September Semi-Monthly

We've already had so many adventures and activities since we've been back in Evanston that I figured I should do a semi-monthly update rather than saving everything up until the end of September! 

Aug. 29-Sept. 1: Family Visit to Austin + Two Birthdays

Well, actually, we technically started off the month with a visit to J and family over Labor Day weekend. We got to see their renovated downstairs for the first time and celebrated M's birthday on Saturday with a pool party. Per usual, Mr. E and I helped with the food prep while J took C to soccer in the morning. Some games and reading time in the evening.

Sunday was J's birthday, but she didn't want to do anything special. Mr. E made breakfast in the morning before J took M to church. Then C had another soccer game in the afternoon, which I opted out of given the nasty warm and humid weather. Instead, I met up with everyone after the game for a fun round of bowling. I had the highest score for the string! Then several of us did a few rounds of HORSE with the basketball set-up in their driveway. J was the come-from-behind stealth winner for that game. We had leftovers for dinner and the cake that B had bought for J. More games and reading to finish up the night.

Mr. E and I headed out to the airport before breakfast the next morning, after J had gone to yoga. Both of our Southwest flights weren't completely booked, so we lucked out with no one in the middle between us for either part of the trip! 

Sept. 6-7: Time with E's Mom + Shopping

E rented a car for the weekend so that he could take his Mom to visit his Dad's gravesite on Saturday. Since my grad classes had started up for the semester on Tuesday, I was able to devote time to homework and getting back into the studying routine. Later in the afternoon, he brought her to Evanston so that we could all go out for dinner at Le Tour. Mr. E recognized the hostess as the actress who had played Dulcinea in the fabulous performance of Don Quixote that we saw earlier this year at the Wirtz Center, so we were able to tell her how much we enjoyed the show and how touched we were by the performance, especially the final song.

On Sunday, we hung up the three France pictures that we'd gotten during our river cruise in May, as we'd picked up their custom mats for at Blick earlier in the week. Then we took advantage of having the car to do some farther-away shopping and lucked out by finding two pieces at West Elm that we'd been eying for a bit that had gone on sale for the holiday weekend. Sweet! We had to pay extra (too much, IMO) for delivery, but we decided it was worth saving the time and effort to put anything together and risk damaging the new items, a bar cabinet and a bookcase, both in the mid-century modern style that we appreciate.

The sunrises at this time of year are absolutely amazing, with the orb just lifting up over the horizon line during my morning walks. And the colors are breathtaking!

Sept. 11-14: Our First Visitors

We were so excited to welcome our great friends E & C from Sac as our first visitors to our new second home here in Evanston! This was their first time to the Chicago area, and we wanted to give them a great introduction to our city and to the downtown Chicago experience. I think we achieved our goal!

Mr. E rented a car again to have more flexibility in our transportation options, so he picked them up at the airport on Thursday afternoon. After they got settled into their hotel, the Hyatt House that's half a block from us and that we can literally see from our kitchen window, Mr. E and C met up at Tapas Barcelona across the street while E and I finished up our work days. 

Then we all headed towards Dempster Street for the Evanston Wine Walk. We picked up our wristbands, maps, and tasting glasses at Coco Design & Build and then started our tastings along the western stretch of Dempster. We managed to get to the pet store when there was still just enough Veuve Clicquot remaining for E and me! We all admired the axolotl, and one of the staff was kind enough to show us how the creature eats worms so that I could get a video for A's younger son C, who loves these critters.

I was excited by the fresh popcorn on offer at a real estate firm, and the French red from the secret wine cellar at the chiropractor was a favorite of our group (along with the cups of various types of chocolate candies on offer at this location). We got to show off our favorite local stores Stumble & Relish (where E stealthily bought me a pair of black cat Marlene-ish earrings) and Nice Lena and finished off the evening with awesome take-out from Todoroki at our place.

I should also mention that Mr. E had finished off his 3-month sober summer the day before our friends arrived, so the Wine Walk was a perfect way to celebrate this accomplishment and ease back into enjoying some libations!

Friday started off with breakfast at our favorite Le Peep, followed by a short stroll at the Lake for second coffee and then taking the CTA to Wrigley Field for the Cubs game. 

I texted my friend R a picture of Mr. E and me in front of the stadium and found out that she was there, too, with her spouse and his siblings. Wha??!! No way! So after the 5th inning, I headed over to where they were sitting and got to catch up with her until the end of the 7th inning. Very fortuitous, as we had just found out the day before that our planned meet-up in October wouldn't be possible after all, but this way we still got to chat in person during the ballgame. 

After we took the train back to Evanston, E & C returned to their hotel to rest for a bit before our evening activity, which was dinner and a concert by Dominique Fils-Aime at Space. We were a little concerned about having enough time to eat before the show, but we managed to get seated and fed just barely in time. None of us was familiar with this artist, but Mr. E and I had both seen the info about her performance and thought E & C might enjoy going, especially because we know they like live music. I was a little concerned about whether or not we'd like the show, but we were all completely blown away by the experience, as we felt fully immersed in and enveloped by her poetry and music and presence. Just amazing!

Saturday morning brought some heavy rain and thunderstorms, but luckily they passed over by mid-morning. We breakfasted separately before meeting up at their hotel to go to the Evanston History Center for a walking tour focused on Daniel Burnham's time in and influence on some of the houses near the lakefront. 

We had decided to drive to downtown Chicago for the afternoon to save some time and were able to park at E's mom's condo, which gave us easy access to stroll through Millennium Park to visit "the bean" and other iconic sights, including the "people fountains" and wading pool, on our way to the Art Institute.

We had gotten the AIC Family Pass from Evan's mom that allowed free admission for all four of us, and we used Mr. E's and my membership for access to the Member Bar as our starting point, since Mr. E and I were a bit hungry. E & C had shared a sandwich from Mensch's in Evanston before we began our afternoon adventures, but they readily joined us for drinks at the Bar, and we sat on the outdoor sculpture terrace to enjoy the mild weather. 

We figured it would be easier to split up for the museum visit, so E & C headed off first while Mr. E and I lingered on the terrace. Since we didn't have anything particular in mind, we decided to visit the special exhibition in the Modern Wing featuring Elizabeth Catlett's work. I was particularly impressed by the variety of media she used and really moved by her paintings and sculptures of mothers and children. She somehow captured the fierce love and protectiveness between mother and child and managed to transmit that emotion through different styles and materials.

E had found out that a friend and her spouse were in Chicago for the week at a conference and staying at the nearby Swissotel. We were able to meet up with them on the rooftop terrace at the London House hotel for drinks and were all quite grateful for a bit of cloud cover, as the sun would otherwise have been brutal.

For dinner, we met up with Mr. E's mom at Avli on the Park, which is one of her favorite spots. Great conversation, great food and drinks, and more leftovers for Mr. E. This became sort of an unexpected theme of their visit, as he had also benefited from leftovers at Le Peep, Todoroki, and Space!  

After we said farewell to Mr. E's mom, we returned to Evanston. I was ready for bed at that point, but the rest of the group stayed up for a bit for a nightcap. Just like our usual routine in Sac, when they linger in the living room after I've gone to bed!

On Sunday, E & C checked out of their hotel and brought their stuff over to our apartment in the mid-morning before taking the train to downtown Chicago for some additional exploration, including pizza at Gino's East and a visit to the Field Museum. Mr. E and I went to the first session of our fall pickleball workshop at the Y, and Mr. E stayed for the league afterwards as well. Then we grabbed their suitcases and drove to downtown Chicago to regroup with E & C for an architecture tour on the River.

We parked at E's mom's condo building again and had perfect timing to catch the 3:45pm tour with no waiting in line for tickets or boarding. The 90-minute tour was fabulous (as always), and luckily there were enough shady spots on the boat to stay comfortable.

The tour wrapped up around 5:15pm, and since we didn't need to leave for the airport until closer to 6:45pm, we decided to go to another nearby family favorite restaurant, MingHin Cuisine. E's mom had recommended it the previous night when they were talking about food and E mentioned that Chinese food is one of her favorites, so it was a perfect way to wrap up the weekend. And more leftovers again! I also made a quick stop at Mariano's to pick up some of their yummy house-made popcorn.

We ran into a bit of traffic due to an accident at an intersection right off the exit we needed to take for Midway Airport, but we still got them to the terminal with plenty of time, especially since they decided to take a chance on the mini-bat in their bag and not check anything. They made it through TSA just fine! Mr. E and I headed back to Evanston and grabbed a few essentials at Whole Foods for the week before winding down with the kitties for the night.

A really wonderful visit with friends, and such a fun way to introduce them to both Evanston and Chicago! 

Awesome August in Sacramento

Our return to Sacramento started off with a matinee of In the Heights at Music Circus on Sunday, Aug. 3, and it was our first time seeing the live musical rather than the film version. We both noticed some differences, particularly the fact that the character of Nina's mom was entirely cut from the film, which seems like a rather odd decision, especially since she's such a strong character and has a fabulous solo song during the musical. We met up with L for dinner that evening by introducing her to Thai Time, and we were so glad that she liked it as much as we do!

We got together with our monthly brunch group on Saturday, Aug. 9th at Bernardo, and then Mr. E and I went to an afternoon showing of The Fantastic Four at the DOCO Cinemark. The next morning, we had brunch with E at Roc & Sol, and I had breakfast with her that Monday as well at Fox & Goose. I also managed to meet up with A for dinner, S for breakfast, and B for dinner over the course of the month, along with my new Evanston Mystery Book Club via Zoom on the 14th, my usual Sacto Book Club at M's on the 17th, and my ongoing French Book Club on the 24th. So great to be able to keep all of these connections and gatherings, both in-person and virtual!

I attended two in-person California Groundbreakers events as well, including a presentation about ICE and another about how technology can help seniors age in place. Both sessions were really interesting and thought-provoking, and I'm so glad to see that this organization's programming has resumed and increased.  

I was able to go to several of the 4:30pm Pilates classes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at the Capital Y while we were in Sac, but unfortunately, the pool temperature was too cold for any regular morning routine. I managed to get in twice in the early evening, but each time, I got really chilled even though I did a shorter workout and wore my wetsuit. Disappointing! 

I'd been toying with the idea of going purple with my hair for some time and decided to finally take the plunge while we were in Sac. The color was darker and not as brilliant as I'd hoped, although it looked really pretty in the sunlight.

The color has faded a bit over time, and I'm thinking I'll likely return to my Red Hibiscus the next time I need to refresh, unless I can find a different purple option that looks more promising!

The kitties resumed their Sacto habits promptly, and Louis XIV even discovered a new spot to hang out in the closet. Apparently, he felt some rearranging was needed...

On Thursday the 21st, Mr. E and I headed to the Crocker for an evening Watercolor & Wine studio art class. It's been awhile since we've been able to do one of these classes, particularly together, and it was so nice to have some dedicated time to be creative and indulge our artistic sides. Mr. E painted a forsythia for me, and I did a more structured painting of the flower display on our table plus a looser painting of just the roses. I think they all turned out pretty well!

The next evening, we returned to the Crocker for the New Director's Reception and were able to bring E & C with us as our guests. We enjoyed some snacks and adult beverages and then headed back to our place for takeout dinner and a round of the "button" fame (aka Michigan Rummy). 

On Saturday night, Mr. E and I attended the Mole Festival at Casa de Espanol. The weather was quite toasty! But we both enjoyed the eight artisanal mole offerings, and I was really pleased that they offered a vegan option so that I could try everything.

Both Mr. E and I had several health appointments that we had scheduled in a cluster for our time in Sac, including visits to the dentist, a stress test for Mr. E, massages and blood donations for both of us, and Botox, a pedicure, and two chiro sessions for me. 

I also took Louis XIV to the vet on the last Saturday we were in Sac to get his annual check-up and rabies booster. Unfortunately, I learned that our ginger boy needs some dental work! A cleaning and at least one extraction. *sigh* We decided we'd try to get the treatment done in Evanston so we wouldn't have to wait until mid December when we're back in Sac. Unfortunately, since we don't already have an established vet in our second home location, we encountered challenges with scheduling anything in a timely fashion, especially since we needed an initial appointment before anything more extensive such as the dental work. Mr. E had the brilliant idea of seeing if our usual Sac vet had availability during the week of Oct. 14th when I'll be back in Sac for 4+ days for work gatherings. And luckily, they did! So Louis XIV will be accompanying me solo for this future trip while Marlene remains in Evanston with Mr. E.

We finally decided that we wanted to move forward with exploring options for remodeling our main bathroom and replacing the flooring in the library and office upstairs. Mr. E reached out to several of the contacts that N had recommended, and we had a couple of consultations with B to discuss the project and options. We were pleased by his bid and signed a contract to get the project going when we're back in Sac for the winter. So in December, we'll be starting to choose all of the finishes (tile, cabinet, countertop, lights, other fixtures, carpet) with the intent to have the demo and construction start up in January. Exciting!

Our return to Evanston was on Tuesday, Aug. 26th, so that we could get settled back in for a few days before heading to Austin for the Labor Day long weekend. The kitties are getting to be pro travelers! Although Marlene still looked a bit out of sorts during part of the trip...