A Miami weekend!

Last weekend, I went to Miami to celebrate Katy's bachelorette party. It was 40 degrees warmer than was in Chicago.  It's a high of 47 degrees today and there's a windchill that makes it feel like the upper 30s. Katy's getting married in two weeks, on November 17th! We all arrived by Friday night, flying in from Boston, Chicago, and Baltimore. We stayed in a cute boutique hotel in Surfside, outside of Miami.It had a little kitchen that we made all our meals in. Saturday night, we had a mardi gras theme dinner and costumes! We ate King's Cake and dressed in green, yellow or purple with lots of mardi gras beads!  We went into Miami to a hip-hop dance club, called Buck 15. We heard awesome 80s and 90s music, including the Ghostbusters theme song, but the best part was our celebrity sighting! Shaquille O' Neal came to the club while were there! Katy gave him beads and I gave his girl friend some beads too. My beads, however, were incredibly tangled and when I tried to give a few to Shaq's friend, they all clumped together. So, Shaq, his girl friend and I spent 5 minutes untangling them together!!! When he finally separated them all, Shaq put them back over my head! I couldn't believe how nice he was, to help me with them all. I was going to give them all to him! 

We didn't get photos with him, but you can see his silhouette in the background here. 

With the exception of Heather, who caught a 6am flight, we woke up leisurely on Sunday to check out of our cute hotel. Fan and I got Serendipity frozen yogurt and saw Dexter's house on the way to the airport!It was a wonderful warm weekend but I'm really looking forward to Katy's wedding. I helped her with place cards this weekend and went with her to pick up her wedding dress!  I just picked up my eggplant Amsale bridesmaid dress and I'm so excited to dance in it! Source: amsale.com via Emily on Pinterest

Last week's foodie cousin times

After work last Thursday, we met my cousin, Katy, and her fiance in the Loop. I love walking over all the bridges around the Loop. We met at Rittergut Wine Bar to use our Groupons for a wine and cheese pairing. It was awesome and delicious. I had a rose flight with three different kinds of cheese! 

On Friday, two more of our favorite cousins came to town. We celebrated with a tasting menu at iNG. One of the courses had decorative cowbells on the plate, and yes, we tested them to see if they would ring.....It was a rock n' roll themed menu, complete with a picture of Def Leppard screened on delicious Mochi dessert!We watch the YouTube video for Gangham Style and tried to copy PSY's moves. Can you tell that they are brother and sister? 

The next day, we picked up Leenie's new husband from Midwayand stopped for dim sum in China Town!! Two more cousins met us for lunch too. 
On Sunday, we met Mr. F's old co-worker for brunch. We got to meet his new fiance too!This weekend we're driving to St. Louis to celebrate Mr. F's sister's engagement and our four year wedding anniversary!

Grandpa Larry, Tootie and Uncle Tom Visit Chicago Part 2

On Sunday, we drove around Lincoln Park, got stuck in major traffic due to the Pride Parade, but we finally made it to lunch and it was totally worth it. Bad Apple is one of our favorite burger places in Chicago! After a brief siesta, we met up for a dinner cruise on the Odyssey!As we boarded at Navy Pier, we got our picture taken going up the gangplank.We had drinks and dinner on the Sapphire Deck. We took pictures from the top deck as the Odyssey left the dock.The ferris wheel was pretty impressive in the background.Uncle Tom and I posed for lots of pictures.There was a live band aboard and Grandpa Larry and Tootie danced most of the night away! It was a cloudy night but the sunset was still lovely.Grandpa Larry is really a great dancer!

The band even played more modern music towards the end.My favorite feature of the cruise was the view of the Chicago skyline from Lake Michigan! 

Watch Nicki Minaj's Super Bass sung by little Sophia Grace

Have you seen this YouTube sensation?
I know I'm behind the curve, but these little girls are so adorable singing "Super Bass" by Nicki Minaj! I didn't even know the song very well, but little Sophia is so talented that I'm hooked!

Yesterday, these girls met their idol on Ellen!

I love it when Sophia first sees Nicki Minaj! The excitement is palpable!

I want to dance!

[source] Every since I bought my new Bloch ballet flats, I've wanted to dance. After seeing Heather Morris' dance moves I'm even more inspired. 

I'm not sure if I'm feeling more like hip hop dance classes or taking up ballet again, perhaps both.

Here are some of Heather Morris' dance tips, that I plan on employing:

"The simplest way to do something cool is the cross-turn. Like in the '80s — Michael Jackson did it. You jump and cross your legs together at the same time, and then spin out of it. That's it."

"You know what's really hot? Pop-and-locking, ticking. The moonwalk. Tricks like that.
The secret to moonwalking: You have to have slick shoes, or else your feet would get stuck. And you trick people. Your right foot pops, and you're pushing your left foot back, and once your left foot lands, you do the same thing. It just looks like you're gliding on air."


Read more: http://www.esquire.com/the-side/qa/heather-morris-dancing-0511#ixzz1KDO3W47g