Snow Day!

I am ridiculously excited about the nice, big snowstorm we are having right now.  Growing up in northern Iowa we had our fair share of big snowstorms and it is the kind of winter that I love; if it is going to be cold and gray there might as well be big huge snow drifts to play in!  Though this was my first thundersnow... It was pretty wild to see the lighting during the snowstorm last night and to feel our building swaying from the wind.

It is also pretty fun to have the first snow day since high school.  It didn't take long this morning for me to suggest getting out for a little walk...

Crepes nutella with sauteed bananas is the perfect treat after running through drifts.  The gym is closed so running is going to be all messed up this week- will have to get out for another snowy walk, for the sake of exercise of course.

Dan had a blast shoveling out the garage entrance and alley... he and some of the neighbors formed a little shoveling band to help each other get a clear path out.  He came in all buzzing with energy.

Love love love this snow day. 

In January

"We've been married for almost three years." *significant pause* "That is a long time." -- dan

listened to the Indie Songwriter/singer channel on Pandora.com and NPR

saw the Modern Wing, Fabyan Forest Preserve

shared a plague like sickness

ran during snow flurries

made coq au vin and bread pudding with southern whisky sauce

drank the best red wine from Saint Emilion

watched Toy Story 3 and Inception and Coco Before Chanel

studied statistics and street photography

Commuting

One of the things I love right now is that we commute together.  During the past eight years in Chicago we have always gone in different directions when we left for our respective offices. 

Sure, our offices aren't exactly next door right now (so Dan gets to make a lovely extra loop), traffic sucks, and driving doesn't exactly win any bonus points for lowering one's carbon-footprint. 

But it is kind of fun to have that time together. It makes the mundane everyday task a little bit fun.  I have someone to listen to me whine about how I would rather be heading out for a photography shoot.  Dan has someone to laugh at his observations and jokes. 

And when it is raining or snowing door to door service is pretty awesome.

{this post was written July 14th but I never got around to adding the photos and publishing until today}

Fall Walks :: Montrose Harbor

On Halloween weekend we went for a little walk up by Montrose Harbor...

seeing as that we live so far north that we are almost to Wisconsin this is were we ended up instead of our old stomping grounds by South & North Pond.  Walking around Montrose Harbor is nice but we were pretty bored after a few minutes.  The idea of driving down to North Pond was mentioned.  But then we found ourselves in front of a welcoming sign...

Lately the increasing number of signs like this in parks is just annoying.  The 'no dogs' signs all over the park near us is not adding any points to the 'do we still love Chicago' debate.  So...

 

So the boring walk was saved.  The dogs come alive when they have sand under their paws and dune grass to search through.  We headed home some what satisfied with this little bit of being in the great outdoors.

November in a Nutshell

So November has kind of flown by- is it really time for Thanksgiving?  We did a couple of awesome family walks, a bit of furniture rearranging, a lot of cooking, a final batch of jalapeno pepper pickling, cleaned out the garden, chased squirrels through an assortment of parks... 

more time like this please

After a very busy October, we are ready for some nap time.  Even the dogs are ready for some R&R.  November will surely be the month to catch up on rest and quiet before the holiday season starts.  Or maybe we will find some projects that have yet to get done (like clean out the garden) to keep busy...

Snippets of a Summer Weekend

Weekends in the summer should be filled with trips to get Italian ice and frosty paw, sitting under patio umbrellas on pretty streets, grilling, going to the beach the moment you pop out of bed, brunch, and homemade lime sorbet...