Sit back, relax, and enjoy the mass of photos!

I have so much to tell about!

I'm back from Girls' Weekend. I spent the weekend with my mom and sister in Chicago. If you are a Chicago friend of mine, please don't be hurt that I didn't call you. We pretended to be out of town so we'd have time just the three of us.

I left on Thursday night from Fort Myers. Rather uneventful flight other than not having a carryon-- made boarding easy and quick, and we got to Chicago a half hour early. Mom and Steph were quick on the draw and picked me up minutes after I got my checked baggage. We stayed at Mom's place for the night and then got up early Friday morning for doctor's appointments. Funny thing to do on a "vacation" weekend, you say? Well, we knew mom had a mammogram on Friday, and I like being around for those. It has been eight years since the mammogram we call, "Margarita Night." Mom called me after the mammogram that summer of '98 and said, "Well, it's going to be a double margarita night. The film showed something, and it doesn't look good." After which she endured horrid surgeries and chemo and all the joy of cancer. That was after beating it the first time six years prior. So all of that is to say, we knew she had a mammogram on Friday when I booked my flight, and that was ok by me. But we also had an appointment for Steph. You all know the horror she's been through in the last 7 years or so with ulcerative colitis. She's been through more than I can imagine or stomach to consider, and it never is just "cured." So she had an appointment in the morning, and Mom had her appointment near noon. Same building downtown Chicago at Northwestern Memorial-- what an amazing place!-- so it worked out nicely.

(Steph downing breakfast before we left Friday morning)

While we waited the Chicago Air and Water Show (not to be confused with the Erin Waters Show, which a former roommate thought the phone message was supposed to say) was being prepared for outside along the lakefront. We heard planes roaring by overhead: old-fashioned propeller planes practicing loop-de-loops as well as the Blue Angels practicing death-defying moves.

(See the smoke of the loop-de-loop?)

After both appointments were over, and in celebration of no bad news, we took in lunch at The Art Institute. The gardens were closed due to impending rain showers, so we sat at the window and enjoyed our meal indoors. Afterward we each ordered a dessert-- so delicious and unusual-- peach creme brulee with edible lavender garnish,


triple chocolate with chocolate sorbet in a chocolate cup accompanied by a chocolate meringue and a chocolate truffle,


and strawberry rhubarb crisp with vanilla bean ice cream and edible baby tulip petals.


My new favorite thing is edible lavender, which I'm pretty sure God created just for me. You know how, when I smell something lovely, I say, "Oh, I wish I could just drink that smell!"? Well, with edible lavender, that's what you can do! You chew it like little bitty sesame seeds and it has almost no flavor, but the aroma travels to your nose and it truly feels like eating perfume. Just divine.

(Steph with cocoa lips)

After lunch we had tickets for the matinee of Cirque du Soleil at the United Center. It was an amazing show. If you get the chance, go go go! It gave me such an appreciation for the human body and what it can do! The acrobatics and choreography was simply stunning and truly took my breath away. Artsy-fartsy things like that inspire me and make my heart feel alive. Loved it.

(This is the one picture I took before being lectured, heavy-handedly in my opinion, about how my flash photography prior to the show will cause certain death to any and all performer in the Chicagoland area. Ok, I exaggerate, but he was just rude and there was no sign.)

Oh, but I forgot! On the way to the United Center we happened to be on Grand Avenue and passed Terry's Toffee. Apparently Mom heard of this place, whose toffees were part of the last two years' Oscar thank-you bags (!), and so we went in for a looksee. There was a tasting table of all different kinds of toffee-- must have been ten kinds, from traditional, to peanut butter, to dark chocolate with coffee, to hazelnut, etc. I bought a small package of the hazelnut as hazelnut is my favorite flavor next to lavender.


After the show we headed toward Steph's new apartment which she'll live in next month. On the way we couldn't help ourselves from stopping in CB2, Crate and Barrel's hip sister, and the Crate and Barrel outlet, both near North Ave and Clybourn. At CB2 we saw fun wire sculptures


of the Hancock, Eiffel Tower, and Taj Mahal. Tempting, but a picture satisfied me. I didn't hold back quite so well at the outlet. We needed saucer-sized plates anyway, so I bought 8 of those, plus two fun baking dishes, plus a cute round casserole. Not an arm and a leg, and I'm glad I brought that extra suitcase. After shopping we were hungry but I can't remember where we ate.

On Saturday morning we woke up late and went to Walker Brothers for a wonderful breakfast. After some Swedish Pancakes and Lingonberries, what else is there to do but go to Ikea? Mom and Steph indulged me and we went out to Schaumburg for a bit of Swedish shopping. Steph went off to the mall for some other shopping and met us back at the I Kan'tbelieve Everything's Affordable store. I did a good job restraining myself, though I did find my dream kitchen


and also a little side table that just really wanted to come home with me.


I only ended up buying some sheep-fleecy rugs (best thing to get me out of bed in the morning-- so soft on the piggies. Actually, the only thing that can get me out of bed in the morning.) and some finials for our curtain rods. I was at Ikea buying a fleece rug for my sister's Christmas present when Brad called me the very first time to ask me out on a date with him. So if I needed an excuse to relive the digging-through-the-fleece, call it nostalgia. But really they feel good on my feet.

(Also at Ikea were bottles of fruit drink concentrate. I took this picture for you, Court, and for any other fan of Monty Python.)

(And one more thing at Ikea-- a wonderful drink called Kristal which combines sweet fizzy water with fruit juice. It's a lot like Brad's and my latest favorite drink, which we call Candy Drink-- half seven up, half tropicana orange juice. I was thrilled to find that it was bottled, but there again, one of my seven original brilliant thoughts has been thought of already.)

After IKEA we went to Steph's school where we peered in the windows and got to see her former classroom and her new classroom. From our angle we could clearly see proof of one of her dear autistic student's favorite habits-- vomiting into the radiator.


Seriously, I don't know how she does it. Afterward we went to Salvage One, a huge warehouse filled with old stuff from old buildings.


Three levels plus a garden


filled with mantels, doors, windows, hardware, woodwork, bannisters, spindles, moulding, you name it. Oh, and stuffed deer heads. But only a few of those.


I took great delight in the wall of doorknobs-- a huge counter covered with boxes of old doorknobs.


I bought 8 of them with the intent to mount them to the wall and then hang curtains from them. Just inspiring and beautiful, full of stories and charm. And a little expensive.

(This is an old sign for Grand Central Station, or Grand Avenue, or something Grand. The "...AL" in the background makes me think Grand Central. They were about three feet tall and six or seven feet long-- just perfect to put behind a set of open-back bookshelves, don't you think?)

After Salvage One I was done shopping. We headed north, got dinner at Noodles and Co. and then to Dairy Dream, our hometown ice cream store, for lemon ice cream.


We used to go there as a family, get softserve with crunch coat and then go drive around in the Catholic retreat grounds in Mundelein. It's a really amazing place if you ever get the chance-- right off of 176. We spotted these escapees enjoying their treat in the back corner of the parking lot. I had to take a picture since Brad's Christmas present to Steph last year was a Nuns Having Fun calendar.



We then went to Mom's to watch a movie-- Prime, it was called. Interesting movie about a couple with an age difference where his mom is her therapist... basically about how love heals and makes people feel alive, but not all that glitters is gold, and sometimes timing is off. Not an Oscar winner, but ok.

On Sunday Steph and I took off for late church where I proceeded to weep uncontrollably as I do every time. I feel the presence of the Lord there like nowhere else. He is alive there, allowed to move, unquenched, unhyped, and my soul laps it up. Afterward I got prayer from Loann, a wonderful woman who had encouraging words to say and ministered to my heart like it needed. I left feeling strong and sure of who I am and who I'm created to be. And also feeling like there's change brewing for me. Not sure what yet, but I think something's around a corner or two. No, Mother, I'm not pregnant. Maybe pregnant with anticipation, but that's about it. :)

Oh, one more thing about church-- it seems every time I'm in town and go to church I learn about someone else who reads this blog. I love that! I need to find a way to put a counter on this-- I'm close to convinced that my mom and grandparents are my only audience, which is fine with me! But I keep hearing of more readers. Anyone know how to put a view-counter on? Anyway, this time it was a dear woman whom I'm sure I'd be good friends with if I was in town. (Her initials are BE and she used to be a Nicholson. I'll keep it mysterious.) Just to assure you, BE, and anyone else who may have misunderstood my last post, I did not cook my cat in the car. I don't actually have a cat. That post was an email forward which was slightly close to my experience down here, minus the cat thing and so far the bail thing. Just to clear things up. :)

After church we grabbed a quick bite at Pita Inn, where I learned that they're opening a franchise in Tampa sometime soon! Anyway, after some chicken shwarma in a pita, we headed for the airport and I flew home.

All in all it was great-- we had some good talks about how we're alike and different, (both Mom and I are firstborns, Steph is a baby-of-the-family), and how much we enjoy each other. Shopping was fun, but I felt like I took over the agenda simply because I don't have good shopping close at hand. Next time I'd like more time for hanging out and less scheduled time. It was wonderful!