So I know I haven’t followed up on my boudoir post and I PROMISE I will – as I know some of you have asked and I certainly want to deliver all of the deets.

Tonight I’m blogging from Chicago – it’s my fourth night here and my visit (a long girl’s weekend) has far surpassed my expectations. In the span of 96 hours I’ve stayed up too late and drank too much, shopped and gabbed, danced the night away and wandered the city streets awash with memories…my entire 20’s, spent in this great town.

There really is something to be said for those times spent away from your children. I am a mom, and I love my family, but I’m so many other things as well, and I’m a firm believer that having “you” time only enriches your life as a mother and certainly improves the lives of the little ones you are providing for.

I was a self-absorbed, naive 22 year old when I moved here and I’d give anything to sit down with that girl and tell her how things were really going to turn out. But that’s what life is all about – making mistakes, asking for forgiveness, the building up and the tearing down.

But man, HAVE I LIVED. That to me is something you can’t put a price on. It is irreplaceable, immensely precious and worth every single second.

I will always and forever have a place to come back to here in the Windy City. And those friendships, the ones that stand the test of time – fill my heart with riches that are beyond compare.

Love you, Chicago. See ya next time.