All Packed Up

Yesterday was officially the last day of school. For teachers, at least. We had a tantilizing taste of the break over Memorial Day weekend, but then had to head back to the "office" for two more days. And what days they were!

Most of you probably don't know this, and perhaps it's not the way every school does things, but in our neck of the woods, we have to pack up our entire rooms. Every year. (This way they have access to the floors and walls to paint and wax and spruce the place up.)

Empty chairs and empty tables...

This year differed slightly, however, in that almost every teacher in the entire building will be in a new room next year. Which meant that not only did we have to box up our things, we then had to haul them to the other side of the building to our new classrooms. Once there, everything gets stacked ceiling-high in the hallways. It was craziness! But the first grade team was fantastic, as usual. We all pitched in and helped each other, taking 40 gazillion trips to and fro, to and fro, until we were all collectively done. Have I mentioned how much I love my grade level?

Boxes and piles and stacks, oh my!

The love continued the next day when we celebrated fellow first-grade teacher and bride-to-be Katie at her shower, hosted by us, her team. It was a great way to end the school year, surrounded by all the fabulous people I've worked with.

My team!

Now my next packing job - getting us ready for the beach!

At the Door

See this face? This is the face of someone off to their last day of the first year of teaching first grade. (Notice the bags under my eyes?) Yep, I survived. The kids are safely off to the loving (and I imagine, quickly exasperated) arms of their parents. I have two days of post-planning/moving classrooms and then my summer will officially start. I can't wait!

In the meantime, listen to this interesting story. The other day a little old man rang our doorbell. This is odd because first off, no one ever rings our doorbell. Our visitors usually pound on the back door (or more than likely, just let themselves in). Secondly, when the doorbell does ring, it's never a little old man standing there.

This little old man also happened to be clutching an extremely gaudy gold picture frame with an ugly faded purple matting. "I have something for you," he announced, thrusting the frame into Matt's arms. As it turns out, our home's first owner was standing on the front steps. He told us that all the original owners in the neighborhood received a special gift upon moving in - an aerial shot of their home. He and his wife discovered the old picture as they were cleaning out their current home in preparation to move and he took the time to drive it over and bequeath it to us.

Not something that happens every day, I dare say.

So I promptly discarded the ugly frame and faded matting, classed it up a bit, and look!

Our house, from the sky!

Closing Time

It's almost closing time.

Tomorrow is the end-of-the-year party. Parents will be coming, gifts will be given.

The walls are bare. There are boxes stacked in corners. Desks are empty. There are only the last minute chores - watching the clock on Friday, packing up the computer, returning the keys.

It's hard to remember the beginning of this journey. The overwhelming feeling of walking into the classroom every morning. The uncertainty. The blind faith of putting one foot in front of the other.

I survived parent-teacher conferences, field trips, grading deadlines, a trip to the principal's office. I survived school lunches and celebrated birthdays and was bailed out (and did some bailing myself) too many times to count.

And then we came to the end.

In Print

Remember when I wrote this post about the impossibility of "enjoying every minute" of parenting? And how I'm okay with that? Looks like I'm not the only one who was inspired by Glennon and her words of wisdom. My friends over at Fayette Woman Magazine found something that resonated with them as well.

If you want your very own in-the-flesh copy, just let me know. I'm sure the lovely ladies at Fayette Woman would be happy to oblige. What? Autographs? Well, I... Oh, you shouldn't have... Well, if you insist...

Oh. You mean Violet's autograph...

Finding Nemo

Finding Nemo

For Mother's Day, Matt and Violet took me to the Georgia Aquarium!

First we had to make a quick stop at Target to get a new umbrella stroller. Then we had a delicious breakfast at one of my favorite restaurants, The Flying Biscuit. After that we had to make a run to Old Navy because Violet needed a change of pants (mental note: start packing extra outfits). Finally we were on our way, only to have to wait an hour at the aquarium until our entrance time. Most exhausting preparations ever!

But once we made it in to see the fish, it was so much fun! Violet immediately went on a quest to find Nemo. We sadly realized clown fish are not in abundance in the world's largest aquarium. But we did spot Dori, otters, penguins, "really BIG fish!" and Violet totally got into it. What a fun Saturday outing!

At the bottom of the deep blue sea, just you and me...

Feeling small.

Posing with my bestie!

Of course, once we got home I had to go and sprout a 102 degree fever that put me on the couch the rest of the night. Some forced R&R, perhaps? Lucky for me, I have a wonderful husband who totally took over parenting duties and let me lay around like a slug and empty our DVR of all the back episodes of "Say Yes to the Dress: Bridesmaids". I'm still trying to bounce back.

Chicago Sees the Sun

Hotel view.

Remember when I said one of my favorite things to do in Chicago was look out our hotel window? Well, this is the view that finally greeted me on Sunday morning. The sky! The buildings! A little bit of sunshine sparkling on the water! Navy Pier in the distance!

Seeing the nice weather, we pretty quickly scrapped our plans of taking the train over to Lincoln Park. (Alas, that will just have to wait until next time. And there WILL be a next time!)

We had grand plans of visiting one of Ann Sather's restaurants for a traditional Swedish breakfast,then head to the Lincoln Park Zoo. Don't worry, we're going to have plenty of tourist left in us next time, Chicago.

Instead, we decided to revisit this plan:

The John Hancock Building, lit in violet.
Oh Hancock building, you temptress, you.

It was on our to-do list until the weather fouled things up. But Sunday morning we sensed an opening. We hustled over and took the fastest elevator in North America (or some statistic like that) to the Observatory so we could geek out like total tourists.

It was at this moment I forgot about the local's trick at the Hancock building. It wasn't going to work for us on a Sunday morning, but here's the deal. To get to the observatory you pay $15 to ride a super fast elevator to the 94th floor. The locals skip the observatory (and keep a few extra bucks), then ride the some other elevator to the Signature Room on the 95th floor. It's free, but plan to get out the wallet for appetizers, drinks & dinner. Second piece of advice? Skip the food, get a couple cocktails, and make sure you're there at sunset on a clear night. 

Ah, Chicago!

I loved it! Sometimes you just have to suck it up and be a tourist, huge camera and all. After so many clouds, it was even more breathtaking to finally view the city. We found our hotel, the buildings from our boat tour, the streets we'd been walking all weekend, and got to listen to the lovely David Schwimmer narrate our audio tour. Apparently Ross is from Chicago - who knew?

I've been to the aforementioned Signature Room and gotta say it felt good to be a tourist in the observatory for a little bit. On a clear day you can see forever

Up close: the beach. Distant green: Lincoln Park.

On top of the world!

It was a great way to spend our last few hours in the city. We capped off our stay with some deep dish Chicago-style pizza, dodged the rain (it finally came) on our way to the 'L back to the airport, and soon we were on our way home, anxious to see our little girl. It was a fabulous trip.

As far as pizza goes, Chicago, you've got nothin' on New York. Or Mellow Mushroom, for that matter. 

So remember when I was the experienced city-goer? Riding The El like a pro, hailing taxis left & right? Well, the part of the story I left out was that when I landed in Chicago Monday, on my own, lugging a weeks worth of clothes on my shoulder, I got to the ticket machine for the train and just stared. And stared. So there's a machine that only refills tickets, there's a machine that dispenses tickets via credit cards or cash. There's some other strange machine that does something train related. Problem was, there were absolutely no signs indicating how much a single ticket ride was. But, worst of all, there were people with me who knew EXACTLY what they were doing. So after, say, about 45 seconds of staring at those God-awful machines, a kind local walked up, tapped me on the shoulder, and asked if I needed a ticket (she must have seen that blank stare before). Turns out she'd just dropped her mother off at the airport and her mother's 3 day transit card was good until 7PM that night.  A miracle! I thanked her, exchanged some small talk, then proceeded to get my luggage stuck in the turnstile.  


The best part of the trip, though, hands down, was getting back to Mimi's house, visiting for a few minutes, then hearing Violet say to Kristine, "Mommy, I ready go ho-ome". 

Through the Chicago Fog

Saturday morning dawned... well, cold and foggy. But don't you fret. A little fall of rain could hardly stop us now! (Name those lyrics!)

We started out our morning at Intelligentsia Coffee (thanks to Jeanette's recommendation!) Here, the coffee is less about style (latte vs. mocha) and more about brew method. Matt and I choose the same beans, but different pour methods (basically different filters) and were amazed at how differently our coffee came out. We're coffee nerds. Fun!

We chose Rwandan coffee, my choice was the Chemex pour over, while Kristine chose the Coava Kone metal filter. Now, don't get me wrong, we both adore coffee, but were skeptical how different they could be. So, we asked the super hip guy behind the counter what the difference was. Luckily the guy was super helpful (not what you'd expect at a place much too cool for us) and explained that the metal cone was a thinner filter that would allow more of the coffee bean's natural oils through, while the chemex would trap them. The guy knows his stuff; he was exactly right. The kone coffee looked a little like an oil slick, but tasted delicious. We ended up switching cups.

Great presentation too!

One of my favorite parts of being Chicago was the view out our hotel window. It changed by the minute as the clouds would roll in and out, obscuring and revealing the skyline in turn, . We saw the same effect as we headed out on our riverboat architectural tour. Our tour guide (when he wasn't flirting with the bachelorette party) did a good job letting us know what we couldn't see, and had plenty of fun facts about the buildings we managed to make out through the mist.

Downtown Chicago by boat.

Chicago bridge is falling down... (Actually, it's been permanently raised.)

Summer boats making their way to the lake. The bridges only open at certain times to let them through, hence the traffic jam.

The boat tour was AWESOME. It was the best view of the bottom 10 floor of the Sears Willis Tower that you could ask for. And more about Kristine losing her purse and being so thankful it was still waiting for us at the restaurant- we were watching people get off the boat, waiting patiently for our spot in line, when one of the crew reached for something on the ground and asked it if was ours. No sir, my wife does not have a diamond tennis bracelet (yet!), but you should check with the ladies that were sitting in front of us but went under deck when the winter storm set in. So, we waited, and finally spotted them (last group getting off the boat) and thankfully reunited tennis bracelet with owner. We have a neighbor who always talks about "God-things". Call it karma, "God-thing", whatever, we got to pay it forward. 

I wish I had more pictures to show you, but honestly, they were all full of fog. It was such a gloomy day that after our chilly boat trip (not even my free bloody mary did much to warm my bones) we decided to find an indoor activity. We opted for the Field Museum (home to the world's largest t-rex, Sue). Of all the exhibits, Matt and I enjoyed the ancient and dusty hall filled with plants from around the world, including tiny models of tea and coffee plantations. Again, we are nerds.

The Field Museum is probably the best place you could go if you were a 12 year old boy doing a science project. As an adult you spend most of the day dodging teenagers. Thankfully they don't favor the hall of plants.

After stopped at the hotel for more snacks, we wandered the Magnificent Mile again until it was time to find a place for dinner. One tip if you're traveling to Chicago - make dinner reservations! We had such a time narrowing down where we wanted to dine that we never had time for reservations, meaning we waited (a lot) for a table in this crowded city. (The fact that it was Cinco de Mayo and the Kentucky Derby didn't help our cause.) The good news is, the food was way worth it, every time.

Fourth Presbyterian Church, Michigan Avenue. A breath of calming fresh air.

I want to live here.

Or here.

So pretty.

After a delicious dinner at Chicago q, we walked home.

We really had no idea what we were in for with dinner. A friend had given us a ton of recommendations. He's an amateur, well, semi-professional, aspiring "pit master" and listed Chicago q. Hmmm...can they really do barbecue right up north? It was recommended, he's in the biz, we were hungry, and BBQ sounded delicious - why not give it a try? First problem, we were under-dressed (how can you be under-dressed for pulled pork??). I think my actual quote was "I hope it's not that place with all the fancy people standing outside!". It was... Second problem, like K said, no reservations. Third problem, we weren't the only ones stalking the bar seats. Thankfully we found two seats, ate vigorously, then finished the meal with a treat from the bar, Evan Williams Single Barrel Bourbon, served neat, no less. Even Kristine enjoyed! 

And finally, on our last night in Chicago, the sky finally cleared and we got a beautiful glimpse of the starry skyline. It was beautiful. We came thisclose to rushing over to the Hancock Building to take in the observatory, but alas, it was too late. We just had to cross our fingers and hope for sunny skies on our last day.

Chicago at night.

Chicago!

Chicago! 

(A He-Said-She-Said Story)

Have you ever wanted to escape? Just disappear for a while, leave it all behind, sneak off to somewhere exciting, even just for a day or two? Yeah, me too. Especially now with the end of the school year barreling down at me. Which is why Matt's week-long business trip to Chicago provided us with the perfect excuse. After enduring single parenthood (seriously, how do people do it?) for the week, I ditched work last Friday and hopped on a plane to meet up with my hubs in the Windy City for the weekend.

(Matt's version of events) Two quick things. One, I’ve been here before, but it’s been almost 10 years. Two, I almost moved here. Long, boring story involving corporate mergers and acquisitions. Actually that sounds fairly interesting, sort of like a John Grisham novel. Trust me, it’s not. Anyway, I turned down a move to Chicago and ended up in Dallas – I’ll let you decide how that worked out for me…

Anyway, I spent a week on an audit in Chicago with my company. By Thursday afternoon I was dying for the week to be over. Thankfully we ended early so I had no problems getting to the airport to meet Kristine. Note to any reading travelers...Midway airport is a terribly boring place to wait for someone. They’re painfully lacking in seats, and there are no vending machines. (seriously, not a single one!).

So Kristine and I have that romantic airport reunion, like the ones you only see in movies. I’m certain the other travelers were jealous, but sadly no one said anything. They probably didn’t want to interrupt our moment. Except the airport janitor, who had NO trouble interrupting our moment with his giant broom. Like a pro, I lead us straight up to the CTA, load more value on our tickets, and, and whisk away on the Orange line to our hotel. 

It was my first visit to Chicago, and my first impressions were:

1. It is much colder than I anticipated (we had low 60's all weekend with only fleeting glimpses of the sun)

2. Yep, definitely windy

3. What a wonderful city!

We set our bags down and set out to the see the city. Our initial plan was to visit Navy pier, then check out the views from on top of the John Hancock building, then head to a relaxing dinner. As you can see from the pictures below, the fog had set in and it was no use to head to the Hancock building so the plans changed. New plans - visit some of Chicago’s famous city parks.

The foggy view of Millennium Park on my first afternoon. We didn't truly see the skyline for 48 hours.

First stop was Millenium Park. Let’s just say this is precisely when we realized it was a little colder than initially thought. OK, we can tough it out.. We visited a small park coming into bloom, an entirely too curvy bridge, then set straight for “the silver bean”. I’m sure it has a name but there’s no use looking it up - it’s a big, silver, shimmery bean, no other way to describe it!

Official name: Cloud Gate. Unofficial name: Giant Bean.

Chicago is not kind to curly-haired girls.

Reflection in the bean. Who are those adorable lovebirds?!

We kept hiking south to Grant Park and came across Buckingham Fountain (one of the largest fountains in the world per wikipedia). Matt kept singing "Love and Marriage" in my ear because this, as it turns out, is the fountain in the opening credits to Married with Children. I wasn't allowed to watch that show growing up, so the point was sadly lost on me.


So we walked...and walked...and finally got there. Don’t get me wrong, it’s refreshing to go sans-automobile for the weekend. I just didn’t realize how much walking we’d actually do. We again, stop for some pictures, note how beautiful fountain is, then I explain to Kristine what “Married With Children” was. I sometimes forget she was born “on a boat”.

Nerd alert! Segway tour!

I was far more interested in the Segway tours spinning past us. Originally the idea seemed lame, but the more I watched (and dodged) these riders, the more fun it looked. In fact, Chicago boasts a number of unique tours. We took a boat ride through the city, but also crossed paths with walking, biking, double-decker bus tours, and even a running tour (this one seemed just awful to me).

Love and Marriage

Buckingham Fountain

Aw. And finally, a glimpse of the sun!

After our exhausting hike around the city, we headed back to our hotel. Matt got us upgraded to the fancy floor that came with its own private lounge area, so we loaded up on free snacks and beverages. We also stopped by the corner deli and picked up a bottle of bubbly (we are celebrating our seventh wedding anniversary this month) and then spent an hour back at our hotel room, thawing out and resting up, drinking champagne and talking, just hanging out together like we used to do before the mortgage and child and general business of life. Then we hit the pavement again, stopping to buy a scarf for me (for reals, it is windy!) before grabbing a leisurely dinner at a loud, fun, authentically Spanish tapas restaurant, Cafe Iberico.

We walk to Cafe Iberico, eat entirely too much great tapas, drink entirely too much Sangia, and pay our bill and hoof it home like the big city pros we are. Half way to the hotel (about a 25 minute walk, mind you) we realize Kristine left her purse there. We truck it back to the restaurant and find they’ve been holding it for us - two thumbs up to Cafe Iberico!. Little did we know we would have our chance to pay it forward in the not-too-distant future...

We were just blocks from home when I realized I'd left my purse at the restaurant (oops) and once we went back to get it (whew!) Matt hailed a cab like a pro and zipped us back to the hotel in style. I gotta say, my man knows how to survive in a big city!

Rockin' Out

My husband has a new girl friend. Her name is guitar hero. They get together every chance they can.

Luckily, he doesn't mind a third wheel.

Rock out, my lovelies.

Party Girl

It's still bizarre to me that Violet is old enough to get invited to birthday parties. Violet, naturally, does not find this strange at all. My girl can spot a cupcake a mile away. Recently we went to a party of a school mate, a fun playdate at her house. The girls loved running around, cooking in the play kitchen and jumping in the living room ball pit. And it was my first actual playdate as well, where I didn't really know any of the other moms there but had to make nice conversation and not act like a weirdo. We had the typical mom small talk - potty training, extra curricular activities, domestic duties - which is still pretty surreal to me. Hopefully I acted like an old pro at the whole playdate thing. Maybe we'll be asked out again, who knows!

Going for it!

Um, there's something on your face...

Violet and the birthday girl.

Back of the present, Violet! It's not your birthday!