The Last October Weekend

I spent last weekend not feeling so great.
All I wanted to do was snuggle in pajamas and catch up on DVRed TV shows.
But I was in the Windy City and exploring with J was an opportunity I didn't want to pass up.
We headed in on the Metra and walked around aimlessly making note of restaurants to try and shops to stop in.
Uggs and oversized sweatshirts are the next best thing other than pajamas, so that's what I threw on to run around my new stomping ground.
It was a cold, blustery day, but it was worth every mile we walked.

We headed down Michigan Ave to peek in all the stores.
We stopped in the mall to have a Christmas ornament made, and J got his picture taken with a life size Woody (from Toy Story) made of LEGOs.
Our 3 year old nephew now thinks we have great connections ;)

 

We stopped off at "the bean", formally known as Cloud Gate. It was designed by a British artist and rests in Millennium park. It's shined so well that you can't see any of the seams from the 168 plates that it consists of.

People from all over the world have taken their own picture with the bean, and I couldn't pass up being a tourist this weekend.

Maybe some day that will all be out of my system...

 

 

 

Almost all the leaves have fallen from the trees, and it makes me sad to say that the Autumn weather I love so much is almost gone.

We arrived back at the train station windswept and shivering.

I was ready for a warm meal and my bed.

 

X

An Autumn Afternoon

Fall is my favorite season.

It reminds me so much of being little and spending what seemed like hours at the pumpkin patch searching for the perfect pumpkin.

My parents used to take my brother and me on hayrides, and afterwards we would go apple picking at the orchard.

I always wanted to be Belle from Beauty and The Beast for Halloween (and in real life).

Putting on my golden gown - over my snow suit of course - and heading out collecting as much candy as I could fit into my bag is one of the best memories I have.

My Mom and I headed outside yesterday to enjoy the beautiful weather.

We ended up at Toledo Botanical Gardens again.

Living in the North this time of year is so amazing. The colors are absolutely unreal and simply incredible.

I convinced my Mom to do a photoshoot, and let her capture me running around, twirling, playing in the leaves, and climbing trees.

The afternoon was straight from my childhood...

 

Pure joy on my face as I swung on this door over and over (and over and over) again...

 

 

 

 

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of my Mom from the shoot. She's so beautiful....

 

 

IF I make it to a Halloween party this year, I have my costume picked out. It's a secret though....

What are you dressing up as??

 

X

Catch Up

While I'm playing catch up with my work, I thought I'd share a few pictures of what I've been up to lately...

Driving to and from Chicago late nights with gorgeous Autumn sunsets.

Found pumpkins at the farm to use as centerpieces after spray painting them to a beautiful golden hue.

 Lots of outdoor time with the pup.

Enjoyed some fine Japanese cuisine and loved discovering a Harry Potter sushi roll.

 Indulged...

 

Enjoyed a much over-due pedicure (that I almost immediately smudged up).

Pranced around in my birthday outfit, which is completely different from my birthdy suit by the way ;)

 

Laughed histerically at this on a really stressful day.....

 

What have you been up to? I've been missing out on a lot of things going on in the blogger world.

I'm trying to keep up with everything that is on my plate- I'm slowly, but surely falling behind with just about everything.

 

X

Flex Watches

Flex watches has created 10 different colored watches. Each color represents 1 of 10 charities in which 10 percent of your purchase will go towards (the 10-10-10 standard).

While the money is being put to good use, the main reason for the watches is to promote awareness of each charity. 

By simply buying and wearing a watch, you too can contribute to the success of the 10 charities.

The black watch supports LHON- an organization that helps people who are affected by spontaneous blindness, which occurs to about 100 people each year in the US.

source: buy here

The blue watch supports Nika Water- a charity that helps bring clean water and sanitization to the world's poor. 100% of proceeds go to Nika.

source: buy here

The gray watch supports the Imerman Angels charity. This organization matches those who are fighting cancer, with someone who has already won the battle. 

source: buy here

The green watch supports the Be Perfect Foundation- a charity that provides funds to people who have endured spinal cord injuries and financially cannot afford a full recovery. 

source: buy here

The light blue watch supports The Living Memoir, which is a forum about suicide awareness, but was initially started so people could talk about the past, be present in the now, and talk about the future.

source: buy here

The orange watch supports the St. Bernard Project, which builds homes for Hurricane Katrina victims.

source: buy here

The pink watch supports the Keep-A-Breast foundation, which hopes to get rid of breast cancer altogether through methods of prevention. During the month of October, an extra $5 will be donated to the charity by Flex Watches.

source: buy here

The red watch supports Mariner's Outreach, which provides mostly food needs to the poor in Mexico.

source: buy here

The white watch supports Life Rolls On- a charity that encourages young people with spinal cord injuries to be active despite paralysis.

source: buy here

The yellow watch supports the APDA, which donates huge amounts of money for Parkinson's research every year.

source: buy here

The watches are sold in mini and a regular size, which are slightly different. 

The cost of each watch is $40.

The bands are interchangeable, so you can start by purchasing any watch and when you're sick of the color, pick up a different colored band for $15. 

You can also purchase rubber bracelets for $5 or a t-shirt for $25 to raise awareness of Flex Watches.

Please contribute to one of these excellent charities, or at least get the word out about them. I'm off to get the black one...

XX