Easter Bunny
It has been my busiest travel season to date... was in Bloomington, then Chicago, this upcoming weekend Schuamburg (IL), next weekend off to Saginaw and Ann Arbor, then off to DC and wrapping up April in Houston... oh man.

What is great... being so close to Novali so no matter the travel I can get trips and times up to see her. Well this past weekend Heather and I went up there and had a fun weekend planned. Using my leverage with Hilton (I stay about 60-70 nights a year at their hotels) I snagged a very cool family suite (living area, couch, tons of room) at the famous Drake Hotel. We had access to their executive lounge (proper attire required) with beautiful views of Chicago and Lake Michigan and hot cocoa for Novali.

Luckily the weather behaved for us on Saturday and we enjoyed a walk. Lots of interesting things happened on our walk, one was as we walked Novali needed to tell me a secret. She said, "Remember that guy back there, with the cup of change? Well we should go back and give him money because he is homeless." I explained that next time we would help. We walked the The Magnificent Mile, made it down toMillennium Park and spent the afternoon at the Chicago Children's Museum. It was a ton of fun and we all got tired and caught a cab back to the hotel. We alll tried fighting it... but before we knew it nap time struck and we all passed out.

We woke up barely in time to run off to the movies to watch the remake of Horton Hears A Who. It was a late show... so afterwards we grabbed some Chipotle and headed back to our weekend home, The Drake. We ended a long fun day getting ready for Easter and getting ready for bed.

Sunday we woke up early and planned on the 9:30 am service at the Fourth Presbyterian Church right on Michigan Ave and two blocks from the hotel. We were told to get there early... we arrive at just a little past 9am and there was a line around the block! News cameras and the church had people handing out coffee, hot cocoa and tissues to people in line. Once inside we warmed up and enjoyed the beautiful sanctuary. The priest was very good and it was a gorgeous service. When it was time for offering I explained to Novali how giving to the church is like helping the homeless man on the street, because the church helps them as well. I gave her a bill and she happily put it in the coffer.

After church we went back and packed the room and then met Syed and Tamara for brunch at the The Cheesecake Factory. It was a nice fun weekend... we lived like kings at The Drake (Royalty and Celebreties stay there... but I am sure they pay more then the killer deal I got) and hopefully we started a fun tradition of spending Easter downtown (last year we did as well: Easter 2007)

I posted some photos on her website: Easter 2008

I am trying to post more often... stick with me folks.