November: Nesting in Evanston (Part 2)

Week of Nov. 17: Wine & Food & Theatre

We celebrated the annual Nouveau Beaujolais release at Le Tour on Thursday evening, managing to squeeze in at the bar to enjoy our complementary glasses of wine. Mr. E also ordered a burger and frites while I focused on the Happy Hour pricing for oysters. As usual, we got a dozen of the mollusks, but when we were halfway finished, I noticed that there was an odd number remaining, meaning that we were served only 11 of the 12. We alerted the server, and she returned to the kitchen to resolve the issue. When she came back, she presented us with the missing oyster plus an extra "apology oyster" to make a nice baker's dozen total. I certainly didn't complain about having the surplus offering!

I took the day off on Friday for some intensive homework time as the end of the semester is getting close. Mr. E and I finally tried out Cafe International at the Rotary Building for breakfast and were pretty pleased with the options and especially with the pricing. It reminded both of us of a very nice hotel breakfast buffet, including made-to-order omelets (I got egg whites and veggies) but with prices more similar to the cafeteria at one of the CA state agencies or at the Intel campus in Folsom. I ended up taking half of my omelet home since the portion size was quite generous. And the triangular hash browns were another good find -- crispy enough and no onions!

Friday afternoon, I headed to the WCE for my 3-5pm volunteer shift to help with vendor move-in for the annual Holiday Bazaar. There were fewer than 10 vendors who arrived later in the day, so I was done by 4:30pm, giving me plenty of time to come home for a bit before Mr. E and I returned to the Clubhouse for the opening evening of the Bazaar. We sponsored the event this year, and that included tickets to the opening, so we were able to enjoy the light bites and wine as we browsed the various artisans. We indulged with several holiday baking purchases, including an apple cake, white chocolate ginger cookies, tart cherry cookies, ginger snaps, mini holiday truffles, and a specialty hot chocolate mix. 

On Sunday, we met up with M & L for an early brunch at the locally famous Walker Bros. Original Pancake House. I tried the blue crab benedict and nibbled on some of Mr. E's mini Dutch baby pancake with fruit on top. Our afternoon activity was the play Among the Dead as part of our DIY mini-season subscription to the Wirtz Performing Arts Center on the Northwestern University campus. We didn't know anything about the show, and we were both totally engaged and impressed by the script, the staging, and the performances. We wrapped up the evening with Happy Hour at Prairie Moon. I really enjoyed their new spinach and mushroom quesadilla HH offering, but I have to admit that their oysters just aren't as tasty as the ones at Le Tour!

Week of Nov. 24: No Classes! Blood Donation, Thanksgiving, Weekend Change of Plans

I didn't have any classes this week for NYU, LTCC, or CASA. It felt a bit odd to have so much free time! Mr. E took Wednesday off to get ready for all of his holiday cooking plans. Unfortunately, he had a challenge with picking up the rental car, which threw off his timing for the day. Luckily, he was able to borrow M's car to do his errands and for us to go to our Vitalant blood donation appointments in the late afternoon. Unfortunately, I got deferred due to a low hemoglobin, despite trying two finger sticks. Darn! Mr. E was able to complete his donation, and we took care of the final grocery shopping as well. We figured out the swap-out with M's car and the rental before we headed home for the evening.

We started out Thanksgiving Day by walking the Evanston Flying Turkey 5K. The weather was chilly but sunny with minimal wind, so we just bundled up to enjoy the stroll. We had a late brunch at home afterwards and then relaxed for a bit before heading to Mr. E's mom's in the early afternoon, since she was hosting the family gathering for the holiday this year. Originally, we were all going to go to Montreal, but Mr. E's sister's work schedule had changed several weeks ago, making an out of town trip more challenging, so we decided to just stay local instead. 

Mr. E settled into his mom's kitchen to begin all of his prep, and I headed down to the awesome geodesic domed pool for a swim. By the time I was done, L & M and G & L had arrived and were munching on the appetizers and chatting. I did a quick errand at Mariano's and then joined the group to visit and enjoy the food. We sat down to dinner around 5:45pm to enjoy the offerings from Mr. E (steak, oven-baked asparagus with parmesan cheese, sauteed mushrooms, and roasted fingerling potatoes) and his mom (beet and green bean salad, cocktail shrimp, and other parts of the appetizers that joined the main meal). We finished up with the pumpkin pie that Mr. E had ordered from Bennisons and then headed home to Evanston (with lots of leftovers!) around 7:30pm.

Our plan for the rest of the weekend was a trip to Madison, including a tour of Taliesin on Saturday afternoon and meet-ups with friends P and S on Saturday evening and Sunday morning. However, due to the winter storm warnings, all of the Taliesin tours for Saturday were cancelled! Luckily, on Friday morning, I saw the phone call and email notifications before we started the drive, right when were just about done with our packing. So then we decided to just cancel the entire road trip, especially once I called the hotel and they were kind enough to waive the usual cancellation policy so that we didn't have any charge at all. Now what to do with the weekend??!!

We had already planned to visit the Gichigamiin Indigenous Nations Museum and make a stop by the See's Candies holiday pop-up shop at Old Orchard Center on our way to Madison, so we figured we could still keep those plans. Unfortunately, when we looked up the directions for the Museum, we saw that it was closed on Friday. D'oh! We did brave the traffic to get to See's for my lollipop re-stock to tide me over for the next couple of weeks. Later in the afternoon, we played three games of pool in our building's Community Den [aka game room] and then tried out the Corner Bistro bar at the Orrington Hilton (Bourbon Bee for Mr. E, Smokey Negroni for me), and finished up the evening with takeout from Joy Yee and streaming of Agatha Christie's Crooked House.

On Saturday, we navigated through the snowy roads to visit the Museum, which was offering free admission for Small Business Saturday. We both really enjoyed the permanent and special exhibitions, and we procured a turtle magnet and purple hummingbird fleece blanket at the small gift shop. On our way home, we stopped by the Oakton Community Center for the C.A.R.E. Faire to support the shelter where L volunteers. The cookie walk was definitely the best part! We ended up with 1.75 pounds of a variety of cookies, all homemade by volunteers. Yum! Once we got home, Mr. E fit in a short workout downstairs while I had a nice long talk with A. Then we braved the snow to walk to the AMC Theatre for the 3:30pm showing of Wicked for Good. We were surprised that the theatre was so full, given the ongoing snowy weather and road conditions!

Sunday was a very leisurely day, with no specific time commitments. After brunch at home, I took down and put away the Thanksgiving decorations and pulled out the Christmas decor to get started on the next holiday. A bit later, on our way out to do some errands, we almost got stuck in the snow at the top of the parking ramp! Luckily, I noticed a snow shovel nearby, so Mr. E was able to shovel out the stuck front tires of the rental car, and we continued on our way. We stopped by M's to drop off his big pot that Mr. E had borrowed for the sous-vide steak on Thanksgiving and then found some great holiday lights at Home Depot. Nice to have the rental car for some of these farther-away errands! Stops at our usual nearby Binny's, Jewel, and Trader Joe's rounded out the afternoon. The rest of the day included more holiday decorating, computer stuff, and our weekly international film viewing. 

And that's a wrap for November! 

 

November: Nesting in Evanston (Part 1)

Week of Nov. 3: Museum, Friends, First Snow of the Season

I went to a really interesting artist's talk at the Block Museum on Wednesday evening. The session was to present some of the most recent pieces acquired through the Block Museum Student Associates program. The works are by Chitra Ganesh, and she was there in person to have a conversation with a Northwestern Professor. 

 

I have to admit that I'm not really a fan of the work itself, but it was fascinating to hear about her process and her inspiration and why the BMSA cohort recommended her pieces for acquisition for the Museum's permanent collection.

On Friday evening, Mr. E and I decided to try out the Hibachi tables at Todoroki, one of our favorite spots for takeout. So fun! The chef was able to accommodate my allium allergy, so I ordered scallops and shrimp as my protein while Mr. E opted for steak and salmon. At the table behind us was a group of about 10 boys celebrating a birthday party. They were probably in the 8-10 year old range and were quite rambunctious! But that's just because they were having so much fun with the chef, so we just decided to enjoy their raucous energy while they finished their meal and then enjoyed the tranquility just as much (if not more) after their departure.

After brunch on Saturday morning, Mr. E and I headed to the Evanston History Center for their Open House so that we could visit the reFashioning History exhibit and see the new works in context with their inspiration. It was fun to see some of the new designs up close, especially in comparison with the older fashions and how they related to each other. All about pleats!

We had planned to go to a show on Sunday afternoon, but as I was looking for our confirmation email, I discovered that I hadn't ever bought the tickets. Oops! So we had several unexpectedly extra free hours that afternoon before walking to M&L's townhome for dinner of homemade pizza prefaced with an extensive charcuterie & cheese plate. M drove us home, so we managed to avoid any of the incoming snowy weather in the forecast.

Week of Nov. 10: Snow, Community Service, History Center Events, Mystery Book Club, Art, Translators Meet-Up, Family Dinner, Dance

The week started off with some lovely snowfall from the first storm of the season! 

We both had Tuesday off for Veteran's Day so enjoyed a later breakfast together at our favorite Le Peep. I spent the rest of the day doing homework since I knew the weekend would have limited time for me to study. In the evening, I attended my first in-person Community Outreach Committee meeting at the Woman's Club, and it was so nice to meet some other members and learn more about all of the Committee's activities.

On Wednesday, I went to the Noyes Cultural Arts Center to hear talk about the history of theatre in Evanston. It's really amazing how this small city has had such an oversized impact on theater in this area and how Northwestern has served as such a pipeline and connector for a variety of theatre professionals. I also discovered that walking to the Noyes Center doesn't take nearly as long as I thought, which is great to know for future cultural offerings at the multi-purpose facility.

Thursday was my Mystery Book Club at the library. This month's selection was Murder on the Red River by Marcie Rendon. I enjoyed the book and the discussion with the group, but I'm not sure that I'm interested enough to continue the series.

The next evening, Mr. E joined me for a gathering at the Evanston History Center to celebrate the launch of the Downtown Evanston History Tour. Everyone who participated in the tour and logged points before November 1st was eligible to win prizes and attend the celebration. I procured a bag and a sticker and a fabulous book about the unique "hidden" double houses of Evanston. We enjoyed the food offerings of empanadas (bean, pulled pork) and arepas (cheese, chicken) from La Cocinata and macarons from Coralie. 

Saturday was a full day of activities, beginning with my volunteering at the Woman's Club to help assemble culturally appropriate hair kits for Avery's Helpful Hair Kits, one of the recipients of the WCE community grants program. What an amazing organization! It was founded three years ago by a young girl named Avery, who was only 8 years old at the time. The purpose is to provide youth in foster care with products that are appropriate for their hair type and texture. Avery, her mom, and one of her friends were there to talk about the organization and help get everything organized. We had enough volunteers that we were finished in less than an hour! I got to reconnect with J, another WCE member whom I'd first met at the info session and then again at the Art Tour, and I also met several other members, quite a few who are relatively new to WCE, just as I am.

 

While I was at the WCE, Mr. E welcomed a crew to steam clean our rugs. We had moved a bunch of things out of the master bedroom and closet and office earlier in the morning to prepare for the cleaning. 

In the early afternoon, we took the CTA to the Driehaus Museum to see the Tiffany Lamps: Beyond the Shade exhibit. Such beautiful artistry and craftsmanship!

My favorite was definitely the Nautilus lamp. Seeing so many examples collected all in one place was almost overwhelming! Other noteworthy items on display included paintings by Mary Cassat and other Art Deco works.

After we finished up at the Museum (including a poster purchase at the shop), we walked south so that I could meet up with folks from the Chicago Area Translator's Association (CHICATA) at Miller's Pub while Mr. E headed to his mom's to spend time with her. I joined them later at Minghin for dinner, and then Mr. E and I grabbed a Lyft to return to Evanston.

Our final activity of the weekend was the Sunday afternoon performance of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago's Fall Series. The show was at the Steppenwolf Theatre again this year, which is an easy CTA ride for us. This time around, all of the pieces were new to us. Each piece was unique, enthralling, and totally captivating. This is such an amazing company! I'm so thrilled that we're able to attend their performances on a regular basis now!  

October: Month o' Travel (Part 2)

Week of Oct. 20: Back-to-Back Conferences + Family Visit (ORD > ATL > BOS)

On Tuesday (aka Calypso Day -- miss you, my baby girl cat!), I had a late morning flight to Atlanta for the National Scholarship Providers Association (NSPA) annual conference, which was at the Marriott Marquis in downtown Atlanta. 

I was pleasantly surprised that my room was ready when I checked after taking the MARTA public transit from the airport to the hotel, so I could get organized a bit before going to the afternoon Learning Circle sessions. I met up with my colleague, IN, at the 2-Year College group, which always provides a lively and interesting conversation. After the early evening reception, I found a nearby spot for sushi for dinner and then spent some time on homework before going to bed.

I took advantage of the lovely and large indoor / outdoor pool to swim laps on Wednesday morning before attending the keynote session. Then IN and I co-presented a Breakout session about our Finish Line Scholars program. We opted for different pre-lunch sessions, and I skipped the secondary Learning Circle opportunity to get more homework done. In the afternoon, I was part of a 4-person Ignite session focused on innovation in different aspects of scholarship programs, so I got to talk about our Educating for Change Scholarship and the innovative partnerships that came together to create and launch the program. I lingered for a bit at the second evening reception and then turned in at a reasonable time in anticipation of my morning flight the next day.

I was up early to fit in my workout on Thursday before my morning flight to Boston for the American Translators Association (ATA) annual conference. I was on Jet Blue, which I haven't flown for quite some time, and I appreciated how their seat-back welcome screen was very customized to the destination! 

Attending the ATA was an opportunity for me to make some new connections in the language industry and meet up with my peers and faculty from the NYU SPS MSTI program. I was lucky again to have my room ready when I checked in at the Westin Boston Seaport after taking the Silver Line public transit bus from Logan airport to the hotel. My room was on a relatively low floor but still had a good view of the planes from the nearby airport.

Since there weren't any sessions earlier in the day that interested me, I decided to take advantage of the time to make a visit to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, one of my (and mom's) favorite spots. I always enjoy wandering through the amazing Italianate style building surrounding the open internal courtyard, and I got to see the lingering traces of the annual chrysanthemums along with many of my other favorite art works, including the portraits of Isabella herself.

I returned to the hotel in time for the mid-afternoon AFTI Board meeting. Coincidentally, the first person I had seen when picking up my registration info earlier in the day was C, my former professor and the President of the AFTI Board who is the one who got me involved with AFTI's fundraising and strategic planning efforts. I was also spotted by my peer, A, in the hotel gift shop when she recognized my purple hair! For dinner later on, I opted for takeout from MJ O'Connor's Pub, an independent restaurant co-located with the hotel, and got a yummy shrimp salad bowl with all of the necessary accommodation for my dietary restrictions.

On Friday, I attended the annual members meeting and made a great connection with D, who very kindly offered to follow up with additional guidance and recommendations about my plans to focus on project management. After the morning sessions, I joined other MSTI students and faculty at the Exhibit Hall for a group photo and then met up with another former professor, E, for lunch at the hotel cafe. That evening was the annual game night to benefit AFTI, so I joined a small group of other volunteers at 7pm to get everything ready for the 9pm event. Too late for me to participate in the games themselves!

I had arranged for a late check-out on Saturday so was able to enjoy my workout and the morning sessions without feeling rushed to pack up. I decided to try a different route for my morning walk this time and ended up strolling by the Children's Museum with its iconic Hood milk bottle outside -- a true landmark from my childhood! I also appreciated the ocean view projected on the enormous screen in the hotel lobby (not sure if it's a live stream from an actual MA beach or not).

There weren't any mid-day sessions that appealed to me, so after I checked out, I left my bags with the concierge and walked to the nearby Institute of Contemporary Art, stopping for lunch along the way. I really enjoyed all of the exhibitions, as well as the view over Boston Harbor from the galleries and from the ground-floor cafe, where I sipped on a late-afternoon Americano before returning to the conference hotel.

The final sessions I attended were about transcreation (presented by former professor E) and AFTI (led by the same group as at the Board meeting). I had arranged for transportation by Key Limo to go to my Aunt M's house in Sharon for the evening, so I met up with the driver outside the hotel and arrived at her lovely and inviting home just after 6pm. She had ordered takeout from a local Chinese restaurant, and we got to enjoy the vegetarian meal and some quality conversation followed by tea and an early bedtime. Fine with me at that point after such a full week!

On Sunday morning, my Aunt hosted brunch for me and my cousins R and E. R was only able to stop by for a bit, but E came over earlier and we had a nice walk together to pick up coffee at a little cafe nearby. We also managed to connect with J and family via FaceTime for a quick group chat. Then Key Limo came to pick me up at noon to take me to the airport for my return flight to Chicago. The timing was better this weekend for me to take the Pace Pulse bus home, and it was so nice to be welcomed by Mr. E and the kitties after being away for nearly a week!

Week of Oct. 27: Fostering Family Connections in CO

I had a bit more time to unpack and do laundry and enjoy being home in Evanston before the next trip. I got to attend my Better Off Read book club on Wednesday evening to discuss How to Hide an Empire, which prompted some quite lively conversations with the group. Then Mr. E and I headed to Denver on Thursday afternoon for the Halloween weekend. We stayed at the Embassy Suites Downtown, right across from the Convention Center and our favorite blue bear statue.

We took advantage of the full breakfast each morning and the manager's receptions each evening, which was one of the factors that had influenced our decision about which hotel to choose this time around. On Friday, we both worked for most of the day and then headed to A's house in Littleton to meet up with her and the boys for a DIY taco dinner and trick-or-treating. Always fun to get to be part of that experience, especially since A let me wear the unicorn onesie to match my unicorn headband! R was away for the weekend at a friend's wedding in Lexington, KY, so it was a smaller family gathering than usual (although we did spot him briefly at the airport on Sunday afternoon as we were leaving and he was arriving!).

On Saturday, Mr. E went to visit his cousins in Centennial while I camped out in the lovely hotel lobby with huge floor-to-ceiling windows and views of the mountains to do MSTI and LTCC homework. I was able to Camille Pissarro exhibition, which was really intriguing. I managed to find a couple of kitty items at the gift shop (measuring spoons, tote bag). Mr. E and I then met up with A and the boys at the Yard House near the Sheraton Hotel, which was about a 10-minute walk for us from the Embassy Suites. The restaurant was able to accommodate dietary restrictions for both A and me, which was great. 

We had just enough time on Sunday morning to grab breakfast at the hotel before going back to the airport to return the rental car and catch our flight home to Evanston. And I managed to fit the unicorn onesie into my carry-on bag! Phew! We got home in the late afternoon and were able to spend time with the kitties (needed to reassure Louis XIV in particular as he had been exhibiting some odd behavior while we were away and X was taking care of them). I also swapped out the holiday decorations, putting away Halloween and pulling out Thanksgiving, since we had changed months and also pushed back the clocks on Saturday night. 

Made it to November! All of the travel went well, and it was all for good reasons, but I'm glad that I'll be home for almost all of this month and can settle in to enjoy the end of fall and beginning of winter here in Evanston.