Coronavirus Quarantine Week 0: March 8-14

I’m writing this in hindsight. It was WAY too much to address or document in real time. This was a strange week. At work, we were told mid-week to take our things we’d need to work for a couple weeks and go home. I was having a mental breakdown because Makai was still in school. Corporate America made their employees stay home for safety but we were still expected to have our kids at school!? Makai had one last meet up in a park. He had his last in-person piano lesson on Saturday. I remember running errands that day, thinking that it was our last day to be in public for who knows how long. Groceries were running out of medicine, toilet paper and other foods. We bought a case of water and A LOT of canned soup. No one knew what was going to happen. In Chicago, we got the official order to stay at home starting March 21, but our family started on March 15.

The public was advised to wash their hands often and not to wear masks.

We thought this was something that was going on far away from us. On cruise ships. It might last a couple weeks. All we needed to do was wash our hands good.

There were a lot of jokes about Corona beer.

People started freaking out because a school in Chicago had a case of Coronavirus and closed down.

I started driving to work every day because I was afraid to take the germ-filled Blue Line, which comes out of O’hare INTERNATIONAL Airport.

Kishore gave me this candybar to take home when we were told to leave work. I said I would eat it in case of emergency.

Literally every company you ever interacted with was sending out emails to assure you they were taking everything seriously and taking precautions.


My last view at work.


People at work were sharing this meme.

People were freaking out because the grocery stores were running out of things like…. toilet paper…

medication….

bread….

frozen foods….

bread again.. .but notice that there is plenty of budweiser!

There was a shortage of hand sanitizer.

It seemed to be getting real when leaders of countries and celebrities were being diagnosed.

ALL conferences and work travel were cancelled.

Makai’s last meet up with a friend – Otis.

At Chopin Park with Otis.

Uh. Or conorona divorces.

Dallas said something about this possibly causing us to cancel our April vacation and I thought he was nuts, but he was right. The beginning outbreak was at a retirement home outside Seattle and we were supposed to go visit Jordan, Liz and Mahea and new baby Lilinoe. We spent a lot of time trying to figure out if we could cancel our tickets. In the end Delta let us, without a hitch, but only gave us a credit, not a refund.

Thanksgiving in Las Vegas

Dallas’s parents and a lot of his family go to Las Vegas for Thanksgiving every year. And they have for many years. Las Vegas is pretty central for people on the mainland and people in Hawaii to meet up. I’ve gone 2x before [2007, 2009]. It’s been 10 years since I’d been to Las Vegas. We miss seeing Dallas’s family for Thanksgiving or Christmas. But with Makai we weren’t sure. We decided to go and see how Vegas would be with a kid. I think it was harder for Dallas than for me.

We stayed at the Paris Hotel + Casino, which I really liked. It was fun, plus it was not HUGE, so it was easier to manage where things were. Makai really liked it too! Dallas’s parents stayed at Tuscany, where they get comped a lot. Caroline, Jose and Grace drove up from Arizona and stayed at the MGM Grand.

After we landed and settled in and had lunch with Dallas’s parents, we went to the Marvel Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N Exhibit. I don’t know if it was worth the price (what is in Las Vegas?) but it was fun and interesting and Makai LOVED it.

We had breakfast at Le Cafe Ile St. Louis at the Paris Hotel. I had this amazing crepe. I’d been promising Makai for weeks that the Paris Hotel would have a French cafe where he could get his favorite breakfast pastry: Chocolate croissant. Glad they delivered on that. Makai loved it so much that he yelped out, “This must be my lucky day!”

Makai and I didn’t have anywhere to be after breakfast. We were going for a walk through the Paris Hotel and since it’s connected to Bally’s, we walked a lot in there too. We happened upon the monorail and took it for a spin to the end and then back. Makai loved it!

Kathy and I took Makai to M&M’s World, which was huge! Makai had fun picking out a custom mix of M&Ms to take home.

We were then walking to Hershey’s Chocolate World and actually bumped into Jose, Caroline and Grace coming out of the Hershey’s Store! We were getting tired and it was starting to rain, so we only spent a short time in the Hershey Store.

That night we had Thanksgiving dinner at Triple George Grill with all the family that was in town. I wish we’d have mixed up a little more, because we ended up sitting and talking to Dallas’s immediate family and the relatives from the Chicago area, instead of the Hawaii relatives! It was great to see and talk to Aunty Mary, Dallas’s grandma’s sister. At our table were Dalals, George, Kathy, Grace, Caroline, Jose, Aunty Gail, Makai and me. At the other table were the Hawaiian relatives.

George and Kathy had a bigger room at the Tuscany, with a living area and a small kitchen. Makai and Grace had a sleepover there that night.


Dallas and I were in no rush in the morning, so we had breakfast at Mon Ami Gabi in the Paris Hotel. It was delicious.

Then we headed over to pick up Makai. I had printed off all the photos from our trip to Hawaii earlier in the year and Makai and Kathy were looking at them.

Makai wanted to know why he couldn’t play any of the cool video games!

We took Makai to the Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay. It was an aquarium somehow set up inside the hotel. It was very busy, but still pretty interesting. Makai really liked it.

Makai got a stuffed shark while we were waiting in line for the exhibit. He was afraid of this poster for some reason, so Dallas was teasing him.


Makai really enjoyed looking at and walking in the really themed hotels and casinos. Excalibur, Luxor and New York, New York were some favorites.

Uncle Bob and Aunty Helen came to Las Vegas and we met up with them for dinner at Rao’s in Caesar’s Palace. The last time we saw Uncle Bob, Makai told us he looked just like Grandpa C. So we played a trick on him. He wasn’t paying attention when Uncle Bob was at the host stand checking into the restaurant. I was like “Makai, go up by grandpa.” So Makai was standing right next to him. Then George walked up and Makai was freaked out because there were TWO GRANDPAS! The dinner was really great and it’s always fun to catch up with any Hawaii relatives, because we don’t get to see them very often!

Makai and I left Las Vegas on Saturday to go back to Chicago. Jill’s parents live in Las Vegas to Jill, Brian and Halle were there visiting them. Then Chad and his dad flew in for a few days after Thanksgiving, so Dallas stayed til Sunday to have some “adult Las Vegas” fun.

I think the trip, overall, was fine. But you had to be in the right mindset and not expect to stay out all night in Las Vegas or not expect to hang out in a casino all day when you have a kid to look after. We will see what happens in 2020 and if we go again!

Tessa Takes on Chicago


Tessa’s first CTA ride.


Tessa going to the American Girl store.


Tessa at the American Girl Beauty Salon. Her doll has the red dress on.


Tessa with her doll, Rebecca (or Becky), after the doll’s hair was styled by the experts.


Tessa and Becky on the mega-tron inside American Girl.


Tessa with Woody, who is made of Legos.


Tessa with the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups outside the Hershey’s store.


Weighing in at 5 pounds, this candy bar at the Hershey’s store was pretty difficult for Tessa to hold up!


Tessa was drawn to the horse-drawn carriages. She got to pet this horse.


Uh, she was also drawn to shoes in every store.


Kelly is in trouble with this one!


Such a diva!


She loved the tackiest, sparkliest, highest-heeled shoes!


Tessa’s first taxi ride. (She was talking on the phone to her dad and sisters.)

Over the weekend my cousin Kelly, her 6-year-old daughter Tessa, and friend Misty came from Green Bay to visit me in Chicago. Tessa got an American Girl doll for her birthday recently and wanted to visit the store to get some accessories and things for her doll. She had saved up her money and gift certificates and everything to do this!

To get to Water Tower Place, where American Girl is located, we took the Blue Line to the Red Line. This was Tessa’s first train ride in Chicago. She was born in Washington DC and I have been on the Metro with her there, but she was very young. I wondered if this was the first big-city mass-transit train ride she could remember and enjoy.

Once we got to Water Tower, Kelly and Tessa were kind of on their own. Instead of going to American Girl, I opted to get a relaxing manicure and pedicure and Misty decided to do some shopping on her own. We met back up and did some more shopping. Then picked up Tessa’s doll at the American Girl Beauty Salon where she was getting her ears pierced and her hair styled (I’m not even joking about this). Then we did more shopping. And then Kelly called me into the American Store again because Tessa’s photo was appearing on the big screen in the store! And then we did more shopping. And then we did more shopping. And then we went to dinner. Long day, but fun day! Tessa had a great time, I think we all did. We sure did crash when we got home, though! We had grand plans of wine for us and a bath in the jacuzzi for Tessa and we all ended up just going to bed!

The next day we made a trip to the Lincoln Park Whole Foods (3rd largest in the world) and then Kelly, Tessa and Misty were off for their long drive home. What a fun weekend! Thanks for visiting me, Tessa! (And Kelly and Misty.)

CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE

chocolate.jpg
Teuscher Champagne Truffle :: Magnificent Mile, Chicago

rachelle_hat.jpg
Rachelle :: Hershey’s Store, Magnificent Mile, Chicago

HERE is how we OD’ed on chocolate. And HERE are all the photos I took of it. Like my Hershey’s hat? See Erin & Andrew in their hats.

My Previous Chocolate Expeditions:
» New York Chocolate Show (10.15.2002)
» Getting a Personal Chocolate Tour From Chef Jacques Torres (11.23.2003)
» Grand Reopening of Fannie May on Michigan Avenue (11.19.2004)