Hibachi, Cupcakes and Goodbyes

My last week here in Chicago has been stressful, fun, full of great food and friends, and also very bittersweet. On my last Friday night in the city I met up with Karli and Norelle from work at Comer to go and support another co-worker for her upcoming mission trip to Haiti. Norelle is also moving in a few weeks to Las Vegas so it made it all the more important to have a girls night. We started the evening out at Zocalo and had a great time with some great sangria!

Sangria, Sarah and Norelle!

Sarah and Karli

On Wednesday the 19th all the girls from work went out for a final girls night and some fantastic Hibachi! I started out the evening at my friend Sylvia's house (aka Roscoe's best friend Mason's mom). I brought Roscoe with me for a last playdate with Mason before we moved. So Sylvia and I left the "kids" with her husband and headed over (in the very very cold Chicago winter) to Jessica's house for a drink before our night of Hibachi fun. I was very excited about the Hibachi and very VERY entertained by our fabulous Hibachi chef. We had soooo much food and I had the very yummy golden shrimp. This night was so fun with all my Comer girls. I just want to let you all know you have been such a fantastic group of people to work with and learn from and I will miss all of you very VERY much, come to Seattle to visit anytime!!

Hibachi grill ready to go for the Comer girls

An onion tower on fire, I was very impressed!

Our fantastic Hibachi man flipping shrimp into his hat!!

My last few days in Chicago were super crazy with packing and getting all the details in place and ready for the big move and trip across the country. My saving grace the last few days was my best friend Erin. I seriously don't know if I could have finished all my packing without her incredible direction and help. She knew just when to push me to get things done and when to let me have a little moment of emotion overflow. Although we had a LOT of packing to do, we of course managed to have a little fun too. We enjoyed a burger at one of our favorite Chicago hangouts (Local Option), a final night of take out sushi, and of course a final cupcake at our favorite bakery, Sensational Bites. This is the same bakery that Erin used for her wedding cupcakes so not only are they oh so yummy but very special to us too. Erin, thank you so much for all your help! I really could not have done everything without you and your amazing help!!

An amazing little treat lies inside this precious box

Can you say yummy yummy in my tummy?

These signature flower cupcakes are the ones from Erin's wedding

And Away We Go...

Hello there everyone, I just thought I would write a quick post before I hit the road in a few hours. I promise that there will be one last post that I am working on from my last days in Chicago, but it might not be up until later this week. The good news is that the movers came and everything fit in the storage space, the cleaning lady is here now and almost done, my car is packed (and there is actually room for me, Sue and Roscoe!) and I am just ready to get rolling! Please pray for some great, clear skies during the big road trip. Right now everything looks like it will be great (very very cold today and parts of tomorrow -19 in South Dakota tonight!) and clear. The plan is to pick up Sue ( Ryan's mom) from the airport and hit the road to Rochester, Minnesota tonight. Depending on weather we are hoping to get to Billings or Bozeman, Montana tomorrow night. I am not sure if I will be able to update the blog, but will definitely post quickly on Facebook to let you all know how the journey is going. I am so excited to go, but also very bittersweet to leave Chicago. It has been an amazing home for the last five and a half years and I will miss it, but I am truly, truly so excited about the future in Seattle.

One Wicked Gift

Last week Ryan and I celebrated Christmas together, and it truly was one Wicked night. I picked him up from the airport and he was in quite the rush to get back to my apartment to start opening presents. I knew he had something planned for the evening, but I didn't know what was planned or why he was in such a rush to start opening gifts. He started pulling out box after box from Nordstrom, then he said to start opening but I had to make some choices. The first box I opened had a beautiful navy blue silky dress with black beading details at the straps and at the side with some rusching. The back of the dress came to the mid back with draping details, so pretty and elegant.

Dress #1

The next box held an amazing one shoulder dress! The dress was silver on top with one shoulder and a big black bow at the top of the shoulder. A high waist black sash separated the top from the bottom which was a navy and silver skirt with a few layers of tulle underneath. This dress was definitely very fun!

Dress #2

Next came several little boxes full of jewelry to match the dresses, I could pick from any of the several necklaces, bracelets and earrings to wear with the dress. I was amazed with everything Ryan had picked out by himself for me and couldn't wait to start trying on dresses and jewelry, but before I did he handed me the last box... tickets to see Wicked that night!

I now understood his rushing to get home and open presents, we needed to leave for the theater in a little over an hour. I quickly started trying on the dresses and mixing and matching the jewelry. After much debate (and really wishing I could wear both dresses - what girl wouldn't?) I decided to wear dress #1 with some black dangly beaded earrings and a multilayer necklace with black, silver and clear beading, and of course my favorite black heels!

The final look all pulled together (please ignore the moving boxes in the background :) )

Once Ryan and I were all dressed and put together we grabbed a cab and headed down to the theater district for a quick glass of wine before heading next door to the Cadillac Theater. The show was so incredible, I found myself wanting to sing along (and at times actually singing along), laughing and just being amazed by the fabulous cast. If anyone reading this has not seen Wicked go and see it! The music, the story, set, everything is just incredible, I would see it again and again and have been singing the songs ever since! It was an amazing night put together by an amazing man, I could not have imagined a better gift! Thank you Ryan, I love you!

Ryan, Sarah and witches from Oz

Rocking New Year's Eve

"Rocking" out with Colbie on New Year's Eve

Last week I truly had a rocking New Year's Eve. I went to Madison, WI to visit my good friend Hillary, her husband D.B., and the cutest baby girl they just adopted... Colbie! So I literally was rocking Colbie all day on the 31st and on the 1st. And I loved every minute of it! She is so cute and cuddly. Not only did I get a bit of a baby fix in, Hillary and I also spent the entire time gabbing and catching up and she gave me so many tips and pointers for when I move to Seattle. She and D.B. moved there for his fellowship in the summer of 2006 and she worked in the same unit (Pediatric ER at Seattle Children's Hospital) that I will be working in, in just a few short weeks. She gave me great ideas of things to do, races to run, places to train, people to meet, and of course the best advice girl to girl ever... a new hair stylist and colorist!!!!!!! I had such a great time with Hillary, I am so sad to be moving far away, but I also am very excited that I will get to see them when they visit Seattle (D.B.'s family lives in the Seattle area). Thank you Hillary, D.B., and Colbie for an awesome New Year's Eve and Day!

Colbie supporting the Irish! They are undefeated since she was born!

This is an old picture of Hillary and me from her going away party, but so cute of the two of us