She behaved so well

One of my favorite things is when people remember me~ the dry cleaning ladies, wait staff at restaurants I frequent, my friends after a night of drinking.

Toward the end of my pregnancy I started stopping at the Dunkin Donuts on the corner of Canal and Roosevelt every morning on my way to school. In May their special was purchase one large iced coffee and get a donut of choice for free....a pregnant lady's dream. After about a week and a half of getting my large iced coffee and chocolate glazed donut, I walked in for my fix and the girl behind the counter said to me "Do you want your usual?".

I had arrived. I was officially a regular. When I left I excitedly called Andy to share with him my great achievement~ he found it a little more pathetic than exciting. I didn't care, it was pretty much the highlight of the month of May.

I tell you this because yesterday I "arrived" again.

Addison and I met Christie at the River West Cafe on the corner of Montrose and Kedzie. Christie and I have had several breakfast dates there recently and Andy and I have been going at least a few times a month since it opened. The staff and owners are always pleasent and welcoming, but they've never yelled "JESS!" when I've walked in the door. The food is good, the price is right and it is walking distance from home...works for me.

Anyway, Christie and I sat enjoying our Greek Skillets and bottomless cups of coffee. We caught up on what we had missed in each other's lives since our last phone call 12 hours earlier. It was a pleasent breakfast.

We finished our meal, and Christie went to pay...the owner then said to Christie...."Wow, she behaved so well today."
She noticed!
She remembered us from all the other times we came to eat...and all the other times Addison screamed through our meals. The point is she remembered us...we're regulars...we're part of the fabric of the neighborhood.....okay, maybe that's taking it a bit too far, but nonetheless, the gals at River West know us!