I get by with a little help from my friends...

I knew that this weekend was going to kick ass when I got home on Thursday night and my lovely husband had this beautiful summery bouquet waiting for me. I absolutely LOVE fresh flowers, and this sweet surprise from my husband was such a nice way to begin the busy, but awesome weekend.

I was lucky enough to score Friday, Saturday and Sunday off of work, so Friday morning I made the trip back to our little hometown to spend some time out on the river fishing with my dad, to do a little shopping with my mom, and to see my sister, brother in law, and my sweet baby nephew!

here's my sweet lil man!

Saturday afternoon I drove back here to Chicago because the huz and I had two very dear friends who came in Saturday night for an overnight visit. We did our best to show them a nice time, and it started with a YUMMY Mexican dinner at Maravilla's on Saturday evening. We had many laughs and many cocktails and ended up watching a completely ridiculous movie when we got back to our place called Wanderlust with Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd. Dude, that movie had me laughing but OH SO VERRRRRY disgusted all at the same time.

We took our sweet time getting up this morning (hey, it's Sunday! Laaaazy day!) and I ran over to Treasure Island to grab us some brain fuel. (I.E. Krispy Kreme donuts, fresh squeezed OJ, fresh fruit, and cinnamon struesel cake.)

After coffee, juice and the breakfast of champions, we showed our friends the skyline from promontory point park, and then headed to the Museum of Science and Industry to catch the bus on over to Navy Pier.

It took forever to get there because we took the "scenic route" and because Bluesfest is going on this weekend so the the bus routes are all jacked up. It was totally worth it though because the Pier was seriously awesome today. Apparently, most everyone was at Bluesfest so it wasn't crowded at Navy Pier at all. We grabbed lunch at Harry Caray's, strolled around the shops, caught some live music, and just enjoyed the sunshine with several cocktails. We also rode the Ferris Wheel and I got some great shots from waaaay up there. It was an awesome day and a great way to kick off the summer.

Navy Pier Ferris Wheel

A cool shot of the skyline from the wheel.

look at how *not crowded* it is for being such a beautiful day! score.

View of the skyline and the carousel from the ferris wheel.

Lovely Lake Michigan

A view of the Shakespeare Theatre from the ferris wheel. I've been there once and can't wait to go back for another play.

the beer garden and music stage where we whiled away the afternoon, cocktails in hand!

It's always so nice to catch up with good friends. The last time we saw this particular couple was waaaaay back in February I believe. The huz and I really enjoy it whenever we can get together.

We've got some very good friends in Oklahoma that we miss and would like to catch up with as well. We're trying to devise a plan for a couples trip sometime in the near future so that all three of us couples can spend some time together. It's difficult though because many of us are college students and others have crazy work schedules. I'm hoping we can work something out though; it would be fantastic.

Til next time,
Emme