Der Himmel ist Grau

Hiatus

2012-02-02T11:44:00.000-06:00

I don't pretend that there are very many people who read this blog, but I thought I would let my few readers know that I am going on hiatus for a bit. You might have noticed that I haven't published any posts for a few weeks, and this isn't because I'm lazy or I've been hibernating. I'm going through a rough patch, and there are some things that are happening in my life right now that I just can't post about.

Don't worry; everyone is healthy (except for Dad, but he's still kickin' it), I just have to take a break. I'll be back.

Tanooki Mario chart

2012-01-17T08:42:00.000-06:00

It's been a while since I did a crochet pattern, so here one is: Tanooki Mario from Super Mario Bros. 3 for original NES!

It's an all-cotton item again, so it could be used as a dish cloth, but I'm sure that washing would make the colors fade. Here's the chart:

As usual, if you are crocheting the pattern, you chain the same amount of stitches as the chart is wide, plus one for turning. If you are knitting, cast on the same amount of stitches as the chart is wide.

Super Mario mushrooms

2012-01-16T11:53:00.000-06:00

OK, so I am assuming that a few followers of this blog have been waiting for the cool Nintendo crochet stuff to come back. Here it is!

I did not create this chart, so I'm not going to post it here. However, you can find it on Ravelry and at this blog.

I've got some plans for some more items coming up soon, so keep watch!

Weekend of beer

2012-01-09T12:35:00.000-06:00

For Dave's 30th birthday, I set up a beer tour of Chicagoland.

Our first stop was Three Floyds, which is one of the most famed breweries (and brew pubs) in the Chicago area. Technically it's in Indiana, but I love Dave, so we went anyway.

The line was huge and we didn't get in to the brew pub before our tour. The tour was interesting, but we didn't get any samples to taste, so ultimately I would have rather not done the tour and spent some time in the pub instead, but what are you gonna do.

It was interesting to hear about brewing after we'd brewed and fermented our own beer. Dave and Tom, who tagged along with us to all of the breweries, bought some beers from the shop, so we will have our own tasting later (when Dave has any desire to drink beer again).

Next stop was Flossmoor Station, probably the most pleasantly surprising stop of the day. We met up with a bunch of college friends, one of whom ordered a sampling of every beer on the menu. Dave drank his favorite of the entire day here: barrel-aged brown ale. My favorite was also here, the blueberry wheat. We bought a growler of the blueberry wheat and Julie brought Dave a growler of a double IPA she found. Woot, woot!

Next was Revolution Brewing in Logan Square. I got into a bit of an altercation over our parking spot, but Dave was proud of how I stood my ground. At Revolution, I was unimpressed with their Witbier, but Dave liked the hoppy beers he tried. I ordered some pizzas for the table and we really started to amass a large following of people at this point. There had been probably 8 of us at Flossmoor, but by this point there were probably about 18 or 20 (mostly law friends and Dave's coworkers).

The last stop was Haymarket Brewing in the West Loop. At this point I had no more desire for beer, but I was really hoping to get a glass of their Bananahammock hefeweizen. Unfortunately, they stopped brewing it, and I wasn't a fan of the wheat beer I tried (or maybe I had just drank too much beer already that day). We met up with about 25 people, and it was really good to see everybody. Some people said that Haymarket was their favorite pub over Revolution, and others said the opposite. I'd probably do Haymarket for more of a happy hour event, and I'd do Revolution for a small dinner, I think.

After all that, the poor guy had to bottle our home brew the next day as he battled a hangover. And although the home brew hefeweizen smelled good, it looked like this:

Gross.

That is the half-fermented beer. Basically you cook the pre-beer mixture, which includes malt extract, water, and hops. Then you cool it and add the yeast, which eats the sugars over a period of about a week. Then you bottle with some more sugar and the yeast carbonates the beer in the bottle for about a month.

Burt stayed the night and helped us bottle the beer. Here he is, holding a siphon and sporting an incredible handlebar mustache.

We got about a case and a half of beer out of it, although I think some of that was wasted because we just weren't very efficient at bottling. Next time I think we could get more out of it if we used a strainer. After we do one more kit, we'll probably start using recipes from a beer brewing book we bought.

So that was our weekend - pretty much a beer bonanza. My dad is still in the hospital and we visited him both days, and I look forward to sharing our home brew with him when he gets out of the hospital. (He will be home long before the beer is ready, though!)

Happy 30th, Dave, from your 20-something wife!

Goodbye, 2011

2012-01-01T12:34:00.001-06:00

Several things converged yesterday to make it a wonderful New Year's Eve indeed. First, we went to the Robie House to finish our WrightPlus pass, 2011.

The Robie House in Hyde Park is Frank Lloyd Wright's ultimate expression of prairie-style architecture. It looks small from the outside, which is the whole idea - to blend in with the flat prairie. In fact, it is a three-story, 9,000 square feet house!

The long living and dining rooms were truly breathtaking. (Sadly, no photos are allowed.) They're still renovating a lot of the Robie House, but it is definitely worth a look. It's amazing to think that they almost tore it down a few times.

Next, Dave and I went to Top Notch Burgers in Beverly to finish out my top five burger list, which is part of my 30 before 30 list. Dave and I split a chocolate shake and each ordered a Mexican burger, which was amazing. I honestly don't know whether I preferred this one or DMK Burger Bar. I think if I had to re-write Mr. Dolinsky's list, I'd put DMK and Top Notch in the number one slot, then Kuma's, then Twisted Spoke, then David Burke's Primehouse.

After lunch, we visited with my parents for a few hours. I helped my mom make a hat for a cancer patient and we watched some episodes of "The Office."

Then it was time to go to the main event: the New Year's Eve party at the Girl and the Goat!

We met some really fun people and ate some tasty food, obviously. Another few people shared our little standing table and we got to chatting about all kinds of things. Here's a photo of me with one of them, Wanda, and Miss Stephanie Izzard herself!

Yes, I am wearing a Happy New year hat. They were all over the tables, I was just getting into the spirit!

Out of the tasting menu, here's what we got to try:

Roll with herbed butter
Fried oysters with egg salad and crisp capers
Scallop tartare with tomato soy, trout roe, finger limes, and crisp rice
Smoked tofu with shiitake broth and pickled slaw
Green tea pork belly with pork fat crumpet, lemongrass, kimchee, and sesame aoli
Kitfo (steak tartare) with piri piri and preserved lemon
Brown buttered squash soup with bourbon butter poached lobster and sherry gastrique
Goat rangoon with fennel and rosemary vinaigrette
Seared duck breast with rilette ravioli, avocado, and grapefruit
Chocolate-thai chill gelato with chocolate cake, peanut fluff, pomegranate, and Left Hand Milk Stout

There was also some kind of salad thing, but I don't recognize it from the menu list. I knew that this party would push my taste buds into new territory, and I was really proud of myself for trying the fried oyster and tartare. Actually, my favorite item was the steak tartare. I also had a cabernet, a mimosa-style drink, and a few glasses of champagne (which were distinctly apple tasting and delicious).

I'm glad we went, but some aspects of the evening were kind of disappointing. I didn't get a few of the items on the menu, most likely because the kitchen was flocked with guests that grabbed all the items before the servers could even bring them around. Although we liked our table mates, many of the people there were distinctly douche-y.

So, I don't know if we'll go anywhere next year, but I'd probably be more willing to go somewhere in the future if we actually had a table for the whole evening, and servers were bringing things out to us rather than having to fight for each dish. But you never know whether you will like something until you try it!

Happy new year, and welcome to 2012!

Best of 2011

2011-12-30T18:39:00.000-06:00

I thought I would try something new this year and do a recap of the best things about 2011. Here goes:

Best wine: Seyval Blanc from Valentino Vineyard

I am normally a red wine person, and I did have some fantastic wines this year. The beaujolais nouveau bottles I got from Just Grapes and Pastoral were really great, as were the pinot noirs I got at Vie and Mercat a la Planxa. But this wine was really surprising. It was fantastically crisp with wonderful apple flavors, and I definitely wish I could have tried more than just the tasting glass I had. It was wonderful.

Best beer: Sierra Nevada Kellerweis

I had this one at the Dairy State Beer and Cheese Festival in April. I usually do not like Sierra Nevada, but this one was fantastic. Other good runners-up from this year were the New Glarus Imperial Weizen, New Glarus Chocolate Abbey, and the Five Rabbits Holiday Ale (a hibiscus golden ale).

Best cheese: Rush Creek Reserve from Uplands Cheese

I loved this last year and I loved it again this year. It's a wonderful little soft rind cheese that you pretty much just scoop right out and eat as an appetizer or a meal. I put out a platter of apples, Triscuits, homemade apple paste, chutneys, and walnuts, and we just ate this thing for dinner. Wonderful.

Best meal: Girl and the Goat

We went here for our anniversary, and it was probably the best meal I had all year. It would have some fierce competition from The Publican and Pastis in New York City, but the Girl and the Goat was just so satisfying and wonderful. We're going there to celebrate New Year's Eve, so I guess that's the only thing that could still top our anniversary dinner before the end of the year.

Best new yarn: Amazing by Lion Brand

I know, I'm sure I should list some really expensive, really obscure yarn here, but this was just really good yarn to work with. I made a sweater in Arcadia, glovelets in Aurora and Glacier Bay, and a hat and glove set also in Glacier Bay.

Best canned recipe: strawberry red currant jam

This might be one of the best things that has ever come out of my kitchen, period.

Best new album: Helplessness Blues by the Fleet Foxes

This album is ethereal and wonderful. I'm still not sure whether I like it better than their first, self-titled album, but it was wonderful all the same.

If anyone can think of more categories, I'll fill them in, but my dinner is almost done and I'm reaching my creativity limit for tonight. Bis spaeter!

Oak Park visit

2011-12-29T20:46:00.000-06:00

I'm sure some intrepid readers would remember our trek to Oak Park for the WrightPlus house walk in May. The passes included free visits to the Home and Studio and Unity Temple in Oak Park, as well as the Robie House in Hyde Park. The passes are about to run out for the year, which means we've got to see this stuff quickly if we want to see it for free.

Today was the Unity Temple and Wright's Home and Studio. We've got reservations to visit the Robie House on Saturday.

The Unity Temple is a really amazing space. We almost felt like it was a maze just to get up to the upper levels. basically it was one huge room, which is funny because Wright always said he hated houses that were just boxes with smaller boxes in them. (I guess it's OK if you just have one really huge box.) I also really liked the light fixtures, which were little globes and squares.

In fact, everything in the Unity Temple except the light bulbs seemed to be square; even the skylights had some amazing art glass.

Here's Dave when we were on the upper level. It's really hard to get the whole place in one photo, but it was really cool to see in person.

The photo below was taken in the rear of the temple, where some office and fellowship activities take place. I love this space.

I didn't get any photos of the Home and Studio, unfortunately, since visitors are not allowed to take photos. But it was really interesting to see how his styles developed, especially (1) his love of the elaborate stencils and designs of Louis Sullivan, and (2) how his home became more and more "Wright"-like as it evolved.

For example, I'm not sure which came first, but his octagon-on-square drafting room was a tiny version of the same room in the Hillside school near Taliesin. That was a really cool room, as was his dining room, which exhibited his "room within a room" style of enclosing spaces apart from each other.

It was a really cool visit, and we're looking forward to the Robie House on Saturday!

Christmas down south

2011-12-28T16:23:00.000-06:00

We went down to see Dave's family for Christmas in South Carolina and Georgia this year. I took some fun photos and thought I'd share.

First, here's one of me with Dave's new little cousin, Meadow. She's asleep, just like I like babies. I posted this photo to Facebook and my friend's girlfriend asked him, "Did Val have a baby?" My friend responded, "No, she must have found it." Awesome.

I made croissants for Dave's family on Christmas morning, which were a huge hit, especially with my homemade apple butter. I also had to escape the cats on Christmas, so we went back to the hotel for a few hours and I took a nap. It was glorious.

After spending a few days in South Carolina, we went to Atlanta to visit Dave's uncle and his partner. They took us to see the Garden Lights exhibit at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, which I had never seen.

There were beautiful lights, floating snowflakes, and other light displays all around the garden.

I called this one "Manta Claws."

This was Uncle John's favorite part, and it might have been mine, too: a row of trees lit with green and blue lights.

Dave and I didn't get to the ZooLights show at the Lincoln Park Zoo this year, so this was a delightful substitution.

We returned today to a food-crazed bunny; even though my friend Jackie was feeding him every day, he apparently got a little lonely and decided to eat some things he shouldn't. I had thought our basement was relatively bunny-proof, but he got at a cow candle I've had since I was in high school (and ate off its ears, legs, and feet). He also ate an entire bar of Ghirardelli white chocolate. But he was happy to see us.

Sigh. Merry Christmas!

Hat and mittens set

2011-12-21T14:35:00.003-06:00

This week, I made a set of hat and mittens for an old coworker of mine at the Daley Center. The yarn is my favorite new stuff, Lion Brand Amazing, in the color Glacier Bay.

The hat is the Simple Hat pattern on the Lion Brand website - I love their free patterns! The mittens are these simple vintage mittens.

I gave the set to her at the Housing Court Christmas party today, and she loved them. I'm not sure if she tried them on - I hope they fit!

Top 5 things that make Christmas Christmas

2011-12-19T08:29:00.002-06:00

Another one from Kate Takes 5!

5. Christmas music

Call me crazy, but I do love Christmas music. Last year I had Christmas music on for about 5 hours while we re-painted our condo. I only got tired of it after they started repeating some stupid ones. But singing along to Christmas songs always puts me in the holiday spirit.

4. Christmas lights in the neighborhood

Especially colored ones, and especially the big, old kind!

3. Buying a Christmas ornament at the Christkindlmarkt

A new tradition for me is to visit the German Christmas market in the Daley Center plaza. It has a lovely tree, bratwursts for sale, and shops that sell crafts and ornaments. Most of it is too expensive for me, but I always pick up an ornament or two.

In past years, I have bought a pickle, a redbird, two mushrooms, a peacock, and a white squirrel. This year, I bought a garlic bulb and another small mushroom. Next year Dave wants a devil head. (Only the Germans.)

2. Decorating the tree

My sister and I always decorate the tree at my parents' house, and I'm happy to help Dave's parents decorate their trees on the years that we are at their house for Thanksgiving. My sister and I would make "I spy" games out of finding Christmas ornaments.

1. Christmas videos with my family

This is the big one, and it isn't Christmas without this. My mom taped a bunch of Christmas shows in the early-to-mid-1980s, and we watch it every year. The tape contains:

I can't even read Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" without picturing the characters as Scrooge McDuck, Mickey Mouse, and Jiminy Cricket. The best part are the commercials, too. They just did things differently in the '80s.

Sweater

2011-12-16T08:24:00.005-06:00

Well, I finally finished my first knitted sweater, and it fits!!

I'm holding the lower edge down because it still needs to be blocked, and no one wants to see my midriff. Also, I hope everyone enjoys my Christmas pajamas. I had to take the photo by myself because Dave was out of town this week. He returns tonight, but I just couldn't wait to show this one off!

I still have to weave in the yarn ends, too, but it is very close to being done. I will wear it to my Christmas party next week at the Daley Center! Woo hoo!

Mixed feelings

2011-12-15T08:28:00.002-06:00

I've been doing a lot of introspective thinking lately, and not to sound shallow, but that's something I don't do a whole lot in my life. I am usually pretty busy, I enjoy my free time, and I love my world.

But lately, things have felt different. I know that part of it is the seasons changing and not getting enough sunlight, as well as the holidays coming up and my schedule getting cramped. But there are deeper things at work here. My dad is sick and is probably going to have to undergo another stem cell transplant. My new job requires more effort than any job I've ever had, which is both wonderful and terrifying.

Then, other things happened this week to make me wistful for days gone by. A friend is getting into a new relationship with a guy she really likes, which is great for her. After over 8 years together, Dave and I are very settled in now - very little is new anymore - and even though I wouldn't trade our relationship for anything in the world, I remember the intensity of meeting him. Sometimes I would just like to feel that again, but you only meet someone like him once.

Also, I met up with an old Salzburg buddy of mine that I haven't seen since our study abroad 8 years ago. (I still cannot believe it has been 8 years, and I still haven't finished the damn photo album.) He was saying that it was the best time of his life. In a way, he was right, because it was a simpler time for me, and everything was new.

These days, I guess I feel like I am in a rut. Some of my friends that have kids have told me that they decided to have kids when they had gone about as far as they could go in their personal lives, with just the two of them. That sounds a lot like the rut I am in now. Obviously Dave and I will be taking some vacations, learning languages, decorating the home, and doing lots of other things before I decide that I am bored enough to have kids. Plus, when I mentioned this to him, I think he mentally pushed up the date for his vasectomy.

I can look through my blog posts from the last few weeks and realize that I do some really cool things in my life, and that much of it is new and interesting. I think part of the problem is that socialization doesn't seem to be enough to satisfy my extroverted side, but I don't have enough down time to satisfy my introverted side.

Going forward, I think I need to be more targeted about the way I spend my time. To that end, I have raised the minimum class size for my JoAnn crochet and knitting classes so that I will only teach classes that are worth my time and won't miss out on as many social events for classes. I need to keep exercising and running every week, because that makes me feel really good. I need to do romantic, spontaneous things for Dave, and vice versa. I need to finish some long-overdue projects.

And I need to learn how to say "no" to more things and make room both for myself and the people in my life that I don't see often enough!

Maybe these are some early new year's resolutions, although I'd hate to call them that. Let's call them Val's Resolutions for Continued Mental Health.

New Christmas tree!

2011-12-10T19:44:00.004-06:00

On my 30 before 30 list is to purchase a Christmas tree, and I figured I'm running out of time if I want to actually put it up this year. I know someone who was selling a small one, which is all I need, and I bought it from her today for a mere $15!

I hope everyone appreciates how utterly crazy this tree is. Yes, there's an owl and several peacocks, as well as Harry Potter, Dumbo, Cinderella, and the Care Bears. Awesome. Next year I want to get some matching garland for it.

So I've decorated for Christmas, and tonight I want to address the bulk of my Christmas cards. We've been busy all week, so I get the impression that the bunny has been happy to hang out with us tonight. However, I think he might be getting a little fat:

Jesus, look at this loaf of bread.

Also in good news, my iPod still works. I didn't post about this, but I washed the stupid thing in the laundry, and this is after Dave washing his (and killing it) a few years ago. I did the trick of putting it in rice for a few days, and it worked. It's charging as I type. Oh, second-generation iPod Shuffle, how I love you!

And I'll need it, because I'm scratching something else off of my 30 before 30 list next week: running a full 5k! You might think I'm crazy to do it in winter, but actually, running in the cold is much easier for me. I think I've discovered that I have a tendency to overheat, and the cold air helps. Whereas Dave keeps his hat and glove on for the whole run, I always take mine off about halfway. (Then I stuff them in my hoodie pocket and look fatter than I already am, but that's beside the point.)

Anyway I've been training, and I ran two miles today. Not very fast, mind you, but I did two miles without stopping. And next week with the iPod, I will win the day!

Wedding & croquembouche

2011-12-05T08:35:00.002-06:00

This was a weekend that I've been looking forward to for a while - not just because my friends were getting married, but also because I was in charge of making their desserts!

The happy couple was my friend Chris from law school and Lesley, who he had met on his law school study abroad in London. They did long distance for a while, then she moved to Chicago to live with Chris and work in the field of disability law and public interest. They got married at the St. Vincent DePaul cathedral in Lincoln Park, which I had never been in but was really beautiful.

I said that for their wedding they could have cash, a crocheted afghan, or I'd make their desserts. They picked Door #3, and Lesley requested a croquembouche. I was familiar with them from the Food Network: basically it's a tower of cream puffs drenched in caramel and is popular at Christmas and at weddings. Perfect!

You can read the whole story of the croquembouche here, but needless to say it turned out awesome!

The recipe was by Gale Gand and the only thing I changed was to add cinnamon to the pastry cream. Dave helped me out a lot and was happy to have contributed to my baking success. I got a lot of positive comments at the reception about how delicious the cream puffs were, and to be honest, they really were delicious. Good pick, Lesley!

This was the last wedding of 2011, which makes a total of seven. SEVEN. I took some time during their wedding to reflect on how quickly life changes, but you don't even notice it. I met Chris in 2006, when I started law school. We were both late to the same intellectual property orientation. If you'd told me then that I'd be making his wedding cake in five years, I don't know if I would have believed you.

And when I remind myself that I first met my law school friends FIVE YEARS AGO, it really blows my mind. It feels like I just met these people, yet they have been a part of my life for almost as long as I've been married to Dave. Crazy world.

Wright in the City

2011-12-02T08:10:00.005-06:00

When you are hanging with me, you get hooked up with free tours of the Rookery Building's Frank Lloyd Wright-designed lobby. With complimentary champagne. Because that's how I roll.

Oh, and carolers.

To get more reasonable tickets to the Wright Plus house tour in Oak Park this spring, I became a member of the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust. This means I get notifications about cool events like this.

I have always loved the Rookery Building, even before I knew that the lobby was designed by Mr. Wright. I used to work in the Clark Adams building, which is right behind the Rookery (and was also designed by Burnham & Root), and I actually got to walk up the forbidden steps of the lobby when I had a delivery to U.S. Bank. This time I got to go up the steps again, plus more, on a free tour of the Rookery lobby mezzanine.

You can see that the lobby is very ornate, classy, and very different from Wright's usual prairie style design. This is basically an homage and update of Root's original Victorian-style lobby. I also think it's a kind of reversion to his old days as Louis Sullivan's protégé. Either way, it's one impressive lobby.

One part of the original Root design survives, and that's the stairway from the second floor to the third and above. You can see that it's much darker, although the flower motifs are reflected in the banisters in the main lobby.

In fact, here are some of Wright's modified flower motifs in the staircase that I'm standing on!

It was a lovely tour and evening with Dave; we drank our champagne, ate some desserts, and bought some Frank Lloyd Wright-patterned wrapping paper for a pet decorating project of mine, which I hope to carry out this winter.

What a good introduction to the holiday season, and to December! Wright on!

Top 5 cartoon characters from my youth

2011-11-28T08:55:00.003-06:00

Another one from Kate Takes 5! I think it's pretty obvious which decade I grew up in.

1. Rainbow Brite

2. She-Ra

God, I wanted to be She-Ra.

3. The Get-Along Gang

OK, so this is a group rather than a single character, but come on, they're the Get-Along GANG.

4. Grumpy Bear

Love the ensemble of bears, but there's just something about Grumpy Bear.

5. The Wuzzles

Another group, but hey: alone they're science experiments, but together, they kind of make sense.

Thanksgiving!

2011-11-26T09:48:00.003-06:00

We had Thanksgiving dinner at my parents' house this year, so we drove down to the southwest suburbs for a couple of days.

My mom and I double-teamed the dinner; she did most of the dishes and the turkey, and I made swirled mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce.

Look at us in our cute aprons!

It was great to relax for a few days with them, as I got plenty of conversation, catching up, and knitting done. We also helped put up the Christmas tree, which I always love.

This year, I'm thankful not only that Dad is still here with us, fighting leukemia, but that he was at home for the holiday. He has needed some blood recently and might have been hospitalized, but instead he got to be home, resting in his chair, talking with us and having meals at home.

I have a lot to be thankful for.

New hat!

2011-11-22T08:23:00.003-06:00

I finished a knitted hat yesterday!

This is based on a pattern handout from my advanced JoAnn knitting class. It's two strands worked together, with ribbing on the lower part and stockinette stitch on the upper part. (Not like you can tell, with how crazy this yarn is.)

I plan on making some mittens and maybe a scarf to go with this - I certainly bought enough of the yarn!

I am still working on my sweater and have the back panel almost finished. I was knitting on the train today, but I forgot my stupid pattern at home. Oh well. Dave was able to get the pattern up for me on his phone and I worked on it anyway.

Today promises to be a quiet day at work, which is probably good because I'm exhausted from a very nice run. Jai ho!

Cro-strations

2011-11-21T08:31:00.003-06:00

I have probably mentioned this before, but I am a part-time crochet and knitting instructor at a local craft superstore. My store got a call that an elderly woman in a local-ish nursing home wanted to take a private lesson, and I said I would be able to do that.

I should preface this story with the fact that I have always wanted to volunteer in a nursing home to teach knitting or crochet. My grandma was basically a shut-in for the last few years of her life, and I know that crocheting was her great lifelong hobby and kept her busy.

None of it went like I had hoped. When the woman called me, she said that she was disappointed that I had a full-time job and couldn't give her lessons during the week. I was able to meet with her the following night, but she complained about everything and was very rude to me. She hated the yarn color, she complained that I am not more available (despite the fact that I was able to meet her the day after she called), she complained about her progress, and complained that it was late. I am sure she is having some issues with dementia, but sometimes I know that she repeated the same questions simply in the hopes of getting the answers she preferred.

Just to get the hell out of there with my sanity (and dignity), I gave her a ball of yarn and a crochet hook from my own personal collection. I did not accept any money for the lesson. On my way to an event on Saturday night, I dropped off some yarn that was more to her color taste. I thought I had basically done my duty.

Then she called me yesterday and left a message that she had forgotten everything and that she needed me to come over again that day. I called her back and told her that I could not come over on such short notice, particularly since she had told me she was not available Sunday, and so I had made other plans. (I also had had four crochet and knitting lessons this weekend.)

She called back and left a message while I was out on a run. When I listened to it, I realized that she was either completely in hysterics or she was trying to elicit my sympathy. "VALERIE? PLEASE COME TOMORROW. PLEASE COME TOMORROW. I'M DESPERATE."

OK, so at this point I was a little freaked out. It was late, so I didn't call her back. Instead, I was treated to a call at 6:40 a.m. today. I must have sounded pretty pissed, because she asked, "Are you angry with me?" Uh yeah, maybe because you're calling at an ungodly hour about something that is in no way an emergency, and because I can't come to you in several hours' notice, and because you are freaking the hell out of me right now?!

I feel bad. I really didn't mean to lose it on an old lady. I think I kept it together pretty well, but I told her that the situation is not working out for me. She needs someone who can give her more attention and who can visit during the day on short notice. I am already feeling overwhelmed with the classes I'm teaching now, which were scheduled months ago, let alone throw in several lessons per week with a rude, mean old lady who lives +30 minutes from my house.

I already reached out to some networks to try to get someone to come help her, but honestly, what am I supposed to say - please, will someone re-teach this mean, unappreciative, demanding lady how to crochet? And will you be available to her on two hours' notice, multiple times per week? Talk about a tough sale.

Anyway, I'm not sure why I posted all this in the blog - it's kind of an uncharacteristic post for me, as well as overly long and ranty. On the one hand, I think I just needed to rant. On the other hand, I do feel bad, because I told her I'd help her, I just had no idea how much help or how demanding (or negative) she'd be. Some of that is not her fault, because I am sure there is a little dementia mixed in there, so that makes me feel bad. But on the other hand, there is really nothing I can do - I can't keep coming to her place multiple times per week. She clearly has expectations (reasonable or not) that I cannot meet.

I suppose this experience has taught me a few things, and writing this out has helped me identify these in my brain. Number one, my time is valuable, and if I'm going to volunteer to teach crochet in a nursing home, I need to do it at one nearby and to focus on ladies who will get something out of it and make me feel good about why I'm doing it. Number two, I need to know when to say no, even if I feel bad or like a failure. This lady's problems are bigger than me, and I'm not doing myself any favors by stringing myself out about it. I always try to help, so it is really hard for me to toss my hands up and say, "This is not my problem!" but that's a skill I need to cultivate.

Another 5 meme - gadgets

2011-11-20T14:05:00.003-06:00

Another one from Kate Takes 5: What are your top 5 gadgets?

I almost didn't participate in this one, because there are too many gadgets that we really need these days - computers, cell phones, etc. I will go for some non-typical ones.

1. Hand mixer

I just bought this one (in chrome) to replace the old Sunbeam one that my grandma bought me as an engagement present (in 2004). I worked that thing so hard that it recently started making sad funny noises.

2. iPod Shuffle

I still have my classic clip-on shuffle, which I mostly use for working out.

3. Chest freezer

OK, this is more of an appliance and less of a gadget, but what else would I do with tons of CSA meat and veggies, plus about 150 pastry shells at the moment?

4. Wine corker

You can really tell that someone has just moved if they don't have a wine corker. My friends and I have been so desperate in such a situation that my very resourceful friend Jackie has stabbed her way into the bottle with a knife. Through the cork. Yikes.

5. Kitchen scale

I was getting to the end of this list and was having trouble coming up with a final one, and even though my list is already kitchen-heavy, I have to put this on there because it has so improved the way I cook. What is two pounds of potatoes? Now I know! And I just do not think that I would have been able to can as prolifically as I do without it.

* Some astute readers of my food blog may remember that I did just purchase a food processor, but I do not think that I use it more than the other ones, and I was able to go without it for so long.

Beer tasting & dinner

2011-11-19T23:39:00.001-06:00

Tonight Dave and I attended a beer tasting / Czech-style dinner organized through the Chicago Beer Society. (I knew those memberships would come in handy...)

Basically we showed up at Klas Restaurant in Cicero, drank beer in a blind tasting, took notes, and voted during dinner. I will reveal the winners, but first let me tell you about the beers and food!

The beers were labeled as follows:

Smoked porter
Belgian dubbel
Raspberry ale aged in wine barrels
IPA
Oatmeal stout
American hoppy stout
Premium Czech lager
Hibiscus Belgian golden ale
Baltic porter
Double IPA
American amber ale
Wee heavy
Russian imperial stout
Copper lager

I was focusing more on getting the names down and less on actually taking notes. For example, my favorite beers simply have a smiley face, something that embarrassed me a bit when I showed others my list to refresh their memories about the labels of each beer. Others just say "hoppy" or "very hoppy." Under the Wee Heavy, #12, I simply wrote, "JESUS." I am kind of proud that I thought #7, the premium Czech lager, tasted like fried barley oats. Mmm.

Dave's comments were a little more in-depth and much more impressive. "Distinct oatmeal flavor, slightly spicy." "Complex, smoky, thick, almost a light rye." "Strong, deep finish. 'Off' flavor."

Show-off.

I voted for the following for first through third place: #8, #2, and #14. Dave voted for #14, #13, and #2. He was sure that the copper lager, #14, was the Dynamo Copper Lager from Metropolitan Brewery. I had a hunch that the premium Czech lager might be Budweiser (not that Budweiser, this one). But we had to wait.

Dinner was delicious. We had goulash, tossed salad, roast chicken, smoked polish sausage with sauerkraut, Wiener schnitzel, roasted baby red potatoes with rosemary, green bean almondine, bread dumplings, and kolacky. Kind of a smorgasbord of Central European deliciousness.

We got to talk to a lot of our beer-loving brothers in arms. The event was probably 2/3 guys, 1/3 women. We talked to two guys that had bottled their own home brews this very day, including one raspberry jalapeno beer. Sounds interesting! I had a couple of beer buddies that I'd compare notes with, and one guy even told Dave that I was the "ideal woman" because I'd come to a beer tasting with him (and actually enjoy it). Aww.

The people we sat across from at dinner were on a date and complained about each other to us, separately. The woman said she liked wine - white zinfandel only, bleargh - but said she doesn't like how much the guy drinks. Umm...we're at a beer tasting, lady. Do you think maybe you're preaching to the wrong choir?

After dinner, they revealed not only the identity of each beer, but also the winners of the blind tasting vote.

Peg Leg Smoked Porter by Haymarket Pub & Brewery (now called Cease and Desist Smoked Porter)
Nommo Dubbel by Boulevard Brewing Co.
Lolita Raspberry Ale by Goose Island Beer Co.
Midway IPA by Goose Island Beer Co.
Poet Oatmeal Stout by New Holland Brewing Co.
Rise American Hoppy Stout by Revolution Brewing Co.
Czechvar Premium Czech Lager by Budweiser Budvar Brewery
Holiday Ale Hibiscus Belgian Golden by 5 Rabbits Cerveceria
"Dan" Baltic Porter by Lakefront Brewing Co.
Hop Slayer Double IPA by Wild Onion Brewing Co.
Red Seal American Amber Ale by North Coast Brewing Co.
McFinn's Wee Heavy Scottish Ale by Mickey Finn's Brewery
Big Eddy Russian Imperial Stout by Leinenkugel Brewing Co.
Dynamo Copper Lager by Metropolitan Brewing Co.

So, Dave and I were both right about our guesses. I was really glad I tried everything, because a lot of them were beers I never would have ordered in a restaurant. All of them rated highly on the beer rating websites, which is not surprising because these people really know beer.

Overall, the first place was tied between Leinie's Big Eddy and Revolution's Rise Stout. Third place was the 5 Rabbits Holiday Ale, which was my favorite. (I didn't link it above because it has not yet been released.) I am going to look out for that one at my local liquor store!

Sweater in progress

2011-11-16T11:02:00.002-06:00

I thought I'd post a progress photo of my sweater, and it seems to be going pretty well!

I really like the colors, although they are a little darker in person than this photo shows. I am almost half-way up the back!

Knitted glovelets

2011-11-15T08:26:00.002-06:00

I've been obsessed with knitted, fingerless gloves lately. Here are some of the ones I've made:

This was the first pair, in Lion Brand Amazing yarn. The color is Aurora. I love this yarn because it slowly changes color and has really vivid accents.

My next two sets are also Lion Brand Amazing yarn, but the color for both sets is Glacier Bay. When you see them, you will be surprised that all four came from the same yarn, same dye lot.

The above set is for a coworker and the below set is for me:

The pattern is from the Knitting 102 class running right now at my JoAnn store.

I use double-pointed needles, size 8, and cast on 39. Work in a K2, P1 rib pattern for two inches. Add a thumb hole by casting off two stitches in one row, then casting on two stitches in the same place on the next row. Work until the piece measures 8 inches total.

Cornucopia

2011-11-13T21:38:00.002-06:00

I've got some great yarn project photos coming up, but I thought I'd post something fun that I finished for my fall decor:

This is a felt kit that was kind of labor intensive. The kit comes with the felt pieces, sequins, and patterns. You have to cut the felt pieces from a template, sew on the sequins, sew the pieces together and stuff, then sew the whole thing together.

It is the first one of these kits that I've made, and it took me a few months, so I don't know if I'd do another one unless it was really cute like this one. But look, it looks just like the photo on the kit!

I admit, I did use hot glue to assemble the finished pieces, but other than that it was all sewing. My goal was to finish this thing by Thanksgiving, so I'm happy!

I'm back (plus five)

2011-11-07T15:16:00.004-06:00

Anyone who follows my blog may have noticed that I haven't posted much in a while, with the exception of documenting my New York trip. Which I did after-the-fact. I plan on remedying this soon with more crochet patterns and knitting projects!

For example, I just completed two sets of fingerless gloves that I will post about soon, and I'm starting on my first sweater ever! (Well, first adult and non-cardigan sweater ever.) I'm still in the gauge swatch phase, but I will be getting going on it soon.

I also have some more chart projects that I need to work on and post. Looking at my Ravelry following has really bolstered me on this one - almost 200 people have favorite-d my Pac-Man dish cloths and my leapfrog scarf, which is pretty cool. More is on the way.

For now, I wanted to pass on a meme that I saw on another blog. On Kate Takes 5, the author posts lists that you can re-post. This week's was Top 5 Famous Folk I Used to Fancy. Here are mine.

5. Val Kilmer

When "Batman Forever" came out, I didn't even know it was the same guy from "Willow." But I was hooked. P.S. This dude has not aged well.

4. Brad Pitt

Obvious.

3. Tom Cruise

What can I say, these were the days before Oprah's couch.

2. Richard Gere

I had a huge thing for him in 8th grade until I realized the dude was already 50.

1. Leonardo DiCaprio

OK, so maybe I still kind of fancy him.

NYC: Day 5

2011-10-24T21:06:00.004-05:00

For our last day in New York, we had Magnolia cupcakes (we split a chocolate and a red velvet), a black and white cookie, and an apple. I think that's pretty fitting.

And speaking of typical New York, our last day also included our long-awaited Statue of Liberty tickets!

I should first mention that the subway was epically late due to a derailment on our line. We fought our way onto the platform and after about nine subway trains went by, Dave finally managed to squeeze onto one. I made it about one or two trains later. We arrived at the dock about an half an hour after our planned departure time, but luckily they allow you to use your ticket later than scheduled. Because I had bought reservations, we also got to breeze past the HUGE line. I like to think of those people as "steerage."

On our way to Liberty Island, where the Statue of Liberty sits, there is Ellis Island, where the immigrants were actually processed.

We didn't get off here because the subway fiasco ate into our time, and there was no way we'd make our plane if we had disembarked at Ellis. Nonetheless, I'd like to try to learn more about my family history and actually look up some people the next time we're in New York.

I expected the Statue of Liberty to be touristy and hokey, but actually she was even more beautiful than I imagined her. I really don't know if any of my relatives came through Ellis Island, but to see the statue is to feel everything that America represents and promises. It may sound stupid, but I got a little choked up.

We arrived at Liberty Island and got our asses in line for the tour. Out of the thousands that they grant island access to each day, only a few thousand get to ascend the pedestal, and out of those few thousand, only 240 get to go all the way up to the crown. You had better believe that Dave and I were two of those lucky few!

We had to put everything into lockers except our cameras as a safety precaution. Our tickets included audio tours of the museum, which showed the various designs that the statue could have followed. The museum also contained some pretty great propaganda posters that featured the statue.

Then it was time to make our ascent. The people right behind us were French and I actually got to speak to them a little bit to explain when the tour began. Pretty fitting, I think, to be inside a French Statue representing the beauty of America, speaking French with some fellow tourists!

The climb was 8 stories of pure hell, I'm not going to lie. This is not because I was out of shape (which I kind of am), but because after two or three stories, the climb turns into VERY narrow spiral staircases that are built quite literally for a tiny immigrant worker in the 19th century. Val is big, very big, by comparison, and does not appreciate heights. But I made it up anyway.

There's me in the crown, and you can see the slits behind me. Pretty cool! The crown will actually be closed from the weekend after we visit until a year or two. This is to make some repairs and to install the torch camera. I felt pretty lucky that we got to make the ascent before they shut her down for an indefinite time.

The descent was even worse, since you can really see how far you will fall if you slip. The people around us could hear a colorful array of cuss words coming from me; hey, maybe they thought I was a real New Yorker!

Actually, I should take a moment to point out that Dave and I really felt at home, personality-wise, in New York. Everyone jokes that New Yorkers are kind of neurotic, beaten down, grumpy, etc., and Dave especially fits that description. And I certainly cuss enough for anyone. Plus, we both tried to dress nicely all weekend, so we actually were mistaken for New Yorkers many times. That was nice, because I really do try to blend in when I travel.

We made our flight without a problem, and we even got a nice view of the island on our way out.

You can't see too much, but Manhattan is the Illinois-shaped mass with the big lake in the middle - that's the reservoir in Central Park from our first day.

I really loved New York, although I have confirmed my previously held belief that I could never live there. I would definitely like to go back, especially to see Brooklyn and some of the Manhattan sights that we didn't get to explore.

When we came back to Chicago, it really did look tiny, as my old judge had said it would. Now when I walk around the Loop, it doesn't feel as big as it once did. We want to watch some movies that feature the sights we saw, and now I really understand why so many movies and shows are filmed in New York. The whole place feels like the set of a movie.

"We'll turn Manhattan into an isle of joy."

NYC: Day 4

2011-10-23T21:41:00.005-05:00

We began this day in glorious fashion with breakfast at Pastis, an uber-trendy food spot in the Meatpacking District. I got regular eggs benedict with tea, Dave got eggs a la basquaise with coffee. We also split some spinach, simply because I felt we had not been eating remotely enough vegetables on this trip!

A block away from Pastis is the beginning of the High Line, which is a section of elevated rail that New Yorkers have turned into a long park. It goes under buildings, over streets, and it even has its own restaurant. It was a very unique experience and I hope that New York continues to expand it into more track.

After the High Line, we decided to head down for a stroll through Greenwich Village. There, we bought cupcakes and a small cheesecake from Magnolia Bakery, which apparently began the whole cupcake craze we're still experiencing. On our way to Washington Square, we walked by the street and townhouse where Carrie Bradshaw allegedly lived in Sex and the City. Dave felt a little ashamed being there, as did I, but what can you do. It was right there.

After we visited Washington Square Park and got some Cuban pork sandwiches at Favela Cubano, we decided to try our luck again and try to fit in the Museum of Natural History before closing time. And man, were we glad that we did.

We sprung for the tickets that included a video in the space orb thing, and we visited my favorite - the gem room - and Dave's favorite, the dinosaurs. They had some really wild fossils, including a brontosaur, a prehistoric turtle, a mastodon, pterodactyls, a t-rex, prehistoric sloths, stegosaurs, hadrosaurs, triceratops, and a really weird thing that was apparently a prehistoric version of an armadillo.

We went out of our way to try to fit in the Easter Island head, but it turns out that it's not even a real, so unfortunately we missed the gift shop before closing time. Boo.

Time for another walk through Central Park...

We decided to put our names in for Serendipity 3, which is famous for its frozen hot chocolate, as well as just for being famous. While we waited, I paid a visit to the over-sugared Dylan's Candy Bar, a sweet shop owned by Ralph Lauren's daughter. There is even a portrait of her in jelly beans. I didn't buy anything, though.

We finally got in at Serendipity, where we ate some so-so food and had a delicious dessert. I wouldn't wait in line for this again, though. I think people just like the idea of eating at a place where famous people have eaten. The shake at the Shake Shack was better!

And on our 30-block walk home, I should mention that we stopped at a small Zabar's location, where I bought a $4 black and white cookie. Dave laughed at me, but I said, how can I leave New York without eating "two races of flavor living side by side in harmony?!"

NYC: Day 3

2011-10-22T21:13:00.011-05:00

Well, I would like to think that I am usually pretty prepared for trips, but apparently I somewhat dropped the ball on this one. This was a totally open day, and we decided to go down to the Financial District to see Wall Street, the World Trade Center, and the Brooklyn Bridge. Well, that's all well and good, but apparently the World Trade Center memorial is not yet fully completed and you still need tickets to see a preview of it. So we didn't get in there. Oh well.

We did get to see Trinity Church, a very old church that lies between Wall Street and the trade center area. Wall Street is very cramped, but you can still get a view of the New York Stock Exchange facade. They aren't doing tours for the public at the moment, and the security seems pretty tight. I'm glad we decided to do this on a weekend so that we weren't in the way of people who were actually doing, you know, work.

We stopped for some omelettes and hash browns, then headed to the start of the Brooklyn Bridge!

I would count the bridge on my favorite architecture of Manhattan if it were actually on Manhattan, but those beautiful arches are in the middle of the East River. We walked out about halfway, fighting tourists and gawkers the whole way.

It was interesting to see the island of Manhattan from a short distance away. I got a shot of the Chrysler and Empire State buildings, but they were pretty tiny from my vantage point. From the middle of the bridge, you can also get a nice shot of the Statue of Liberty in the harbor.

When we returned to Manhattan, we walked up through the Financial District and up into other neighborhoods. I saw the court houses, both county and federal. I bet all the law firms are lurking somewhere nearby.

Chinatown is just a short jump from there, as you can see from this photo with downtown in the background.

Chinatown was intense but cool - we saw lots of crazy fish and dried roots for sale, including about a dozen types of ginger. We also walked through Little Italy, although it was pretty disappointing. No restaurant looked particularly authentic, especially the one with the Asian woman in a space suit as hostess. (Seriously, what is that about?) There was a ravioli shop that had been around since 1924, but we weren't hungry.

From there, we headed west toward SoHo. I had heard that it was fun to browse the little shops there, and we were not disappointed. I bought some tea from Harney & Sons, as well as some stationery from a cute shop.

Then it was up to the Flatiron District for, you guessed it, the Flatiron Building. I love this building, and not just because it was designed by a Chicago architect. The building overlooks Madison Square Park, which is host to the original Shake Shack. The line was too foreboding to brave, particularly since we had decided to try to fit in the Museum of Modern Art before it closed for the day.

We did indeed make it to the museum, which was Dave's favorite so far. I actually didn't know that the museum housed Van Gogh's Starry Night AND Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon AND Dali's The Persistence of Memory. Wow.

We walked up to the Upper West Side for dinner at Gray's Papaya, which sold us some tasty hot dogs indeed. We each had a hot dog and a half and shared a papaya drink. Afterward, we stopped at the Dead Poet, a pub where Dave got some delicious beer. New York is not really a beer town. Dave got a Dead Poet IPA and I got an Ommegang Witte. We also shared some nachos, and keep in mind that we had just eaten three hot dogs between us. I'm beginning to think that we didn't nearly walk off the calories we consumed.

We walked through the park to get back to our place, but apparently we still had not consumed enough calories for the day, because we also split a chocolate shake at the Upper East Side Shake Shack. It was good though. We also made a stop at Dean & Deluca, although we didn't eat any of it immediately. This shop is like my mother ship. We got chocolate bars, fruit jelly candy, and coffee. Dave would have bought a spicy gourmet ketchup if we could have gotten it back on the plane, and I would have gotten some quail eggs or truffles if I could reasonably have afforded them. Hmm, I wonder if there is a Dean & Deluca in Chicago...

NYC: Day 2

2011-10-21T23:39:00.001-05:00

The second day of our trip began with breakfast at Yura on Madison, a little pastry cafe near our B&B. We each ordered a blueberry muffin, which turned out to be the best blueberry muffin I've ever had, and I also got an apple turnover and some tea. Dave went for an egg sandwich. You can tell already that we were getting ready for another day of heavy walking.

First stop: Metropolitan Museum of Art!

First stop was the Egyptian room, of course, with Dave's interest in the history of this area. They had heiroglyphs and large statues, although I was really impressed with the turquoise jewelry.

The sculpture rooms for Rome and Greece reminded me a bit of the British Museum. The paintings and modern art were truly amazing - they had TWO Chuck Closes, as well as some interesting paper, sculpture, and mirror works.

I loved the American blown glass, too. We caught some of the large-scale rooms, such as the Japanese house and some Spanish balconies that made us feel like we were in the Aragon Ballroom. There was also the underside of a beautiful carved wood Indian dome. (Many of these photos are now available at our photo website, if anyone is interested.)

Unfortunately, we didn't get to see the Frank Lloyd Wright room, which would have been really cool. This museum is truly overwhelming and has to be on our list the next time we visit NYC!

For lunch, we went to a little diner that reminded me of a Seinfeld episode, EJ's Luncheonette. We both got burgers: mine was topped with copious amounts of bleu cheese and Dave chose avocado and mushrooms.

On the way back up to the Guggenheim, we also made another stop - Maison du Chocolat! We hit a Paris location in 2009, and the banana truffle was so good that I knew we had to get some more. I picked up two of each truffle: vanilla, cinnamon, mocha, and dark. Oh, and a bag of champagne truffles. And a hot chocolate that cost more than our pizza last night. Oh well.

Next, the Guggenheim!

If the Chrysler Building is my favorite piece of architecture in Manhattan, this one has to be a close second. Unfortunately the rotunda (the big round structure) was closed on the inside, so even though there were exhibitions, you couldn't see the spiral. That was a major bummer, especially since the exhibits weren't that spectacular. Oh well!

Next was a pre-show dinner at Brasserie 8 1/2, featured in an episode of Sex and the City and allegedly showcasing some delicious French fare.

We each sprung for the prix fixe menu. I got a kir, a lentil salad paired with a Cote du Rhone, skate paired with a pinot noir, and a chocolate bombe. Dave had French onion soup, a Chimay Tripel, duck confit, and waffles! I thought the desserts were very whimsical. I wish I had been more hungry for this, because hunger truly is the best sauce. But it was a good meal nonetheless!

And a good buildup for: The Book of Mormon!!

Dave's Uncle John was so amazingly generous as to buy us tickets for this hilarious show, and we did get some great laughs. Someone next to me brought their grandma, who didn't appear to approve of all the jokes about religion, frog sex, AIDS, etc. I thought the songs were really catchy and the message was good, although I don't think they were hard enough on the Mormons.

Since we were so close, I figured we might as well stop by Times Square at night:

We walked over to Fifth Avenue and then all the way back up to our B&B, about 30 (small) blocks. We got to stop by Tiffany's, although it was obviously closed by this time. They had cute little window displays, though. We also visited the Fifth Avenue Apple store, which was amazingly crowded for 11 p.m. I guess it's a 24-hour store, which is pretty cool.

On to day 3!

NYC: Day 1

2011-10-20T22:00:00.006-05:00

We arrived in New York early in the morning and went straight for our B&B on the upper east side. We didn't have anything to do until the Colbert Report later in the evening, so we decided to start off our trip with a stroll through Central Park!

The above photo is at the Jackie Onassis Reservoir, which is very close to our B&B. We meandered through various trails and eventually found what I was looking for - the Mall!

Yeah, not that kind of mall - it's the tree-lined pedestrian avenue that Frederick Law Olmstead designed to wow visitors. It was still amazingly green during our visit.

After leaving Central Park near the Plaza Hotel, we hit lunch at Sarabeth's, a restaurant that had been recommended to me. I had crab cakes, fries, and a salad, and Dave had a vegetable fritatta.

We decided to walk down Fifth Avenue and see if we could check some sights off of our list. First, we did some shopping at UNIQLO, a Japanese retailer with several locations in Manhattan. The lines were hugely long, but I did get some shirts and heat tights.

Next we saw St. Patrick's Cathedral, which reminded me a bit of cathedrals I've seen in Europe. It was strange to be in a huge gothic cathedral in the middle of Fifth Avenue.

We also got a glimpse of the Rockefeller complex and the Chrysler Building, which is my favorite piece of architecture in Manhattan!

We also made a stop at the New York Public Library, which has a beautiful facade and a lovely reading room with vaulted ceilings and fresco paintings. Outside the library, we ran into former mayor Daley, who is now employed at a law firm in Chicago. It was so strange to run into him in the streets of New York when I've never seen him in Chicago!

Next was Times Square, where we saw a disoriented topless woman walking around, as well as numerous people dressed up in Sesame Street character costumes. (The two sets of people were not mingling.)

The Times Square New Year's Eve ball was on display, which was cool to see. But there were just so many people there, we had to get away.

We still had tons of time before Colbert, so we decided to try to redeem our Top of the Rock tickets early. We were treated to beautiful views of the harbor, Empire State Building, the business district, and Central Park.

Unfortunately, we got no photos with Stephen Colbert, but the show taping was amazing. We got great seats thanks to Dave's coworker, and we got to watch Stephen answer questions out of character before the show. The guest was Coldplay, who played two songs from their new album.

After the show, we asked a native where we could get some great pizza, and they pointed us to a great little spot in Hell's Kitchen, Justino's, which was a few blocks north of the show location. We caught a cab and ate our slices in the room. I think most people limit themselves to one slice of New York-style pizza, being that they are huge slices, but we had walked a ton all day and decided to treat ourselves. It was a great day!

Pumpkins

2011-10-16T20:28:00.001-05:00

Jackie and Brian went to the pumpkin patch with us to pet some animals at Didier Farms and grab some big squash for carving. Jackie bought some patterns for carving, and it's the first time I've ever done one!

The pumpkins are Dave's (a face), Brian's (a grim reaper), mine (ghosts), and Jackie's (a haunted house). I like the reaper the best. I also roasted all the pumpkin seeds - plain and with cumin - and I'll be eating them for weeks! Delicious.

Indian summer

2011-10-10T16:22:00.003-05:00

Being that Dave and I are government workers, we had the day off today for Columbus Day. We took advantage of our warm weather to do a hike in our area at the Crabtree nature preserve.

The leaves have not totally turned yet - so either the trees are dead, slightly yellow, or still very green.

As you can see, though, there were beautiful wildflowers! There was also a lot of milkweed, which Dave had never seen before.

Don't know how many more beautiful days like this we'll have, so I'd better soak it up!

Marathon + gingerbread

2011-10-09T21:00:00.001-05:00

Today was the Chicago Marathon, and I knew not one but three people running it! Two law people and one of my oldest friends, Mike from high school.

The Team in Training folks with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society were setting up some cheering stations, and I joined the one at mile 12.5 (20k). This was on Franklin between Lake and Randolph.

Dave and I got downtown at 7:15. The first marathoners - the crazy ones - started showing up at 9 a.m. They were mostly very fast African fellows, and my fellow cheerer couldn't even get a clear photo of them. They ran as fast as the bikes that paced them!

I did not see the two law ladies, and Dave did not see his coworker. However, I did see Mike! It's kind of easy, though, when you are looking for a thin 6-foot-5 dude in a red shirt!

We stuck around until about 11, when most of the marathoners had passed. We cheered and cheered for the runners in purple shirts - TinT people - and handed out some water, towels, Fritos, and animal crackers. Apparently when you run 26 miles, you need to replenish your salt and calories. Who knew!

The marathon was also a little dramatic this year, although we didn't see any of it. Apparently the winner set a course record, a runner died near the finish line, and a pregnant woman ran at 39 weeks and gave birth immediately afterward. Yikes!

Afterward we came home and hosted a party for some of my girlfriends - the annual gingerbread house decorating party! This year, I got a new type of house, which kind of looked like a coffin-shaped mansion. I didn't go crazy with the candy ecorations this year, instead opting for a thick icing shellack on my roof.

I've got lots of fall activities planned for the next couple of weeks, and the Halloween decorations are up at the house. Soon we'll be carving pumpkins, roasting seeds, and making more apple butter!

Anniversary dinner #2

2011-10-08T23:10:00.000-05:00

On our actual anniversary, we went on a second anniversary dinner at Vie, which serves contemporary American cuisine and was one of the only Chicago suburban restaurants to receive a Michelin star last year. Some of my old judges live in Western Springs and recommended it to me.

I went in knowing nothing about it - not even a look at the menu online, as I am wont to do. Here's what we had:

Booze

Champagne cocktail (me)
Black pale ale (Dave)
Pinot noir (me)
New Holland Kolsch (Dave)

Cheese plate

Major Farm - Queso del Invierno
Evergreen Lane Farm & Creamery - Poet's Tomme
Bel Gioioso - Gorgonzola Dolce Latte

Food

Acorn squash & kale pierogi with beans & mushrooms (me)
Two pork combination with parmesan spaetzle & green beans (Dave)

Dessert

Cinnamon ice cream with chocolate nib shortbread cookie
Apple & rhubarb tart
Concord grape sorbet (complimentary)
Limoncello (complimentary for our anniversary)
Blackberry streusel (complimentary)

I loved my pierogi. The concord grape sorbet was so interesting, but the limoncello was a little strong for me. Dave loved his pork, and the piece I tried was so wonderfully meaty and smoky. Thumbs up on Vie!

Anniversary dinner #1

2011-10-07T23:01:00.001-05:00

This weekend is our sixth wedding anniversary (and eighth anniversary of being together) so we are celebrating with some fantastic meals.

First up tonight was Girl and the Goat, one of the hottest reservations in town. I was worried it wouldn't live up to the hype, which has been fervent, but it was truly a very great meal.

I'm going to list out what we ordered - not to brag, but really for future reference. (I really do look up these things later, for various reasons).

Beers:

Three Floyds Munsterfest (me)
Three Philosophers Ommengang (Dave)

Food:

Chickpea fritters with eggplant caponata and egg
Scallops with pumpkin puree, pomegranates, tomatoes, and fried Brussels sprouts
Goat belly with crab & lobster
Pork ribs with tomatillo puree and mushroom slaw

Dessert:

Chocolate cake with foie gras marshmallow, chocolate sorbet, and passion fruit puree
Apples with bleu cheese sorbet and toasted nuts

I walked out of there with a food high as I haven't had in a while. For me, the restaurant lived up to the hype, and I would definitely go again. AND, I tried a new animal - goat!

My first opinion

2011-10-06T10:02:00.002-05:00

As most of my readers (a.k.a. Mom and Diane) know, I got a new job at the Illinois Appellate Court. It's been a wild ride so far, but I wanted to post a link to my first opinion, which was filed on September 30 (last Friday).

Here it is!

I don't know how long that link will be good, but I figured I'd post it to mark the occasion. It was a civil case about a car crash, and it stirred my memory of first-year torts cases. My next case is criminal, which has been a learning experience!

Cemetery Walk 2011

2011-10-03T20:09:00.002-05:00

I've blogged before about the McLean County Museum of History's annual cemetery walk, which I attended yesterday morning. This year is the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War, and the walk this year focused on the impact in Bloomington.

Of course, I liked it because of my interest in military history. It was also interesting that all of the characters had a common theme, whereas usually the characters are from all different eras and experiences.

My favorite speakers were a soldier with a dirty sense of humor and another soldier who basically kicked Confederate butt. I thought they did a really great job this year!

I got to visit with my old supervisor at the museum, Mary Anne, who is always happy to see me at the walk. And the fall colors are starting to come in, making this the perfect event for the fall. It is still showing next weekend if anyone is interested!

Apple Fest & Fleet Foxes

2011-10-02T19:26:00.000-05:00

Today we had some fall festivities and a concert I've been looking forward to for a while - Fleet Foxes!

So in the afternoon, we went to Long Grove Apple Fest with some peeps. We bought a gallon of apple cider, an apple pie, a candied apple, and a peck of apples.

It was very, very busy, but what can I say, I love apples and fall!

Afterward, we came back to the townhome and watched some "Tales from the Crypt" episodes with my sister. Then we headed downtown for Fleet Foxes at the Chicago Theatre.

We love this band and have been looking forward to this concert since August when we bought the tickets.

This also rounds out my experiences in the Loop theaters - now I think I've been to them all!

The opening band was The Walkmen, who were OK, but I didn't like them as much as Head and the Heart, the opening band for the Decemberists.

But the Fleet Foxes were one of the best concerts I've ever been to in my life!

I got chills down my spine several times. I wondered how they would sound compared to their albums, and I have to say that for the most part, the songs were as good or better. So awesome! I will definitely be watching for their next album.

I'm having fun settling into fall!

Light the Night Walk

2011-09-26T08:33:00.003-05:00

This was my sixth year doing the Light the Night Walk to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. This year my team was me, Dave, and Diane, and we raised a chunk of change for cancer research and patient support.

I was a little worried about logistics, because the walk was starting as Bears fans were flooding out of the stadium. We were able to find awesome parking in the Loop, free on Clark Street, and traffic wasn't a problem going in or coming out.

Although my Dad was not able to walk this year, we did stop by my parents' house before the walk and see how Dad is doing. He's slated to start his fourth round of chemotherapy today. I missed my parents at the event, of course. There were a lot of white balloons (for survivors), and sadly some gold ones (for remembrance of loved ones lost). But the walk raised about $2 million, which is great. Keep on keepin' on, Dad!!

Great Lakes Brew Fest II

2011-09-18T19:27:00.003-05:00

This is the second year we've attended the Great Lakes Brew Fest, held in Racine, Wisconsin, and this year did not disappoint.

On the way up, we stopped at the new and improved Mars Cheese Castle! We sampled several cheeses and picked up some Balsamic Bellavitano, Hook's blue cheese, and beer cheese curds.

We also stopped at Woodman's in Kenosha for some beer. We happen to have sufficient stores of New Glarus brews at the moment, but we did buy an extra six-pack of Laughing Fox and two four-packs of other brews. I picked an Autumnal Fire by Capital Brewery.

This year, the event was held at the Racine Zoo. Despite the fact that I think there were twice as many brewers (and, thus, twice as many attendees) as last year, parking was a breeze, and after a while, so were the lines.

Here's a list of what I tasted:

Merry Monk from Weyerbacher Brewery
Ocho Mole from New Holland
Two Women, Belgian Red, and Apple Ale from New Glarus Brewery
Quiannan Falls Lager from Bells Brewery
Big Black Smoke from Great Lakes Brewing Company
1845 Pils from Minhas
Wheat Monkey from Lakefront Brewery
Supper Club from Capital Brewing Company
Flywheel from Metropolitan Brewing Company

My favorites were the Merry Monk and Wheat Monkey.

And here's Dave's list:

Lucky Thirteen from Lagunitas
Ocho Mole from New Holland
Two Women and Apple Ale from New Glarus Brewery
Quiannan Falls Lager from Bells Brewery
Barrel Aged Stout from Great Lakes Brewing Company
Firken IPA from Hinterland
Tripel from Upland Brewing Company
Amber from Lakefront Brewery
Belgo from New Belgium
Stout from Stonefly Brewing Company

Dave said that the Lakefront Amber was probably his favorite, although the Great Lakes Barrel Aged Stout was also impressive.

Dave's parents came up so that they could try their first beer tasting, and we hope they had a great time! Dave's dad is already talking about organizing a brew fest in West Virginia. I'm not sure that it would be quite the same audience as in Wisconsin, but I'm sure beer lovers would come out for one.

Dinner at Harvest Moon Farm

2011-09-11T21:33:00.004-05:00

Our farm invited us to an appreciation party for CSA shareholders this weekend, so we made a day of it. We picked apples at Valley Orchard, bought New Glarus beer at Woodman's in Janesville, WI, and finally we arrived at the farm where I've been getting all of those summer vegetables for the past two years.

We checked out the storage / packing barn, walked up and down the rows of veggies, and met other shareholders from Chicago and elsewhere.

Most of the attendees were from around Viroqua, where the farm is located. Admittedly, four hours was a long drive, but I really wanted to attend.

My favorite new acquaintance was this tiny little puppy, a new purchase of one of the locals. She is about two pounds - let's just say that, with this huge bunny in the house, I never get to see anything this small anymore.

I feel like we got great weather, and we ate, and ate, and ate until we couldn't eat anymore.

Here's a list of the copious amount of food that we ate:

Breakfast radishes and salted Westby butter
Heirloom tomato and tomatillo salsa with chili lime chips
Grilled heirloom summer squash, Italian eggplant, and fresh herbs de Provence
Grilled baguette with lemon-scented raw milk ricotta and fresh herbs
Grilled sweet peaches, chipotle-infused fresh cheese
Sauteed escarole, caramelized leeks, baby carrots
Roasted golden, chioggia, and bulls blood beets, red chard stems, orange vinaigrette
Sungold tomato gazpacho, fino sherry, and Spanish olive oil
Croque monsieur "Viroqua"
Maple soy glazed red waddle pork belly, spic heirloom cabbage slaw
Grilled serendipity sweet corn and Westby salted butter
Red waddle pork chorizo tacos
Grass-fed beef leg Hungarian goulash style
Cold-poached Rushing Waters rainbow trout, lemongrass cucumbers and sour cream
Hanoi-style grass-fed beef salad, tamarind-serrano chili dressing
Raspberries, sweet basil, and fresh cream

Can you believe we actually ate all of that? Most of it was two or three bites, but still, that's a lot of courses. My favorites were the chorizo tacos, grilled sweet corn, and raspberries with whipped cream. Dave's favorite was the goulash.

Next time, we will stay somewhere in the area. Our Uplands bed and breakfast is closer, at least - about an hour or two - so maybe we'll coordinate our Wisconsin beer and cheese tour for this weekend in 2012.

Today was a somewhat relaxing day - we did get to have dinner with friends, but earlier in the day we went to Ikea, which I always try not to do on weekends. Of course, it was a mad house, but at least now I have a computer desk!

It definitely feels like summer is coming to a close, but I feel like we've taken advantage of everything the season has to offer.

Paddleboating double date

2011-09-04T21:24:00.004-05:00

Today we went on a double date with newlyweds Jackie and Brian at the Twin Lakes recreation area in Palatine!

We got in some much-needed exercise and sun, which is good because I hear tomorrow and the rest of the week are supposed to be a bit cooled off.

Jackie and Brian got married about three or four weeks ago, so they are still decompressing after the whole wedding experience. We did gift opening at our house after they returned from their honeymoon, but this is the first time we've been able to hang out with them for a while.

Dave's glutes still hurt a bit from playing hockey last week, but otherwise we all did pretty good!

Afterward we felt that we earned the large amount of food that we ate at Buffalo Wild Wings!

It's nice to have Jackie and Brian up in the northwest suburbs - one more couple to hang out with!

I've had a very nice, relaxing weekend. I made spiced port and plum jam, I've been working on a baby blanket for a friend, I made two scarves for a charity raffle, and I started on a sewn felt wall hanging for fall. The last one is something new I've been doing, and it's nice to try a new craft. I feel like it's going to take me forever, but it will be so gratifying to be done!

Date night

2011-09-03T09:00:00.001-05:00

I've been sitting on an Groupon-like deal for Geja's Cafe for about a year, and it was about to expire, so I asked Dave to go on a date with me to Lincoln Park.

I had a couple of things I've been meaning to do there, including a few walks from the Chicago Walks card pack, so we went up a little early. First things first, shopping on Armiitage Avenue. We stopped by the Vosges flagship store to get a box of truffles.

I picked the Aztec box, which has my favorite chocolate bar in truffle form: Red Fire. There are also Mexican vanilla and chocolate truffles and dulce de leche chocolate truffles, both of which were delicious.

We also got some cute Charley Harper bird cards from Paper Source, one of my favorite stationery stores.

Next stop was Oz Park, with lovely statues from the book and movie. My favorite was the Tin Man, although we also saw the Scarecrow and Dorothy / Toto.

Then we headed over to Geja's and pondered what to order. They have a pretty fabulous wine list, a romantic decor, and a mouth-watering fondue list. We went for one of the fondue meals, which includes salad, cheese fondue, oil / meat fondue with dipping sauces, and chocolate fondue. We also split a bottle of red wine from Wisconsin!

The cheese fondue was our favorite, and according to our waiter, the recipe is on the restaurant website, so I guess I have to print that out. I got the chicken and scallops with the main course, and even though the scallops had trouble staying on the skewer, they were still some of the best scallops I've ever had. Dave got the beef, lobster, and shrimp.

The funnest part of dinner was when they lit the chocolate fondue on fire - or rather, they lit the orange liqueur on top of the fondue. We roasted marshmallows on that fire, then dipped them in chocolate and graham crackers. I could get used to that.

Thanks to my hubby for an indulgent date night!

Bunny Mac

2011-08-31T20:43:00.004-05:00

Well, I haven't done a bunny-related post for a while, so I figured it was time.

Dave and I bought our next desktop computer - a refurbished iMac - and it is one beautiful thing. The bunny and I have been hanging out with Dave in the computer room as he sets it up. Not that there is much to set up, as everything has pretty much worked itself out with the printer, internet, etc.

In fact, this is my first post on said iMac, and it is indeed fun! The mouse and keyboard are totally wireless, and the computer and monitor are one component. In fact, aside from the printer cord, there is only one cord for the whole computer.

I do believe I've converted Dave into an Apple person.

Can you believe this bunny?

I'm looking forward to doing my Rosetta Stone on this computer, which has really nice graphics and sound. And I'm sure Dave's looking forward to playing the latest iteration of Fallout, the game. And there are less cords for bunny to chew, so that's something!

Lesson 1: Vehicle blunders

2011-08-19T08:28:00.003-05:00

Most readers of this blog have some idea of the types of cases I work with: appeals of City of Chicago fines up to $50,000. About half of these are parking, registration, or vehicle equipment tickets under $250. And many of them could have been prevented, saving much money and emotional hardship (and I'm talking both for the ticket recipient and myself).

Obviously I'm not giving legal advice here, this is just a list of ways to stay out of common pitfalls that I see in court every day. Here are some rules to live by in Chicago:

When you move, change your license and registration ASAP.

This is for several reasons. Number one, you are legally obligated to do so. Number two, you risk missing your license plate renewal by mail. These are both pretty straight-forward.

Number three, if any by-mail tickets are issued to you, they will go to the wrong address, you will be defaulted, and it will be your fault. The tickets will double and you won't be allowed to vacate the default.

Don't let anyone drive or ride in your car if there is even a slight possibility that they are carrying drugs.

If someone is caught in your vehicle with drugs, the vehicle is getting impounded and you will probably lose the car. This is true whether it's yours and you're driving, whether it's a passenger, or whether you're not in the car and someone borrowed it. And if a relative or friend took the car without your knowledge, that applies, too, unless you report it stolen. Many people don't do this because they don't want their loved one to get arrested. But will your loved one reimburse you when they lose your car to the City of Chicago?

STOP AT RED LIGHTS.

This one seems obvious, but people somehow seem to think that they will contest these red light camera tickets and win. You will, in all likelihood, not. They have you on camera and they can watch you blow right through the light. There is no defense. And if you can turn right on red in the intersection, you can make the turn even if there are cameras present, but you must stop first.

This is personally starting to bug me a lot in my suburb; even at intersections where right turns on red are allowed, people are refusing to make them because they're afraid of the camera. Sigh...

No tint allowed in front windows!

This is something that people don't understand for three reasons. Number one, dealers are allowed to sell cars with front tinted windows within the City. (I think this is just a problem of uneven enforcement.) Number two, car shops are allowed to install tint in the City of Chicago. (I think this is just difficult to police.) And number three, the Illinois statute on the subject allows tint up to a certain level on all windows.

It's the last one that really seems to be popular lately, and I can understand why people would think that the higher law rules. But in this case, the City of Chicago has home rule authority (granted by the State of Illinois) to enact stricter ordinances relating to vehicle equipment, and windows are vehicle equipment. The home rule power does not allow the City to change the rules of the road or other statutes, but it does allow the tint. This is a serious ticket - $250.00 a pop, and no warnings issued. If you have tinted front windows, I would stay out of the City!

And lastly...

Careful where you park...

The City of Chicago has tons of revenue officers driving and walking around the city constantly, just itching to give you a ticket. Do not give them a reason to give you a ticket. If you want to park in a questionable spot, the best idea is just to leave it and find another spot. Here are some places that you can never park in Chicago, under Municipal Code of Chicago 9-64-110 and others:

Blocking sidewalk (AT ALL)
On a bridge
Under a viaduct or underpass (this includes railroad and L tracks, although strangely you can park under L tracks in the Loop)
Bus stops or taxi stands

This is important because the City doesn't have to post signs to ticket you for these violations. Also, you can only park in an alley if (1) you're engaged in loading or unloading and (2) the car isn't taking up the whole alley. All of this is in the municipal code, and if you're going to be parking in Chicago, I would read it if I were you.

So, that's the end of my rant - I would like to think that, after this job, I know more about parking in the City of Chicago than many lifelong residents. If you have questions about parking, you should read the code or contact an attorney / alderman in your area. Good luck out there, and stay safe!

Lesson 2: Judging, judges, and judgment

2011-08-18T08:23:00.004-05:00

I work with judges all day, every day, and since these men and women seem very elusive and mysterious to the general population (and lawyers at large), I thought I'd share some of the things I learned about judges and their careers at the bench.

Judging kind of sucks

Judging is hard. I think a lot of people (and I was one of them) thought it would be easy to be a judge - each side presents its argument, you decide which one is obviously correct, and you enter judgment accordingly. Unfortunately, fact situations can be heart-wrenchingly difficult to decide, especially when you know that one side is always going to walk out of your courtroom angry.

And it can be especially difficult to decide a case on review, as my judge and I do. The standards for over-turning an administrative law judge's rulings are high. And we also have a parade of pro se, confused people who were either churned out of the system like sausage, or who are habitual liars. It can be hard to tell who's who.

And lastly, it's hard to have real job security as a judge. You can be moved to a different courthouse or section on a whim, and not always to somewhere you want to go, and your job is dependent upon elections. I have seen judges lose their job or get kicked back to the circuit court after a short stint in the appellate court, such that celebration gets turned into resignation all too quickly.

Judges are real people, and some of them are very weird

Judges can seem intimidating. Just think of the judge in "My Cousin Vinny." Attorneys really only see the personal side of judges after they have been appearing in front of the judge for a very long time, or when you see the judge at a social event. (And doing so can remind you of the first time you saw a teacher at the super market - you think, "Oh my god, they don't just live at work?")

I see a different side of judges on a day-to-day basis. Judges are, for the most part, very, very kind. They have hilarious spouses, kids that frustrate and worry them, and former careers doing much the same as any other attorney. One of my judges loves my baked goods to a degree I never thought possible. Another judge in the Daley Center is semi-famous for his obsession with roller coasters. Judges tease each other, worry for each other, and celebrate with each other.

I think I always thought that judges' chambers were necessarily stuffy and formal, and I'm glad I've been able to see the other side.

Judges know everyone

When I started my job and began walking around the courthouse with my judge (after all, I am an "elbow" clerk!), it immediately became apparent to me that this man KNOWS EVERYONE. Everyone. We can't walk down the street without stopping to say hi or catch up with someone, and people are constantly calling his office to say hello. In fact, at my cousin's wedding two weekends ago, my judge knew one of the groomsmen from his time as village supervisor in the western suburbs. Who knew!

And almost all of my judges in the Housing Section knew the appellate justice that I'm going to work for next week, and they all dutifully called over to recommend me. I owe them so much and have no way of repaying them, except perhaps in baked goods!

Lesson 3: The bad side of government work

2011-08-17T09:13:00.002-05:00

There is no good without bad - no light without dark. I love working for the government, but here are some of the downsides.

Income

As a judicial law clerk, I made only slightly more per year than the job I left to attend law school. I know that state's attorneys, public defenders, etc. don't make much more than that. I didn't expect that I would make very much money at this job, but it has been fine because I have a roommate/husband and less debt than most.

Many government attorneys are being forced to take second jobs as bartenders, waitresses, painters, etc. to make ends meet. (This has been true for years.) It would be much more difficult if I was single, because it's difficult to live on a small salary in the City of Chicago without a roommate.

The salary doesn't bother me that much, because I know I work fewer hours and have a better quality of life than many of my friends in private practice. But every now and then, the vast difference in salaries astounds me: is the work of a biglaw associate worth four to six times what my work is worth, even if we graduated from the same school, earned similar grades, and were both on law review?

Furloughs

Furloughs are a big downside to government work these days. Take our already low salary and give us another 5 to 15 percent pay cut, because that's what furlough is: unpaid leave. The City of Chicago was up to 24 or 25 furlough days per year before they stopped the furlough days earlier this summer - so that's basically like going a whole month without pay. Ouch.

Cook County is requiring employees like me to take 10 furlough days before November, although since I'm leaving far before then and haven't taken any furlough days, I really don't know what's going to happen. (I hope I don't have to take any against my accrued vacation time.)

Politics affect your job

Dave and I have both seen this. Dave's job has been threatened multiple times by government shutdowns in the past six months, and my job is threatened by Cook County budget cuts. The court unions voted about whether to take layoffs or furlough, but my job was affected by that vote even though I'm not in a union.

Everyone hates you

OK, this isn't exactly true, but it kind of is. Everyone thinks government workers are lazy and overpaid (hah!), and I think this is particularly because no one knows exactly what you do. As long as there is food in the grocery, widely available TV and internet, and smooth roads, I don't think the average American really gives a shit about very much.

In the Daley Center, I can tell you that most of the public I meet are friendly and just want some directions or help. But some of them feel totally screwed by the system, and guess who's going to get the brunt of their displeasure? The judge, court clerk, and myself, that's who, even if it's the City of Chicago that took their car away or fined them.

And Dave has been really disheartened by how little the public seemed to care about the government shut-down, even though he helps students every day and brings money back into the government from loans that should not have been disbursed. No one sees what he does, so no one thinks he needs a job.

It can be very disheartening, but I just try to help the people that I can help and make a difference in some lives. The ones that I am able to help are really grateful, and I am always glad when I can make someone's day by reversing a fine that shouldn't have been levied.

And, finally:

Public courthouses are like Soviet Russia

I saved this for last because it's the most humorous, and pretty much speaks for itself. I have no idea how old my computer is at the Daley Center, but let me tell you, it's got some problems. Trying to get office supplies, such as paper, staples, tape, bulletin boards, etc., is like trying to find jeans in Soviet Russia. Every time we need a ream of paper, our office manager sighs and goes around to barter god-knows-what. She comes back with the paper, and we still have no idea where it comes from.

Of course, times are tight, and all businesses are cutting back on office supplies. But in the Daley Center, it can get pretty bad. When the new court calendars came out in 2011, I wasn't able to get one, so one of the seasoned clerks had to go around to his sources to obtain one. A CALENDAR.

Dave's office is bad, too - when their microwave broke, they just pooled together to buy a new one rather than submitting a requisition to Washington, D.C., because apparently the last time this happened, it took them years to get a new microwave. And this is in a branch of the feds that actually brings money back into the government by taking back student loan money!

In short, government work can be hard, but it's still a good lifestyle and very rewarding. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Lesson 4: The good side of government work

2011-08-16T11:18:00.003-05:00

Attorneys have been doing a lot of talking in the past few years about work-life balance. This idea was first introduced to me during my professional ethics class in law school, when we read this article. Written by a then-professor and former biglaw litigator, the article urged law students to consider a career in public service as an alternative to high-paying attorney gigs. The money is less, but what is your time with family, friends, and yourself worth to you?

At the time, I agreed with the article but didn't think I had much of a chance at actually landing a government job, let alone a career. I had failed at multiple applications to various positions, and I was convinced that I was going to have to take the first crappy, long-hour position that I managed to obtain.

So glad I was wrong!

I was very lucky to land my clerkship, and it has been a great position. I get to work with judges on real cases, I have reasonable hours and decent benefits, and I have made so many networking connections that I can't even count them. And my judge is the nicest man I have ever met. (Judges as a rule are pretty friendly and nice, but my judge really takes the cake.)

And every day, I realize how lucky I am compared to the attorneys I know who are unhappy in their law firm jobs. Maybe it has always been this way in the profession, but I feel that work-life balance is getting worse even as pay gets worse, simply because graduates have nowhere else to go. Even as my career gets better, I try vehemently to discourage law school hopefuls from actually matriculating.

I was lucky, many of my friends were not.

As a result of working in government, I have been able to have my evenings free, to take vacations when I want to, and have my work days free of the professional stress that billable hours and workplace competition can have on new attorneys. I appreciate that a great deal, and I think it's important if I'm going to maintain my relationship and life in the way it's been going.

And my job gave me the connections, experience, and mindset necessary to transition to my new job, which, again, I am lucky to have. I hope this post didn't come across as too braggy, I just mainly wanted to convey to the universe how grateful I am that my chips landed in the way that they did.

But, you know that there is no good without the bad. Tomorrow, the dark side of government work!

Lesson 5: I love working in the Loop

2011-08-15T09:35:00.003-05:00

This is my last week at my clerking job in the Circuit Court, so I figured I'd go through some lessons I learned at this job. I did this when I left my first job (see the posts at 7/31/2006 through 8/4/2006) - and wow, it's hard to believe I've been doing this blog for that long.

Anyway, here's the first in the countdown:

Lesson #5: I love working in Chicago's Loop!

This one is not exactly surprising, but I figured I'd start with an easy one.

I've worked in the Loop before, and I went to law school here, but working in a full-time, semi-permanent capacity is different. People all know where you're at, you're going to the same building every day, you're learning new places to eat for lunch - it's great!

The building I work in is also a very cool place to be - the Daley Center is at the heart of the Loop, a quick walk to everything, has a great view, and the plaza is always full of some activity, regardless of season. My farmers' market, food festivals, the Christkindlmarkt... It's all right downstairs, for me!

It's also incredibly easy to meet up with friends for lunch, and also to attend events at bar associations or other professional gatherings. And even stuff you didn't plan happens, like running into old friends or classmates on the street. I see someone pretty much every week.

I'm giving up my view of the roof of City Hall / the County Building to go over to the State of Illinois Building (a.k.a. the Bilandic Building), which doesn't have as nice a view. But it's only one block away from where I'm at now, so my commute, market, and meal habits won't be disrupted!

The last thing that I love about working in the Loop is really the most nebulous - it's the energy and pulse you feel when you're part of something so grand and vast. I had a friend once compare commuting to rushing around like an ant or cattle herd, and it's partially true. But the city is also beautiful and vibrant, especially at night. And the holiday decorations will bring a tear to your eye. I love walking around on the street, never knowing what I will see or what will happen.

It's the city of broad shoulders, beautiful Chicago.

Circus, circus

2011-08-14T08:41:00.003-05:00

Dave got half off tickets through a work buddy to attend Cirque de Soleil, OVO, and he was really excited about them. Dave doesn't get excited about much, so I have learned to just go with it when he wants to do something. Generally, it turns out pretty awesome.

We got to the United Center and were surprised to find that the show is actually in one of the parking lots in a set-up circus tent, which makes sense because I have no idea how they'd pack the United Center for weeks on end. Inside the tent, the first thing we saw was a huge egg on stage:

The show was half random acts of awesomeness, half silly "plot." The acrobatics and tricks were my favorite part, whereas the plot was kind of annoying and non-sensical. But the bug costumes were awesome, the tricks were insanely cool, and the set was pretty neat as well.

Dave and my favorite acts were: (1) a high wire guy who performed really insane tricks standing on a slack rope, (2) five Asian ladies twirling and juggling large drums shaped like kiwis, and (3) grasshopper dudes that jumped on trampolines and climbed on walls.

It was a good show; not sure how badly I need to follow Cirque de Soleil in the future, but maybe I'll attend a future show with less silly plot elements and more crazy acrobatics.

I forgot to mention the other fun part of the day, which was lunch with some C7 people and my baby buddy, Eddie!

OK, so he doesn't look too thrilled right there, but I guarantee you he was all smiles earlier. We had a good meal at RAM Brewery in Rosemont, a break for the guys from ComicCon.

A fun day, although honestly, this weekend was really packed and somewhat exhausting. This is my last week at the Daley Center, then a relatively relaxing weekend before I start my new job at the appellate court. I will be doing a series of posts this week on what I learned at my clerkship, stay tuned!

Summer of weddings: part 4

2011-08-13T23:27:00.001-05:00

Well, we made it - the last of this summer's weddings! This one was my longtime friend Jackie and her now-husband, Brian.

We met at my parents' house before and after the ceremony, since it was so close.

The ceremony was in New Lenox at the Peace Lutheran Church; Jackie looked lovely, and her dress kind of reminded me of mine. The ceremony was short and sweet!

The reception was several hours later at Georgio's, a banquet hall in Orland Park. I hadn't been to this one; I feel like I will eventually make it to every wedding venue in the Chicago area!

The couple had a trifecta of toasts that were really wonderful. First a serious one from Jackie's dad that made me cry, mainly because he mentioned me and Jackie's softball team and I remembered how long she and her family have been in my life.

The second was a hilarious roast of Brian by the best man, and the third was a heartfelt speech from Jenna, Jackie's sister and the maid of honor. Michelle was sobbing by the end of all of these!

Dinner was delicious, then it was time for the bouquet toss - guess who caught it!

Jackie is my longest standing friend to get married, as we've been friends since the aforementioned softball team in 4th grade or so. I'm sure we both assumed we'd be married someday, but now that that day has come for each of us, it really calls to mind all of our memories together.

So, wedding season is now over, and we've got one more this year - a law school friend of mine that's marrying in December, AND I'M MAKING HIS CAKE!!!! Get ready for that one, people.

Climbing!

2011-08-12T22:14:00.003-05:00

Well, Dave and I finally achieved something we've been meaning to do for a while - go climbing!

Dave used to go a lot when he studied abroad and during college, but he hasn't gone in years, and I've never gone. If Dave had a 30 before 30 list, I think this would have been on it.

We learned how to belay from a nice young man employed at the climbing wall in Crystal Lake. Dave went up the easy wall twice, then I did twice. It was pretty cool!

It was pretty cool to climb up, especially on the second round. I was pretty nervous the first time going up, and also coming down, but maybe repeated climbing adventures will help me conquer my mild fear of heights.

As for Dave, a couple of runs and he was climbing up there like he had never stopped going.

The climbing wall that we went to was pretty neat, but I think Dave would like to go to one that's taller.

I am looking forward to building upper arm strength, exploring new places, and conquering my fear of heights and basically falling and hurting myself.

I enjoyed our date night immensely, and I'll probably pick something more tame for my next date night selection: I think mini golf. But I'm looking forward to getting back on the climbing wall - nothing ventured, nothing gained!

Goomba

2011-08-08T12:06:00.002-05:00

It's been a few weeks since my last crochet project, so I figured it was time for my next one - Goomba from the original Super Mario Bros. for NES!

This one is a little smaller than a lot of the others, but I really like it. The chart below is 26 single crochets wide, so you would start your project by chaining 27 (or if knitting, casting on 26) and change colors according to the chart.

I will probably do a blue one, too, as that's how they look when they're underground. I am pretty happy with how this one turned out; it was easier and had a better end product than the Koopa Troopa.

Summer of weddings: part 3

2011-08-06T18:56:00.006-05:00

Yesterday was wedding 3 of the summer: my cousin Jeremy's wedding to Liz, his bride. We were at a country club where another cousin of mine (on my dad's side, Nikki) got married a few years ago, and the venue was just as lovely as I remembered!

The wedding ceremony was outdoors in the back of the club house. My judge officiated, which was really fun to watch. I've seen him perform weddings at City Hall before, but Jeremy and Liz had some more elaborate vows that they had him read.

I also did a reading, a poem selected by the happy couple. My judge introduced me as his law clerk, and I added that I am also Jer's cousin!

I thought their colors and decorations were beautiful, and Liz's dress and hair were very lovely. I especially thought that the side-swept hair was really original.

Because I'm leaving my current job for a clerkship with the appellate court, this was kind of like a last hurrah for me and my judge. I was offered a new job last week, and my last day with my current judge will be August 19. (Sniff!)

We headed upstairs for the reception and I got to pow-wow with my mom's family. Everyone was asking about my dad, who was hospitalized about a week and a half ago with pneumonia and who has started another round of chemotherapy. My parents weren't able to attend the wedding because he can't be around so many people with his weakened immunity.

The couple picked great songs and everyone did a lot of dancing! For the first few oldies, it was pretty much just my family up there, but slowly more people came up.

Jer wasn't kidding me about the food - they served steak, chicken, a twice-baked potato, and cake! And that's not counting the extra dessert table. (Going to so many weddings this summer is like constantly being on a cruise...)

One of my favorite parts of the evening was the anniversary dance, where married couples get slowly picked off of the dance floor by anniversary date. We made a better run of it this year, which will be our sixth anniversary, but the couple who won it had been married 33 years, so I guess we have a ways more to go until we get to "win." (Incidentally, it was also my parents' 33rd anniversary this year, so they would have "won" with the other couple, had they been there.)

It was a great night with family, and we're super happy for Jer and Liz. I'll continue to post updates about my Dad, so keep your fingers crossed for him.

Bras & ice cream

2011-07-31T20:47:00.003-05:00

Today Dave, Mike, Diane, and Mehal accompanied me to Pierogi Fest, where we ate copious amounts of Polish food. I ate a potato pancake with sour cream, half a Polish sausage with mustard and sauerkraut, and a handful of pierogi. Cheese, potato, jalapeno, sauerkraut, beef, and I'm not even sure what else.

After dragging ourselves back to the cars, Dave and Mehal were kind enough to accompany me to a free event I'd signed up for - free ice cream and a free bra fitting (and bra!) at Union Station!

Yeah, the guys didn't want to be pictured, surprise surprise. Maybe this is TMI, but I thought my cup size changed when I lost weight, especially considering how my old stuff fits. But apparently the girls are still...quite present. That's all I'll say here. But it was a fun event; my cousin Jill and her friend made it out, too, and we all had some Skinny Cow ice cream. I had strawberry cheesecake!

So, it was a day of excess. Got to buckle down this week - and go get my free bra at Macy's!

Decemberists!

2011-07-26T09:54:00.003-05:00

Last night Dave and I attended our first concert in years - The Decemberists at the Aragon Ballroom, with opening band the Head and the Heart!

The ballroom is so weird - like you're in the square of some Spanish town, with galaxies painted on the ceiling. (One band commented on this.) Plus there were tons of hipsters there, so that will make any setting weirder than it already is.

The Head and the Heart was really good - I hadn't even heard of them before, and they definitely rocked our socks off. They were a very energetic live show.

They played for probably 45 minutes, and it was one of the only opening bands that I've liked as much if not more than the main act! I definitely have to get their albums.

Then came The Decemberists, who I have actually seen before at a free concert in Millennium Park, but two of their albums (Picaresque and The Crane Wife) are some of my favorite albums of all time.

They performed many of my favorite songs, as well as some new ones that were pretty awesome, too. A full set and two encores later, it was 10:30 by the time Dave and I left the concert, and 11:30 by the time we got to the car in Evanston, and 12:15 before we got home.

Needless to say, we're tired today, but it was worth it! I got to scratch another one off of my 30 before 30 list, and we got to see two amazing bands - on a week night, no less! Yeah, we're till cool. (Barely.)

Summer of weddings: part 2

2011-07-24T15:43:00.006-05:00

This weekend, we were off to Tennessee/Virginia for the nuptials of Dave's college friend Larry to his lovely bride, Kimberly.

I say both Tennessee and Virginia because the wedding festivities were in Tennessee, but our lodging and lunch was in Virginia, and I don't even know how many times we crossed the border over the course of the weekend. Bristol sits on the border of two states, so it was quite a few times.

Larry suggested Parks Mill BBQ for lunch, so we enthusiastically went. It is part of a general store, restaurant, and mill complex in rural Virginia.

Peter, another college friend, was with us, and we each had a significant chunk of pulled pork. Except it was like no pork I'd ever seen - huge, appetizing chunks proudly displayed with no sauce, and you add your own.

Competing with Pappy's in St. Louis, it was the best barbecue I've ever had in my life!

We also bought some sorghum molasses and two bags of grits, although I soon realized that we needed to mail the molasses back to ourselves because we can't take liquids and gels on the plane.

After checking out the mill, we headed back to the hotel for some relaxation until it was time to go to the wedding.

Larry and Kimberly had their wedding at a banquet hall situated in some very pretty forested hills.

They were so excited and adorable, the rest of us couldn't help but be super happy for them.

We did, however, tease them a bit about a photo in their guest book - one where they're leaning against a wall and reaching out to each other. Peter and Tom re-enacted the scene like it was Adam and God on the Sistine Chapel ceiling:

Legs lifted and all!

They also had a really cute touch for the groom's cake: a tree shaped like a tree stump, because Larry's line of work and study has been forestry.

We all really wanted a piece, and begged them to cut it all night, but I think it was just too pretty.

I also made use of some of the mini coloring books - what can I say, I can't resist Care Bears. I guess they were for the children, but what the hey.

On our way back this morning, we got one last glance of the beautiful hills of Tennessee, which Dave almost thought looked like some sort of Japanese painting.

I was pretty glad that we didn't try to sneak the molasses in our luggage, because they went over our luggage pretty thoroughly in the airport. We were home in time today to find out that our basement had leaked a bit onto the carpet, and we had to get a dry vac and suck up all the moisture. I guess there were storms here, no?

Now, after a nap, we're watching the last DVD of the Soviet version of "War and Peace," then eating a multi-course Indian meal that I've been thinking about for days. How's that for a multi-cultural weekend!

Dish cloths for happy occasions

2011-07-17T21:37:00.004-05:00

I've been busy with dish cloths lately, and not just Nintendo ones!

This is one with sage, white, and brown for my friend Jackie's bridal shower a few weeks ago.

I got the pattern from Splish Splash Dishcloths, a cute book I've got.

The next pattern was a tapestry crochet pattern I made on my own: "B" monogrammed dish cloths for Jen and Steve's wedding.

One guess what their wedding colors were, and what Jen's favorite color is! (And whether she took his last name.)

The last one was for a housewarming party for Andy and Jo, a cute set of variegated yarn dish cloths. The pattern is also from the Splish Splash book.

I slightly modified the pattern so that it looks like twisted cables. I thought it was cute!

We got to see how Andy and Jo decorated their house, and they did get all those awnings down! A ton of people came out to see it, too, and it was nice visiting people from the college group.

In fact, I got to hang with my favorite baby, Eddie! We had many laughs with Eddie's new tricks, and he's still small enough that I can hold him, but I'll miss these days when he gets older. I can only hold him for a bit now before my arms get tired. He did enjoy some swaying and waltzing, though! Someone thought he was mine, which was kind of funny. I'd take him.

So, I guess I'm done with dish cloths for a while; I'm working on some baby blankets for some showers in August, so those should be finished soon. I'm really excited about how they are turning out!

Summer of weddings: part 1

2011-07-16T22:51:00.003-05:00

There are two Smith family weddings this summer - Jen and Steve and Jer and Liz. The first one was today, Jen and Steve, in the southwest suburbs.

They've been together for six years, as long as Dave and I have been married, so it was nice to see these guys seal the deal with the State of Illinois.

It's the first wedding on my mom's side in years, so obviously we had to take some photos!

Here's the whole family, with the happy couple!

The venue was the Orland Chateau, which had some cool chandeliers, and cool AC, which was equally important on a hot day like this one!

Luckily Jen's wedding wasn't outdoors, or we all might have melted. We had a lot of fun dancing and talking, and it was a very happy family occasion indeed!

The other Smith wedding is in three weeks, and this time it's my cousin Jer and his bride, Liz. I'm doing a reading, which is fun, and my judge is performing the ceremony, which is even more fun! We have a lot more weddings this summer, so there are more fancy photos of me and Dave to come.

Bastille Day

2011-07-14T21:27:00.001-05:00

It's Bastille Day, so I took my own advice and bought some French food on the commute home. I was a little early to the train station, so I bought a s'more mousse pastry concoction at Vanille in the French Market.

That's a vanilla cookie on bottom, covered with chocolate mousse, with crumbled graham crackers and toasted homemade marshmallows on top. I figured it was a suitably delicious way to celebrate the French!

After work, though, there was something far less fun to do: I attended a wake for a cousin-in-law of mine who recently died after a gastric bypass surgery. I don't see him very often, but I had only just talked with him at my Uncle Ed's Fourth of July party. We spoke for a while about canning and making wine, and I just got the impression that he was so looking forward to things in life, especially after he would lose the weight after surgery.

He was a man who loved life, and a man worth celebrating. He had a huge turnout of family and friends, which wasn't surprising.

On my way home, I was treated to a beautiful sunset:

I thought a lot about my philosophy of trying to enjoy life minute by minute, because you really don't know when you're going to go. I guess that philosophy was really brought home to me today.

I was also thinking about life cycles: I had the wake tonight, I have a wedding on Saturday, and a house warming party on Sunday. If someone gives birth sometime this weekend, it will be the full circle of life! Tons of my friends are giving birth every year, so I really do feel like a witness to the the life phases my friends and family are going through. But after so many deaths and divorces this year, I think I am really looking forward to the four weddings in the next month.

Ski Free Monster / Yeti

2011-07-11T09:44:00.004-05:00

Drumroll please...

Ski Free yeti! This is the monster that kills you in the early PC game Ski Free if you take too long to complete the game. After he eats you, he strikes two poses, dancing back and forth, and these charts represent the poses.

Angry yeti:

Devious yeti:

It's tough to know what to call this guy, because some people call him a monster and others call him a yeti. When I was playing Ski Free, I called him, "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?! OH MY GOD, HE JUST ATE MEEEEEE!!!!!"

Each chart is 40 pixels wide, so you would chain 41 if you are crocheting, or cast on 40 if you are knitting. I did the border in black, but I left it light gray so you could count the pixels more easily.

I have been planning to give most of my previous creations away...but I don't think I can part with these.

Barrington Brew Fest

2011-07-09T19:35:00.003-05:00

Today was the Barrington Brew Fest, and after teaching crochet to some students in the morning, I kind of needed this.

We simply walked to the train station, caught the train from Palatine to Barrington, and then began to try lots of beer. It was nice to know that we didn't need to drive home; kind of an advantage of our new place, I suppose.

Here's what I got to try:

New Belgium Somersault
Gordon Biersch Sommerbrau
Summit Pilsner
Limestone Brewing Wisdom and Wit
Capital Brewery Wisconsin Amber
Emmett's Brewing Hefeweizen
Potosi Brewery Wee Stein Wit
Mickey Finn's Valkyrie Pils
Sprecher Brewing Hefe Weiss

And here's what Dave tried:

New Belgium Somersault
Gordon Biersch Schwartzbier
The Lucky Monk Tripel
The Lucky Monk Kolsch
The Lucky Monk Solitude Oatmeal Stout
The Lucky Monk Wheat Wine
Flossmoor Station Le Chien Blanc Belgian Wit
Flossmoor Station Rail Hopper IPA
Flossmoor Station 15th Anniversary Tripel
Potosi Brewery Snake Hollow IPA
Victory Brewing Company Golden Monkey

As you can see, we drank a lot of small, tasting portions of beer. Still, that's a lot of beer. Dave is pretty much the most sloshed I've seen in a while, even as I type this. A lot of his beers were some pretty high alcohol levels, including his favorite, the Flossmoor Station Tripel, which clocked in at something like 15% ABV. Dang.

The weirdest thing about this afternoon was randomly running into some old friends - Ryan Carey from law school and Mike Coy from grade school (and beyond). We got to share many opinions on beer and catch up on old times. Mike brews, so I think we'll be picking his brain to brew some of our own sometime in the next year.

Oh, and I ran into someone else; I posted last year about a beer tasting we went to in Chicago, mentioning a certain drunkard in a blue jean fishing cap. At last year's tasting, he was basically the drunkest person I've ever seen. After leaving the elevator speaking German, he basically walked onto Western Avenue, where I assumed he would be hit by a car. Well, that man was at Barrington today, so I guess he must have lived to drink another day. If I see him at too many more tastings, I will either know that I am at the right beer fests, or I will know my life is going horribly downhill. You know, one or the other.

Time to go make some jam and hang out with Dave for the rest of the night. Let's just say that in the next few days, there will be another crochet pattern, and this one will be simply redonk. You'll see.

Koopa Troopa

2011-07-05T11:35:00.004-05:00

Continuing on in my NES series, a Koopa Troopa from Super Mario Bros.!

Again, this is a 100% cotton dish cloth. I feel like he didn't come out as clear as some of the others, but there were a lot of tiny little spaces and lines on this one. I think a 1-UP mushroom is next, and that should turn out well.

Here's the pixel-based pattern chart:

Obviously, my original idea was to do mint green in the background, but you can see in the finished product that I chose black instead, for more contrast. You can do what you like, and I'd be interested to see how different people's designs turn out.

Berry picking

2011-07-02T13:09:00.002-05:00

Well, summer is now in full swing, so Dave and I made our first foray into the berry patch. Today we did two things we've never done before: pick strawberries and pull garlic!

We managed to glean two pints of strawberries from Susie's Garden Patch in Garden Prairie, and we picked three garlic bulbs and two scallion bulbs. I'm planning on doing strawberry currant jam, adding the scallions to some garlic scape dip I'm making for my cousin's graduation party tomorrow, and braiding the garlic bulbs with some that I bought at the farmers' market, then hanging them.

Busy day!

Taste the Rainbow

2011-06-28T20:20:00.003-05:00

This week is the Taste of Chicago, so depending on how you feel about that, you are either hiding in your office or home, or you're out paying a boat load of money to eat out with a boat load of people.

Dave and I are in the latter category.

Actually, we didn't spend all that much this year. We got three sets of tickets for the two of us, which is only $24 total.

On Dave's menu (all tasting portions): Polish sausage from Bobak Sausage Company, Cajun meat balls (he can't remember where), pierogi from Kasia's Deli, Rainbow Cone, and a chocolate chip cookie from Harry Caray's Restaurant. (That last one was to use up two of our last three tickets.)

On my menu was a chipotle chicken sausage from Bobak Sausage Company, falafel and hummus from Taste newcomer Alhambra Palace, and a full-size original Rainbow Cone. Unbelievably, I've lived in Chicago my whole life and never had one, so I went to this Taste specifically looking forward to it.

For those of you who are unfamiliar, the Rainbow Cone is layers of ice cream (chocolate, strawberry, Palmer House, pistachio, and orange sherbet) in a waffle cone. It was delicious. The Palmer House ice cream was a little weird; vanilla with walnuts and cherries. Hey, can't be bad.

We got the heck out of there and took the express train home, in time for me to finish grading the practice bar exam essays I've got waiting for me at home tonight. Speaking of those...

Boss Bass, a.k.a. Big Bertha

2011-06-27T11:10:00.006-05:00

Get ready for this one, folks.

When I was a kid playing Mario Bros. 3 on original NES, we were introduced to an enemy that looked like a Cheep-Cheep, but could (and did, repeatedly) swallow us whole. This beastie is called Boss Bass, or alternately, Big Bertha.

Now he is here in dish cloth form, ready to eat the scraps of food left on your plates and dishes.

This is another tapestry crochet pattern I designed based on the pixels from the game. Here is the crochet chart below:

The cloth is 32 wide, so you begin by chaining 33 (or casting on 32, if you are knitting). You need red, white, and black, but you could also do the border in black or the background in blue.

Just a warning, despite the fact that the design is only three colors, you are carrying a lot of threads at any given time, sometimes as many as 11 or 12. (Maybe I was doing something wrong, but that's how many I had at some points.) In case you were wondering what that looks like:

Like I said, it isn't pretty, but I managed. It's an intense relief every time you are able to cut one loose.

Enjoy!

Strawberry Fest

2011-06-25T22:13:00.003-05:00

Well, it's summer, which means I'm going to be posting a lot more about events I do. It's time for the annual Long Grove Strawberry Fest, which means I'm going to tell you about all the delicious things I ate. Get ready.

This year, we attended with my old coworker Rosa and her husband Franco and little girl, Lina.

Yes, you're not seeing that wrong, she's actually wearing strawberry gear, at the Strawberry Fest.

She got TONS of comments. Very, very cute indeed.

So now for the eating list. We ate the fondue kabobs, of course, and Rosa got some strawberry lemonades. We also bought some small pies. Rosa got an apple pie, I got a strawberry apple pie. I also bought some chocolate-covered strawberries and a carton of small Michigan strawberries.

I think we showed some restraint by not buying the large pies. Can't wait for Apple Fest: keep it classy, Long Grove!

Mario Bros. question box

2011-06-24T22:18:00.002-05:00

I've been on a bit of a crochet kick lately, learning how to do tapestry crochet where you change colors and carry the same color to the next row. I actually had started with this, the question box from Mario Bros. 3, but I didn't go back to it until after the Pac-Man and friends.

I liked that it had so few colors, but actually sometimes (especially in the upper part of the question mark) there were quite a few strands going at once. This is mostly cotton and is likely going to my friend Katie as a housewarming present.

I'll keep working on new designs and I'll be posting them soon!

Pac-Man dish cloths

2011-06-22T13:52:00.007-05:00

I haven't posted any crochet patterns for a while, but all that is about to change. Why? Because I learned how to change colors within a row, i.e. tapestry or chart crochet, to make designs. And oh am I making designs.

Lots of people have posted charts online for Mario Bros. games and other early era Nintendo and arcade games, so I figured I'd add some to the group. Here's my first: Pac-Man and friends!

These are simple enough to do and create nice-looking dish cloths when you use cotton yarn. For each of these patterns, chain 29 and work in single crochet for each row according to the colors on the chart. You carry the colors over as you work rather than cutting them, so at any given point, you have 5-7 yarns attached to the piece.

I have Pac-Man and the four ghosts from the game. Pac-Man is yellow, the border is aqua, pink, orange, and red to represent his ghosts, and the background is black (made gray in the pixel chart below so you can still see the grid).

Each ghost has a yellow border with a black background (again, made gray so you can see the grid), and eyes are white and black. For this design, I left the ghost light gray because it is meant to work for every ghost color - aqua, pink, orange, and red.

These are really fun to make and have impressed everyone I've shown them to. Post a comment if you have any questions, and if you would like to learn more about how to change colors on tapestry crochet projects, click this link.

Wisonsin, Day 4

2011-06-20T15:51:00.004-05:00

We weren't in Wisconsin much today, so I will keep this relatively short. The morning walk was foggy and beautiful at the Cameo Rose B&B:

Breakfast was delicious: fruit compote, a scone, eggs benedict, and a citrus sorbet. Mmm again!

Before we left, we got to see some of the local wildlife - a turkey! Awesome. We heard them gobbling and fighting in the forest, so that was pretty funny.

On our way out of town, we stopped at Candinas so Mom and I could buy a box of truffles each while the guys waited in the car. I love those truffles.

Then, after some debate as to the directions, we got to the Swiss Colony Outlet Store, where we picked up some cheese, sausages, and candies. Mom picked up a few bags of petits fours, and I was sorely tempted by some Yule logs. But then I realized that they must have been sitting there since Christmas, and I thought better of it.

Another great trip to Wisconsin, and this time we got to show around my parents, who I hope had a great time. It may have been a bit overwhelming at times, but weekends away in Wisconsin are all about weird crap, great food, and even greater beer. Until we meet again, my wonderful neighbor to the north!

Wisconsin, Day 3

2011-06-19T21:03:00.007-05:00

Well, this was an interesting day to say the least. Our day included a stop at the artist colony at Paoli, New Glarus the town, New Glarus the brewery (of course), and the House on the Rock. Anyone who has been to any of these places knows what's coming next.

Of course, we had our first full breakfast at the B&B, which we didn't get yesterday because we left so early. She did make up small plates of fruit and muffins, but it wasn't as full as her usual four-course bonanza. Today we got a poached pear, a homemade cinnamon bun, an asparagus and bacon quiche, and a fruit and champagne frappe. Mmm.

Paoli was really cool. We didn't get to go last year, so I was really glad we got to see it this year. I got some cool glass earrings and bought my dad a photo of a dilapidated farm. (He's into that stuff.) One of the galleries had some awesome pottery, and I could have bought about half the stuff in the place, and that says a lot because I am not that into pottery.

New Glarus has some cute shops, too, and we went into a Swiss kitsch shop, an antique shop, a gift shop, and the town bakery (Dad got a rye). I was really happy we went to the antique shop because I got some emerald green cut-glass tumblers that are exactly like the kind my Grandma B had.

Of course, being in New Glarus, we stopped next at the brewery for some tastings and some beer to go. The beers I tried I've had before, including the Two Women lager, the special Golden Ale, and the Wisconsin Belgian Red, a cherry beer. Apparently they brewed the Golden Ale two years ago and they'll only do another special-to-the-brewery beer when they run out of this.

We bought a case of the Imperial Weizen, a case of the IIPA, and a mixed case of various favorites. Oh, and two bottles of Golden Ale, which apparently will be good for another three or four years and will mellow with time. It's still pretty hoppy, but it's really good. Dad picked up some beers, too: Spotted Cow and the Totally Naked lager.

All in all, an excellent visit!

Next, Dad wanted to visit the House on the Rock, which he'd heard about his whole life. We knew we were in for an interesting experience, given that the sculptures out front looked like this, at left. Also, when we went to the restroom, there were a mix of Japanese dolls, model air planes, and a Santa Claus scene.

Time to take the red pill.

The first part of the tour was a weird, shagged up 1960s house that had lots of Japanese sculptures, strange library books, wooden screens, and stained glass windows. Every now and then we'd see something that made us think, "WTF?" But that would all soon end.

This is the Infinity Room, an optical illusion in a jutting-out indoor deck thing.

Pretty cool! This was clearly the high point of the tour. Even after we left this part - again, just the "regular" house part - Dad joked with a staff member that the eccentric millionaire builder of The House on the Rock museums "had some problems." Oh, how little we knew.

The rest of the tour is a bit of a blur, to be honest. It was a sensory overload of ecclectic, unlabeled collections that kind of smelled like rat droppings. Here are some of the things we saw:

20-barreled hand guns
Marionette troll puppets
Colored glass vases
Full-sized steam engines
Kites
Life-size replica of blue whale in battle with kraken
Ben Franklin
World's largest carousel
At least three calliope rooms
Model ships
Murano paperweights in a fireplace bellows
Burma Shave signs
Car covered in ceramic tile
Diorama of white guy choking black guy in barber chair
Working dioramas of cemeteries

If you want to see some of this stuff, I uploaded more photos to my Shutterfly site. Otherwise, just look at this thing at right and that pretty much gives you an idea.

We were terrified that the place would close and we'd be stuck inside overnight. We also joked that they shouldn't charge admission to get in - they should let you in for free, and charge to show you where the exit is.

On the way out, we walked by the world's largest carousel, which has hundreds of chandeliers and many mythical animals. I didn't feel like a photo would do justice, so here's the video:

I panned around a bit to show off the various wall decorations, but it's kind of dark in there. There is a creepy exit to the next part of the tour, which we didn't do, and there are angels all over the wall and ceiling. Weird.

We finally escaped, and I kind of wanted to see what the gift shop was like, but I kind of didn't. Actually it was nothing weird, so I was mildly disappointed. But they had already taken enough of our money for admission, so I wasn't really concerned with giving them more.

But we weren't done with creepy shit for the day: on our way to dinner, we stopped in Mt. Horeb, apparently the "troll" capital of the world, which has many decorative troll figurines displayed in the downtown "Trollway."

Bleargh. Why didn't I take the blue pill today?

We had dinner at Deininger's in New Glarus, a place we've been meaning to visit for some time. We got Dad a steak for Father's Day, and we all had more New Glarus beer. We had a lot of laughs, mostly at the expense of The House on the Rock, and we cross our fingers not to have nightmares tonight.

Wisconsin, Day 2

2011-06-18T22:16:00.001-05:00

Today was our Taliesin tour, the comprehensive tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's estate in Spring Green, Wisconsin. There is his school, the windmill he built for his sisters, his house, and his family church. Pretty cool stuff.

We got up early for the tour and headed over to the visitor's center. Dad was giggling with excitement even over the metal sculptures leading into the visitor's center!

The school was the tour we did last fall, so I will spare the details here - here's what I said last year. You can't take pictures inside, either, but it was a neat school and I always enjoy seeing the north light "forest" drafting studio.

On our way over to Taliesin, we saw the Romeo & Juliet wind mill that Wright built for his sisters, who ran the school before he turned it into an architecture school. It's a very cool structure that stayed up for about 100 years before they had to take it down and re-build it according to his original plans. The shorter part is Juliet, an octagonal shape that holds up Romeo. Romeo is a diamond-shaped prow that diverts the wind around Juliet. Kind of yin and yang, except each half supports the other.

Next up was the barn structure, where Wright and his students would milk cows and store produce. It is kind of falling apart and I didn't take many photos. But the real gem of the tour was after that: Taliesin, Frank Lloyd Wright's personal home.

As you can predict, this place was pretty cool. Of course, no indoor pictures, but the walk up to the estate (house and landscape) was awesome.

I can definitely see why he chose to build his house here, in the Uplands of Wisconsin.

We got some refreshment and got to visit some of the guest rooms and lounges of the main floor. The main floor also had car ports and an amazing courtyard.

We learned that the structure burned twice, so this is actually the third structure (although it was basically the same as the other). What's funny is that the school also burned at least once. Were there a lot of oil fires before electricity, or what?

It was really cool to see the home, even though it does seem to be having trouble staying up these days (although not as much trouble as Fallingwater, which my dad calls "Falling Down."

We left after four hours of the walking tour. I was proud of all of our stamina on this hot day!

But it was time for some nice rewards: a wedge of Pleasant Ridge Reserve, which is located only a few miles south of Taliesin, and beers at Capital Brewing.

We had a tour there last year, which was so awesome we signed up for another one. The same tour guide was there again, actually: Marshall. We got to taste a few beers in the garden beforehand. I had the Kloster Weisen, Fest (a Helles beer) and the Door County Lager. The Fest and Weisen were awesome, but I don't think they were selling them in the gift shop.

Dave tried the Dark Lager, Unpredictable Pale Ale, and the Door County Lager. My dad really enjoyed the Supper Club, and he tried the Helles but it might have been a bit much for him. But we got an extra taste on the tour, when he poured a bit of the mostly fermented Fest beer straight from the fermenter.

My mom and I got to pick up some wonderful mustards at the National Mustard Museum while Dad and Dave finished up Mom's beer tokens. I got a Habanero pepper mustard, a beer mustard, and some spicy cashews.

And that was about it for the day - we did stop in Madison on the way home for dinner, ordering some delicious fare from The Old Fashioned again. This time I got a grilled cheese, but I think maybe I should have taken my law friend Mr. Glaser's advice and gotten the mac & cheese. Oh well, next time, I guess. And one of these years we'll get to the Dane County Farmers' Market, too.

Tomorrow's day is a lot less structured, because we don't have any advance tickets for anything, but New Glarus is on the agenda for sure. Better make room in the van...

Wisonsin, Day 1

2011-06-17T21:10:00.001-05:00

We arrived safe in Wisconsin, and just in time for dinner at the Schoolhouse Cafe in Paoli.

We got some New Glarus beer and very fancy cuisine. My mom had fish, Dad had a steak, I don't remember what Dave got, and I got sausage ravioli that was green and white striped.

Must go to bed early, because we have a tour tomorrow at Frank Lloyd Wright's ancestral home at Taliesin!

Home repair Saturday

2011-06-11T19:35:00.011-05:00

I know what you're thinking - that we were repairing our home - but no. We drove to Portage Park to help Andy and Jo prep their beautiful, quirky new bungalow for moving in this week!

Joanna had picked out a moss green for the big living room and a sea blue in the library. The house has a ton of rooms and actually three kitchens - multi-level residences for previous owners and tenants - so they're busy making the space into their own thing.

After a wonderful Mexican lunch, we walked to Portage Park proper to check out their new neighborhood.

While I was taking the photo of this squirrel, a guy walked by, stopped to look at me, and started making weird noises as if to scare the squirrel away during my photo. WTF?

After we got back to their house, we decided to do one more fix-it project before we left - taking down some of the god-awful awnings from the windows and doors.

We think these things have been there since the 1950s, which is approximately the last time they were cleaned. Removing them made the house look much nicer, but they didn't come off willingly.

That's Dave unscrewing the window awning while Jo holds it up on one side. Andy was climbing around on the windows like a wild thing, which was both amusing and terrifying to watch. Both large awnings came down, and we'll be back to remove more later. Home repair is what being an adult is all about.

Helping them with their home repair projects makes me want to finish up the ones we need to do for our place. I think we'll have tomorrow free, so maybe we can finish up our basement shelving project and put away some paperwork. But for tonight, I'm going to go crochet and watch "Lord of the Rings." Because that's also what being an adult is all about.

Avon Walk for Breast Cancer

2011-06-05T18:37:00.008-05:00

This weekend was the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, which Dave and I have trained for (and fundraised for) for months. It was a very powerful experience and had mixed successes, so I'll share them all here, and you'll forgive me for being honest.

In the morning, we arrived just in time for the opening ceremonies next to Soldier Field, where we did some stretching and warming up. There we learned that the walkers had raise $6.1 million as of Friday night, which is awesome. My generous donors helped me reach my $1,800 goal, as did Dave's, and we felt honored to be a part of that large total.

There were pillars for all the walks that were happening around the country - pillars that travel to each city's walk - and I signed my name, along with the name of a very nice person that I knew who died of breast cancer. (All other people I know who've had breast cancer are survivors.)

The first few miles of the walk were easy, predictably - we walked up the lake shore from Soldier Field to Belmont. We were drinking plenty of water and skipped the first few rest stops, but definitely stopped at the Belmont one, where we had a few snacks and some Gatorade.

All the way up the lake shore, the line stretched as far as we could see in either direction. I still haven't gotten the final numbers on how many people participated, but it was in the thousands. It was really sad to see that people were walking in honor of someone they had lost - I saw quite a few that read, "For my beautiful sister." It was a great reminder of why we were doing the walk.

Along the way, there were hilarious breast puns ("The Breast Friends," "Tutus for Tatas," etc.) and really fun biker guys directing traffic for us at the intersections. The lake shore walk was easy, but the biker dudes really helped when we started to walk in more disjointed groups through the stop signs and lights of Chicago's neighborhoods.

From the beginning of the walk pretty much until the end of the walk, it felt like everybody was walking faster than us. I felt like we were doing a pretty good 3 mph clip for most of the walk, and I didn't see how others could keep up a quicker pace for the full marathon. But then again, I don't see how someone could run a marathon, either, but good for them.

From Belmont, we walked back down the west border of Lincoln Park, then through the Gold Coast for lunch at the same baseball field I played the Municipal vs. Law Division game at last summer. This was about mile 10. I wasn't able to eat much of lunch; I was starting to get a little nauseous from all the heat, and I've been having an aversion to meat lately, so Dave had to finish my turkey sandwich.

At lunch, we met a really nice girl, Maria, from Elgin, who was walking in place of her sister, who had the flu.

We walked with Maria down to the main Loop and over to the west Loop, where we had our halfway point break at St. Patrick's Cathedral. Here's a picture of us with Maria at Mile 13!

At this point, we could have caught a bus to the Wellness Village and finish line if we had wanted, but we decided to keep walking. Oh, my folly. But more on that later. Maria's shoes didn't fit right and given that she hadn't trained, she stopped at about mile 14 and I didn't see her again. I hope she went back for a bus.

It was still very hot at this point as we headed into UIC and Greek Town, and I heard it was 93 and that some walkers had already been hospitalized. In fact, I heard from my mom today that there was a half marathon run going on at the same time as our walk, and that a 30-something seasoned runner died in the heat. But we just kept hydrating and pouring on sun block, and kept walking.

From Greek Town we walked up through the Gold Coast again and up into Old Town, and somewhere around Mile 18 or so, it started to pour and the temperature dropped about 20 degrees. We had umbrellas, but our feet were still getting soaked. I started to think that trouble was a-brewing.

Here's the photo of Mile 20, deep in the crappy weather section of the walk:

Just nasty. At this point, the wet socks and shoes started creating blisters in my feet, and my arms were hurting from straining against the umbrella and holding the huge tub of Gatorade. And miles 20 through the end (26.2) were the longest of the walk, predictably.

As I have posted about, Dave and I have been training for months, two days at around 20 miles. But we had never trained in heat this severe, and when it was raining this badly, we usually went indoors. So I guess we weren't fully prepared.

Here's where my brutal honesty comes in. I was in the most pain I've ever felt in my life. My knees were creaking, feet and hands were swollen, thighs ached, arms hurt, back hurt, and the bottoms of my feet were burning with blisters. Oh, and I had heat rash. I am a wimp. Dave is better with working through long-lasting workout pain than I am, being a distance runner, but man oh man.

These are all problems that most of the other walkers were experiencing, too (including Dave), but I say all this with the qualification that I am a wimp. As I get older, I am simply unwilling to put myself through much physical discomfort whatsoever.

The weather was clearing up as we made it back into Lincoln Park again, walked through DePaul, then up into Wrigleyville and past the stadium, then up into the Southport corridor and north toward Horner Park, the finish line in the Irving Park area.

So, from all the heat earlier, and also probably a lack of eating enough, I was starting to feel a little loopy. To be honest, I don't remember some of it. I know I was saying over and over, "No, no, no..." and "Stop, we have to stop" and "This was the worst idea I've ever had." I was pretty much crying from mile 23 until the end of the walk. I think this was when Dave and I began to have some doubts about whether I'd be able to stay overnight and do today's half-marathon.

We made it to the finish line, I'm proud to say. We were behind this really annoying group of yellow shirted people, who were shouting insults at each other. I might have thought it was funny earlier in the race, but at this point I was barely keeping it together.

Here we are at the finish line!

I had collected quite a few pink Mardi Gras beads along the way, and still no sun burn, but I was pretty messed up. In the end, we did 12 hours of walking - from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. - with some breaks along the way. Wow.

When I limped over to the assembly tent, Dave got our stuff and I scoped out my feet. I was covered in blisters, some skin had already come off, and my calves and feet were covered in heat rash. I was walking like an old lady and I knew that my body was telling me to stop - sleeping in a tent and walking a half marathon the following day would be a very bad idea for my physical and mental health. I knew that none of my sponsors would want me to endanger my health, and that I had already completed a full marathon in the first day, so I decided to quit.

Faron was our savior, coming down and taking us to Soldier Field, where our car was parked for an allegedly overnight stay. We chatted on the way, where she called our walk "The Bataan Death March for Cancer," which I thought was hilarious, because along the last five miles of the walk, Dave and I had compared the walk to "The Long Walk," by Stephen King, the Trail of Tears, and others.

So, we went home. I did the first full day, a marathon, but went home in quasi-defeat. But I don't really think it can be called a defeat if we both raised $1,800 for breast cancer research and patient support! Many women, most of which do not have health insurance, will receive mammograms as a result of this weekend's walk, and we all know that early detection greatly helps the patient's prognosis.

In the end, I'm glad I did it, and I'm glad I had such a great walking buddy. Dave was there for me in all ways, and I was happy to be raising money and awareness for such a good cause. On the flip side, walking that many miles was a heavy challenge for me, and I don't think I'll ever try to do that again. I want to support people who do, because I see how nice it was to have cheering stations along the way. But honestly, walking a marathon is really hard, and I can't imagine how someone would run one. I have the utmost respect for anyone who is able to!

So that's about it; I'm recuperating today and I'll hobble into work tomorrow. My feet are all bandaged up and I'm walking less like an old lady now. Good job, Avon Walkers, and next year I will be out there with buckets of ice for you at mile 17!!

Event eve!

2011-06-03T21:01:00.002-05:00

Time for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer - thanks to our generous donors (and some above-and-beyond fundraising by my mom and her coworkers), Dave and I are walking with thousands of other people to help end breast cancer and to support breast cancer patients!

As promised, I'll raffle off that Amazon Kindle on Sunday night - I need to get to bed early tonight, and it took us a while to get through final event registration tonight at the Rosemont Hyatt Regency - but I want to say thank you again to all my donors. It has been a really wonderful, feel-good experience, and I can't wait to participate tomorrow.

Planting day

2011-05-30T20:32:00.003-05:00

We love coming to help my parents plant their vegetable garden, and today was the day.

My parents picked up two varieties of tomatoes, bell peppers, banana peppers, jalapeno peppers, cucumbers, and zucchini. Oh man, I can't wait.

We brought down the bunny, who sat in the shade in his cage, but it was a little stressful for him. We got him home and he has been hanging out and calming down. I've started on a baby blanket, to prepare for the many births that are occurring this fall, and it's looking pretty cute so far.

It was a busy weekend, but hopefully we'll be able to catch up on house work this week. We still haven't filled those basement shelves, and our surfaces could use a little shine.

Blue babette blanket

2011-05-29T21:42:00.003-05:00

OK, not gonna lie, this is one of my favorite blankets of all time.

My college friend Burt got married yesterday, and he and his wife Linda requested a blanket similar to the ones I did for Faron and Tiffany, except with blue and gray tones. The blanket is mostly blue, with accents of gray, silver, black, and white. Probably two thirds of the yarn is vintage, with the other being stuff I picked up at JoAnn.

I have to say, I love all of my babette blankets, but this one might be my favorite. Maybe because it goes with all of my cobalt blue stuff on my first floor.

This will be my last crochet-related post for a while, or at least a month or two, because now that this blanket is done, all I've got for the rest of the year are some dishcloths and baby blankets. Quite a few baby blankets, actually, so I guess I'd better get going on those.

But tomorrow we're helping my parents plant the garden again, and next weekend begins a full schedule of activities for June. Woo for summer!

Burt and Linda's wedding weekend!

2011-05-28T20:34:00.004-05:00

This weekend was Burt and Linda's wedding weekend, so we trekked up to Minnesota to participate in the festivities!

On the way yesterday, we stopped at the Mouse House, a shop with cheese, beer, and other delicious sundries. We picked up some cheese curds for the ride and would pick up some more at the Black River Falls oasis for our wonderful hosts, Dave's cousin TJ and his wife Brenda.

We made it into St. Paul in time for the tux fitting and rehearsal. We were stunned by the church, which was beautiful and full of stone, stained glass, and candles. Oh, and pipe organ pipes everywhere!

At the rehearsal dinner, we shared good times with the happy couple, who were coordinating in their wedding colors: orange and blue.

I finally got to meet Eric and Amanda's baby, who gave me many kisses on the cheek. He's definitely going to be a heart-breaker someday!

I should add at this point that our car was overheating and somewhat smoking, so we were pretty worried. It made it to TJ and Brenda's, where we had some drinks and caught up with news.

After a fairly restless night fighting cat allergies, we had a lovely breakfast and got ready for the day. I wore a mint green and black dress with a purple peacock fascinator that Linda gave me as an usher present.

It's really too bad that you can't see the feathers in the photo, because my hair was adorable!

The ceremony was lovely - you can see the lovely bridesmaid dresses, the happy couple, and the groomsman (Dave is bottom right), as well as some pipe organs:

Julie and I got to light all the candles in the church, which was fun and gave the church a really nice ambiance.

The reception was at Summit Manor, a really cool little Victorian mansion that reminded me of my wedding. I got to catch up with college people, eat great food, try new beers, and even watch Kelly catch the bouquet!

Good times were had by all. Although Burt and Linda didn't want a public shaming of Burt in front of family, my college friends were able to complete their tradition in the discreet scenery of the basement:

We had planned to stay for dinner and sleep over again at TJ and Brenda's, but given my cat allergies and the fact that I had slept so little the night before, I was exhausted after the reception and Dave and I drove home, Kelly in tow. It was a great weekend with great hosts all around, both Dave's cousins and the newlyweds. Can't wait to get to Minnesota again soon!

Earth tone baby blanket

2011-05-25T19:50:00.002-05:00

Well, it's the year of weddings and babies. I have five weddings this summer and at least as many friends expecting babies, and the first one was finished and sent just under the wire.

My friend Dan from college and his wife Christy are expecting their first, a boy, who will have an adorable jungle-themed room decor. I figured the brown and green would go well, and Dan suggested those very colors.

The blanket is from a book I recently purchased - I know, I know, I don't need any more books, but come on. I loved almost all the patterns, so you know it was special. Usually you're lucky if you can use one or two patterns from the book.

The cream yarn is a spike stitch, which is a double crochet stitch worked into the second row down from the working row. The stitch included a nice pattern for the border, which took me a couple of tries, but it worked out.

I have some extra yarn, so I might do a toy to go along with the set at some point this summer. I figure a little lion or giraffe would be cute!

One down...many to go!

Wright fest in Oak Park

2011-05-21T21:02:00.001-05:00

Today was the Wright Plus house tour of a particularly prairie-style neighborhood in Oak Park. I found out about the tour when I was checking out the Wright Preservation Trust website for tours of Wright's house and studio there. My parents came along, because my dad loves Frank Lloyd Wright even more than Dave and I do.

The idea behind the tour is to open up some privately owned Frank Lloyd Wright (or non-Wright-designed prairie-style homes) to public tours. All of the homes were on two streets in a four-block area of Oak Park, and let me tell you, it was one amazing block.

This is the Peter A. Beachy House, which actually ended up being the first house we saw from the road, but the last house we'd tour during the day.

Wright had just come back from Japan and designed this for a very, very rich lady. I think I remember the tour guides saying that it cost under $7,000 when it was made in 1906.

The thing about this block is that there are other Wright homes on the block that you don't get to go into, like this one.

Among the non-Wright-designed homes we visited were the Andrew J. Redmond House, the W. H. Yorke House, and the Americus B. Melville House II (my favorite of the non-Wrights). Some of the interiors were so amazing, I wish I had been able to take photos.

My favorite house of the day was the Arthur B. Heurtley House, designed by Wright in 1902. It really emphasizes horizontal lines, and the interior was so open, yet intimate.

This was where the lines came in. For the three non-Wright-designed houses we visited, we hardly waited in line at all. For this one, and the first one I saw (photo at the beginning of this

My parents saw the non-Wrights and the Heurtley House with us, but Dave and I were on our own for the Beachy House. But we met some fun people in line!

Our tour also included the Unity Temple and Wright Home and Studio in Oak Park, and the Robie House and Rookery lobby in Chicago, but that is good for anytime this year. So we decided to call it a day, because Dave was coming down with something and it was starting to rain anyway.

It was an amazing morning - it blows my mind that people actually live in each of these homes. These are pieces of history - particularly beautiful pieces of history - and the lovingly done renovations are awe-inspiring.

Day at the aquarium

2011-05-20T08:56:00.001-05:00

I've been super wanting to see the Jellies! exhibit at the Shedd Aquarium, and it ends next week, so Diane, Dave, and I took the afternoon off and headed over.

Diane and I realized we both dressed like we belong in an aquarium today, perhaps as a piece of coral.

We hit the jellyfish exhibit first, and got some amazing views of quite a few different kinds.

I love watching them in aquariums. I always think they're my favorite thing to visit, although then I remember how much I love the otters, penguins, clownfish, and others. There were even titi monkeys in the Shedd this time!

And, of course, some not-so-exotic fish:

Dave was doing an imitation of this fish's disapproving scowl. This is shortly after I was terrorized by a Japanese spider crab with a three-foot leg span, so I was feeling pretty much like this fish looks.

Every time we saw some huge, fat animal laying around (like the sea lion), I was reminded of the bunny. Not that he is fat, he's just...big. But this iguana really was channeling my bunny today:

It took me quite a few takes to get a good shot of this clownfish, because, you know, they move around and stuff. But I finally got one.

Such a great day at the aquarium, and then Dave and I ate at Epic Burger and I had a reunion with some of my law review folks. It was a great day, and we're starting to have the beginnings of some great weather!

32-mile weekend

2011-05-15T12:02:00.003-05:00

As I've mentioned before, this weekend was a big one for me and Dave - 32 miles total. That's 22 on Saturday, 10 on Sunday. Yipes.

Our first stop on Saturday was the dentist, and after visiting with Grandma Smith, we went over to a southwest side hike that we've done before. It's short, but I figured we could get it in before lunch and then do the big hike after that.

The hike was totally different the second time around: this time there were tons of leaves and wildflowers to see, and it was actually easier to see the paths with the contrast between the green leaves and the brown trail.

We also saw a woodpecker! Video goodness:

The purple wildflowers were everywhere, and it was the best wildflower walk we've done this spring.

On the way up to our big hike, we stopped for lunch at BallyDoyle's, an Irish pub in Downers Grove. We each tried a new beer - Dave had Turbodog dark brown ale (very smoky) and I had Goose Island Fleur (flowery and sweet). Plus we got to eat burgers and fries without guilt. Dave got a truly frightening burger - the Irishman - which was topped with cream cheese and a fried egg. Mine was the incinerator burger, which was topped with pepper jack cheese, chipotle mayo, fried jalapenos, and "incinerator sauce," which I think is a puree of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce with sriracha sauce.

And then, because we were burning off so many calories with the walking, we even went for dessert. Don't ask me how we did it after those burgers, but somehow we were still hungry enough to eat this:

These are large profiteroles, which are pastry puffs with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. Fantastic.

After this extreme caloric intake, we went up to the Waterfall Glen hike around Argonne Laboratory. It's a 10-mile hike that includes foliage, wildflowers, a small waterfall, and some building ruins.

The first few miles of the hike were nice, but honestly, the mist was getting to us around mile 3. It fogged up our glasses and was generally annoying.

The waterfall was small, but it was nice to sit around for a minute to take a rest.

We kept going around and around, and it felt like the walk would never end, especially since we had already done about 5 miles in the morning.

Here's a little deer friend we met along our journey, inside the Argonne fence!

Once we finished the hike, we went directly to Woodfield Mall to finish the remaining 7 miles. That meant about six loops around the top and bottom floors. It was hard to walk among all the people at first, but as closing time approached, it got much easier.

We limped home and hung out with the bunny for a bit, but at that point it was about 9 p.m. That meant we spent almost all day walking. Then after breakfast this morning, we did 7 miles (toward our 10 today) because I have a bridal shower this afternoon and some baking to do tonight.

Walking, walking, walking. I feel like I'll have so much more free time over the weekend when this walk stops! But the next two weekends of training are very small, only 10 and 5, and then 5 and 3. That seems like so little now!

I am about $200 away from my fundraising minimum, and Dave is more (not clear how much more, because we have some offline donations to turn in). I will be so relieved to reach my goal!

Basement shelves: done!

2011-05-13T11:36:00.002-05:00

We finally finished painting the shelves that my dad (and Dave!) installed in the basement. Photo goodness:

Dad designed these shelves to abut the staircase wall. You can see that he also had to design some strategic holes for the pipes sticking out of the wall. Dave and Dad installed most of the shelves in one day, then Dave installed some supports alone, and then we primed and painted them.

The primer was this stuff called Gripper, which was insanely good. The paint is Behr interior semi-gloss, tinted to "Almond Toast." Whatever that is.

The bunny has been enjoying hanging out with us while we paint, and I'll definitely be enjoying putting stuff on the shelves so that the bunny stops destroying it. We have a lot of stuff in our basement from the move, so it's time to start going through it all and organizing. I'm hoping that most of it fits on these wonderful shelves!

Thanks, Dad, for all your help and hard work! (And for letting us borrow your power tools!) And thanks also goes to Dave, who did a lot of work on the supports, and who endured painting for days. Not his favorite activity or mine, but I think they look fantastic!

Update on Avon Walk

2011-05-11T11:35:00.003-05:00

Thanks to the incredible generosity of my friends and family (as well as friends of family and friends!) I am almost at my fundraising goal for the Avon Walk. It has been a long haul, and it's hard to believe I'm almost there!

This weekend's training walk is the last huge one before the actual walk day: 22 miles on Saturday, 10 miles on Sunday.

My shoes are completely falling apart at this point, so this week I'm going to get some new walking shoes and hopefully break them in before the huge walk. A local sports equipment store is giving us a discount, so I'll be thanking them with my business.

It would be a huge relief to get my fundraising done by this week. I am about $300 away from meeting my goal of $1,800, so if you have been waiting to donate, now is the time. Dave is farther behind me and desperately needs donations to meet the minimum.

Raising $3,600 between me and Dave has been one of the hardest things we've ever tried to do. Again, we appreciate everyone's generosity toward this amazing charity! I plan to do a party sometime this summer for my wonderful donors.

Joliet ironworks hike

2011-05-08T19:47:00.004-05:00

We only needed to log 5 miles today, so we decided to walk part of it at the Joliet Ironworks on the way to my parents' house, then walk the remainder with my mom in the afternoon. It's a hike I did with my family a long time ago, and Dave has been eager to see it.

The whole thing is basically the industrial ruins left behind after the close of the Joliet steel mills early in the 20th century.

You'll be looking into some rubble and concrete and there'll be a sign pointing out the forges, engines, etc. that used to work there.

The whole thing is also set right behind the old Joliet prison, pictured in the background above.

The hike was really cool, and although it was only two miles, so we walked another two miles with my mom at my parents' house after lunch. It was Mother's Day today, of course, so we came down to hang out with Mom and cook her a nice meal. Dad got the steaks, I got the potatoes, and Dad grilled it all.

I've got a busy week ahead, but my Avon Walk fundraising has been going really well. I've got a lot of generous friends and family, and it's going to be such an amazing walk to know that I'm supported by a wonderful network.

Oh, and P.S., this coming weekend is going to be 22 miles on Saturday, 10 on Sunday. Yikes.

Wildflower walk & Mother's Day thoughts

2011-05-07T20:41:00.004-05:00

Today Dave and I had to walk 10 miles for walk training, so we walked in the morning to the first day of the Palatine summer farmers' market, then had enough miles left to do a hike that I did last year with some friends: Blackwell Forest Preserve in Wheaton.

It's supposed to have some beautiful wildflowers in spring, and although I don't think it was super spectacular, there were some beautiful displays here and there.

Tiny little purple flowers with dandelions...

White flowers on bushes, which were super sweet-smelling...

Adorable red-winged blackbird!

And some variety of white-tipped violet.

Sorry, I'm lame, I don't know names. Except for the dandelion and blackbird.

After the walk, we attended a childfree meetup group event at a restaurant nearby. (This is part of the reason we chose the Wheaton walk on this day!) It was really interesting (and validating!) to meet like-minded people, and we had a lot of great discussion about the lifestyle choice. It's something Dave and I have been thinking about for a long time.

It was a happy day, and tomorrow I get to celebrate Mother's Day with my mom, who is wonderful. Contemplating a life with (or without) children for as long as I have, I appreciate the sacrifices my parents, and especially my mom (because she stayed home with us), made for me. She is truly Super Mom, and I although I can try, I can never repay everything she did for me! I love you, Mom!!

Overheard on Metra

2011-05-03T18:05:00.004-05:00

There's a saying I read recently on JD Underground, of all places - don't waste your energy feeling jealous of another person unless you would trade your whole life for their whole life. It made me ponder some stuff that's been happening on my Metra rides lately.

First, last Thursday, there was "the Becky situation." On the evening commute, a guy sitting across from me and Dave had a protracted fight with his wife / girlfriend / whatever. There were a lot of "I don't want to talk about this anymore, Becky" comments, and also a weird comment about how he doesn't have a crystal ball to know whether something would happen. Whenever Dave and I had a minor disagreement or miscommunication over the weekend, we followed it with, "God DAMNIT, Becky!"

Then there was my commute (all by myself) last night. I was double-teamed by an idiot who was on the (mega)phone for twenty minutes to change his fiancee's car insurance onto his plan, only to admit he didn't know her birthday. HAH! Then there was the teenager who giggled and flirted voraciously with this uninterested male; as soon as he disembarked, she proceeded to call no less than three friends in a row to tell them that her dad is having an MRI. Yeah, you seemed really upset about it when Mr. Uninterested was on his laptop next to you.

Then there was today. Dave and I took separate trains, but we texted each other the following stories. On mine, the woman next to me explained long, vague instructions for what sounded like beef stroganoff to her unwilling and very confused child. If your kid has to call you four times in 20 minutes to clarify a direction (in this case, chopping and sauteing onions), probably it's above their skill level.

On Dave's train, there was another Becky situation, this time with a woman not likely named Becky. "I'm SORRY I don't have a job where I can sit and talk with you all day." (This is something that Thursday guy had said almost verbatim to his Becky situation.) Then he hung up on her right after saying, "You got the last word, are you happy?" (Dave said that is a meta-insult if he ever heard one.) Their argument was about, you guessed it, the kids.

Anyway, it all got me thinking about other people's marriages and families. Number one, I already would never trade anyone else's marriage for mine, but it all goes to show that the successful man who commutes downtown while his wife stays at home with the kids may very well be having a Becky situation of his own, so don't be too jealous. Number two, I really see what it is like to work and commute in Chicago while you have kids. It's not like Dave and I were raring to have them anyway, but I see the reality every day of stressed out parents, and it isn't appealing.

OK, time to go make dinner, just had to get that out. Hope you enjoy your GOD DAMN PIEROGI, BECKY!! I mean, Dave.

Chocolate fest

2011-05-01T20:51:00.003-05:00

Today was the Long Grove Chocolate Fest, so in addition to walking 9 miles for training, Dave and I had brunch with friends and went over for some tasty treats.

Of course, we had to have our perennial favorite, the chocolate kabob. Strawberry, donut hole, marshmallow, and Rice Krispie treat, all on a skewer and dipped in chocolate.

We ran into the denizens of the northwest suburbs, too, including their dogs, or, in some cases, bears on leashes.

That there is a Landseer Newfoundland - and a big one at that. He was completely amazing. It was beautiful weather, and the festival wasn't too utterly crowded.

Can't wait for the Strawberry Fest in June!