Is It Really Over?

This might be my longest post yet...but I will try to break it up the best I can.

The week before the wedding FLEW by! I woke up every morning promptly at 6:30- without an alarm. There was so much on my mind, there was no way I could sleep in. Mike was typically up with me or shortly after...helping me out. We went to CrossFit Tri Cities on Monday and had every intention of going a couple more times that week, but we failed on that mission. I did run every day- not just to keep my shape for the dress, but as an amazing stress reliever! It was intense with the humidity- we were drenched with sweat : ) We attended the Cubs game on that Tuesday...yes, the night game that was delayed for 2 hours or something because of the rain...KILL ME. A literally soaking wet Bride-to-be is not a happy thing. We were in the empty bleachers with ponchos. Ugh. After the game, the Chicago Blackhawks brought out the Stanley Cup...that was really cool. However, I was on Mike's shoulders and dropped my camera...nice.

Wednesday we, or I should say Mike, Doug, and Matt, picked Caitlin up from the airport while I organized everything to be brought to The Met Club. She got to eat a Chicago style, Portillo's hotdog- YUMMY! And we were off to the city for the day. First stop, the W for a spa appointment. Then to Doug's hotel to drop off his backpack. Third stop was The Sears Tower, to The Met Club to drop off our not so small load of wedding crap. Fourth and final stop was my Dad's hotel to get ready for dinner out with him and Jenny. We arrived on time to Trattoria No. 11 (I believe that was the name) for a FABULOUS, relaxing, fun dinner. Caitlin and Matt got to hang out and chat it up with us.



Thursday was nothing short of a BLAST!! We had our family, our whole wedding party and their significant others/family attend a Cubs game at Wrigley. It was outstanding to have everyone there altogether and the Cubs owon on a walk off!! I made Mike and I Cubs Bride and Groom t-shirts. Mike's mom sewed a veil onto my favorite Cubs hat...it was a hit! We also made signs for just about everyone in attendance with the role in the wedding. ie. Mother of the Bride, Father of the Groom, Bridesmaid, Maid of Honor, Best Man, Groomsman, and Ring Bearer! It was awesome. However, I do not believe we made it on tv. Oh well...stupid announcers/tv crew.



Friday was an event all in itself. The day started off with my dog-in-law Koty almost dying. He inhaled the bag of dog food too quickly, as he was not supposed to have gotten into it in the first place, and started throwing it back up. And in the process chocked, rolled onto his side, legs stiff, eyes rolling back in his head, and had to be resuscitated by my brother-in-law, Ron. I witnessed the whole thing, ran into the garage telling my sister-in-law, Kim, what happened shaking uncontrollably. It was really intense and scary. Thus, we were late for our nail appointment and because of traffic, I was an hour late to our rehearsal : ) Typical if I do say so myself! as the rehearsal is wrapping up a HUGE storm rolls in. We are on the 66th floor of The Sears Tower, so we have a great view of this monster. However, once it hit we no longer wanted the good view...the building was swaying TERRIBLY...it was extremely noticeable when people couldn't walk straight. We all made it safely down to the bottom floor- whew! (Turns out they later shut down the elevators and people had to walk down from the 105th floor- ugh!) Upon our arrival at the bottom there were several fire trucks and firemen not allowing us to exit. We were then informed that windows were bursting upstairs, therefore making it unsafe for us to leave the building. There was glass everywhere!! After a short while, we were released and then battled the terrible traffic again to our dinner. We were actually on time for that- Thank you, Mag for driving. Mike was late as there were road closures for fires and flooding. It turned out to be a fabulous dinner- everyone a little shaken by the whole ordeal and starving from waiting in traffic for hours : )



Friday night, most of my girls stayed with me at Kim's house. We had French Kiss martinis and dessert- yummmm! I couldn't sit still for too long remembering all that I had to do, but got to relax with some of my closest friends and new family! I got a good nights rest and woke up ready for the big day : )

I get the shakes just thinking about it, but will save that post for later. It's 4th of July weekend and we are headed to the pool.

Cheers! And Happy 4th of July to everyone!!