Visited Chicago with Tiffany this weekend. We went plush. The Blackstone Hotel. She has some good connections, I can assure you, because there’s no way I could have afforded to stay there at the regular-folk rate. Friday: Dinner at Mangia Roma followed by “Dead Man’s Cell Phone” at the Steppenwolf. […]

Literally. Because I slipped while disembarking from a trolley car and landed, THUDDDD, on the bottom step. I now have two huge bruises on my tushy. Nice. Other than my sore behind, the rest of the trip was nice. The snow on Friday wasn’t my favorite part, but we hung […]

Morning on Walden Pond Vacations are fun. For sure. But they kind of put me off track for a while. That’s why I always insist we have at least one day of cushion between the traveling and the back-to-work stuff. Today’s cushion was filled with unpacking, laundry, more laundry, picking […]

There’s plenty of stuff in my head, but no time to spit it out here. Packing to do. Lots of it. Although Devin is going to be sorely disappointed that not every single one of his stuffed animals is not going to be on the flight with us. We’re leaving […]

Scott’s been complaining about how often we travel to Chicago. I thought he, like me, missed the city desperately. But I think that he’s just gotten over that emotion and moved on with his life. Now he has a hankering for other travel destinations, and I’m still stuck in the […]

Yes, the coffee at Metropolis was as good as Sarah billed it to be. We grabbed a quick bite (spinach and feta pie!) and a drink at her favorite local coffee roaster before heading over to Berger Park to let the kids loose. And, boy, did they run! We were […]

Just got back from a weekend in lovely Gurnee. Renee and Dan were great hosts. Shopped, dined and watched a bit too much of TLC and those home-oriented shows. They’re addictive!

The funniest thing during the entire trip happened on the red-eye at 1:00 a.m. this morning (er, 4:00 a.m. in my home time zone). When the gentleman arrived to take his seat next to me on the flight, he commented, “If I start snoring, and I will, hit me in […]

Made a slight detour into the city before heading for Gurnee. Fun weekend with Renee and Viv. Tired now. Unpacking still to do. See you soon.

Spinach and goat cheese ravioli in mushroom sauce from Timo We saw the forecast before we left. Our lovely mid-60s temps plummeted to mid-40s and slightly higher, accompanied by plenty of drizzle and gloom. As a result, we spent a lot of our time indoors. I wasn’t inspired to snap […]

Just returned from another trip to Chicago. Hoping for one more this summer, with toddler in tow. Kathy and I got our exercise for the day, stomping around Old Town and the Armitage Corridor. This was yesterday’s highlight at my fave, fave, fave breakfast joint ever — Uncommon Ground. To […]