spreading holiday cheer

we had a girl's shopping weekend...without babies. it was amazing. seriously, i didn't realize how much work taking finn to everything with me really means. i didn't have to worry if i had enough diapers and toys, keeping him occupied and happy, tearing up his food before i get to eat (then eating chaotically so we finish at the same time), investigating odd smells and the subsequent diaper changes. oh, and packing was a breeze. it took me about 3 minutes. fantastic. i had one small bag and i could manage to carry everything all on my own. seriously, amazing. but of course, by hour 4, i wanted to see my baby finn again. i missed him so much. it was the first time that i was away from him overnight since he was born. i'm not exactly sure he even was aware that i was gone, because when i came home, he just smiled and carried on like i had been at work for the day. i was hoping for a greater expression of his love, but oh well.

we had such a great time. each year, we go to schaumburg and we weren't sure we would get to go this year (i don't know about you, but 2009 just seems to be a much busier year than normal). but...we made it. it was a little early for me to be in the full christmas spirit, so a lot of my packages were things for the house or new clothes for myself. whoops. one store, urban outfitters was really boosting my christmas spirit with their selection of ornaments. one ornament in particular, my aunt was not terribly fond of, so she took it off all the racks. hysterical. there were 3 empty racks in the christmas section and a basket underneath covered by a sweater. i agree though, why on earth do we need an ornament to say that and who is buying that to put on their christmas tree? oh, kids these days...we also got to venture to my favorite little restaurant in chicago, PORTILLO's! they have chicago-style hot dogs that are particularly amazing. i think i would drive the two & 1/2 hours just to get to have one of their hot dogs. i am not a huge fan of mystery meat or eating with my hands, but this place could make me morbidly obese if i lived any closer.


oh, and i noticed that if we don't have the babies, alyssa and i take far fewer pictures. i really need to work on documenting my life and not just my child. maybe the next weekend away, which will probably be when i go into having another baby. i just can't bear to leave him again. pathetic, right?