Claire's Bachelorette Party Weekend

This weekend was Claire's bachelorette party in Chicago.  I was really looking forward to this weekend until the weekend arrived.  On Friday night, there was a crazy storm with 70 mph hurricane force winds.  When we got home, we were happy to find no damage but we had no power.  Other people in our neighborhood were not so lucky.

The other problem we had when we got home was that we could not get into our house because we depend on our stupid garage door and do not carry house keys (shut it, I know, DUMB).  We were thankful (and I guess not so thankful) that our basement door was unlocked (how long has that door been unlocked??).  So we were able to get in our house and go to bed.  We were also dumb in the fact that we did not open our windows that night.  So we woke up in our sauna bedroom the next morning still without power. 

On the way to the bachelorette party the next day, even the McDonalds on the toll road didn't have power. Finally united with the bachelorette crew, we make our way to Murphy's before the Cubs game.

See this picture? This is directly after I almost passed out.  For some reason, my body decided I could not wait more than 3 hours between eating.  I start to get nauseous so I decide I need to get something to eat.  Katie sees the look on my face and comes with me, thinking something might be wrong.  I stand in line (where the man is standing in the back of the picture) to get food.  All the sudden, it hits me- Hard.  I start to black out.  My eyes start to go dark where I can only see the peripheral.  I am standing there looking at the guy who is supposed to serve me food and I can't see his face.  I'm holding on to the counter for dear life and my entire ghostly pale face has broken out in sweat.  The guy looks at Katie with that typical bouncer look like, if this chick is drunk or on drugs, she is out of here.  Katie goes, "NOOOO!! She's knocked up. She just needs food."  Who knows what my pupils looked like at that point if I couldn't see the dudes face! I mumbled something about a brat and chips and run away from the counter.  Since I was still blacking out, I couldn't see as I shoved my way through the crowd so eventually I found a trash can and knelt down by it.  Katie brought me the brat and chips and I scarfed that down like it was going to save my life.  Well it did.  I immediately felt a hundred times better and was able to go on with the rest of the day.  But people were still staring uncomfortably at the freakish girl who, for a second there, looked like she might be about to die.  How incredibly embarrassing.  Thank goodness Katie was there to be my medic!! Phew!! Close one!

I told my mom about it and she said, "YOU NEED TO EAT! And you need to sit down and have someone wait on you."  I said, "Well yeah, I know that NOW."  I just didn't think it would hit me so hard and that quickly.

So anyway, shortly after that we headed to the Cubs game.  What a game to attend.  It was, I believe, the worst shut out loss since 1998 or something like that.  It was disastrous.  But we still had fun. 

Hey look! It's Piniella- ella- ella, ay.  Things did not improve after they changed pitchers.

Even the Cubbie Bear is saying "I wouldn't waste my money! Go back home!"

Tim Meadows sang the 7th Inning Stretch.  How perfect.  The Ladiesth Man sang for the Ladiesth Night.

To help fans deal with the devastating loss, a giant macaroni noodle was brought for some over-sized comfort food. 

After the game, Claire decided to hold her own against a group of dedicated Angels fans... 

We quickly became fast friends, one bachelor party and one bachelorette party. 

The Bride to Be was a dancing machine!


After the post-game celebration, we went out to eat at Bucca di Beppos.  Since we were such a large group, they placed us in our own separate room.  We got to sit in the Pope Room.

A little freaky right?

THIS was on our table.  Creepy!

Little naked cherubs adorned the ceiling. 

But Claire was able to sit in the Pope Throne which was pretty cool.  But then the Pope head stared at her all night.

Don't worry.  She's really good at staring contests. 

After Bucca, we went to The Underground.  The Underground is owned by local celebrity Billy Dec.  Apparently, while we were at the club, there were a few celebrities also in attendance.
From his twitter page:

Girls equally went nuts for Channing Tatum ("Step Up") & the Blackhawks team @UndergroundChi last nite! Wonder if Kane picked up some moves?

We missed them! I think they would have loved us!

 I mean, just look at us.  By the way, the rock 'n' rolla chick on the right is the Maid of Honor. She planned the bachelorette party weekend and did a fabulous job.  Go Roman!!

This picture was taken at about one in the morning. I was starting to fall asleep while dancing I was so tired.

Did I mention we had a Reserved Bottle Service table? 

How fun is that? I think it's the "expensive" type of fun, actually.  :)

Anyway, Claire continued to make friends with people all night long.  In the picture below, she told these men that she would be coming up to them all night to tell them random things.  Then she walked away.  She came back 30 seconds later and said, "I own a ladder" and walked away again.  The guy on the right said, "Girl, you funny." 

I also wanted to take a picture just to prove how tall these guys were.  I mean, seriously.  They were like 19 feet tall (Morganism).


On Sunday, we had Claire's Bridal Brunch in the Signature Room of the John Hancock. 

This was the view as we walked into the room...

Amazing!

This is Lake Shore Drive.  I'm so happy my pictures turned out so well.  It was such an amazing view.

I really like this one because of the sky.  It was a gorgeous day.

We could see everything, including the park where Travis and Katie got engaged.  Aww!

 Here is the group picture of everyone at the Brunch.  Too bad the view didn't show up in the picture.

After that, we got to take a Behind-the-Scenes tour of The Signature Room.  It was very cool.  Roman's family owns the Signature Room and Roman is the manager of operations so as we took the tour, employees would scatter like cockroaches when she came through.

The view from the Women's Restroom is amazing.  Scroll down to the 9th item on this list for a little proof.

 Or just look at my pictures.  Whatever you want.

 It was amazing.

Here's the view down from the room where the brunch was held.  Very cool, very scary.

 And finally another one of my favorite pictures from the day.  This is outside the John Hancock.  This is the typical tourist shot but I just loooooove the sky.  It was a perfect color that day.

Roman put together an amazing weekend for Claire.  A great time was had by all, I'm absolutely sure of it.

One final picture for the car lovers in my family...
We followed THIS back to our hotel on Sunday.

That car.  THAT car.  That's an expensive stinking car.  Our cab driver thought half a mil.  The guy was just cruising around Chicago.  Must be nice.  That was the best picture I could get from the back of a fast moving cab.  The price of that car makes my measly little monthly car payment look like nothing.