Lisa and I go way back. We were in the same church and friendship circles back in PE Then after I'd been in MI for 6 months as an au pair, she started au pairing for a family just down the road - almost - from mine, and we enjoyed many Detroit adventures together. We shared the next season of our lives together in London, where we were roommates for almost a year and a half. Me, Lisa, Kermit and the other kermit who unfortunately remained nameless.
Fun times.
I left London in 2002 so fast forward to July 2004 when Eric and I were in Cape Town for a day and I got to see Lisa again for all too brief a time. Fast forward some more, and Lisa married JP, and they moved to the Cayman Islands, and for their one year anniversary they made a trip stateside, and (yay!) stopped for a few days in Chicago before heading to Detroit, Seattle and Alaska, and then for one more day and night with us before heading back to the Island.
SO a brief summary of a really wonderful time of reconnection and reunion with this very wonderful friend:
Driving around exploring some neighborhoods; a little shopping at the Container Store (that was more for me and Li); strolling around Rogers Park; grabbing some Starbucks and heading down to the lake; and then relaxing and dinner at home. I burned the salmon (the basting has brown sugar so I always make the mistake of leaving it under the broiler a tad too long!) but they still said they liked it. And once the boys had gone to bed, some late night girl talk - reminiscing about single life in London and all the joys of marriage and how fabulous our husbands are.
They joined us at Living Water on Sunday, and then went to see Wicked downtown, and that evening we joined up again for a yummy feast at the Turkish restaurant Turqoise, followed by dessert at Ben and Jerry's ice cream parlor.
They returned yesterday at the crack of dawn after an overnight flight from the west coast, and once they'd had a chance to sleep, we went for a late lunch at Siam Pasta in Evanston, another stop at Ben and Jerry's, and a rather lengthy (!) coffee buying expedition at Peets Coffee. I think JP bought seven different types of beans. He was checking out the wheel and everything. If only our friend Drew had been there - he works there and probably would have enjoyed walking JP through all the different varieties. While JP pondered, sampled, and sampled some more, Lisa and I were delighted to find Peets selling ROOIBOS flavored cookies, made all the way in South Africa by Xhosa-speaking people.
First some pics at Siam Pasta:
Nonetheless, at the end of the day, it was absolutely the biggest treat and blessing to have Lisa and JP come to Chicago and to get to spend some quality time with them. I can't describe how much I enjoy having good friends and family from SA in my new neck of the woods, and having the opportunity to share my world with them here. The only thing that could top Lisa visiting us here in Chi-town is if she MOVED here. Hint hint. JP, remember we know people at Peets. We could totally hook you up.
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