ME, A STALKER.....

I mentioned that we went to see 'my best girl' Barbra in New York City.  Well, really Brooklyn, but whatever...

WEEEELLL.....

I heard she was coming to Chicago, so just for the fun of it, I thought I'd see if her tickets were sold out.  And they weren't. So something came over me, and I felt compelled to grab some.

Um, yeah.

Then I got to thinking about breaking this little news to Mark... so I did what any woman would do.  I waited, putting it off, thinking I'd wait until 'next weekend'.  I finally waxed my wings, soared by the sun and told him.

He took it okay...

so we went, again.

These seats weren't as good as the NYC ones, in fact we were in the upper part, but to the left of the stage, and THIS time, I didn't follow directions and took my camera.  WEll, I didn't take them, incase ONE of us got thrown out, Mark did... So here's some shots from my little pink camera.. that really aren't that bad at all, we could see her, I'm SURE she was waving at me a time or two....

Chris Botti played the trumpet

Pretty good huh?

Mark asked me if there was anything else I wanted to tell him about Barbra... about any other cities.  I told him no, but I could snag some if he'd be okay with it.

He said, I could be construed a stalker...

I said I didn't care.  We are what we are.

He said no...

I really HATE that word.

1ST SHOWER FOR SCARLETT!!

Couple of weeks ago, Scarlett had her first Bridal Shower!  This was given by her sister and one of her bridesmaids.  Now, they had a conundrum... where to host it.  Jessica and Heather both live out here in the country.  The rest of the girls live in Chicago, and most of them don't own cars. They discussed a restaurant, and finally came up with the perfect solution.

The hosted it at Scarlett's apartment.

It was just lovely.  Now I won't lie, I had SWOLLEN eyes from crying over my sweet Millie, and I'm sure some of her friends thought 'wow, Scarlett's mom needs a serious face lift' (they are right, but that's another story).

The girls made a TON of delicious snacks, and had a tea party theme, complete with fancy china! The party favors were a darling cookie made to look like a three tier wedding cake with a rose on top and a candle, made in a tea cup.

I didn't take many pictures, but here's a smattering... 

 Jessica jotting down the gifts.

And Scarlett got such nice gifts! Wonderful kitchen things, great entertaining things, and some sorely needed practical things.  She made a haul... and she didn't have to drag it all home to put it away. She was home! Great plan.

Her sister, grandma and I gave her the always wonderful Kitchen Aid Mixer.  In a fun retro green, actually pistachio.  I expect great things to come from the mixer Scarlett....

LONG TIME NO TALK....

So, as I mentioned when I posted about losing my sweet Millie, of which I am still having a hard time dealing with... there's a whole lot happening in my life.

Like I went to New York.. where we were greeted by this... so very true... really my thought exactly and not just in NYC.

We went to New York City to see Babs...as in Barbra Streisand.

(photo from New York Times)

Ah yeah.. she was returning to Brooklyn for her first concert there in 50 years, so we went.  We were in really good company, let me tell you.  The likes of Barbara Walters, Woody Allen, Sting and his wife, Katie Couric, Rosie O'Donnell, Regis, Calvin Klein and Babs' fave designer Donna Karan. And me.... and Mark of course!

Cheeky huh?

AND, we were in the 14th row, so I could see that for 70 she looks really good.  It was awesome. I know I'm weird.  I followed directions and didn't take my camera... duh me.  Had I taken it, I could have taken the above picture, I WAS THAT CLOSE.... But the lady next to me lied to me, and said she'd email me hers.  I'm still waiting....

In addition to Babs, we hit the world trade center memorial, where we were reminded the horror of that day.

All those names of all those innocent people who left home that day to never return.. possibly to have had NO PART of them return... they all kissed their loves and children goodbye that morning... ugh....it was well done. And amazingly people were quietly respectful, as they should have been.

After that, we felt the need for cheering up, so we headed to Times Square for lunch, at a deli, of course.  And to see the crazies.
   

Yep, he's got on whitey tighties.. THAT'S ALL.  I'll spare you the details of the OLD man, in a thong bikini that had boobs... it's an image I didn't need to see..

Anyway, after lunch we headed down to SoHo and ran into a store I sometimes have ordered knitting stuff from. So of course I had to go in.  Right?  Other than that, we wandered around, had delish foods and drinks and being us had to go to the water. 

The next morning after seeing Babs, we said good bye to NYC, 

and headed out to Rhode Island, a charming little town, Newport. Kind of like what you'd imagine an East Coast fishing village to be.  We hung out there, wandering around in the little shops, enjoying some lobster. 

The next day we headed over to Cape Cod, and somehow, Mark convinced me to get in a plane the size of the Miata with 8 other foolish people and fly over to Nantucket.

I have to say Nantucket was way charming... It's stone streets and expensive real estate.

After we safely flew back on the miniature plane, with a pilot that was about 12,

we headed out to our hotel, and out for dinner.  I sent my children a quick text to let them know they were not orphans, we had survived our flights.

We found a restaurant, ate outside, (it was kinda cool) and then enjoyed their live music in the bar.  Bet you can't guess what we had....

Lobster.  What else do you have in New England?

The following day, we were scheduled to fly out of Boston and decided to take a little detour to Plymouth Rock via a lighthouse.  Where it was super windy, and Mark needed his sunglasses to keep the sand out of his eyes...

Since my 10th great grandfather came into Plymouth on a little ship called the Mayflower, I thought it'd be cool.

This replica of the Mayflower showed us how SMALL the boat was.  Now I like to sail, not on this...all the way across the 'big pond'.  In steerage, no less.  

We treated the Indians poorly.. just saying.

 This houses 'the rock'

After that visit we headed to Boston, and learned we were delayed... great.  Drove around Boston, checked out Harvard, and Beacon Hill, and finally decided we would head to the airport.  

We arrived a mere 2 1/2 hours late, but did at least get home.  And home we came to all that that week 

held.  I know you are thinking it's just a dog, move on.. but I'm still sad.  Sorry.

Maybe, I need to take my cue from Liz Taylor, who said...

 Sounds like excellent advice.