Samuel Craig's Life Blog

After so many showers, I feel squeaky clean :)

This was a week 'O showers. Moon and I came into the Chicago area for an extended weekend. There were 2 showers scheduled for Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was a the Craig family shower in Joliet and Sunday was the Northbrook shower at Julie Stiles house. Needless to say (though I will anyway) we had a wonderful time and were in absolute awe over the spender of the parties and the generosity of the guests.

This posting is a little late, because I've been waiting on pictures (of course I forgot my camera). Mom and Mindy came through and I stole theirs yesterday.

So here it goes....

We headed up to Northbrook on Friday. We thought that it would space out the trip a little and be easier on Moon. She's gotten to the point where travel is getting a little difficult. As well every trip to Chicago, there are food needs to be considered. Moon has a craving for Chicago-style hot dogs. This is a craving that I love. We, thus, had to hit Irvings Red Hots on the way.

After about 100 stops along the way, we finally made it to Northbrook around dinner time. This was perfect because Mom had cooked a wonderful meal. We hung out there for the rest of the evening.

The next day, it was time to satisfy craving #2. We drove to Schamburg (at least in the area) to a big Japanese/general asian grocery there. Calling this place a grocery doesn't really do it justice. It is quite large with a grocery, bakery, food court, and a bunch of other satellite businesses. Moon has so many cravings that can be satisfied in this place that it was hard to know where to start. It began with rolls (vegetarian--she would love sushi, but that will have to wait), then a noodle dish that I think is Japanese in origin, then another Japanese-ish dish that was unremarkable, then a bubble tea, then a visit to the bakery for a variety breads with interesting (read, icky) fillings, then shopping for food at the grocery.

It was then time to pick up Dad and head to Joliet. We hit Richards place where Scott and his prep cooks (Matt and Rich) were cooking a great dinner. This was for the "boys party." I was to stay with them until it was time to open gifts, then I was to head over to Bud and Bev's new place. The food was great as was the company, but I wasn't able to stay for long, and, unfortunately, I had to miss the quail entree.

I joined the ladies at Bev's, where it was obvious that they were ready to party. I felt like I had arrived just as the stripper had fled out the back door. These were sneaky ladies and something was in the air.




From the begining, I felt a little out of place. The only guy at a wedding shower is a scary place to be. Especially with the uniform they made me wear for the rest of the night. Luckily, there were no dirty diapers while I was there. Though, Mindy had a few drinks and changing her couldn't have been too far off!

I was further tramatized by a strange ritual that involved the comparison of bellies. This wouldn't be too bad, but I think that I beat out my wife. I guess we are both 30 weeks!

The rest of the gifts were a little less tramatic for me. We attacked a pile of wrapped boxes with the help of some of the younger ladies (thanks Anika). Moon and I were humbled by the generousity of everyone. Everyone was too kind and we appreciate it.


After thanking the lovely hostess and crew, it was time to head back to Northbrook to enjoy a deep sleep. Sunday was going to be another long day and we needed to recharge.

We slept in on Sunday and enjoyed a nice breakfast with the family. We headed over to Julie Stile's house a little after 1:00pm.

Yet again, we were floored by the number of people who showed up. Who are we to draw a crowd like this? It must be due to the work of the lovely organizers, including Julie Stiles, Ginny Frogge, and Bonnie McLeod (hope I didn't leave anyone out).

Just look at this spread.

What is it about baby showers that brings out the cutest cakes. From the Carriage-themed cake at the Craig party to the Duckie cake in Northbrook, these were the cutest things.



This party included more guys than the last one, though you could tell that each and every one of them felt out of their element. I have to thank those brave men. To venture into a baby shower takes courage. Of course, this courage can be supplemented with beer...plenty of beer. I just wish they hadn't run out of mugs. It's tough to get a buzz from a baby bottle. Though it does make for some good pictures. All of you who imbibed, might like to see how those turned out :)

The room started spinning after the first bottle, so I decided to give it a rest. I don't know if it was the beer or the fact that I wasn't breathing during the whole bottle-sucking exercise.

This was followed by the opening of the gifts. Again, everyone was generous beyond words. When you experience something like this that sense of community, which is missing in Indianapolis, really hits you and you begin to appreciate "home".

The Northbrook party was another great success and we thank everyone who organized and attended the shower. Thanks.

Sunday night was a time to rest (and pass out in Mom's chair).

We got up on Monday, had breakfast with those who could stick around and then got out of Dodge. The car was packed to the gills (even leaving a lot of stuff at Mom and Dad's house). Before leaving town, though, we had to take care of craving #3 (you thought we were done?)

Last summer, for Moon's birthday, we went to a Korean restaurant in Chicago that Moon really liked. We had trouble finding it that day, but we were both sure that it wouldn't be a problem this time around. Well, needless to say, we got lost. We spent about an hour and a half looking for the elusive Korean restaurant. Now, I have to say that it is on Lincoln along with a 1000 other Korean restaurants (can you say needle in a haystack?). Even my patience has a limit. I cursed the unknown name of the restaurant and proclaimed that we would never try to find this place again. We settled for a mediocre hole in the wall Korean place and left town.

.....to be continued in Week 31