the first day

i don't live in the country by any means.  i'm in a suburb about 20 miles from Downtown Chicago. the Metra train station is less than a 5 minute walk from my house.

but....within an hour of being home from NYC yesterday, you know having not seen any grass, all that traffic, noise, hussle, trash.  oh, the trash!  and the hot dog and pretzel selling for 5 days. i sure felt like my front yard was in the country especially when i walked over to a big tuft of grass, smack in the middle of the front yard and realized as i lifted it up that it was a hole in the yard....

....as i peered down the little hole there were, peacefully sleeping, at least 4 baby bunnies.

but what was that Mom thinking? she could have made a lovely home in an area of my newly developed garden, or near a tree?  or at least under the Adirondack furniture which was just a few feet away and is now moved overtop of their little "nest".

i just wanted to scoop them all up, put them into my great big, new, designer knock-off bag that i bought from a street vendor and carry them around with me!

they're sweet as can be.

in about an hour i'm off for 5 days away.

heading North for some time with family and a little R&R.

some time with the kids, grandson.

hopefully some beach time and after reading Jane's ( http://yarnstorm.blogs.com ) post today, maybe i can scurry up a cherry pie too.

see you in a few days!!!!

this week i traveled back in time to the 1893 Chicago World's Columbian Exposition, for the 2nd time!!!

a few years back Erik Larsen wrote a page-turner called The Devil and the White City.  if you didn't read it you should. it was a wonderfully researched account of the EXPO and tells of Daniel Burnham and his dream of the making and building this type of exposition, that was unheard of at that time. and a tale of H.H. Holmes who's last name should have been Horrors as he uses this opportunity to lure the many visiting women to their death.

well, this 2nd visit was amazing! i live in the south suburbs of chicago so we boarded a lovely tour bus for our trip. first let me say that as a jr high teacher words like "buses" and "field trips" make me take 3 extra strength Tylenol before i even leave the house in the morning, and that doesn't usually help! 

we had bottled water, South Beach snacks, sugary snacks, salty snacks, huge windows with a view, footrests, armrests, and raffle prizes on the way home, i even brought my knitting!

we made many stops throughout the day such as: The Chicago Cultural Society to meet up with our tour guide (who, by-the-way is sooo in demand), we saw a great slide presentation, THEN we travel the paths in the bus, with maps in hand to see what the area looked like at that time and of course noticing the only 2 remaining areas, the Japanese Gardens and The Museum of Science. around lunchtime we stopped at a Hyde Park Bar for lunch and then back on the bus to continue our tour through the area that is now Chicago University Campus but in 1893 it was the Grand Midway for the exposition. and the last stop of the day, a quick, drive-by of the area where Holmes was recorded to have lived.

what a wonderful day and of course we not only re-lived a book that we had all enjoyed reading we learned so much about Chicago and History!!!!

i don't think the those folks at Volkswagon included the Volks part in their brand name to mean anything at all related to the fact that their cars were "folks".  you know folks like as in people, people with personalities. Volkswagon, to my understanding is suppose to mean something like a wagon to move folks (people) around in.

i own a Volkswagon. i think it's my 7th or 8th. not all of them new. this one is. it's a cute Beetle Convertible. throughout the years my husband and i have had all sorts of different used VW's. in the early years they were cheap, easy to repair, easy to drive and got great gas mileage, which was just as important in the 70's and 80's as it is today.

we've had bugs, jettas, rabbits, a disel rabbit, hey we even had a VW van. there's nothing cooler than that!! memories of your young married life, your bell-bottom jeans (first time around), your two young kids, hair so long you could tuck it in to those jeans, seat beats that sort of worked, and your VW van.

many of my VW's have also had a personality. sometimes....most of the time, not one that is fun to have.  call me crazy. but if you know me and my cars or have maybe had one of these VW's with a personality you'll know i'm not making this up.  they didn't pick a VW for those Herbie movies by mistake. i'm the girl in the movie eating my popcorn and believing every bit of Herbie Rides Again!!! when that Herbie makes "eyes" at the cute car or cute girl across the parking lot.....it's really happening. and when Kurt  Russell is under the hood trying to fix something and gets sprayed with engine oil.....trust me, it is no mistake!

i'm not going to bore you with all the cute stories i have about all my VW cars but a year ago about a week before we were going to take Bug Who Will Not Be Named on a road trip to North Carolina i had no more than mentioned things like "oil changes" and "getting ready for a road trip type things" when out of the blue the check engine light came on.  so off to the shop we went for some TLC.

this weekend hubby and i took and little weekend away for our anniversay. just two hours away, a short trip, it's not like this car doesn't get out.  we take his truck so much, and my car is so fun, so on tues night he said, "let's take your car this weekend". on thurs i cleaned out some of the misc. junk hanging out in there, on friday i THOUGHT TO MYSELF, didn't say it out loud....i'll stop at the car wash and have it cleaned inside and out. it really needs it.

on the way to the car wash the air bag light went off and at the car wash the guy that was cleaning the interior broke the rear view mirror.  so....it spent it's clean weekend in the garage and will get some more attention and TLC at the car dealership again this week.

i came home from the car wash,  drove that car right into the brand new garage that my husband is building and told it that it is spoiled and that listening  to other people conversations is not polite and that this is not Hollywood and no one is going to give it a job and no one is going to treat it like a person so it better stop acting like one!     

do you think i was a bit too harsh?

it's all things sun around here for me.

yeah it's only about 30 degrees outside and come to think of it i haven't seen the sun for about 3 days now.  but it's all about the sun for me right now.  everything on my "to do" list is leading me in that direction.

batteries for the camera, batteries for the portable radio, new flash card for the camera, stock up on cat food, and litter, key to the neighbor, stop by the pharmacy, banking, mail, fit in a few tanning appointments, get a pedicure, what # SPF do we have, make the trip to the attic for the cool weather clothes and suitcases, choose books and knitting projects to take, etc.........

aaaaahhhhhhh  vacation!  in just a few more days.

seems as tho it's taking me forever to get back to blogging about new york.  guess that's how it is when you get back from vacaction.  and i'm sorry to say, i feel i'm going to be a bit brief on these:

i really do feel that i "saw it all".  but i know i didn't.  as i have said, my friend, Tamara was a wonderful tour guide.  we walked and walked and walked and walked.  but that really is the best way to see NY. 

as i mentioned in my first post i did throw away both pairs of my flip-flips when i got back to chicago.  and you say, "why on earth were you wearing flip-flip with all that walking"?  well, (long story) with 95 degrees + it was too hot for any thing else and i had blisters from trying tennis shoes the first two days.  anyway... of course we did take the subway and we broke down and took a cab once. 

 if you take a cab you really do miss the sites, however this was a really wonderful cab ride from Park Ave back to our hotel on 52nd and Madison Ave. it was a late night ride UNDER the Met Life Building and winding around.  i felt like i was riding on a combination rollercoaster/life size moustrap ride. it was great.

i saw (in random order): Empire State Building... Grand Central Station, the cafe, shopping and food court in Grand Central is not to be missed!...Battery Park..Statue of Liberty..Ellis Island.. South Street Seaport..Fish Market..Brooklyn Bridge..Ground Zero(helped me to better understand that day)..Century 21..Wall Street..Helmsley Hotel..Soho..Greenwich Village..Today Show tapings..Central Park..Times Square(day and night)..Plaza Hotel(under- construction)..Madison Ave. for shopping and our hotel, and felt like Audrey for a moment outside Tiffany's!. I should have wore my black cigarette pants that day,  rats!..Rockefeller Center..Penn Station for a trip out to Long Island for a few days and to the Beach!  i'm sure i've missed something....

so there you have it.  a wonderful time in the BIG apple.  and i plan to go again!!!!                       i *heart* new york!!

 i'm not a crazy, big, eater, but in new york  i did eat well.

i started each day with coffee at Dean and Deluca and the Today Show.  i was so close and at home i love waking up with Katie, Matt, Ann,(the cutest) and Al i thought "what the heck".  and by the way...D&D has great coffee.

in one of my many, long daily walks i found a gem of a place, and not too far from my hotel (i went back three times).  Mangia, at 50 west 57th street.  cute cafe with yummy sandwiches, pastries, desserts, tarts, fruits, coffees....  and everything is served on cute, retro, oval tins.  breakfast, lunch and dinner.  i'm still thinking about the popovers i didn't get a chance to try.  my next trip to NY, my first meal will be there.

another great find in my wonderings was Smiley's (i may be spelling this wrong).  these were corner type grocery stores that had amazing salad bars in the middle with hot and cold foods to go, sold by weight.  very fresh and very yummy.  the fruit and pasta's were amazing, and refreshing on my 90+ days.  many days i stop in here for a late lunch.  great on the $ too.

evenings were spent with my friend and we went to some of her past and new favorites.  some of those were:  Grand Central Station, Michael Jordan's Bar for a Bellini, then to Soho and ate at  Benny's Buritto's and had  Margarita's, on Park Ave., we ate at Chango,  very hip  .......oh, and i can't forget we had out first meal, a picnic lunch in, of course....Central Park!

these are a few yummy highlights!!!!

back from New York yesterday afternoon.  whew!!!!!!!!

wonderful trip.  i saw it all.  well not really, i don't think that's possible.  but i did see a lot!!!  really!!! A LOT!

i'm just getting into the swing of things around here and will have tales to tell.

more later this week.....  i will leave you with this thought. 

 i walk so much i threw my shoes away this morning! truth.

tomorrow's my big trip to the big apple!  yeah!  i'm ready to go!

i've got everything in order around here and everything ready for the trip.  so looking forward to it.  i'm really looking forward to some "hanging out" time with my friend Tamara too.  she used to live here in the same town with me, but now lives in downtown Chicago.  may not seem far away but does make it harder to get together.

i'm looking forward to all the new adventures and things i will find and see.

for the trip i have packed a fresh new book, a new knitting project (decided on the very lightweight Rowan membership gift "Froth") and a fresh new Vogue Knitting magazine.  it came in the mail yesterday(but i did peek into it last night as i went to bed, couldn't help myself).

will post next week when i return, unless i find an internet cafe.  see you next week!

well i have one week of summer under my belt.  and i must say that it was a good one.

the week that i spent with my daughter and little grandson in michigan was great.  we went to the beach twice.  i have tan-lines to prove it.  and went to two sessions of our pottery lessons.  that was great.  we are not "potters" yet but we learned so much.  the studio is located on a hobby farm and the owner has peacocks, lots of different types of chickens, roosters and turkeys.  also horses, ducks, cats, and dogs.

we had some knitting time too.  my daughter got her knit picks yarn.she started Lucky Clover from  stitch and bitch nation  (many times!), but i think she is well on her way now.  and i'm struggling through one of the IK summer 2005 staff shrugs.... still, i've had to do some ripping. i'm having difficulty with the sleeve chart working out.  and i have little faith that the pattern will come out "right" in the end.  not sure why, just have this "feeling".  but i will continue on till the end.  i'm using the knit picks Andean Silk yarn, in cinnamon color,  instead of the mohair that it calls for.  the gauge is the same and i like the drape of this yarn.  i should have some knitting time tonight. so we will see.

today i worked on flower beds and in the yard until i could take the heat no more.  DH did a great job of picking strawberries and watering while i was gone all week.  but there was lots of weeding and dead-heading to do.  then i worked inside on laundry, bedding, blog reading.  missed a lot of reading over this week.

was a great week.  but good to be home.