Wandering Aimlessly

I think I left off on Thanksgiving in my last entry. I was home until Sunday, so there are a few more days of Chicago-y activities to cover here.

Friday: Black Friday Shopping? No.

On Friday, we all went downtown to go to Marshall Field's. It was insane, being Black Friday and all. But fun! Since all the "kids" had stayed at our house and the "adults" at Grandma's, we took separate trains in and met downtown. We briefly lost my dad at the Christkringlemarket (oops), but caught up at Fields. We ate not at the Walnut Room under the tree (4 hour wait for a table... yikes!), but in a little cafe place, Seventh on State. There's an opening in the middle of the store that goes from the top floor to the basement and every floor can overlook it, and it snowed! Inside! Every hour on the hour, snow set to music. That was fun.

After lunch, we went out to look at the windows. They were really good this year. The theme was Snow White, but they were Snow White with a kick. Very funny. For example, Snow White had a Louis Vuitton purse, and the road signs pointed to other fairy tales, etc. Cute. There was also a pair of Salvation Army guys by one of the doors who were singing a verse of The Twelve Days of Christmas, complete with a synchronized dance routine, every time someone donated money to their bucket. Totally made the holiday spirit!

We took a walk to the Civic Center to see the architecture, and then crossed the street to see Millennium Park. It's very modern-looking, but neat. I like it. Afterwards, it was back to Grandma's where some of us stopped for a Christmas parade in downtown Wheaton and we celebrated birthdays.

Saturday: Just One Year From Halfway to Fifty.

Saturday morning, which was also my birthday, the "kids" went to see The Incredibles, which was much better than I was expecting! It was quite cute and funny, and I enjoyed it muchly. Then it was back to Grandma's to celebrate the rest of the birthdays, say our goodbyes, and home to pack.

Sunday: Dad's Day

Breakfast Sunday morning for Dad's birthday, and then off to the airport nice and early. My security line in LA had been over an hour, and this day being the busiest travel day of the year, I was sure it would be a mess. Not the case -- I was at my gate within fifteen minutes of stepping foot inside the airport. Yeesh! I mean, better early than late, but I then had two hours to kill. Heh.

Got back to LA. Caitlin and Sean picked me up like the dears they are. Then the three of us and Ryan went for all-you-can-eat sushi (they treated), and we came home for Ebony and Ivory birthday cake, complete with candles and singing! So sweet!

Monday: Back to the Grind

Back to work on Monday. Nothing terribly exciting, I don't think. La la la.

Tuesday: More of the Same

Yep, nothing exciting on Tuesday, either. My life is thrilling, I swear. Work, home, work, home... like a monkey.

Wednesday: Hump Day

Yesterday was a busy day at work that had me in a constant state of frustration from catching every. single. stoplight on the way to work, all the way through to stop-and-go traffic just because people wanted to see what a fire truck was up to parked on the side of the road on the way home.

But after work, Caitlin and I met the boys in Burbank for a movie. The three of them went to see The Incredibles, which I would have seen again, but somehow wasn't in the mood last night. So I did something I've only done once before (and that was on a Tuesday afternoon for Lost in Translation) and went to a movie by myself. I saw Kinsey, which was very, very good. So many people were in it! Chris O'Donnell, Tim Curry, Oliver Platt, Laura Linney, the friend from Garden State, etc. I had known it was a movie about a sex study, but I never connected that knowledge to the Kinsey Scale, which we all learn about in Psych 101. Ha. Silly me. But yes, quite good. Go see.

Thursday: Day of Rest?

And that brings us to today. Day off, yay! This means I work Saturday, but that's okay. I have lots and lots to do today, so it won't be that restful. At least I won't be at work. ;)