BOOBs 2011...The Adventure

(Settle in and go grab a tasty beverage...this is going to be a long one.)

What an absolutely fantastic whirlwind weekend! I had the most amazing time. I have to hand it to the planners - this year was even better than last year by a long shot! There were so many people who were dearly missed (Amy, Sarah...so many others) but we thought of them often and sent our love. Here is the story of my BOOBs experience in pictures...

One of the first things we did when I got to town on Friday afternoon was go have pizza at Pizzeria Uno with some lovely ladies. It was so much fun! Karin and I shared a personal pizza and a salad and really enjoyed it. Even more enjoyable was the company - Angela, Stacey, Jessica, and the infamous but anonymous (and not pictured) Fluffy.





After dinner, Karin and I did a little shopping at Trader Joe's and found the most spectacularly decadent peanut butter and chocolate cookies ever. We liked them. A lot.




It was time to head to the meet & greet. There was a whole lot of laughing.


Plenty of drinking.


And the planners did such an awesome job of getting everything together. The goodie bags ROCKED! We got tons of protein bars (oh goodness...those Detour low sugar bars are delicious) and shakes, healthy snacks, custom made wine, a pashmina, and all kinds of other good stuff. Also I won an awesome filtered water bottle as a door prize. Very cool!

After the meet & greet, several of us went to Second City Comedy. It was a total blast and just a bit raunchy. There was more drinking. Oh yes. The drinking.



A drinky Karin is a silly Karin. She was so much fun to have as my roommate.



She liked having me as a roommate too, but only because the minute my eyes pop open I want my coffee, so I fetched our Starbucks first thing in the morning 2 out of 3 days. The third morning, she left me in bed and brought ME a skinny caramel latte. I love her! (Not just because of the coffee in bed...but that helped.)


On Saturday, Karin and I had a really nice lunch and a great talk with Amey and Maria. Amey brought me a bag of bird toys for my parrots, which they LOVE!


And then it was time for shopping. I'm not a big shopper (not to mention that we have every store possible in south Florida) but Karin needed a Marshall's fix - and there was one right across the street from our hotel. We played model and tried stuff on. Karin ended up buying a VERY sexy purple dress. She also tried on this very expensive coat and didn't buy it...but didn't she look fabulous?


Here is my Zoolander pose...



Saturday evening was the fancy dinner at Texas de Brazil. We had to stop and take pictures in our pretty dresses and shoes in the lobby.


I had to get a picture with the gorgeous and brilliant Grace - she is one of the people I really felt a connection with last year and I was so excited to see her again.



We enjoyed more drinks...yummy.


Dinner was very tasty. I opted for the "light" option (instead of the meat on sticks) which was a salad and hot bar that included such things as a vat of bacon, loads of seared tuna, and a pile of goat cheese the size of my head. Yum.


Angie and I discovered that we have a past in common - I graduated high school with her brother, and she went to the same high school as my sister, but a grade behind. Crazy! What a small world it is. I loved meeting Angie. She is so sweet and it was great to get to know her.



Doesn't everyone look gorgeous? I felt like a munchkin next to these beautifully tall ladies...and I was wearing high heels!


We were too full for dessert so we decided to go for a walk instead...and then headed to Grand Lux for dessert awhile later. (Is it any wonder why I gained like 5 pounds over the weekend?)


We went back to the room and changed out of our fancy clothes just in time for a...pajama party!



Sunday morning we got to have breakfast with some more ladies we hadn't had much of a chance to spend time with before we had to say goodbye for many people to catch their flights.



Sunday afternoon, we went to Navy Pier to ride the ferris wheel and spinning swings. Oof. I can't do spinning rides like I used to and we both got very dizzy. But my ass fit in the little bitty swings - NSV!





We went over to Millennium Park to walk over by the Bean.


And we accidentally shared some ice cream with a very bold squirrel, who Karin was sure was rabid.



Then it was time for one of the highlights of the trip for me...the Segway tour! It was so fun and I highly recommend doing it if you can. It was VERY scary for the first 5 minutes, but then it was pure fun. The weather was spectacular, and we saw some wonderful sights.








Sunday night, Karin and I had dinner with the wonderfully sweet, hilarious, and extremely athletic Island Bandit at the other Stephanie's favorite restaurant, Roy's Hawaiian. (We didn't get any pictures that night, damnit, but we had a fabulous time.)

Monday it was time to go home. Karin and I decided on Giordano's pizza as our final Chicago meal. We both preferred Uno's pizza, but it was very tasty. We ordered the small, which supposedly fed 1-2 people, and the two of us didn't even get through half. It was VERY rich. (My husband pointed out that my shirt matched the booth...and now I can't look at this picture and see anything else.)







It was an incredibly awesome weekend and I am so thrilled I got to spend time with so many amazing women. I only wish I'd had more time to spend with each and every one! There were a few people I would have really loved to spend more time with. I guess that just gives me more reason to go to BOOBs 3.0!