So our trip to Chicago the day before my birthday didn't go exactly as planned. We encountered the worst traffic ever driving through the downtown area to get to our hotel. We were all but stopped for a long time. It was incredibly frustrating. We were worried that we wouldn't have much time to check in to our hotel and drive back downtown to where the shuttle is. I was even hoping that we could squeeze in a nap, but considering how much longer it took us to get to the hotel, that was totally out of the question.
It had been raining on and off all day and was still raining when we got to the hotel so I immediately turned on the local news to see if the game had been delayed or anything. After what seemed like a million teasers about "tonight's Cubs game," they finally announced that the game had been postponed for the evening and wouldn't be rescheduled until July 12. I was so disappointed! But, those things happen, I guess. I was feeling stupid for driving all the way to Chicago and sitting through horrible traffic and renting a hotel room for no reason! Jim tried to cheer me up saying we can go get a nice dinner somewhere. Only problem was, all I had brought to wear were Cardinals t-shirts. My duffel bag literally contained four Cardinals t-shirts (2 short sleeve and 2 long sleeve), a pair of jeans, and my Cardinals hoodie jacket. I thought, "Well, we can't go anywhere too nice!"
We looked in the little binder on the desk in the room and saw an advertisement for a Polish buffet. We had never been to a Polish restaurant before, and I figured a buffet was casual enough for my attire, so I looked up directions and we set off.
On the way there, we saw a German restaurant called Edelweiss. It looked really fun (you know we love our German heritage!), so we decided to eat there instead. The weirdest thing happened when we went in. Usually when you walk up to a hostess at a restaurant, she says something like, "How many?" or "Two tonight?" Not this one! We walked up to her and she just looked at us for a minute and then asked, "Can I help you?" I was totally taken aback! I have never been asked that a restaurant before! How many different ways are there to "help" someone who walks into a restaurant? Caught off guard, I stammered, "We want to eat." Kinda funny thinking back on it! So as she was showing us to a table, I hear some old guy say really loudly, "Hey! There's a Cardinals fan in here!" (And it was clear that he didn't mean that as a good thing!) As we got seated, I became aware that we were perhaps under dressed for this restaurant. They had real cloth tablecloths and very nice silverware, and real flowers in vases on each table. Maybe that explains the hostess's reaction? It was either that or the fact that we were the only customers in there under the age of 60. There was even a live band playing!
Even though I felt very out of place and persecuted as a Cardinals fan, I tried to forget about it and make the most of it. The food was absolutely delicious! I will post a complete review on Edesia's Notebook (my food blog) when I have the time. It was wonderful.
Then we did some shopping before heading home. We hit Trader Joe's, which is a really fun, unique grocery store that we used to frequent in the St. Louis area. There aren't any in Grand Rapids (the nearest one is in Ann Arbor), so I always look for one when we travel. Then we went to another store you can't find in Grand Rapids, and one we had never been to before, IKEA. Oh my goodness, I could have spent all day in there! It has three stories, and each one is huge! It's like a humongous three story warehouse. They are mostly known for their furniture, but they have just about every household item you can imagine in there. I got some little gadgets in the kitchen section and we got Lena a few things too. Daddy picked out a fun hippo-shaped body pillow and I got a toy storage thingy and some bathroom items too. Not only do they have everything under the sun, but it's all really cheap too. I got us a laundry hamper for our bathroom for $4. Nice!
So, after a long time in IKEA, we hit the road to head back to Michigan. Grandma Sheryl stayed with Lena while we were gone and they had a great time together. It was nice getting away for a bit, but I was glad to see that little smiling face when we got back. And I had a hard time putting her to bed that night! That was the longest we had ever been apart.
All in all, it was a great birthday.
So, we will be going back to the Windy City on July 12. The good news is that it's a day game, so we can drive there and back in one day and not have to spend money on another hotel room. The bad news is that it is a Sunday, so Jim will have to use a vacation day to take the day off at church. Oh well.
I didn't take many pics in Chicago. I was going to take more, but the batteries died. Here is Jim outside the Edelweiss Restaurant.
Now, onto more recent news. I received some cash gifts for my birthday, which was perfect because I had been wanting to purchase a video camera ever since Lena was born, but just recently picked one that I wanted. Hilary actually suggested it to me and I think it's a perfect fit for us. I bought it online and received it via UPS this morning. It's the Kodak Zi6 in red. It's small (not much bigger than a Blackberry), easy to use, and has a USB thingy that pops right out from the side of it. So you can just plug it straight in to the computer and upload videos easily. I didn't want a really fancy one with too many bells and whistles, and couldn't have afforded one anyway, so this one is just perfect. So beware, I will probably be posting a lot of videos on here from now on! Here are some pics of it:
It has a nice sized screen for video playback.
The button right below the word "Kodak" is what makes the USB thingy pop out from the side.
Neat, huh? I am really looking forward to using it this summer. We are taking two week-long out-of-state trips (South Carolina in May and Wisconsin in June), and I think it will really come in handy. Our regular camera doesn't take very good video (as you have probably noticed), so it's nice to have one with better quality.
Thanks so much to my family for the birthday gifts!
