(transcribed from hand-written journal entry)

I meant to update more often on this trip. Really, I did! But, as usual, this weekend was a frenetic three days of sights and sounds and, yes, shopping. Jake decided my grey fanny pack was an embarrassment, so when I joined him and Wendy Sunday morning, one of the goals was to find me a new purse. They took me to Kate Spade, and while I did find a cool purse, I just couldn’t justify spending $255.00 on it. We checked out a few more places, but nothing was calling my name. Then we went to Nordstroms at Wesfield Mall, and I found THE coolest Isabella Fiore bag EVER!! It even came with a matching wallet! Score!

I wandered around with them for approximately five minutes before buying both. I didn’t even look at the price tags, which, according to Wendy, is THE sign that it’s truly meant to be. Turns out the bag and wallet together were $784.80. Apparently I CAN justify spending THAT much! Heh. Okay, sure it’s a lot of money, but it’s a good-sized bag: I can fit my new wallet, a book or notebook, my camera, cell phone and several other miscellaneous items in it. The wallet is awesome, too because it’s got a chain so I can actually use it alone as a small purse. Perfection!!

Later, after Wendy dropped Jake at the airport, she picked me up and we headed off to Wicker Park where the Renegade Craft Fair was happening. It looked like it would’ve been really cool, but the sky opened up and poured rain on us, so it was as easy to view the fun and funky wares. We gave it the old college try, however, and trudged over the wet and muddy grass, up and down the rows, finding oh-so fabulous thing! We bought little – Wendy picked up a couple cards, I bought zilch – but we picked up some business cards for possible on-line shopping.

After only fifteen or so minutes, and soaked to the bone (my birkies are still damp today!), we gave up and headed back to the hotels. Wendy picked up Kari and Fredlet to take them to the airport, and dropped me at HoB. Everyone had gone home already, so I was on my own for the night.

I dined at the nearby Smith and Wollensky Steakhouse, where I attempted to eat a slab of prime rib that was bigger than my head. I didn’t make it very far.

Afterwards I took a little walk along the river (the thunderstorm had long since passed). I returned to the hotel when it finally got too dark to really see or photograph anything, ordered “Superman Returns” on pay-per-view, took a nice soak in the tub, and went to bed.

to be continued …