Chicago area Diser's - check in here Part 4

[Crissup]

From the pictures I saw and the what I could tell it appeared to be them.) I've never actually SEEN one up close & personal though.

There's a few closeup photos I took yesterday in my backyard posted at the Think Tank (follow the link in my signature). Unfortunately, my autofocus didn't want to lock onto the Cicada, and instead kept focusing on the background. So, I couldn't get a really crisp closeup. But, I'm still happy with what I did get.

 

[macraven]

no cicadas where we are.

boy, am i disappointed.
i was looking forward to them.......

 

[slo]

TGIF EVERYONE!!!!


I didn't have a single sale yesterday But, I refuse to get frustrated, because I know things will pick up once people know that I'm there. I had a second coupon drop in the paper, so I hope to see those soon Luckily, I still have things to do around the store, so the time goes by fast. Plus I get a lot of visitors throughout the day - which is always nice!!!!


poohlover - I'm sorry to hear about your DH having to miss some or all of your vacation . Sending lots of PD for him to be able to go

Becky - I'm glad you had a pretty good day at the museum. I'm sorry about the traffic though - I HATE TRAFFIC!!!!

Crissup - I'll have to visit The ThinkTank and see that picture - thanks for letting us know

geffric - Welcome home!!! I"m glad you had a great time in Florida!!!

Tiggerrrrnnnnnnnnn - I'm glad you had a great day at the zoo I'm hoping we can get there sometime this summer - the girls love the zoo!!!!
**I had to chuckle about how you said that building smelled like the AKL. I have times that I smell something or especially hear Hawaiian music, and it makes me think of The Poly, and then I immediately want to return
**Have fun downtown today - you're going to have a great day for it!!
**Thanks for the PD

Bunchkin - Thanks, I hope I get 5 more customers too The bank by my plaza is having a 2nd Grand Opening Saturday with tons of activities for kids - I'm really hoping that brings people into the store. Even if these people don't spend any money, it would be great for them to see that I'm here and what's inside.
**Stephanie is the opposite of Lauren when it comes to privacy. She has no problem streaking around the house

Sam - How did Megan do at the zoo??

paint - Happy Birthday to your DD
**There's a great Mexican restaurant called Don Pablos (good drinks)
**There's a Joe's Crab Shack if you like seafood
**There's an Uno's for pizza
**There's a Longhorn Steakhouse for steak
**There's a great Japanese restaurant called House of Kobe
**Naturally you also have a TGI Friday, Bennigans, Outback, Hooters, Buffalo Wild Wings, and others.
**If you want to know where any of these are, please let me know.

HERSEY - I'm sure that news made Alex happy Now he can return to the zoo in peace.

Debbie & mac -



Well, I must go and water my flowers
Have a good day today everyone!!!

 

[SamIAm21]

How did Megan do at the zoo? According to the counselors, who I think are very diplomatic and sweet beyond belief, said she did pretty well UNTIL one landed on her shirt during lunch. Well, she had a melt down, tried to get away from the picnic table and ended up banging her knee to the point where it is swollen and bruised. It's going to hurt more today than it did yesterday, that's for sure! She wouldn't come outside at all last night and just stayed in and watched TV.

I am going to call the resort we are staying at in Branson and see if they are plagued with these too. If so, I am probably going to have to prepare her for that tonight. If they are not there, then hopefully, the cicadas will almost be gone by time we get home.

Actually, the odd part is that we JUST started hearing them in our neighborhood earlier this week, so we may be in for about another three weeks by our house.

So, I won't be around much next week as I'll be in Branson.

Slo: I know sales will pick up really soon. Maybe you could make up fliers and just sort of walk the neighborhood with Steph and Katie in a wagon and just put them in doors or introduce yourself to new neighbors, etc. People are always outside in their yards and driveways this time of year!

Bunchkin! Sorry I didn't get back to you about the movie, but Megan wouldn't have been good company last night anyway. Spent most of the evening just decompressing from the day. Thanks for the offer though and I hope Ratatouille was AWESOME!

 

[macraven]

good morning chicagoland homies...

i haven't been up to posting much but i do read the thread everyday and see how everyone is doing. some of you make me giggle with what you say..and i need that.

doing errands today and hope to be in the mood to clean the place up here.
each day kind of rolls into the other. i think that is what happens when i don't work or get out of the house during the day.

i saw sandy's post about it being friday. i kept thinking tomorrow was friday.
maybe that is why my daily pill containor had an extra set of pills in it...

catch you all later.
sandy, i do hope you get lots of sales this weekend. maybe you will get crowds for the 4th of july sales when they start up.

hope you all have a great weekend.

 

[Bunchkin]

Ok, so I tried to post last night and my computer crashed!!


Right now it's hard to type. I have a band aid on my left pointer finger from a SERIOUS paper cut!! I got attacked by a library book this morning.



Went to see Ratatouille last night!!!
All I will say about it is...........................GO SEE IT!!
We will be going to see it again when the movie comes out on the 29th!!
We took the kid's neighbor friends and my mom and we all had a GREAT time!!



sam It's ok you weren't able to go to the movie. We had a few extra tickets and made use of them!! I figured you weren't going to be able to make it.
Sorry to hear about what happened with Megan.
We just have had a few cicadas make their way to our house but I think they are just stragglers. They will be all gone soon.


slo You've only been open for one week so give it time!!!!
The bank having something going on might bring in customers!! Do you have something, like one of those pop open signs with the business name on it that you can put in front of your store with balloons on it to draw attention to the store during the bank's event?


pooklover I hope your DH will be able to join you on vacation!!!


John That picture was gross!!!!





Lots to do today so I better get movin'!!!

 

[slo]

Hi again!!!


So far, it's been slow again today, but it's only 11:20am. I'm so glad that I have my new friend in the plaza with me so we can talk off and on during the day. She's also my insurance agent, and I've learned so much about insurance since I met her - it's very interesting!!!!


Sam - So many hugs for Megan I hope her knee isn't to bad today. Katie would be the same way, she freaks out over a ladybug

Bunchkin - I'm glad you liked the movie. I was a a little indifferent about seeing it at the show, but now that you gave the review, I will have to take the girls when it comes out
**The sign with balloons is a great idea, but I don't know if the town would allow that (I'll have to look into it). They are so weird about ordinances and things like that - it's ridiculous!!! My friend wanted to put a blow-up balloon with her logo on it, and the town told her that they would fine her $2500 if she would do that. Needless to say, she didn't put it out

mac - Thanks!! I hope I get some 4th of July business too. In fact, I just ordered a print of Mickey Mouse saluting, while standing front of an American flag. I'm framing it and putting on an easel so people can see it when they first walk in the door or walk by (I don't have many people walking by yet since me and my friend are the only ones in the mall)



Well, I better get my buns in gear and do something around here.
I'm making a bunch of mats with Disney characters, Dora, SpongeBob, and misc designs for people to use in either my picture frames or frames they already have at home. I want to get them done for tomorrow in case I have people come in here from the bank event.


Later gaters!!!!

 

[DonnaW]

Hello, Chicagoland! We are back from my special birthday trip to Mackinac Island. It was an incredible trip to an absolutely amazing place, and I feel so very blessed that we had the chance to go there! I started a trip report on the boards, if anyone is interested in checking it out, and hope to also post some pix soon.

I will catch up with everyone soon...have a great day, all!

 

[HERSEY]

Hello, Chicagoland! We are back from my special birthday trip to Mackinac Island. It was an incredible trip to an absolutely amazing place, and I feel so very blessed that we had the chance to go there! I started a trip report on the boards, if anyone is interested in checking it out, and hope to also post some pix soon.

I will catch up with everyone soon...have a great day, all!

Happy late Birthday Donna! I'm glad you went and had a great time.

 

[geffric]

Welcome home Donna.. glad you had a great time for your birthday. I will go and check out your thread on the trip.. Right now i have nothing to eat for dinner and Geoff has to be at an Ct of Honor rehearsal at 6:30.. hmmm what to do???

Been swamped at work.. be back later

 

[slo]

I had no sales again today
Not even a single phone call
But, I'm still trying not to get frustrated.
The one thing that I am disqusted with is how much money I have put into advertising, and I'm not getting anyone to acknowledge it. I guess I was hoping that people would see my ads and call to inquire about the place. Oh well, I just gotta keep the faith, and tell myself that I know things will pick up soon.


Donna - Welcome home!!!!! I'm so glad you had a nice birthday trip
I can hardly wait to hear all about it

HERSEY & geffric -


Well, this is my last 45 minutes here, and then I"m going to rush home, woof down dinner, and then Kevin and I are going to take the girls shopping at Kohl's. Poor Stephanie has basically no shorts to wear I need to go buy her some before the winter clothes start coming out


I may not post first thing in the morning because I may sleep in a little before coming to work. So....I will see you all sometime tomorrow

 

[HERSEY]

Sandy Don't get discouraged. I am sure you will build up a cliental soon. Have a good evening and relax.

 

[Debbie6221]

Hi
Here's my TR with pix. Hope you don't mind all the space I will be taking up. I am off to Wisconsin for the weekend but will see you guys back on Monday.

My 40th Birthday at WDW​

My trip began with a drive to WDW from Naples Florida. It took about 3 hours but was fine. The love bugs were pretty gross but heck we have cicadas! The kids were great and I was just so excited to be going to Disney that the time flew by!

We arrived at AKL, which was my first stay at this resort, and the place is just so… cool.

With all the rumors of construction we did have some concerns and unfortunately we had to ask for new rooms after we looked out and saw we had a view of it.

They said it was because we wanted rooms together and after we told them that our rooms didn’t have to be right next to each other they switched us to a couple of great rooms!

The kids loved the animals!!!!

Infamous people pens were outside our balcony…

It is so neat to have animals from the Savannah right off your balcony!
Of course the kids went bonkers over this.

After settling in a bit we hit the pool for the afternoon. It was a ton of fun! I made sure to treat my Mom and I to a delicious pina colada!

Unfortunately there was an unexpected immediate pool closure. Bummer! Try explaining this one to the kids!

We were pooped (no pun intended!) out after our AKL day of fun and pretty much ate, walked around and hit the hay in the evening.

 

[Debbie6221]

Now onto my MK 40th birthday marathon 12 hour day!
We began the day heading out on the WDW bus and it was a quick, uneventful pleasant trip. The bus was there when we got there and then went straight to the MK!

My Mom surprised me with ADR at CP. Breakfast was yummy and a ton of fun.

We made our way towards Adventureland so we could begin our day with a little POTC followed by HM. It was very exciting being there the day before they were closing HM for major refurbishments and knowing we would be back in the fall to see all the changes.

Of course we had to stop for a Dole Whip break. YUMMY!

I do have to say though I miss the Orange Tropicana treat but they have gone from real orange juice to something else and I swear it’s different.


Afterwards DD got to ride Aladdin’s Magic Carpet and then met Jasmine, Aladdin and Genie1 What a great group!!!! Aladdin was a hoot! Thank goodness I had my camcorder ready. Very fun! I am going to post a thank you to them and see if he’s actually out there because I just loved him!

Next we positioned ourselves for the parade. It was AWESOME! No pix ..just videos.

Our ADRs for my Birthday dinner were at CRT and I had the best time! Dinner was delicious!!!!!! They ordered a cake for me……it was so wonderful!

Afterwards we went on a couple more rides and then headed over to Toontown…
The line for Mickey was really long. My DH was losing patience and the kids were starting to get tired but we HAD to see Mickey!!!

After Mickey we decided to take my favorite train back to the gate and go home. Well boy did I luck out! As soon as we got to the station Spectromagic was starting and a wonderful women let my DD go right in front of here for prime positioning for the parade! What a great end to a perfect day!

The next day we enjoyed the resort a bit more and then went to DDD before heading back to Disney.

I thought this stand sign was perfect….

And I can go on and on even though the trip was so short. And that being said it was TOO SHORT. When I think of all the things we didn’t get to. Wow! I just had to keep reminding myself that we would be back in November and also that this is why I don’t do the short WDW trip split thing. When you are obsessed there is just TOO much to do in too little time!

I’m sure I will be back with more boring details. Sorry it’s so long. Thanks for humoring me!

 

[Debbie6221]

Oh…here’s a couple more with me actually in them!

 

[macraven]

debbie, that was super.
i loved the pics!

i think everyone should celebrate their bd in the motherland.....




donna welcome back
good to hear you had a great time

 

[Crissup]

Sounds like a great trip, even as short as it was!! Cool that you got one last trip through the "old" HM.

 

[macraven]

good morning chicagoland homies !!



debbie, i went back and looked at your trip pics again this morning.

that is so kewl in one of the pics, the three of you all wore pink tops.
very nice pic of you, mom and daughter. lots of happy smiles

 

[slo]

I slept in a little longer than normal for me, and it felt good. We were out late last night (until 10:30pm) buying Stephanie new summer clothes. I'm glad we went, because Kohls was having a pretty good sale She got alot of new stuff!!!!


Today the bank, by my plaza, is having a 2nd Grand Opening celebration to help spark some new business. The PD and FD are both there, and they also have a jumpy house, clown, and food. Kevin is there representing the FD, so the girls are happy because they can be over there and have fun


I'm hoping that this event will help generate some awareness of my store. I haven't had anyone come in yet, but the days not over yet - hopefully someone will come in today


HERSEY - Thanks for the hugs!!!

Debbie - Great pictures!!!! I really enjoyed looking at them. You are your DD look alot alike!!!

Crissup and mac -


Well, I gotta run - have a good day today!!!

 

[DonnaW]

Hello to all! Thanks for the welcome homes! I am putting up my Mac Island trip report in phases...I've finished a few days, and Mark will be helping me to add some pix later. We honestly couldn't have had a better trip...the whole experience was beyond amazing...

DEBBIE..Your pictures are great-your children are adorable! Thanks for sharing! The CP is one of my all time fav places at Disney...could be because that Eeyore guy is my fav Disney character of all time!

SANDY...I am sure your business will be picking up very soon. I would think that today's event will certainly help! Hang in there!


BUNCHKIN..hope your paper cut heals quickly...I know how painful they can be..ouch!

EVERYBODY...Have a super weekend...it's HOT out there! Stay cool!