Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Spring Break


Celeste and I just got finished with Spring Break...and what a break it was! It was so nice to take a load off, relax and go out on the town for a change. With Celeste due in less than 2 months, we fully appreciate these last opportunities to play.

Mom and Dad drove up here from TX and we had a leisurely Wednesday afternoon in Champaign. We ate at Crackerbarrel, saw Ghost Rider, and toured the campus. It was really nice to have someone else from the family actually visit the campus. We spend so much time there. It is our stomping ground, and it somehow feels that when your family sees where you work, they somehow understand more about what your daily experiences are like. That's why I wish I could have visited Austin and Sarah in Seattle. It's supposed to be beautiful country, it's the home of REI, and it would have been great to see where their lives unfolded for the last couple of years.



Well, on with Spring Break. We spent Thursday in Chicago at Navy Pier. That was a really fun destination. We ate this really good BBQ for lunch, and then just strolled around the pier. I love the whole imagery/lifestyle of living on the water in a city. It just has this desirable quality for me. It was the same in Venice as it was on the pier, and later in the week in New Jersey. There's just something remarkable about living right on the water, and all around you there are big buildings, high rises, and tiny, crowded streets. Celeste and I saw a marionette Macbeth production at the Shakespeare Theatre. It was really fun. You would think that real, flesh-and-blood actors would do the play better, but puppetry is such a unique medium for storytelling, that it truly was an enjoyably experience. And besides, when else can you get through Macbeth in only 90 minutes! :) It was great because the puppeteers were Italians, so the theater cast great American actors to do the voices. What a great gig that would be. Trained in acting and the arts, and you get to just sit and read for 90 minutes. Sign me up!

Friday, Saturday and Sunday we spent in New York City (and New Jersey). We stayed at this great hotel right on the Jersey side of the Hudson. It was great. A ferry took us from the hotel dock to the NY Waterway terminal where complimentary shuttles dropped you off in different parts of Manhattan. "Our destination?" you ask. "The Theater District, of course!" Friday night, Celeste, Dad and I saw Spelling Bee. Celeste even tried to be one of the audience members that get to go on stage, but she wasn't selected. The show was really funny. Saturday afternoon Mom, Celeste, Ryan, and I ate lunch at the Met and spent some time there checking out the art. It was a really relaxing afternoon, and then that night we saw Hairspray. We were really nervous because we wanted to get the raffle tickets. They're only $25 a ticket and you sit on the front row!! That's a great deal. I'd much rather have "limited view" front row tickets than crappy balcony tickets. Well Dad and I both got our names drawn so we got our tickets and had a marvelous time. It was so fun to see Dad and Mom and the musical. They absolutely loved it!

Anyway, that about wraps up our Spring Break. It was so great to see Mom and Dad again. It was wonderful to have the resources and the time off to actually see some plays/musicals again. It was just an entertaining and enjoyable week that really hit the spot after a bitterly cold winter in Illinois!

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Spring Fever!



Well it is 45 Degrees here, the sun the shinning, and we are walking around without a coat! Nothing feels better than the sun warming your back as you eat your lunch outside, smelling the muddy, brown, dead grass, without the ugly black snow. We are in heaven, and have caught the spring fever!!!! And here are a few reasons why.......

March 19-24:
Spring Break! We won't be partying in California or anything, but will will be partying with Dad and Mom Baillio!

March 29th:
Baby Shower! Maybe we can add to the our "baby shelf". All we have to our name right now is one pack of diapers and baby towel.

April 5-8:
Joseph and Melinda are coming visit our humble abode! We going to hang out in Chicago, and try to see a few shows.

May 4th:
Last day of work for Celeste and of course....Spiderman 3!!!!!!!!!!
(We all know that we are obsessed with Spiderman these days. Venom? Sandman? Green Goblin? Cool black costume? How can you go wrong?)


May 13th:
Ummm. Do I even have to make you guess??
Baby Girl Baillio Due!!!

May 17th-20th:
Mom Barrand, and hopefully Danica coming to see the baby. (Hopefully we will have it by then.)

(Add just a few more things to add to the excitement)

July 13th:
Harry Potter- Order of the Phoenix

And last but not least.....

July 21st:
Final installment of the Harry Potter Series!!! Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows


Well there you go, a few reasons for the spring fever.