Summer in the City

Last Thursday my friend Cary sent me a list of summer concerts that would be taking place in the city over the next three months. To my pleasant surprise, Better Than Ezra, a former favorite band of mine, was playing for FREE that very day at noon about three blocks from our office! Cary and I decided we needed to see a free BTE concert over our lunch break, so off we went. I love that I can do things like that--it's definitely a perk of working downtown.

So Long, Michael

A Squirrel Story

"The Finest Lace in the World"

Ravinia + Garrison + Sun and Breeze = Perfect Summer Night

Tonight I went to Ravinia with my friends Jessie and Eric to see Garrison Keillor put on A Prairie Home Companion live. We had a swell time feeling like we'd traveled back in time several decades. Garrison is such a throw-back with his folk band, storytelling, and singing of beloved American songs. It's like he's a living piece of Americana . I love it. The weather was gorgeous (and there weren't even any mosquitos!), a soft breeze played on the air, we brought along lots of yummy snacks, and the company was great. Ravinia is definitely one of my favorite places in Chicago.

Ode To A Bookcase

I've been searching for years for a big beautiful bookcase for my myriad books that are always scattered all over my apartment. Until last weekend I could find nothing to my liking that was below $1200 which is more than I pay for a month's rent and therefore not happening. I was lamenting this on my Facebook page when a friend responded that I should check out Nadeau (http://www.furniturewithasoul.com/) in Ravenswood. They are a huge warehouse of wood furniture that they sell to the public at wholesale prices. They get two or three shipments in per month from India and Indonesia and they never know what they're going to get, but each shipment generally has its own style. They do no advertising and instead rely on word-of-mouth to get business. So I'm passing this on to you now: this place rocks. I got a solid mahogany bookcase, painted white, six feet tall by four feet wide, for...wait for it...$250 (!!!). It was delivered this morning and is so awesome that whenever I look at it I get this little internal squeal of delight (the pic below doesn't do it justice--it looks much bigger in real life). So check out Nadeau--it's well worth the time.

Frosty Paws

There's nothing like a cold cup of dog ice cream on a hot summer night. :)

Farmer's Market

I ventured over to the Daley Plaza Farmer's Market in downtown Chicago on Thursday and was lucky enough to find quite a few edible treasures including these perfect English peas. I consider them both food and art.

Happy Wine

Quotable Kids

Tonight I had the pleasure of babysitting for two of my favorite kids, Brynn (8) and Aidan (4). Those of you who have followed this blog from the beginning may recall my blogging about their funny antics before. Tonight they made me laugh out loud several times with their goofy views of the world. The funniest part is that the have no idea they're being funny. Here are the ones I remember:

Brynn: Aidan, lets go practice a show in my room and then we'll come out here and do the show for Erin!

Aidan: Ok!

They wander off to Brynn's room where I hear nothing for several minutes, and then some bickering, which escalates to shouting. Aidan comes back out to the living room.

Aidan: The show's been cancelled. I was fired.

Aidan is spraying the living room window with a water bottle and then using a hand-held squeegee to wipe it down.

Aidan: Erin, you cannot touch this window when I am done cleaning it. That is because you do not want it to get redirted because then it would have to get recleaned.

The kids and I are playing the board game Trouble, which has a tag line of There's trouble in that bubble! Brynn has gone about ten turns without being able to make a move.

Brynn (resignedly): Man, there really is trouble in that bubble.

Aidan wins Trouble but Brynn and I keep playing to see who will get second place. Aidan gets irritated that we are now playing without him.

Aidan, pretending to read the box (he can't read yet): Guys, it says here that the game is over when the winner is winned.

I'm reading Aidan his bedtime story, a book about germs which he has obviously read before.

Aidan: And then there are these things called "ant bodies" and they kill the bad germs and keep the good germs. They are called that because they are little bodies and they look like ants. See? Ant bodies!

Hmmm...

Some of us like it when there's lots of laundry to do. It makes the floor a little more cushy. :)

The Shedd

One of my favorite Chicago museums is the Shedd Aquarium. I don't know if it's just because I'm such an animal lover or because it truly has some spectacular sights, but I never tire of going there. Last weekend I visited the Shedd with friends who were in town from Colorado, and it did not disappoint. My favorite things to see are the seahorses, giant sea turtle, jellyfish, shark eggs, and of course the mammals in the Oceanarium (snapshots below, though I failed to get the jellyfish in there). If you're ever in Chicago and you want to do something fun, fascinating, and visually stunning, check out the Shedd. It's good times.

Shark eggs--you can see them moving in there!

Graceful river otter

Old friends (and a cute baby!)

Last weekend one of my best friends from high school came to visit from Colorado with her husband and their ten-month-old baby. Diana and I met in orchestra in 7th grade, and became fast friends. We've managed to stay in touch all these years later, even though we haven't lived in the same state since we graduated from high school. I feel like one of the tests of a true friendship is when you can go for months without talking to someone, but then when you finally do talk you pick up right where you left off. Diana and I can talk for hours, and I feel lucky to call her one of my oldest friends. Neither she, nor her husband Jordan, had ever been to Chicago so we had lots of adventures while they were here. We went to the Museum of Science and Industry, the Shedd Aquarium, Lou Malnati's, Portillo's, and had a picnic on Northwestern's campus. But the highlight for me was playing with their adorable baby, Seth. As you can see, I didn't get a whole lot of pics of anyone or anything other than Seth, because really cute babies are kind of distracting in my book. He definitely qualified. It was great seeing good friends again, and I can't wait until the next trip!

Diana and Jordan outside the Shedd

Seth outside the Shedd (he was totally thrilled with the aquatic life, as you can see)

Seth and Diana watching the fish in the Shedd

One of Seth's favorite toys while he was here was my yodeling pickle. I can't say I blame him. It's one of my favorites too.

Jordan and Seth playing with the pickle

Though she was a very well-behaved girl, Clara wasn't quite as thrilled with the baby as I was.

This one's my favorite. Seth was just about ready to go to bed for the night. I can't resist a baby with a pacifier!

U of I

Below are scenes I hope to see frequently starting in January. These were taken during my visit a few weeks ago, on a perfectly gorgeous collegiate afternoon.