Across Three Weekends

The past three weekends have been weighing on my heart because...I spent time with some great people and haven't written anything about it! Considering I'm covering three exhilarating weekends here, I'll try to keep the narrations concise:

Three weekends ago, my mom's best friend came to visit. Aunt Nancy and Bob live in Holland, Michigan. They recently moved out here from Florida, which was quite conveniently timed considering we followed not too long after. The last time I saw Aunt Nancy was a very long time ago (upwards of ten years?) in Boston...I had never met Bob. They're awesome! We met up with them at Lou Malnati's Saturday evening...also, Peter and Michael brought their bud Hunter to join the party. It was such a great time! Great food, great company, great conversation. I also demonstrated my propensity to humiliate myself in public...I couldn't get out of the door at Lou Malnati's, which sucks when there are about twenty judgmental people crammed behind you. From Saturday to Sunday, I got to know Aunt Nancy and Bob a lot better...which is a privilege, especially considering Bob is a rockstar. ;) After a sunday dinner of very lemony tilapia, the four "adults" took off sightseeing. Bob grew up in Berwyn, so I'm sure there was a lot of reminiscing going on while us "kids" stayed home and watched Psych.

best friends since they were kids

I love Saint Patrick's Day. Green is my favorite color, so I took the opportunity to wield my 1/16th Irish heritage for all it's worth. I wore my favorite green shirt. I thought of Rachel while applying my stolen green eyeshadow. And then I took a selfie and flaunted it to her. Our Pastor Ian Carroll at GCC is Irish, which is very evident when you hear him speak. He and his wife have cool accents. He actually didn't preach St Patty's Day morning, but the guest speaker was awesome and quoted Nacho Libre twice...so altogether it was a great teaching. The highlight of St. Patrick's Day was, hands down, the sushi. Wait...what? Sushi? I cashed in Peter and Michael's birthday present to me on St. Patty's Day, which amounted to a Sunday dinner (just the three of us) of sushi and a discussion on the merits of wasabi. Incredible. I must say, I was somewhat skeptical at first. The only sushi I had ever had was from Happy China Buffet in Bangor, Maine. Disgust of that terrible experience has run rampant through my brain at the mention of the word "sushi" ever since. But this authentic sushi changed me in a great way. It's only complete with wasabi, so you get the climax of "holy lutefisk my sinuses are literally going to explode" and then the rush of pleasure that follows. I'm a fan. The taste of that delicacy guided me through the frustration I felt when dishing out a whopping $2.25 for a non-student CTA pass. Blech. Weekends. Anyway, the remainder of St. Patty's Day was spent with the entire fam dining on corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, and fantabulous cheesy biscuits. And of course we played Rage (my family's favorite card game). Bonus: a chat with Rach via my dork phone. Yay for Saint Patrick!

Michael being Michael...look at that sushi!

Now, for Palm Sunday! Hosanna! After a sweet service at church, we plucked Michael from somewhere on East Avenue and headed to Maywood. Some new friends of ours, the Thompsons, invited ourselves and another family for dinner. Catherine and Elizabeth, twins and a mere ten days older than me, are already some of my best friends here in the Chicago area. We laugh a lot together, especially when a certain stuffed friend is involved. ;) We have a subconscious telepathic link...made obvious by the fact that they watched Inception for the first time on their birthday, too! Ten short days before i did. Anyway, the lasagna was delicious, the peanut butter cookies & mini brownies were fantastic, I was really in the mood for cream soda, and those of us at the juvenile end of the table could almost listen in on the parents' conversation. What a Sunday dinner! I also found out that I'm taller than Catherine, so that was nice.

Catherine, Victoria, Elizabeth and me

No, I don't mind if you only read about the weekend that pertains to you. That's the idea. Now go make plans for next weekend!