Life has been good. I spent a weekend in Texas visiting John's family, I had a few days off of work which I spent shopping, John's cousins came to town to visit, I have been able to see my friends quite often, overall it has been a good summer. I just realized the other day that this weekend is Labor Day and that it is getting darker earlier and so soon summer will be gone. It's so sad, summer is my absolute favorite time of year. Especially in Chicago, there is so much to do, and so much fun to be had (and you can wear flip-flops!)
About 2 weeks ago John and I bit the bullet and bought a new car. We had been thinking about it for quite some time and were trying to decide what we wanted. Since I have always had a long commute, we were interested in something that could save us some gas money. We turned to the Prius, and did some research. After much consideration and a test drive we were in love, so we bought our first brand new car! I have to say that I truly love driving this car, but maybe that's because all I've ever driven was a beater ford escort and a 9 year old pontiac sunfire. The Prius has a lot of neat gadgets, my absolute favorite being the built in bluetooth conection that allows you to talk on the phone through your car stereo-really a great thing for someone who drives and talks on the phone as much as I do. So far I have been getting about 45 miles per gallon, which is great.
In other news I traveled to St. Louis this past weekend with Kate, Amanda, and Marena. Kate works for Omni hotel and was able to get us a discounted rate at the Omni in St. Louis, which was quite nice. Kate and I drove the Prius to give it a road trip, and Marena and Amanda flew in. We had such a good time. I was really surprised how quiet St.Louis was, there didn't seem to be a lot of people out. We likened it to the loop on a Sunday morning-no one is there. Everyone we came in contact with was wonderful and so nice and helpful. We were also surpried by how trendy St. Louis is. When you went to a bar for a drink everyone was dressed to the nines, no jeans and flip flops there. While we were there we went on the Anheuser Busch tour, Kate's uncle works for the company and was able to get us a VIP tour. Our tour guide Tiffany was great and she also made sure we had plenty to drink, I am certain she gave us more than she should have- it was great! The grounds were beautiful and we even got to see the clydesdale horses. Follwing the tour we went to the Oliver Studio Salon & Spa. Where we managed to spend a ridiculous amount of money for 4 hours. It was the most fun I have had in a long time. We had the spa area all to ourselves and had also gotten the wine and cheese package so we really relaxed. The people that worked there were the nicest girls I have ever met at a salon. We decided we are definately going back! The rest of the trip consisted of laughing and eating, what else do you need in life? I can't wait to take a trip with the girls again. Here are some pictures from our fabulous weekend.
Marena, I loved seeing you! I can't wait to visit again soon.
