first, the reason, then the escape.

because my blogging is so hit and miss, you may have missed the event that recently sent me into a tailspin. I totalled our very functional paid off car. and the best part is that I was actually paying attention to my driving, just not close enough. a light changed to yellow while I was making multiple lane changes. long story short, not a bad accident - only injured cars, just hairy enough to total my car.

the insurance co. (who was really good to work with) took two weeks to decide that it was a total loss. so at that point we were in a mad dash to decide what direction to go in - do we buy new to help infuse the economy? do we buy used but new to us and have a car payment but different car? or do we go with what we had and no car payment?

we had a lot of fun trying out new cars and dreaming of some days and maybes and different possibilities. when it came down to it, we had to go with an exact replacement. it has been a great car for our family. and it happened that the exact replacement happened to be in Chicago. that means the car came with a fabulous road trip to boot. what better excuse for a weekend "getaway" I ask? (ok, yeah, I can think of a few others too.)

but I will take any opportunity to have my husbands undivided attention. I mean he is really amazing, and totally cute. I only had to share him with the many architectural masterpieces Chicago has to offer. notice, one of the many obligatory "get pictures of me so John won't hear about how the only pictures he took were of the architecturally interesting points around the city" shots. can you see the eyes roll....

Honestly, though. Chicago is a beautiful and amazing city. history and progress. love those amazing high rises next to gargoyles and steeples.

we only saw a few sights - there is so much and we had to hit the road. but we did enjoy what we saw - this was taken minutes before John and I slide down the side of this bridge. and then got scolded by security. whoops. but it was fun to pretend we were still young and fun. well he is, but I have to work up to it, hence security had time to find us!
and I have video to prove it - but no knowledge of how to post it.
where do I sign up for that workshop, people?



we walked so much of this city and didn't even scrape the surface. had our obligatory deep dish pizza. which was good, but was still just pizza. saw the Art Institute, gardens, walked the river say the magnificent mile, tried to shop H&M, and had an amazing and refreshing time.

enjoyed the many art installations around the city. I love creativity. I envy it. so grateful when people share it and support it.

one of the few pictures of us together. we had fun playing in the rain together. holding hands up and down the many avenues. talking over lunch. perusing shops and museums. so nice to remember why you enjoy each other.

leave it to John to find the coolest functional works. I love how he has opened my eyes to architecture. I asked him if he thought I would enjoy this stuff if it hadn't been for our marriage - he complimented me by saying yes. and I might, but I find it so much more interesting because I understand buildings because of him.

thanks babe. you are my knight in shining armor.

oh, and did I mention he flew us FIRST CLASS?

yeah, he is pretty princely.