Saturday 19 June 2010

There’s always one…or in this case, two!!

I can honestly say that today is the first day that I have felt as if I am returning to ‘normal’…whatever that may be?!! A combination of jet-lag & medication has meant that the last six days have passed in a haze…with my eyelids drooping as if my lashes were coated with a lead based mascara!

Medication? Let me explain!! I have something of a reputation for returning from my holidays with souvenirs in the form of injury or ailment. So much so that Karen had built a contingency plan into our Chicago itinerary, just in case I needed hospitalisation at any time! I felt quite confident that I was going to be OK this time, as Karen herself has been suffering with sciatica & was travelling with a veritable plethora of pain relief & muscle relaxants, so she was the one to be concerned for!

Well, I was OK until day three, when I developed a pain in the left side of my chest & shoulder, along with a soreness in my upper right gum!! So as well as Karen’s yelps & squeals of pain, Hilary had my ‘ouch’s’ to contend with too!! But neither of us allowed our infirmities to interfere with our trip!!

On our return I was lucky enough to get both a Doctor & a Dentist appointment the very next day & was diagnosed with inflammation of the cartilage on the left side of my ribcage & a mouth abscess!! £30 in prescription charges later, I was equipped with anti-inflammatory pills, extra strength Ibuprofen gel, antibiotic pills & a mouthwash to use over the next two weeks!! I had feared the chest/shoulder pain was the start of another ‘frozen’ shoulder, so am quite relieved it’s probably just a result of all that heavy luggage!!!

Anyhow…I can now begin the story of our Chicago trip!

We met up at Karen’s house at 5.30am on the Monday & her Hubby, Chris, drove us to Heathrow…very quickly I might add!!  We were gutted to discover that no photography is allowed in Heathrow, so we were unable to document the very start of our trip!

I’m not a good flier, but have to say that the 7 hour+ flight was quite enjoyable…until we came in to land! We made our descent & could see the ground looming…I had braced myself for the wheels touching down…when all of a sudden we were up & airborne again!  Needless to say we were all more than a little concerned!Blog Pics 20101We circled O’Hare airport a couple of times, with only a brief “there’s nothing to worry about” message from the Head Stewardess & finally came in to land on another runway. There was a palpable sense of relief throughout the whole plane…Blog Pics 20102Once we’d disembarked & collected our luggage, had our finger & thumb prints scanned, photo’s taken & passports checked (now that’s what you call security!) we set off into the warm, sunny Chicago afternoon to pick up our hire car!

14June2010 249

I’m not much of a one for cars, but all I can say is it was very comfortable & had enough room for all our luggage! Karen was the designated driver, Hilary proved herself a more than capable navigator & GPS operator 
& I assumed the role of back seat driver!  Well…needs must!!

IMG_0015Our first port of call was Hobby Lobby, which was sort of on the way to where we were to stay, in Skokie. This store reminded me very much of T.K.Maxx with an extended craft section! We each picked up a few bits & bobs to take advantage of the coupon offers we’d printed off on-line before travelling.

IMG_0018

Then it was on to offload our luggage & freshen up…we were presented on arrival with warm chocolate chip cookies….it nearly reduced me to tears! What a lovely thought & never has a cookie tasted so delicious!!! After the quickest change in memory…well, for me anyway…we headed off to ‘L.Woods’ restaurant, where we had a reservation for 7pm.

L Woods We were met by the lovely Patti…a friend of Karen & Chris, who looked so radiant she just made us look even more tired & travel weary!  We enjoyed a delicious dinner of Chicken & Ribs, followed by coffee & chat until almost midnight…or 6am UK time!!

14June2010 014

 
There was a quick photo call before we took our leave & bleary eyed, made our way ‘home’….

….after being awake & on the move for 27 hours, never has a bed looked so inviting! 


14June2010 081Despite being so tired, we were all awake bright & early on Tuesday morning, to pull back the curtains & see…RAIN!!  Ah well, we had come prepared with Pac-a-Macs & sensible shoes…well we are British! We set off to ‘Panera’ for breakfast.

I have listened to Karen has talking about this bakery/restaurant for so long, extolling the virtues of it’s various pastries & breads, that it had a lot to live up to….& boy! It did not disappoint!!Blog Pics 2010The smell of warm bread, coffee & cinnamon hit us as soon as we were through the door…YUM! The hard part was choosing! 14Jun2010 004 

I finally decided on a cup of fresh strawberries, chopped into natural yoghurt & topped with honey & pecan granola…with a coffee & a ‘Bear Claw’..a sort of Danish pastry!! The Strawberry/granola pot was to become my daily standard…but I worked my way through the pastry/bun menu for the rest of the week!2010Chicagohol0291

All fuelled up for the day ahead, we set off into the not inconsequential rainfall, & with GPS programmed, Karen fearlessly took to the ‘wrong’ side of the road & Chicago traffic as if born to it!  Our first stop was to ‘Jo-Anns’, quickly followed by ‘Archivers’. All I can say is WOW!! What a place!  We spent a very pleasant time Oooohing & Aaaahing & generally hyperventilating over the vast selection of scrapping goodness on display! Our baskets soon filled & after parting company with a good slice of our spending money, we booked ourselves onto the Saturday Night ‘Scrap Mania’.

IMG_0023


We had a lunch date with another friend of Karen’s…& we met Bernie at the California Pizza Kitchen. I opted for the ‘half size’ Chinese Chicken salad which was huge!! Heaven only knows how big the full size portion would have been! We had decided that we would eat either lunch OR dinner on any given day & this day was lunch! Mainly because we were booked onto a class that evening, down town at ‘Windy City Scrap bookers’. 


And again…WOW!!!  Another beautifully laid out, stocked to the hilt, scrapbook store!! 14June2010 017

14June2010 023

We had arrived early, thinking to spend a little time browsing before the class began.

We had been there a few minutes when the lovely Al  told us that the class had been cancelled….BUT…to turn this ‘into a positive’…she would offer us 25% discount on our total spend, along with 40% off CI & CC products, as well as Buy One Get One Half Price on ALL Thickers!!! IMG_0036

Well, I needed a sit down…my knees went weak!! There was a whole wall of Thickers…some I’d never even seen before & in every colour of the rainbow!!
2010Chicagohol03812

So, I set to, filling my basket! We took our time, carefully going over every inch of the rest of the store…stopping for a drink & a snack…pointing things out to each other in case they’d been missed! 

14June2010 020 Finally we settled up with the lovely Al, another chunk of our budget spoken for, but I have to say, I cannot begin to work out how much we’d saved!  Even though the GB£ isn’t as strong as it has been, scrap supplies are definitely cheaper in the US… & with all those discounts???!!! 

Then Karen once again drove us ably ‘home’ through the night-time traffic from ‘down town’ to Skokie & we retired to our beds happily exhausted!!

I’ll leave it there for now…if you’ve made it this far, thanks for being interested!! I’m hoping to make the rounds of my fave blogs to catch up with you all soon…now that I’m feeling able to resume some kind of routine!!

I hope you’re all enjoying a great weekend!

Hugs & Blessings x

7 comments:

ScrappingMomOf3 said...

Loved reading this, Sandi! We went to Chicago a few years back (and unexpectedly detoured through there a few days ago on our way home from Seattle!), and I also loved Archivers. Sadly, there isn't one close to my home! Too funny about your love for Panera. I have several nearby, and lately I've been longing for a Mint Aero bar, which is of course no where to be found, except near you! Can't wait to read about the rest of your trip!

scrappyjacky said...

Your trip sounds such fun.I think you need to sign up for Shimelle's new class to start using all that wonderful new stash!!!!

Jocelyn said...

Oh your trip sounds Fantastic Sandi......I love Panera...I could live there..... So sorry that you were not feeling well..you sound just like me...whenever I travel something happens!!!

Are the stores not awesome...I am so happy that you found all these goodies...and if you ever want a restock let me know and I will send them to you!!!

I am so sorry you could not get the call to go through..I was so looking forward to saying HI!!!

I just adore all the pics....rest...relax and take care of yourself!!! Love you sweet friend!!! :-)

Sian said...

I'm definitely interested! If I'm not shopping in person, watching someone else shop is almost as good :)

Hope all that medication does the trick!

Dawn said...

Looking forward to the next installment - so pleased you had a fabulous time xxx

humel said...

Right, well, I'm an even sicklier hue of green now!! All that shopping....

I hope you're fully recovered from your ailments now, hun xx

Unknown said...

Sounds like you ladies were having the time of your life!