Homecoming Weekend in Madison

Thursday, October 1-Sunday, October 4: Taliesin, Badger Win, Home Depot, Laurent House

Mr. E picked up a rental car on Thursday morning, and we headed up to Madison later that afternoon, in the midst of rainy weather. Our hotel was the Residence Inn in Middleton, in the same area as the Madison Marriott West where we've stayed in the past. After checking in, Mr. E went out to get provisions while I did yoga. I'd been battling with a really nasty cold since Monday, so continued my routine of earlier bedtime and no drinking.

Our destination on Friday as Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin for a 2pm Highlights Tour that lasted 2.5 hours. On the way there, we stopped briefly at the Spring Valley Inn, which was another Frank Lloyd Wright design that I'd read about in one of my new books by Kristine Hansen. I had seen her at an author talk at Bookends & Beginnings the week before and picked up both her Illinois and Wisconsin books, which was a great way to learn more about these sites.

Our tour started at the Visitor's Center, and we then boarded a small shuttle to go to the estate, where we toured the main home, some of the grounds, and the school and studio. I had been here once before with Mom when I lived in Madison, but I think that was nearly 30 years ago (!), and there have definitely been changes and upgrades to the sites and the tour operations. We had a beautiful day for the visit and could really appreciate how the buildings fit into the landscape.

I really love the unique and iconic light that we saw several of throughout the property. A large and small version were available at the gift shop and even on sale, but both Mr. E and I decided that it might be too risky to have something in our home that would be so tempting to our climber kitties!

Our evening was pretty low-key again, with some reading, browsing at a few nearby shops, and another takeout dinner. Oh, and during a trip to Target, Mr. E was able to get his COVID and flu shots, since he hadn't been able to do so when I did the previous week at our Evanston CVS.

On Saturday morning, we made our way to campus for the tailgate at the Olin House (Chancellor's residence) before going to Camp Randall for the homecoming game. We had been invited to watch from the Wisconsin Club, which gave us access to much comfier seats as well as food and drinks throughout the game. This was really the primary reason that I had wanted to attend, as otherwise Mr. E goes with his friends who are more into the game than I am. We had a great view of the entire field and saw some amazing plays as the Badgers won 31-3.

We left a bit early and decided to take advantage of having a car to visit Home Depot and do some recon for various items we'll need for our condo projects (paint, faucets, cabinet handles, etc.). We also picked up some items at Metcalfe's Market and Paper Source at the Hilldale Mall. Then another relaxing evening at the hotel.

I took advantage of the decent length and rectangular shape of the hotel pool to swim laps on Sunday morning and finished with perfect timing, right before a family with two kids came to use the pool. After breakfast, we packed everything up and hit the road to drive to Rockford, IL, for our 1pm tour of Laurent House, the only home ever designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for someone with limited mobility. The tour was quite lovely, and I really enjoyed seeing the modifications to accommodate Mr. Laurent and his wheelchair, as it reminded me so much of how Dad had to navigate and move through the world, first on crutches and then in a wheelchair as he got older.

We got back to Evanston in the late afternoon, so we had plenty of time to unpack, do the grocery shopping (with a car for a change!), and spend some quality time with the kitties. 

Evanston Activities

Mr. E and I took advantage of a few fun local activities last month, including a book signing by chef Carla Hall at Bookends & Beginnings, a Chicago Cubs game to benefit Hubbard Street Dance Company, and a bike ride to the Bahai'i Temple.

I've also had some amazing sunrise views during my morning walks to the Lake over the past few weeks. And Mr. E and I were lucky enough to catch the big harvest moonrise when we [very coincidentally] happened to go to Cafe au Lake for drinks one evening. I couldn't really get any photos that truly captured how amazing the moon looked over the Lake, but the sunrise images are pretty darn good.

 

Family Visit to Evanston!

Friday, September 4-Monday, September 7: Chicago Sights + Evanston Events + Family Time

My sister J and her family and my cousin (aka younger sister) A and her family all came to Evanston for the Labor Day long weekend holiday. So fun to have them visit and get to know our new second home city! 

J had arranged for a grocery delivery on Friday afternoon to their VRBO, so Mr. E and I headed over there to make sure nothing went missing and to put perishables in the fridge. When we arrived, the hosts were still finishing up the cleaning, and the home was quite warm. Ugh! Granted, the temperature was unusually warm that day, but the a/c in the house definitely wasn't strong enough to cool everything down, especially since they had the windows open to "air out" the place. When J's group arrived, B went off to Lowe's to buy two window a/c units for the weekend after confirming that they could be returned within 48 hours. Brilliant! A and her family unfortunately were "treated" to a full-on O'Hare experience, with a long time on the tarmac after landing followed by a lack of cars when they finally made it to the rental car center. Ugh again! Not a great way for the visit to begin, but luckily it all got much better from there.

The two families headed off to the Museum of Science & Industry on Saturday morning while Mr. E and I took care of some administrative stuff related to our recent purchase of a condo here in downtown Evanston. It had been a whirlwind week, since we had flown from Sac the previous Saturday, saw the unit and made an offer on Sunday afternoon, had the offer accepted with minor modifications on Monday evening, and completed the inspection on Friday morning before my family arrived. Phew!

In the early afternoon we met up at Mr. E's mom's building in downtown Chicago, where we were fortunate to find parking for all three cars, and headed to the nearby Mariano's to grab DIY lunch. Mr. E and I got to spend a little time with his mom before everyone else arrived. After lunch, our group of 10 (6 adults, 4 kids) strolled over to Millennium Park to visit The Bean and the awesome "spitting people" fountains. The kids were all-in on getting wet, especially since it was pretty warm, and it was a great activity for M in particular to run around and have a safe space to expend his energy. We then walked across the "snake" bridge and found our way to an awesome area with multiple big playgrounds. Eventually we made our way back to Mr. E's mom's place, where A and her family got changed in the condo while J and her family went to the pool for a bit before getting ready for our group dinner.

One of Mr. E's wishes for his 60th birthday celebration with family was to go to Fogo de Chao so that all of the meat-eaters could really take advantage of the restaurant's offerings. His sister L and brother-in-law M met up with us there, so our total group was 13. It was quite an extravaganza! Luckily, we also knew there would be enough options for the non-meat-eaters in the group, and we all enjoyed the dinner once we got a couple of initial service issues figured out.

The two family groups each headed back to Evanston, L & M returned to Oak Park, and Mr. E and I took his mom back to her place, since we'd driven her over to the restaurant. Just as we were about 3 blocks away, I happened to look at my phone and saw a text from my sister that she and A had decided to go for a walk and were asking us to come pick them up. What??!! That was a surprise!!! Good thing I checked my phone when I did, and we were able to loop back around to get them before dropping Mr. E's mom off at her place and then all returning to Evanston together. It was actually rather nice to have some extra time with J and A to visit with during the drive.

On Sunday morning, everyone came over to our apartment and took advantage of the roof-top pool for a couple of hours. Then the boys took over the game room for the pool table and the big wall Scrabble while J, A, and I took a walk by the Lake and checked out the [very small] North Shore French Fest at Fountain Square. By the time we finished our acai bowls from Deep Purpl and returned to the apartment, we were all ready to go to the Chicago Stars game at the Lakefront Stadium. 

R drove since he was still recovering from knee surgery, but the rest of us walked along the Lakefront path. We had plenty of time for the pre-game activities, and Mr. E and I were able to meet up with R to get him into the stadium since we had all the tickets on my phone. I had hoped that our seats would have a view of the Lake and be at least somewhat shaded, but I totally struck out on both counts, as our location in the front rows on the west side were sunny the whole time and too low to see the Lake. Ah well. We'll know for the future, if necessary! The game was fun to watch, even though the Stars lost.

Our group dinner that evening was hibachi at Todoroki, which was fun for everyone and provided lots of leftovers to take home.

J had decided to change to an earlier flight on Monday since they had a busy week ahead, so we didn't get to see them before they left. Once A and family checked out of the VRBO, they came over to our place and we all headed to the Clark Street Beach for a couple of hours before they left for the airport. It was nice to have some dedicated time with a smaller group, and I wished I'd worn my swimsuit because the water was surprisingly warm, especially given how cold it had been when Mr. E and I had gone to the beach one evening the previous week! 

We're so glad that we were able to figure out the logistics to bring both family groups here to Evanston. We'll get to see the Denver folks again at the end of October when we visit them for Halloween weekend, and I'll be spending time with the Austin folks in mid-October thanks to having a conference in nearby San Antonio. 

Combo July Trip: Family in NYC + Spanish at LTCC

Thursday, July 23-Sunday, July 26: The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Bridge, and Fort Greene Park

Mr. E and I headed out on Thursday afternoon for our flight from ORD > LGA for our long weekend visit to NYC for a family baby shower for S & VP. We were so touched to be invited, since S is the daughter of my cousin G and his spouse C, so not really even the same generation. However, we've connected with S thanks to attending several of her shows in NYC (Fiddler on the Roof, Hell's Kitchen) and San Francisco (Jesus Christ Superstar), and I think she has really appreciated the family support. We figured we'd take advantage of the trip to see some different parts of NYC, so we rented a VRBO in the [very urban] Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, partly because the invitation indicated that the shower would be in Prospect Park so we wanted to be nearby.

Since we arrived in the early evening, we just headed to our VRBO and then to a nearby Target and the Wonder food hall to gather provisions (popcorn) and dinner (DIY salad for me, burger & fries for Mr. E) before settling in for the night. We also had to cool down the apartment since the windows had been left open and the bedrooms face west so were quite warm due to the setting sun! The apartment was very comfortable with lots of kitchen gear that we definitely wouldn't be using during our short stay (air fryer, waffle iron, blender, food processor, Keurig pod coffee maker, espresso maker, etc.). 

I did some research on Friday morning after my workout to find us a brunch spot, and we had a great meal at Red Chaconia Cafe, including a yummy Americano (not sour!). We then perched for second coffee at a Starbucks near the northeast corner of Prospect Park and close to The Brooklyn Museum, which was our primary destination and entertainment for the day. One of the reasons I really wanted to visit this museum was to see the full installation of Judy Chicago's The Dinner Party. It was absolutely stunning! And absolutely impossible to photograph well to truly capture all of the intricate details as well as the overarching scope and scale. Wow. Just incredible. I would go back to the museum just to see this piece again and spend more time with it.

We wandered through several of the other galleries and were really pleased with all that we saw and experienced. Before heading back to the apartment, we paused for a fresh mixed juice at the cafe in the lobby. Then we strolled through Prospect Park along an interior eastern pathway. The weather was pretty pleasant, especially in the shade, but I definitely still needed a shower when we got back to the VRBO. We relaxed for a bit as we kept in touch with A, who was arriving that evening from Phoenix and joining us at the VRBO (3 bedroom, 1 bath).  

Once A arrived, she and Mr. E headed off to get Japanese takeout and pick up a different rose, since the one that Mr. E had found the previous night wasn't very tasty. Then we all just hung out, chatted, and caught up on a couple of series that Mr. E and I are watching (Project Runway, Ride or Die). 

On Saturday, we took the train towards the Brooklyn Bridge and grabbed breakfast at a nearby Starbucks before beginning our trek across the [totally unshaded!] span over the river. Despite the bright sun, the temperature wasn't too hot, and we really enjoyed the fabulous views of Manhattan and the islands.

We had originally planned to walk back across the Bridge on our way to the baby shower at Fort Greene Park (yes, the location had changed, which we didn't learn about until three days before our trip!), but I was feeling too warm and sticky for a reverse crossing. Instead, we stopped for a beverage at a coffee shop near Pace University and then took the subway to the park to meet up with family for the baby shower. Many of the guests were friends or family of VP, so we only knew a handful of people from S's side of the family, but we enjoyed being part of the celebration and stayed for about two hours before heading back to the VRBO on the subway (slight challenges figuring out which platform to use due to changes in the train schedule!).

I was ready to be done for the day at that point, so I showered and got into my comfies, but A and Mr. E went out for a two-hour walk around the perimeter of Prospect Park, stopping on the way back to pick up stuff for dinner. I had enough already with the combined leftovers from the previous night, but they each got salads from a different spot at Wonder. Mr. E and I had to leave at 7am the next morning to head to JFK for our respective flights to Chicago and Reno, but we had a chance to say goodbye to A, whose flight was later in the day. And we'll see her again along with the entire family when they all come to Evanston for Labor Day weekend. Yay!

Sunday, July 26-Friday, July 31: ISSI

My flight to Reno via Phoenix was earlier than Mr. E's flight to Chicago, so he came with me to my gate to wait. I grabbed some yummy porridge at Pret a Manger while he fetched coffee for both of us at Starbucks and later got a breakfast sandwich for himself before his flight.

Both of my flights on American were full but otherwise just fine, and we even arrived in Reno a bit early, which was great. I had checked my rollerboard at JFK but didn't have to wait long at baggage claim, and I took care of getting everything set for my rental car while I was waiting. The drive from Reno to South Lake Tahoe was easy, and I arrived at Hotel Azure, my home for the next five days, around 5:30pm. 

This was my third time attending the Intensive Spanish Summer Institute (ISSI) at Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) and my first time at this hotel. I definitely appreciated its location being farther from all the crowds and business of Heavenly Village, and it was also much closer to the campus, which made my morning timing easier. Not to mention that it was only two blocks from Safeway, so I easily stocked up on groceries for the week the evening I arrived and grabbed coffee at the Starbucks there each morning on my way to class.

My hotel room was a one-bedroom suite at the end of the building and had a view of the Lake, although the small event center and tall trees blocked much of the panorama. But I still got some pretty scenes during my morning and evening walks, including an encounter with a squirrel one day and a coyote sighting the next day (no photos of that critter, unfortunately!).

I was in the Low Superior class this year, which unfortunately got combined with the Superior class due to a lack of instructors. This wasn't a problem for me in terms of language or learning, but it did make for an overly large class so any type of group or partner work was quite challenging because of the noise level. There were several other changes that I noticed this year that were a bit disappointing, but overall it was still a positive experience, especially since there aren't many intensive in-person adult Spanish programs like in the US. And for CA residents, the tuition is very low thanks to having the program at a Community College. The most expensive part is the lodging, rental car, and this time around the flight!

The program wrapped up on Friday, and since Mr. E's birthday was Saturday, I left before the afternoon sessions for my return flight so that I could be back in Evanston for his special day. My flight on Alaska connected through Seattle and was delayed by about 30 minutes, so I arrived around 12:30am. Mr. E had rented a car for the weekend and came to pick me up at the airport, which was lovely. We got back to the apartment around 1:20am, and all I did was take time to kiss my kitties and to the bare minimum of unpacking before going to bed. So glad to be home with Mr. E, Louis XIV, and Marlene! I missed my partner and my kitties!

A Different Kind of Journey: Hair Color Week 1-Week 4

I really like my current hair color product, Vivid Berry by London, especially since the dye is no bleach and vegan. However, it definitely doesn't hold the color nearly as long as other products that I've used! And it's also quite chameleon-like, since the initial color in the bottle and on my hair is bright pink but changes to deep purple by the end of the process and then gradually fades to light lavender (or perhaps sakura, according to comments and compliments I received during our trip to Japan earlier this year). I figured it would be fun to document this hair color journey from pre-color in Week 1 to the next application in Week 4. 

And I just colored again last night, so now it's back to the starting point of vivid berry. Such a contrast throughout the weeks!!!

Portugal River Cruise Days 7 & 8: Pinhao to Tavora to Regua to Porto & End of Trip

Sunday, May 31: Lamego

As usual, I explored the waterfront area near our dock for my morning walk but had to be very careful of the time since the boat was due to leave Pinhao at 7am. 

We were back to our usual morning excursion routine so joined the rest of the English-speaking group for our 8:30am departure for the visit to Lamego. Our guide was Sandrine again, who had also accompanied us yesterday as well as two days ago for the Regua area excursions. Lamego is known for its sanctuary at the top of a hill with its 686 stairs. Our group visited the church (which was having a Sunday morning mass), and then a few of us decided to walk down the stairs to meet up for our tasting of local smoked meats, cheese, and sparkling wine.

We had some free time to explore the historic center of the town, and Mr. E procured a Portugal football jersey to add to our souvenirs. Then we returned to Regua to meet up with our boat. I had enough time to buy some fresh cherries from the local vendor situated just above the dock area before we all had to be on board. 

The afternoon began with a pre-lunch briefing about the schedule for the rest of the day and departure procedures for the morning. After lunch, we were able to visit the Captain in the pilothouse and learn a bit about how the boat operates, which was quite interesting, especially to see the control panels. The rest of the afternoon was just sailing and relaxing and getting ready to head home tomorrow. Mr. E also got to watch the "show" of the new pool getting installed. Apparently, it was quite an adventure with lots of onlookers!

Our final dinner was unfortunately not very successful for me, as the kitchen staff had prepared a lovely piece of salmon instead of beef but included leeks in the mixed veggies, and that's part of the allium family so I couldn't eat it. The replacement was a vegan shredded patty and the same puff potatoes as we had another evening. But I'm not a fan of faux meat, since I don't miss or like the flavor anymore, and the potato puffs were cold inside. Quite disappointing, but luckily I wasn't very hungry and just finished off the evening with popcorn and wine in my room. Oh, and the wine was the bottle we bought in Salamanca, and it was delicious! So that was still a positive way to wrap up the trip.

Monday, June 1: OPO > EWR > ORD

Our final morning was overcast and grey, and I had to walk across the equipment barge that separated our boat from the dock, which hadn't been in place last week when we began our cruise. I headed across the boardwalk towards the beach and was accompanied by a swan and also saw a momma duck with two babies on my way back (couldn't get a good photo of them).

We had our final breakfast on board and bid farewell to our lovely table companions, whose flight home to England wasn't until the evening. Our taxi pick-up at 8:45am was prompt, and we had allowed plenty of time to accommodate any rush hour traffic on our way to the airport. The lounge was rather underwhelming, mostly because it was obviously in the midst of being renovated and updated so had areas that were closed off and no restrooms available, and then we encountered the loooong line for passport control before going to our gate. Yikes! Not a very efficient process at all, especially since our info had been verified when we checked in at the counter before the initial security and was then checked yet one more time before we actually boarded the plane. Triple checks? Really??!!

The flight from OPO to EWR was just under 7 1/2 hours, and I watched three movies, all of which were quite enjoyable for very different reasons: Scream 7, How to Make a Killing, and Solo Mio. We had a rather long walk from our arrival gate through customs but didn't have to worry about rushing because of our nearly 3-hour layover. We still had about 90 minutes to spend in the Polaris Lounge before boarding the connecting flight from EWR to ORD. I opted for a short movie to align with the 2-hour flight and watched the thriller, Cold Storage. We landed a bit early and arrived on time at the gate after one of the typical ORD long runway taxi process. 

Mr. E and I made sure that L was all set for her ride pick-up and then we grabbed a taxi home to Evanston. One of the worst taxi experiences ever!!! Very strong unpleasant sulfur-ish smell that didn't dissipate at all even though we had the back windows wide open and lots of reckless driving, including totally running a red light. Ugh! We really need to find a more consistently professional and reliable service for our airport trips here. But we eventually made it home to the kitties, and Louis XIV and I got lots of nesting and snuggling time during the night.

A wonderful trip overall and so grateful to make these memories with Mr. E and his mom!