Long Weekend.

It's midnight as I sit down to write this, and I still hear Evangeline fitfully wriggling in our bedroom.  This is the latest she's ever ever gone to sleep.  As soon as she entered this world she initiated an eerily strict sleeping schedule which involved being asleep by ten, awake by eight, and only one groggy awakening in the middle of the night.  I sure am one lucky momma.  And one super spoiled momma at that, complaining that her little one went to bed a whole two hours later than usual.  Wah.

Hah! Yikes.

Alex is having some much loved cozy time with Sleepy Little Lady now, giving me the opportunity to sit down to this little blog and type out a few words...Let's see.

This past long weekend was busy for us (love those long weekends).  We spent Saturday making tamales (literally an all day affair), doing laundry, cleaning the apartment, catching up on all those things that we had put off for the past few weeks, and, most exciting of all, Alex began building a frame for my Nolli map of Rome.  Hurrah!  Even thinking about the costliness of getting something that huge professionally framed hurt our heads a little, but then I found this great tutorial on how to build your own frame.  It probably would have been a day project had he had the tools...but little Chicago apartments don't really accommodate miter saws.  But, as I have mentioned, Alex is invincible, and so decided to start building one anyways.

We took advantage of possibly one of the last warm, sunny Sundays, and took the train to the Botanic Gardens.  The fall flowers and foliage are at their peak: the deep reds, purples, oranges, and yellows astounded us with their vibrancy.  I'll never get tired of these Northern Autumns.  They fill me with awe every time.

On Monday we rearranged the apartment.  Yes, again.  I refused to hang anything on the walls until couches and bookshelves were in their proper and final places, and finally, after about a month of hemming and hawing, I finally grew sick enough of my own indecision and the stacks of art and mirrors lying about.  Hanging art and moving furniture always helps me to feel as though I've been extraordinarily productive and much more organized and deliberate than I normally feel.  Cheers to that!

Because it's boring to post without a picture, here's one of us at the Botanic Gardens.  A year ago, we were standing in that exact same spot, only Little One was a biiiiiit tinier!  What a difference a year makes...Thank you, God, for this wonderful family of mine!

Happy Weekend.

So many happy, exciting things happened this past weekend that I suppose it's easiest to just start at the beginning and list them off.  

Firstly, on Friday I went to my 36 week midwife appointment (36 weeks--what?!), and got a surprise ultrasound!  It was such a pleasure to be able to see Evangeline wiggling around, especially because I didn't think I would get to until she was born.  It turns out that our Little One also has developed an intense thumb sucking habit while in there.  It was hilarious to see her, sucking away so tremendously, losing her thumb and opening her little mouth super wide, finding it again and then sucking away with renewed vigor.  (My Mom says that I was born with a callous on my thumb from all the in utero thumb sucking...I guess she got those genes of mine...)  

here's a shot of her with her thumb in her mouth.  can you see her little arm and hand? 

When I came home, I told Alex about the ultrasound and asked him "what do you think we saw?!"  He couldn't guess, but told me later that his heart definitely skipped a beat because he thought for sure I was going to say that we found out she was a boy and not our little Evangeline.  Not that we would have been upset, but still...it would have been quite the shocker.  

Later on that Friday, our friend Will came into town for the weekend, which meant that the majority of our weekend looked like this: 

We played an absurd amount of Catan (energized by an absurd amount of ice cream sandwiches), and just enjoyed spending time with him, since he is joining the Dominicans in July!  His brother Micah joined last year, and my friend Br. Sebastian told me today that it has been a few decades that two biological brothers have been in the order!  So exciting.  Please keep him in your prayers.  

On Saturday, we all celebrated the engagement of our friends Johnny and Fiona!  (The reason Will was in town for the weekend...) 

When we went to lunch with them the next day, Fiona pointed out that we all had major things going on--they're getting married, Will is joining the Dominicans, and Alex and I are having a baby.  

Yeah, I guess you could say those are all pretty big things...

Walker Percy in Lincoln Park.

We visited Lincoln Park on Saturday, enjoying the chance to finally spend as much time as we want outside in this perfect weather!  Chicago is so lovely this time of year.  Though sometimes I feel the amount of rain we've been getting borders on preposterous, the lush green grass and foliage definitely make me grateful for the precipitation.   

Alex brought his juggling clubs with him.  He's "so rusty," but I was delighted to watch him and was definitely impressed, especially since he hasn't picked them up since last summer.  I can just imagine how thrilled Evangeline will be by his juggling skill...Along with the clubs we brought a picnic and The Moviegoer (by Walker Percy), which we've been reading aloud together.  It's wonderful.  This is the first Percy novel I've read, and I'm transfixed by his style and story.  The writing is simple, yet elegant, acutely rendering 1950's New Orleans and the shallow, yet fantastically deluded narrator-protagonist.  I will waive further thoughts and speculations until finished with the book. 

"What is the nature of the search? you ask. Really it is very simple; at least for a fellow like me. So simple that it is easily overlooked. The search is what anyone would undertake if he were not sunk in the everydayness of his own life." -- Walker Percy, The Moviegoer

Sunny Sunday.

 

   

                   

Winter Remedies

Overall, I've been pretty good about handling the winter blues.  

Until Saturday, that is.   

I woke up in a nasty funk in which I wanted to be anywhere but cold, snowy Chicago.  Any (warm) country, town, street, corner.  Well, mostly, I wanted to be back in warm, sunny New Orleans with Alex again, but I would have taken pretty much anywhere.

How to banish such stormy clouds?

Alex, who excels at leading me out of the occasional dark mood (ain't nobody got time for that!), suggested that we go to the Orchid Show at the Chicago Botanical Gardens.  It was exactly what I needed, and I am so grateful we went.  On a related note, Here is an interesting article on the positive psychological, mental, and physical effects plants have on people.  Guess we should get some more plants ASAP as possible...

If you're in Chicago, do go!  It's exceptionally lovely, and raises the spirits so.  

These Days...

How am I avoiding the winter blues?  

Reading...

Eating...

Staying productive...

Holding out for our mid-March Phoenix trip...

What I'm reading: 

After finishing The Devil in the White City (which read like a sensational, yet depressing documentary), I felt I needed some Austen to rejuvenate me...I'd really forgotten how wonderful her writing is.  The perfect remedy for these dreary winter months...

(The only things I disliked about this book were the soft cover and the predominance of shitty analogies.  Other than that, I cannot even begin to tell you how much I learned about Chicago and the World's Fair, and how much I enjoyed learning about it.)

What we've been eating/what I've been craving: 

I just cannot get enough caprese.  It's literally all I want to eat.   

What we've been doing: 

When I'm not taking Zimbio quizzes and forcing Alex to do the same (how else would I discover  that I am most akin to Berlin Bowie and Pocahontas?!), I actually do productive things.  Like today, for instance, I finally got around to conditioning my leather jacket (definitely the only cool item of clothing I've ever owned).  Now I'll look super hip come Spring.  Watch out Chicago. 

Alex has been diligently caring for our little collection of plants and they are currently thriving.  Great job, Ace.  (Good thing he's doing it because I tend to love plants to death.)

How we're looking: 

Looking good, hollywood.  But I do wish you'd start gaining some sympathy weight.

What I've been thinking about: 

Oh, the warmth...

//

My brother Edmund just turned 13...Happy Birthday to him! 

// 

This article about Putin.

Sweet Valentines.

random snap-shots.

Since posting last...

I made these delicious Blueberry Pie Bars.  We ate them...all of them...in an embarrassingly short length of time.  

Alex discovered his new favourite drink, the Sazerac.

We went to our friend Bob's art show. 

I investigated Hendrickx Belgian Bread Crafter in the Gold Coast to try their Liège waffles.  They were delicious, though not warm and fresh as they are from the waffle carts in Belgium.  Tant pis...

We went to see Lord Huron at Metro, a super cool venue very close to our apartment.  It was all kinds of wonderful.  Take a listen.

We spent a delightful, snowy Saturday with some friends of ours which included plenty of bagels and mimosas and Settlers of Catan.

I made Eggs Benedict for Alex, because they're his favourite and he's the best.  If I do say so, my first time poaching eggs was very successful--they turned out very nicely.

What we did this [holiday] weekend.

1.

I made 1-Hour Cinnamon Rolls with my friend Mary.  When I first saw the link (on Pinterest...typical...), I definitely thought there must be some catch.  No way can something as delicious as cinnamon rolls be made in an hour.  Either they won't rise or they'll taste gross.  

Oh ye of little faith... 

Some of the best cinnamon rolls I've ever had. 

2.

I got a call from Alex late Friday afternoon asking if I wanted to go to the Chicago Lyric that night to see Madama Butterfly.  

"We don't have to go if you don't want to!" 

Hmm, no thanks. I don't like that idea.  

Of course, we went.  And (despite the nosebleed seats) it was divine.

I'm no opera guru (though that would be so cool...), but I'd listened to Madama Butterfly a few times before, and I was very excited to go to an opera with which I was relatively familiar.  Madama Butterfly is lovely, even though the story is so awfully depressing (though I suppose jilted heroines committing suicide is nothing to blink at in an opera).  

Vogliatemi bene, a duet sung by Butterfly and Pinkerton to close Act I, is possibly my favourite in the opera. 

The Lyric was built in 1929 (architecturally, Art Nouveau meets Art Deco.  Two of my favourite design styles...Look at all that gold!).  Alex was telling me that it is quite a point of pride for Chicago.  How did I not know this until now? 

3.

Baby Burch turned 19 weeks! Hurrah hurrah!!!  I was telling Alex that Baby literally comprises 95% of my thoughts these days...I constantly feel so blessed to have this little one growing inside me.  I have a little paranoia because we still haven't had our ultrasound (hopefully the beginning of February!), and I'm just so nervous to see how he/she is doing, whether he's healthy and growing, what he looks like, etc.  I definitely believe that I have felt him move however, which is such a happy sign for me.  June can't come fast enough!

4.

Alex and I went to the Art Institute on both Sunday and Monday.

Art Junkies...

There's a sublime exhibit up at the moment called "Dreams and Echoes" from the private collection of Chicagoans David and Celia Hilliard.  The collection in it's entirety is really stunning...it's just the sort of art that I would collect if I was say....a few billion dollars richer.  

 

Edgar Degas. 

Study of a Plaster Cast of a Child's Head (after Luca della Robbia), 1856/60. 

Promised gift of Celia and David Hilliard.

Image via http://www.artic.edu/.

Pierre Cecile Puvis de Chavannes.

Study of a Sleeping Woman, c. 1867. 

Gift of Celia and David Hilliard, 2007. 

Image via http://www.artic.edu/.

5.

We went with some friends to see the new Italian film The Great Beauty  at this great Independent Theatre just a few blocks from our apartment.  I'm not going to say more on it other than it was a striking, excellent film.  I think that our friend Mary had a very astute observation, essentially that it is not a film we, as 20-somethings, can understand fully.  In the same vein, Alex said it's not something you can just talk about for hours (though you could), and say "this is what it means end of story."  However, it's definitely something that you will keep coming back to through your life.  It's the sort of thing that stays with you.  See it.

6.

Including Friday and Monday in this "weekend" post is acceptable, I believe, especially because of MLK day, but covering Tuesday is stretching it.  Psh.  Whatever. 

Our friend Fiona is in town to visit her boyfriend (one of our Chicago Pals), and we all went bowling last night.  I hadn't been in years, and it was all good fun even if I was awful.  I mostly just liked watching this cool kid: 

Lovers Lane.

7.

I'm so happy Martha at Romancing Reilly is back to blogging again.  Her posts are always such inspiration for me! (After all, it was her blog that got me to start blogging again...not sure that that's a gift to anyone else, but it's good for me, hah!)