staycation

Every summer my mom puts one weekend aside that is considered our "family weekend." We all have relatively busy summer schedules between working, doctors appointments and spending time with friends. During this family weekend we embark on a staycation. Yup... a staycation... which is otherwise known as a "stay-at-home vacation." Usually this means staying at your house, but doing leisurely activities and taking some personal time off rather than doing work and chores. It's basically an extended mental break. Luckily I'm from the Northwest suburbs of Chicago so going to the city is only a 45 minute drive away. Rather than have a staycation at our actual home in the burbs, my family and I can drive to downtown Chicago, rent a hotel room for the night and explore the city for a relatively cheap mini-vacation. We book a hotel for Saturday night and spend Saturday/Sunday exploring the city and shopping. Not only is it a great bonding experience, but it's nice to get away from home even if only for a couple of days!

family lunch at Quartino

This past weekend was my family's staycation. We drove up to the city at around 10:15 on Saturday morning and arrived at The Acme Hotel around 12:30 (there had been a lot of traffic on the highway). We were all hungry and grumpy by the time we got there so we immediately went to lunch. A good meal always makes people happy, right? We went to an Italian restaurant called Quartino Ristorante & Wine Bar. My mom ordered a salad, a pasta dish and two steak plates for us to split and I have to say it was all amazing. The meal hit the spot and definitely put us in a better mood for our afternoon of shopping.

photobooth with mommy at Top Shop

Shopping downtown is always so much better than shopping in a mall. It's crazy and busy, yet calm and beautiful. The stores are more grandios, have a wider selection and even though the sales tax is higher than at home, the atmosphere downtown is just so much more sophisticated. It almost makes me feel like I'm in the Sex and the City (minus the awesome job, fabulous boyfriend and jaw-dropping closet full of clothes). We focused our attention around Michigan Avenue and went into all of our usual go-to stores. My family went to a lot of stores together, but we split up (my mom and I/Justin and my dad) to shop at more gender oriented stores. My mom and I hit up Nordstrom, Top Shop and Forever 21 while my brother and dad went to Nike Town, Columbia and Ralph Lauren.

YUM

After shopping we went back to the hotel so we could all take quick showers and then we walked one block over to Osteria Via Stato for dinner. I had Parmesan Chicken and broccolini which was delectable! We had no plans for after dinner because my dad and brother had refused to go to the Taylor Swift concert (she was playing at Soldier Field that night) and the tickets for the show Flashdance were too expensive for horrible seats. Instead of going back to the hotel we decided to walk around Navy Pier to grab a quick dessert, ride the famously ginormous ferris wheel and watch the fire works.

view from the ferris wheel

The line for the ferris wheel was about 30 minutes and my brother and I didn't want to go on it badly enough to wait that long, but my mom insisted that we ride it . Not wanting to start an argument, we waited patiently in line for our turn. Even though I hate heights I ended up being fine and it was my mom who was miserable during the ferris wheel. She kept her eyes closed the whole time because she was nauseous and was practically counting down the seconds until we could get off. Justin and I begged to go back to the hotel because we were both exhausted, but my mom once again insisted we stay for fire works. The fire works were beyond lame so I just scrolled through my Instagram and Twitter feed waiting until we could go back to the hotel.

At around 10:45 pm we finally were in our hotel room. I changed into my pajamas, flipped on the TV and then Justin and I watched about 3 hours of the most addictive TV I've ever seen called Ghost Adventures. I won't get too into it, but it's about these guys who go to paranormal places and communicate with the spirits who live there. It was a mixture of creepy, cool and OMG. Around 1 am we decided to hit the hay because we had a big day ahead of us.

sibling love on the Chicago River

Bright and early the next morning (it was actually only 10am, but that's early for me) we woke up, packed our bags and checked out of the hotel. Then we drove about 20 minutes to get to the Chicago River North Avenue location of Kayak Chicago. My mom had bought a groupon online for our family to go kayaking on the Chicago River. After a quick lesson on how to actually kayak we were on our way. We kayaked for a total of two hours. Although it was really cool to kayak the Chicago River, the scenery was mostly commercial buildings and the river itself was disgustingly polluted. We could have kayaked further and gotten "breathtaking" views (according to the workers of Kayak Chicago), but we were all too tired to continue on so we took a few pictures with as much skyline as we could see and then paddled back to where we started. It was a super fun experience all in all.

my brunch at Yolk

Our staycation ended with a delicious brunch at Yolk. I ordered pancakes with oatmeal and blueberries mixed into the batter and honey and bananas sprinkled on top. It was the perfect way to end our family weekend! Even though my family gets on each other's nerves a lot and we can fight like nobody's business, at the end of the day they're the people that will always be there for me and that I love the most! I'm happy my mom forced us to do a family weekend and even happier that we had as much fun as we did!

my addiction to Netflix is actually educational

As the summer is quickly coming to an end I'm starting to think about what I've done so far this summer. Besides creating this blog, going to Israel and completing my first novel (keep an eye for it!), I haven't done that much anything else. My daily schedule consists of waking up sometime between 11 am to 2 pm, running errands with my mom and then watching TV on Netflix. Oh and sometimes going to a doctor's appt. I know it sounds extremely unproductive, which it is, but I'd like to think that I learned something valuable from each of the shows I've watched. And I'd also like to highly recommend these shows because they're phenomenal in my opinion. (Warning: you will become addicted.)

30 Rock

What it is: A comedy series on NBC that ran for 7 seasons from 2006-2013

Starring: Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tracy Jordan, Jack McBrayer, John Adsit and Jane Krakowski

About the Show: 30 Rock was created by Tina Fey and is largely based off her time as the head writer and a performer on Saturday Night Live. The show follows Liz Lemon (played by Fey) as she tries to manage the crazy cast of her comedy sketch show "TGS with Tracy Jordan."

Characters:

Kenneth, Liz, Tracy, Jack & Jenna

• Liz Lemon: the head writer of TGS; she spends most of her time fixing the crazy problems of her cast and writers while trying to stay sane; she has a love for greasy junk food & is by far the funniest cast member 
• Jack Donaghy: a corporate executive who is not only Lemon's boss, but her self appointed mentor; he is power hungry, business savvy and a smoother talker who loves Capitalism, Scotch and money 
• Jenna: the shows neurotic and narcissistic yet lovable actress/singer 
• Tracy Jordan: the unpredictable, dim-witted & self obsessed super-famous actor brought onto the show to boost ratings
• Kenneth Parcel: the Christian Southern page whose innocence is both endearing and hilarious; he truly believes he is everyone's friend
• The Writers: Pete, Toofer, Lutz and Frank are a mixture of geeky cool, lazy and hilarious

What I Learned from Watching: I watched the first 6 seasons (the 7th season comes out on Netflix in September) in less than 6 weeks and I'm not one bit embarrassed. I learned from 30 Rock that laughter can cure almost anything and that being yourself is way cooler than trying to be "cool."

Game of Thrones

What it is: A fantasy drama television show on HBO that has 3 aired seasons so far

Starring: This show has so many characters that are brought on and/or killed off in each episode, but notable stars that have survived all 3 seasons are Emilia Clarke and Peter Dinklage

About the Show: This show is set in the fictional countries of Westeros and Essos. The show consists of various interweaving plot lines that include: a civil war to determine who should rule the Iron Throne of the Seven kingdoms, an exiled member of an overthrown dynasty who is raising an army to retake the throne, and the mysterious creatures of the North who are showing up as Winter arrives. The plot seems confusing at first, but after a couple of episodes I promise you'll understand everything and be enraptured by the show!!

Some of the cast

Characters: There are way too many characters in this show to list them all and their role/importance. And I also don't want to give anything away that would ruin the show before you've even watched it! But the main family names to look out for are:

• Stark
• Greyjoy
• Snow
• Lannister
• Baratheon
• Targaryen

What I Learned from Watching: I understand that this show includes a lot of mythical and magical components, but it taught me to be careful regarding who you trust and that you can always count on your family to have your back. Although you may not understand or like the decisions they make and vice versa, you'll always be in one another's lives to support and help each other.

Orange is the New Black

What it is: A comedy-drama series available only on Netflix; season one just ended

Starring: Taylor Schilling, Laura Prepon and Jason Biggs

About the Show: The show focuses on Piper Chapman who is sentenced for 15 months in federal prison for transporting drug money 10 years prior. The drug money was for Piper's ex-girlfriend, Alex  Vause, who is in the same prison Piper ends up in. Although the show revolves around Piper it also gives the other inmates intriguing and personal background stories and shows the inner workings and relations of life in prison.

Characters:

the inmates the show focuses on

• Piper Chapman: goes to prison for carrying drug money for her former lover; she deals with finding her "place" in prison with the other inmates and re-evaluating her feelings for her ex-girlfriend Alex
• Larry Bloom: Piper's fiancé who feels confident enough in their relationship that he thinks they can survive her sentence; he's a struggling writer looking for his big break
• Alex Vause: Piper's ex who worked for an international drug cartel until being caught and put in prison; she never got over Piper and still has feelings for her
• George Mendez: a correctional officer who is creepy, corrupt and abusive of his authority
• Daya: an inmate who falls in love with a correctional officer and has to deal with her strained relationship with her mom who is in the same jail
• Red: the inmate in charge of the kitchen; she is the "mom" of many inmates and runs the prison behind the scenes

What I Learned from Watching: Even though Piper only carried drug money once and it was when she was right out of college and trying to "rebel", her actions caught up to her. I definitely learned that all actions have consequences so thinking before you act can be extremely important in the long-run.

See? Netflix addictions can be educational. Look at all the things I learned from just 3 shows! Does anyone have TV show suggestions of what I should watch next?

Fashion Outlets of Chicago

The Fashion Outlets of Chicago, or shops at Rosement as I call it, is a giant mall located near O'Hare Airport that recently opened on August 1st. I've been hearing nonstop about this mall for a couple of weeks now so I couldn't wait to check it out when it finally opened. I was sick with an infection this weekend so I wasn't able to attend the grand opening, but I heard from a lot of friends that the mall was completely insane; both good and bad insane. 

Fashion Outlets of Chicago

According to my sources, the stores at the mall were great and the deals/bargains were good, but the mall was packed to the point where it was suffocating and the lines were ridiculously long at every store. After hearing all of this my mom and I decided to wait it out until a weekday so that it wouldn't be as crowded and busy. We were both free of work obligations on Monday afternoon so at about 1 o'clock in the afternoon we headed out to the Fashion Outlets of Chicago.

Before we even entered the mall I was amazed by it and not because of how the outside looked or anything architectural like that. I'm embarrassed to say this, but it was the parking lot that had me so astounded. In my defense it was extremely cool and I'd never seen anything like it. Huge electronic signs listed every floor of the parking garage and how many spots were open on each level. To me, that was cool enough, but then it got better. The signs knew how many spots were available because each parking spot had a little light attached to the ceiling above it. If a spot was already taken, the light was red, but if the spot was open than the light was green. This let drivers know where available spots were and made parking 100 times easier because you weren't aimlessly driving down aisles and levels looking for an open spot. Now you could just search for a green light; simple as that.

But enough about the parking lot. The mall was huge as well. And not only that, but it looked upscale and had cool artwork scattered around. (Side note: the bathroom's were extremely nice). Neither my mom or I was on a time schedule or were looking for anything specific so we decided to wander around the mall and stop in whatever stores we wanted to. It so happened that the first store we were in front of was the Bloomingdale's outlet. Jackpot!

Inside of the crowded mall

I've made a style haul video (attached below) of all the adorable things that I bought while shopping so I won't tell you here, but I was a pretty successful shopper! There was a buy $50 get $25 off deal going on at the Bloomingdale's outlet, which was an amazing & helpful deal! The Saks and Nike outlet stores had some good sales as well (Forever 21 didn't because it wasn't an outlet). My mom and I stopped in Gucci, Neiman Marcus, J. Crew and some other stores, but didn't buy anything at those places. 

The Fashion Outlets of Chicago is home to a Tory Burch outlet. I've never heard of a Tory Burch outlet  ever existing before and was dying to go because I love Tory (their purses are my absolute favorite). Unfortunately the line to get into the store was at least an hour long and I sadly didn't have the patience to wait so we skipped the store. No other store had a line to enter, although all the other stores had lines for their dressing rooms and to purchase items, but neither of those were too time-consuming to wait in. 

Even though the mall was still a little crowded even on a weekday, I would definitely go back and I highly recommend others in the area to check it out as well! Hopefully next time I go I can actually shop at the Tory Burch outlet!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASb_kt1WILs&feature=youtu.be

call me beep me if you want to reach me

I always have my phone on me: it's in my lap in class, in my pocket while shopping, on the table at dinner and on my nightstand when I'm in bed. I'm not on my phone at all times by any means, nor am I addicted to it. At least, I don't think I am, but I'm sure that my parents would beg to differ. It's always on me because I'm the messiest person alive and am constantly losing things (I once left my wallet in a taxi and recently misplaced my iPad), so if my phone isn't in my sight at all times there's no telling where it may be.

Maybe am I a bit
addicted...

Whenever I'm bored I go on my plethora of iPhone apps: Vine, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter etc. And I also have cool photo editing apps and games on my phone that I like to play around with sometimes. But for as much as I enjoy my phone, I've had a lot of issues with it. I currently own a white iPhone 4s. Actually, this is my second or third white iPhone 4s because I've had to have the phone replaced numerous times. Not because I damaged or broke it, but because the software (or something like that) went completely whack-o and made my phone freeze up and shut down on a regular basis. Apple was unable to figure it out and so I got my phone replaced by them for free. I'm not sure why I seem to have so many issues with my Apple products (my phone and computer- which I talk about in an earlier post) because no one else in my family, or any of my friends for that matter, have issues with their iPhones. But that's besides the point. 

For some reason I was 100% convinced that my upgrade for a new phone was this December. Later than I would have liked, but I could live with that; at least I'd have a new phone second semester of sophomore year. I really wanted a new phone before school started because the iPhone 5 has such better camera quality than my current phone. If I had the iPhone 5 for school, I wouldn't have to take my camera around with me because my I'd just use my phone for pictures instead. I love my camera and it takes amazing pictures, but if I had a phone that took good pictures then I wouldn't have to bring around my camera and I'd have one less thing to bring (and lose) with me when I go out.

My iPhone 4 takes the crappiest pictures (of course my mom's iPhone 4 doesn't, though) and I never take pictures on it so I always have both my phone and camera on me. It's not the end of the world, but it'd be much more convenient to be able to take pictures on my phone. Then I could upload them directly to Facebook rather than have to plug my camera into my computer, upload the pictures to iPhoto and then create a folder to upload to Facebook. Also, carrying around a camera and a phone makes my small 'going out' purse heavy and cramped (and it looks bulgy).

My mom has an upgrade coming up so my dad called our local AT&T store to find out exactly when she was eligible to get a new phone. While on the phone he asked about my upgrade as well and apparently my upgrade isn't until May of 2014. Are you kidding me?! Now I have to wait until pretty much the end of my sophomore year to get a phone that functions properly and takes decent pictures. I am not a happy camper to say the least.

old cases

To console myself about having to suffer enjoy another school year with my bipolar phone, I decided I deserved a new phone case. I already have about 5 phone cases, but I've had my phone for quite some time and I like to change it up a bit. And the phone case I have right now is really adorable, but it completely ruins every picture I attempt to take. When the flash goes off, the phone case color (a light mint green) gets reflected and creates a hazy, blurry effect on the photo making it look even more distorted than it was to begin with. So I needed a new phone case anyway and now I had the perfect excuse to buy one! 

my new iPhone case :) 

I spent hours upon hours on Amazon, Etsy, Wanelo and Zazzle trying to find a phone case, but nothing seemed to really stand out to me. I wanted a chevron patterned phone case with my monogrammed initials on it, but I also wanted a fun case with sparkles and a quote on it. My indecisiveness about what I wanted was creating issues finding the perfect case. I finally stumbled upon a website called Casetagram that allows you to custom design your phone case with your own photographs. I spent over 5 hours (I'm not exaggerating) choosing the right photos to put on the case. Instead of doing personalized pictures of me with family & friends, I chose photos of things I love, cute designs and meaningful quotes. I ordered it this morning for $34.95 (free standard shipping) and it's supposed to arrive in 14-20 business days. Woohoo!

As much as I want my upgrade to the newest iPhone to hurry the heck up, I'm glad I found a way to placate myself with a new phone case for the time being. Snaps for me for finding a silver lining, no matter how trivial it may seem!

Always and Forever

When I was 6-weeks-old my mom, Lauren, joined a play-group. Moms with children who were born around the same time met once a week to exchange advice, tell stories & share in the excitement of motherhood with others. In this playgroup my mom met fellow Buffalo Grove resident, Lauri Bauer. She had a son born a month earlier than me (he in July, me in August) named Alex. 

Lauri's first words to my mom were, "Are you related to Barry Margolin?" It turns out that her and my dad were both from Lincolnwood and had been friends while growing up. My Mimi Lynne had been Lauri's softball coach and my Poppop Norm had been the one to give Lauri her middle school diploma (which is sort of ironic because Lauri's husband, Scott, gave me my middle school diploma). After that first exchange my mom and Lauri became best friends. Alex was my not only my first friend, but also my best. The majority of my childhood pictures are of me and Alex on play-dates, dressing up together for Halloween and just being goofy kids.

Justin, Alex, me, Brett & Jake

Both Lauri and my mom had kids again at the same time in 1997: my brother Justin in February and Lauri's son Jake in January. My parents stopped at two kids, but the Bauer's had a third son named Brett in 1999. Our families have always been inseparable and I'm thankful that we still are today. 

I grew up spending every New Years Eve and school break on vacation with them. We both lived in Buffalo Grove about 2 minutes away from one another and then later on both moved to the same neighborhood in Long Grove and live 4 houses down from one another. I was blessed enough to grow up with two sets of parents (my biological mom and dad and Lauri and Scott) and four siblings (my biological brother, Justin, and Alex, Jake and Brett). Everything and everyone was happy. 

But my world was completely turned upside down when Lauri died suddenly of a heart arrhythmia on January 5th, 2011. I'd never lost someone close to me before and her sudden passing left me devastated, confused and heart-broken. Not only did I lose my second mom, but I lost a piece of myself. Lauri had been my rock. She'd been my confidant, fashion advisor and friend since I'd been 2 months old and suddenly she was gone. 


Even though it's been over two years since Lauri has passed, I still think about her everyday. Luckily, her memory will always live on thanks to her family and friends. I'm not sure who came up with the idea to start a foundation in her memory, but since its creation it has been a huge success. Not only has it tremendously helped families that have suffered from a sudden loss in their lives, but it has helped Lauri's spirit live on.

The Lauri S. Bauer Foundation for Sudden Loss is non-profit organization that is dedicated to "help others, give them the tools to heal and watch them find hope after experiencing a sudden loss." The foundation is truly a triumph and is providing amazing help to families dealing with the loss of a loved one. I would highly recommend checking out the LSB Foundation's website (it's linked right above) to see what they do and how you can get involved!

This past Thursday was the Lauri S. Bauer Foundation for Sudden Loss' 3rd Annual Golf Outing. It was an extremely long and emotional day for me (and many others), but I'm grateful I was  apart of it. The Golf Outing is an awesome event where participants spend the afternoon golfing and the night at a wonderful dinner with fun entertainment and both a live and silent auction. I volunteered at the event and it felt good to know that I was a part of helping others who need help finding a "new normal" after such a tragic event in their lives. Both the foundation and golf outing are truly amazing ways to honor Lauri. I know she'd be proud. 

My brother, our family friend and I were in charge of running the popcorn cart donated to the event by Sunset Foods. Although this wasn't a glamorous volunteer job, a lot of behind the scenes work goes into the making of such an amazing and successful event and I was happy to be doing anything at all to assist. Being surrounded by my family and friends at the event made me realize how lucky I am to have such amazing and supportive people in my life. If you're reading this post take a quick minute to thank those in your life who are important to you because I've learned the hard way that life isn't a privilege, but a gift and we shouldn't take anything for granted!

My two pairs of parents

Halloween

Me & my two moms :)

Bauer-Margolin Family Vacations

the lazy girl guide to shopping

I'm a girly girl. No questions about it. I love getting my nails done, getting my daily wake-me-up coffee (skim milk, two equals) & shopping at my favorite stores. And I mean this all in the least materialistic snobby way; I'm smart with my money and have learned to spot a good deal from my mom. As much as I love shopping (because what girl doesn't) I have a low tolerance for actually going out, picking out clothes and trying them on. I can shop at one or two stores really well; I'm attentive, eager and excited about finding new clothes, jewelry & accessories. But then it's like my fuse runs out. I mentally check out and get bored and irritable. My mom hates going to the mall with me because after the first couple of stores I get crabby, which means I'm no help to her when she needs opinions on what to buy.

Thankfully, there's a thing called online shopping. I'm not going to lie, the majority of my SOC 100 class was spent shopping on my lap top. (I got an A+ in the class so don't worry about my shopping affecting me academically.) Heck, if we're being honest, half my down time at school was spent in my bed in bat mitzvah sweats on the computer shopping.

Online shopping is extremely convenient for when I'm away at school. As a freshman I didn't have a car to drive to the mall to shop whenever I wanted. Yes, there's an Urban Outfitters & Pitaya right on central campus, but those stores can be sort of pricey and they don't necessarily have what I need/want when I go. When I shop online, I can easily find what I want for a good price and it'll arrive in about a week to my dorm! And I love getting packages, which is just another plus.

Camilla Blouse from Tobi

My favorite clothing place to online shop at is Tobi. I mostly buy their tops & dresses, although they have adorable denim as well. I would describe their clothes as an upscale Forever 21. The clothes are made of nicer materials and don't fall apart as quickly as Forever's do, but they're what my mom and I like to call "disposable trend clothing" (the clothes are inexpensive and in style, but you don't feel like you wasted money when you don't like it anymore because it's out of fashion). Tobi gives you 50% off on your first purchase, which is a great deal! And if you want to return something, it's super easy & shipping is free. I've bought multiple 'going out' tops from here and a dress for a date party as well and have been extremely happy with my purchases.

Bought these Steve Madden wedges from
Zappos in black and tan! 

When I need a new pair of shoes my go-to website is Zappos. Whether I'm at school or at home Zappos is the first place I'll look for a new pair; they have every style, brand, color & size of shoes you could ever imagine. Not only does Zappos not have any tax (which makes buying shoes from them cheaper), but they ship for free and pick up returns right at your front door for no cost as well. I've gotten heels for every school dance from Zappos as well as my chestnut Uggs and Hunter rain boots! Zappos is really easy to navigate and super helpful when you're looking for a specific type of shoe because you can narrow down your search to practically anything.


Etsy and Wanelo are two different websites, but I personally think they're very similar. They're sort of like Pinterest, but more focused on things that are specifically meant to be bought (which is both good and bad). Categories on each of the websites include jewelry, clothing & accessories, but 

also include a wide assortment of random & funny items. A search engine is located at the top of each site and you can type pretty much anything into it and get pages and pages of results. These websites are good for finding pretty much anything. I usually go on them to find cute costume jewelry, phone cases & funny shirts! I could spend hours on Etsy and Wanelo just scrolling through the pages of popular items that are trending, too! 

Personalized Computer Sticker                      Funny tank I want from Wanelo

              from Etsy        

directionally dysfunctional

I use a GPS for anywhere that I drive to. Even if I've been there before. One of my pet peeves is not being on time for things and I know that if I use GPS I won't get lost and be an hour late. My GPS is also always on because I'm horrible with street names. I drive on Lake Cook Rd. & Milwaukee almost everyday, but it takes me awhile to remember which road they are because I can never match roads with their names. If you told me a place was across from the Target that I got my favorite bathing suit from, I'd know exactly where you were talking about. But if you told me a place was on the intersection of X and Y Road, I would stare at you blankly.

Today I had a major directionally challenged car ride. I ordered pictures offline at Walgreens earlier today for a collage I'm making for my room this year at school. No big deal, right? I order pictures from there all the time. Before you place your order they ask you what Walgreens location you want to pick
up from. I probably spent about 15 minutes staring at the map of different Walgreens locations trying to figure out which one was my "usual" one. Although I wasn't 100% positive which one it was, I chose 15 N. Buffalo Grove Road because I knew for sure that it was on that street. I sent in my order and got an email 45 minutes later saying it was ready to be picked up.

I drove to the Walgreens that I usually go to (labeled 1 on the map) from my house (labeled A) in a amount short time because it's close by. Here's where my issues started. The guy working behind the desk, Niel, couldn't find my pictures. I must have spelled my last name for him 9 times and I was getting extremely frustrated. He printed the pictures so why couldn't he find them? Niel asked if I was positive that I had printed to this Walgreens location. I said I had printed to 15 N. Buffalo Grove Rd and this was BG Rd.

But of course, 15 N. Buffalo Grove was their other location on this road. I felt bad for being difficult about him not finding my pictures because I was the idiot who had went to the wrong place. He gave me directions to the right location, but I still plugged it into my Google Maps app on my phone. I was super confused to where my map was taking me because I didn't remember a Walgreens being where my destination was located. For some reason I kept on driving and following the route and figured it knew where it was taking me.

Where Google Maps thinks a Walgreens is.....

There's a Walgreens right off of Milwaukee (labeled 2 on the map) that seemed to be in the direction that my GPS was taking me so I figured that's where I was supposed to me going. My GPS was having a complete meltdown because it kept recalculating because I was going to the wrong Walgreens. Now I was super confused because there are no other Walgreens around where I was!! And my GPS was saying I had already passed the Walgreens at 15 N. BG Rd. I clicked on the satellite view so I could actually see in real-time where this Walgreens was that I had missed and saw a parking lot. My GPS thought that 15 N. Buffalo Grove Rd. was a church parking lot right next to my old high school. What the actual hell.

I decided to follow the directions that Niel had given me and went back past the first Walgreens I had been to and drove further down BG road (in the opposite direction that my dumb GPS had told me). The Walgreens my photos were actually at (labeled 3 on the map) was about 10 minutes further from the first Walgreens and 20 minutes away from the completely wrong Walgreens by Milwaukee. I had been in my car driving for almost an hour at this point when it should have taken me under 15 minutes to drive there, get the photos and be back home.

And this is why I am completely directionally dysfunctional. Even though if Google Maps hadn't thought the address was a church parking lot I could have gotten to the right place a heck of a lot quicker. I guess we can say it was a joint failure on mine and Google Maps part. But mostly Google, thank you very much.

Me driving while trying to figure out what Walgreens 

I'm supposed to go to and where it is