My Birthday in Illinois

The evening after Chrissie's baby shower, we stayed at her house and they invited some friends over. Eventually the boys pulled out the beer pong table and I gave it a try at the Illinois-version of the game. I was sure there would be differences, since I run into that from town to town within Texas. I asked how they play and it turned out that the only thing in common was the concept of throwing a ping pong ball into a cup filled with beer. Everything else was completely different. Strange how that happens.

We (the girls) played a few games and then headed over to the TV to break out the Guitar Hero. I haven't played in a long time because our memory card for the Playstation is damaged. I was surprised I could still play. It took me a couple songs to warm up, but then I was back in the game. After a long day of pedicures, socializing and wine-drinking, we were ready to call it quits by midnight.

The day after was my birthday, so I planned a few things I wanted to do. We had a slow morning getting up and ready for the day. Chrissie and Jordan went with me to meet my dad and brother Alex for lunch at my FAVORITE thin pizza place EVER. Monical's. They are only in Illinois, which is a little bit of a bummer. It is always a treat when I visit though. It has been two years since Chrissie has seen any of my family, so it also served as a little reunion. We went to a new location and while I was there, I learned that they are building another one in the town my mom lives in. Does it get any better than that? That place is going to be busy as hell though. They have revamped their signage. Check it out (note Chrissie showing off the building with her baby bump in tow).

After lunch, we split up and I went with my dad and Alex to this new little cupcake place. They serve tea and gelato in these wonderful little combination plates. I had a pistachio-chocolate cupcake and spicy green tea. The bakery itself was very retro-modern. FUN.

For dinner, I invited Chrissie, Jordan, Travis' mom Brenda, her husband Rich, Alex and my mom to an Italian restaurant. I haven't been able to find any good Italian places down here, so I wanted to take advantage of them while I was around. The meal was superb and it was great to see everyone again. I even got birthday presents! I keep waiting for the year when I stop receiving gifts. Still yet to see that day.

After dinner, Chrissie, Jordan and I went to see the movie Hancock. I cannot believe that no where in any of the previews did they mention that Charlize Theron was in the movie. You'd think they would play that up, right? The movie was pretty cute and I will happily see it again when we rent it for Travis to see.

When I got back to Texas, Travis was quick to give me my birthday present. It was a mouse adapted for use with a laptop. I was excited because that is one of the things I despise about using a laptop - that little pad instead of a mouse. We were not planning to buy a computer until I got back from Illinois because we wanted to make sure I would have enough money to get back into town. While I was gone, Travis went to Best Buy and bought a laptop! And he kept it a secret all week! No wonder he was so content to stay home all week. At first I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to be a part of the purchasing process, but once I asked him the stats I was very happy with his find. I am ecstatic to have a place to manage my photos now and we even have the Internet. Can you believe it? I'm finally up to par with the technology of the world.

Well, back to fighting off Tropical Storm Dolly...