Long Time, No Type

Hello blog!

I've missed you... some. I mean, not a ton, but I've definitely thought about you. A few times. Well, I'm still sorry.

It has been a busy time for us in the city! We have tried to get in several "last nice weather" days before they become extinct for the season. And we have had some VERY nice days.

Here are the highlights from the past couple of weeks, in pro - con format (for my parli-pro friends):

• Pro: My husband got a great job at the Illinois Institute of Technology!
• Con: Our laptop 100% died. Gone with the wind... and hard drive.
• Pro: We celebrated our 2 year anniversary with an amazing dinner on the 95th floor restaurant in the Hancock Tower, the Signature Room.
• Con: We've been spending a lot of money.
• Pro: We've been spending a lot of money.
• Con: We're really busy.
• Pro: We're totally joining the 21st century. Those of you who know us know what this means... just a couple more days until you can text us without the collection agency calling you.
• Con: We're going to be like cavemen for about 2 weeks with these phones.
• Pro: We got rid of our home phone, but upgraded our cable. Net: PROFIT of $6. YES!
• Con: None
• Pro: We get to commute to work on the train together every morning. Much more entertaining.
• Con: None
• Pro: Life is simply amazing.
• Pro-Con is closed.

We have discovered some lovely little gems in our area, but I'm getting an itch... Since the husband got a job on the southern side of Downtown, he is currently commuting 45 minutes to work each day, each way. My planner (my dominant side) is already considering what our next move will look like... in June. I do, however, feel like we can start branching out and learning about neighborhoods which might be a compromise time-wise and NO compromise happiness-wise.

We also visited my in-laws two weekends ago and took some pictures of covered bridges at a "festival" held in Indiana. This festival consists of riding into a town, past all the yard sales and rummage sales, and acquiring a map of trails in which you can drive to find several bridges. The bridges themselves are cool, and the festival was fun (I haven't found one I didn't like); however, I didn't know what I was expecting--it wasn't really this, though. I really liked the ability to take pictures of subjects I don't ordinarily find... I don't think I have any pictures of covered bridges, so I experimented with a couple of approaches. Once I am able to post the video, I hope you like them.

Finally, we have one last piece of fun news: WE'RE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD FOR CHRISTMAS THIS YEAR!! On our anniversary, I booked tickets to celebrate the wonderful end to our long and challenging year we weathered together. We've never been together, so I look forward to some fun, but also the ability to partake in the nightlife while there... the last time I went, I was on a band trip (judge if you willl... I still went to Disney World). Any suggestions for "must sees" or "don't bothers"??

Botanical Garden

Fall is non-committally arriving in the city. This is the bi-polar life of living in the city... leave home in the morning with a warm, cozy coat, then leave it in the office in the afternoon on your way home because it is so very warm and sunny outside. However, the leaves are already starting to change colors and collect in corners, which I love.

So we took advantage of the last warmer weekends to head over to the Chicago Botanical Garden and I, of course, played with some more camera settings. I also messed with Picasa to edit the final product finishing. Regardless of the pictures I took, I had a great day away from my stressors and with my wonderful husband!

It was a very peaceful day, as the grounds are HUGE! You can choose to be around others, or you can turn right and get away from the whole world. They even have a trail that leads to the middle of an "island", where you just turn around and go right back out!

However, while this was a great time, I have to tell you that the highlight of my weekend was on Sunday night... Ryan found a viewing party for the season premiere of "Desperate Housewives" at Harry Caray's on Navy Pier. This was no ORDINARY viewing party though... it was hosted by James Denton, who plays Mike Delfino on the show. We actually walked up and got a table in the main room and I got my picture taken with James. He was incredibly generous to all the guests and was a super-nice guy. He must have thanked us for coming at least 10 times, which seemed so unnecessary, since he took pictures with anyone who wanted it--he's the star, after all! He shared some insider information about the show with us and gave away autographed items throughout the night. THEN he opened up the floor for questions and seemed to be really honest with his answers. I love it when I meet famous people who are actually great people too!