…& that’s a wrap!

The time has come (the Walrus said…?!!!…sorry I digress!) to complete the saga of the ‘three old birds’ trip to Chicago!  I cannot believe it is now three weeks since we returned home, but there you go…time flies…& I wish I could say it was because I was having fun, but no!!  Just getting back to the mundane business of keeping house, garden & family in order & of course, earning a living!! BUT…today some fun does indeed start, as Shimelles ‘Love Your Photo’s, Love Your Pages’ class kicks off!!!  YAY!!!

So…back to Chicago (I wish!!)…Saturday morning dawned bright & sunny, so we dressed accordingly & set off to Panera for breakfast…& as much as I’d like you to believe that this was our mode of transport I have to admit that it wasn’t!

 

Hilary & I had our ‘usual’…fresh strawberries with yoghurt & Granola, while Karen stuck to her cinnamon scone & a cocktail of pain relief pills! She really was a trooper!

 

 

We discussed our plans for the day, never looking out of the window….when it came time to leave we were met with this…

 

 

 

…torrential rain!!…so, once again, out came the pac-a-macs!!!

We set of in search of a couple of papercraft/scrapbook supply shops that Karen remembered, but had no luck with the first! We found the shop unit, but it was now another business entirely.  On we went & drove into a very nice area with beautiful homes lining the tree lined streets, so we parked , pulled up our hoods & went to explore!

This shop was packed to the hilt with scrummy things!

The ground floor was mostly gift items, books & stationery, while down in the basement there was a lovely collection of papers, cardstocks & other craft goodies.

 

 

 

 

I don’t think the staff were too impressed with my attempt at pole dancing!!! Well…if you leave a pole just standing there…what do you expect?!!

Then it was time for lunch!! Back to L.Woods to eat in the ‘Oceans 12’ room! This room was used for a scene in said movie…hence the name!

Now, Karen's Hubby & son were flying in to Chicago, on business, today & we had arranged to meet them here at L. Woods…They arrived just as our

dessert was delivered, & jetlagged, had to listen to three over excited females  chatter on about our week so far!! But they didn’t complain & even agreed to take some photo’s of us posing with some funky fabric letters Karen had bought to adorn the wall of her new scrap room!

We were booked onto a Mega Crop for that night at Archivers, 5pm-11pm, so after freshening up we packed our travel scrapping kits (as one does!) & set off. It wasn’t a large turnout, we had one of four occupied tables, but were a little disappointed that no-one really ‘mixed’! Each table kept to itself, although the staff were quite chatty!!
There were a couple of ‘Prize Draws’ during the evening…Hilary & I both won a kit each!!

Karen was gutted & left us for an hour or so to spend some time with Hubby & son!

We picked up some more bits…well quite a few more bits if I’m honest…from the shop! They’d added more items to the bargain corner since our first visit…and had had a delivery of lovely new bits we’d not seen before!! the time passed quite quickly…I managed to complete my ‘Favourite Shoes’ LO, in between trips to the till, before it was time to pack away & head ‘home’ again!

We were up bright & early for our last day on Sunday! With packing done, cases weighed & our surplus items given to Karen’s Hubby to bring home the following week, a pile of lovely designer carrier bags left in the bin, we met with said Hubby for one last breakfast in Panera!

We were very glad of his help in fitting our now full cases into the boot of the car…no mean feat…& making our farewells, we set off, through a dull & misty morning towards downtown.

Now, I have commented several times on what a fabulous job Karen made of driving, but I think even she was happy to hand the car over to valet parking this time! Just look at the car park…..!!

We were booked onto a Gospel Brunch at ‘The House of Blues’ & as we had some time to kill, we captured a few last minute images in the relative quiet of a Sunday morning!
 
    

 

   

 

 

 

The cloud cover was really low, so that we couldn’t see the top of the taller skyscrapers! Then it was into the ‘House of Blues’ for an amazing show from a fantastic Gospel Choir whose energy & enthusiasm was quite infectious!!  Fuelled up with Jambalaya, grits, bacon,  pancakes, mimosa…more food than you’d believe!… we joined in with singing & clapping & praising the Lord!! Oh Happy Day indeed!






     
 

And finally it was time to collect the car & head off into another downpour & make our way to O’Hare airport.

There were no delays, but Hilary & Karen were upgraded to Premium Economy & so we spent the flight home all sitting separately! I think I must have slept (& snored!!) for most of the journey, despite trying to focus on the movies playing! We were through baggage collect & customs at Heathrow in record time & Karen once more, very ably drove us home! This time on the right side of the road!!

So, there you have it…a complete account of our adventures!! & may I say what an amazing week it was in such a wonderful city & with such fabulous company! Thanks guys…from the third ‘Old Bird’!!

As usual, thanks to you for dropping by & ploughing through ANOTHER lengthy post!! They should resume to the norm from here on in, whatever that may be!!

Blessings! xx