Whirlwind in the Windy City

Sooo... where do I start?

I envisioned myself having allllll this free time over the past 24 hours to catch up on my life.  Mr. RH got his wisdom teeth out yesterday and I have for some reason been entrusted to make sure he doesn't die.  It's extremely terrifying.

His dad dropped him off at his apartment yesterday around noon... and the first thing he does is bend over (despite my million protests to NOT bend over) and attempt to take his shoes off.  Big bloody smile later... and I'm the one on the floor begging my brain not to pass out.

If his dad noticed, he didn't say anything.  Which is a bit terrifying, because after 15 minutes I had a feeble Mr. RH feel my forehead and even through the drugs he could feel that I was sweating like I just ran 10 miles.

Anyway, Mr. RH is recovering nicely, I'm smothering him with too much attention, and there was the mother of all thunderstorms (the first of the ENTIRE SUMMER) which kept us both awake at 3 in the morning.  Which gave me the opportunity to ice Mr. RH's face. 


Dear Lord in Heaven, please let us make it out of this alive.  And by us I mean me, because Mr. RH will certainly strike me dead here in a jiffy.  xo, Sarah

------------------------------------------

So, I was in Chicago with some girlfriends late last week.  It was a whirlwind and so busy, but it was nice to escape on my own for a couple of days.  Even if I was a little sad that Mr. RH had time off too and we didn't get to spend any of it together!

I had several "firsts" on this Chicago trip.

My first trip to infamous breakfast joint Lou Mitchell's.  

It was ok, but really not my favorite.  Maybe I just ordered the wrong thing.

I would also like to point out I walked less than 10 blocks to get there and, because of the humidity, my big, curly hair went completely and totally straight.  Dude, this weather.

We walked all over town - miles and miles and miles.  My feet are still a little sore!

The big adventure of the trip, though, was a trip to RPM Italian.  

Don't know RPM?  Well, you might be the only one.  It is a restaurant featured on Giuliana & Bill.... as in, the restaurant that Giuliana and Bill invested in.

My friend scored us late reservations on Wednesday... so I knew we had to go.

We didn't have any grand expectations of the place.  First of all, we weren't dressed for dinner.  We were dressed for a long day in the car and a hot day in the city.  I was a mess.

So we walk in, tell them we have reservations, and wait.  I start to feel uneasy because I am so underdressed.  The place is gorgeous.

About ten minutes into waiting, an older gentleman breezes through and goes right into the dining room.

"Hey, guys, I'm pretty sure that's Giuliana's dad."  My friends are like, eh, I don't see him, whatever you say.

We get seated, have an amazing waiter, debate over food and drink for ages.

At one point, a man walks by, tries to stop at the table, gets blocked by the waiter, and keeps walking.  Lightbulbs of recognition go off in my head..... the guy is Ari Goldman, fellow RPM investor and friend of Bill Rancic.

My friends are clueless, but I am a dog with a bone.  I explain who Ari is and how I clearly have too much time to watch TV.  Ari comes back from wherever... and chats up the table.  By this point, we are all glowing and well-behaved perfect women.  An unvoiced opinion has been unanimously voted upon: we are going to be perfect and behave and see what happens.

 

Time goes by, desserts are eaten.  If you are ever in the neighborhood, you MUST have the tartufo.  Not sure what that word is, exactly, but it's a chocolate gelato inside a hard chocolate hazelnut shell.  To die for.

After we finish, who shows up again but Ari.  The girl sitting next to me gathers up her balls and says... so, is the "R" of RPM Italian in house tonight?  

And low and behold, he is.  They are filming in the back and almost finished... he is tired of talking to Papa DePandi about Obama (so  that WAS him I saw on the way in!)... so he joined us at our table.

Before long, the back room opens up and all of the cast of characters come spilling out.  Bill Rancic, several of his close friends, and Giuliana's dad.

(Unfortunately, no Giuliana herself... but this was pretty awesome.)

They all came over to our table and started talking.  There are about 30 people left in the restaurant at this point, but everyone is asking questions and talking to us.  Pretty surreal.

One of us finally gets our wits about us and asks Giuliana's dad for a picture.  My blogging heart seizes with joy.  FINALLY.

Giuliana's dad, Antonio, hops into our round booth like he is training for the Olympic hurdles.  I was nervous he was going to fall but he hopped right over the edge of the bench seat.  

Bill Rancic, standing there with a wall of iPhones and cameras, starts shouting directions.  "Scootch in, smile big, everybody say WE LOVE EDUARDO."

At this point, Eduardo (we're on a first-name basis) pulls out his phone, hands it to Bill, and asks for a picture.

DEAD.  That is my exact emotion.  

Bill, who is directing the wall of cameras, comes up with a brilliant shot.  

No joke.  I kissed Giuliana's dad in the middle of RPM Italian while Bill Rancic cheered me on.

Of course, having used up all our balls for the night, NONE of us would man up and ask Bill for a picture.  We were playing it too cool.

Even though he proceeded to circulate the room and get pictures with EVERYONE else in the place.

And then I choked again the next day at noon, when I just strolled past Bill on Michigan Avenue.  I turned around to go make a scene (and get a picture!) but I chickened out.  He looked like he was enjoying his privacy and there were SO many people out on the street.

------------------------------------------

So that's what I did last week.  Smooched on Giuliana's dad in the middle of RPM Italian.  At Bill Rancic's urging.

Don't even get me started on the conversation we had after we were leaving the restaurant.  The other girl who did the kissing - we both IMMEDIATELY went into panic mode - um, did you actually kiss him, touch the cheek, was that alright??

Haha, we were just following directions!

Happy Tuesday!!  I'm off to nurse my sick patient.