Chicago, Chicago, that toddlin' town...

I came up to Chicago on Thursday night to visit Donnie (for the last time before I leave for France but we're just not talking about that now, are we?).  We've had a splendid time, though not without mishap.  Anyhow, I've decided that I'm going to start my Photo-A-Day exercise while I'm here to help capture my last week or two on US ground.  So here we go:

September 10, 2009:

This is the aftermath of our exhaustion.  We had grand plans to watch a movie, but all we ended up doing was eating a lot of Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kisses (which are amazing, by the way) and then going to bed.  Donnie got some temporary work (well, maybe temporary?  It's all very confusing and vague in a lot of ways...) so he worked all day, I ran errands all day at home before driving up; perfect recipe for going to bed before midnight as far as I'm concerned.





September 11, 2009:
First off, I should mention that I thought about 9/11 all day.  I read some articles on the anniversary and reflected back on the last 8 years.  A lot has happened since that day in French II, when we learned the vocabulary for "attack" and "sky scrapers," and then when we went to Health class and sat and watched the news show the clips of the second tower coming down, over and over.  The Assistant Director came in and called me out into the hall; she informed me that my aunt and uncle who worked in the towers were safe.  It all seems like it was so long ago, but it feels like it was yesterday in a lot of ways.  Anyhow, through all this reflecting, I became saddened thinking about how our country has dealt with the madness during the Bush Administration.  I really hope we can get our country turned around -- the change that I believe in isn't happening like I think it could or should, but at least we're not dealing with W. anymore.  One day at a time, I guess...  Either that, or leave the country.  (Or both?)

Donnie and I had a wonderful evening in the city last night, albeit our tendency to get lost.  After dinner (I made rice, beans, tomatoes, and cheese bowls -- very simple and very tasty), we ventured to the art opening of Kim, Elden's mom.  I babysat/nannied for Elden in the Spring semester and over the summer, and he instantly stole a piece of my heart.  His mother is an incredibly talented artist -- I told Donnie that one of my non-sexual fantasies involves having some of her art to display proudly (accompanied, of course, by pictures of Elden).  Oh, alright, I'll include a picture of Elden, if you insist... Isn't he SOOOO cute?

Onto the actual photo of the day.  We went to Kim's Opening (check out her site and some of her paintings here!), wandered around Chicago to other art openings, and then went to meet up with CDales and some other theatre kids for his birthday party.  On the way, Donnie and I walked by this amazing guitar shop.  Here's a picture of it.  Hundreds of guitars lined the walls, hung from the ceiling.  It was breathtaking.  And onward, it was lovely to see Eleni and other great people.  (Also of note: I called Eleni in a panic that morning when I realized I had no nice clothes with me for the opening.  She set me up, I got to see her gorgeous apartment, and we went to Julie and Julia which was delightful.  What a lovely afternoon.





September 12, 2009:

Donnie and I, as is our wont, cooked tonight.  We made this incredible tortilla soup using this salsa recipe and some veggie bouillon cubes and some corn and we topped it with shredded cheese and sour cream and fresh slices of avocado and baked tortillas with paprika and seasoned salt.  What a tasty meal (as per usual...)!  [Oh dear, Donnie just captioned the picture for me: "Here's my bowl of barf."  Sorry.]  Oh!  Also, we attempted to make fried goat cheese balls using our favorite goat cheese (it's fig flavored!) but it didn't go so well.  We think egg will need to be involved next time.  Yuck.  I'll keep you posted on our attempts.

A+