Days 50 – 52 Big Fun with Megan in Cleveland December 16, 2008

Days 50 – 52, Sunday, December 14 – Tuesday, December 16, 2008-

On Sunday I said goodbye to my Mom and Grandma Jean and headed to Cleveland on the way back to Syracuse to see my friend Megan.  

Megan had told me about her awesome apartment with her remote controlled fireplace… something I had to see for myself.  As always, we had good times wandering around (doing last minute errands for Megan) and eating good food.  On Monday, for breakfast at 2 p.m. it was Inn on Coventry for super hot poached eggs on cornbread with andoulaise sausage, spicy sauce, potatoes and pumpkin pancakes.  Afterwards, we visited Big Fun, a store full of everything fun you can think of… from cat butt magnets to everything or anything you ever wish you owned as a child or a childish adult… big fun.  For dinner we went to Mint Cafe for delicious thai food- plum bubble tea, thai iced tea, pot stickers, soft shell crab tempura and some type of peanut curry we had never tried before… all delicious… followed by a stint at Phoenix Coffee where I got the smoothest mocha I can ever remember having.  Finally to end the day, we relaxed by her remote controlled fireplace (yes, it works like magic) taking it easy before our drive back to Syracuse on Tuesday.  Life doesn’t suck.

 

Big Fun

Megan having fun at Big Fun

 

breakfast

Days 39 – 49 Oak Park and Chicago December 16, 2008

Days 39 – 49, Wednesday, Dec. 3 – Saturday, Dec. 13, 2008

I spent most of my time in Oak Park just outside of Chicago city limits, relaxing and enjoying the company of my mom and grandma, watching dvds and reading books about travel to France and Italy.  Since I’ve been taking it easy, I don’t have as many pictures to share, but here are a few highlights… 

 

Chicago skyline

 

The Bean

 

Millennium Park

people as big as buildings

 

a Western take on an Eastern tradition... sushi tables with holes under the table to hide your feet... this was the first time I had seen this...

three generations eating chocolate fondue

 

I made brunch for my family (everything but the fruit salad)... including pomegranate mimosas, spinach and cheese strata, apple pancakes and sausages...

my plate complete with a pomegranate mimosa

 

new age party complete with dj, video and smoke machine

fire spinner

Morton Arboretum, big trees little lady

 

enchanted forest at the Morton Arboretum

 

I stayed in Oak Park just down the street from Frank Lloyd Wright's house, which is now a museum with a gift shop and tours of his property and the neighborhood with a dozen or more houses that he also designed... Random Fact: Did you know his son invented lincoln logs?

 

entrance to Frank Lloyd Wright's Studio... I'm jealous... I want it... It's gorgeous and I want his library too... a small circular room lined with shelves and high windows...

 

one of the houses in the neighborhood designed by Frank Lloyd Wright that I like...

 

my favorite Frank Lloyd Wright house in the neighborhood... It's similar in design to Falling Water.

My mom gave me a stone massage... This is the studio she currently practices in.

 

healing stones used for massage

Day 38, Oak Park Library December 9, 2008

Day 38, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008

On Tuesday, I was still getting better from being sick, so I was sleeping a lot and taking it easy.  I did a lot of computer work… catching up on old projects, sending out announcements for Delavan Art Gallery’s opening on Thursday, etc.  When I finally did wander out into the world for a moment, it was to go to the Oak Park library, which is right around the corner.

This post is dedicated to Roslyn… Ros, perhaps it would be best to abandon Chelsea ideals and go to work at such a heaven as this… Oak Park Public Library.  A modern building with several floors, a DVD collection, glass enclosed staircases with literary quotes, an original collection of contemporary American art, a well-presented art gallery and even a fish tank near the entrance/kids area!  I expect you’d feel right at home here.

 

Oak Park Library exterior

"Unity and Growth" by Carole Harrison in the library's lobby

 

library staircase with literary quotes

 

"skip skitter start trip vault bounce- and other attempts at flight" by Jacob Hashimoto... this is my favorite

entrance to the library's gallery

 

Mom looks at art in the library's gallery

near the entrance is a fish tank! how cool! The light is out but in the circular spot in the wall are real fish...

One more thing Ros as a sidenote… I really like the way my Grandma hangs her artwork.  A feng shui woman helped her with it… They are rectangular clumpings throughout her apartment…

 

P.S. This is the bed I spent most of my time in over the last few days getting better. My mom got the purple cover for me at a consignment shop... I spent days looking for a carpet that color when I was a kid.

Days 36 – 37, Sick in Chicago December 9, 2008

Days 36 and 37, Sunday, November 30 and Monday, December 1, 2008-

Not all travel is romantic.  I arrived in Chicago ridiculously sick. 

On Sunday, Mom and I hit the road at 7:45 a.m. in the snow.  At first we passed nearly half a dozen cars in ditches, mostly with police helping people out of them.  As it warmed up the snow turned to rain and it just rained and rained all day long.  At least the roads weren’t frozen.  By the end of the day I was sick as could be.  I went straight to bed when we arrived in Chicago.

Fortunately I was with my mom and grandma so they did their best to take care of me.  I was bedridden all day Monday and couldn’t hold my food down.  My grandma Jean had just come back from Seattle so all of us were recovering from Holiday travel plans.  Grandma got a cold of her own, but fortunately she was spared from getting what I had.

It’s easy to get sick when traveling.  I need to figure out how to better prepare my immune system, especially when I’m traveling to other countries.

Day 35 NYC Rooftops to Deb and Susan’s in PA December 9, 2008

Day 35, Saturday, November 29, 2008

Mom, David and Devon woke me up as they were putting their jackets on to head up to the roof of the building.  I had heard David talk about the roof for years but I’d never been up there so I was starting to believe it didn’t exist.  Sure enough, it did.  Eyes groggy and still slightly clumsy from sleep, I climbed up the narrow ladder to the roof and looked out over a beautiful sight of New York City’s rooftops.  David’s building was built when zoning codes only permitted four story buildings.  Since then, the codes have changed quite a bit, as you can see.

 

NYC rooftops

 

I'll take the one with the room on top, please.

gazing in awe and not quite awake yet

 

This was the last of many blossoms of the plant I gave David as a thank you for letting me stay in his place... How cool it is that I got to see it!

 

 

 

Minutes later, we were packing Devon into a taxi and (after waking up a bit more) I headed to get my car.  Mom and I were off to Pennsylvania to visit my mom’s friends Deb and Susan at their house in the woods.  

Deb cooked a lovely dinner and made me an awesome concoction of fresh squeezed lemon and ginger in hot water for my throat, which was getting more and more scratchy.  I sat by their big wonderful fireplace after dinner and melted into oblivion.  I decided it was best if I just headed to bed to get a good night’s rest.  The next day Mom and I were headed on a full day’s drive to Chicago.  After I crawled into the fluffy bed in their guest bedroom upstairs, all three women came in to tuck me in.  It was like having three moms, which I suppose has it’s perks if you’re sick.  Thanks Deb and Susan for hosting us.

 

Deb and Susan's house in the woods

 

The backyard in the early morning light...

woman by the water... a creek runs through their backyard

 

A great tempered German Shepherd named after a song called Poppy. Her owners, Deb and Susan, sang us the song, which is basically a blessing at the dinner table.