Can you tell?
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Monday, June 25, 2007
Ravinia 2007
Last night commenced my Ravinia 2007 experience. On the north shore of Chicago there is a park built especia
lly for holding marvelous concerts. The season runs from the end of May through mid-September, and they have incredible artists performing nearly every day. Actual tickets in seats under the pavilion are pricey depending on the performer, but there is a phenomenon called "Lawn tickets" that are generally about $10-15 no matter what. The performances go on rain or shine so the lawn can sometimes be a gamble, but for those willing to take the risk there are few things superior! The Chicago North Shore folk picnic in style, and among the crowd full spreads of champagne flutes and candelabras are not uncommon.
Last night was Latin Jazz night and Pink Martini
(an eclectic little group that does world music fusions in a 1930s Havana big band style, that I thought no one had ever heard of!) was headlining. Lynn, Lili and I crammed ourselves and our canvas bags into a packed train and headed out to the park. 40 minutes later we arrived to stake out our patch of grass and set up our meager picnic. The evening was BEAUTIFUL, and when Pink Martini finally came on stage (after 2 opening bands) I thought I would die from the perfection 
that was the evening. China Forbes's voice was so rich and swirly that you could practically bite into it, and accompanied by Pink Martini's 12 piece orchestra it was all I could do not to lie back and be transported immediately to heaven.
I called Jennifer, who introduced me to the group about 6 years ago, twice to hold up the phone so she could get a whiff of the musical aroma that floated out over the lawn. Intoxicated by the music and the flickering of the fireflies people would spontaneously stand up and dance right where they were. No pomp. No circumstance. Just the pure joy of being carried by the music.
lly for holding marvelous concerts. The season runs from the end of May through mid-September, and they have incredible artists performing nearly every day. Actual tickets in seats under the pavilion are pricey depending on the performer, but there is a phenomenon called "Lawn tickets" that are generally about $10-15 no matter what. The performances go on rain or shine so the lawn can sometimes be a gamble, but for those willing to take the risk there are few things superior! The Chicago North Shore folk picnic in style, and among the crowd full spreads of champagne flutes and candelabras are not uncommon.Last night was Latin Jazz night and Pink Martini
(an eclectic little group that does world music fusions in a 1930s Havana big band style, that I thought no one had ever heard of!) was headlining. Lynn, Lili and I crammed ourselves and our canvas bags into a packed train and headed out to the park. 40 minutes later we arrived to stake out our patch of grass and set up our meager picnic. The evening was BEAUTIFUL, and when Pink Martini finally came on stage (after 2 opening bands) I thought I would die from the perfection 
that was the evening. China Forbes's voice was so rich and swirly that you could practically bite into it, and accompanied by Pink Martini's 12 piece orchestra it was all I could do not to lie back and be transported immediately to heaven.I called Jennifer, who introduced me to the group about 6 years ago, twice to hold up the phone so she could get a whiff of the musical aroma that floated out over the lawn. Intoxicated by the music and the flickering of the fireflies people would spontaneously stand up and dance right where they were. No pomp. No circumstance. Just the pure joy of being carried by the music.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Saturday, June 16, 2007
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEH
It's official everyone!!! Whitney and I are going to Germany! There was a change of plans, instead of Fuessen, we're going to Bremen the last stop on the German Fairytale Route. We bought the tickets and booked our hostel yesterday!!!! It seems silly for me to be so excited about booking this, but I've never done it before and I feel very proud of myself for having done the research and finding the best deal, etc. Thanks for rubbing off on me Mom. We are going June 29-July 1 and our hostel even provides breakfast, just thought I would spread the good news!
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
The first picture is of Whitney and me with the Irishman.
The second picture is the creepy frenchman basically falling on me...look at my clenched fist and gritted teeth. The other guy is the bartender Christian.
This one is of my disgusted face and the creepy frenchman...look at the sleezeball look in his eyes.
This picture is of the Russian, no that's not her father.
I'm considering changing my major to international communications. Just kidding. Whitney and I have found a new favorite place to go, it's called Giraffe and every time you get a smoothie or ask you get a plastic giraffe stirer. We've been collecting them and have no acquired 17 Giraffes and 5 helium balloons. Tonight may have been the best night I have spent in London. I feel I should explain my international communications comment, it began last week on Thursday night...
Liz, Kim, Whitney and I decided to go visit a Brazilian-Australian bartender, Christian, we had befriended and while we were there, about 30 mins before closing, a 50 year old Russian man who sells Vodka and was named Igor, brought over 4 coronas for us, then stayed to talk/attempt to seduce Whitney. Not long afterwards, Christian brought over the cook for the pub, a frenchman named Dean. The pub closed and we (the 4 of us girls) decided to go to another place called Archangel a few doors down, needless to say the United Nations followed us and Christian later followed. We were then introduced to an Irishman named Bernard or Ben for short. After about 20 mins the Russian got the hint that he was old enough to be our father and was not going to be sweet talking any of us, so too did the Irishman realize he was too old for us and none of us were interested. Unfortunately, the Frenchman was not so quick on the uptake and failed to accept that we were not feeling his creepiness, the pictures should suffice in explaining the disgust/creeper nature that was Dean. Christian, being the only one our age and not creepy at all was the one we all felt the most comfortable talking to, but after a little while we decided to head home. We joke that we were attacked by the UN minus those native to this land and the Germans. I should mention, as it was a source of much laughter today/tonight, we saw the creepy frenchman in the park today and proceeded to look the other way and play possum...it worked.
Tonight, Whitney and I made new connections with a Polish guy named David, an Englishman
(hooray!!) named Damen and a Zimbabwean named Michael. They were really getting a kick out of how silly Whitney and I were being. First of all, David talked us into buying a kind of friend beans covered in a spicy ginger, soy sauce but when they arrived with an empty bowl, we were confused on how to eat them. We both grabbed our fork and started chewing on one before thinking, are we supposed to eat the outer shell? No, in fact you were not, we asked Damen and Michael to assist us in learning how to properly eat these bean things and they got a good laugh out of our ignorance, as did we. A few minutes later, Whitney managed to get the sauce in her eye which brought on new waves of laughter. We were then talked into trying one the most delicious dessert called a banana waffle. It's a waffle with 2 slices of banana (they tasted like bananas foster) and vanilla ice cream covered in chocolate and caramel sauce. By this time we already had 4 plastic giraffes, but insisted we needed more when our dessert arrived. Then we each had every color but one, so we got the completion of the 4 colors, however, we didn't stop there. We then obscunded (Michael made up the word) 5 balloons and free teas but having been there for nearly 4 hours and the fact that they were starting to close up, we decided we really should get our check. I think they may have been avoiding giving us the check so they could see what silly thing we were going to do next. They agreed to sing to Whitney on Monday for her birthday and I have to say, I think burned off the dessert I ate laughing.
For my class, History of London, we take field trips every Wednesday and Thursay, wed being the walking day and thurs is the Museum of London day. We walked around Parliament and Westminster today and then I walked through St. James Park briefly because my friends Josh, Joshua and I wanted to see the horse guards, but they were in the changing of the guard ceremony. By the time we got there, there ceremony was over and we missed the horse guards completely. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and running some errands.
On a more exciting note, Whitney and I are going to Fuessen, Germany between sessions B and C. We found a flight for under $150 roundtrip and although we haven't booked it yet, Mom gave me the go-ahead to start planning and I found what seems like a pretty decent hostel in Fuessen that includes free linen, towels and breakfast. The most expensive thing is probably going to be transportation but I definitely think it will be worth it. Fuessen is called the King's Nook and is where some of the fantasy castles are found, it's at the end of the Romantic road in Bavaria and just looks AMAZING!!! Tomorrow is going to be a funfilled day I'm going to the Museum of London for class, the National Gallery and the Royal Mews (stables) with Whitney and then research/planning out this trip and going to Whitney's mom's house in Richmond to see if she can help us out at all with the planning. This weekend I'm going to Cambridge for the day along with several other trips throughout like: seeing the Lion King, Stonehenge day trip, party boat, Jack the Ripper walking tour, Midsummer Night's Dream in Regeant's Park and the London Eye. I guess I better get started working on my German...Guten Nacht!!
The second picture is the creepy frenchman basically falling on me...look at my clenched fist and gritted teeth. The other guy is the bartender Christian.
This one is of my disgusted face and the creepy frenchman...look at the sleezeball look in his eyes.
This picture is of the Russian, no that's not her father.
I'm considering changing my major to international communications. Just kidding. Whitney and I have found a new favorite place to go, it's called Giraffe and every time you get a smoothie or ask you get a plastic giraffe stirer. We've been collecting them and have no acquired 17 Giraffes and 5 helium balloons. Tonight may have been the best night I have spent in London. I feel I should explain my international communications comment, it began last week on Thursday night...
Liz, Kim, Whitney and I decided to go visit a Brazilian-Australian bartender, Christian, we had befriended and while we were there, about 30 mins before closing, a 50 year old Russian man who sells Vodka and was named Igor, brought over 4 coronas for us, then stayed to talk/attempt to seduce Whitney. Not long afterwards, Christian brought over the cook for the pub, a frenchman named Dean. The pub closed and we (the 4 of us girls) decided to go to another place called Archangel a few doors down, needless to say the United Nations followed us and Christian later followed. We were then introduced to an Irishman named Bernard or Ben for short. After about 20 mins the Russian got the hint that he was old enough to be our father and was not going to be sweet talking any of us, so too did the Irishman realize he was too old for us and none of us were interested. Unfortunately, the Frenchman was not so quick on the uptake and failed to accept that we were not feeling his creepiness, the pictures should suffice in explaining the disgust/creeper nature that was Dean. Christian, being the only one our age and not creepy at all was the one we all felt the most comfortable talking to, but after a little while we decided to head home. We joke that we were attacked by the UN minus those native to this land and the Germans. I should mention, as it was a source of much laughter today/tonight, we saw the creepy frenchman in the park today and proceeded to look the other way and play possum...it worked.
Tonight, Whitney and I made new connections with a Polish guy named David, an Englishman
(hooray!!) named Damen and a Zimbabwean named Michael. They were really getting a kick out of how silly Whitney and I were being. First of all, David talked us into buying a kind of friend beans covered in a spicy ginger, soy sauce but when they arrived with an empty bowl, we were confused on how to eat them. We both grabbed our fork and started chewing on one before thinking, are we supposed to eat the outer shell? No, in fact you were not, we asked Damen and Michael to assist us in learning how to properly eat these bean things and they got a good laugh out of our ignorance, as did we. A few minutes later, Whitney managed to get the sauce in her eye which brought on new waves of laughter. We were then talked into trying one the most delicious dessert called a banana waffle. It's a waffle with 2 slices of banana (they tasted like bananas foster) and vanilla ice cream covered in chocolate and caramel sauce. By this time we already had 4 plastic giraffes, but insisted we needed more when our dessert arrived. Then we each had every color but one, so we got the completion of the 4 colors, however, we didn't stop there. We then obscunded (Michael made up the word) 5 balloons and free teas but having been there for nearly 4 hours and the fact that they were starting to close up, we decided we really should get our check. I think they may have been avoiding giving us the check so they could see what silly thing we were going to do next. They agreed to sing to Whitney on Monday for her birthday and I have to say, I think burned off the dessert I ate laughing.
For my class, History of London, we take field trips every Wednesday and Thursay, wed being the walking day and thurs is the Museum of London day. We walked around Parliament and Westminster today and then I walked through St. James Park briefly because my friends Josh, Joshua and I wanted to see the horse guards, but they were in the changing of the guard ceremony. By the time we got there, there ceremony was over and we missed the horse guards completely. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and running some errands.
On a more exciting note, Whitney and I are going to Fuessen, Germany between sessions B and C. We found a flight for under $150 roundtrip and although we haven't booked it yet, Mom gave me the go-ahead to start planning and I found what seems like a pretty decent hostel in Fuessen that includes free linen, towels and breakfast. The most expensive thing is probably going to be transportation but I definitely think it will be worth it. Fuessen is called the King's Nook and is where some of the fantasy castles are found, it's at the end of the Romantic road in Bavaria and just looks AMAZING!!! Tomorrow is going to be a funfilled day I'm going to the Museum of London for class, the National Gallery and the Royal Mews (stables) with Whitney and then research/planning out this trip and going to Whitney's mom's house in Richmond to see if she can help us out at all with the planning. This weekend I'm going to Cambridge for the day along with several other trips throughout like: seeing the Lion King, Stonehenge day trip, party boat, Jack the Ripper walking tour, Midsummer Night's Dream in Regeant's Park and the London Eye. I guess I better get started working on my German...Guten Nacht!!
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Washtenaw
It's official. Colleen and I will be moving in July from our great little apartment on Eastwood to make room for a friend of Colleen's who will move in with us. We, therefore needed to upgrade to a 3 bedroom apartment. We found a nice one on a street named Washtenaw just a few blocks away that I think we'll be happy in. It is again nice and spacious, but will be much sunnier than Eastwood has been! It is a 3-flat rather than a courtyard building, so the owners actually live on the first and second floor and we will be on the third.
The current tenants are in the process of moving out, so the apartment is a bit disorganized, but you can still get the idea of what it's like.
Washtenaw
And, finally, my favorite part... the owners love to garden and the small backyard has been transformed int
o a mini oasis. She has rows of vegetables, flowers, a trelis, a picnic table, and a small patch of grass. Imagine the peace of coming down in the morning for breakfast with the birds singing overhead...
o a mini oasis. She has rows of vegetables, flowers, a trelis, a picnic table, and a small patch of grass. Imagine the peace of coming down in the morning for breakfast with the birds singing overhead... 
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Here are some more pictures from Williamsburg. You can read more about it on our blog. Elinore was the receiver of many many compliments, and she looked adorable in her little bumble bee dress (thanks, mom). We loved going in all of the little shops - the carpenter, the blacksmith, the milliner (dressmaker),... It makes me long for the kind of culture where craftmanship is honored, respected, and expected. Where you labor over something from start to finish and take pride in the finished product.
Thought this tree was worthy of a photo. I should add it to my tree collection.
Thought this tree was worthy of a photo. I should add it to my tree collection.Monday, June 04, 2007
Viva Las Vegas!
The ceremony was presided over by a larger-than-life Elvis. This guy seriously had normal proportions but was about 7.5 feet tall!
Viva Las Vegas!
You didn't know this, but Jennifer, Laura, and I were in three different epics last weekend. Laura explored the medieval and renessiance, Jennifer went back to the colonial, and I went to the heart of today, to the consumerist USA, baby!
Las Vegas was without a doubt, unbelievable. In a day I walked through Disney World, Central Park, NYC, Paris, and Venice, and back again. I think the pictures will speak for themselves...
Surprise!
I went to Bath on Saturday and the Tower of London on Sunday. Bath was BEAUTIFUL!! The countryside was breathtaking and so green. The town was very touristy and very crowded so I clung to my bag ready to attack in case of pickpockets. I felt like the actual Roman baths were a little anticlimactic, the most impressive one was the big one that all the postcards have pictures of. I got a little sunburned, we were outside more than I had anticipated and it was sunnier than the weather had suggested, but it was a glorious day. Our guide gave our group a little walking tour of the area and took us to where Johnny Depp has supposedly purchased a house and on our way up to it I swear I walked past the guy who played Merry in Lord of the Rings. My roommate also saw Tori Spelling yesterday in one of the ritzier shopping areas of London. The Tower of London was amazing and the crown jewels were just unbelievable. It took about 3 hours to go through most of the fortress and I think I got a little bit burned again haha. After we got back I went to Kensington Gardens, which was just teeming with people because it was so warm and sunny out
, and I attempted to find the Elfin Oak which as you can see from my pictures, is still around. It's pretty amazing! This is my last week of classes for the 1st session, I can't believe how quickly the time has gone by! I'm thinking of all of you and I miss everyone. I almost bought Elinore a little Paddington Bear at the Tower of London but it was the equivalent of $24 and it wasn't very big sooooooo I figured I could find one somewhere else for a LOT cheaper, or I could just take a picture haha. I hope you all are doing well! 
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