Eric and I had a lovely leisurely weekend. On Friday night we crashed on the sofa and watched three episodes in a row of Veronica Mars. That's how we watch TV. Mini marathon sessions...
Saturday was a beautiful day, and we went for a nice long walk along the lake, and sat down on a grassy knoll to enjoy the water and Chicago skyline. Then we took our books to a lakeside neighborhood and sat at a sidewalk cafe with an icy beverage and a light lunch. All very delightful.
Later that day, once back at home, the street started shaking, and so we went outside to join the neighborhood block party and talent show that was ensuing. One of our friends from church, Katherine, works for a community organization and spearheaded this mini talent show, featuring for the most part kids from the neighborhood. On display was art, baked goods, some rapping, some singing, some dancing.
But one of the most touching and humorous moments from the evening featured a couple of guys in our church, Chuck and John. They are somewhat mentally disabled, but lead pretty independent lives. They are in their 50's I'd say, and are the best of friends and roommates. Well, after watching act after act by others and giving enthusiastic applause, they announced that they, too, wanted to get up on the stage. And so it was arranged, and before you knew it, Chuck and John were in the limelight, holding the mic, and leading us all in a rousing rendition of "Take me out to the ballgame"! And everyone sang with. Even some of the rough neighborhood kids who usually show pretty a tough facade. It was pretty cool.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
Partial relaxation achieved!
Well, I did manage to relax somewhat yesterday, and pleased to report I did absolutely nothing on my previous list.
Instead, I went to the gym for a nice long workout, did a little grocery shopping (Whole Foods is kinda fun I think), snuck in some hugs and cuddles from Eric (who was working from home for the day), played a little Settlers of Catan online (yep, still love that game!), and READ. Yay for lovely reading, which I hardly ever get a chance to do. Courtesy of my buddy Li, I've been engrossed in Wicked, by Gregory McGuire. This is the book on which the absolutely fantastical, magical, enchanting and funny/tragic musical is based. So far it strays somewhat from the Broadway show (or is it vice-versa) and I'm more partial to the musical, but it still makes for great reading.
All in all a good day. It may have been marginally better if I'd been able to walk down to the lake and read my book there, but alas, it was a tad overcast yesterday.
Today it was back in the swing of things - at a client organizing/tweaking a kitchen, garage and master closet - but as you know organizing is still on my list of fun things to do.
Instead, I went to the gym for a nice long workout, did a little grocery shopping (Whole Foods is kinda fun I think), snuck in some hugs and cuddles from Eric (who was working from home for the day), played a little Settlers of Catan online (yep, still love that game!), and READ. Yay for lovely reading, which I hardly ever get a chance to do. Courtesy of my buddy Li, I've been engrossed in Wicked, by Gregory McGuire. This is the book on which the absolutely fantastical, magical, enchanting and funny/tragic musical is based. So far it strays somewhat from the Broadway show (or is it vice-versa) and I'm more partial to the musical, but it still makes for great reading.
All in all a good day. It may have been marginally better if I'd been able to walk down to the lake and read my book there, but alas, it was a tad overcast yesterday.
Today it was back in the swing of things - at a client organizing/tweaking a kitchen, garage and master closet - but as you know organizing is still on my list of fun things to do.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
A Day Off!
Wait. What's this? A day off - I don't have to work? Funny thing about having a flexible schedule and managing my own time - the white space on my calendar tends to fill up very quickly and before I know it life is tres trop busy!
But TODAY... today I have a day off. And I woke up brimming with ideas of how to spend it:
organize household paperwork
purge closet
research new ways of cleaning the hardwood floors (Murphy's Oil just isn't doing it for me, any other ideas?)
sort vacation photos for scrapbooking
build new modular shelf that just arrived to go with the office furniture
ironing
Oi.
I think I forgot how to relax.
But TODAY... today I have a day off. And I woke up brimming with ideas of how to spend it:
organize household paperwork
purge closet
research new ways of cleaning the hardwood floors (Murphy's Oil just isn't doing it for me, any other ideas?)
sort vacation photos for scrapbooking
build new modular shelf that just arrived to go with the office furniture
ironing
Oi.
I think I forgot how to relax.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Summer concerts
Summer in Chicago wouldn't be complete without at least one outdoor picnic concert. And I've happily been able to enjoy TWO so far!
One Saturday evening Eric and I meandered down to Grant Park in downtown Chicago to hook up with our friends Josh and Cindy, and we ate cheese and drank wine while listening to American classical music. Wonderful!
A couple of weeks later a few lady friends and I had a girls night outside. Feist was playing at Ravinia, and so off we went on the train just north of Chicago and staked out our spot on the lawn for a delightful evening of indie pop and girl talk.
Eric went and kept company with his friend Jason, who was left with his baby at home due to his wife being at Ravinia with us! Modern day dads. Gotta love it.
One Saturday evening Eric and I meandered down to Grant Park in downtown Chicago to hook up with our friends Josh and Cindy, and we ate cheese and drank wine while listening to American classical music. Wonderful!
A couple of weeks later a few lady friends and I had a girls night outside. Feist was playing at Ravinia, and so off we went on the train just north of Chicago and staked out our spot on the lawn for a delightful evening of indie pop and girl talk.
Eric went and kept company with his friend Jason, who was left with his baby at home due to his wife being at Ravinia with us! Modern day dads. Gotta love it.
Harry's Visit in June!
We had a lovely, much anticipated visit from my brother Harry in June, and he came and went far too quickly. He spent a week with us, then was off to Hawaii for 10 days, and then came back for 3 or 4 days.
Lots of fun was had - I kept my work schedule to a minimum while he was here so that we could enjoy the time together. Some of the highlights included going spending some time in downtown Chicago (he also spent a day there by himself, going on an open deck bus tour); brunching at Walker Bros Original Pancake House (rated one of the best places for breakfast on the north shore of Chicago, and one of our favourite spots); lunching at Tapas Barcelona (again, a fave eatery of mine in Evanston); dinner out with friends Drew and Dana at Cafe Bar Bar Reeba (yet another Spanish joint); lunch at Andies, a lovely Mediterranean restaurant not too far from us; and various other yummy places. Yes, we did make it to the Cheesecake Factory, and to Coldstone Creamery on a couple of occasions!
But we didn't only EAT during his visit :). Eric took a couple of Fridays off and one day we visited the Lincoln Park Zoo (Harry came all the way from Africa to gawk at lions), and another we took a day trip out to Shipshewana (Amish country).
This was a very interesting day, and Eric's folks were lovely enough to drive out from Detroit to spend the day with us, as it was kind of a halfway point between Chicago and D-town. It was the first time I've been to Amish country myself - prior to this the closest encounter I've had with Amish people was film class in the 12 grade when we had to watch "Witness" over and over and over again.
But we didn't only EAT during his visit :). Eric took a couple of Fridays off and one day we visited the Lincoln Park Zoo (Harry came all the way from Africa to gawk at lions), and another we took a day trip out to Shipshewana (Amish country).
This was a very interesting day, and Eric's folks were lovely enough to drive out from Detroit to spend the day with us, as it was kind of a halfway point between Chicago and D-town. It was the first time I've been to Amish country myself - prior to this the closest encounter I've had with Amish people was film class in the 12 grade when we had to watch "Witness" over and over and over again.
We had lunch in a cute little diner frequented by local Amish people, checked out an Amish furniture shop and chatted with the staff there, and also visited Menno-Hof, an anabaptist history museum. Fascinating - and I came away with an even deeper appreciation for the Mennonite story.
Another huge highlight of the trip was Harry treating us all to tickets to see the Broadway musical Wicked! This was the second time I've seen it, and it truly is a magical show. No pun intended. I could watch it over and over again - thanks Harry for such a wonderful evening! Even Eric came away having enjoyed it immensely, and he's not really a musical kinda guy.
It was also very special for us to have Harry come to Living Water a couple of Sundays, and to introduce him to many of our friends here. One evening we also had a little party at our place so he could mingle more with our friends (and I made a yummy strawberry rhubarb crisp, and spinach dip with produce from our first CSA delivery!)
Ah, and my recap of Harry's time with us wouldn't be complete without including the fact that we had HOURS and HOURS of fun playing Settlers of Catan!
All in all it was a great trip, certainly from our perspective, and we really enjoyed spending quality time with my big brother. Harry, we hope you come back soon!
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