Lots of celebrating!

This weekend was full of celebrations! I started off the weekend tipping my hat off (literally!) to one of my best friends -- Adrienne. It was her bridal shower, and what a shower it was! I don't have the pictures yet to post but imagine a Royal Wedding theme with big hats and fascinators, tea and scones and ladies lunching. We toasted our bride and watched her open presents that she will soon fill her new home with. It was such a beautiful afternoon spent with friends celebrating a beautiful woman! To give you an idea of what we looked like...

Then, later that afternoon we celebrated the return home of a dear friend who moved to Guatemala and came home for the summer.

Rick also got to break in his anniversary present -- a new grill. Our old grill was not holding up to all the demands we've been making of it lately. Rick did a great job as usual grilling up some good food for good friends.

And, then on Sunday Rick and I celebrated two years of marital bliss. (Well, okay, mostly bliss and sometimes chaos).  Thanks to Gena and her new fabulous celebrity life in LA, we received a free night at one of Chicago's posh hotels The Elysian. And, thanks to Adrienne and her sister, we were able to spend the whole afternoon and night out while Maizey played with Owen and had a sleepover with her favorite auntie.


We arrived at the hotel and Rick immediately checked out the bed. (He gave it a thumbs up!)

We then did lots of shopping on Michigan Ave. and pooped ourselves out. We came back and relaxed in our suite.

 Then, we got ready for dinner at Table 52 (Art Smith's restaurant -- he's Oprah's personal chef!) We got dressed up, and I even pulled out my wedding earrings to wear. I don't get to wear them often, but when I put them on, they remind me of the happiest day I can remember.

 We ate ourselves silly and talked about how quickly time has flown by. We recounted the events of the last two years and toasted to many more. Upon our return to the hotel, Rick continued the celebration by lighting up a cigar he'd received as a gift from a friend. We stepped out onto our very tiny balcony and enjoyed the lights of the city and cool breeze of the evening.

The hotel entrance: view from our balcony.

 I continued the celebrations by indulging in some room service. Brownie a la mode!

 And today, two years to the date that we said our vows, we woke up early (because we are Mathewses). We took our time waking up and turned on the morning news shows. Rick read his paper, and I enjoyed the company of Matt Lauer and Ann Curry.

We enjoyed some breakfast in bed, and then we were off to get started with our day.

It's hard to believe it's been two whole years. Life truly seems to be flying by, and I wish sometimes I could hit a pause button. Taking time to celebrate each other and reflect on our blessings is something we try hard to do often, though it can be a challenge in the craziness that our lives have become. And the craziness won't be winding down any time soon. We both couldn't help but think about how our lives are about to change, and how next year's anniversary will probably look quite different than the celebrations we were able to indulge in this year. Nevertheless, we can't wait to begin the adventure. (Okay, we can wait a tad longer... sleeping in was really nice!)

Happy anniversary, Rick!