THEN (12 hours ago): Was at Trader Todds at Belmont and Sheffield watching two Corey Hart enthusiasts belt out some classic hits on the karaoke stage. It was vote #1 Karaoke Bar in Chicago by Playboy. And runs a sweet campaign that if you bring in a jar of use vegetable oil you get a free order of fries.

THEN (38 hours ago): Was at Eva's Cafe in Old Town grabbing a coffee and catching up with Anneliese. Cute and quaint this is the perfect coffee shop to meet for hot pumpkin spiced cider and apple cinnamon muffins in late fall. The neighborhood is kind of shoddy with a horse farm two blocks away [yes downtown chicago]. We then hit up North/Clydbourne area for some J.Crew and Banana Republic shopping. Found a pair of $120 jeans marked down to $9.99

THEN (68 hours ago): Was at Cellular Field with the family to celebrate my Grandpa's 80th Birthday. Crazy that my Grandpa is getting that old. We celebrate first with brunch at my brothers and then headed to the game to watch them beat KC. Highlights include stealing all of my Grandpa's belongings or the random bowling pin mascot that was running around. Props to Cellular field for having the most awesome selection of treats and concessions. Yard margaritas, chicken salads, tofu sandwiches --> very vegetarian friendly

THEN (92 hours ago): Grabbing brunch with the girls at Stellas on Broadway. Scrumptious to say the least. Late brunch with the crazy happenings of the night before. But Stellas serves breakfast all day. Got to love the hometown feel of the restaurant with it being family owned and very mom and pop atmosphere. Post brunch hit up Threadless for their sale [all shirts $12 for the next two weeks!!!]. After a failed attempt at getting beach time with the impending rain we went to Wrigley for some shopping and then back to the apartment to prepare for the housewarming party. Major success by the way and need to give credit where credit is due. My June Cleaver skills gleaned with a full spread of tasty morsels [hummus, homemade gauc and tortilla chips, chicken and cheese croissant sammis, cookie bars]. Nati showed up with a case of beer, thanks love. Whipped out the foosball table which will definitely be used again. Introduced the boy to the parents only after he was belittled for wearing an ND shirt, sadly it was mine. This whole mockery business runs in the family what can I say.

That let me wrap a lot of unfinished story telling. Tonight the boy and I are grabbing dinner at Joy's, reviewing the 2 buck chuck I picked up at TJ's, and having ourselves an ice cream eating race. Check in tomorrow for updates....