lip pencil, Bamboom paint, and Pop Mode lipglass. Chesty has a wedding to attend on Friday, so we were on a mission to find the perfect dress. You know she has to upstage the bride. :p

Saturday…Happy Birthday to Courtney, Lance, James Gandolfini, and Jada Pinkett-Smith!

Big meeting day! I was so nervous during the drive to Jenn and LW’s house. I know it sounds silly, but meeting someone after 3.5 years of correspondence is a big deal! I was so happy to finally get to see them face-to-face. We stopped at the grocery story to get a healthy lunch and headed to Six Flags Great America. The first ride? Raging Bull. Jenn was forced to abandon this ride a few years ago due to issues with her size. So…you know the divas had to conquer the Raging Bitch first! LOL

The look on her face was priceless. I couldn’t help but feel proud of her and the weight loss accomplishment. The commemorative photo: Jenn? HUGE “I did it!” Grin…LW? Cheesin’ Grin…Chesty? Big grin AND arms raised in the air…no fear. Courtney? Constipated and/or Deep prayer grimace. LOL Why did *I* have to ruin the picture? I’m such a wimp on roller coasters…but I rode several of them anyway. Now that the mushy weight loss talk is out of the way, let me tell you about the food. Good Lord…I ate like a crazed heifer. While we did pack a healthy lunch, I also had a big pretzel w/ cheese sauce, Italian ice, 1/4 of a funnel cake, and a cup of ice cream. Hey, it was my birthday…so 50% of the calories don’t count, right?

We ended up spending approx. 5 hours at the park…enough to make me feel like an old lady. I ended up bailing on Bahama Breeze dinner plans in favor of room service and lounging like a slug. Six Flags wore us out…but it was great to feel like a kid again…especially on my 27th birthday. 🙂

Sunday…

Woke up feeling like I was hit by a Mack truck (not to be confused with MAC trucks). I was sore and still tired. My AARP card will be here any day now. Oy vey…

Chesty and I went to late morning mass to hear Jenn sing. She has such a beautiful voice and I thoroughly enjoyed the service. My home church is more traditional Catholic…and this one had more of a community church feel. No Latin segment…no stuffy atmosphere. I also got to meet Jenn’s parents and siblings. All of them have been blessed with musical talents. I plan to get them a bus and take them on the road. America would totally fall in love with them..even Jenn’s Dad…who adopted a lovely Texas accent in our honor and told us to come back ya hear? LOL

Sunday Afternoon Jenn took us to lunch. Chesty and her first taste of deep dish pizza and she is in love. We hit a few more shops and had MORE ice cream. LOL I’m going to blame my tour guide for the weight gain. Since it was part of the travel package, I felt obligated to eat EVERYTHING available.

It was so great to spend some time with Jenn and LW. What a great birthday! Chesty and have plans to return for Jenn’s 30th next year. We’ve both pledged to focus on goal weight, so there’s plenty of motivation to stay on track during the holidays.

Our plane was scheduled to depart ORD at 6:30pm. We were 30 minutes delayed due to an emergency landing of another plane. I still don’t know what the issue was…but it involved 3 Chicago Police vehicles. LOL Why is there always drama at O’Hare? I called my mom to let her know that we were delayed because of some psycho and to keep rubbing the rosary.

I took a few photos on the ol’ school camera that I’ll post when the roll is finished. The Crew is taking me out on Saturday for a late birthday celebration, so there will be more shots taken (hopefully body shots off of the fine ass bouncer too…yeah…like I’ll ever be *that* bold)

Have an ab fab day!

-C

Courtney and Jenn in my before jeans. Our goal is to zip these bad boys on the next visit. 64 inch waist. I still can’t believe I wore these on a daily basis…Lawd Have Mercy!