New Blog...

I have started the journey of a new blog with some friends from grad school. We thought it would be a fun way to keep in touch now that we are spread far and wide (Chicagoland, Texas, Switzerland, and Philadelphia). The blog is called Types of A (a riff on the fact that we're all recovering Type A's!), and here is the address:

http://typezofa.tumblr.com/

I am still going to keep this blog up and running, as slow going as it is. This blog will probably continue to be random life updates, and I hope to post more on projects/crafts/fashion on my other blog. But I will put a link here to a new blog post whenever I do post on Types of A.

My first post on Types of A is "Pillow Talk." You can check it out here: http://typezofa.tumblr.com/post/10227487453/pillow-talk

Ravinia

A few weeks ago James and I got to experience one of Chicago’s favorite summer events – the Ravinia Music Festival. Ravinia is a beautiful private park, and in the summertime it features concerts nearly every night. The music ranges from pop music to classical, and we got to go one Friday evening featuring the Chicago Symphony Orchestra playing a variety of Brahms pieces.

We showed up around 6:00pm with a picnic blanket and a basket full of picnic goodies with our friends Adam and Tamara. There was some high class picnicking at Ravinia! People brought fancy table linens and vases with flowers and candles and Champaign and wine and cheese spreads. New time we might need to step it up a bit with our picnic spread.

Then the music starts around dusk, and there are hundreds of little white candles strung from the trees that get brighter as the sky gets darker. Brahms was delightful, we had a great time with our friends, and it was a perfect summer evening. We can’t wait to go to Ravinia again!

My parents just finished up a two week stay at La Casa Rienstra, and I think we’d all agree that the highlight of their time here was a weekend trip to the Michigan shores. James and I have been on Lake Michigan in the Chicago area, but we’ve heard about how beautiful the beaches are on the Michigan side of Lake Michigan. So we took off during the 4^th of July weekend for Sagatauk, Michigan. Sagatauk is a great little artsy seaside town, with beautiful walkways along the harbor, fun shopping, good food, and fabulous beaches. The main beach in Sagatauk, Oval Beach, has actually been ranked by several travel magazines and was ranked by Conde Nast as one of the top 5 beaches in the US. Not bad for the mid-west, huh?

On our drive up to Sagatauk, we stopped for a picnic on the beach in South Haven, Michigan – another great little beach town. The place was packed – it must have taken us 45 minutes to find a parking spot! But once we got to the beach it was well worth it.

Then we carried on to Sagatauk, checked into our hotel, freshened up, and hit the town to stroll the harbor, sip margaritas, and enjoy an amazing prime rib dinner for my parents’ anniversary.

The next day we packed a lunch and took off for Oval Beach – and Conde Nast is right – this is a fabulous beach! It has a very East Coast beach feel – sea grass, sailboats, and rolling sandy hills beyond the beach. And the water is so much warmer than the Pacific shores that I grew up on – you can swim in it without feeling numb! We all came home a little toasty after several hours in the sun, but very satisfied.

We hit up a really cute little restaurant on the water for our Fourth of July Dinner, The Mermaid, and had some of the best calamari I’ve had in a long time. Then we rolled out our picnic blanket at the park for Fireworks over the Harbor with a package of fudge from the local chocolate shop. Pure Independence Bliss!

Memorial Day at the Beach (And thank heavens there is a beach!)

Here in Chicagoland, this has been a colder spring than usual – so I am told. Thus I was thrilled to find out that we’d have a sunny, clear, thunderstorm-free Memorial Day of 91 degrees. Yahoo!

Of course, 91 degrees is HOT. And what does any sane person want to do on a day such as this? Go to the beach, of course. Now, I’ve lived on the West Coast and on the East Coast and so the beach is a viable option in either of those places. But now I live in the Mid-west, nowhere near an ocean. But to my very pleasant surprise, the shores of Lake Michigan feel very much like an ocean. You can look out at the water and see no signs of land, so far and vast is this expansive lake. Up to this point, however, I’ve only seen Lake Michigan in downtown Chicago. And while the waterfront is beautiful, it’s no beach. There isn’t a sandy spread to lay out a beach towel and an umbrella.

But the locals informed me that if one moves beyond Grant Park, you can indeed find sandy beaches downtown. And, in the northern suburbs, there are some amazing beaches. So James and I decided to go check out the beaches in Evanston. This is a great town north of Chicago, where Northwestern is located. It has great shops, restaurants, parks, bookstores, and, beaches. James and I were thrilled as we strolled the paths along the water…and the beaches were hopping for Memorial Day! Volleyball, massive family BBQ’s, sandcastles, soccer, ice cream, and everything that makes for a good summer day.

So my plan is this…hit the beaches as many times as possible this summer, to store up on some Chicago lovin’ before I hit the winter again. Because man, I really hate the winters here. But I do love beaches, and Chicago, it turns out, has a lot of them. Thank heavens.

A blustery weekend in Chicago

Well, it is mid-May and our temperatures this past week have been extreme. It was 88 degrees Wednesday and 85 degrees Tuesday—and our house was about 83 degrees inside. Not comfortable to sleep in! So we turned on the AC, and assumed that we’d finally turned the corner towards spring weather.

Then our good friends, Ben and Karen, arrived late Thursday night and stayed with us for the day on Friday. We had tickets to the Cubs game, and thought it was supposed to be around 72 degrees. We knew it might rain, but thought it would be warm so we dressed for warm weather. And it seemed as soon as we sat down at the game, the wind started howling and the temperature dropped 20 degrees. And we could literally see clouds being swept through the stadium by the wind – BRRR!!!

Ben heroically tracked down a starbucks not far from the stadium and brought back Hot Cocoas, which kept me going until about the fifth inning. Karen and I stuck it out until the 6^th inning, and then we took off to warm up in the Starbucks. But we had fun nonetheless, and the Cubs won! Thanks for coming to stay with us B & K – way too short, but sweet!

Then today James had his half marathon in Chicago on the waterfront. Well, let’s just say that after two minutes out of the parking garage and walking through the rain and wind, we were both ready to turn around and go back home. But James persevered, and so did 3500 other runners. It really could not have been worse weather for a run this time of year – about 45 degrees, fierce wind, pelting rain…miserable. Most of the run went right along the Lake Michigan seawall, and James said that the waves crashing into the walls were being drawn up by the wind to douse the already soaked runners. I cheered him on at the start, and then took my numb body to a coffee shop to wait it out until the end. I caught him at the finish line, and was so proud of him for finishing. James has done two full marathons, but I think this half-marathon was just as much a challenge because of the nasty weather. So well done James!

And can I just say that I am not impressed with Chicago weather yet? After a freezing, long winter I was hoping for a lovely spring. Well, that hasn’t happened yet. Hopefully the Chicago summer can win me over!

Easter

This marked our first Easter in Illinois, and James and I kept with our tradition of inviting a rather eclectic group over to our house for Easter brunch. We both feel like Easter is an excellent time to open your home to old and new friends, an opportunity for us all to share together in the joy of the glory of our risen Lord.

This was also a very special Easter for James and me, because we became members at Church of the Resurrection. We went through the Core class to become members (which involves three 4-hour sessions, plus an all-day retreat), and then we were confirmed as members during the Saturday night Easter Vigil. I am really glad we decided to become members during the Easter vigil, because it is an amazing service of worship and praise. It starts at 7:00pm and doesn’t end until after 11:00pm, but the time flies! A few weeks later when our bishop was in town, James and I were then confirmed into the Anglican Church. We are looking forward to getting more involved with church this upcoming year, and to continue meeting new people.

Easter was always a really special holiday for my family, with lots of fun traditions. It has been difficult to not get to spend it with family the last 4 years, but it has also been a real blessing to spend it with new friends and to create our own traditions.

Did you watch the Wedding?

Those who know me well would not be surprised that I got up at 4:45AM to watch the Royal Wedding yesterday. They might be surprised, however, that I convinced my husband to join me. I sold it as an “early morning date” with tea and scones, and a little Royal Wedding on the side. James protested at first, grumbled for five minutes, but I eventually convinced him.

I loved the wedding for a variety of reasons.

1. The liturgy. It was a traditional Anglican wedding liturgy, which is beautiful. Even the wedding sermon was nice. And seeing as we are being confirmed into the Anglican Church on Monday evening when our bishop is in town, we rather like that kind of stuff.

The music. Divine. Complete with a boys choir. Amen.

Kate’s Dress. Her dress was lovely, classy, and elegant—a very Grace Kelly-esque wedding gown.

1. The Bridesmaids and Page Boys. Adorable, right? James likes to tease that we had an “army” of children in our wedding, but we only had 5, not 6.

Constitutional Monarchy. There is something really powerful about the way that the British Monarchy draws its people together. Yes, the monarchy has had its problems over the years. But when done well, within a system of checks and balances and with the goal of serving the people, I think the monarchy is a really powerful symbol for a nation. It was moving to watch the British people line the streets yesterday, and to hear them singing the hymn “Jerusalem” together as it was broadcast on loudspeakers throughout the park.

The Queen. God save the Queen! I really do love Queen Elizabeth II – I think she has had one of the most fascinating lives. As a girl, she lived through WWII in London while her father was the king. The Royal Family stayed in London throughout the bombings of WWII, while many others were fleeing to the countryside, to show support and solidarity for the people of London. Many mornings after bombings, Elizabeth was out roaming the streets with her sister, mother, and father greeting people and commiserating with them in their losses. And she became queen when her father died at the age of 26—she has been on the throne for 59 years now. Wow.

Well, Cheers to William and Kate!

"What God has joined together let no man put asunder."