Flora and Fashion on the Magnificent Mile

Garden-inspired student fashions are decorating the Magnificent Mile this summer. Click on the link to see more. Dale took a few shots of ones he liked. I love the one above!

Each "dress" has been designed by a local fashion student to complement the garden. A local business sponsors the green space.

This one is my favorite; it's over the top! It's a popular picture spot now--I've seen gals put their heads on top of the dress form so it looks like they are wearing the dress.

Kwik-E-Mart

Chicago has one of only 12 "Kwik E Marts" in the country, we had to pay a visit to this Simpsons-themed 7/11! And it was a hoot. The 7/11 sign is covered up with the Kwik E Mart logo!

Bart & Milhouse sit atop the Kwik E Mart. Note the line to get inside--we were on our way out and got lucky with a short line.

Marge is out front, taking her groceries home and walking under the First Bank of Springfield sign.

A close-up of Marge Simpson.

Hey! It's the comic book guy!

Patrons waiting in line to buy some BUZZ cola!

Sadly, they were all out of Krusty-O's!

Mmm...Donuts! Homer's favorite pink with sprinkles.

Help! Let him out!

Poor Ralph Wiggum!

Maggie is guarding the donuts.

We had awesome Squishee's!

Mmm...Squishee! With novelty straws, of course.

Cops love donuts!

D'oh!

"Thank you, come again!"

Mmmm... DONUT!

Harry Potter Release Party in Oak Park

Our little village was the site of a huge Harry Potter Release Party on Friday. The entire town was packed with Harry Potter fans and there were activities for families scheduled the entire day. Above, a woman offers divination lessons in the park.

A view from the crowds gathered around our Divination Professor (at least, that's my best guess).
Scofield Park was turned into Hogsmeade Village for the day. There was live music and vendors throughout the park.

Many families came dressed in costumes!

A view of the park/Hogsmeade Village.
Lots of gals dressed as Hogwarts schoolgirls and the fansite Mugglenet.com celebrated the book's big day in Oak Park.

This being Oak Park, there were war protesters. The churches here are notoriously liberal!

One of the churches transformed into Azkaban--the frightening prison where dementors can steal the hope from your soul and drive you mad!

One of many Harry Potters we spotted about town! He was adorable.

Grace Church was set up to be like Hogwarts Great Hall.

Mysterious Floating Candles illuminated the grand space.


And at the altar?

Children were being sorted into one of the four Hogwart's houses--most of the children picked Slytherin while I was there (generally considered the "dark side" by most kids).

A view of the line of kids waiting to be "sorted"!

Click on the picture above to spot me in the line at 11:30 p.m. to get my book.

This is the line that wrapped around the other side of Barbara's Book store. These folks didn't reserve their copy!

Another view of the line for those who reserved.

There are four bookstores in Oak Park within a few blocks of each other; each had a line longer than the last. This is the discount bookseller The Book Table. It went on for half a block.

Another view of my line.

The line at Borders was the longest of all!

It was a madhouse!

Some witches waiting on the book at Borders.

Crowd outside Borders. I'm guessing they were waiting on their kids/family inside? The streets were lit up with people; it was really crazy!

And I got my copy at Barbara's (a block from home). I was reading in bed by 12:28! I finished the book today and I really enjoyed it! What a great series for all ages!

Dale meets Floyd Landis

Dale had an exciting celebrity encounter last weekend! He went to Floyd Landis's book signing on Michigan Ave. last week. Floyd won the Tour de France last year and is in a battle to keep the title; he's been accused of doping, an accusation he stridently denies.

Dale arrived early and got a great seat to meet one of his bike-riding heroes.

Floyd and Dale--so cute and nerdy!

Dale had a hard time getting this picture. Everyone--including the pro photographers in his midst--was calling Floyd's name. Dale hollered out, "Floyd! You have dreamy eyes!" and Floyd looked over and stared at Dale like he was deranged.

Later Dale had Floyd sign his book: To Dale. You have dreamy eyes! Floyd.

Edited to add: Dale read the book and thoroughly supports Floyd's fight to be the rightful winner of last year's Tour de France!

Thursday Nights in Oak Park

Thursday nights in Oak Park in the summer features live entertainment, evening shopping, and dining tickets that allow you to sample many items from local restaurants. This summer there is a travel theme. A couple of weeks ago, the theme was Hawaii!

We had live hula gals dancing, a man pretending to be Don Ho, and live musical accompaniment.

We are so crazy in love with Oak Park.

Fourth of July in Oak Park

Dale and I enjoyed the fireworks in good ol' Oak Park this year.

To celebrate the midweek holiday, we slacked all day. It was pretty great. We walked just a few blocks to the Oak Park/River Forest High School stadium and the fireworks were let off from the football field.

We got to sit in the bleachers and watch the show. Dale took his camera, of course.

We enjoyed the show. It was loud! And it was neat to see a nice medium-sized fireworks display.
I forget how pretty the smaller fireworks can be.

Date Night

Dale and I had a date night last Saturday night. We headed downtown to Oysy, a very cool, modern sushi place. Dale has become nearly obsessed with sushi rolls in the last few months. It's his favorite thing! I'm actually almost sick of sushi. How can that be?

Anyway, Oysy was delish!

We then took a walk along Michigan Ave., where we saw an array of odd things (only some of which you'll see here). The oddities included butterflies twitterpating (and the one above, who mostly stuck to trying to hide from Dale's lens). We also saw Hare Krishnas singing and dancing on one side of the street (they had a good beat) and fresh-faced Amish gals singing for the Lord on the other side of the street. Very odd but both groups sounded lovely!

Near the Art Institute is a gorgeous garden featuring a water feature and a fountain, pictured above.

I thought the garden was especially beautiful. It felt like the sky was made of branches. So pretty and peaceful there--and right on the busiest shopping street in the city!

I'm a dork.

And we wandered past the reflecting pool at Millenium Park--a favorite stop of ours for people watching. Met a nice lady that was helping her daughter move into the city. Hope she had fun visiting all the Frank Lloyd Wright stuff we told her about. We spotted an adorable area where a couple on a big stage were teaching dance lessons for free and hundreds of couples were learning some traditional dance moves. It was great!

Finally, we saw the strangest thing: a line of port-a-potties burned to the ground (except the one of the right and three on the left end.

A gentleman walked up and Dale told him that the other ones were occupied but he could use this first one since it had three and a half walls. The guy jumped in after Dale said he'd capture the moment! Ha! Don't look at this one too closely or you might see more than you bargained for!

Oh, and the port-a-potties were in place because of the Taste of Chicago and related activities.

Bela

Dale traded in one lens for another recently because he liked the depth of field available on the new one. So he took this picture and he was very, very happy with it. This is Bela. He's a daddy's boy. I've never seen a cat more in love with a human than Bela is with Dale!

Brian & Hilary

Last weekend our friends Brian and Hilary were in town enjoying a nice weekend trip in honor of their anniversary and Brian's birthday. We had brunch with them on Sunday and got a chance to catch up. Very good to meet up with friends from out of town. They live in Grand Rapids and Hilary has her own jewelry-making business. Check it out by clicking here.

Movie Night with Rachel & Tara

Last night I went to see License to Wed with my pals Rachel and Tara. We're all big fans of The Office and had to see the stars of the show in a big screen movie. After the movie, we took a quick pic with The Simpsons! Love it!

Happy Fourth of July!

Dale's Birthday

We went to Buzz Cafe a couple of weeks back, before Dale's birthday on the 16th. He loved their coffee so he picked up a pound of coffee. So then he needed a coffee grinder. We picked one up for his birthday. We also enjoyed a visit to Robinson's #1 Ribs, a famous chicago rib joint.

The ribs were hearty, sticky, and tasty! They go generous with the bbq sauce. Good call, Dale! Later that evening, we headed to a party at our friend Anne's house. She made homemade apple pie and tart adult beverages called Sidecars. Thanks for the fun evening Anne!

Tara & Jaycee

I've missed my pal Tara since she left our employer a few months back but she might be moving to Oak Park. Weekend before last Tara and her adorable daughter Jaycee came to check out the village. I drove them around and gave Jaycee lots of goodies to take home and to bribe her into moving to our little village!

I'll keep you updated. I had a great time with them but, wow! Toddlers are exhausting. I salute all of my friends that have wee ones! It's hard work but they are really fun to have around.