Oh the places we go....AND the things we do!!!

Slacker: Wikipedia defines this as someone who habitually avoids work....I define this as someone who habitually avoids blogging!! :) I'm not sure why I have been such a slacker, because this is one of my favorite past times as of late, but apparently finding the time has been the least of my priorities!!
So on to the places we go and the things we do.....

We do celebrate birthdays in style at this house. I made my love for birthdays apparent back in March, but this time it was my turn to do the birthday spoiling. AK turned over another year on May 3 and I tried to make it memorable as it was his last birthday in his 20's!!! :))

We went on a boat tour of Chicago. A little cool and breezy and maybe a tad bit early in the year to embark on this adventure, but super fun nonetheless and quite informative. We learned about the different types of architecture styles that make up Chicago while passing under all the cool bridges and seeing beautiful sites of downtown and Lake Michigan. All in all a great experience and good to know....they offer a sunset cruise during the true summer months with complimentary champagne!! I can predict this is in my near future....just sayin!
Along with the boat tour, AK's birthday involved homemade cupcakes by yours truly and a great dinner at Tango Sur....perhaps the best steak I have ever eaten! And drum roll please (to announce the big gift)......AK was the lucky recipient of a "Wine and Dine" cooking class for 2 at this place called the Chopping Block. I paid a flat fee and for one evening we were taught how to cook (from scratch) a 4 course meal. Totally worth every dollar....we had a blast, and were completely blown away with our cooking capabilities. We all know AK can cook and I can bake, but who knew I could cook and he can bake??? :) We made fancy salmon, homemade cous cous, pita chips, hummus, and these buttermilk biscuits (topped with strawberries and whip cream) that were out of this world. Super fun and would recommend it to anyone!

pretty view from the boat!!!

the Wrigley Building....my favorite building in Chicago...hmm, I wonder why??

who doesn't love the birthday sign with a table of deliciousness below???

cupcakes....no scratch or sugar cakes, but pretty darn good for a martha knock off!! :)

and going in reverse order....dinner is served!!

complete naturals in the kitchen....gold stars as our head chef said!! :)

oh "the look"....AK sees this frequently!! :)

Next up....Denver!!! AK is pretty great for meany reasons, but one being that he gave me the head nod to go to Denver for his technical birthday weekend so I could have a "girls weekend" with some of my favorite ladies!! A good friend of mine is getting married real soon and she deserved a shower and a bachelorette party and that she got. And I got to see some great friends and catch up with all my favorite gal pals all while spoiling the bride and hitting up old hot spots and favorite restaurants!!! I also got to sneak in a visit with my Uncle Scott, his wife Nikki and their two adorable little girls!! The visit was great and the Rocky Mountain air was refreshing....definitely reminded me why Denver is just so darn good!!! And Karen....the next time I see you, you will be a married lady! Congratulations my friend....only hoping Hawaii is as beautiful as you come wedding day!!! :)

the bride-to-be!!! miss karen hill herself!! love her and cosmos!!! :)

I {heart} nurses....and Meg come home already! New Zealand has had you long enough!

best friends!!!

Adorable. Each girl had a leg and neither wanted me to leave....pretty cute!!!

Moving right along, this past weekend we were all over the place. We hit up Detroit, Michigan as one of AK's college friends tied the knot. Considering it was a bit of a trek we stayed with another one of his college friends and his wife (Brett and Rachel). This was super fun as I enjoyed getting to know them better and we got to spend a night with them before they turn their family of two into a family of three!! Any day now we will know what that mystery baby is....boy or girl and what they decide to name it. The things we do know: Brett and Rachel will be absolutely amazing parents as they are some of the kindest people living in "the mitten" AND "baby Whitmore" is quite loved....already. Luckily for him or her, we showed up with a little sparty outfit as I'm sure those will be hard to come by....HA!! Either way we are thrilled for them and anxious for the big announcement!! Also many congratulations to Matt and Laura....the happy couple!!!!

all dressed up....loving it!!!

Rachel+Brett+baby Whitmore.....the suspense is killing us!!! :)

And last but certainly not least we rounded out this weekend by spending Sunday afternoon at AK's parent's house while celebrating Mother's Day, AK's birthday and Melissa's (AK's sister) birthday. It was a beautiful day which coordinated well with the beautiful people to celebrate!! :) We sat on the deck and soaked up some fresh air, good conversation and ate some delicious food. One thing about both our moms....we never EVER leave their houses hungry!!! It was a great day and fun to hang out....again an added bonus of being back in the Midwest!!!

Momma Kay and her oldest (birthday boy) and her youngest (birthday girl)

I kinda just love this picture....AK+his grandma who i think is fabulous!!!

the two moms, the birthday girl and birthday boy.....good lookin bunch with mark slaving over dishes in the back (rightwherehebelongs!) :)))

And a little side note.... I did not get to see my momma this Mother's Day, but I did send gifts and a card to try and make up for my absence!!! :) And a little blog shout out never hurts....so here it goes:

Mom, I think you are amazing and am so thankful for you!! I'm so glad God chose you to be my "momma bear!" ;) I wouldn't know what to do without you and it's oh so fun to grow up and consider you a friend, a mentor, a confidant, and of course a mother. Momma, I love you so much and can't wait to see you over Memorial Day and if I'm half as cool as you when I'm in my 50's, I will consider myself a lucky lady!!! :))) Hope you had a fabulous weekend as there is no one that deserves it more!!! xoxoxo. Sissy.