I’m splitting this weekend recap into three posts! My friend Jean and her mom Tuy visited this weekend so Jean could be a vendor at POP Cats in Chicago on Saturday and Sunday.

(I wonder if I should have changed the title from Weekend Highlights on these posts because I am so whiny and tired, ha? Not much highlighting going on.)

Saturday

It wasn’t snowing when I first woke up Saturday! I was relived and hoped it meant the roads would be decent to drive on.

I had learned my lesson from getting up early the two previous days and did not work out and just got up at 6:00 and started my day. The snow began but it wasn’t bad. Phew.

I wore one of Jean’s shirts to the show! I’m glad I bought it at home – they sold fast! I was also happy a large shirt was big enough and I did not need an XL.

I had oatmeal at the house with Jean and Tuy then got to Bobbi’s at 8:00 to drive to the train station. We could have driven one of our cars, but the train was easier. We were able to chat the whole way there (about an hour ride or less) and didn’t have to worry about traffic or parking.

My snis had sent a Starbucks gift card for me and Bobbi to use (thank you!!!!) so when we got off the train we got Starbucks (conveniently right next to the train station!) and donuts at Stan’s (they had a vegan one!). I was really excited to have a hot chai (it was sleeting) and a vegan donut.

We walked the ten minutes to POP Cats and were the second people in line. We talked to the people waiting ahead of us in line (Christine and John) and I really enjoyed them and gave them one of my painted rocks that I brought (me all morning – “why is my bag so heavy?” then remembering it had painted rocks and an umbrella and my water in it). We ran into them quite a bit during the show and we connected on Instagram after. They got there early to be first in line because they wanted to get tattoos from the on-site tattooist! (It was a good thing they did – they said the sheet filled up immediately!)

Jean had given us a great tip – she said the cat petting areas get super long lines and to go there first if we wanted to do that, so that is exactly what we did. We walked in and went straight to the cats. Ha. And we played with them for about 10-15 minutes then said hi to Jean (and left our coats at her booth – I was so glad we could do that). Her booth was already getting busy right after opening!

POP Cats is a lot smaller than CatCon, and felt much more manageable. They had vendors over two floors, and activities on both floors (art activities, cat petting/adoption), and food trucks in the courtyard. Bobbi and I walked the entire space in about an hour+. I told myself NOT to go crazy with buying random cute cat stuff and I did well(?) – I got myself a shirt, and some toys for the cats, oh… and a book and washi for me too, then a bunch of gifts for people. And Bobbi got me a cute pair of cat earrings!

I saw so many of my vendor friends! Jean (duh), Meagan and Dave from TacoCat Creations, Megan from Megan Lynn Kott, and Heather from Frau Meow.

One of the fun things about this show (that is different from CatCon) is that you are encouraged to bring your cat. We saw quite a few cats in strollers, backpacks, and front carriers, and talked to the cat parents and petted the cats when we could. People at these events are often so open, happy, and friendly – it’s such a good vibe!

I wasn’t super hungry around lunch time, but didn’t want to make the same mistake as the day before and not eat lunch, so we got food from the food truck (LaCocinita). I got the bowl with rice, beans, veggies, slaw, and green sauce and it went together so well and gave me a bit of life back (and I got a vegan chocolate chip cookie from the other food truck). I was doing okay and having a good time, but starting to feel a bit hollow from lack of sleep and down time. It was so crowded there we had to sit on the floor to eat but we just wanted to sit for a bit!

After we ate we went through everything one more time to make sure we saw it all, and got all the things we were still thinking about. Then we said goodbye to Jean and headed toward the train. We had a bit of time to kill so we sat at Starbucks for a bit. We both still really needed to sit down… even though we were about to on the train, ha.

The ride home was about an hour, so we had another hour to catch up! I’m so glad Bobbi came with me and we got to spend so much time together. We also made plans for her birthday next month while we were together, and we’re going to see John Wick 4 together this week. Woo hoo!

When I got home I gave the cats their new toys and put the things I bought away then walked on the treadmill a bit. I was excited for downtime and a bit of time to myself (Steven was at work). After my walk I got in the bath and was relaxing and feeling excited for a quiet evening… then my SIM card in my phone randomly stopped working (so I could not get texts or make phone calls or use the internet outside of wifi).

I couldn’t get it to work by taking it out and putting it back in. Steven’s SIM card worked in my phone, so I knew it was something to do with the card. The thought of having to go to Verizon was making me start to breakdown. I just wanted a chill night.

Thankfully, Steven took over, and was able to chat with Verizon through his account (I couldn’t log into mine because they texted me the verification code and I was not getting texts… and did not want to put his card back in just to get it). We found out I could do an eSIM card so we did that, but it took about an hour to figure all that out and I was just so fried.

We left to get dinner at El Famous around 7:00 and got back just after 8:00 when Jean and Tuy were getting back. We made tea and chatted with them about their day. I enjoyed hearing how it all went, especially from the vendor side of things. It just sounds absolutely exhausting! (Way more than the tiredness I was feeling and being so whiny about.)

I tried really hard to get to bed at a more reasonable time and was asleep just before 11:00. Progress?