Seeds like Snow

Due to some massive driving around and other craziness (plus chilly weather), we've not been outside with the camera much this week. However, this paying-attention-to-the-weather-so-I-can-post-something-interesting these past couple weeks has drawn my eye to the progression of the growth of the leaves in my neighborhood.

The first week we went out, the trees were just barely budding. The next week, there were noticeably more leaves and green-ness all around. This week seems to be the seeding week.

All over the neighborhood, seed pods are falling from the trees like a fine dusting of snow:

Breaking Out the Grill

Time to break out the grill! Now, officially, winter has left Chicago. Woo!!

enjoying some of these tasty tasty burgers

Walking Among the Tulips

It seems that our unseasonably summery-spring has turned into a normal Chicago spring. This morning I woke up to an impressive downpour, complete with spectacular lightning. I do like thunderstorms.

And what's best about rainstorms is the blast of color that follows with the sun. I love the bright greens on the tress and the little sprouts that appear in the ground. And, today, as I was walking about, I came across these lovely tulips:

I love spring.

Not Quite a Snowy Walk...

So, this past Sunday evening, a friend called and said she was looking forward to the snow pictures from my walk. I was all, "It snowed??"

Yep, sometime in the hour or two after I came home from church her call that evening, we got an inch or two of snow (not that you could tell at all by Monday).  I enjoyed it from the cozy warm inside of my house.  But, today, it was 67 degrees in Chicago! I couldn't resist taking a walk THEN.

The sun was shining, and people were out enjoying the fabulous afternoon air. It's too early in the year for things to be very photogenic; there isn't much greenery out just yet, it's hard to see how lovely it was (and I thought it was too creepy to take pictures of other peoples' kids playing in the park), so you'll have to enjoy this picture of a budding tree branch and imagine how lovely my walk was.

And, of course, 'cuz no walk would be complete without some crazy thing I see while walking about, here's a picture of a tree with an unusual adornment for your viewing pleasure:

Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

We've actually had them for a little while (and there's even an entire box of Samoas left!), but it is still a time of celebration every spring when the Girl Scout cookies come out!

There is SNOW!

Today, Chicago got its first real snow. As always, it was received with mixed feelings; some rejoice in the white fluffy stuff and others, to quote a friend, "prefer the winter Chicago was having yesterday".  Snow is funny like that.

As for me, today was the day I had to go pay ransom to visit the library (so I could put some books on hold). So, I set out in the weather and (since I walked rather than drove) found the snow very beautiful!

my local library

As I walked along, it was kind of funny to watch the people I passed. It was about the time schools were letting out, so there were lots of parents and kids making their way along the sidewalks. I enjoyed watching the kids run and scoop up hand fulls of snow, or choose to walk through the deeper stuff, fascinated by the patterns their boots left. While, on the other hand, the parents were clearly just trying to get home and out of this as fast as possible. 

I was definitely glad for my cozy warm boots and my warm hat, but it was a beautiful day for a walk! (though, I think it's time to switch out of my fingerless gloves to some with fingers)

Hooray for snow!!

Prolonged Autumn...

I love city living, but I don't love city driving. In fact, I like to avoid driving as often as possible, so I ride the train a lot. I like to tell myself this is to help decrease my carbon footprint and to be nicer to Mother Nature, but mostly, it's just 'cuz I don't have the patience to deal with traffic.

Really though, taking the train is a win-win, for me. It gets me out and moving (which is extra nice since I'm not working downtown anymore) but what I like best is that, while I'm out and about, I get to see the city from many different angles.

The last couple weeks it seems like I've been riding around on the train more frequently, in my day to day business, for this and that. It struck me today, walking home from the train, that we are in November now, and it's still acting like Autumn. I've always loved the Fall, but normally it's here and gone in 2 weeks.. We've been having cooler temperatures, yes, but this may be the longest Fall season that I remember having. I love it!

I recognize that the Midwest likes to average out its temperatures (meaning that we'll probably have a brutal winter) but these gorgeous blue skies and colorful leaves make it all seem worth it!

Gardening!

Earlier this year, I decided that I wanted to attempt to grow a tomato on my little deck. I figure I have a sporting chance; it gets reasonable amounts of sunshine and it's up off the ground, so (hopefully) I shouldn't have to fight TOO much with little critters.

A 5lb bucket seemed the most reasonable container for this venture, though I wasn't sure at first where to find one. It was suggested to me that I try petitioning a local bakery for a bucket - most bakeries get their frosting in big buckets and often just toss them away.

I admit, I was a little nervous about doing that, but it seemed worth a shot. I walked over to the little bakery near my house, bought a tasty cookie and then asked if they had any frosting buckets lying around. I certainly got some strange looks, but I walked out with a bucket at the cost of a cookie. Not too shabby!

Now that the weather is finally warm enough for growing, the time had come to search out a tomato plant. This past week, I stopped by the farmer's market downtown and asked if they had a plant they would recommend for a deck garden. Happily for me, they had a hybrid that was made especially for that: A Patio Tomato!

My little garden: Basil, Pansies, and a Tomato!

Also, earlier in May, I planted some ivy and more Pansies in some planters, here's their progress (also note the new and schnazzy grill we've added to our deck):

Here's hoping I can keep them all alive!

Project Free Gus!

So we got some snow around here the other day. Chicago does a pretty impressive job of keeping up with the snow on the main roads and especially downtown, but it takes a little while for the side streets to get cleaned up... (Boy, am I glad we moved Gus off the street; this way we only had to dig ourselves out once!)

And the alleys take even longer..

Wednesday morning, after most of the snowing was done

By Saturday, three days after the initial storm, we were done waiting and the shovels came out. Happily, our neighbors are very helpful, so we there were several shovels being put to use in clearing out our section of the alley.
Luckily for us all, the sun was shining and it was nearly 30F, which made the task much more palatable.

Project Free Gus was a success!

Snowpocalypse 2011

On Sunday, the Chicago Tribune started crying Doom and Gloom!! Up to 24" of snow likely to fall by Wednesday! Whiteout conditions! Blizzard! Potentially deadly!! Batten down the hatches. Stay off the roads!!

Tuesday, around 1:00pm

I was unconvinced. Sunday is too early to be predicting such dire predictions with any accuracy.

Monday brought more of the same, but the cry was catching... Now, most of the weather channels were warning of Snowpocalypse 2011. By Tuesday morning we were supposed to have 4" of snow already, with no end in sight...

Still unmoved, I headed to bed; there was only a few flurries blowing around, nothing that would stick.

Tuesday, around 2:30pm

Tuesday morning dawned, and there was but a light dusting on the ground; maybe we got an inch. Still, the weather forecasters didn't change their tunes. If anything, the predictions grew worse. Throughout the day, bunches of the secretaries at work was putting in requests for time off on Wednesday, to weather the storm. Attorney emailing, alerting everyone that would be working from home for the next few days and others were leaving early.

Tuesday, right about 3:00pm, when they sent us home early

People in Milwaukee and northern Illinois were saying they were getting convincing snow fall. Some companies, in the city, were letting their people go home early. However, despite the Dopplar readings showing heavy storms over Chicago, as I looked out the windows downtown, I saw nothing.

About 3:15pm, Crossing the river to catch the train

Still, just to be safe, I planned to move my car off the street when I got home.

About 4:15pm, right before I moved Gus to a more sheltered parking spot

So, I admit.. It does seem pretty bleak outside right now. Perhaps the meteorologists weren't full of hot air. Guess we'll just wait and see what tomorrow brings.....

Birds on a Wire

For the most part, my Hubby and I have been enjoying a nice and chill January. While I can't say that I much mind this quiet start to 2011, my blog has been feeling neglected since there's really not even been much going on that I can spin in an entertaining enough way that it would become blogable.

However, I think that Chicago's weather has taken this "chill January" far too much to heart. Last week, when I headed for the train to work, it was -3F (plus wind chill) and that, my friends, is COLD! I know I'll get no sympathy from those living up in Wisconsin as I hear it was -25 there.. but still. That is far to chill a January for my liking.

I was talking to my Hubby the other day and commenting how I'm always so quick to say I love Chicago, but I'm the first to be whining about having to get serious about bundling up to survive my commute. "Why is that?" I asked. He was kind enough to not tell me I was a wuss, but rather went the diplomatic route and pointed out that the bulk of the U.S. is in a deep freeze at the moment, but it's the summers that make Chicago awesome. There is truth in that.. so now I set my sights to the spring when it will be above freezing most of the time :)

In the meantime, my commute isn't all suffering and bleakness. I saw these two little guys keeping each other company up there on the wires and I paused in my rush to the train, to snap their picture. I liked the juxtaposition of graceful nature amid that mess of unsightly wires.

Indoor Birdies

Most of the time, I'm good and bring my lunch to work. However, every now and then, I'll treat myself to lunch out. Downtown, in the area near where I work, there are all sorts of options around; a regular smorgasbord of places to eat: Mediterranean, French, Mexican, Thai, Greek, cozy American comfort foods... but today I had a hankering for Panda Express; I love me some Orange Chicken.

So there I was, hanging out in the indoor food court by the Panda Express, munching on my chow mein, when suddenly three little birdies (sparrows perhaps? wrens??) swooped down onto the recently vacated table to my left and helped themselves to the left-over crumbs. Guess the recent dip in temperature around here has driven the little birdies indoors.

only two here.. the third was camera shy

Pretty clever of them, if you ask me!

La La La La! Life Goes On...

I've not been posting with much frequency lately, but that isn't an indication of a quiet and boring life, rather the opposite: Work has been a bit crazy lately (since they've added yet another attorney to my assignment), I recently got asked to serve as the Activity Day Leader for our church (This is where, twice a month, I get to play games - mingled with doctrinal learning, with several energetic 8-11 year old girls; which, while lots of fun, takes a lot of planning to keep them all occupied productively for an hour). Also, Black Friday is coming and I've been working on getting some new designs up in my shop.. and, amid all of that, I'm still trying to get pictures up on my walls and the spare room clear enough to accommodate an air mattress for some family who'll be stopping over in a few days. Whee!

It's a good and productive kind of busy, but my poor camera has been bearing the brunt of the neglect. However, I did manage to stop and snap a picture of another beautiful autumn tree that I pass on my way home from work:

Sometimes night shots are tricky things, but I thought the picture turned out nicely!

Effects of Daylight Saving Time

There are pros and cons to this tradition of biannually switching clocks forward and back. Largely, I'm not a big fan. I say: just pick one and leave it already. But conform I must.

However, it's not all bad; the Autumn Daylight Saving change does improve the view of the city as I'm walking to and from work.

Here's what I see as I cross the river in the morning:

not too bad a view really

And, without the change, I wouldn't get this cozy evening view for at least another month:

And I do like that view.

Summer Storms

We had a quality thunderstorm last night.. It pretty much went all night! And this morning, the residual effects were pretty impressive:

January Picnic

I know this winter hasn't been especially long (yet) nor especially cold (so far)... but, all the same, I recently found myself wanting to do something to brighten things up.

As I was brainstorming things to do that could help shake up the doldrums, I remembered that way back, when I was in college out in Boulder, some of my roommates and I implemented a yearly BBQ.. on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. It brought back such fond memories that I decided to resurrect this idea in my here and now.

So, I invited people over and we fired up the grill out back, threw out a blanket on the living room rug and had ourselves a veritable picnic in January. Then, as a little extra reminder of Spring, I got a few flowers to put around the room:


It was really fun.. We'll have to do this more often!

I Call Dibs!!

"A picture says a thousand words", confirmed by a cool picture I saw in the local paper:

(photo by Heather Charles from the Chicago Tribune)

A lot is said with this simple white chair:
"Don't even think about moving that chair to take that cleared out street-parking spot.. Get your OWN spot!"

True story.

Winterizing

This winter will mark my fourth winter here in Chicago. Still, each time it comes around, it seems to catch me a little by surprise just how COLD the cold is. In reality, I like to just imagine that my whims have power over the weather; if I just pretend that it's not snowy or cold then it can't be that bad, right? Riiiiiiiight.

For the most part, I do ok dressing warmly. I've got a warm coat and gloves, I even wear a hat (when it gets REALLY cold).. but somehow it seems that my feet are rather neglected. It wasn't until my second winter here that I decided that I needed to upgrade my winter footwear; my tennis shoes just weren't cutting it. So, I bought some Keens:

this pic is from an earlier post,
and they've seen some more wear since then,
but they're still great and I still LOVE them!

These actually do a reasonable job of keeping my feet warm, and they're cute!! But, however cute they may be, deep down I had to admit that they aren't actually very good at keeping the snow off my pants or socks. Still, I rationalized: I would just avoid the snow piles and puddles on the way into work. Besides, my pants usually dry out before I'd go home at night anyway... It doesn't snow that often in Chicago, right?

Then, last year, I moved and the train ride part of my commute got shorter, but the walking part got longer. Consequently, the wetness factor was significantly increased. And maybe I'm just getting old, but I find that my tolerance of coldness is decreasing.. So, finally, in anticipation of the 2009 winter, which is pretty much already here, I caved and got me some winter boots. 100% waterproof and fully insulated, purportedly able to handle up to -20F. And, more importantly, they look awesome:
Old Man Winter's got nothing on me!

Here Comes Fall

Officially, September 20th marked the first day of Fall. And, right on cue, the weather is turning colder, summer is wrapping up and the leaves are starting to change. Inevitably, summer's ending is a harbinger of winter (and the Farmer's Almanac says it's supposed to be a particularly nasty one this year). I must admit that I do not love Chicago's winters.. However, I like to ignore the winter as long as possible and bask in the loveliness of Fall.

(from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/59163298@N00/56722175)

Fall is great on so many levels. I love the changing leaves and the jacket weather, plus it's the season for amazing apple cider. But best of all, Fall brings October and that means Halloween is right around the corner.

Despite my love of this holiday, in recent years, different circumstances (tiny tiny apartment, no known costume parties) have made having much of a celebration difficult. Halloween is about slightly ghoulish but very silly fun and sharing that silly fun with like-minded folks; it's not a by-yourself kind of holiday. Consequently, if there's no cause to get dressed up or nowhere to put a jack-o-lantern, there is little joy to be found in celebrating. So, I'd do something small (like put up a picture of a ghoulie on my apartment door) as a nod to it's passing, but it's been years since I've properly celebrated Halloween.

However, this year is different. This year I have space.. and a home with windows. The decoration potential is limitless and my obsessive, creative, pent-up energy is immense!

With Halloween decorations, there are lots of directions you can go.. every store gets into it, like all holidays, it has been commercialized like crazy. You CAN go with ready-made, garish decorations:

But I prefer to exercise my creativity and make my own.

However, making your own is not always without drawbacks. Occasionally, these creative energies of mine cause me to bite off a little more than I anticipate. It's great fun to dream up ideas, and research what others suggest might be fabulous additions.. but the actual making isn't always as simple as 1-2-3 (despite what some nefarious sites might tell you).

For example, this one project I fell in love with (boo and hiss to Martha Stewart), at first glance, was just three easy steps. But, for real, my windows are HUGE! So the cloth and the silhouettes were enormous and cumbersome to work with, not to mention time consuming. Though, to be honest, my sewing machine was the thing giving me the most headaches (making a simple hemming job take 6 HOURS). Still, I blame Ms. Stewart. It was her beautiful pictures and deceptive instructions that brought me this frustration. Grrrrr.


But ooooooh baby.. check out the finished product:

Totally worth it.

Now, to just figure out how to successfully achieve the green back-lighting......

I was feeling a little sleepy earlier.....

... but then I took a walk on my lunch break. Looking out the window (through the blinds, through the attorney's office) it looked pretty nice! They had been calling for scattered thunderstorms for today, but my area-partner had just come back from her lunch break with news of how nice it was outside, so I thought it'd be fine to go check it out too! And so I did.

It was a nice walk; brisk paced and I went for a good while before turning around. As I was heading back, I stopped for a moment in the Thompson Center and then, when I came out the other side, it had started sprinkling.. so I walked quickly, but not quickly enough. The rain was coming down with increasingly larger droplets as I walked and, within a block of my building, it started POURING. I ran the last half block, but I'm still rather wet (and glad that i wear undershirts!)

(from http://allisonsjournal.wordpress.com/)

But.. on the upside, I'm more awake now! :)