70

My mother turned 70 this past Wednesday.  Seventy.  70.  7-0?????  While it's still baffling her, it really killed me.  

I have a mother who is 70??? 

I have dealt with questions my whole life, people literally telling me with a chuckle... "you must have been a mistake, huh?"  Yah, that's the way to give a kid some great self esteem... just assume their parents never actually wanted them, and tell them that their existence is a "mistake."  I mean how exactly do you answer that?  I tell them no, (because that's what my mom told me to say.)  And then they chuckle and laugh, like "yah, right."  But alas, this blog post is not about me, it's about her and the fact that...

my mother is 70.   

My dad decided to throw her a SURPRISE party, with the agreement that he pick the place and pay for it, and I basically do everything else.  What a deal.  I loved every minute of planning.  Even answering all my dad's questions at odd times of the day in whispers because "your mother is in the other room."

Her first surprise came when my dad told her he was going outside to shovel snow, and then just left.  After the fact, I told my dad that wasn't very nice... but then again my dad has his own way of doing things.  He returned 4 hours later, with my brother Chris, who flew in from Colorado.  Apparently, first they made a stop at Gene and Judes.   I was told my mom nearly had a heart attack when he walked in.  

The party was a huge success and she seemed to be rather surprised to see 40 of her closest friends and family standing there.  We dined on bruschetta, salad, chicken piccata and sirloin, mostocolli, potatoes and mixed vegetables... followed by ice cream and her favorite cake from Hy-Vee.  It was delicious.  We even got a family picture.  It is rare to have this happen and have all my siblings in one place so it had to be done.  

I even made a fun picture board full of some nice ones, and some funny ones of my mom.  Camille was in charge of the centerpieces, and I made name tags and menus for each seat.  Along with a picture of my mom at each table in a different decade.  

I even wrote a toast for her... in case my dad didn't say something... which he did ... and left me relieved to not have to get up and say anything....

Hope you had a very Happy Birthday, Mom!!!

An Ode to My Mother

Roses are red violets are blue
We are all here to celebrate you.
70 years what can I say...
I know, I know you don't actually turn 70 till Wednesday.

The oldest of 6 the mother of 4
Busia and great busia to 8 more.
Sister, aunt, friend and pal
And of course you are sweetheart to al.

You are one in a million
You say what you want
You sometimes make no sense
But we love you lots and lots.

So sit back and relax and enjoy  family and  friends.  
Raise your glasses to my Mom
May the party never end!

Katie and Ken

Bartlett Elementary Crew

Katie and Ken got hitched last weekend on January 18th at The Starline, in Harvard, Illinois.  It was a super fun wedding.  Especially since I have been friends with the bride for what, ummm, 25 years now.  I was so happy to be able to share in her special day.  The venue was awesome... Room #1 you get married.... Room #2 cocktails.... Room #3 food.  Wham bam, just like that.  I loved catching up with Katie's family and re-connecting with old friends.  It was a great night.  Best wishes to the newlyweds (who I failed to snap a picture of!)

Me and the BrIde

Holiday Party

 December 20th was Adam's Christmas Party with a Casino Royale theme.  It was tons of fun... and probably one of the best times I had at his company parties.  I took the train down to the city as in previous years and met him at his work.  We checked into our hotel... and got ready to par-tay.  

 They had a green screen there where you can choose your background and take a picture in front of it... and then they print out a picture for everyone.  It was a big hit last year.  Adam is a manager and his team met for a photo at 10pm.  Here is the behind the scenes picture.  

Adam and I took a few pictures ourselves which are absolutely hysterical.  I just don't have them on my phone.

The best part of the night was the fact that Adam and I went to the "after party."  A party that is completely planned and told to us during the first party.  It was at American Junkie, they rented out the top floor where we danced and had open bar for 3 more hours.  It was nuts.  And so much fun.

The company really knows what they are doing when it comes to a celebration!

Katie's Bachelorette

On December7th, we celebrated KATIE at her Bachelorette Party in the Chi.  We all joined together for pizza, drinks, and shenanigans with a Big Red theme... including Red Headed Slut shots... at the W Hotel on Lake Shore Drive.

Bartlett crew

Afterwards we headed by party bus to the Baton Lounge where we saw a drag show.  After seeing the best drag show ever in Key West... this show was just amateur, but I loved it anyways.  They are just so fun!  One of our favorite drag queens was dressed in a sequenced Blackhawks jersey, which the crowd seemed to LOVE.

 

After that we headed to a tiki bar in the city and had tropical drinks.  It was a super fun night, prepping us all for the sure to be fun wedding January 18th!!!!  See you then Katie beeeeeee.

Elton & Erica

 Adam and I were at a Chicago Wolves game in November and while sitting there I noticed the scrolling sign saying that Elton John was going to be there the very next day.  How exciting!  I thought to myself that it was weird he wouldn't be playing at a larger venue, like the United Center.  The Allstate is big, but not big enough for a legend.  

I went over it again and again in my head about how I should really take advantage and go if tickets are available.  Turns out tickets were available.  Adam said he would go with me, but thought I would have a better time with friends.  

 And so Alisa and I got all dolled up in sequence and shiny things and went.  We thought we left at a decent time, but turns out when you go to see a legend you should leave much much earlier.  The best part was we got out of paying for parking, because we had to park so far from the Allstate.  The worst part... we missed 4 songs one of which was Benny and the Jets.  (I will never forgive myself!) 

 However, the concert was truly one of the best that I have ever been too.  Elton played the piano and sang for 2.5 hours.  He sang all the hits.  And it was just CLASSY.  He's in his 60's now, so he can't hit the notes he once did... so he sang in a lower register and it was awesome because he didn't make a fool of himself.  It was him, his band, and his piano.  It was worth every penny I spent on the tickets.  

 Although we missed Benny and the Jets, the final song he sang was Crocodile Rock.  I couldn't be more excited.  One really annoying thing is Alisa and I were among the younger ones in the audience and no one was standing up to dance or sway or anything.  However, on Crocodile Rock I couldn't help myself.  I got up and a few others around us did too.  (sorry folks behind us!) It was quite a song to end with.  I was so happy that we went and was humming his songs for at least 2 weeks after.  

"My gift is my song, and this one's for you!"

Surprises for Ashley

Surprise is the greatest gift which life can grant us. - Boris Pasternak

It all started out months and months ago... I had decided at the beginning of the year I was going to surprise my good friend Ashley in Orlando for her 30th birthday.  It would be easy.  I would rent a car and then just show up.  I bought my tickets and told the rest of the Flossers.  In the end, Lacey and Tiffanie joined me in this momentous occasion.

Tiffanie met me at the airport.  Her flight arrived hours before mine.  I had not seen Tif since my wedding day and she notified me about 2 weeks prior that she was coming.  It is rare that Tif and I ever get to hang out so I was sooooo looking forward to spending time with the happiest girl in the world.  She is hilarious, and the first mishap of our trip started right in the airport, when in our excitement, we got in the wrong line for our rental car.  After we figured it out, we were on our way to the party store to pick up a bouquet of balloons for our birthday girl and a quick swing thru the McDonald's drive thru for some chicken mcnuggets.

Once we got to Ashley's place of work, we put on our disguises in case she was in the parking lot, which consisted of hats and sunglasses.  We parked and walked in.  We definitely got some stare downs, until I explained and had a co-worker of hers go in and hand Ashley a package of dental floss.

Ashley came out of her office in her birthday cone hat and WHAM...  There I was, and at that moment, all my stress and worry was gone.  She was definitely surprised.  I threatened her later with a key to her throat asking "Did you know?????????"  She said no.  Just when Ashley thought the surprise was over and I was her only gift.  Tiffanie came swinging around the corner and Ashley was surprised all over again.  She cried, but didn't pee her pants, which was my wish.

Tiffanie and I high fived, and before we knew it we were on our way to Olive Garden to celebrate with Ashley and her co-workers.  They were beyond gracious for letting us come along.  And we couldn't be happier to join them.

Unfortunately Ashley had to go back to work and so Tif and I headed to the hotel to check in and relax, and get our stories straight for Lacey's surprise arrival the next day.  We ended up going to Cafe Tutu Tango, and had a great time.  I still don't understand why her nor I took any pictures there.  BOO.  After that, we met up with Ashley and some of her friends at the Ale House to celebrate further.

"This has been the worst and BEST birthday I have ever had!!!"  -Ashley

(ok, we will take it!)

The next day Ashley was able to have the day off with the good graces of her boss, who knew we were now in town.  And we headed to Hollywood Studios.  Our first stop was the Backlot Tour, which is not a particular favorite of mine.  However... Tiffanie changed all of that when they asked for volunteers and I told her to raise her hand and she did, and then they picked her!!!!!!!!!!!!!  It was awesome.  They mistakenly introduced her as Tony, which was hysterical to Ashley and I, and before she knew it she was in the water scene of the back lot tour.  This changed everything in my overall experiences of the Backlot Tour.  During this day Tiffanie and I were secretly checking our phones and texting each other while Ashley was standing right next to us, to hash out Lacey's plan.  Lacey decided to just call Ashley and ask her to show us the way to the Sanford Airport.  Ashley was confused for a split second wondering why and then Lacey said, "because you will have to pick me up there in a hour!"  And onward, off we went to Sanford Airport.   We left the park early and got to Lacey with no problems.   But not before we got birthday buttons from the parks.

Tiffanie's birthday was the following week, so we were celebrating her as well.  And her birthday wish was for us to get dressed up, and go out for a "good birthday cheers!"  We had planned to do that that night, but instead, Tiffanie said we could go to Bubbalous (my non-birthday related wish) and then go for drinks.  However, after eating delicious Bubbalous, Tif switched it again and said, I just want to eat junk food and put on face masks and watch trash TV.  And that we did.

The following day we spent at Disney.  It was a Saturday and one of  Ashley's other friends was in town and had plans to propose to his girlfriend.  We got to the parks early so she can get us all in, only to find out it was a black out date.  My heart hit the floor.  I have to pay, what????????  wait???? why??????  There was no other option and so we each paid 101 dollars to get in to see the mouse.  Jeez.  That was the most annoying thing that could have happened.  On top of that, it was raining.  We all caved and got rain coats, and moved on with our day.   We watched Josh propose to his girlfriend in front of the castle.  It was the cutest.  She was surprised and said YES.

Later, once we got to Epcot, we split for lunch since all of us prefer different things, and met back in America to dine together.  After lunch, Tif and Lacey did their thing, and Ashley and I went to see Voices of Liberty, an acapella group that was just starting as we were finishing lunch.  I always enjoyed seeing them when I got to go off on my own while working at Disney.  It was one of my favorite parts about learning Disney inside out, getting to see the little things that make it up.  We then met up again in Norway to ride the Norway ride.  A Disney classic.

We finished our day back at Magic Kingdom.  We usually end our nights at Epcot watching Illuminations, but ended up going back to see Wishes.  Nice choice.

On our last day we were deciding on going to the beach or just stay and go to the Grand Floridian, a flosser favorite.  I was leaving that night and I was a little worried about making it back on time to the airport.  So, the rest agreed to just stay in Orlando.  We lounged at the pool, I bought the birthday girls drinks and we had that nice good cheers that Tif wanted.  We also got a hook up on a pontoon boat and drove that around the lagoon for a hour which everyone seemed to love.  I have done it before and had a blast.
It was time to wrap up our day and head to get a quick bite.  So we went to Ashley's favorite, Outback.  There is where I learned that they completely cancelled my flight home and rescheduled me for the next day due to tornado and such in Illinois.  Thank goodness I looked before I actually made it to the airport.

The girls had plans to see Third Eye Blind that night at House of Blues, so I got online and bought a ticket myself!  Turns out Lacey is the biggest fan of all.  I have never seen her smile, dance, and sing along so much to anything.  (KandJ I have video footage for proof, don't worry!)  

It ended up being a wonderful weekend, and one for the books.  Ashley didn't see it coming which was our goal.  And I couldn't be happier to have pulled it off!!!

Dear Ashley, I hope you feel the same!!!!  -Love, Erica