Hi guys!

Hope you’re all having a good weekend – or had one by the time you read this. I had the awesome opportunity to plan a surprise “fun night” for my hunny and I, so I didn’t do my usual Saturday journal post. Actually, I didn’t do it last week either because my stress level has been through the roof lately. It’s been really bad for the last number of months, but I’m finally starting to crack. And in real life…. for those of us who aren’t independently wealthy…. you don’t get to take the appropriate amount of time needed to decompress, re-evaluate your life and start to feel better. So we keep trudging along, hoping that it will all feel better soon.

Last weekend, I booked myself a spa overnight in an effort to combat the stress. It was nice. It would have been better if I hadn’t messed up my neck doing this dance routine:

I don’t know how Beyonce does it!! She must have a REALLY strong neck. Thankfully, I also have a friend who’s a massage therapist and after 4 days of being in extreme pain, I asked her fix me. And she did – oh my gosh, massage therapists are gods. Seriously.

Going back to my spa overnight, I stayed at The Wit hotel in Chicago – I LOVE that place! Not only are they a hotel and a spa, but they have one of the top rated rooftop bars in the country! I actually celebrated my birthday there a handful of years ago:

But anyways, getting back to the spa overnight, I didn’t bring my camera with me since I was truly trying to decompress and not do ANYTHING other than relax, but here’s a photo of the super cool bathroom which I took from their website:

I brought myself a big bag of plain epsom salts and soaked in the tub both days. It was AWESOME I finished up Sharon Osbourne’s book, Survivor, while I was there actually.

I did manage to snap one photo on my phone of the view I had at night:

The Chicago Theater sign never gets old to me

Before I arrived, like on any trip I take, I called the hotel to see if they by chance use cotton bedding. The gentleman I spoke with went to check himself and called me back. He said yes, it’s 100% cotton! GREAT! Now, I didn’t have to lug my bedding all the way down to the city.

So, I get to my spa room (after walking down the hallway which has the sounds of birds and babbling brooks piped into it and crickets at night – so cool) and the first thing I do (aside from saying HELL YEAH to myself) is check the bedding. Womp, womp. It was a cotton/polyester blend. UGHHHHHHHHH.

I call the desk and they said they don’t have 100% cotton bedding anywhere in the building. Well, luckily I had the voice mail saved on my phone in which their employee said it was 100% cotton. I told them I hoped we could figure it out, because otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to stay. I also had a massage booked the next day, so I was thinking they wouldn’t want to lose a hotel customer AND a spa customer. Well, I tell you what…. They stepped up to the plate and went to the store, bought me 100% cotton bedding and put them on the bed!! Now, THAT is what I call amazing customer service. When you go away to a hotel like that, it’s nice to feel taken care of and, my, did they do that. They even gave me a late check out since my massage was in the afternoon. LOVE IT!

Since I’ve been so stressed for so long, I decided I wanted to do something nice for my hunny. He has to deal with all my problems too, unfortunately. That’s what happens when you live with someone! But he’s awesome and hangs in there with me. And he deserves to know how much I love him.

So, last night I made one of his favorite dinners, from The Gracious Pantry:

By the way, that recipe involves a slow cooker and is soooooo easy.

I had the place all party-decorated when he came home and dinner was ready to go. I also had a nice, big present waiting for him – a new fancy chair for his recording studio. He was in DESPERATE need of a new one, lol. He’s actually down there right now teaching this really cool 13 year old boy music lessons. He’s SUCH a gifted kid.

But anyways! So, after dinner I read him a list that I’d been working on – “30 reasons why I love you”. It was hard to get through it without crying!! <3

After that, I told him we were going on a walk. He looked at me and said, “You’re going to go on a walk in heels?”

“Uhhh, yup!”

As we walked outside I told him it was going to be a short walk and indeed it was – it was a short walk to a limo I booked to take us downtown to see Blue Man Group!

It’s a GREAT show. They involve music, comedy, and the audience. It’s a good time all around. He liked his “appreciation night” I’m a lucky girl to have him.

Now for my skin update…. I do have some persistent spots that I can’t seem to get rid of…. We all know stress makes your skin worse.

back of my left knee – I suspect the elastic on my underwear. I still have yet to be completely elastic-free

behind my right knee

middle finger, right hand

underneath left elbow

above my right armpit

index finer, left hand

So, the moral of the story? No matter how stressed you are, don’t forget to take moments out for yourself and the people who are important to you. When you look back, you’ll be glad to have those memories instead of only having memories of being incredibly stressed and unhappy.

*Cheers to looking forward and staying positive!