trip recap

Day two of boot camp and all I have to say is 300 crunches is a lot.

Anyway, here it is, as promised, the trip recap:

Have I already mentioned that it was really, really good? Don't know if I have... anyway, it was really, really good! Here's the skinny on what we managed to cram into nine little days:

Day 1: Boy picked me up at the Pittsburgh airport and we immediately went to Mike and Ali's for Ali's baby shower/party type thing. Lots of fun and too much food. Lots of cute stuff was unwrapped. We spent the night and their place, woke up the next morning, ate waffles, and headed out to meet up with my parents for brunch. (See, two breakfasts in one day. Pay attention because the food theme is a strong one in this narrative.)

Day 2: Met my parents for brunch at the Grand Concourse (more food). Again, lots of fun and way too much food. After brunch we rode the incline. I showed Boy stuff at the top of Mount Washington and then we rode down. Headed out to my friend Karen's for a bbq and more food. Spent the afternoon/early evening at Karen's. She's sort of kicking around the idea of going into the catering business so again, way too much food (and lots of fun). After that (and we're still on Day 2 here) we headed out to my parents to watch the final episode of "The Sopranos." My mom made snacks. More food.

Day 3: Woke up in my childhood home and spent the day in the suburbs. Went to the mall, had lunch at Eat n' Park, played with my parent's dog in the back yard, went for a run in the park, and checked out the buffalo herd at the South Park Game Preserve. At Eat n' Park, boy got a salad. It had fries on it and he was totally freaked out. I tried to convince him it was good but he was still wearry. Boy will never be a Pittsburgher. That night, Mom cooked dinner and then assorted family members came over for the evening. This was by far the most leisurly day of our trip...

Day 4: Woke up to discover a box of pasteries from Bethel Bakery! Ate pasteries and then went to Fallingwater. Took the tour and our guide totally sucked. Lots of unnecessary dramatic pauses and general early-twenties, artsy-fartsy awkwardness, if you know what I mean. May have been so painful to watch because I recognized part of myself in the guide. After Fallingwater, headed back to my parent's, packed up our stuff, and checked into our hotel in the city. Met Karen for the Pirates game. Went to the game, ate Primanti's, and cheered for Sauerkraut Saul in the pierogie race. He didn't win but the Pirates did. Yea!

Day 5: Walked down to the Strip for breakfast at Pamelas and then perused the random delicacies of the Strip. Smelled the cheeses at Penn Mac. Looked at the fish at Wholey's. Walked back to the hotel and checked out. Headed over to the South
Side to meet my parent's for lunch then walked around the South Side a bit. Headed over to the CMU/Oakland area to hang for a bit. Then headed back downtown for some Kayaking. Spent $12 on parking, $20 on kayaking and 30 min on the water because a huge storm blew in and ruined our fun. Stupid storm. After that, headed up to Squirell Hill for some coffee, then to Regent Square to meet up with Mark and Eryn. Went to dinner with Mark and Eryn at Church Brew Works. Boy finally got to eat some pierogies. Boy was happy. Spent the night in Regent Square on an air mattress in Mark and Eryn's spare bedroom. Despite the setup, I had the best night of sleep of the trip. I think it was because I was in an old house in my old neigborhood and the house had a very familiar smell, much like my old apartment. smell bring's back memories and feelings you can't verbalize but can experience on a very real level and so I think that on that air matress, inches from the 100 year-old wooden floor, I had a feeling like I was home, a feeling I haven't so much had in the past year an a half and so I slept well. very, very well.

Day 6: Made Boy and Mark have breakfast with me at the Square Cafe. Unfortunately, they were not in on the joke and had a hard time understanding why I was so excited about the strange, square mugs, the overpriced food, and the bad service from the same, overly tan waitress that's been there since the place opened. Marisa and Cara, I wish you had been there. After breakfast, we loaded up the car and headed out of town. Drove across the ever-so-exciting states of Ohio and Indiana to make it to Chicago by nightfall. Kept ourselves amused with two very intense and competitive games of the alphabet game. I took the first one and boy won the second round. (Though honestly, I was getting sick of playing so I may not have been trying so hard.) Rolled into the windy city around 6:30. Met up with Boy's friends to get the keys to the apartment we'd be staying in before they (the friends, not the keys) left to get ready for their performance. They said the apartment had a cat but there was no sign of the cat.

Boy and I had about fifteen minutes to settle in before we had to leave to see them in the musical-comedy version of Debbie Does Dallas. No, I'm not kidding. It was incredibly funny. And bizarre. After the play we were out and about in Chicago until too late. Then we went back to the apartment and played "the record game," a game which involves picking songs based on the other person's answers to random questions such as "spoon straw or spork?", until the wee hours of the morning.

Day 7: Still no sign of the cat though I think I heard it meowing in the middle of the night. Reluctantly woke up and unreluctantly went to breakfast at Ann Sather. I love any restaurant that will give you two cinnamon rolls as one of your two sides. After breakfast, we walked up to Wrigley field for the Cubs game. Had some pre-game drinks at Murphy's Bleachers, had our picture taken with Ronnie Woo-Woo Wickers . Had great seats, beautiful weather, and the Cubs won! It's hard not to be a baseball fan with a scenario like that.

After the game, headed back to the apartment for aprox. 45 minutes. Caught a brief glimps of the cat. It's funny how some cats will go into hiding for however long it takes if there are strangers a foot. Upon seeing us, the cat quickly returned to the safety of its fort under the bed.

Still on Day 7... got cleaned up and met Boy's parents for dinner and drinks. Was so tried that I was barely able to talk. Somehow held it together until 10:00 when I fell asleep on the couch and the cat fell asleep under the bed. Woke up in the middle of the night and noticed the cat was sleeping at the foot of the bed. Either that or I was dreaming...

Day 8: Woke up to the cat meowing at the foot of the bed. He/she was out of food and was now willing to make friends. Fed the cat and was eventually able to get her/him to let me pet her/him a bit. Showered, packed up, and again left town. Drove from Chicago to Kansas City. Got there just in time to see the Royals game. It was "military appreciation night" so there were lots of noisy fly overs and we got free hats. The game was boring and the Royals lost. God, I hate baseball. Also, took us longer to get to KC than we thought so no bbq. Sigh... Spent the night in some semi-questionable Econo Lodge in Kansas. Ewww.

Day 9: It's almost over! Got in the car (again) and headed for home. After suffering through the boringness of Kansas (sorry Kansas. Though, in all fairness, there was a Perkins and the Perkins was good) and a match of the alphabet game that seemed to go on forever and never actually ended, we finally made it back to Colorado! Abby has never been happier.