Girls Gone Midwest: See you later, Chicago...for now.

Well, we have been working hard to get Rachel's apartment up to par. Unfortunately, the landlords didn't do a deep clean of this place. So, we have been scrubbing base boards, cleaning floors, sweeping, painting, and washing windows. My Mom was quite the worker-bee. She would wake up at 4AM, and deep clean all the windows. She would be crawling around on her hands and knees with a washcloth and bucket of Murphy's oil. We changed out the light fixture in the bathroom last night, so it would be brighter for Rachel.

One thing about Chicago is you will GPS something that seems "close", like 6 miles away, but it will take us about 45 minutes to get there because of traffic and everything. So, yesterday's Lowe's excursion was no exception. We drove and drove, and Rachel announces she forgot the Lowe's coupon that she received from the Post Office in her "change of address packet". Turning around is not an option because it took so long to get there. We are all aggravated, but I drop Mom and Rachel off at Lowe's, and I drive to the closest Post Office to get a coupon. I fight through traffic, find parking, and get a new packet. Well, the packet they give out here has coupons for Lowe's, but you have to fill out an online survey, then they email it to you with in 2-5 business days. I hike it all the way back to Lowe's, and Rachel says the manager is just going to let us have 10% off with no coupon. So, my trip to the Post Office was pointless, and Rachel then announces she forgot the list, that has everything we needed to buy, the measurements, and paint colors. We did our best to remember everything, and just got the hell out of there.

We have been shopping everyday for this apartment for furnishings. When we arrived there was only two bar stools. Since then, we have bought beds, side tables, a dresser, couch, TV Stand, shelving units, light fixtures, and TONS of home decor stuff. We did the bulk of our shopping at Target, Lowe's, HomeGoods, and Big Lots yesterday.

Every night Mom and Rachel have been taping off and painting something. Whether it is base boards, light fixtures, or vents they have been getting everything prepped and painted.

My Mom just left back to Michigan, and as I write this, I am sitting on the couch at Rachel's apartment in Chicago. It's Sunday morning before Christmas Eve. Rachel is getting ready, and in less than 1 hour we will be back in the car, driving down to Alabama for the holidays. So more pictures of the road and stories to come!!