Sad Goodbye to NY

Well our fantastic trip is coming to an end. We are sitting in the British Airways lounge (which is pretty awesome btw) at JFK airport waiting for yur flight back home (I cannot wait to see Anthony and the boys). I have had the best time and will have so many photos to scrap when I get back.

I need to catch up on two days of Chicago don't I? We were so busy and shhhhh, don't tell anyone but my credit card has had a work out. Friday was the CHA Supershow where retailers and Companies demonstrated products and sold products to the public.

The three of us had a ball (we made friends with Julie from Fantasia - she is awesome). It was interesting and great to see how craft shows over here are done and to see what people liked. There were heaps of make and take stations throughout the show and lots of customers taking part. We began at one of my favourite companies, Papertrey Ink. They only sell online from the US, so it was great to stock up on some stamp sets and dies while we are here. Did I mention my credit card got a work out? But the line up for the registers ended up all around their stall and out the back of it. Amazing.

We then headed out to find some US craft stores (Jo-Anns and Micheals) and went on a taxi ride out into the suburbs. It was interesting to see the housing and local area. We were very disappointed when we got there cause Jo-Anns' wasn't that great and there was no Michaels to be seen. But as we were wandering over to a Wal-mart we spotted Archivers, which is a scrapbooking franchise here. It was great. Lovely big store with heaps of product and the credit card got a work out again.

On Saturday we teamed up with Julie again and the three of us went on a bus ride to Woodfield Shopping Centre. OMG!! Everything is supersized here in the US. Big Shops, Big carparks and Big shopping centres. This area was so big it had Trolley's (shuttle buses) to take you from one section to another.

I loved it and finally got to see the inside of an Anthropologie store.

Shabby Chic goodness!!

On Sunday it was Tracey's birthday so we started the day with 'Birthday Bacon' , yummy! Then we headed into the city for some sightseeing and shopping (again!!). Chicago is AMAZING. So clean and a really beautiful city. A mix of old and new buildings grace the skyline and provide so much to look at.

And of course we shopped the Magnificent Mile.

Then we ended the day with a lovely dinner for Tracey's birthday.

Yes, I proposed.............just kidding (it is a Pandora charm).

If you are still reading, thanks for getting all the way through this post. Will come back with some New York photos over the next couple of days.