staycation update.

Well, I got to do most of what I wanted to do.

On Friday, I had intended for Graham and I to go to the Cubs/Giants game, we had found tickets for $9.  As it turned out, he had to work for his dad all day, building a deck/patio situation.  I didn't mind too much, as I had mentioned, I booked an 80 minute deep-tissue massage at Mario Tricoci.

My boyfriend, being amazing as he is, called Mario Tricoci, and added onto my spa services as a surprise to me, a wax and mani/pedi.  What a sweet surprise, and my very first spa day!  I spent four glorious hours at Mario, getting waxed (which was not as bad as I thought it was going to be, and something that I could definitely handle again in the future.  The massage was heavenly, but next time I will go for a "signature" massage instead of deep tissue.  I was very sore for a few days after, even with drinking tons of water.

We did go to Buffalo Grove days... and Graham did win me a stuffed animal!  And on the first try of his first game.

My new buddy, who has yet to be named.

There was  A LOT of relaxing this weekend.  Saturday, we napped pretty much all day, and Sunday, we got up, went to breakfast (see yelp review here.) and napped some more.  Sunday evening was spent with Graham's family, celebrating his dad's birthday.  We went to the Chicago Botanic Gardens, which I'd never visited, despite living my entire life less than 30 minutes away.  We walked around what is probably only a minuscule amount of the area, and even saw a beautiful wedding in progress.  It actually made me rethink my I'm never ever ever having an outdoor wedding philosophy, which is a story for another time.

We had dinner on the outdoor patio at the garden, which is an annual tradition for Tim's birthday.

Monday, we lounged some more, and made our way back to my house to spend some time with my family for my dad's birthday.  My dad decided to try his hand at building his own smoker (A la Alton Brown) and it was a miserable failure.  First, I don't like smoky flavored food.  Smoked salmon and smoked fish and bacon are about as smoky as I get.  Second, the timing of the smoking process was grossly underestimated. At first, we were to eat a six.  Then seven.  Then, who knows.  We finally ended up eating around 9pm, which for me, someone who gets extremely crabby if she doesn't eat, (again, story for another time) is just plain unacceptable.