Dale's Winter Photo Essay Part 1

Maybe I am a bit sadistic but I really enjoy a good snow in the city and today did not disappoint as you will witness below. Of course my joy is not supported by those around me who have to drive to work – including Rebecca – but since I am wholly reliant on the train and the trains are not affected by snow I am perfectly fine getting a few inches.

These first four shots were taken while at lunch at the Fidelity building across the street from my office.

I didn't realize until a few weeks ago that the moose is actually made up of car bumpers.

A view from my window at work.

After work I took a walk to Millennium Park a few blocks away. In the summer there are free concerts in the park, a reflecting pool, picnic areas, gardens, etc. It is really an oasis in the city. In the winter the activities are limited but they do have an ice rink and the video sculptures at either end of the reflecting pool are still in operation.

The Cloud Gate – “The Bean”

Video Sculptures

Sunday in Chicago

Today, we took a train downtown to go to one of the few free museums in Chicago, the Museum of Contemporary Photography. Dale was quite excited to check it out. There were three exhibitions, each of them interesting and well worth making the trip. The three exhibitions:

Robert Heinecken 1932-2006: Sex and Food, a Memorial Exhibition: An interesting exhibition about women, sexuality, and their place in visual cultural. Larry Sultan: The Valley: A sampling of photos from a porn shoot! But not what you'd expect. Odd imagery; some nudity but nudity isn't the point. It's just the odd everyday lives of sex industry workers. Misty Keasler: Love Hotels: This was my personal favorite! Images from the amazingly bizarre Japanese "Love Hotels" --themed hotels catering to young couples looking to get away from the prying eyes of their family! Young people live with their parents until marriage and finding a place for "fun" can be tricky! Wow. No nudity. Just images from the rooms themselves. Fascinating glimpse into a different culture.

After enjoying the museum, we decided to wander down Michigan Ave. and see what was up and grab a coffee. It was chilly! They installed new bike racks--how cute are they?

In front of the Chicago Institute of Art, we spotted an anti-war/anti-Bush demonstration and I snapped a couple of pictures. The signs read 'Honk to Impeach' and the horns were blaring! There were three groups of folks wandering about, handing out fliers and such so it appears more dispersed/empty than it was.

Across the street from us on Michigan Ave. was the Big Bean and the commons area that turns into a skate rink in the winter. You can't see their toes, but the folks above are sliding about on skates, under the spectacular silver cloud.

Finally, we ended up at Intelligentsia coffee house and enjoyed a hot cocoa. They had neat tiny plants on the tables. I took a picture because I'm a dork.

While Dale's Away...

Dale is driving with his good friend Chase this weekend--all the way to Arizona! I'll be sure to share pictures of his trip when he gets back! Chase is moving to the Phoenix area and we wish him well! We will surely miss him. He's been our most frequent guest since moving to Illinois!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, you'd think I didn't know how to shower without Dale telling me! Ha! Anyway, I spent a good portion of the day getting crafty! How happy this had made me! Of course, I completely lost track of the day but I have some proof I did something with it:

I made these pairs of earrings from a kit, sadly. I didn't want to learn on expensive pieces or on the antique beads I plan to work with. I was lucky to have a lot of jewelry from family members and while much of it is not my style (four heavy strands of beads for one necklace is too much for me) the colors are pretty. So I want to make some contemporary jewelry with my antique pieces. This is my first attempt to make jewelry and boy was it challenging--but totally fun!

I like the bottom middle ones best, I think. Though the top left ones are also a favorite! Cheapies, but still cute!

A Trip Downtown

We've had a very quiet month, minus a handful of outings. We went downtown so Dale could get his printer replaced while its under warranty. While driving around, I spied a couple of fellows in front of this building:

Sadly, I did not get the best picture. But look closely:

I spotted two gentleman in floor length fur coats and pimp-esque hats walking a very happy dog. I l ove the city.

More Architecture in Oak Park

In addition to the many Frank Lloyd Wright homes we are lucky to live near, there are many architecturally significant homes including lovely Victorian Homes like the one above!

We're not exactly getting snow this season but the homeowner here had lovely red bows lining their fence as well as plenty of garland adorning the railing along the stairs! So cute!

Christmas with the Kids

We were very happy to get to spend some time with the family and on Dale's side our niece and nephew--Ian and Lauren--were a lot of fun to spend time with on Christmas morning.

Lauren got a guitar, new outfit, earmuffs and a slinky for Christmas. All pictured here! Hee! I love teh slinky on her feet. Cracked me up!

Christmas Decorations & Holiday Fun

These are some poor snapshots; they just don't look as cute as they should! At any rate, I'd thought I'd share some holiday cheer:

After a long day at work I came home to this lovely display in our hallway!

Dale surprised me by decorating the hallway! It made me very happy!!

I did a little decorating although it didn't work out as well as I'd hoped it would Above, our decorated mantel. I decorated with little knickknacks--most of them homemade, of course!

This is our little vintage silver christmas tree, decorated with red bows, silver mini bulbs that my grandmother gave me, and lots of other little ornaments both old and old-looking. Hee!

Last Sunday I went to Lara's house with Rebecca to make cookies! We made a fine batch of sugar cookies and those tasty peanut butter kisses cookies. Dale has been partaking of the sugar cookies all week (to the extent that I might not have any to give my coworkers tomorrow as I'd planned)!

First Snow in Oak Park

We had our first snow last week and--bonus--it was a big one! So big that Rebecca got the day off work for a snow day. That never happened in Michigan! Neat.

Since we were snowed in, we went for a short walk down our block and had some soup at the Chinese restaurant just two blocks away. Our street ends right in downtown Oak Park because they closed the street to create a pedestrian mall. This is what we saw on our way:

At the intersection of our street and Lake St. stands a lovely Christmas Tree! All Decorated for the holidays. This is the view from our corner and below is a close up!

Along the mall, there are a host of adorable shops, benches, and places to park bikes. Shops include a cute place to buy stuff for your pets, a childrens clothing store, a place to buy running shoes, an old-fashioned kite shop and a few restaurants, including Thai, Chinese, a diner, a bread and soup place and the chain Cozi. Also, we have a Cold Stone Creamery (though we always visit local dairy Oberwiess). Very cute!

A few pics from the mall--including some cold bikes!