Champaign County Fair

Husband and I spent the evening at the county fair.  We ate corn dogs, drank lemon shake ups and rode rides until we almost puked.  It was great!

yumm-o!

fun rides

this ride made us sick

then we ran into our friends on the swings! :)

Birthday Love

How great is this card?  My dear friend Michele gave it to me for my birthday and I simply love it.  I also love her.  She managed to surprise me for my birthday last week with a trip to celebrate with me right here in C-U!  I really had no idea that she was coming and was shocked and thrilled to see her sitting at the table for my family dinner.  We had a great weekend! 

My sweet sweet husband threw a surprise party for me with friends and family and we celebrated into the wee hours.  It was fabulous!  So fabulous that I didn't manage to take a single photo.  Hopefully others did so I can get a peak at the fun we had.  Between my lovely husband, dear friends and super duper family, I'm one lucky gal.

Recycled Sunshine

Isn't this art installation rad?  It's the work of the I.D.E.A. Store, a place where they collect everyday items often taken for granted and sell them inexpensively to people with big ideas.  Take this project for example.  The beautiful mural is constructed out of recycled billboard material woven through a fence that surrounds a construction site.  I love the sunshine!

Turkey Enchiladas

Last night I made these turkey enchiladas.  Instead of the deli turkey, I tried one of the variations and used ground turkey and my own seasoning blend to make it a little more flavorful.  I also spiced it up a bit with hotter salsa.  Next time I might try adding black beans and/or spinach...  Husband and I loved it so much we ate way more than one serving each.  So much for being healthy!

1st Anniversary

This past weekend husband and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary.  It's hard to believe that it's already been a year, but it's been one of the greatest years!
We spent the weekend in Chicago where we took an awesome kayak architecture river tour, stayed at a chichi downtown hotel, enjoyed a delicious meal in Lincoln Park and went to a Cubbies game.  It was a great weekend with my sweets.

We even ate a bite of our wedding cake.  It was better a year ago.

Memories Wrap Up

Today is my last day in my 20's so it's time to wrap up my top 30 memories...

#3: As silly as it sounds, having my first fight with Bob over the placement of a television in our family room.  We weren't even living together at the time and it was the silliest fight ever, but it was a moment when I fell more in love with Bob - especially when we could laugh about it later.

#2: (This is for you Jo) Crashing a Glamour magazine party in NYC several years back.  I had heard about the party from a coworker and convinced my friend Joanna to check it out with me.  Turned out you had to be on a list to get in.  Jo used her wit, charm and powers of persuasion (read: bitchiness:) to get us in.  We proceeded to take full advantage of the open bar, break a vase and end up face down in the street outside.  That's enough detail for this blog.

#1: Seeing my mom’s yellow roses bloom in November after she passed away.  It was the most amazing thing to see her favorite flowers bloom so long after the season.  They were beautiful and it reassured me that she would always be with me.

More Memories

I'm falling down on the job with my Top 30 memories.  I'd like to blame it on the heat, but it's really just my crazy schedule.  In the interest of time I'm going to sum up some posts so that I might finish in time.  Some Top 30 Memories to add to the list:

#9: Meeting Dan Akroyd. I don't think of myself and getting star struck, but when I met Dan Akroyd in New York I was indeed struck.  At a party I we were introduced and he was the nicest most down to earth guy.  And, the best part was that he'd partied in Champaign so we had some fun stuff to talk about!

#8: In 2004 I moved back to Champaign and got to spend 7 glorious months with my mom gardening, eating late dinners, taking long drives and having great talks.  They were wonderful months.

#7: One New Year's I went on a Caribbean Cruise with my parents. My mom and I indulged in rum punches and games on the beach and had a complete blast.  Between all the laughs and falling into the water, it was a great time!

#6: On my European backpacking advernture the train ride from Nice up to Paris through the French countryside was one of the most beautiful sites I've seen.

#5: For my 21^st birthday my friend Michele made the trip to visit me.  She had a folly filled adventure that ended with us and a group of friends singing karaoke at the top of our lungs in a tiny little dive bar in the East Village in NYC.  It was great!

#4: The night Bob proposed to me was perfect.  I had a hunch that he was planning something during the summer, but the time he actually did it I was caught totally off guard.  We had just made a delicious dinner and were sitting on our deck enjoying a glass of wine under starts when he got down on one knee.  To be honest, the rest was a little blurry because I was overcome with excitement, nervousness and joy.  The moment was filled with lots of love and was simply perfect.