madcity girl

You could say I’m a little behind on the blog front. We’re quickly approaching Christmas, and I’m just now getting around to posting pictures and stories from Thanksgiving. Eventually I’ll catch up with my blog…and life, for that matter.

So…Thanksgiving. I took Wednesday through Friday off work, in an effort to stretch out the weekend as long as possible. And I was all over the place—visiting family and friends in Brookfield, Rockford, and Madison. I spent the first few days at home with my parents in Brookfield. My mom and I did a fair amount of Christmas shopping, coffee-drinking, and requisite girl talk. My parents and I went out to dinner on Wednesday night at a new Mexican fusion restaurant and afterwards enjoyed frozen custard at Kopp’s. The flavors of the day were Pecan Praline Pumpkin Pie and Cranberry Medley. My mom and I opted for a scoop of each and went to town on our pre-Thanksgiving ice cream feast.

The next morning was Thanksgiving Day and my dad and I ran from my parents’ house in Brookfield to the Milwaukee lakefront (~11 miles). Running to the lake is a special holiday family tradition we started several years ago. But this time was even more special because it’s been over a year since my dad has been able to participate, as a result of a serious running injury. After my dad and I finished up the run, it was of course time to eat. Since my parents had hosted Thanksgiving for my dad’s family the previous weekend, and I don’t like many traditional Thanksgiving foods anyways, we decided to make a low key meal—a nice bourbon soup (a recipe from my friend Brad). We also joined my mom’s side of the family for dessert (aka Pie Palooza). It was really nice to see my cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandma. The rest of the night, I spent with my parents, drinking wine and talking.

On Friday afternoon, I made the short drive to Rockford to meet up with my closest girlfriends from high school. My friend Erin’s parents hosted an engagement party for Erin and her fiance, Tim, at Carlyle, a cute downtown brewery. It was awesome to see my friends, some of whom I hadn’t seen in over a year. We’re really all over the world now—Arizona, California by way of New Zealand, Seattle, Chicago, Naperville, and Madison. Sadly, our friend Christie from Seattle wasn’t able to make it, but the rest of us were there to help celebrate. And we’re definitely looking forward to a full group reunion at Erin’s wedding in Scottsdale next September!

After a few hours celebrating at Carlyle, my friends and I made our way to Second Cousins, a Rockford bar where we met  up with several high school classmates for an “unofficial” version of our 10-year reunion. We missed the official cocktail hour and dinner, which coincided with Erin’s engagement party. It was great to see so many people from high school that I hadn’t seen in years.  Later that night, Katy’s sister Jen picked us up in the “Vandango” for a late night run to Uncle Nick’s drive-through (where we obnoxiously ordered a van load gyro combo meals).  The next morning we fittingly capped off our short Rockford reunion with a breakfast of Swedish pancakes at Stockholm Inn.

I headed back to Madison later that morning, where I promptly set up and decorated my two foot Christmas tree. Later that night, I headed over to Lauren and Brodie’s house for a backyard bonfire. We spent hours out in their backyard catching up, sipping beer, and warming up over the fire. At that point, I truly realized how thankful I am for everything—my wonderful family, my great friends all over the world, and the life and home I’ve made for myself in Madison. It was the perfect way to end the weekend.

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