A rainy Halloween

I guess I already showed off Molly's costume in the last post, but here are a couple of cute pics from school and an adorable post trick-or-treating video. It rained, but was pretty warm, so no big deal. Mermaids are supposed to be wet anyway, right?

Bianca and Molls - two sassy mermaids!

Molls and Suraya. I have a feeling it was a very happy day today at school

And now for the real cuteness - a mermaid in action:

Girls

I pretty much ditched Jason all weekend, but since he was feeling sick anyway, I don't feel too bad about it. Especially since I got some much-needed girl time with my friends, daughter, and sisters.

On Friday night, I got to go out with my high school girlfriends, Dana and Lindsay. We did it up right and stayed downtown like VIPs at The Langham Hotel. One of Lindsay's best friends is a travel agent and she got us a room upgrade and vouchers for room service and drinks at the bar. Nice way to start and end our night.

We had the best time eating, drinking, talking, and dancing. There's just something so nice about hanging out with friends who have known you forever.

My high school girls -- we pick up right where we left off every time

Then on Saturday, Molly and I met Izzy and her mom at the Evanston Fairy Tale Trail. Each year for Halloween, the Woman's Club sets up a bunch of rooms with different themes -- princesses, Mother Goose, under the sea, transportation, jungle book, etc. -- and the kids go through in costumes and play with a bunch of different toys. We could have stayed all day, Molly had so much fun. Welcome the world of make believe.

A princess and a fairy

Tea party

Heart and soul

Giving us her best Ariel smile - all ready for Halloween

Last night, Betsy, Susie, and I finally celebrated Susie's birthday. We went to Vincent in Andersonville, which I highly recommend. The broth used in the curried mussels dish was so good, Susie and I slurped it up with spoons at the end. I hope no one saw us do that :)

Happy belated birthday to the Sus! I am having a really hard time accepting the fact that she's 29.

The weekend is almost over, but the girl time continues. Jason is still feeling kind of sick, so it's going to be a pretty lazy Sunday. We've already watched one movie, Tangled, my new favorite Disney movie, and now Molly is building Rapunzel's tower while I write this post. I think the dress up clothes are coming out next. Maybe we'll have a little mother-daughter Jello-making session later. Paint our nails. You know, girl stuff.

What's up?

So what's the latest in O'Grady land?

• Molls still loves princesses, stickers, play-doh, and party dresses. She's sleeping in a big girl bed (when she's not demanding to sleep with me) and seems to be having lots of fun with her friends at school and in ballet class. We're trying to work on listening and sharing...some days are better than others

Molls had fun at the pumpkin patch, but was too chicken to go on any of the carnival rides

• Jason has been traveling and fighting illness, but I get him back in town on Fri and am looking forward to a date night. Thanks in advance to the Sus for babysitting :) 
• In my spare time, I have started knitting again! Check out my latest project:

I'm making this in black

• I'm also enjoying the return of Fall TV. Homeland, Boardwalk Empire, The Walking Dead, Nashville, Top Chef, Modern Family...so many good shows, so little time. B is coming over tomorrow for the Project Runway finale. Go Dom! 
• Speaking of B, James is sitting up and slimming down. I had the pleasure of watching him on Monday when daycare was closed. He wasn't feeling well, but still played like a champ and treated us all to plenty of his famous smiles

Handsome James

• Weekends are still pretty full with ballet class and football games, but we're also trying to make sure we leave time for ourselves and to see our friends. We're finally going to meet Jon and Sarah's new baby, Mia, on Sunday and then if the weather is still nice, we'll ride bikes along the lake. Can't complain about that plan, can I? 

40 years

I was going to post a bunch of pictures from the weekend, but this might be the only one that really matters:

Happy anniversary to Marsha and Steve

We had such a wonderful weekend and I think you can probably tell from the photo that Marsha and Steve did too :)

Preparations

This weekend, we have a total of 13 O'Grady family members coming to town to celebrate Marsha and Steve's 40th anniversary - 9 staying at our house and 4 at my parents' condo.

All this is happening the same weekend that ESPN's College Gameday crew is coming to Evanston for the NU / OSU football game. Oh yeah, and did I mention it's also Homecoming weekend?

Ay dios mio! It's going to be crazy.

Joe arrives today and the rest of the brothers will trickle in throughout the day tomorrow so they can have a brothers' night in Chicago. Jason and Joe are planning to spend the afternoon today putting together a new queen-size big girl bed for Molly's room to help improve sleeping conditions. I will attempt to clean up our place tomorrow night and try to make sure we have room for everyone to sleep and put their stuff.

And then the fun begins! Corinne lands around 11 on Fri so I'm going to take a half day off work to get some girl time in with my sister-in-law. We have a reservation for lunch at Frontera Grill (Rick Bayless Top Chef Masters winner and king of mole...yes!) and then will drive to Midway to pick up Megan and Will.

I'm hoping to check out some of the Gameday festivities on campus Saturday afternoon and help represent NU purple pride. I know Ohio State fans well and am worried they are going to take over the whole event with their OH-IO chants and red jerseys. Any other weekend and I'd be chanting with them.

Saturday night is the anniversary celebration and the real reason we're all gathering this weekend. Jason has planned a lovely dinner at a restaurant in town. I'm sure there will be a few speeches. Maybe some tears. I guarantee there will be pictures! Look forward to a recap of the weekend after everyone heads home and after Jason and I have had a day to put our feet up.

Until then...go 'Cats!