Chicago

I enjoy a good rummage sale. I'm always on the look out for antiques or unique things that I can use in my house that have special meaning to me, Evan and the girls. And, since becoming part of this blogging world, I am always inspired by what the lovely Amy at Lucky Number 13 and the dear Melissa at Miss Sew & So are finding when they go out rummaging.

A couple of months ago, Evan, Julia and I browsed around a little antique and craft store that I'd found to kill a couple hours while we waited for Elisabeth to finish a girl scout tea party.

As Evan tried to entertain Julia, I found some fantastic old postcards. I love old postcards, especially when they are written on by the people who visited the places on the front of the cards. It's a nice little piece of history.

I ended up finding some postcards that were postmarked from the 1920s of Chicago. I've really been homesick for Chicago lately. I never went there a lot as a kid, but when Evan and I started dating (12 years ago!!), we made trips to Chicago 3 or 4 times a year. And, when we moved to DeKalb, which is only about 1.5 hours away (on a good traffic day) we went there even more. We haven't been to Chicago in 2.5 years now and I miss it. Thankfully, we'll be going there in September. I have lots of things I want to see in the 2 short days we'll be in the city.

So, when I found all those old postcards, I had a great idea of what I wanted to do with them. There were about a dozen of them, but I chose ones that were places Evan, the girls and I had frequented.

A view of the skyline...

The Science and Industry Museum...
Marshall Field's...
and Lake Shore Drive...

Then I framed them and put them on our wall.
A nice reminder of one of our favorite cities and home.

Curls

Evan and I are both avid foodies. We love trying new foods, restaurants, recipes. When we visit places on vacations or move to new cities, trying out fabulous local restaurants (aka: not chains) is top on our list of things to do. So, when we moved to DeKalb in 2005, we started asking around for great places to eat.

We found a great Thai restaurant within walking distance to our apartment that we decided to make a top eating priority. The inside was super nice and the smells? Oh...the smells were heavenly.

So, one day we walked with our then 2.5 year old Elisabeth to said Thai restaurant.

We ordered our food from a college girl who was not thrilled to see we had a child with us. Here's the thing: If you are a childless person in your early 20s, please don't be rude to the people in their mid-20s with their small kids. Just because we have kids does not mean our taste buds have all turned on the bland switch. It does not mean we don't like frequenting nice restaurants. It also doesn't mean we're going to let our young child run amok in your restaurant. Be kind. Don't look at our kid like she's a parasite. And pray that your birth control is 100% effective because apparently you are not quite ready to be birthing a child yet.

As we waited for our food, the restaurant's owner came out to see us and introduce herself. She was a very small, middle aged Thai woman and she bee-lined it to Elisabeth. She told us how beautiful our daughter was and how much she loved Elisabeth's hair. She then said, "Can I take her in the back? Yes? Good."

And that's when she took Elisabeth's hand and walked her back to the kitchen (which shows you how much Ebeth has always loved people, because Julia would NEVER go anywhere or even talk to a brand new person like that). Evan and I smiled at each other and kind of chuckled at how much the owner liked Elisabeth. After about 5 minutes, we realized that maybe one of us should have, you know, supervised our child while she explored a kitchen in a restaurant we'd never frequented in a town we'd just moved to a few weeks earlier.

After 10 minutes we wondered if they planned on keeping her.
After maybe 15 minutes or so, the owner came back with Elisabeth. The owner told us how much the kitchen staff loved her and then she wandered off. We looked at Elisabeth and noticed that her hair was much frizzier than when she'd left us. "Did you get to see the kitchen where they make our food?"

"Yeah."

"What'd you do back there?"

"Nothing. But, they kept petting me."

After a bit more prying, turns out that the kitchen staff super liked her curls and were petting her much like you would a golden retriever. When we came back to the restaurant a few months later, Elisabeth asked if we thought they'd pet her again and if she'd get to see the kitchen. She told us that she liked seeing where the food was made.

Definitely a first time trip to that restaurant that made an impression.

Virtual Coffee

Good morning!!! I've made a lovely pot of coffee for us, so come on over. And, no worries if you're still in your pajamas cause I am too!

I have to run to Walmart today. I hate going to Walmart. It's too big, too crowded (no matter what time I go!) and I always end up buying more than what's on my list. But, I need things that the regular grocery store doesn't sell (like hangers and rubbermaid containers for endless amounts of girls' clothes my daughters are growing out of), so I need to go.

Yes, I could run to Super Target, which is nicer but is also more expensive and I still end up leaving with more than I intended. Sigh.

I love these pictures of the girls walking their babies up and down our sidewalk. It was super cute to watch.

Elisabeth's last day of school is the 27th. The next day is Evan and I's wedding anniversary. I know this because I double checked the calendar. I don't know what it is about our anniversary that I can not remember the date to save my soul. I always want to say it's the 25th and not the 28th. Anyway, we're thinking of going to the top of Pikes Peak to celebrate. We haven't been to the top since we moved here in 2009 and it's something I want to do before we move in July. Plus, Julia keeps talking about how she's going to go to the top of the BIIIIIIIG mountain and I will take her picture. She might even remember going since she's almost to the age of remembering things.
It has been 2 weeks since I've been to the Y to exercise. I am a slacker. Granted, one entire week I was too sick to go, but I've been better for almost a week now. It is most discouraging when you are the one to blame for your own exercising demise. But, I am trying not to guilt myself because it just doesn't work with me. Instead of motivating me, it does the opposite. I'm one of those people--negative/criticism comments do not make me want to prove you wrong, they just discourage me more.

I am so fun. I don't understand why there weren't more suitors trying to win my hand in marriage!!
So, today's a new day and I'm going to log in more miles on the treadmill and possibly start trying to conquer that stupid stairmaster again. (grumblegrumble stupid stairmaster grumble)

Thank you for stopping by today! Maybe next week we'll spice it up and have coffee at your place!!!! :)

A Zoo Overnight

This past Friday night, Elisabeth and I went to an overnight at Cheyenne Mtn Zoo with her Girl Scout troop. Now, you all know how much I love zoos, so when they said that parents were welcome to attend if they paid for themselves, I immediately said YES!

We arrived at the zoo at 5:45. The gates closed at 6:00PM and would not be re-opening until the next morning. We stayed at this cabin:

I didn't even realize the zoo had cabins! This cabin is hidden behind the sky line entrance, so I've walked by it a dozen times and never really seen it. The zoo has overnights for anyone who is willing to pay. You could have a family reunion there and rent out the cabins if you so wished. They provide dinner and breakfast the next day!
I brought sleeping bags, but the other moms were all way smarter and brought blow up beds. I was pretty irritated that I hadn't thought of that myself (a mistake I shan't make again!). I'm too spoiled to sleep on the floor, I tells you.

After a dinner of pizza, the girls were ready for their night time tour.
We started with the hippos. We got to watch the hippo keeper feed the hippos their last meal of the day--about 20lbs of grass/hay.
I've never seen a hippo move so fast. As soon as they saw their keeper, those two giantesses booked it out of the water and straight to the grub! Watching them eat was both mesmerizing and kind of icky. Ever played Hungry, Hungry Hippos? Yeah, that's exactly how they eat! Just with grass drool. We hung out there for a while, asking questions, visiting the other animals also in that building and watching the hippos play with a giant green ball in the water after they had eaten every last piece of grass/hay.

The evening views from the zoo were breathtaking. Look, it's downtown Colorado Springs:
Here's the view from the Primate House:
We kind of hurried through the Primate House because the orangutans and the gorillas are used to having their lights out at 7:30 and most of them were all snuggled down for the night when we showed up. Here's an interesting tidbit--babies and mommy primates cuddle together at night until the babies are about 4 or 5 years old. We watched the mommy gorilla cuddle her 2 year old baby; lovingly petting his head and kissing his ears. It was sweet and the girls made lots of comments about how their mommies used to cuddle them like that.

We also went to the Giraffe House to say goodnight to them. This giraffe was so excited to have Ebeth feed him crackers, that after I took this picture, he promptly sneezed on her. She was completely grossed out.

The giraffes are one of the best things about this zoo. They love to be fed their crackers and are very gentle.

Our last stop of the night tour was to The Loft. The Loft hold things like snakes, spiders, mice, parrots, turtles, bats and this de-scented skunk. (Turns out some college kids thought having a skunk as a pet would be a great idea. They had the stink glands taken out, but quickly learned that wild animals do not care about carpet or furniture. They donated Lily the Skunk to the zoo where she happily lives in a blanketed hollow log in The Loft and is sweet and friendly even at 9:30PM on a Friday night.)
We headed back to our cabin around 10:00PM. The girls had a snack, got in their jammers and played card games till 11. Our tour guide was going to be back at 6:00AM for a very early morning tour before our time at the zoo was done.
After drinking about 4 cups of coffee and eating a bagel, I was human enough to start the morning tour with everyone else.

We visited all the big cats, but made a stop at one of my favorite animals at the zoo--the Pallas Cats. These guys are the oldest type of cats (pre-tigers, lions and leopards) and originate in Asia. These guys are NEVER out when we visit the zoo, but because there were no crowds and it was super early in the morning, they made an appearance. I was quite excited.
Elisabeth was thrilled when the bears woke up and came by to start fishing for their breakfast.
The whole thing was an amazing experience. I know I'm a bit biased with my extreme love of zoos and all, but getting a private tour was so interesting. After our tour guide said good-bye, we were free to roam the zoo for the rest of the day if we liked. We stuck around for a little bit, but by 9:30, both Elisabeth and I were starving and I was going to need another round of caffeine if I was expected to drive home.

When I asked Elisabeth what her favorite part of the overnight had been, she said eating lunch with her friends and playing on a giant rock by our cabin.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

I completely forgot to post this yesterday, but here's my finds for Scavenger Hunt Sunday!

1. GIVE ME FLOWERS

2. VISUAL CONTRAST

3. FRIENDSHIP

4. BEFORE AND AFTER

5. DARK

Virtual Coffee

Hello! It's our Virtual Coffee date day!

So, how have you been lately? We've been sick. Stupid spring colds. It just seems cruel that once the weather warms up and you actually want to go out and frolic in it, that a virus should enter your home and knock you out for a week. It's just mother nature's weird sense of humor.

If you were really here having coffee with me today...I'd show you the new blender Evan and the girls bought me for Mother's Day! I super love it. We've only ever had hand-me-down blenders and the last one's motor burned out months ago. This one is super powerful and I have lots of recipes I'm itching to try with it.

I also received yarn! And this yarn is just for me to make whatever I want. Can you believe that my yarn supply had dwindled down to nothing?! I guess if you didn't see the 2 large canvas bags I used to have full of yarn, you wouldn't know how shocking that statement actually is.

Sitting in my house at my kitchen table...I'd offer you some cookies I baked last night. They are a soft chocolate chip cookie; a recipe I'd never used before. They actually turned out soft! I am so excited. I'll have to make them again and share them on Virginia Cooks later this month. I love soft cookies and have never found a recipe where they actually stay soft a day after baking them. Elisabeth has only 13 days of school left. I'm kind of excited about summer. Julia's bigger now and since she doesn't nap, we'll be able to do more this summer where we can be gone all day without a major melt down from missing nap time. Plus, we'll be spending over half the summer trying to squeeze in everything we love here in Colorado before we move to Texas. There, we'll be spending the rest of the summer exploring our new city. It's hard to believe we'll be moving in a little over 2 months. It just hasn't really sunk in yet.
As we finished off our coffee...I'd send you with some cookies so they aren't around the house tempting me. It's one of the tiny negatives to my love of cooking and baking--I always have food around. I try to share as much of it as possible so I'm not tempted to nosh on it all day long.
Thanks for stopping by! I'll see you next week!

Butter

Some days it's like butter. Smooth, easy, sweet. I'm the mom I want to be--I'm patient, involved, present. I'm the wife I want to be--supportive, loving, fully doing my half in this marriage. Sometimes I'm even the person I want to be--responsible, caring, making a difference in my little corner of life.

Most days, I struggle. I snap. I'm impatient. I'm lazy. I find myself reverting to old habits and characteristics that I'm trying to either rid myself of or at least stifle. And I'm frustrated. Frustrated that I can't just find the "will power" to kick all those bad qualities I have that I struggle with daily.
Lately, I have had a lot of butter days. The house has been cleaner, the tv's been on less, the girls aren't arguing as much. I've been feeling very blessed!
Then, one day, despite my oncoming illness I can feel building up in sinuses, we need a couple things for dinner, so I throw the girls in the car to go to the store. As I'm backing out, I forget that Evan was the last one to drive the car and he'd pulled my car closer to the left of the garage than normal because I'd complained that he'd parked too close to his own car for me to open my door and carry the stuff in my lap out of the car. So, I back the car out like I normally do, looking for children on bikes and pedestrians with dogs that might be walking across out driveway. That's when I hear the crunch and see my driver side mirror shattered and hanging from the car. I hadn't checked to see if the side mirror would clear the garage wall...

I would like you all to know that I did not say one swear word in front of my two small children. Nor did I cry when Elisabeth gasped and said, "Oh no! Daddy's going to be sooooo mad." Nope, I just calmly got out of my car and retrieved the duct tape from the house and taped it as best I could to my car. I then proceeded to try, again, to leave for the store just as Evan pulled up all smiling and happy to see us--his loving family. To say that Evan wasn't happy about the car is a very honest statement. To say I was even more unhappy is also a very honest statement.

The mirror was fixed today and my idiotic mistake was a tad expensive to say the least.

Not such a smooth as butter moment...sigh...