Long week

This week I:

• Got the flu:(
• Designed 4 blogs.
• Colored all these pictures with The Little Man.

I. Am. Tired.

Party for The Big Game

Do I always watch the playoff games? Yeah, even though the Bears are sad. Sad. SAD...I still watch the game when I don't have a dog in the fight.

When I was asked by Collective Bias "Would I like to go to the Walgreen's Flagship store on State and Randolph to purchase alcohol for a football playoff viewing party?" Ummm...Yes!!!

Truth be told, I was waiting for an excuse to actually go downtown and shop the store after the fabulous grand opening party. So, I called my pal Sissy, 'cause I knew she'd want to check it out as well...and The Little Man will take any excuse to ride on a city bus...so off we went.

You just can't beat the location of this store...so wonderfully urban. (Can you tell I love Chicago?)

Now, between you and I, I am CLUELESS when it comes to mixed drinks...

...and while they have TONS of wine at Walgreen's (with some affordable, and some CRAZY prices) I wanted to make some fun mixed drinks. SO...I checked out my new best friend, The Virtual Bartender. He shot out some yummy mixes, that seemed easy, even for a rookie like me.

All I needed was:

• 1/4 cup fresh blueberries
• 1 small lime wedge
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar
• 1 1/2 ounces of gin
• ice
• 2 ounces club soda

It is truly sad how lost I was in the alcohol section. Luckily for me, there was a really nice lady who knew where everything was, and we were in and out of there like that.

 Here was my loot...(Yes, I had to buy the mixer, and thank goodness they had one, 'cause I had no idea where I'd go if they didn't)

Here's the lowdown. All I had to do was mash up in a bowl, (15 blueberries, the sugar, and the lime wedge) the actual word was "muddle" but since I wasn't sure what that was...I just mashed it up;)

Then, I added that to the gin, ice, and club soda in my nifty new mixer and did my best Tom Cruise on it...then poured it into a highball glass half filled with ice. (Yes, I had a highball glass...I just didn't know it was a highball glass) Then I added a few fresh blueberries and topped it off with more club soda...and...

walla! SO yummy!

I made one for all the grown ups...and then I made non alcoholic versions for the kiddos, yum yum.

Truth be told, I could have just thrown blueberries in a glass and The Little Man would have been thrilled, but a bit of sugar and club soda made it even more fun;)

It actually was a good game...NY won, and I'm rooting for them in the Super Bowl:)

Feel free to check out my Google+ post if you want to check out more pics...

*This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias all opinions are mine.

Learning

I think I'm coming out of it...at least I hope I am.

It seems whenever life gets tough, I have to take a step back and remind myself, with every hurdle, with every bump in life's long road...if you're lucky...you learn something along the way.

The last week and a half has been REALLY bumpy. I swear to you, last night...I sat down...took a breath...and felt like I had fought a war. I. Am. So. Tired. Then I thought to myself...This has been hard, what have I learned?

• You never can be too paranoid.
• No matter how sure you are that you can't shove a square peg in a round hole...sometimes it's a really good idea to take a step back. You'd be surprised how things look from a different perspective.
• Every once in a while...you gotta pick up your fork and knife and eat crow:/
• Communication is the best way to stay on track...Communication.
• When you feel you have totally lost control of a situation...you just gotta let go and hope for the best. 
• No matter what is happening...when your baby is sick...that trumps all the noise that's going on in your life.

Everyone got sick this week...and thankfully...everyone got better. It's been a long week...I hope I've learned my lessons...and I'm looking forward to a delicious nap.