Having Fun Sans Baby

Brendan and I are in Milwaukee right now.  We left early Friday morning, had a nice leisurely train ride, read books, and got in about 2:30.  We hung out with Brendan's mom for awhile, then met his dad at a restaurant down on the river for a fish fry.  Ahh, fish fry.  I find them so funny--I'd never heard of them until I moved here, then they became so normal to me, and now that I'm away from Wisconsin they are an oddity again.  I opted for an enormous greasy burger instead, and it was good.  We were in bed by 8pm, for real!  I got the best night's sleep in so long, it was so nice not to have to worry about hearing a call for "Mama?  Water bottle, Mama?" 

Yesterday was amazing, we got coffee and Brendan's dad brought us cinnamon rolls (which is why I gained so much weight when we lived here--he does that all the time!!!) Then I went to meet some friends for brunch.  I had the whole top section of my suitcase filled with little girl clothes and some homemade goodies for my friend Katie who is about to pop!  We had bloody maries and fresh donuts (see, seriously, fat Amber!) and sat and talked for a couple hours.  I miss my Milwaukee friends, it was so nice to hang out with them again.  Then my friend and I went thrifting and to this crazy store that is stuck in time.

Dretzka's is seriously a blast from the past, I went there for the first time last year and I fell in love.  It's a cavernous store that has anything and everything from the 1950s on.  With old tags, old prices, and lots of dust and mold.  It is so strange, but I found some great things there--little girl's gloves, knee socks, and a huge stash of old cards from the 50s and 60s.  Last time I went I got invitations to Ingrid's birthday party, so I did that again this year.  And I had to get some baby announcements for if we have #2...I had to!!  They were so cute, and there were SO MANY of them.  You know the little tiny ones they used to give out, with a picture of a baby on the front and some little poem on the inside and you write down the date, time and weight?  The ones I got have a baby on a rocking horse, they were adorable.  Now Brendan just has to get a job so we can start working on baby #2 ;)

After Dretzka's I came home to take a great nap, again, not having to worry about anyone interrupting me!  Then we had dinner with the folks, and drinks with some friends.  Along with a lot of sweets, there's a lot of drinking beer here.  It's not just a stereotype!

Today I'm off to get coffee with some other friends, then Brendan and I are going to search for a wee sized baseball hat for Ingrid--baseball season is coming up and she needs a Brewers hat to show her Milwaukee pride! 

We have had such a good time, it's been so relaxing and fun, and I know that Ingrid is in good hands with my mom.  Thank god for grammas, thank god for friends, and thank god we're only going to be away for two days, I miss my little girl immensely!