Life on Southport

365 days ago

2011-06-21T22:30:00.001-05:00

One year ago today, just around now-ish, I was hooked up to pitocin, covered in monitors and was 23 hours and 53 minutes away from starting the biggest adventure of my life.

That is all. :)

Will's Third Month

2011-05-28T08:22:00.003-05:00

William's third month began with my starting to figure out the whole at-home mothering thing and ended with it abruptly being taken from me as my maternity leave ended. While I can now say that being a working mom is not only survivable but probably also good for me and Will in many ways, at first, it was very very difficult.

I mean, who would want to not spend all day with a tiny little guy who is testing out his vocal chords, cooing like a little angel and batting adorably at toys hanging above his head???

Although, the third month did not entirely consist of 24/7 cooing and adorable body movements. There was also fussing and the beginning of our many-month-long streak of constant wondering if every inexplicable scream, shriek or wail was teething-related (note that Will did not get his first tooth until he was over 8 months old - such rookies we are!!). In our defense, drool appeared at this stage, which seemed to support our theory, until I read that salivary glands really step up drool production at three months. :)

So the swing and the bouncy chair were critical elements of our keep-Will-happy strategy. And there was lots of walking around while holding him in our arms (his head on our shoulder and NO SITTING on our part! - amazingly, he was extremely particular about the way he was held).

Sleeping in the third month was still in increments of less than 2 hours each, which was tough overnight but made going out to dinner after work possible. And so Alex and I did that, knowing that such freedom would soon come to an end. Going out as a little family with a tiny baby is such a happy memory from that time.

And while I tried not to, I spent a lot of time during Will’s third month thinking about how much I would miss him when I went back to work. I tried to focus on taking in every moment and creating as much quality time as I could with my little man – walks to the park, long conversations by the Boppy, and cozy naps in the glider.

And then I did go back to work, and I did miss him…tremendously. The transition from maternity leave to life as a working mom was a tough one but was not nearly challenging as I thought it would be. Eventually the toughest part was functioning during the day on very minimal sleep, but we got through that too (spoiler: there is indeed good news on that front in the fourth month)!

Fortunately again, I wrote the following letter to Will so I do have some fresher/more of-the-time memories than the ones above that I'm trying to piece together from emails and chats. :)

Dear Will,

I shouldn't be surprised that you're three months old, but I am. The evidence is clear. I am back at work. You are in daycare. These are the things that happen at three months of age, but I find myself asking how a quarter of a year already went by.

I used to dread the thought of you growing up, getting bigger, losing your newborn infant tininess. And while I loved you as a tiny baby, you are so cool now. The smiles you give me, the "conversations" we have when you lay down on my lap, and the strength of your little body are amazing. I cannot help but think that today is the most sublime day of your life, but then again, I think that every day.

Today is our third day apart. I miss you terribly while I am at work, and I spend my days watching my slide show of your pictures on my computer. I take comfort in the fact that you seem to love daycare. This morning, when I brought you into your room at "school," you reached for the floor the moment you saw your little friends and your teachers there waiting for you. I don't know about that - I might have to teach you to scream and cry and pretend like you are going to miss me while I am away for my sake - but mostly I am happy that you seem to like it there.

The next item on our agenda, little man, is sleeping. You have gotten very good at laying down in your crib and going to sleep - you just do not like to stay there in the middle of the night. We'll work on it. I have faith in you. I just hope next month I am writing about what a fantastic sleeper you are! Ha!

Love,
Mommy

Here is a video of the little man's third month. Enjoy!

Some statistics on Will's third month:
Firsts - First trip on an airplane! It was to Florida to introduce Alex's grandparents to their first great-grandchild. Will even got to fly in first class - what a fancy baby! :)
Favorite thing to wear - The same thing as daddy - he told me so!
Nights slept through - 0 this month, leaving the grand total at 1.
Biggest pet peeve - Having to get ready for bed before eating (this pattern of screaming post-bath continues until about a couple weeks ago).

Will's Second Month

2011-04-25T20:33:00.000-05:00

If Will's first month was, like, forever ago, his second month was at least a very, very long time ago. I certainly remember a few more bits from the second month than the first, but as I reflect on the pictures and videos, he still seems like a very different little person.

My memories of Will's second month are mostly a blur, dotted with angry attempts at tummy time, lots and lots of eating, and the most beautiful smiles I had ever seen. And in between there was sleep. Sometimes there was less sleeping and more crying. Sometimes there was lots of crying. Sometimes I cried too. I won't lie - sometimes that second month was tough.

Tough as that month was, and bald and suffering (a bit) from baby acne though Will was, I still love watching this video. Will, in my humble opinion, was simply adorable. You be the judge:

Some statistics on Will's second month:
Starting length/weight - 22.25", 10lbs, 1oz
Ending length/weight - 23.5", 12lbs, 13oz
Biggest pet peeve - Having to stop eating to burp
Favorite drug - Mylicon
Nights slept through - 1 (Spoiler alert! This number doesn't increase for a while.)
Other milestones - Seeing the bugs on his swing, batting at the toys in his gym, and smiling!!

Will's First Month

2011-03-28T21:46:00.000-05:00

Let me start by saying that it is really weird to be writing about the first month of Will's life, because that was, like, forever ago. I barely remember it. And that's the problem. If I don't write it now, what little I remember will disappear and forever be lost. I cannot let that happen.

Fortunately for me and my increasingly weak memory, I wrote a letter to my little man on July 22nd:

Dear Will,

I cannot believe that you are already one month old. In some ways, I am shocked by how quickly time flies, and I want to keep you tiny and bundled in my arms forever. In other ways, I am so excited for you to grow up so we can go to the park and play together, read stories, and share cupcakes from Sweet Mandy B's. I spend a lot of time these days eagerly anticipating our the great fun we'll have as a family together.

For now, you are still a bit of an enigma to me. There are days when you eat peacefully, gaze lovingly at me and sleep easily. Today is one of those days. Thank you. But there are also days where you scream loudly, fuss inconsolably and sleep, well, never. That was yesterday. I think. I've already forgotten it. The pediatrician told us this afternoon that you'll get angrier before you get happier. Your father and I are braced for all kinds of excitement in the coming weeks!

You're still learning to move your arms and legs and fingers and toes in the wide open space of the world you now occupy. Sometimes you shake your limbs violently, sometimes your fingers dance in front of your face in graceful patterns. I usually assume these movements and gestures are random, but the frequency with which you raise your middle finger to me while you nurse has me somewhat concerned. I keep telling myself that it's just a random gesture, and the graceful, random movement of your hand that just happens to result in the one finger salute is your way of communicating that your content.

We need to work on your communication skills.

This first month has been a bit of a roller coaster. Since you were born late at night, you didn't spend very much time in the hospital before we were shipped home. As a consequence of being rushed through, you gave your parents a bit of a scare when you didn't pass two of your initial screening tests. But a couple weeks and a couple trips to Children's Memorial later, the doctor called to tell us what we already knew deep down...

You are perfect.

We are so lucky to be your parents.

Love,
Mommy

Looking back at the pictures from Will's first month, it strikes me how much he has changed and developed, how new and foreign he appeared in those first few weeks, and how little I remember. Our pediatrician told us it would be a blur and that we wouldn't remember the bad stuff, or really much at all. He reasoned that if people really remembered a lot about the first month or two that no one would have a second child. The implication was not solely that the first months were that bad but also that the following months were so worth it. And they have been.

I was taking an inventory of some of our early videos of Will. The difference between to little boy who lives in our house now and our new-to-the-world, alien boy from last summer is great, but I love him then and now all the same. Here's a taste of what I've been looking through as I remember.

I hope you enjoy it!

Remember when?

2011-03-24T22:34:00.007-05:00

Remember when I used to post here? I used to cook and travel and take pictures and do other stuff and write about it here. Back when life on Southport was really just about me balancing my personal life with my working life. Back when Alex and I were DINKs...

And now? My life is a million times more interesting and I've kept it to myself. Sorry about that. :) Little William is the center of our worlds, the focus of our free time, and when he is asleep, we're cleaning up after him, editing pictures of him and planning out his future. Because we are parents now, and that's what we do!

Fortunately for me, things are a bit slow at work this week, so I've decided to catch up what few readers I might have on our activities and Will's growth and development into the best (!) little (!) boy (!) in the world (!). (We're so lucky to have been chosen to raise this one. Honestly.)

So where was I? Ah yes, it was November, Will was almost 5 months old, and he was just working on sitting up. Now he babbles, he crawls, he claps, he pulls up, he cruises (I haven't seen this one yet, but we hear he did this at daycare the other day), and generally speaking he makes us smile and count our lucky stars non-stop. It's the smiling and counting that has really gotten in the way of my blogging.

So perhaps some catch-up is in order. Let's start with looking at how big he's getting!

Next time, I'll start working through a month by month recap. It's probably more for my own sake (I don't want to forget this stuff!!) than for your enjoyment. I apologize in advance. :)

Nablopomo = FAIL

2010-11-14T21:17:00.002-06:00

It started Friday night. We went out (!) for a friend's birthday! And we had a great time. (Nanna Maggie was kind enough to babysit.)

We got home at 11pm and by the time we got organized to go to bed, it was midnight (!).

I woke up the next morning and thought to myself, oh, shoot, I didn't blog last night. Maybe I could post something quick this morning and back date it to yesterday...

But then an adorable little man who is working on sitting hopped on my bed and took precedence over my schemes.

Almost there........................................................................and he's got it!!

And I think that was the right answer. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Apropos of yesterday's post

2010-11-11T21:33:00.002-06:00

You win this time, Gap Give and Get. You win this time...

Uncles Chris and Patrick should be proud.

Go Ninja, Go Ninja, Go!
(Extra points to anyone who can name the early 90s phenom who first uttered those words before looking at this!)

I have a problem

2010-11-10T19:58:00.003-06:00

Hi, my name is Kathleen and I'm a shop-a-holic.

[Hi Kathleen.]

I'm pretty sure if our mailroom guy at work* has to deliver one more box to my desk this week, he will call me and tell me to deliver it myself. And he would be justified in doing so.

I like shopping for things. I always have. Not crazy, spending beyond my means shopping, but I always got a warm fuzzy feeling when I found a good deal, discovered the perfect gift or assembled a cute outfit.

Then this adorable little man entered into the equation.

And I LOVE shopping for him. Oh boy I do. I can't control myself. It's the perfect combination of finding a good deal (tiny clothes cost less and are often on sale), giving a gift (sort of) and assembling a cute outfit (a well-dressed baby is the best accessory, right?).

Let me describe a scene: I sit at my desk, absorbing the barrage of information from my Bloomberg, responding to emails, perhaps reading a research report or memo on my screen. Bee-boop! - My Google notifier pops up to let me know I have gmail - oh, nice, a sale at Ann Taylor! I should check that out soon. Bee-boop! 30% off at Banana Republic, hmm, do I need anything there? I'll look later. Bee-boop! Bloomingdales Friends and Family - I should do some shoe shopping. I probably need something!

I'm totally in control of my shopping addiction. Until... Bee-boop!

O. M. G. Janie and Jack is having a friends and family sale!!!!!!! These shoes are the cutest shoes ever.

I need them. Oh, and look a line of dinosaur-themed clothing!

I NEED that! Um, er, Will NEEDS that!!!

Bee-boop! Gap Give and Get!! Holy crap! I love Baby Gap and Old Navy has great jeans and I saw an ADORABLE Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shirt there the other day that I NEED, I mean, Will NEEDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, I seem to misplace my self-control whenever I get an email about cute clothes. It's almost like the baby clothing stores know that. It must be why they keep emailing me - I have a problem.

* I send packages to work because I don't feel good about leaving them at my front door at home during the day. Our poor mailroom guy suffers the consequences.

A couple more pictures from Sunday

2010-11-09T21:51:00.003-06:00

Because it's late and I'm attempting to be crafty tonight (didn't turn out that well, so it's nothing worth blogging about), here's a couple pictures from Sunday that I haven't shared yet!

Will can almost do the tripod thing, but the tipping over follows pretty quickly after the cuteness:

So then I let him lay down, because that's cute too. Or at least I think so. :)

Who knew the world was so tasty?

2010-11-08T21:05:00.003-06:00

William has taught us a lot in his 4.5 months.

Our wise little man

Particularly that you should give everything a try at least once before you reject it. And by "a try" I mean "a taste."

That goes for hands, toys, mom's arm, dad's knuckles, your toes and, of course, monkeys.

A+ Parenting

2010-11-07T19:09:00.003-06:00

We had a great day with Will today - he sat with us at our (recently reclaimed!) kitchen table while we ate homemade waffles, we went on a nice long walk together and visited his newest little friend (only 1 week old!), we sang lots of songs (The Itsy Bitsy Spider is a favorite, but we also sang a little bit of the Unicorn Song), and he practiced grasping skills with his rattles and toys.

But then we were sitting on the Family Room floor and Will simply could not turn away from the Bears game that was on the TV.

Me accepting the defeat of my baby-entertaining skills at the hands of the TV

So I let him watch it a little bit. Yep, my four-month-old baby watches TV, people. And he LOVES it!

So who wants to nominate me for mother of the year?? ;)

What are you afraid of, Alex?

2010-11-06T21:03:00.002-05:00

Quick post today. Alex is at a work event tonight, so I'm holding down the fort here. :)

He was kind enough to take Will upstairs with him while he was getting ready so I could finish some things downstairs. Of course, then there was the predicament of how to transport an infant while wearing a tuxedo. Here's what Alex came up with:

The bib and cloth diaper - the belt and suspenders of spitup-free baby transport.

Clever, but silly. :)

Sleepy face

2010-11-05T20:34:00.003-05:00

Perhaps one of the best things about being a mom is watching a little person's personality develop from scratch.

Little Will started out as an adorable screaming blob who, like any newborn, ate, slept, and pooped on a continuous loop - day in, day out - and that was about it. At first, our job as parents was to learn how to take care of a baby.

But over time, our jobs shifted from learning how to take care of a baby to knowing how to take care of our baby. In the beginning, everyone knew how to take care of our baby better than us. Now, no one knows how to take care of our baby better than us. And I love that. Little Will is turning into a little person with little quirks of his own, and I get a front row seat to their development.

Which brings me to his latest and my current favorite: sleepy face.

Ahhhhh, sleepy face. It happens when I least expect it. I turn to see what my quiet little man is up to and bam! this is what I see:

big blue eyes, focused intently, staring me down. What is happening to me mommy? Why do I feel like the world is slowing down? Why does my body feel so heavy??

It's ok little man. Take a nap. I'll be here when you wake up so you can show me your next new trick. :)

Missing October

2010-11-04T19:54:00.007-05:00

The walk home today was miserable. Freezing cold, blowing wind, pouring rain. Yucky yuck yuck. On days like today, I couldn't care less that my 3/4 mile walk home from the train is "good for me." Instead I wish I lived in my office so I could turn to my colleagues at the end of the day and say "if you lived here, like me, you would be home right now!" And they would be jealous because they had to go outside into the cold, windy, rainy yuckiness, and I didn't.

So as I bend my inside-out umbrella back into shape and wait for my pant legs to dry, the pictures from last Saturday seem extremely appealing.

Beautiful, right?

Last Saturday, Alex and I joined my brother Chris for lunch at our local pizza place. On the way home, we were struck by how gorgeous it was outside. We couldn't help but stop at the playground by our house to see if Will would enjoy a little time in the bucket swing. He was unimpressed (but also a little tired).

Ah, how I pine for October!

Solids!

2010-11-03T20:08:00.004-05:00

Will had his four month check-up last week. He's getting to be a very big boy - 15 pounds, 3 ounces and 26 inches tall! So his pediatrician gave us the go-ahead to try solids with the (not so) little man.

We started on Saturday.

So far he is a great eater. His first foray into solids was oatmeal, which he thought was just fine (of course, this kid thinks his bib is quite tasty also, so maybe he doesn't have the most discerning palate).

After oatmeal came sweet potatoes.

And much like Oprah, he thinks sweet potatoes are pretty awesome. (Thanks to the Soup for making me aware of this gem!)

Tomorrow we find out if he has a similar love for peas. :)

A Starter Halloween

2010-11-02T19:31:00.009-05:00

Halloween usually isn't a big holiday in our house. We always buy candy (and end up eating a lot of it because our street isn't big for trick-or-treating); I wear my Halloween t-shirt; but that's about it.

We weren't quite ready for covering our fence in fake spider webs, pumpkin carving, hanging ghosts from the trees or dressing up ourselves, but I don't think Will noticed yet. :) This year was a great starter Halloween for us. Next year, we'll be ready for the big time.

This year, we started with an adorable child,

put him in a pumpkin patch,

He's not angry, he's bracing for the wind. It was WINDY that day!

and dressed him in a costume.

I think we did pretty well. I can't wait for next year!

It's November 1st!

2010-11-01T20:45:00.005-05:00

I should at least try to blog once during NaBloPoMo, right? :)

Adorable as the little guy looks in my post below (No Clothes for YOU!!), I fear I may be leaving the internet with the impression that I haven't dressed my child since that fateful day of many outfits.

Since then, the little guy has grown a lot, going from this:

To this:

And lots of stops in between.

Clearly, I've been too busy taking pictures to blog about them!

OK, that's enough for tonight. I'm saving up some more to talk about tomorrow. Maybe I can make it longer than November last year (no large feat). :)

So Patrick - are you satisfied???

No clothes for YOU!!

2010-07-28T22:11:00.003-05:00

No diaper can contain him, apparently.

I would have posted this yesterday, when it happened, but I was too busy doing laundry. After already putting 3 outfits on Will that day (not including what he slept in the night before), I went all soup nazi on him and decided to go with a no clothing solution for our little man.

toGA, toGA, toGA!!

Uncle Patrick!

2010-07-20T21:18:00.002-05:00

Uncle Patrick was in town for a long weekend to visit us. So much fun!

Well, at least, we had fun. Not sure how much Patrick enjoyed the screaming little guy, but he looks good hanging out with him, right?

Will is practicing his "Why I oughta..." Popeye face

And I had to include these!

Also, I love it when Patrick visits. He always backs up my arguments that our thermostat is set too low! :)

Little Will and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day

2010-07-17T16:28:00.001-05:00

The Friday before last, Will and I were enjoying a moderately peaceful morning rocking in the glider that Alex and I so brilliantly purchased for his nursery (gliders are amazing!). I say moderately peaceful, because I had been periodically shaking pill bottles behind his head to see if he reacted for days and that morning was no different.

You see, I was still preoccupied with the fact that Will needed to go to the hospital for a rescreening of his hearing in a few days. He had failed his initial hearing tests totally and completely in both ears. As a new mother, hearing that your newborn failed anything is stressful. Very stressful. I was pained by the fact that I had to wait until he was almost three weeks old for the appointment. Shaking a pill bottle to scare my child was my own special way of dealing with the anxiety.

Back to that morning. Alex had just left for work five minutes prior. Will had just eaten. And I was thinking about when I might have a few minutes to shower and eat breakfast. But our day was turned upside down. The phone rang, suddenly and loudly. Will startled (I breathed a sigh of relief, then wondered if he startled because I reacted to the phone or because of the sound). It was the pediatrician.

Will's hearing screening wasn't the only test that raised concerns, apparently. His TSH screen results were high. I needed to take him to the hospital that morning for a blood draw. Could I do that?

Of course I could, and of course I didn't want to wait a minute to get the results, so we quickly got dressed and headed out the door. Will had been enjoying walks and the hospital is only one mile away, so I got him in his stroller and headed out the door. I googled newborn TSH screen on the way. Bad idea.

It got hot on the walk over and I learned quickly that Will hates heat (strike 1). When we arrived, the waiting room for the lab was packed. I didn't bank on the wait being 45 minutes (strike 2). And while I knew he would want to eat after the scary blood draw, I didn't anticipate that the long wait would mean he would have to delay his feeding (strike 3). And then there was the worst part - they needed to do a real blood draw, not a prick on his heal, but three-nurses-holding-him-down-while-they-put-a-real-needle-in-his-teeny-tiny-arm (strikes 4-54). I almost fell apart during the process.

Feeding helped a little, but didn't make Will happy enough to survive the hot walk home. He cried the whole way home. If that wasn't enough, we almost got run over by a truck that didn't see us at a stop sign on our walk back, which sent my already high pulse racing. So I cried the whole way home also.

But we finally made it. Poor little Will was so fussy that he spit up and needed a new outfit. We changed, cooled off, and got settled back at home. And then, we got to experience something new and magical that parents and newborns share...

A poo-splosion. Up his back, out of his diaper and all over mommy. And this was all before noon.

Will somewhat recovered and looking adorably tough with his little Snoopy bandaid.

I've never wanted to drink at home, alone, in the morning so badly.

And since I'm telling this story very late, I can let you know that the little guy passed all of his rescreens - his TSH looks great and his hearing is totally normal. :) On to the next worry!

Introducing little William

2010-07-11T16:14:00.003-05:00

Some pictures...

First day home.

Bath time is not fun yet.

Daddy's favorite. :)

Hope you enjoyed them. More to come as the little guy and I figure out a schedule that allows for more photos! ;)

Two weeks ago today (part II)

2010-07-06T08:21:00.004-05:00

At 10:30pm on June 21, Alex and I arrived at the hospital, ready to have a baby. Pitocin was started, my water was broken, and I tried to sleep in between hourly, sometimes half-hourly, checkups.

By the next morning, I had made some progress, but not a lot.

Still (somewhat) mobile in the morning.
I look extra big here - it's the monitors, I swear!

After realizing my water wasn't actually broken and correcting that, things started to move a little quicker. And finally, at 7pm, I was ready to push. But my little guy had no interest in moving out, and after two and a half hours, it was decided that we needed to resort to forceps.

And at 10:23pm on June 22, 2010, almost exactly 24 hours after we started, our little guy - William Clement - made his way into the world. Will arrived at 8 pounds, 7 ounces, 21 inches long. He is absolutely amazing in every way.

William: (Germanic) Ardent protector - a lovely name for an oldest sibling
Clement: (Latin) Merciful, mild, gentle

Will is also named after my father - Clement William - who passed away almost three years ago. My dad didn't love the first name Clement, but I think he would approve of this revision.

Two weeks ago today

2010-07-05T20:56:00.002-05:00

I couldn't believe I was going to work again. 40 weeks and 4 days pregnant, after being watched closely for risk of pre-term labor, was such a confusing state to be in.

My boss rolled his eyes when he saw me at the table for our Monday morning meeting and everyone else at the table incredulously asked - you're still here?!?! (Let me note here that pointing out to an overdue pregnant woman that she is, in fact, still pregnant is never a good idea.) Yes, I was still there. I didn't want to cut any bit of my maternity leave short by sitting at home and waiting. I had to sit somewhere, it might as well be at work.

But sitting was so so difficult. I squirmed in every meeting that day - shifting from side to side, sitting upright, slouching. Nothing seemed to work.

So when I went to the doctor for a check-up late that morning and she asked me - so do you want to go ahead and have this baby now? I don't think the yes could have escaped more quickly from my lips.

All that was left to do was to check the calendar at the hospital and see when they would schedule my induction. Back at work, I waited anxiously for the nurse's call. And when she offered a time slot for me to be induced that night at 10:30pm, I jumped at the opportunity.

I said my goodbyes at work, went home, napped (or tried to), showered, ate (for the last time in a while) and made sure everything was packed for the hospital. And took this picture. My last belly shot for this pregnancy.

And then we went to the hospital and got the show on the road. But that's all that happened two weeks ago today.

Show just starting to get on the road. :)

Update tomorrow. (Spoiler alert: baby!)

Ready? Set?

2010-06-07T21:03:00.003-05:00

When you tell people that you are pregnant, there is generally a routine set of answers you run through.

For me:
June 17th - yes it's getting very close!
We do know. It's a boy.
We do have a few names picked. No, we'd rather not share them.
and... I think so, I'm not sure, I think we're as ready as we can be.

Yes, we get asked a lot if we're ready. I have varying reactions to the question. I mean, my brothers are 9 and 12 years younger than me - I've changed a lot of diapers, soothed a lot of colic-y fits, fed, burped, etc., etc. I've got the gist of it. I'm not afraid of babies. I don't think they are alien life forms. I'm happy to hold even a crying baby every now and then, until they keep crying and I feel like too many people are watching me fail.

But honestly, what does being ready mean? I really think I only have a sense of what being a parent is like. I was never responsible for waking in the middle of the night to care for my brothers. Sleep deprivation, hormones (!) and the possibly overwhelming desire to be an amazing parent are all foreign. I sometimes disciplined my brothers by sitting on them for goodness sake! That probably doesn't quite cut it as a parent.

So what's a mom-to-be to do? I nest. It's what I can control.

Our house had a room that was perfect for our new little one. Only it was pink - completely and totally, top to bottom - pink carpet, pink walls, pink window treatment - pink, pink, pink. So when we found out that our little one was a little guy, we replaced carpet, painted walls, took down the window treatment and got to work on making him feel at home. Here is his room the last time I took a picture:

And based on popular demand, here is what I look like these days:

If this doesn't look ready to you, I ask you what does?? ;)

So furniture has been delivered - both his and mine (gliders!!). Sheets, blankets, and teeny tiny clothes are washed. The crib, pack n play, vibrating baby seat, stroller with car seat attachment and highchair (we got ambitious - I realize this is early) are assembled. The car seat base is in the car, and I even think we did it correctly!

So are we ready???

I think so, I'm not sure, I think we're as ready as we can be. :)

Hello? Is this thing on?

2010-04-28T14:18:00.003-05:00

OK, it's been beyond forever since I last posted. Shame on me. Seriously, I cannot believe Google didn't take my blog away from me while I was busy not blogging.

But I'm back and hoping that it was really just the shame in not posting that kept me on the sidelines recently. You see, I had a good excuse, but honestly, it just doesn't sound that good anymore because it's been SINCE NOVEMBER that I posted. I think the fact that I'm pregnant only excuses me from a few weeks, maybe a few months of posting, not over five months!

So yes, for those of you who don't know, I'm pregnant! Hooray! I mean this totally sincerely - I'm thrilled to be pregnant. Beyond thrilled. It's something I've wanted for a long time. :) And this pregnancy hasn't been difficult at all. I've been tired at times, sure, but I don't have much to complain about. Which makes my not blogging even more pathetic.

Except there hasn't been much going on other than that. I feel guilty when I go out with friends because I have little to talk about other than my growing little guy (yes, it's a boy!!), decorating the nursery, buying tiny things and heartburn. I'm just boring these days. ;)

But I wanted whoever might still read this blog to know that I'm alive and well. And that I hope to use this little corner of the internet for updates. So stay tuned!

Sweet Maia, a few days ago ;)

2009-11-03T21:12:00.007-06:00

My cousin wasn't the only one to get a late batch of photos from me. A really great friend who I love who has an adorable daughter is a victim of my slow processing as well.

And why? I am usually not so slow about delivering pictures, but what can I say? It's been a crazy couple months.

My friend Katey, her husband Jason and their lovely daughter Maia were in town, ahem, a few days (months?) ago and made the time to grab lunch with me, Alex and our friend Caroline. And apparently I really wanted to snap a few photos of Maia so that I could keep them to myself, because, hmm, well, Katey already knows what Maia looks like! ;)

Sorry Katey. I hope you like these.

My favorite

Maia had great fun playing around in the parking lot (sorry we didn't have time to go to a more picturesque venue!), especially when it came time to play with her balloon!

Katey and Jason, thanks for sharing her with me for a few minutes. We had a great time!

Too soon for NaBloPoMo-block!

2009-11-02T20:51:00.006-06:00

So I'm having trouble coming up with something to write about today.

This will not do.

It is way to soon for me to be out of things to say.

So today, all I have to say is that I have a cold. And I want to sleep. I'll work on being more interesting tomorrow. :)

Worst. Post. Ever.

Liam

2009-11-01T17:16:00.003-06:00

On September 29th, my brother Patrick called me. You know, he said, you only have one more day to write a post in September. I acknowledged his powers of observation and explained I just didn't have time.

By October, he must have given up, because I didn't get my warning call on Friday.

But now it's November, NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month - aka, the month in which you are supposed to post every day). Last year, I had an huge trip to Australia, New Zealand and Japan to write about. It took me more than the month of November to finish! What on earth am I going to write about now?

Ah, and now we see the genius inherent in my laziness. I've been saving up all of my good stories for November. Brilliant, right?

Yeah, it would be if I had a bevy of good stories, but for now, I just have a few things to share.

Like the day my cousin Susie visited my mom and I with my aunt Mary and her son Liam (my first cousin, once removed, according to the very complicated tree on Wikipedia). You may remember him from here.

Eh, what does it matter what his title is, he's a cutie.

No, we didn't let a seven-month-old go down the slide alone.
His mom is braced to catch him and strategically cropped out of the picture. :)

We had a great time at the playground. Liam was fascinated by the falling leaves, and he only tried to eat a few of them!

And he's such a ham. I had such a great time!!

Susie, I'm so sorry these took so long. I should have all the pics to you shortly.

Santorini - Part II

2009-08-30T20:58:00.000-05:00

OK, the last post on Greece. Here goes...

On our second day in Santorini, we did a bit of driving around the island.

We started by making our way to Ancient Thera, only there is no real road map available for Santorini - only hand drawn sketches of what the roads generally look like. And they are SO not helpful. If I can provide one bit of advice - if you travel to Santorini and intend to drive at all, print maps from Google Maps, because no one on the island has a real map.

So we very quickly ended up on the wrong road, headed to what might have been the highest point on the island. Oops. Dead end.

Looking South... ...and North.

But eventually, we found our way, driving on roads so tiny they looked like sidewalks (more than once asking each other - are you sure this is a road??), to Ancient Thera.

3 of the 20 or so switchbacks on the way up.
It looks bigger here, but I swear at the bottom, it's cobblestone and looks like a sidewalk.

From the parking lot at the top, there is a small hike up to the ruins. Boy did we feel bad for the people who parked at the bottom because they thought the road was a sidewalk! (And there were plenty who did and who were mega-jealous when we drove by!)

But, it really wasn't all that interesting. Maybe I was just ruin-ed out. So we took pictures.

From Ancient Thera, we wanted to go to modern Thira. Only we couldn't find ANYWHERE to park.

So we gave up, and went back to Oia (where we watched the sun set the previous night), which seemed like a prettier town anyway. Oh, and it was was beautiful in the daytime too!

Oia is on the caldera and the entire town is built into the sides of the cliff. The walkways that wind down are so beautiful, and so I took a few pictures of those.

The views everywhere were stunning. This was the view from our table at lunch.

The churches in Santorini all have the same look, but I loved the bell tower on this one. (Oh, and the blues! Unbelievable!)

From Oia, we did a bit more exploring and headed to some of the wineries on the island. Everywhere we turned, there were beautiful views.

One of the wineries had a terrace with an amazing vista.

Oh, and we got plenty of chances to work on our self portraits.

I can't even tell you how nervous I was to leave my camera up on a step, but this one was pretty good. :)

We even got one more picture in at our hotel. If you ignore the weird look I'm giving the camera because I was trying not to squint, it may just be our best remote control self-portrait yet!

We had two very full days in Santorini, so we spent our last couple hours relaxing at our absolutely amazing hotel. I don't think I've ever stayed anywhere with a nicer, more considerate staff. Before we headed out, I took a few pictures.

Our room was in this building (the one on the top floor).

And then we got to spend 10 hours in the Munich airport (4 hour layover + 6 hours of delays). If you cannot tell from the picture, we really enjoyed that.

Possibly one of the most unflattering pictures of me, ever.
I have no idea why my need to prove that I was upset overwhelms my pride in this case, but it does.

But really, we had a great trip. And United gave us each a $300 gift certificate for our pain and suffering, so we can take another trip. :)

Santorini, Part I

2009-08-24T21:33:00.001-05:00

I've been absent here for a while, and for that I apologize, loyal readers. (Um, do I even have loyal readers at this point?!)

Anyway, there are loads of excuses - just closed a HUGE deal at work, have been taking piano lessons, was in China last week, etc. But the real one is this: I really wanted to write one post about Santorini - this vacation story telling has gone on long enough for goodness sake! But I cannot. There is just too much. Alex and I packed entirely too much into our two days and one night on the island. So I've resigned myself to two posts. And here we are.

So, Santorini. Where to begin? It's an island, or it was an island, until a volcano blew its center out, leaving it in pieces. As a result the landscape is amazing. What was the center is now cliffs falling into the sea below, a caldera. And Alex and I started out by exploring the caldera by boat.

Alex looking like a polo model. Oh, and I was there too.

Our boat (or a boat that looks just like ours) and our sail.

The varied palette of the rock formations and beaches was striking.

The seas were open, and other than our sailing buddies, we didn't encounter many other boats. Other than the pirate ship, which, of course, was not a real pirate ship.

I mean, duh.

And we saw these really cool ruins on a cliff.

Except, they weren't ruins. Just buildings under construction. Duh. (Yeah, I didn't figure that out until I looked at this picture on my computer screen.)

And remember what I said here? About the blues of Greece being incomparable? I find it worth pointing out that the only editing I did to these pictures was to add yellow (because the pictures were too blue) and straighten (because, yikes, that boat was R O C K - Y).

Seasick yet?

After the boat trip, we made our way back to our ultra-cool, super wonderful hotel.

Where they gave us a room with a phenomenal view (and a bottle of local white wine).

And from there, we drove to Oia to watch the famous Santorini sunset. Oia is on the northern tip of the island along the caldera and is the place to watch the sunset. But the cliffside town is lovely on its own. I mean, look at it!

The view

Me and the view

The town bathed in the light of the setting sun was a lovely backdrop for the flag and the local canine.

And here it is. The Santorini sunset.

While I took pictures of the sunset, Alex took pictures like these. (Ah the joys of bringing two cameras on vacation!)

When Alex wasn't taking pictures of my sweet photography-face, he was rocking some mad jealousy induced by this guy's sartorial amazingness.

But we got some nice pictures as well:

Strong execution by Alex on the self-portrait

Strong execution (on the rebound) by one of the many people who asked me to take their picture

We capped off our evening in Oia with an amazing dinner here. And I embarrassed Alex by trying to get pictures of the sweet light. Because that's what I do. :)

Part 2 someday soon!

Poros

2009-08-08T18:45:00.004-05:00

Poros was our gateway to the Peloponnese.

It was where we met up with our friends in Greece, and it was where we would say goodbye to them. And in between, it was where I did my best to get some good shots of my friends

Poros from the water

at the beach,

on the boat to the mainland,

and in town as well.

Our last day with Dave and Ruth was baby Lily's first birthday.

I love this moment from our last night in town. Lily, emboldened by the full year she had under her belt, decided to see what these youngsters were up to. She stared down these guys, made sure they knew she was watching them. And I'm so happy Ruth pointed it out to me. So precious!

And then the sun started to set.

The light bathed us all in a warm, warm light.

And Ruth was so sweet to take our picture too!

And then we headed back to Athens, so we could make our way to Santorini. I'll tell you about that next time, after this beautiful sunset.

I'm on a Boat!

2009-08-02T17:15:00.002-05:00

Where's the paparazzi?

There's the paparazzi!

Oh yes, I took a lot of pictures in Greece. It's about time I share more!

We spent a fair amount of time with my friends on the boat, soaking up (hiding from) the sunshine. It was amazing!

Dancing Leni, Serious Leni

Our first excursion on the boat was to Aegina - home of the Temple of Aphaia...

...and cafes with festive fruity drinks!

Our next excursion was to Hydra, where were surrounded by the whites and the blues that make it so obvious why these colors make up the Greek flag. The blues and whites of Greece are beyond compare.

No cars are allowed on Hydra, so mules and donkeys are the modes of transportation. (Well that and your own feet - we stuck with self-propulsion.)

There are some really beautiful views and canons!

and willing models, you know, for the paparazzi. :)

We had a great time boating with you guys!

The Peloponnese

2009-07-19T21:13:00.002-05:00

I have so much more Greece to tell you about! When I last left off, I was recovering from neck pain, developing a Counterpain addiction and heading to Poros on the ferry.

On the ferry

Poros was the gateway to a significant amount of our time in Greece. Poros was where we met up with our friends and the springboard to our time in the Peloponnese.

The Peloponnese is such a beautiful part of Greece with a lot of history. We spent our first full day there on a roadtrip. (Driving a stick shift down hilly, windy roads in Greece, when the closest we normally get to manual is steptronic - now that's what we call a vacation!)

We started by exploring Nafplion.

Nafplion has a very Venetian feel, minus the canals. And it should. The city was held by the Venetians before the Ottomans got their hands on it.

The city also boasts a beautiful harbor and lots of cafes from which to take in the view of the Venetian fortress (Bourtzi) that had historically defended it.

Oh, and it also had communists, which Alex totally loves.

From there, we made our way to Mycenae - an ancient hilltop palace complex discovered in 1874.

Some of the carvings and stone walls are intact (or maybe rebuilt), including the Lion Gate (below right).

Alex posing it up with the architectural elements of Mycenae

Me doing the same

And outside the main city was the Treasury of Atreus - a Mycenaean beehive tomb. I made Alex pose with the masonry.

The structure reminded me of the beehive huts in Ireland: very cool, impressive building, but fairly empty. Look around for 15 seconds and you've pretty much seen it. So I occupied myself with trying to get a picture of the inside, since it was pitch black and I didn't have my flash with me.

In Mycenae, I started on my quest to take better self-portraits of us. I never quite perfected it, but it's worth showing you my progress throughout the trip - so here we have my first attempt.

After Mycenae, we proceeded to Epidavros to see its near-perfect condition theater. Since the city is relatively remote, the masonry here was never taken and so had remained fairly intact since its original construction in the 4th century BC.

We also explored the museum, which contained a treasury of items found at the site during restoration.

And we made another attempt at a self-portrait... getting better.

And then we drove home - because driving in Greece along cliffs in a stick shift is Alex's specialty. Um, well, it's more his than mine! And he did an amazing job - he even let me stop to take a picture. :)

I still have a lot to share, but that's enough for one day. Kudos if you made it to the end! I should have a prize or something!

This weekend

2009-07-13T18:02:00.000-05:00

I went to a baseball game with Patrick at Wrigley.

Can you tell?

Go Cubs Go!

Pain in the neck. Oh, and Athens.

2009-07-11T20:11:00.002-05:00

"Ouch. Ow. Ooh. Ouch."

"Ow. Ow. Ow."

"Ouch"

"Kathleen, are you OK?"

"Ummmm, (whimper, sniffle, etc) no."

And so began our first full day in Athens. At 3am. I'm awesome to travel with.

We had arrived in Athens late the previous day, after making the most of a five-hour layover in Munich. So we had a pretty low key night, walking around Plaka, eating our first bit of real Greek food, and taking in the amazing view from our hotel's rooftop bar.

And just when I thought I could claim victory over the vacation-spoiling demons, just when my upset stomach that plagued me in Munich was dissipating, yep, right about then, I woke up with some seriously intense neck pain.

I couldn't sit. I couldn't stand. I couldn't lay down. It was 3am, I was exhausted and I couldn't sleep if I tried. And I LOVE sleeping! So I whimpered. Depending on whose version of the story you believe, I either quietly winced in pain, whispering ow's and ouch's as I tried to find a comfortable position to exist in, awaking my light-sleeper of a husband OR I complained about my predicament, louder and louder, until my gem of a husband woke from his deep slumber to tend to me.

Either way, I didn't know whether to sit or stand, scream or cry, breathe deeply or hold my breath, and Alex was by my side, trying to help.

As the more lucid member of our party of two, Alex took charge, called our insurance company, fed me Advil, figured out which hospitals I could go to in Athens, put me on the phone with a nurse and hopped in a cab in the middle of the night to find Acetaminophen (Tylenol) at the nurse's suggestion. He's pretty much my knight in shining armor.

Apparently they don't have Acetaminophen in Greece, but they do have Counterpain - a BenGay-type balm that gave me the ability to sleep a few more hours.

Oh, I do love it. So when we woke up the next morning, I applied a heavy dose of Counterpain and we made our way to see the Acropolis.

After some quality sight-seeing, we needed some nourishment, so Alex and I made our way back to our lovely hotel,

and had breakfast on the rooftop

where we took in the view of the Acropolis once again.

After breakfast, it was time to check off the next item on our list - the Greek National Museum. (After applying more CounterPain, and briefly wondering - how much Counterpain is too much? Will I develop an addiction? A dependence? Will this burn my skin? And then deciding that I didn't care.)

We added a stop at the Cycladic Art Museum for good measure.

And then made our way to the ferry to Poros, where we met up with our friends Dave and Ruth, Ruth's family and other friends. Oh we had so much fun there! I nearly forgot about my neck pain! And nothing else went wrong! At least not in Poros! :)

Willkommen in Munchen!

2009-07-05T13:51:00.011-05:00

The vacation recount begins...

On our way to Greece, Alex and I had a long layover in Munich (5 hours). So we decided to make the most of it and head into town to pass the time. It was a quick trip but a great idea!

The S-Bahn (train) runs directly from the airport to Marienplatz: the center of town - right in front of the Rathaus (townhall), home of the Glockenspiel. The Glockenspiel is essentially a giant cuckoo clock in the center of town - a tourist trap that plays at 11am (and noon and 5pm in the summer). Without having to make a special trip, we emerged from the train stop just as the Glockenspiel began to chime and managed to watch it for a few minutes before deciding we had better things to do. :)

From the Glockenspiel, we explored Munich and saw as much as we could of its distinctly German architecture.

Then we made our way to the Frauenkirche - Munich's cathedral (visible in the first skyline picture above).

We got up close and personal with the Frauenkirche's domes by climbing to the top of one of the towers.

We took in the view from the top.

And then, because a trip to Munich without a beer is an incomplete trip to Munich, we went to the Hofbrauhaus.

Biere (Beers)

Biergarten (Beergarden - isn't this helpful?!?)

Alex and I in the Biergarten.
I may not look like it here, because my hair did a nice job of surviving the travel and I photoshopped some color into my skin, but I was deathly ill during this adventure. On the train into town, more than once, I was certain I was going to be sick and it wasn't going to be pretty. I gave serious consideration to whether ruining my sweater or my jacket was a better idea and decided on my jacket because (a) it was less expensive, (b) I have another jacket that is perfectly fine at home and (c) it would do a better job of protecting the commuters I was sharing the train with. Yeah, that bad. Fortunately, through the powers of serious concentration and deep breathing, I was able to save the commuters of Munich from a miserable morning. Is this too much information? Anyway, none of this stopped me from having a beer at the Hofbrauhaus, because (a) how can you go to Munich without having a beer in a beerhall? and (b) well, I'm an idiot.

Real Bavarians!

I survived Munich, barely, and we were back at the airport, without a hitch, in time for our flight to Athens. I'll tell you about that later.

P.S. Hope everyone had a happy 4th!

We're leaving today

2009-06-11T15:03:00.000-05:00

on a vacation! And I still have a couple pictures left from our trip to London! (technically, outside of London, but whatever.)

After our adventure at Blenheim and lunch in Woodstock*, we made our way by bus to Oxford, which wasn't far away and was the best place to catch a train back to London.

And then it occurred to me - we were going to Oxford, as in Oxford the school. We should totally see that before we head back.

To the train station? Or to the University?

And Graham complied.

So Alex and I explored the campus of Christ Church, one of the largest colleges in the University of Oxford. It was really beautiful.

Upon seeing the dining hall, I said to Alex - This makes me think of Harry Potter.
Turns out that this is the dining hall from the movies.
I'm, like, soooo observant.

Any Lost fans out there?

I'm glad we took the time.

Rowers were here!!

We're headed to Greece this evening (hooray!) for a real (i.e., more than 72 hour) vacation. You'll hear from us upon our return.

* Oh, and the Pimm's cup (as featured in the last post), in case anyone cares, is essentially (in concept more than in flavor) British sangria.

Sort of. No, it's not made with wine. But it's refreshing and is served with chopped up fruit (and cucumbers). Essentially, it is Pimm's (a gin-based liqueur that is infused with herbs) mixed with lemonade (and possibly something fizzy like ginger ale), infused with mint, and topped with fruit (in this case, amazingly sweet, fresh strawberries) and cucumbers. It works, you'll just have to trust me on this one.

Blenheim Palace - some culture during our London Weekend

2009-06-06T17:17:00.004-05:00

Our bonafide touristy trip while in London involved a trip to the countryside, to Blenheim Palace. Blenheim is a beautiful home, surrounded by acres upon acres of beautiful gardens and grounds.

Graham was our tour guide.

The gardens were stunning...

...and the house wasn't too shabby either.

But we spent all of our time at Blenheim walking around the grounds. There was so much to see - here is a sampling...

I got a huge kick out of this sign - sometimes my humor is so simple!

And Alex, knowing that my humor is simple, entertained me with some goose-chasing. (Sorry dear - you chase it, I post it.)

After a really nice walk around the palace grounds, Alex, Graham and I had a relaxing, enjoyable lunch at The Feathers in Woodstock - the town adjacent to the palace.

Woodstock

And Pimm's cups! Oh, Pimm's cups, you are so tasty (and pretty)!

London Weekend

2009-06-02T20:39:00.004-05:00

So last time, I told you I was in London for the weekend, visiting Graham, Alex's brother. We had a terrific time: meeting some of Graham's friends, searching for flats (apartments, not shoes, sadly) and squeezing in a little time for sight-seeing.

I really enjoy sight-seeing in London. Because we are often there to visit family, it can be easy to skip, but Alex is totally happy to join me in making a point to see at least one touristy thing while we're across the Atlantic.

This time, we did two (!) touristy things, the first of which was a visit to the Borough Market - a favorite of ours.

Borough Market is London's oldest food market. It has its beginnings in Roman times and has occupied its current location for over 250 years.

Cheese and chocolate - does one really need anything else? :)

It's a wonderful place to browse and discover,

with vendors who are nothing if not modest. ;)

And it's an even better place to eat lunch - specifically a greasy lunch of fish and chips! If you like that sort of thing...

I'll write about the second touristy thing next time.

Patrick, you're a handsome (Blue) Devil

2009-05-24T17:51:00.001-05:00

I'm in London this weekend, visiting my brother-in-law Graham, but I couldn't wait to share these pictures with you.

The weekend after the photography workshop that I attended in San Francisco, my little brother Patrick graduated from Duke. With a Masters. In Computer and Electrical Engineering. With a 4.0. After finishing his undergraduate degree in 3 years.

Wow.

And he still manages to be cool. Check it out:

We spent the weekend wandering around the lovely Duke campus. So gothic and so beautiful.

There are some places on campus that hold great memories for Patrick, including his fraternity.

And Patrick showed me some of his favorite spots on campus, which included the Engineering buildings. (Show off!)

And then he graduated! And this time it didn't rain!

Patrick at the same tree as last year, only drier.

We had a great time spending the day together as a family.

And Alex showed us a little bit of what it would be like to be a history/international affairs major.

That is, if he was our professor.

The rest of the portraits

2009-05-21T15:37:00.001-05:00

Let's see, where was I?

Oh right: and a couple! (A couple of professional photographers - yikes!!)

My second photoshoot on Day 3 of the amazing photography workshop that I've been writing about here, here, and here was with a couple: Matt and Laura, who were among the group teaching the workshop.

I have another story about how not inside-of-my-element I was, but first, a picture, just so you know it all turned out ok in the end.

Oh wow. When I was told I would work with Matt and Laura next, my stomach turned inside out. Doubt started to creep into my mind - I mean, I had seen their self-portraits. What did they need me to take pictures of them for anyway? :) And they know what they're doing! What if they think what I'm telling them to do is stupid? What if they know what I'm photographing won't work? What if...

Fortunately, I didn't have too much time for self-doubt because I was thrown into a group where shooting was already in progress. A couple of snaps of the shutters and the group turned to me as Matt and Laura asked (very nicely, I might add), so what would you like us to do?

Whoa.

I was a deer in headlights. And here's something you may not know about me: I have a quirk. Probably more than one, but one in particular that came to light here. When I'm nervous or don't know what to say, I crack jokes - weird jokes, inappropriate jokes (not in the risque or dirty sense, just simply not germane), anything to distract people from my unease.

So I asked Matt to twirl Laura. I meant spin. In the dancing sense. But that's not what I said. So I explained what I meant and then somehow decided it would be a good time to start in on the weird jokes. Frolic like bunnies! I said. I was kidding, but no one laughed. So I kept going: If you don't want to spin her, you can both hop around like bunnies - that might be nice!

I hoped they knew I was kidding. I really think they looked nice spinning!

And then they did this at the end, making it all worthwhile. They are a gorgeous couple.

I think at one point I even asked them to talk to each other as they walked away from me. The topic? Why you aren't bunnies. Totally weird. I know. I cannot believe I'm even telling you this.

Fortunately for me, you don't need to tell Matt and Laura too much to get a beautiful picture.

You guys were wonderful and wonderfully patient models. Thank you!

More adventures in actual portraits

2009-05-17T16:54:00.000-05:00

After surviving the experience of my first real photoshoot on Day 2 of the San Francisco workshop, I assumed the rest would be easy. But Day 3 arrived with a whole set of new challenges. New kinds of subjects - a family! with kids! and a couple! (A couple of professional photographers - yikes!!)

Taking pictures of people who do what I tell them to was still new as of Day 2 - one day does not an expert make, apparently. But I had amazing subjects who made it easy to take these pictures.

First was the beautiful family:

Smiling faces,

laughing with dad,

and doing what little boys do best

I had a great time photographing them.

I'll tell you about the couple next time.

Wait, you want me to take an actual portrait?!?!

2009-05-14T21:33:00.005-05:00

I spent the first weekend in May in San Francisco, trying to discover whether I truly could capture someone, really show who they are in a picture or if I was just destined to simply push the shutter and get lucky (sometimes) with my photographs. And while I cannot say that I emerged completely transformed into an artist, I did return home having made steps in that direction and with a roadmap to get there.

The photography workshop I attended in San Francisco was a three-day affair. Day 1 was about self-portraiture, artistry and learning who we are and how that impacts our art. Now, I'm an analytical number-crunching nerd, so to say I felt a bit out of my league is a true understatement. Fortunately for my self-consciousness, everyone else seemed to be (for the most part) new to the exercise too, and so we all stumbled through the day together. It was great.

On Day 2, we did something completely different. We headed to the lovely town of Stinson Beach, where the uber-talented Rick Chapman had recruited a number of locals to be portrait subjects for us. We were paired up with another photographer, given a subject and sent out for two hours to learn about the person and capture them on film (or SD/CF card, whatever).

As the time for our assignment approached, nervous energy filled the room, and my classmates, who take portraits of babies/children/families,wondered how different it would be to take an adult's portrait. At the same time, I stewed over how different it would be to take a portrait of someone (a real one), how I had never in my life given instructions to the person on the other side of my lens, and how I had no idea what I had gotten myself into! What had I gotten myself into?

This first portrait assignment pushed me. My subject was an amazing woman.

We went to a place that was very special to her, a place of remembrance.

And we celebrated those memories and looked forward.

And I think I captured a little bit of that. And a little bit of me. What do you think?

I'll tell you all about Day 3 later.

Last Weekend

2009-05-07T07:56:00.005-05:00

Last weekend, I flew to San Francisco to participate in this - another photography workshop with Me Ra Koh.

The view from my room

Wow. Just, wow.

I was so out of my element, but I loved it! The workshop pushed me in a new direction and I'm a more well-rounded person because of it. I push myself intellectually at work, I push myself physically in the gym, but I pushed myself artistically this weekend. And it was weird. And amazing. All at the same time.

Learning from Lesley Ehrenfeld, Garrett Burdick, Me Ra Koh , Brian Tausend and Rick Chapman,
all of whom are amazing

The last workshop I took with Me Ra was in Chicago (home) and we learned about the technical (up my alley) aspects of photography - aperture, shutter speed, ISO, flash, shooting in Manual mode. I really enjoyed it and came away with a view that the world was my oyster. Technically, I could take pictures, now I just needed to take those tools and compose great photographs.

When I first read the description for the workshop, it sounded amazing. First, Me Ra and Brian (her husband) would be there, but they would be complemented by Garrett Burdick and Rick Chapman. Second, this workshop was about artistry, not necessarily about building a photography business (I'm not) or about how to shoot a wedding (I don't). While it sounded a little over my head, it also sounded like something I could really benefit from. Time, and my pictures, will tell...

Rick Chapman at work

So I signed up.

And waited.

As I got ready to fly to San Francisco, my mind was in a totally different place. Work was busy. Life was busy. Artistry was not at the top of my list.

And when I met the other workshop attendees, the vast majority of whom had their own photography businesses (all but 2 or 3 of us!), I was afraid. I was petrified.

But I survived. ;)

And then I grew, I had fun, and I met some amazing people. What an incredible weekend!

Who wouldn't want to learn from this group?
Brian Tausend, Me Ra Koh, Rick Chapman, Garrett Burdick, Laura Reoch and Matt Reoch

I'll post some more images once I finish editing. We did a few portrait sessions over the weekend, which really pushed me. I've always been an observer. I've never told anyone to smile, much less how to pose for a picture! It was scary at times, but I'm going to work on trusting my judgment, giving myself authority and believing that I know what looks good. In fact, I just may subject someone who is graduating this weekend to a little portrait session...

Look out Patrick! :)

Baby Liam - seven weeks cute, er, old

2009-04-27T21:08:00.011-05:00

Is it me, or does this little guy look a lot older than seven weeks?

Remember my cousin Susie? She had her baby Liam seven weeks ago and he's adorable!! Last weekend, I was in Milwaukee to independently verify his cuteness and I am happy to report that neither mom nor grandmom were lying when they told me that he's really really cute! And big! With an amazing full head of hair - check it out!

Susie has taken to motherhood like a fish to water. She is a pro and just beams with pride!

Liam's grandmother Mary is a pro as well, though she's had some practice. (This is her second grandson.) You can see just how much she lights up when Liam smiles. As she pointed out, Liam is very interactive for a seven-month-old.

He's a great smiler!

And a pro sleeper.

Liam, this picture is for you, I know how much you love black-and-white photos! :)

I can't wait to head back up North for some more photos!

Visiting Jack

2009-04-05T20:20:00.004-05:00

Work slowed down enough this week for me to visit my new little friend Jack on Friday evening. I haven't seen him in a while, and he and my camera haven't had a get-together since the beginning of the year.

Karen was kind enough to let me come by to take a few photos of the little guy. Jack and I had a lot of fun. Jack, because bath time is one of his favorite times of day...

...and me, because I got to try out my new lens (a 24-70mm, 2.8), which was a lot of fun! Even Jack was impressed.

It's amazing how much Jack has grown in the few short weeks since I last saw him, and it's great to see him preparing for Dartmouth already:

toGA, toGA, toGA!
(just kidding, Karen)

Jack is a sweetheart and we had a great visit with him and his parents, who just exude pride from every pore (as they should).

I cannot wait to practice some more with my lens!! Who's next? :)

I was far away last week

2009-03-26T21:12:00.001-05:00

I'm pretty certain I've started, filled or ended almost every post in the past couple months with a comment about how work has interfered with my blogging. I've been busy, people! :)

Usually, I don't have much to show for my work. I mean, I guess I could post a picture of an excel spreadsheet or a video of me on a conference call, but I can't imagine that would be very interesting to you.

This time, however, I do! I have something to share! I was in Beijing last week. And I have pictures!

Shortly after arriving, we went out in Houhai - as far as I could surmise, it's a fairly large lake surrounded entirely by bars. I've never seen so many lounge acts in one spot and in such close proximity!

Most of the bars were pretty tiny, but this one was impressive enough to share. So authentically decorated and, well, then again, so...not. Something tells me this area is not intended for the native Chinese.

The next day we did a quick tour of the Forbidden City before our meetings started in the afternoon. I'm so glad we did. Without that visit, I would have felt silly to fly so far for a couple meetings (except for the whole part where that's my job).

We started out in Tian'AnMen Square, where the military guys are the most serious (and the most fun to photograph).

And we were incredibly lucky to have blue skies. Yep. Blue sky. In Beijing. Wow.

After walking through Tian'AnMen Gate (the entrance across from the square) and before formally entering the Forbidden City itself, there are a ton of Chinese military trainees practicing, um, stuff. Some of the guys are more impressive than others.

One of these kids is doing his own thing

The Forbidden City itself is beautiful. And HUGE. After a while, it looks like you're seeing the same buildings over and over again, but it's still beautiful.

Gorgeous (restored) details

Bronze vats, which were filled with water historically and used as fire extinguishers, were throughout the Forbidden City

I was particularly enamored with the roofs. So lovely.

Oh, and apparently my reddish brown/blond hair, blue/green eyes and fair skin are fascinating to Chinese people. I was stared at a lot, especially when we encountered groups of Chinese tourists (from outside Beijing). My colleague pointed out to me that this guy was staring at me. And he was staring at me intensely. Even when I looked directly at him, he did not avert his stare. Not even a little. He was fascinated with me. When my colleague stood next to me, this man gave him a thumbs up.

So my colleague did what anyone would do. He told this guy to pose for a picture with me. And this man invited his wife to join us. It wasn't as weird as it sounds.

It was weirder.

There was a lot of touching my hair and my skin and staring to confirm I was human, I suppose. Anyway, here are my tormentors, er, new friends.

It's nice to be home.

Happy Birthday Alex!

2009-03-25T21:48:00.005-05:00

Today is my favorite husband's birthday. It's the day we celebrate all the days that came before it and everything that makes him who he is.

The serious days.

The adventurous days.

And the silly days.

I truly have the best husband! :)

Here's to many more years of many more days that make you so wonderful - Happy Birthday!

When the train door closes, an oven one opens?

2009-03-10T20:23:00.000-05:00

This is a story about chicken. Tasty, tasty chicken. But first how I got there...

About a year ago, Alex and I realized that we live close enough to the suburban train line (the Metra) to consider taking it, instead of the el, to and from work:
* The el can take 30-40 minutes to lumber its way into the loop. The Metra takes 8-10 minutes.
* Walking to the el takes 10 minutes. Walking to the Metra takes 15 minutes.
* Even better - the downtown Metra stop is essentially in the building where I work. The el is not.
Even without that last fact (in Alex's case), the Metra is a far superior way to go to work. Except maybe on really cold days when walking 15 minutes outside instead of 10 seems like the utter insanity.

Two Metra lines run from the stop near our house to the loop and so there is a good number of options during peak times. Only recently, I've found myself going home after the evening rush. Trains run pretty consistently through 6:44pm, but after that, they run hourly on the half hour. So sometimes, I cut it close, miss the 6:44 and find myself with the choice of going back to my office to risk missing the 7:30 train or trying to entertain myself for 46 minutes in the train station.

Last Thursday, I chose the latter and went to the Hudson News to read magazines. The most recent issue of Gourmet intrigued me, in particular, this article. Not wanting to be an impulsive magazine buyer, I decided to mull it over. Thank goodness the article was available online, because on Sunday, I decided I wanted to try it - roasting two chickens at once, using the meat throughout the week for tasty dinners and the carcasses for stock. Brilliant!

So far, we've roasted the chickens, which we ate for dinner with the pan sauce - amazing! And last night we had the cheesy chicken and mushroom lasagne - really good! Leftover lasagne tonight. Tomorrow, gyros. I'm excited for the gyros!

I've copied the recipes below in case the link stops working.

ROAST CHICKEN WITH PAN GRAVY
Gourmet, March 2009
Serves 4 with leftovers

INGREDIENTS
2 whole chickens (about 3 1/2 lb each)
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, divided
6 large garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
2 lemons, halved
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 c water

INSTRUCTIONS
For roast chicken:
- Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in middle.
- Pull off excess fat around cavities of chickens and discard, then rinse chickens and pat dry. Melt 4 Tbsp butter with garlic and brush butter all over chickens. Season both chickens inside and out with 2 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper (total). Put half of garlic and 1 lemon half in each cavity and loosely tie legs together with string. Roast chickens in a large (17- by 11-inch) flameproof roasting pan, basting with pan juices using a spoon (remove pan from oven and tilt if necessary) every 20 minutes, rotating pan, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into fleshy part of a thigh of each chicken (do not touch bone) registers 170°F, 50 to 60 minutes total. Baste chickens once more, then carefully tilt them so juices from cavities run into roasting pan. Transfer chickens to a cutting board (reserve pan) and let rest 15 minutes before carving.

Make gravy while chickens rest:
- Pour off all but 2 Tbsp fat from pan, then cook remaining drippings over medium-high heat until deep golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Stir in water and simmer, stirring and scraping up brown bits, until thickened, about 3 to 4 minutes. Whisk in remaining 4 Tbsp butter and lemon juice to taste (from remaining lemon halves). Season with salt and pepper. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a gravy boat.

Note: If desired, you can also add herbs such as thyme or rosemary to cavities before roasting.

[Kathleen note: while it doesn't say so here, when you're done eating, shred up all of the chicken you didn't eat. That should be at least 4.5 cups. Save the carcasses for making stock.]

CHEESY CHICKEN AND MUSHROOM LASAGNE
Gourmet, March 2009
Serves 4

INGREDIENTS
1 (10-oz) package cremini or white mushrooms, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
5 tbsp unsalted butter, divided
0.5 c dry white wine
2.25 c shredded roast chicken meat, (approximately 1/2 chicken, skin discarded)
3.5 c whole milk
0.25 c all-purpose flour
2 tsp thyme leaves
0.75 c grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
12 Barilla no-boil egg lasagne noodles (less than a 9-oz package)
1.5 c coarsely grated Gruyère (3 oz)

INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 425°F with rack in middle.
- Cook mushrooms, garlic, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/8 tsp pepper in oil and 1 Tbsp butter in a 4-qt heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are softened, about 3 minutes. Add wine and simmer briskly 2 minutes. Transfer mushroom mixture to a large bowl and stir in chicken. (Set aside saucepan.)
- Bring milk to a bare simmer in a medium saucepan. Melt remaining 4 Tbsp butter in 4-qt saucepan over medium-low heat. Add flour and cook roux, whisking constantly, 3 minutes. Add hot milk in a slow stream, whisking constantly. Add thyme, 3/4 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper and simmer, whisking occasionally, until thickened, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from heat and reserve 1 cup sauce. Stir parmesan into sauce remaining in pan, then stir into mushroom filling.
- Pour half of reserved plain sauce into baking pan, spreading evenly to coat bottom. Add 3 lasagne sheets, overlapping slightly, and one third of mushroom filling, spreading evenly, then sprinkle one fourth of Gruyère over top. Repeat 2 times. Top with remaining 3 lasagne sheets and remaining plain sauce, spreading evenly. Sprinkle with remaining Gruyère.
- Cover with foil, tenting slightly to prevent foil from touching top of lasagne but sealing all around edge, and bake 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake until cheese is golden, about 15 minutes more. Let lasagne stand 10 minutes before serving.

CHICKEN GYROS WITH CUCUMBER SALSA AND TSATSIKI
Gourmet, March 2009
Serves 4

INGREDIENTS
2 Kirby cucumbers, divided
1.5 c Greek yogurt
1 tsp fresh lemon juice, divided
5 garlic cloves, minced, divided
1 pint grape tomatoes, quartered
1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
0.33 c chopped flat-leaf parsley
0.25 c chopped mint
0.25 c extra virgin olive oil
1 rounded tsp dried oregano
1 rounded tsp dried rosemary, crumbled
4 8-inch pieces of naan bread or 4 8-inch pocketless pita rounds
2.25 c shredded roast chicken meat, (approximately 1/2 chicken, skin discarded)
0.5 head iceburg lettuce, thinly shredded

INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat broiler
- Peel and grate 1 cucumber, then squeeze it with your hands to remove excess water. Stir together with yogurt, 1/2 tsp lemon juice, one third of garlic, and 1/4 tsp each of salt and pepper to make tsatsiki.
- Cut remaining cucumber into 1/4-inch pieces and stir together with tomatoes, onion, parsley, mint, remaining 1/2 tsp lemon juice, and 1/4 tsp each of salt and pepper to make salsa.
- Gently simmer oil, oregano, rosemary, remaining garlic, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/8 tsp pepper in a small heavy saucepan, stirring constantly, until garlic is fragrant but not browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Toss chicken with 3 Tbsp garlic oil and brush one side of bread with remainder.
- Heat bread, oiled side up, in a 4-sided sheet pan, covered with foil, 3 to 4 inches from broiler 3 minutes. Uncover and broil, rotating bread for even coloring, until golden in spots, about 2 minutes.
- Spread some of tsatsiki on warm bread and top with chicken and some of lettuce and salsa. Serve remaining lettuce, salsa, and tsatsiki on the side.

My Cousin Susie

2009-02-25T19:29:00.003-06:00

I'm worried my lovely cousins and aunt will think that I've withheld pictures for so long because I have a secret vendetta or something. But that's not it.

I love my cousin Susie and her sisters and my aunt Mary.

My lovely cousin Susie, who may even be a mother now for all I know (I'm so far behind the world these days), had her baby shower on January 10th (yes, 46 days ago) and I'm just now posting the photos because I'm a little embarrassed. More on that in a sec. Doesn't she look so happy?

Yeah, so about that embarrassment - January 10th was six days after I returned from Florida, where I took lots of pictures of kids. And at some point along the way, some stuff/crud/whatever got on my lens (actually, it was on my filter, but whatever). And a bunch of my photos got a little weird as a result. Nuts! But I was able to salvage some of the results with a great deal of effort.

Nothing brings the ladies in my family together like a baby or bridal shower. And Susie's was no exception. Cousins...

aunts, moms, family friends...

we all had a great time.

So Susie (Susan to those of you haven't known her since before she was 2), when are you going to have the baby already so I can come up north with my camera??? :)

Worst. Blogger. Ever.

2009-02-21T17:25:00.001-06:00

Where have I been? I bet you thought I gave up on blogging - it's been so long!

Work was all-consuming for a while. I felt like I was an investment banking analyst again (ick!!). That is not a part of my career I was ever eager to return to. Fortunately, it wasn't for too long, even if it was a bit more stressful. I did have some free time, but not enough for blogging.

Here's what I've been up to when I wasn't working:

I went to a Bulls game last week. That was really cool. We got fantastic seats from a friend of mine, and I treated my brother Chris, who is a huge fan.

The only drawback was the really obnoxious woman sitting in front of us who stood up constantly, desperate for attention from the rest of the crowd, the mascot Benny the Bull, the refs, the security guards, the players, the basketball, the floorboards - did I mention she was desperate?? Fortunately for you, I have cropped her out of the pictures I took.

It was a great game. The Bulls were down as the end of the fourth quarter approached but brought it within three points with just over ten seconds to go. Ben Gordon was fouled on a three-point attempt and made all three free throws, tying the game with 6.5 seconds. How exciting!!

When the Heat in-bounded the ball, the Bulls stole it and called a time-out. Hooray! Only then the Heat managed to steal the ball on our in-bound pass, run it down the court, slam dunk, game over. :( What a downer! Still a great game.

And I didn't get to tell you about Valentine's Day either! The beautiful roses my wonderful husband sent to me went totally unrecognized by the internet! But they certainly were not unrecognized by me. I took a lot of pictures of them. Aren't they gorgeous?

And I didn't even tell you about the choco-tastic sorbet I made with these:

That I served with these.

And they looked like this together. Tasty...

So tasty that I had to take the rest of the cookies to work. So that I wouldn't eat any more.

Dangerously tasty.

And I still haven't told you about my cousin Susie's baby shower. But that deserves its own post. So that will be next.

Boca Raton

2009-01-26T18:43:00.001-06:00

Our annual pilgrimage to Florida would not be complete without a stop in Boca Raton to visit Alex's grandparents, so we made our way south on 95 before heading back to Chicago.

We had a really nice visit and even enjoyed a beautiful walk along the beach (and the last bit of blue sky and sunshine Alex and I will probably see until June).

Really beautiful, even if there was evidence that lots of jellyfish and their equally evil cousins, the Portuguese man o' war(s, men o' war??) were swimming in the ocean. (Meaning, I went nowhere near the ocean. Totally afraid.)

Watch out! Stingers in the ocean!

Alex's grandmother, however, was fearless and swam in the ocean, while I cowered in the shade, afraid of burning and getting attacked by a jellyfish.

Fearless

Happy and sting-free!

Dancing 2008 Away

2009-01-25T18:00:00.005-06:00

I showed you the cute little ones with whom we celebrated the arrival of 2009, this post is about the adults. So as the title suggests, as we have done for the past 10 years, we danced the old year away and welcomed in the new one.

Trying to convey motion with a long shutter speed.
Do you get it? They're DANCING!

We welcomed 2009 with princess cake and sunburst (or was it sunshine? sunkist? sun-a-licious?) cake and hugged and smooched when the midnight struck (even if the TV didn't work and we had to rely on the internet to know when 12:00:00am 1/1/09 rolled around).

Princess cake and that other cake

And Alex and I had a fantastic time, as always.

Once the new year began, there was swimming in the ocean (not for me, I'm totally afraid of jellyfish) and sea kayaking.

And, of course, pong. The real kind - the Dartmouth kind. That's the only kind worth playing. In case anyone wanted my opinion...

I love Palm Beach for the New Year. Liam and Karen, thanks for letting Alex and me celebrate with you and your family.

Happy New Year! (Alternate Title: I'm only 21 days behind)

2009-01-22T21:54:00.007-06:00

Finally! I'm editing photos that were taken this year instead of last year. :)

I've edited these pictures in two batches, so party pictures will come as soon as I get to them (maybe even this weekend!). For now, some pictures of the adorable little ones whose parents were kind enough to let me chase them around with my camera this year. But first, a little background.

Every year, for the past 10 years (!), my good friends Liam and Karen have invited friends (including me) to celebrate the new year with them and their family in Florida. I've never turned down the opportunity to go, because (1) they are some of my favorite people and (2) they invite some of my other favorite people to join us. It's a great reunion, especially now that we've gotten to the age where we don't have a lot of events like weddings to bring us together every year. (Also, Alex and I met (for the second time) and started dating after New Years in Florida, so add that extra layer of nostalgia to it all.)

There are small variations in the group each year, but the core hasn't changed much since we started. The most notable change to the group has been the addition of some new little faces. And they belong to the aforementioned little ones whom I chased with my camera. Like this one:

This is Eleni, Leni for short. She was so much fun to photograph - she couldn't get enough of looking at the screen on the back of my camera, pointing to the pictures I had taken and excitedly declaring, in a way that only a two-year-old can, "That's MEEEE!!!!"

And I couldn't get enough of showing her, because, hey, that's the kind of positive feedback I need! :)

Leni also got a big kick out of Alex, and the feeling was mutual. She took him on walks up the stairs to demonstrate her stair-climbing-prowess to him (he was impressed) and led him around the yard looking for aliens (he played along). She had some serious powers over Alex. I'll have to consult with her to figure out her secret! ;)

I was even able to get a couple cute shots of Leni with her mother, Ruth, and sister, Lily.

And this one, which I love, of Ruth and Lily on the beach (not that you can tell).

Of course, Lily had her moment to shine on her own too.

And then there was Jack. Jack is Liam and Karen's addition to the group. He was surrounded by grandparents and grandparents' friends most of the time, so he was tougher to track down, but that didn't stop me from trying!

Jack is a very serious young man.

I mean, he's already trying to walk! At four months! ;)

But he's also willing to relax and enjoy the lovely Florida weather.

As long as his mom is close by!

More on Florida is soon as I get to it!

Christmas in Chicago

2009-01-19T18:15:00.004-06:00

For those of you who are on "regular time," Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! (For those of you who, like me, have to work today, Happy Monday!) For those of you still with me on "blog time," we last left off on Merry Christmas! :)

After returning from London, we hosted a post-Christmas celebration with my family in Chicago. Our tree was still up and looking just as Christmas-y as the day we decorated it, because it is a fake. (As an aside, I know a lot of people are totally anti-fake, and I love the look and smell of a real tree. BUT we were set to be out of town for two whole weeks over the holiday season, and the risks of serious mess and/or fire were risks we were not willing to take. PLUS the fake tree was got is beautiful with real-looking branches at the ends. AND it was pre-lit, which means my forearms and I are pretty much in love with it.)

See the real-looking curvature of the needles? I <3 our fake tree!

Everyone did a lovely job wrapping this year.

And most of all, we just enjoyed being together. Or at least I did.

It's possible Patrick enjoyed the cool new sunglasses that Chris got for him more than being together, though I'm sure he enjoyed the togetherness as well.

My mom definitely enjoyed the togetherness. And posing with her present (she's so good at it!). Though she's a little jealous of how totally awesome I am at wrapping gifts. Of course, she taught me everything I know...

Next time: we make some progress toward 2009 in Florida...

Christmas in London (Part 5)

2009-01-18T14:32:00.007-06:00

We returned to London (possibly the only modern city in the world with working phone booths) in time to celebrate Christmas and do a little shopping.

If our phone booths were this cute, we probably would have kept them as well.

We tried to do a little shopping on the 24th, but apparently London shop-keepers didn't seem to care about selling stuff, notwithstanding the current economic conditions. Like this shop, whose keeper kicked us out when we tried to walk in, even though it was 1:50pm and the shop was set to close at 2:00.

We were able to stop by the wonderful book-binding store that Maggie had scoped out for me and pick up some beautiful bookcloth that I cannot wait to use. So it wasn't all a loss.

After shopping, we headed to Maggie's home for Christmas Eve dinner and some gift opening. The whole gang was there. Alex (who, incidentally, loves it when I post his picture on the blog):

(Ha ha. He actually hates it!)

Graham (who took a little nap and looked fabulous while doing so):

And Maggie:

The presents were beautifully wrapped.

And we had a wonderful dinner.

Followed by a very pretty trifle.

And me? I was there too, though I didn't get a picture of myself, until I took this distorted and fairly unattractive one while waiting for the tube back to where we were staying.

Before heading to bed, Alex and I went to the church across the street from where we were staying for midnight mass. It was beautiful.

And the tree was one of the only traditionally decorated (i.e. not covered in tinsel and other decor that should have been outlawed after the 1970s) trees we saw in London.

One of these days, I'll be caught up to current pictures, but as long as I'm not: Merry Christmas! ;)

Six years ago today

2009-01-17T21:04:00.004-06:00

I went out on my first date with this guy.

I'm so glad that happened, because we have had a lot of fun together...

...and I found my best friend.

Christmas in London (Part 4) - More Christmas in Paris

2009-01-17T16:37:00.001-06:00

We had a lot to accomplish on our second day in Paris before we had to be on our 9pm train back to London, so we got up early to tackle the town. Really early. Like we-woke-up-in-the-19th-century early. See?

OK, not really, but I love that Paris affords the opportunity to take a picture of a city in 2008 that looks like it could have been taken generations ago. The boats on the Seine just scream for sepia tone. Don't you think?

Here's what it actually looked like as the clouds started to dissipate in the morning.

And after the clouds left, beautiful blue sky remained and the monuments were in view. Alex and I got a special kick out of the obelisk in the Place de la Concorde, given that we've seen its twin at the Luxor Temple as well as the "gift" King Louis Philippe gave to Muhammed Ali in exchange for it - an iron clock, now at the Muhammed Ali mosque in Cairo, that does not work now and never did.

Did I mention how blue the sky was?

Our first destination was Les Invalides - home of Napoleon's tomb and the Musée de l'Armée (the military museum), which we thought Alex would get a kick out of. I simply think the main chapel is a beautiful building.

Under the gorgeous main dome lies Napoleon as well as a lot of Napoleon's stuff, like handwritten notes, letters, books, silverware, etc.

Sharing the space with Napoleon were some other war heroes like Ferdinand Foch (the Allied Supreme Commander in World War I). While I took a picture of the tomb straight-on, I like the first picture I caught from behind a curtain alongside it. It's like I caught a glimpse of these soldiers, carrying their fallen hero.

After learning all about World War II from Alex, our expert tour guide for the morning (too bad there isn't a math museum - that's about the only place I could be useful), we had lunch at the cute, but maybe overly-decorated, bistro Le Pré aux Clercs.

More importantly, our lunch spot put us right across the street from a Ladurée, purveyor of some of the best macarons in Paris. They were like air and while I was full from lunch, I still found room for these little delights!

The pastries and the macarons

After some post-lunch shopping, still stuffed with bistro fare and macarons, we made our way to the Musée d'Orsay, where Graham resumed his role as museum guide.

The Musée d'Orsay is housed in a former railway station, and its unique (for a museum, not for a railway station) layout makes for a beautiful backdrop for the art inside.

At the top of the museum is a lovely impressionist gallery with windows that look out onto the city and views of the statues that sit along the roof line, which truly enchanted me.

Despite our full stomachs as we entered the museum, we were hungry when we left. Alex bought us crêpes, so I let him have a couple bites of mine. He was very happy about that, because my crêpe was awesome.

From there we made our way back toward Saint-Germain-des-Prés and made a quick stop inside the church before heading to my favorite restaurant in Paris for dinner.

Inside Saint-Germain-des-Prés

Oh, I was so excited about dinner. When I last went to Paris, in 2002, my friend Ellen had sent me to this restaurant, and I enjoyed it so much I wanted to go back. It's tasty. It's reasonable. It has a great story. It generally has a line of Parisians outside the door (always a good sign, see my thoughts on lined-up locals here). Oh, and you only have one option for dinner (steak frites), so the only decisions you have to make are how you want your meat cooked and which red wine you want to drink with your dinner.

I was so excited.

Since our train was at 9pm, there was some debate about whether we should eat at Le Relais de Venise on our first or second night in Paris. Fortunately, I found a review of the restaurant here that told me that the restaurant would open at 6pm, so we planned to head to the restaurant for an early dinner, pick up our bags at the hotel (where they had been left for the day), and make our way to the Gare du Nord to catch our train.

Only the restaurant doesn't open at 6pm. (The New York Times lied to me, people!) It opens at 7pm. And just when I was about to throw myself into the middle of the Champs-Élysées, Alex, Maggie and Graham offered to save the day. Alex and Graham ran to the Métro (it was rush-hour and the streets were totally jammed) to grab our bags at the hotel, while Maggie kept me calm and helped hold our place as first in line for the 7pm opening.

It was a little nerve-wracking. As 7pm approached, the line stretched around the corner and down the street. The restaurant would likely only seat full parties, and Alex and Graham had a lot of Paris to cover to make it to the hotel and back in time. Maggie and I devised plans to deal with the situation if the doors opened before they returned. Should we explain the situation? Hmm, our French probably isn't that great. We'll eat without Alex and Graham? Yeah, that wouldn't be cool. And then eureka! We knew what we had to do. We would cry. A lot.

All I can say is thank goodness there were about 5 locks on the door to the restaurant. As the hostess started to open the door, our guys were not in sight. But as she turned the last lock, Alex and Graham appeared in the distance, luggage in hand. And all was right with the world.

Now all that was left was to pray that dinner was worth all that trouble. I would have felt awful if people were unhappy! But it was good and aside from a few knife fights ;) , we had a lovely time.

AND we made our train back to London.

Christmas in London (Part 3) - Christmas in Paris

2009-01-14T20:39:00.010-06:00

We decided to mix things up on this trip to London by heading to Paris for a couple days. I hadn't been to Paris since I went in 2002 with my friend Kate, so I was excited to see it again.

Alex, Graham and Maggie were in attendance...

...and me too!

Our (sort of) first stop was the Louvre, which was picturesque, even if it was a gray day.

At the Louvre, we saw an exhibit on Andrea Mantegna, which I would not have come close to appreciating without Graham's help. (Graham is like those recordings you can buy at museums that explain the art to you. Except he's human. And funny. And you can ask him questions. And he tells you when things are beautiful, so you can nod in approval and say "yes, that is really beautiful" like you know what you're talking about. And the Parisians gawk and wonder how this American chick is, like, so totally cultured. Meanwhile, you move onto the next thing hanging on the wall and admire - probably aloud, because you're loving this - the luminance rendered by the artist's brushwork, because Graham just told you to.) Walking around museums with Graham is great in my book.

After the Louvre (well, actually after and before the Louvre, but that's a story not worth telling), we had lunch at the top of the Centre Pompidou, which was both delicious and beautiful.

The Centre Pompidou

The restaurant
(if you look carefully, you can see the Christmas trees coated in
a tragically thick coat of red spray paint outside the windows)

The restaurant has fantastic views of Paris, and while this picture does not do it justice, even on the cloudy day we visited, we were able to see all the sights from our table.

The Eiffel Tower was visible from where I was sitting, but you
can only make it out in this photo if you click on it to enlarge it!

After our daytime adventures, we rested up and then made our way out on the town. Before dinner, we walked across town to visit some friends of Graham, and I snapped a few photos along the way.

I'll write about our second day in Paris next time. For now, here are some pictures I took of the city at night.

La Tour Eiffel

The ferris wheel at Place de la Concorde

Avenue des Champs-Elysées from Place de la Concorde
L'Arc de Triomphe is just visible at the end

La Place Vendôme

L'Hôtel de Ville

Le Métro

Christmas in London (Part 2)

2009-01-14T20:26:00.006-06:00

After exploring the British Museum, Alex and I managed to squeeze in a quick visit with my beautiful friend Nelly, her husband Joel and the newest addition to their family, Ewan. As luck would have it, I had my camera with me (we were just coming from the museum) and Ewan is a terrific subject. :) Here are a couple shots of the little guy sitting on our table:

Such a serious young man, but so very cute!

Nelly, thank you for letting me snap a few shots! It was great to see you!

Christmas in London (Part 1)

2009-01-08T21:54:00.009-06:00

This year, Alex and I headed to London to celebrate Christmas with his mother and brother. We had a lovely time, and I owe you some pictures!

Our first couple days were spent in London, catching up on our favorite sites. We started off visiting Portobello Road in an attempt to stay awake/do away with jetlag in one fell swoop. It didn't work exactly, but it was a nice try.

We did NOT sleep well on our flight. That there was a restless 10-12 year old boy sitting behind us on the plane, unintentionally (I hope) kicking our seats for most of the flight did not help. So this trip will go down in the record books as one of the worst adjustments to the London timezone that we've ever experienced. :(

Alex, trying to look awake

My amusement with the short, squat trees all over London kept me awake for a while. Check them out! They're...well, um...different. Weird! To use Dartmouth pong vocabulary, these are Christmas shrubs, not Christmas trees. Heck, they are basically Christmas two-cup!

Christmas shrubbery

After a great Iranian dinner and a lackluster night of sleep, we spent our second day in London at one of my favorite museums: the British Museum. The contents of the museum are amazing, if a bit controversial, and the architecture of the main atrium alone is worth the visit.

The rest of the building isn't too shabby either.

There was a really nice exhibit on Babylon, which we enjoyed.

Alex and I, about to learn about Babylon

And I truly enjoyed the contemporary art on display among the artifacts, especially since Graham was with us to explain it all. I mean, without him, I would have no idea why there is a 24 karat gold sculpture of Kate Moss in contortions near the Greek and Roman sculpture. Hmm. I'm still not sure that I do, but it was cool all the same.

The Egyptian artifacts are amazing.

And they have the Rosetta Stone. THE Rosetta Stone. Wow.

And these are beautiful, I believe they are pre-Columbian? I think. I need to visit Central and South America so I can learn to identify some of this stuff! I'll add that to the list, I suppose...

More pictures later. This post is looooooooooooooo-ong. :)

Happy 2009!

2009-01-05T22:04:00.002-06:00

It's been a while since I've written - there's been lots of travel since my last real post. London, Paris and Florida separate this entry from the last time you heard from me.

Moving from one year to another often gives rise to a bit of reflection, and so I find myself looking both backward and forward today.

2008 was a tough year. There were disappointments and triumphs. And while the markets turned upside down and our (or maybe just my) dreams of retiring early seem like a silly fantasy now, I learned that I don't need those things to be happy. Meeting goals and succeeding is fun and satisfying; worrying about things beyond my control isn't. And so I found a fascinating (to me, at least) part of me that doesn't need to be a portfolio manager or retire at 45, a part that would consider another job if I had to and a part that simply finds satisfaction in knowing I did my best. How very Stuart Smalley of me!

Armed with the knowledge that I'm more resilient than I thought, yet still wanting to be the best Kathleen I can be, I'm looking forward to some self-improvement in 2009. I still want to succeed at work; I want to do better work this year than last, irrespective of market performance. But this will not happen at the expense of my health. That means being better about working out. And eating a bit better. Oh, yes, cliche as it may be, I'm going to try to whip myself into shape this year. :) And I'm telling you, my dear readers, in the hopes that you might hold me to it. I also want to improve my photography with the simple goal this year of asking myself two questions before I shoot - did you set the ISO appropriately? what about the white balance? I'm tempted to write it on the back of my camera. We'll see if writing it down here is sufficient.

I'm excited for 2009. I'm nervous. But I'm ready.

Happy New Year!

More on our travels later this month.

Merry Christmas! I'll be back soon.

2008-12-24T10:32:00.004-06:00

Preparing to have Christmas dinner shortly, but wanted to leave some holiday wishes here. Dinner?, you ask. Yes, dinner, I say.

Alex and I are in jolly old London town for Christmas this year, celebrating with his family. I have lots of pictures, but no cord with which to bring them to you.

We'll be back on the 26th and after some serious sleeping, I'll show you some pictures.

Until then, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Bonnes Fetes, etc.!

When I was little

2008-12-16T20:17:00.007-06:00

I was an only child until I was 8.5 years old. My parents, who were both 23 (barely) when I was born, and my uncle Bobby, who lived with us, were the closest thing I had to siblings. They were alright and all, but it's tough having siblings who are 23+ years older than you. They spend all day working instead of playing. They go to parties you cannot go to. They own the cars and therefore get to make the decision to go to the grocery store instead of Chuck E Cheese. Ugh. Add to it the fact that they were parents/uncle instead of siblings and so tasked with discipline, homework and piano practice enforcement and the aforementioned working, and you can begin to understand why I spent a lot of my childhood yearning for real siblings.

I also loved music as a kid. My family was one of the first in our neighborhood to have cable. My dad got it for the ESPN. I loved it for the MTV. MTV was the best back then - all music, the moonman, the best.

Is it so far-fetched, then, that I would spend time daydreaming about being on MTV, with my siblings (who were always two little brothers), entertaining the masses? I would pretend my jumprope was a microphone, imagine our family band and put concerts on in our house. I imagined multi-colored lights, awesome 80s hair, synthesizers. It was way cool.

It's like watching Phil Collins

While it isn't exactly what I imagined, it did cause me to remember those days when I found my real (not imaginary) brothers playing imaginary (not real) music on Rockband last night. There they are, my rock-and-roll, family band.

The it's-all-about-the-music shot.

They may not be a real live band, and they would probably never play backup to my singing outside of the context of Rockband, but they're pretty cool. And I'd have to say that I pretty much got what I wanted when I got them...

...rockstars. Total rockstars.

Cookies for the holidays

2008-12-14T21:02:00.012-06:00

Whether he wanted to or not, Patrick was willing to comply with my holiday wishes and make cookies with me. His other option? Seeing Four Christmases with Chris and his girlfriend Monica. Apparently he didn't miss out on much.

And he got to eat these little goodies straight out of the oven.

They were tasty - all of them. We made cookies in record time this year, thanks to my newest ideas in cookie making.

PROBLEM: When I make a batch of cookies, I eat them all.

SOLUTION: Make a couple cookies, freeze the dough in cookie-sized balls, have cookies ready to bake whenever you want them!

CONCLUSION: Awesome!

So Patrick and I baked peanut butter cookies that we had made earlier in the year. Only, when we made them, it was the first time I experimented with my cookie theory. And we froze the dough in a giant ball that we had to chop up with a knife and roll into balls, but everything was fine in the end.

Fortunately, Patrick and I have very warm hands and our defrosting powers are mad. A few rolls in our hands and they were ready to be pressed with a fork. Here's Patrick in action:

Here's Patrick impatiently, but happily waiting for cookies to emerge from the oven:

We also whipped up a batch of chocolate cookie bars with M&Ms on top of some, but not all, of them. And double chocolate cookies, which are insanely chocolate-y. The dough was basically black, but the cookies, ooh baby, with a glass of milk to cut the insanity, they are quite nice.

Recipes follow. The chocolate cookies are from the newest (January and February 2009) issue of Cook's Illustrated, which has a lot of amazing stuff in it, including a fantastic recipe for Wiener Schnitzel. We made that tonight. It, too, was awesome.

CHEWY CHOCOLATE COOKIES
From the January and February 2009 issue of COOK'S ILLUSTRATED
INGREDIENTS
0.33 c + 0.5 c granulated sugar
1.5 c unbleached all-purpose flour
0.75 c dutch-processed cocoa powder
0.5 tsp baking soda
0.375 tsp table salt
0.5 c dark corn syrup
1 large egg white
1 tsp vanilla extract
12 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
0.33 c packed dark brown sugar
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped into 0.5 inch pieces

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large (18x12 inch) baking sheets with parchment paper. Place 0.5 c granulated sugar in shallow baking dish or pie plate. Whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together in medium bowl. Whisk corn syrup, egg white, and vanilla together in small bowl.
2. In stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter, brown sugar, and remaining 0.33 c granulated sugar at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low, add corn syrup mixture, and beat until fully incorporated, about 20 seconds, scraping bowl once with rubber spatula. With mixer running at low speed, add flour mixture and chopped chocolate.; mix until just incorporated, about 30 seconds, scraping bowl once. Give dough final stir with rubber spatula to ensure that no pockets of flour remain at bottom. Chill dough 30 minutes to firm slightly (do not chill longer than 30 minutes).
3. Divide dough into 16 equal portions [Kathleen note: I suggest 32, 16 makes BIG cookies and these are INSANELY, OVERWHELMINGLY CHOCOLATE-Y]; roll between hands into balls about 1.5 inches [or smaller] in diameter. Working in batches, drop 8 [16] dough balls into baking dish with sugar and toss to coat. Set dough balls on prepared baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches [1 inch] apart; repeat with second batch of 8 [16]. Bake, reversing position of baking sheets halfway through baking (from top to bottom and front to back), until cookies are puffed and cracked and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft (cookies will look raw between cracks and seem underdone), 10 to 11 minutes. Do not overbake.
4. Cool cookies on baking sheet 5 minutes, then use wide metal spatula to transfer cookies to wire rack; cool cookies to room temperature.

PEANUT BUTTER CRISSCROSSES
From Baking: From my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan, who is amazing
INGREDIENTS
2.5 c unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
0.5 tsp baking powder
0.25 tsp salt
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 c peanut butter - crunchy or smooth, not natural
1 c packed light brown sugar
0.75 c sugar
2 large eggs
1.5 c chopped, salted peanuts [Kathleen note: I skipped these]
0.5 c sugar, for rolling

INSTRUCTIONS
Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.
Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.
Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed for a minute or two, until smooth and creamy. Add the peanut butter and beat for another minute. Add the sugars and beat for 3 minutes more. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and, on low speed, add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they just disappear. Mix in the chopped peanuts [I skipped]. You'll have a soft, pliable (mushable, actually) dough.
Pour the 0.5 c of sugar into a small bowl. Working with a level tablespoonful of dough for each cookie, roll the dough between your palms into balls and drop the balls, a couple at a time, into the sugar. Roll the balls around in the sugar to coat them, then place on the baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between them. Dip the tines of a fork in the sugar and press the tines against each ball first in one direction and then in a perpendicular direction - you should have a flattened round of dough with crisscross indentations.
Bake for about 12 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point. When done, the cookies will be lightly colored and still a little soft. Let the cookies sit on the sheets for a minute before transferring them to cooling racks with a wide metal spatula. Cool to room temperature.
Repeat with the remaining dough, making sure to cool the baking sheets between batches.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE BARS
From the back of the Nestle Tollhouse bag

Follow the directions on the back of the bag (same ingredients as the cookies - follow the pan cookie baking directions). Use slightly more brown sugar than called for (maybe a tablespoon or so). Pour some M&Ms on the top, because they are pretty. And they are tasty.

Christmas emerges from the chaos

2008-12-10T21:16:00.006-06:00

It's been quite a few months. Shoot, it's been quite a week. But today, here, it's not about that. It's about Christmas!

While I was busy writing about our vacation, I was also decorating our house. Because I love Christmas. And because I don't want to start making cookies until Patrick is here to eat them all. Otherwise I will eat them all. And that would be bad. Because I don't have the metabolism of a 21 year old college kid. Actually, I don't think I ever did. Oh well.

Our house is prettiest at night, so I just took some pictures...

Decorating the house for Christmas is, for me, as cool as opening presents on Christmas morning. You see, as I've gotten older two things have happened: First, I've gotten more involved in what I get for Christmas, so my presents, while usually awesome, aren't always a surprise. Second, my memory for small details that aren't relevant to my daily life has gotten a little weaker. Those two things add up to create a very exciting experience on Thanksgiving day (or whenever I decide to decorate), because I've pretty much totally forgotten what I bought last year at the after Christmas sales on decorations by the time the next year rolls around. So I open my ornament boxes and find all sorts of lovely surprises like this ornament from Paper Source's after-Christmas-2007 sale:

And this gem (ooh, that's almost a pun!) from Pottery Barn:

Oh, and these giant ornament clusters that we've hung from the staircase railing on the second floor, so they just seem to float down to the first floor.

That picture got me thinking how beautiful a Christmas tree is when it's out of focus. I bring you this study in increasing levels of focus on our tree, entitled "I can't decide how blurry I want this photo to be":

And of course the nutcrackers come out. There are a lot of nutcrackers in our house and Alex and I love to put them out even more these days in honor of my dad, who was head over heels enamored with nutcrackers.

The two kings of our nutcracker family, watching over the tree :)

Alex has been playing Christmas music just about every day at home. I'm getting into the spirit, slowly. And taking these pictures, actually focusing on the result of our efforts, has helped a bit as well.

Once Patrick arrives on Sunday, and I really start baking, I should be there!

Vacation recap

2008-12-04T18:45:00.001-06:00

As promised, here's a summary of all of our vacation posts, in case you missed anything. Back to my daily life when/if I return...

It all started in April, when we first purchased our tickets for a sweet trip around the Pacific, shortly before the Star Alliance doubled the price and restrictions on Circle Pacific fares: phew!!

You didn't really hear much more about it until we were on our way and passing time in the San Francisco airport.

And then we took our first real look at the Sydney skyline and even though it was overcast, it was beautiful.

We got to be really busy, having so much fun on the trip, so I posted this, and that's about it, until I posted a teaser and told you to wait for NaBloPoMo.

Then I started really telling you about our trip
from the Sydney bridge climb,
to the rainforest,
to the beach at the lovely Thala Resort
and snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef
(at which point you were totally jealous of our outfits),
and back to Sydney
for the zoo,
the Royal Botanic Gardens,
Bondi beach,
the Manly-to-Spit "walk"
and a tearful goodbye to our new favorite city.

Then I told you about New Zealand
including our amazing friends who hosted us at their lovely B&B and took us out for wine tasting.
I showed you the lovely Lake Wanaka,
Puzzling World in Wanaka,
sights from a plane above Wanaka,
and a lovely hike near Wanaka (click on the panoramic! it's worth it!).
And I showed you
our glacier hike,
the views from my window on our road trip across the South Island,
the quaint town of Hokitika (go to this page and vote for your favorite picture!! if you haven't already, that is),
and the big city of Christchurch.

And then there was Tokyo, crowded and crazy and 180 degrees different from New Zealand, but cool in its own way, because it has
fish markets,
beautiful parks (the Imperial Palace and Hibiya Park),
Shinto shrines (the Meiji Shrine),
terrific shopping and fantastic people watching,
a great national museum,
Buddhist temples (Senso-ji),
more gardens, conveyor belt sushi and surprisingly amazing Belgian waffles.

It was an amazing trip.

Really truly amazing.

Thanks for letting me re-live it.

Last full day in Tokyo - gardens and conveyor belts

2008-12-03T20:45:00.005-06:00

This is pretty much it for the vacation recount. I'll put together a summary tomorrow for anyone who missed anything, but you won't have to hear about cultural sites across the Pacific for a while.

I think.

No promises.

If someone gives me a trip to Asia for funsies, I'm not turning it down, ok? And I'll probably write about it. Just want the record to be straight.

Our last full day in Tokyo was spent catching up on shopping and relaxing and sights that we weren't able to see earlier, the first of which was the East Garden of the Imperial Palace, which is not open every day, only certain days.

The traditional Japanese architecture, beautiful gardens and impressive stone walls are well worth the visit. As are the "tickets" they make you carry around while you're inside. (I think it is to be certain that everyone leaves when the close the park each day, but given we've never seen anything like it before, it was a bit of a curiousity.) Show us the tickets, Alex:

The garden encompasses former areas of the Edo Castle. Most of what you see are guardhouses, thankfully, they are very pretty guardhouses.

The guardhouses are separated by long tranquil walks around the impressive walls.

And every now and then we saw a lovely building in an area we weren't allowed to go to.

Oh, and it was a lovely day, not like the day before, when gray skies covered Asakusa. I love the traditional Japanese architecture when the sky is blue.

After the park, some shopping, some working out and some swimming at our hotel, Alex and I headed out for dinner.

Our last dinner in Tokyo was at GinSen for some quality conveyor belt sushi. Mmmmm, sushi delivered on a conveyor belt...is there anything they can't do?

Or if you prefer, you can ask the nice sushi man to make you something special and he just gives it to you.

As you can almost see on the wall behind the sushi man, each different color plate has a different price. You take all the sushi you want, stack up your plates and the nice lady counts them at the end. We did a pretty good job of trying everything, wouldn't you say?

And the tap on the counter? Free hot water! To go with all the free matcha you can consume. So cool!!

After dinner, we headed back to main street in Ginza, Harumi-Dori, in pursuit of dessert. If I've learned anything living in Chicago with Garrett's popcorn, it's that when locals stand in long lines for a food product, you must join them!! Alex and I had seen long lines of Japanese people standing in line at this Belgian waffle store a couple days prior and we knew we had to join them.

Sounds stupid, right? Waiting in line for waffles? In Japan? But we had to know.

Oh, and about the waffles? They were so amazing that we ran by the store again before heading to the airport the next day for another batch. Wow. So. Good.