I'm Surviving But My Hair's Turning Grey

We're on Day 8 here without Ted, and I'm hanging in there, but I don't quite feel on top of the world I have to admit.

We've been getting postcards regularly from Daddy while he's on the road, and we've talked just about every day. Quite honestly, I don't think Cadence realizes how many days have passed, and it seems like she still thinks Daddy is at work and this is just one really really long work day.

We're currently on an impromptu mini-vacation to downtown Chicago. I found a room at a 4-star hotel (The Palmer House Hilton) for $76 on Hotwire, so we came down here yesterday afternoon for the 4th of July festivities. We don't have much of a view, and the room is tiny.

But the bed sure is great for jumping on. AND it's king size, so we had PLENTY of room. So much so that Cadence actually did a circle lying in different parts of the bed throughout the night. I found her lying horizontally at the foot of the bed at one point. I'm glad I woke up before she fell off.

Although I have mixed feelings about this holiday (I am not a proponent of blind patriotism, and much of what mainstream America stands for makes my stomach ache), I'm not going to argue about a day off, especially when it's on the most perfect summer day imaginable--sunny and in the mid-70s. Like a Seattle summer day.

Anyhoo, gotta run. Have to pack and check out in an hour. More photos later.

Uptown Girl (For an Hour)

I know I've complained and complained about the brutal winter we've had in Chicago before, so for once I am happy to report that the temperatures actually SOARED into the 50's yesterday. And thank goodness, as I've been itching to hit the streets for a photoshoot.

The winter's been extra hard on me, as it's left me uninspired to take photos of anything or anyone. Except for the occasional shots of Cadence and friends, it's been a dry spell for me shutterbug-wise. And I've especially missed one of my favorite activities--street photography.

Thanks to the time change this week, I had about an hour-and-a-half of natural light left after I got home from work last night, and I immediately rushed out with my camera. I kept things simple with just my 30mm lens since I HATE changing lenses. I didn't know where I was going to go shoot when I got in my car. I wanted to visit my favorite haunts in Wicker Park, but traffic on Clark Street was a bear, and the light wasn't getting any brighter, so I headed on over to New Chinatown in Uptown, by Argyle and Broadway.

If you live on the Northside of Chicago and get a hankering for pho or dim sum or a Chinese bakery, this is the place to go. The neighborhood is also called Little Vietnam or Little Cambodia, as many of the shops and restaurants and residents have connections to Southeast Asia, as opposed to mainland China.

While I was shooting some photos, I happened to hear someone calling my name. It was one of my best friends, John, who was riding his bike down Argyle on his way to a bar called Big Chicks on Sheridan. Funny thing was, I had left a message on John's answering machine that morning telling him I'd be doing a photoshoot that evening. I didn't say where, and he never even got the message as he hadn't been home all day, so it was quite a pleasant surprise to run into him.

I feel a bit rusty when it comes to shooting, so I'm going to have to do a bunch more of these photoshoots. Back when I was a single gal living alone on the Wicker Park/Bucktown border, I did a photoshoot wherever I went. I think that was a little extreme, and now (especially with a kid) I recognize the need to put away the camera sometimes and just let things BE. But still, I can't help feeling a bit nostalgic about those days...

I'll post some other photos from last night in a slideshow below so you don't have to keep scrolling forever. Just click on the photo to go to the next one, or click on a thumbnail to see that photo.

Best Shot(s) Monday--Then One Foggy Christmas Eve-Eve-Eve-Eve

It being Christmas this week and all, I guess I gotta post some Christmasy photos. I've actually been terribly busy and haven't had much time to lift up my camera, but we did go to the Daley Plaza downtown on Friday night to do some family oriented holidayesque stuff, so I can at least post a few of those shots.

It was a rather foggy night, which made the scene all the more dramatic with the spotlight effect of the extra bright streetlights.

There was actually a lot going on besides the big old blindingly bright tree. Cadence loved all the hustle and bustle, especially anything related to model trains, fake penguins and fake armadillos.

There was a German festival of sorts going on with a number of vendors selling everything from German chocolates to pastries to bratwurst to toys to ornaments galore.

This was definitely the place to be if you wanted Christmas ornaments. Or a $3,000 nativity scene.

It's been very busy around here, which is why I've been neglecting this here blog. Actually, I've been working on getting my new domain/blog up and running. It's pretty much ready to go now, I think, but I'll wait until the New Year to make a clean break of it.

See other folks' Best Shots on Tracey's first BSM at Mother May I.

Birthday Outing--Recap in Photos

Here's a recap of Cadence's actual birthday (Monday the 24th) told in photos, because I am too drained from being sick all week to write a meaningful blog post.

Breakfast at Pauline's, cuz who WOULDN'T want to start off their 4th year of life with French toast and strawberries smothered in real whipped cream?

It's her birthday, and she can make funny faces if she wants to.

She fell asleep on the car ride over to the planeterium, but perked up when we told her we were gonna see the moon and planets and stars. BTW, a really good, cheap place to park downtown is right on that little strip of meters by the Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium and the Adler Planeterium. They have TEN (no, not two, TEN) hour parking meters for just a quarter a half-hour. Plus, there's a free trolley stop right in front of the Planeterium.

Oh, and did I mention the Planetarium was free on Monday? It's also free the whole week of October 8th-12th, plus on Mondays and Tuesdays in October and November. Now that I've given you the tip on cheap parking, you've got no excuse not to go.

Looks like Ted and Cadence will be going to the moon. Just like Wallace and Gromit. We ARE a cheese-loving family, so it only makes sense.

After the Planetarium, we headed over to Navy Pier. Ted found street parking on just the other side of Lake Shore Drive, so we didn't have to pay $20 to park for our hour of fun on the Pier. I didn't even know there was a carousel there, so that was a special bonus for Cadence, who absolutely ADORES carousels and anything horse-related.

The main reason for going to Navy Pier was to ride on the Ferris Wheel. I know folks who've gotten engaged on that thing, but after all these years living in Chicago, I had never ridden in it myself. Cadence has admired the Wheel from a distance while driving past it on Lake Shore Drive, so she was excited when Ted told her we'd be going up for a ride in it.

I wasn't sure if she'd get scared being up so high in a flimsy little carriage, but that thing moves so slow, so she was just fine. And her big strong Dada held her close the whole time, so of course she felt safe.

We didn't get home until past 5:30, but we were able to squeeze in a ride on Cadence's new trike before the sun went down.

She still hasn't figured out the pedaling part yet. And yes, sparkly ballet flats are probably not the ideal shoes for riding a tricycle, but then again, why the heck not?! I paid full price for those shoes in a last-minute fit of desperation before the wedding last month, so I want her to get as much use out of them as possible!

And that's about it, folks. I've been sleeping on the couch (when I'm lucky to be able to sleep at all) the past couple nights due to my hacking cough, so I'm pretty exhausted. I stayed home from work Thursday but still had to work all day to be able to finish a project that was due that day. Plus, I had to watch Cadence most of the day, since she decided she'd rather nap than go out w/ Ted on his 3-hour errand.

Tonight, though, I'm getting me some much needed girl time w/ my friend Amy (Cadence's best bud Rudden's mom) PLUS some high culture courtesy of the Strawdog Theater Company, which my friend John (Ada's dad) is a part of. They are performing four radio scripts (one of which John wrote) PLUS it's a free show! My kind of evening, all the way.

In Recovery Mode

Slowly but surely, I'm making a comeback to my semi-normal self. Thanks for all y'alls well-wishes. Cadence and I have had a relaxing Saturday morning, and that helps. We picked up our share of our CSA from Uncle Dave & Auntie Becki's right after we woke up. I realized that if I waited just a little while longer, the Unique Thrift store on Sheridan and Montrose would be opening. This provided a good excuse to grab a latte and bagel from Beans and Bagels on Montrose right under the Brown Line.

I've never been there, but knew it was just the place for me because a) there was a big WLUW sticker on the door, b) they were playing the latest Camera Obscura album in its entirety(I got in at the first track, no less!) and c)they serve Metropolis Coffee. Like what more could I possibly ask for at 8:52AM on a Saturday morning?

After enjoying our bagel, latte (for me) and apple, we piled back into the car and headed east on Montrose for some Unique thrifting. I found this little toy camera for Cadence, which entertained her in the cart for a bit. The nice thing about Unique is that there are so many toys that there's usually something that will keep Cadence happy in her cart while I shop. I don't buy 75% of what she plays with during our visit.

Although I would prefer to go on Mondays when the whole store is 50% off, they always have certain colored tags at half-off on different days. Today, it was green and pink. Unfortunately, a lot of what I wanted to buy had yellow tags, but we still made out okay. We paid an average of $1.50 for each clothing item we bought. Not bad, eh?

Cadence is napping now and on her 2nd play of her Sleepytime Songs CD. I can usually get her sleep for a couple hours when that album is playing. I think I'm going to grab something to eat for lunch and start tidying up around here. TTFN (Ta-Ta For Now!)