No turkey on turkeyday! :)

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving!

I did. It was exactly what I wanted--Intimate with a splash of loudness & memories.

Eric and I had dinner at this parents and it was great because

most of the dishes were vegetarian.

This made things easy. I hate making a fuss.

It's a big bonus when it's accommodated for, especially on a big food day like Thanksgiving.

It was odd--my parents didn't do anything fancy for Thanksgiving.

It was the first year there was nothing planned.

So after we had dinner we scooped up Meredith and headed over to one of our

best friends houses.

We hadn't seen Erin in a good 2+ years. We had great catchup time & got a lot of laughs.

Her whole family was there so it was buzzing with a good holiday spirit.

(Which I'm a huge fan of)

I've been close to that family for a long time & it's always good to see them.

I am also glad I brought Eric over (and I'm grateful that he came with!)

It's important to me for him to know my friends.

I know that's a tad annoying, but different friends bring out different sides.

I guess its like he meets my friends and a different side of me.

That's not so bad.

So basically leading up to and after all this Thanksgiving hoopla we just took it easy.

Eric got an Xbox which allocated a large amount of time in front of the TV.

I really had no complaints about this. The thing that sucks is that I suck at this game.

I'm getting better though, I have to admit.

But I have a long way to go on this. The most I could get out of 50 was 30 something.

OH well. We also played some Puzzle Fighter HD & some old school Paperboy.

We got Season 4 of How I Met Your Mother.

Someone told me this is our generation of 'Friends'.

It is and I really like it. We watched a lot of it.

New episode on tomorrow :)

Gosh what a relaxing week.

I do not want to go back to reality of school, work, and just daily life.

This past week was like a well needed vacation in a very familiar environment.

No doubt- it would have been GREAT to get away, but I needed the rest.

I was thankful for the similarity. No one likes to be sick someplace new.

Right?? I just like being in the comfort of things I know when my heads all iffy.

I made some good purchases. Friday I was feeling a tad bit better.

Eric and I slept in till 12:30pm and made fun of all the people who got up at 4 am.

We hate big crowds anywhere.

Let alone the thought of people trying to fight them at crazy hours in the morning.

You know I used to be able to get right up at all hours of the morning.

Now I really enjoy getting up late.

Although the earlier you get up the more you accomplish.

Anywho...

I needed to make a trip to Oakbrook.

I didn't enjoy the thought of going to a huge shopping center on Black Friday but...

I was reading Allure the night before (ha ha rhyme!) ;) and...

I saw this beauty in an ad;

A huge makeup kit at Sephora for only $48. It's a "$400" value. I don't know if that is true..

but I can't see anyone plowing through this kit immediately

...unless you do makeup for a living.

It includes eyeshadow, lip gloss, blush, lip liner, eye liner, and brushes.

It's just too good. Plus it's all organized in perfect little color families.

Makes it easier for blending.

It feels like I'm a 2 year old that got a makeup kit.

I'm so excited about it and just want to use everything.

Don't worry--I don't think it looks like a 2 year old applied it ;)

I always liked unique eye makeup

this gives me the perfect excuse to do it more often.

This thing is so cheap! Get it if you have the spare cash!

I also made a stop into Lush where I got

I'm always curious about moisturizer.

I never use it but I always feel like my skin could be better.

However--I breakout easily when it comes to face products.

This is made with lavender, orange flowers, and tiger lilies.

Among other things...

All natural things get me going. Plus it's not tested on animals.

I like how soft my skin is, but am not sure how the pores are taking to it.

A few more days shall reveal its true self.

Although I am dying to get back to lush to get this;

The best hand cream ever.

...

Unfortunately I have to get back to real life.

School tomorrow. I do not think I have work.

I hope I do not have it.

However, I look forward to going back Tuesday.

I just have a lot I want to do tomorrow.

Sorry for the long post.

I hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing week and Thanksgiving!

"...with club sauce."

Another great weekend was had along with a good week.

Last week was pretty much the usual. Nothing too exciting happened.

The week ended with me having class all morning on Friday, going straight to work, and then going out afterwards. Eric and I grabbed a bite to eat and headed back to his place Friday night.

Saturday was great! I convinced him to go to Greek Islands with me. He had gotten really sick at the downtown location and I was so worried that I would talk it up to much and something would happen to make it a bad experience for him--(don't you just hate it when that happens?). However, instead of the bad happening, it was a great experience. I love that place and just knew that everyone that goes there just loves it. I haven't been going there since I was months old for nothing! After lunch, we decided to get some walk action in at Oakbrook Mall. We bopped around--not really shopping for anything in particular but of course we bought things--I must admit, some very wise purchases were made! No regrets on that end. After we left the mall 2 or so hours later, I had an odd desire to both play some mini golf and get some batting cage time in. So luckily we were able to find a place close to Oakbrook and did that for awhile. I guess you would be able to say we were the front runners in the Acura Championship for golf. It was rivals with the BMW Championship that goes on the same weekend... It was a good game for sure and it has been forever since I have done batting cages. I was glad we were able to get out and enjoy the sunshine on Saturday. Not too many gorgeous days left this summer! Gotta utilize!

Sunday was fantastic because we had all day plans in the city. Rodan--our new found breakfast place in the city would be our first stop. It was more like a brunch because we arrived in the city around 12:30. After breakfast we cruised over to the beach and had a few drinks at the restaurant there. There were so many sailboats on the lake and everything was so blue. I know it's silly, but everytime I'm on the lakefront, I can't help but think of it as a sea. It's really enjoyable and I love spending time down there. After our drinks we just walked along the lake and we had the idea to rent some bikes and see lakeshore that way. I had so much fun with that! I have never ridden a bike in such nice scenery! Normally I'm just going around my neighborhood which is always a snooze. It was such a great day out too. We got lucky with a beautiful weekend! It's funny how the mundane becomes so exciting when you are in a new and unfamiliar place. I ride my bike all the time, but change the background and it makes all the difference. After our bikeride we went across the street to make our 6:00 pm reservation forCafe Spiaggia. A few weeks ago we went to Spiaggia. The cafe is much more laid back, quicker, and very affordable. Spiaggia on the other hand is a 3+ hour meal, very classy, and not what you would call cheap. It was a nice change of pace. I am ABSOLUTELY in LOVE with the gnocchi they have with the wild boar ragu. I love everything about that dish. We both enjoyed dinner, spent a little more time together, and then it was time to head back to Naperville.

I didn't have to much going for today. I had classes in the morning and I knew the only big thing I had to do was get some laundry done and clean up my room a bit. I HATE doing laundry. I don't think anyone really likes it. I get irritated with myself when I see the stack just getting higher and higher and I just keep putting it off. It's not a good habit, but in the end, I get it all done. I like maintainence and efficiency. I also get irritated when these two things are not always going on. Oh well--it got done today!

Tomorrow is work--yay! When I have a few days off, I really enjoy going back. I also get to skate tomorrow which will be good! I am exhausted right now . It's been a busy weekend. I'll leave you with a picture from Sunday :) See what I mean about how blue it is?!

Have a good week!