last week a good friend who lives in new york came to milwaukee to visit us... its rare that anyone from new york would want to even step into any other city but thank goodness, friendships supersede the limits.. we've never met in person beforehand but diego and isabella were quite comfortable with her [as was ramel and i]... the first thing we did was get some food and coffee, of course :)
on wednesday we drove over to chicago, leaving ramel to care for the kids overnight... it was the very first time i've ever been away from them like this... normally, a mother would feel sad, nervous, or bad, right? but not this mama! i mean, my kids were in good hands and it was nice to be out of the house long enough for someone to notice i wasn't around... yes, i missed them dearly but i enjoyed my time [searching for something to bring home to them] with my friend...

anyhow, chicago was beautiful... more beautiful than i remember during my previous trips... my friend and i went to lunch at a swanky club, visited the SMART museum, and had oodles of coffee in between... we walked around alot and enjoyed each other's company... while she rested, i got lost and couldn't find our hotel for a good half hour... how could you miss a 40 story hotel [unless it is surrounded by other VERY tall buildings!] i did find the hershey's chocolate store and the american girl store... i also stumbled across a mall that had a papyrus store inside [oh yes, their cards are to swoon for]... that night, she even ordered hotel service and treated me to a late night dinner in our room [which was way up on the 36th floor!!!!!!]...
the following day we went to the art institute of chicago... most of the photos here were taken on this day [don't mind that flying curl- hehe]... we tried walking towards the lakefront but there was a freeway blocking us... nonetheless, we enjoyed all the beautiful scenery in chicago and headed back towards milwaukee, stopping by at the gurnee mills outlet mall... i had hoped to find a few things for the kids but couldn't but ended up stopping by a toy store here in town and getting them some goodies...

anyhow, the week was wonderul... it felt great to have a friend come and visit, and it felt swell to get to go out of town with her... sadly, i didn't get a chance to show her our museums nor send her home with our famous wisconsin cheese... she didn't get to try our frozen custard either but there is always another season, right?! she is a very gentle and warmhearted person in which i was glad to hang out with for a whole week....
now, to set up my trip to go to new york :)