Quebec City Cont.

Some more pics of our time in Quebec City...
It was so charming and delightful after one day that we decided to cancel our Montreal portion of the trip, and remain an extra 2 nights in the Old Port. Because our stay was now extended we truly felt no rush to get out and see things, so it was a relaxing holiday indeed.
Our days mostly consisted of sleeping in; grabbing a late breakfast (Oh.My.Word. the French toast at the hotel restaurant was literally out of this world and the very best French toast I've ever had or am likely ever to have again. Their poached eggs on a spinach puff were also delish!); wandering around the cobblestoned streets, popping into little boutiques, stores and art galleries; visiting a museum or two (the Museum of Civilisation was 10 steps from our hotel and we experienced a few very interesting exhibits on Gold, Temps Libre (free time) and one called Urbanopolis - the future of urban centers in the world.); going back to the hotel to rest, maybe watch a dvd, work out, have a bubble bath; and then out somewhere for dinner. Altogether too much rich food was consumed, and we only did brunch and dinner!
But it was lovely and it was good to have a little retreat in a magical world. At the same time I was ready to come home, so Friday we drove through to Toronto (where immediately upon entering our hotel room after a 7,5 hour drive the fire alarm went off, and we had to evacuate! Silly me didn't take a coat, so had to go outside in the snow wearing just a t-shirt! It was all sorted out within 30 minutes though and most of that I spent in the hotel lobby.) After our pit stop in Toronto we travelled back to Chicago via one night in Detroit, and were very happy to be home by Sunday afternoon. Holidays are lovely but they can't last forever!

Me and Eric with the Petit Champlain Quartier behind us - the oldest shopping district in North America.

Our hotel entrance - L'Auberge St Antoine. (Do not ask me why it is sideways, I tried rotating. I think it might be time for a new camera.)

The art gallery just outside our hotel, where I fell in LOVE with a few pieces (not shown; although that red/gold one is pretty neat.)

A Christmassy store front in the Petit Champlain, where we bought some delicious sounding Arugula and Brie Pesto! (If you know me, you know me and pesto!)

L'Echaude - a charming restaurant where we ate a couple of times...

Eric relaxing in the hotel lobby.

I'll be posting more pics to Facebook - so check them out there. If you don't have FB and want to see, let me know and I can send you a special link.

A Winter Wonderland

Quebec City has proven absolutely charming in the first 20 hours that we've been here. So much so that we decided to cancel our reservation in Montreal, and continue for the two extra nights over here, for a total of five.
We arrived after dark last night, winding down narrow little streets with French names like Rue Dalhousie, and Rue St. Louis, and pulled up outside of our hotel. After checking into our room, we decided to explore a little bit and find a place for a light meal. Not too far from the hotel was a little gourmet pizzeria, where our waiter was tres charmant and the food delicious. Already we were debating the pros and cons of ditching Montreal.
Snow fell throughout the night and we awoke to a winter wonderland, and realised too that our room had an unimpeded view of Le Chateau Du Frontenac - one of the most photographed hotels in the world and a World Heritage Site. We also had a large balcony but decided to keep the doors closed and the warmth inside.
Here are a few photos of our stay thus far:

Below - Rue St Antoine where our hotel is located (with the blue flag).

We had just had breakfast - yummy crepes with cranberry and orange buttery sauce for me and maple glazed apple French toast for Eric!
Our room - it's called The Domino Room. The hotel is built on an archaelogical site and has artefacts on exhibit throughout the hotel. We have some ancient dominoes at the door to our room, as well as in the bedside tables.

I'm a bathroom girl. I just love the walk-in shower and super deep tub!

And finally, the view from our room - Le Chateau Du Frontenac.

Vive Le Canada!!

I'm blogging from a comfy sofa in a corner of the lounge in the Auberge Saint-Antoine, located in the Old Port/Vieux Port of Quebec City. Possibly one of the most charming little corners of the world, Eric and I are spending 5 nights in this historical fortified city with its old-world architecture and cobblestoned streets. As I gaze out of the window, I see the snow gently falling, and the lights in the trees and lamp-posts contribute to my feeling like I'm in a winter wonderland.

We began our trip on Saturday, and spent a night in Toronto to break up the drive. Eric was intent on taking a photo of our entry into Canada. We passed through passport control with no problems - but why do I always feel as though I have something to hide and they may not let me through? :)

Surprise Surprise!! (Eric turns the big TWO-FIVE)

Eric turned 25 on Friday, November 7th, and I threw him a surprise party with the help of some friends the following evening.
He didn't have a clue until the day before and then he had an inkling - I don't know how! I was even stashing food at a neighbor's place, and all our gracious guests contributed to the feast so that suspicions wouldn't be aroused. I even thought I had the perfect ruse to get him out the house at the appropriate time - a Swedish massage at the Red Door spa in downtown Chicago at 5pm.
Friends started arriving at 6:30pm and we had a good crowd of about 35-40 people by the time Eric arrived home. Despite it not being a total surprise, it was still a wonderful evening and we were thankful to be surrounded by such great friends. We are truly rich in relationships in our little corner of Chicago.

On a political note...

The 2008 elections were very exciting. Admittedly I wasn't that interested until the VP picks were added to the tickets, but became engaged at that point. I don't consider myself democrat or republican, liberal or conservative - in fact, I think I'm pretty conservative on some fronts and equally as liberal on others, and mostly moderate on the rest :). However, my preferred candidate was Barack Obama, and I was really glad when he won! No one can claim to be fully conversant with all the platforms and issues and implications - however, for a number of reasons I felt he would make a better President, and some of the more articulate and thoughtful outlines of those reasons can be found here. There are 5 blog posts via the previous link - check them all out.
"Cautiously optimistic" is now the buzz phrase of the day...
Here are some pics from November 4th, 2008.

Yes, he decided to vote after all! Even though I cannot vote I wanted to participate in this historical election somehow, so I stood in line with Eric. We went later in the day and it was very quick. No 6 hour queues for us!

Some election night elation - we hung out with some church friends in their home to watch the results as they came in. We considered going down to Grant Park, but decided against the long hours of standing and waiting. Watching the crowds on TV though we definitely wished we could be there - and from accounts of friends who did get tickets it was a great experience!

Chapter 3 of Mom's visit

I am going to stop talking about how late my posts are. Let's all agree that life is busy, and better late than never!

The rest of Mom's visit was lovely.

It included a day trip to Shipshewana, Indiana (we went there with Harry when he was in Chicago) and after checking out Menno-Hof, the Anabaptist museum, we enjoyed a 'backroads tour' of Amish country. We visited a noodle shop, a cheese shop, a quilting shop, and even milked a cow at a milking farm (the friendly and fun Amish farmer called Junior helped us out!) and ate a scrumptious, very hearty, homemade meal in an Amish home. The Amish lifestyle is quite fascinating and it was wonderful to have the opportunity to talk with some Amish people. Unfortunately the dinner was served by the Amish family, they didn't sit down to eat with us, but perhaps that is a little too much to ask.

One day we checked out the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry which was very interesting and informative. A highlight was definitely the 'Smart House' - an entire energy efficient home built on the museum grounds in environmentally sound and sustainable ways. Fascinating and something to aspire to if Eric and I are ever able to build a house from scratch.

Seeing as how Mom's visit coincided with summer transitioning into fall, we spent a day at the Botanical Gardens, hoping to see the leaves changing color. So beautiful to be out in nature like that.

It would be remiss not to mention our outing to the Oprah Show! Wow, these tickets are practically impossible to get, but I happened to know someone who could hook us up. It was really interesting to see how the Oprah Show unfolds, what it's like to be in-studio, and we were so close to the living legend herself. The topic itself was... hmmm... SLIGHTLY awkward and for a mature audience only. Not my first choice of subject matter to be watching with mummy dearest, but ah well!

No visit to Chicago (or with us) would be complete with some culinary experiences - we ate at a few of our favorite spots, but Mom's favorite meal was at Walker Bros Original Pancake House. Yum!

Other than that we just enjoyed spending time together, going for walks, shopping, relaxing at home and seeing some friends (above pic with the Brewsters at Hopleaf Bar). It was sooo wonderful having Mom come to stay with us - we loved spending time with her. Thanks for making the trip Mom, and a big special thank you to Digby and Harry who were the generous ones to fly her out!

Delaney

Ahh, what a precious little bundle of joy!

Our friend Katie (originally from Living Water but now based in Bloomington, IL) was in town for a conference and I jumped at the chance to watch her little girl, Delaney, while mommy was in her sessions.

Delaney has to be one of THE most adorable little girls ever - with her huge blue eyes, golden curls, outstretched arms wanting hugs, and her mischevious smile. Pure heaven.

Chapter 3 is coming, but first...

I know I have to add some photos and share some more details of mom's visit with us in Chicago, and I've even downloaded the photos already. So there's nothing really stopping me except a nice big chunk of time.
But right now, I've folded 2 large hampers worth of laundry, emptied the dishwasher, created a new client contract, cleared the dining room table from miscellaneous receipts and mail, recycled the junk mail, and flopped down on the couch with a glass of Pinot Noir. We had a wonderful time with mom, but after seeing her off at the airport on Thursday I immediately went back into work mode, doing some PR work that afternoon, two long full days of organizing on Friday and Saturday, various social activities on Sunday, and more organizing today. And it's going to be another busy week. Phew, life has been really full and looks to continue on that same trajectory. I need to remember that if as an organizer I'm encouraging people to declutter their lives on a number of levels and gain some balance, I should be setting an example. And I think I do - I try to create buffer zones in my life and for the most part I'm good at that. But it's been a busy summer, with lots of (awesome!) guests which I wouldn't trade for anything, and now it's time to settle into a routine and figure out how well I'm juggling all these balls.

Mom's Visit - Chapter 2

The second week Mom was here she flew out to Detroit for 3 days to visit with Al and Patti - Eric's parents. I think the in-laws all had a good time together, and Mom's visit included a trip apple-picking, checking out the Canterbury Village, and having dinner with the Davids! Lovely to see familiar faces...

I worked while Mom was gone and was pretty busy. But for the most part I've tried to keep it lowkey and only work one or two days a week.

Last weekend, with all of us in town we took advantage of the crisp sunny Fall weather to go to Chicago's Green City Market - an outdoor fresh produce, cheese, meat, eggs, flowers, pastries (etcetera!) market. We dug into yummy crepes prepared on the spot, munched on freshly baked apple danishes, sampled yummy award-winning cheeses, and bought a few ingredients for my home-made salsa verde, such as jalapenos and white onions.

I am STILL having trouble with some of my photos deciding to rotate themselves. I don't know what to do about this. Apologies!

Mom's Visit - Chapter 1

We've been so busy that I haven't had time to blog about mom's visit much! But right now, after a Starbucks breakfast and walk along the lake, we're waiting for Eric to finish up some work (at the dining table!) and then we're going to go out and about together.

In the couple of weeks that Mom has been here so far we've had lots of fun, and just some good quality time together.

See pics above for an evening stroll for a coffee at Starbucks and along the lake; a visit to a fun little bakery in Lincoln Park (Sweet Mandy B's); and mom has done LOTS of reading while she's here too!

Ang and Brad and Seth were here!!!

Okay, so anyone who knows me knows that my two best friends in the world are the twins - Angela and Christine. I can't count how many times I've been somewhere, traipsing around the city, and said to Eric "how I wish Ang or Chris could be here with me..."

Well, finally part of that dream came true! Unexpectedly and with only a couple of weeks notice, Ang and Brad and Seth were able to come on a ministry trip to Canada and the States and decided to come via Chicago so they could spend a few days with us.

What a joy to have them stay in our home, and to spend wonderful quality time with them. We had some fun-filled days and the weather was perfect!

We ate at the Cheesecake Factory downtown....

We went on an architectural boat cruise (on the river and the lake). This is one of my favorite things to do with visitors, and I enjoy it every single time. What a great way to see some of the city and its fabulous buildings...

We went to Millenium Park and saw the Bean...

We went to the Fountain and splashed in the water. This is really cool to see - thousands of tiny pictures create the mosaic of a person's face, who eventually creates an 'o' with his/her mouth and water spouts forth... Brad was the only adult with his shirt off (typical South African male...); and I think Ang and I were the only adult women who got themselves soaking wet. Fully clothed still of course!

We also went to ColdStone Creamery, because who doesn't love ice-cream! Trust me, we also had our fill of it at home, where we stocked up on Haagen Dasz and Ben & Jerry's...

Coffee is always on the agenda, so while plenty of Starbucks was consumed, we also had a couple of stops at Peets Coffee...

One night Seth was very happy to stay at home with a babysitter, while the four of us went for a delicious dinner at Mon Ami Gabi in Lincoln Park. What a gorgeous evening that was, sipping Pinot Noir out on the terrace.

While they were here my mom finally arrived for her long-awaited visit!! The Sunday she arrived Ang and fam went off and had a blast at the Children's Museum at Navy Pier; and on Monday we all went to Ikea and shopping in downtown Evanston. I think Eric was really glad he actually had to go to work - he always says that if there was a purgatory, it would look like Ikea! Haha! Well, I think my mom and the Verreynnes enjoyed it - but they didn't enjoy tasting Root Beer afterwards - it tastes like Mentadent P toothpaste!

Tuesday morning arrived all too quickly and the Verreynnes started their road trip to Toronto. Our time together flashed by and now they are very much missed :(. I hope it's not another 8 years before they visit in the States!!