Violet's Nursing Home Visit

I don't have any pictures to share since I thought it would be slightly distasteful to photograph people in a nursing home, but I did want to share with our blog followers Violet's Saturday adventure.

We joined our friend Krista and a few other folks from our church to go over to the Glen Elston Nursing Home on the north side of the city. They work with the elderly, people in need of rehabilitation and those with Alzheimer's. It wasn't one of the nice, new, modern homes that you see in brochures, which made our experience with Violet that much more meaningful.

To see the look on people's faces when she scampered into the room was priceless. Several people got her extra finger-licking attention. For the most part, Violet would just sidle up next to the person we were visiting and make herself available for petting. The residents and staff all loved her.

We leave for our trip to Europe on Sunday so we'll have to take a brief hiatus on visiting until we get back, but this is definitely something I can see us (and Violet) doing many weekends moving forward.


[our do-gooder]

Happy Birthday, Andrew!

It's taken me almost a week to actually post, but last Friday we went down to The Map Room to celebrate our good friend Andrew's 29th birthday.

In addition to being quite a character [the pictures say it all], Andrew is one of the most thoughtful and kind people we know—definitely someone worth standing in line in the cold for. :-)

[the birthday boy and his bride, amy]



[where's the tamale guy?]


[random]

All Star: Mackensey Carter

As many of you know, Mackensey is playing softball at Georgetown. What you may not know is that she is the rising star on the team. Don't just take our word for it—adoring brother and sister-in-laws can be biased. You can see for yourself in this article from the Georgetown Hoya. Click here.

For further proof, you can see Mac's stats here.



UPDATE: I just received word that Georgetown beat Eastern Carolina University [a really good team in the Big East]. This is GU's fourth win as a team, but Mac's first. she had a great game!

Sewing Project 3 | Apron and Oven Mitt

I can say that this particular project was not exactly what I expected. I finished the apron first, a couple weeks ago. It was larger than I imagined and as soon as I was done I wished I had gone with the other apron pattern in the book which goes over the chest.

This evening, Lisa A. came over for some sewing fun and I got started on my matching oven mitt. Originally, the plan was to have a pair, but having completed the one—one is enough!

I'm making my way through this heavier khaki fabric that I originally purchased for my bag. It's sturdy, which is great, but it's not that exciting. Anyway, it was a little thicker than the mitt instructions called for, so turning it inside out at the end was quite the workout.

My take-aways for this project include learning to stitch a swirl and that and old towel can serve as sufficient batting for the mitt.

The final product:

The Exquisite City

Sometimes it's easy to just live in Chicago and not take advantage of all its perks. While Heath and I frequently remind ourselves to take advantage of the food, the art, music, theater and general quirkiness of the city are often overlooked for a Saturday afternoon spent reading on the couch. Not a bad thing altogether, but a couple Saturdays ago we decided to check out a unique exhibit at the Chicago Tourism Center called, "The Exquisite City."



The exhibit "features an architectural model of a fantasy city made almost entirely of cardboard created by more than 70 artists. It also includes an audio installation of music and sounds recorded on Chicago streets."

We weren't sure exactly what to expect, but it was interesting and beautiful.











We loved these shadowboxes of city windows created by students at Lakeview High School...

Avi's Visit

Heath is in touch with a lot of people from high school, but he's managed to maintain especially close relationships with a select few. His friend Avi has spent most of the last 4 years abroad doing development work, so it's been harder to plan long weekends together in Chicago. However, now that Avi is working with the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, we were able to set up a trip two weekends ago—I know...we're slightly behind in posting.

Avi came with us to Micah's party, had a delicious brunch at the Bongo Room and then joined us for a walk through the Exquisite City exhibit downtown (separate post to come). We walked around the Mag Mile and then had deep dish at Gino's. In spite of the cold weather we also spent some time along the lakefront with Vio before Heath introduced Avi to the Hopleaf.

The weekend went by quickly, but it was great to see Avi!

[brunch at the bongo room]




[the bean]



[the lake front]

Jury Duty...

Slightly out of order...I had jury duty this past week. Between jury selection and the trial itself, I was at the courthouse in Rolling Meadows for two full days.

It wasn't a super juicy trial, just two counts of obstruction and resisting arrest.

Initially, I was irritated to have to miss work, but I embraced the experience and at the end, felt really good about the outcome and my role in the process.



Needless to say, I don't have great pictures but, as proof, here is a [poor] shot of my check—that's right...$17.20 a day for doing my civic duty.