Critical Mass video

I finally got this video to upload!!!  This is the bike ride Jon participated in Friday evening.  You can read more about it here

What a steal!

Oh my gosh you guys!  We (really Jon did) stumbled upon a moving sale just down the street on Saturday and scored BIG TIME!

I went inside the apartment and found a pastry cutter.  I have been eyeing recipes that call for using one of these, but I didn't have one so I skipped over them.  Not anymore!!!  And, it was only $1.  Sold!  Then I saw this super cute shelf for $5 and thought with a new coat of paint it could look really nice as a night stand.  Sold!  As I was walking out I notice the coffee table was only $8.  Now, we already have a coffee table, but I thought this could work as a bench at the end of a bed or in a mud room (someday).  Sold!  And then I saw this adorably cute farm produce stand looking piece.  It was love at first sight.  The possibilities are endless- you could repaint and reupholster the awning with plaid or flowered fabric and use it in a nursery, you could use it in a mud room for gloves and hats, you could use it as a book shelf...you get the point. It was $10.  Sold!

Now, having the buyer/negotiator side in me I couldn't pay full price for all this.  I made a deal and got everything for $20.  I'd say that was one of the best $20 bills I've ever spent!

I can't wait to get started refinishing these!!

Smile!

This little girl makes me smile.  And...I got to see her tonight!

Blogger Book Club Week 3

Here are my answers for Chapters 21-35.


1. Do you think Tim is the one sending the money?
Yes, I do.  I'm not sure who else would be doing it.  I think he's doing it because he feels guilty for everything he got CeeCee into.

2. So far, there's been a lot of discussion on CeeCee/Eve and her choices. What choice(s) would you make differently from her?
Well, I definitely wouldn't have gone along with Tim's plan in the first place so I guess that takes care of the rest of her choices.  :)  But, even if I would have gone along, I would have given Cory to the governor somehow- end of story.

3. What do you like about Jack? Are there things about him that you don't like?
I was leery at first because he asked her out right away.  That just seems a bit odd to me, but sometimes it happens like that.  I really like that Marian knows him so that makes me feel better about him.  He seemed to move kind of fast, but his intentions were good.  It was nice of him to bring Cory the Cory-Dory bag, but the bike seemed like a bit much.

4. What are the differences between CeeCee/Eve's relationship with Tim and Eve's relationship with Jack?
Jack seems to really have his life put together and Eve is much more mature than CeeCee was.  That brings a whole new light to their relationship.  It turns Eve and Jack's relationship into an adult one.

5. Do you think Eve is to blame for Cory's fears? What could she do, specifically, to help Cory feel like less of an outsider?
I think she is partially at fault.  She is pretty protective of Cory, but I think it would be natural for anyone to be if they were in that situation.  I think Eve should take the approach of not needing to be your child's friend, but needing to be a parent to your child.  There are going to be times when children dislikes their parents for one reason or another, but usually parents just have the child's best interest at heart.  Now, I do not have kids so I'm just saying what I think as a childless adult...who knows what I would say if I had kids.

6. Do you think Eve appropriately answered Cory's questions about her father? Do you think Cory will question her father more as she grows older?
I think Eve has to answer the questions about Cory's father like that.  If not, she risks Cory finding out the whole situation and then that could really open a can of worms and have detrimental consequences.  Yes, I believe Cory will continue to question her father more.  I think it's fair she questions her mom and wants to know.  I certainly think I would question my mom about my dad if he wasn't ever in the picture.

Coming up!

I'm pretty excited for this!

A nice little evening

I had a lovely evening planned for us Friday night and was really excited about it.  I sent Jon a text while he was on his train ride home and he was game for it too!  Because Jon typically gets home so late and the sun sets around 8pm right now we are no longer able to use our bistro table outside for dinner.  However, Jon took the 5pm train yesterday so we knew we'd have enough sunlight to eat outside!!!  We were going to start off with a few appetizers left over from the concert Wednesday night and a glass of wine.  While we were enjoying those I was going to get the water boiling for our pasta for dinner.

We were just about to sit down and then we both heard lots of commotion down the street.  It took us each about a minute to realize what was going on, but we both said "critical mass!" to each other at the same time.  Critical Mass is a HUGE bike ride throughout the city on the last Friday of the month.  Anyone can join and ride.  You can learn more about it here.  Jon has always wanted to participate, but the ride starts at 5:30pm downtown and he can never make it in time and the route they take changes so it's hard to just join in.  I told him he should jump on his bike and join in.  He said no because we had our food all set up and our night planned.  I really encouraged him to go and finally he said ok.  We flew around to get him set up with his helmet, bike lights, and bike and then he was off!  I was very excited he could finally do this.  He honestly obsesses talks about it every month!

Then our nice little evening looked like this.  A solo little party for myself complete with my book!

I had a video to post, but again I can't get it to work.  So frustrating.  Pictures will have to do, but they don't it justice.

Jon was back in about 45 minutes so we continued our evening inside as it was now dark.  We both ended up having a great night- Jon got to ride in the bike ride and I got some reading in with a glass of wine!

A little something

Happy Friday!  And, what a beautiful day it is!  The weekend is supposed to be gorgeous too!

I had great intentions of being super productive and doing a DIY project today.  But, that's down the drain.  I have been thinking about making an upholstered headboard for our bed for the last couple of weeks.  After a bit of googling yesterday I was set!  I found a couple of different instructions from Sherry & Jon and Jen and I had my list made for the fabric store and hardware store.

My plan of action was to go to the fabric store first to make sure I found fabric I liked before buying everything else.  Good thing I did!  My first stop was Urban Source on Chicago Ave.  I found them on google yesterday.  The sales associate I spoke with was super friendly.  However, the fabrics have to be ordered and take 5-7 days to come in...I wanted to have this completed by the time Jon got home.  And, the fabric starts at $45/yd there.  That's a bit out of my budget for the project.  So, she suggested trying Jo-Ann Fabric and a store called Fischman's Fabrics.

I went to Jo-Ann's and spent a ton of time pulling out all different fabrics.  I brought a pillow case that's the same as our duvet cover to match fabric off of.  Well, the prices were much cheaper, but nothing jumped out at me.  And, I don't want to buy fabric to just to buy it.  So, I was going head downtown to Fischman's to check out what they have when I saw the expressway at a dead stop.  Not surprising for a Friday in the city or any day, for that matter.  So, I decided it wasn't meant to be today...or maybe any day.  I checked the prices of the batting at Jo-Ann's and that stuff isn't cheap!  Oh well...

So, who's ready for the weekend?  What are the plans?  I think we are going to try and enjoy a low key weekend in the city.  We might head to the Green City Market tomorrow and hit up the Bucktown Art Fest in the afternoon.  Should be a good time!

Enjoy the weekend!

An evening with David & Ray

Last night we were fortunate enough to go to the David Gray & Ray LaMontagne concert at the Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park downtown.  It was a beautiful summer evening; we couldn't have asked for anything more.  The concert started at 6:15pm so I headed down about 4:30pm to get in line and get us a seat on the lawn.  Jon met me down there after work and made it just in time for the opening act.

We had two extra tickets and the show ended up being sold out so Jon was able to sell them on his way into the park.  That put him in a really good mood!

I made us a picnic dinner consisting of a pasta salad, taco dip, eggplant garlic spread, and no bake cookies.  We enjoyed the night munching and listening to fabulous music.

Boden Baby!

My fall Boden catalogue just arrived and I am loving quite a few items!  However, I always feel like their clothing looks better in pictures than it does on me.  For some reason it just doesn't fit right or I haven't found the perfect size yet.  But, that doesn't mean I still don't like what I see!  I just need to dress it on someone else!

I love the rich colors of this jacket.  The hood would be nice for walking around the city on rainy days.  

This dress looks so comfortable and has a soft look to it.

I LOVE the two flowers on these flats.  Now if only I could find reasonable jeans short enough to allow me to wear flats!  

This sweater would be perfect for fall.  The mustard yellow color would go great with a pair of dark jeans.

Perhaps these!  

This skirt is just too fun!  I love the flowers and colors.  I also like how they have it paired with both gray and brown.  It makes accessorizing easy!

This basic black skirt would go with anything.  And the pockets are a bonus!  How cute are those shoes? (for some reason this picture is refusing to center).

These items aren't really in our budget right now, but there is nothing wrong with a girl looking, is there?  For now I will keep flipping through my catalogue to get my fix!    

Photos from Boden

Great weekend!

What a great weekend!  I feel like were busy, yet we had time to relax.  As summer comes to a close, we are in "do everything that we can fit in" mode!  Too soon we will be bundling up and pulling our boots on to venture outside.  It's time to squeeze every last bit of summer out!

1.  Friday night we had a delicious dinner at Sapori Trattoria in Lincoln Park.  I called ahead and requested the Eggplant Parmesan (it isn't always on the menu so they have told me to call ahead and they should be able to prepare it for me).  It was de-licious!  Jon had his favorite, the lasagna.  We enjoyed our meal and then came home and relaxed.

2.  Saturday brought us to the beach.  We rode our bikes over to the path along Lake Michigan and rode north to Foster Avenue Beach.  Jon swam and I read a bit of the new book I started...The Girl Who Played With Fire.  In total we ended up riding 16 miles!

Hazy view of downtown from the path along Lake Michigan.

I have no idea what the things are in the cart, but I have always wondered.

Of course we had to get some ice cream!

View from new cross walk at Lincoln Park Zoo.

3.  Sunday was a busy day!  We started our day off by going to the Wicker Park farmers market.  I love going to the farmers market!  The fresh produce, flowers, baked goods, and people watching are wonderful!  We picked up some heirloom tomatoes, nectarines, and bread for the week.  

Tomatoes!

More tomatoes!

This is a mom and daughter flower farm...how cool!

This booth is from St. Joseph, Mi!

Can you tell I love tomatoes?

And then we did a classic Chicago event!  We went to a Cubs game and sat in the bleachers.  We can now cross this off of our list!  Yikes was it ever hot!  I really tried to be a good sport, but when the sun is beating down on you for hours and the couple next to you is practically making out it makes it hard.  As most of you know, I have a sweating problem.  Well, it definitely showed up at the game!  I made it thru the 5th inning in the bleachers and then I had to go stand in back.  There was a breeze and some shade so I was much happier!  Jon was a great husband and came and stood by me.

After the game we went to church at St. Vincent de Paul.  We never go to Sunday night church, but with the weekend's event it worked.  This was our first time at St. Vincent de Paul and we really enjoyed it.  The crowd was young (as it should be because it's the church of DePaul University) and the priest gave a good, practical message about routines in our lives.

I'd say it was a very successful weekend in Chi-town!

Blogger Book Club Week 2

I apologize for posting this so late!  I had intended to do it this morning, but I didn't have enough time.  Here are my answers to the discussion questions for Chapters 11-20.  

1. Where do you think Tim and Marty are at this point in the story?

I have no idea...I just know they aren't thinking about CeeCee.  

2. What were your thoughts as CeeCee was helping Genevieve deliver her baby?

I was thinking CeeCee is just a baby herself!  What a scary thing for her to have to go through.    And, how freakin' scared would you be if you were Genevieve?  I mean, are you kidding me?  I'm sure that cabin was far from clean and to be there with only one other person.  I really thought CeeCee would drive her to the hospital, but there just wasn't enough time.  Good for CeeCee for stepping up to the plate though.

3. After Genevieve died, what would you have done with her baby if you had been in CeeCee's shoes?

I would have turned her in to the police.  There is no way I could keep living through the "crime" and it isn't fair to the baby or her family.  And, as a 16 year old you probably wouldn't know how to properly care for the baby all by yourself.  

4. Why do you think CeeCee/Eve is still holding onto hope that Tim will come for her?

Because she is dependent on his love right now.  She wants to go on living a life with him and be happily ever after.  She's 16 and I don't know if she fully understands what has just happened and how it will affect people's lives.

5. How do you think Eve will establish her new identity in Virginia?

I think it's going to be slow going.  I think she will be waiting for her prince, Tim, to come and rescue her.  She will eventually have to start work and get money to pay for the basics.  I know I couldn't keep all of that a secret and just start over.

6. What do you think of CeeCee/Eve now after she has gone through with the kidnapping, the delivery of the baby, the escape, and the relocation?

I still think she is acting very immature.  She agreed to do something she definitely shouldn't, her part didn't go so hot, and now she is going to hide for the rest of her life?  How realistic is that really?  And, what about all of the people she has hurt in the process?  Granted, she will have to mature quickly in order to be the mom that Cory needs her to be.  She needs to get over Tim...he is bad news and I doubt he will come looking for her.  After this whole situation he just doesn't seem like he really loves her.  I just hope this turns out ok for everyone (minus Genevieve because it's too late for her).   

I must confess I couldn't put the book down once I read this set of chapters.  I finished it right up!! :)

Ah the simple life!

Yesterday I spent the day babysitting my niece, Lauren.  We had a fun filled day of riding bikes, going to the park, and playing together!  We had a gourmet lunch of macaroni and cheese; Lauren's absolute favorite meal!  All I heard while I was making it was Lauren saying "mac and cheese."  She has quite the sweet little personality and will be two in September.  Lauren has no fear and likes to try everything...I'm pretty sure she gets this from her dad.

Lauren kept wanting her radio on in her coupe car.
I had to tell her it was pretend and didn't really work.

Playing in the sand.

Smiling away!

Going down a big slide!

Lauren loves helping in the kitchen.

We had a great time together!  It was nice to take a step back and live a day in the life of a child.  The simplicity of playing with blocks, swinging at the park, and just being carefree and innocent.  It's too bad our adult life doesn't lend itself to letting us feel that way more often.  We get too caught up in the hustle and bustle of life.  It's nice to have a little one around to remind me to slow down and stop and smell the roses.  Thanks for a great day Lauren!

An afternoon at the park!

This afternoon Wilma and I decided to spend some time at Wicker Park.  It was a gorgeous summer day- almost no humidity, blue skies with a few puffy clouds, and in the mid-eighties.  I packed up a bag with our blanket, a bottle of water, my book and we were off!

The Chicago Park District is pretty phenomenal.

I love people watching at the park!

Meet Wilma!

She couldn't stop looking at the man juggling and the guys playing frisbee.

Lovely fountain.

The Wicker Park Garden Club does an amazing job with the flowers.

I enjoyed a few pages of reading while Wilma was constantly on-the-go checking out every bird and person that walked by us!  

Blogger Book Club

I know I'm a little late on this post (it was supposed to be done yesterday!), please forgive me.  I joined an online book club put on by Erin and Rachel.  The first book of the Bookend Bloggers Book Club is The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes by Diane Chamberlain.

1. What was your first impression of Tim?

Tim seemed too good to be true.  Why is someone so much older than CeeCee so interested in her?  I just had a weird feeling about him from the start.  

2. If you were in CeeCee’s position, would you be willing to help your boyfriend in the way that she is willing to help Tim?

Absolutely not.  It's against the law and let's be honest, these things never go as planned.  Someone gets hurt, they get caught, etc.  That's not something I would get involved in.

3. Why do you think CeeCee is so eager to please Tim?

I think CeeCee is like a lot of girls and loves having an older man is interested in her.  She feels needed by him and I think this makes her feel more like an adult.  

4. Who do you think has it harder? Tim or CeeCee?

I think CeeCee does.  Tim is choosing to put himself in the situation and he is fully aware of what might happen.  CeeCee is still young and has so much to learn.  She doesn't have a family and had to deal with losing her mother at such a young age.

5. What character trait(s) about CeeCee stuck out the most to you in these first ten chapters?

She's patient and shows this with Marty.  She has a sense of loyalty to her- I believe deep down she knows this isn't a good idea, yet she is willing to participate to help friends.  

6. Do you think CeeCee is as mature as she seems?

No, you never are at 16.  As much as you think you are, you aren't.  Because of CeeCee's life situation she has had to grow up fast, but she still has a lot to learn.  She needs to really find herself and hold true to her values if she doesn't agree with something.  It's ok to tell people no if you don't believe in the cause, but she didn't because she's too worried about losing Tim. 

Welcome!

Hi there!  Welcome to The Rest is Still Unwritten!  My love obsession for blogs began back in 2008 when I started planning our wedding (like so many other people).  Since then a lot has happened: we moved to Chicago, had a wonderful wedding, and I recently left my job to pursue a more creative and fulfilling career.

I hope to use this blog to explore the different facets of my life.  Everything from cooking, to traveling, to discovering my ideal career, to family and friends, and to everyday life!

Welcome to my blog and thanks for sharing in my journey!