Question for those that are interested . . .

Well, may be in the future if we plan something were others from around IL can come into then we can try and make it a weekend thing (try to be inexpensive) and incorporate shopping or something. We have great shopping centers in this area and restaurants. Chris

Christine, What a wonderful idea! Although I'm very new at this site, I would love to meet everyone and talk and learn about their experiences. I had my app. w/ doctor Wallace in ElkGrove on Monday and everything went great. So the ball is rolling!!! I too have the Animal Dyson and love it! Every penny worth it! I don't have any cats or dogs...just a *****hilla and little girl and all the kids I babysitt and use it everyday! sCARY WHAT COMES OUT OF YOUR CARPET HUH. Back to your suggestion. Anywhere is good for me. If we don't meet at your house, I might suggest a coffe place or Panera Bread or something. The reason why is that if we are talking for a extended lengh of time, it's not fair to the waitress that may be able to turn a few tables in the the time that we are there. Just coming from an ex-waitresses perspective. I wouldn't mind bringing a tray of snacks and some drinks. How long have you been involved w/ Willow? Just asking because my bestfried was killed in 88/89' and he was very involved at Willow and his funeral was there. Also, my hair stylist goes there and I swear, they live there!!!! So...how did shopping go? Any new undies? I went shopping with my daughter Maddie today for her birthday party decorations. She is having 16 little 5 year olds to our house next week for her party. We are having a Hawaiian Party. A $171.00 dollars later.....I swear..We said that we would have a home birthday party, because it would be cheaper and we wanted a good old fashion birthday party for the kids and not be over board competing w/ all the mom's who has the best and most expensive party. Oh-well...Maddie is worth it! She is our miracle baby! Sorry to be so long winded...hope everyone is having a good weekend! We rented 3 movies and watched them tonight. Talk to ya later! Kim

Kim, thank you for the suggestion of Panera it is a good one. They pretty much are all over the place. I know of at least 2 in my area. One is in Elk Grove Village right down from ABMC hospital and another over by Woodfield. We will have to see how others feel about being in a restaurant and the outside people hearing us talk about our WLS. That is why I thought of my house because we all can be open. Thanks for the offer of a snack. I was going to ask others if they wanted to do that also. And of course pre ops are welcome also. I was going to ask a couple of girls that I know that had WLS but are not on this site. They are pretty private about their surgery but they might come if they new that their privacy would be kept. Dave and I have been going to Willow since 1983 and have been participating members since about 10+ years ago. We used to just about live there but our lives have changed and we let others step up to the plate and do the big long serving that we did. We decided to spend more quality time together. This probably evolved with both of us being PO WLS. Even though we were "together" doing our serving we were not really together. I will be going to Vickie Secrets at Woodfield for my fancy undie duds. I want to check out Nordstroms and Lord and Taylor while there. I refuse to go into Macy's since they did not keep the Fields name. I will not even walk through the store. I have to power shop because we need to be to a one year olds party at 4pm. How fun for your little girl with the theme of her party. Have you ever considered getting Oriental Trading Company catalog? It has all those theme party stuff that you can buy in lots and it is cheeper. Lot of fun trinkets for party favors and decorations. You can go on line to view their product also. Christine

Hi Chris! I'm definitely up for the JAW! I think it would be better at your house than a restaurant. It's too noisey and limiting. I would be willing to bring something as well. We could make it a sharing/donating of clothes that are too big if anyone is interested. Shopping with a large group maybe difficult. I love to shop but anymore than 4 people wouldn't work out. I don't have an allergy to pet hair. I can't do it on May 19th if you are looking at a Saturday. Lucy

May 19th is out for me also as my great nephew is getting married. I will tally up all the suggestions and post something later in the week I want ChristinaP also to see this and any others from the Chgo area that do not always post on the board. Chris

sounds great!! i vote for your house!! on a weekend

I am up for either day on a weekend and at my house if possible. Chris

Sounds wonderful Chris A Saturday or Sunday usually will work for me if I know about a week ahead of time. Would be happy to bring something to snack on as well. I live pretty closeby so your house is good as far as I'm concerned. Ronna

hey Chris ... I've been thinking about this type of thing for a long time!! I think this is great ... I even offer my place (nw Chicago) to do it as well (and we have another option in Oak Park) ... maybe we can do a revolving type thing? #1. Would you prefer to meet in a restaurant? Once in a while might be nice ... but it also might be nice to have a few people bring some samples of their WLS-friendly favorite recipes? #2. Would you like to come to my house? I am sort of centerally located for some. -- I have no problem with that ... I would even offer my house (I too have a cat though), and we have another option in Oak Park and Downers Grove ... maybe we can do a revolving type thing? #3. What day of the week is good for all? My schedule is pretty flexible ... at this point it looks like Friday nights might be best for me. #4. What time? early evening #5. What is your "life" schedule like, when would you be open to getting together? It depends on the day ... I work during the day during the week, so evenings or weekends tend to be best for me. Chris ... I am SO sorry to hear about your fur-baby ... I lost one of mine 2 years ago and I still miss that little critter dearly. Talk to you soon! Karyn

We can do an off/on type of thing once in a while. That would be great then we can incorporate some of the NW side people etc. DID YOU GO THROUGH WITH YOUR GB SURGERY? YOU HAD BETTER IF YOU KNOW WHAT IS GOOD FOR YOU!!! Chris