An Epic Girl's Trip With Some Joey on the Side...Updated 4/29-COMPLETE

[Jenny Sanders]

Congrats to your son!!!

Thank you!!!!

 

[suse66]

So excited for Tim that he is going back to DCP!

 

[Steppesister]

That is so fantastic!! Really happy for him!

 

[KathyM2]

Wow congrats to your son!! That will be so much fun!! Especially because he has already learned the ropes!!

 

[buzzrelly]

So, Timmy applied. And guess what??? He got accepted today!!!! We haven't had time to look through all the information yet, but I wanted to let you all know. We're soooooooooo excited for him. AGAIN!

That is so exciting! Congratulations!!

 

[Jenny Sanders]

That is so exciting! Congratulations!!

Thank you!

 

[Jenny Sanders]

REAL LIFE UPDATE:

Friday was Joe's birthday, so the 2 of us went away for the weekend. We stayed at The Drake in Oakbrook, Il. We did a lot of eating, drinking, and shopping. We started Friday night with dinner at McCormick and Schmicks. It's a Landry's restaurant. The food was just ok and the service was HORRIBLE, so not a good way to start the weekend. For appetizers, Joe had the crab cake and I had a shrimp cocktail. For drinks, I had a Prosecco Sangria with cucumbers and strawberries and Joe had a Nutty Irish Old fashion. We did enjoy our drinks. Unfortunately, they were the best part of the meal.




For our main courses, Joe had the filet and I had the twin lobster tails. These were the smallest tails I have ever seen and between the 2, I only got 8 bites. Sad! Needless to say, we won't be returning...

After dinner, we went back to the hotel and ordered dessert through room service. I had a piece of carrot cake and Joe had the creme brulee. Both were excellent, but I was an epic failure at getting a few pics...

 

[Jenny Sanders]

Joe's Birthday Weekend Continued:

Saturday, we slept in and had breakfast at this cute little place called La Briola. Joe had a quinoa fruit salad with a scone and coffee. I had a yogurt parfait with fruit and granola with a cafe mocha. Notice the adorable heart in the mocha's foam. I'm thinking about you @Cloe Colton The food here was AWESOME!!!

 

[Jenny Sanders]

More Birthday Fun:

After breakfast, Joe and I did some shopping. Yep, we decided it was about time we bought a new mattress (being delivered in 2 weeks). Our current mattress is over 10 years old and very uncomfortable. We also bought new, family room furniture. Yay! It's being made (courtesy of Macy's) and unfortunately won't be available for 8-10 weeks. BOO! I will post pictures when it's delivered for anyone who's interested.

After we spent a good chunk of change on new furniture, it was time for afternoon tea...Now, let me say...I've had afternoon tea at The Grand Floridian 3 times now and I thought it was very good every time. But, tea at The Drake blew the Garden View Tea Room away...That being said, if you haven't done tea at the Grand Floridian, I HIGHLY recommend it. But, now that I have something to compare it to, The Drake was much better. It's just my opinion.

The tea came out first. Joe had a coconut tea and I had an apple crisp tea. Both were phenomenal. Then, the food came...tea sandwiches, roasted veggies, scones, brownies, pound cake, eclairs, mini cakes and macaroons. Everything was delicious. Both of us really enjoyed it and it was a great way to spend a cold, rainy afternoon.





After tea, our waiter brought Joe out a piece of carrot cake because it was his birthday. This was the same cake I ordered from room service the night before, so I guess I wasn't a complete photo failure...

 

[Jenny Sanders]

Birthday Wrap Up:

After tea, we did some more shopping (we bought some stuff in Lush and Bath and Body Works) and then hit the hotel bar. Joe had a few glasses of Jameson Black Barrel and I had a dirty martini. And, because we are old and lame, we spent the rest of the night watching Jurassic World in our hotel bed and ordered room service for dinner (again, no pics). But, it was so nice to have nothing to do on a Saturday night and to spend it in bed with a semi-good movie...



And, since all good things must come to an end...After sleeping in, we checked out of The Drake and had an early lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Then, it was time to drive home, face reality and do a couple loads of laundry...

 

[buzzrelly]

Looks like a fun weekend! Happy Birthday, Joe!

 

[Jenny Sanders]

Looks like a fun weekend! Happy Birthday, Joe!

Thanks, Kelly! It made me realize that I am looking even more forward to our time in Florida!!!!

 

[KathyM2]

Happy birthday to Joe!! Sounds like a perfect weekend to me!! A little lounging and shopping and lots of eating lol. I LOVE afternoon tea...pretty much anywhere. Something about little bite size treats is just so decadent...and that you get to eat a little of so many different things. Also, not at all lame about hanging out in the hotel and watching a movie. That's a perfect Saturday night in my books!

 

[Steppesister]

Great birthday weekend fun. Some excellent looking meals.

I agree Tea at the GF is wonderful, but I've certainly had much better!

 

[suse66]

Sounds like a perfect birthday weekend! So nice to have time to enjoy together! Can’t wait to see pics of your new furniture......I am trying to pick a sectional for our almost finished family room in the basement and there are too many choices!!

 

[Cloe Colton]

Sounds like a perfect birthday weekend!! Love the coffee!

I think there's something so underrated about just laying in a hotel bed and watching TV! I would have totally done the same thing haha

 

[Jenny Sanders]

Happy birthday to Joe!! Sounds like a perfect weekend to me!! A little lounging and shopping and lots of eating lol. I LOVE afternoon tea...pretty much anywhere. Something about little bite size treats is just so decadent...and that you get to eat a little of so many different things. Also, not at all lame about hanging out in the hotel and watching a movie. That's a perfect Saturday night in my books!

It was actually a very nice, relaxing weekend! Now that I've gotten a taste of some much needed time away, May can't come soon enough!

Great birthday weekend fun. Some excellent looking meals.

I agree Tea at the GF is wonderful, but I've certainly had much better!

I had nothing to compare it to before, but now that I do, I have to say that there are better out there...

Sounds like a perfect birthday weekend! So nice to have time to enjoy together! Can’t wait to see pics of your new furniture......I am trying to pick a sectional for our almost finished family room in the basement and there are too many choices!!

It's retro looking in my opinion. The couch is going to be orange with specks of yellow in it and the oversized chair and ottoman will be yellow. Our kitchen and family room are an open concept and are painted yellow with the accent wall on the fireplace a burnt orange, so I think it will look awesome!!! Plus, the throw pillows I have are floral with the colors, orange, yellow, turquoise and red...

Sounds like a perfect birthday weekend!! Love the coffee!

I think there's something so underrated about just laying in a hotel bed and watching TV! I would have totally done the same thing haha

I totally thought of you when our waiter brought my coffee out to me. Laying in a hotel bed with room service was so much more relaxing than I had imagined...

 

[Jenny Sanders]

So excited for Tim that he is going back to DCP!

We are all so excited!!! His old bosses even reached out to him and told them they are trying to get him back in MK with his old role, so VERY exciting!

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like a really fun weekend!!

 

[Jenny Sanders]

Sounds like a really fun weekend!!

It was very relaxing! I'm so glad we did it!