My 31st Birthday!

Tom planned my birthday this year! What a treat that was. No coming up with a theme, or sending out invitations, or wondering if I have enough friends who will actually show up to my party! No, it was all on Tom. And I think it was a relief. I have been taking on way too much lately and I got to tell everyone that I couldn't do stuff that weekend because of Tom! I think that was the best present of all.

But there were other presents that would rank almost as high as that! Tom planned a surprise weekend trip to Chicago. He didn't have his usual Friday night group meeting and so we left Friday night and stayed at a motel close to the temple. And then we got to sleep in before we went to the temple. After the temple we checked out of our motel and then drove downtown to the Omni All-Suite Hotel on Michigan Ave. Yes, a four star hotel! I've never stayed in such a fancy place. So fancy the gum in the mini bar cost $1.50, even though right on the package it says to charge $0.35. And then we went to lunch at the Grand Lux Cafe. And then we went window shopping because we are too poor to buy anything on Michigan Ave ($200 for a necktie?). After that we got dressed up and went to the Chicago Symphony. Quite Enjoyable! It was fun to walk down Michigan Ave looking as fancy as I could come up with! After the symphony we stopped in the Ghirardelli Chocolate store and ice cream shop. I had a fantastic dark chocolate sundae for my birthday. Then we stopped at a drugstore and bought a big bag of chips that was the same price as the small bag of chips in the mini-bar so I could have something from the mini bar, but not for the price. And then we fell asleep in the wonderful pillows that I loved sinking my head into! We then got to sleep in again. Once we got ready for the day we drove to Ed Debevics and had a good burger that I had been craving all week. They are supposed to be rude, but I didn't let them be that way. It was my birthday gosh darnit! Then we ended up at the Art Institute of Chicago which was having Free February. I'm not that big of a fan of Art Museums, but I did get to see that big painting, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, which I do like. After the art museum we went to Gino's East and had deep dish pizza which I like much better than thin crust! And then we had an enjoyable drive home, stopping to get blizzards for my birthday treat. Tom almost took me to Fogo de Chao, because I love meat so much! But we were not wanting to spend so much on a meal we were really too full to eat. So we will save that for another time. When Tom told me how much that restaurant costs I actually gasped! I was quite flattered though that Tom would want to spend so much on me!

So for presents this year I got Taylor Swift's new Platinum Album, "Fearless", The Office-season five, my favorite Silk 'n Shine Blistex lip balm, Till we have Faces by C.S. Lewis, and an old map of Europe. I love that one! We are going to frame it and put it in a framed collage with my other pictures from Europe.



Tom knows me so well. I had such a wonderful, relaxing time and it was really hard to come back to my real life.