Top Ten 2010

2 more hours till 2011 in Chicago.

The inner geriatric in me desperately wants to go to bed.

But ... I have vowed to stay awake till the ball drops on this New Year's Eve because .... 2011 marks the year I marry Peter. And I have vowed to start this year off with a bang.

6 oysters, three bunches of asparagus wrapped in prosciutto, 1 glass of La Crema Chardonnay, two glasses of champagne,  four pieces of chocolate, and a half of a cigar later ...  I am fading. Full, buzzed, and drowsy. The zing pow that was supposed to commence the New Year has nearly expired.

Really it wasn't that glamorous, I mostly coughed the whole time.

So, what to do in these last two hours to get it up and running again? Top ten list baby! Power up the old blog, and reminisce about a year gone by. A wonderful, wonderful year gone by. Dick Clark, Anderson Cooper, Kathy Griffin, and Ryan Seacrest have nothing on the top ten that went down in, around and outside of Naperville, Illinois.

Drum roll please ...

#10. Best shopping experience ever: Vera Wang, the Judge, SGS, Peggy, Claire, a famished fiance, a patient bridal attendant and then my dress. Lunch at Spiaggia with an amazing glass of viognier followed. 

#9. Bro-Cal in So. Cal. Tri-tip, Brody, surfing, running on the 101, a beautiful wedding, and new friends that told Peter to pop the question already. Loved them! (Eek, the guest list is getting longer!)

#8. Tia and Tom from Las Vegas to NYC - from NASCAR trash to Ritz-Carlton class those were amazing weekends.

#7. Kristen and Meredith the showers, bachelorettes, and weddings. Although tightly confined to Scarlet O'Hara style dresses, best friends make for the best weddings!

#6. Brian Fest 2010 wasn't just an amazing time at Belmont Harbor, it was also the day Peter asked the Donald for my hand ... Donald asked the judge ... and amazingly, the Judge kept a secret for two months!

#5. I got a crush on my boyfriend all over again when he caught a big fish in Cape Cod in front of my eyes. Then I tried. I failed. And I beached myself and left the boys to fish. But I did eat all the potato-chip crusted fish that Peter caught all vacation long.

#4. Best Christmas ever in the city of steel - Love, laughter, family, feasting, football, and finding out I'd be an aunt two times over in 2011! 

#3. Gourmet dinners every night on West Street continued to be the best part of my day.

#2. I survived the Chicago Marathon on 10.10.10 in 3:50 in 86-degree weather and raised more than $6,000 for Ronald McDonald House Charities along the way.

#1. I had the best picnic ever, which turned into the best status update ever - Peter takes a knee, calls an audible and proposes to Lo on the most unassuming of days. Obviously I said yes.

Yes, it's been a fantastic 2010 and I have a feeling that 2011 is going to be even better!

Happy New Year!
Lo.