Prezzie Love

What did you get for Christmas, little boy or girl? I think my Christmas went pretty well!

I got a nice collection of single tastings of wine.  I think it's called a fruity white wine collection.  This is in the fridge right now, awaiting my sampling.

YD stocked us up on candles, but she threw in a Mickey Mouse hat for me.

Within this little group is the great gift OD got me (season one of "The Walking Dead"), a Day of the Dead bride and groom from my youngest sister (the small ones up front), and then what Mr. Calm picked out from my Pinterest boards!  He's a great husband, isn't he? ;)  The framed art in the back, and the tall Day of the Dead bride and groom in the back.  I was floored that he actually went to my Pinterest page, let alone bought things from it!

Last, these are the most special gifts I got this Christmas.  For years, I had Russian nesting dolls that were given to me by my mom's neighbor before she passed away from cancer.   During our separation, because I didn't write them down on an extensive list, these were one of the things that Mr. Calm and YD sold in a yard sale instead of packing up, and they were one of the things I was upset about losing.  You think that when you get back a marriage, material things don't matter... but many material things have memories associated with them, and as much as you don't like to admit it, they do matter.  Mr. Calm has taken care to replace quite a few things we/I lost during our separation, but my dolls were something I always wished I'd never lost.

Mr. Calm asked me what they looked like a few months ago.  Mine had blonde hair, but these are very close to the matryoshkas I had before.  I'd forgotten he'd asked, so when I opened these on Christmas morning, I dissolved into tears.

Aren't they beautiful?

Mr. Calm and I got back together Christmas Day, 2010, so it's an anniversary for us; sort of a second anniversary, if you will.  So, I hope your Christmas Day was as special as mine was and is. :)

Back from Chicago!

Hey, gang! Mr. Calm and I are back from our weekend in Chicago/Indiana to celebrate our anniversary (which is the 30th, but we always get started early ;)). We had a great time; I'm so glad we went. Even the excitement of seeing a new major city helped tamp down the pain in our butts from the seven-hour car ride.

Here are some highlights from the trip:

We stayed downtown, about two blocks from Michigan Avenue ("The Magnificent Mile"), on the 7th floor of our hotel.  This was our view.  Down below was Nordstrom's.  I liked to look out the window at the people and cars below.  Mr. Calm liked to growl out the window, "I'm BATMAN!"

Our first evening in town, we wandered around on Michigan Avenue, and off it we found a piano bar that we went to later.  STRONG drinks, cool place.  We felt very attended to... I found many people in Chicago to be really nice.

View just before dawn, from our hotel.

Saturday morning we walked toward the lake and the pier (because of the rain, we nixed going up Rush Street, our original plan).  Here's some city-approved graffiti.  Approved by me, too; if you're going to spray paint stuff, at least do a good job.

Mr. Calm at the shore of Lake Michigan.

And moi.  My toes were cold.

After we went to Navy Pier (eh), we took a cab down to Ed Debevic's, a diner that's been around since 1947 and apparently famous for its surly waiters.  Our server started off with a bang, and we were dotty old people through the entire meal (just for the record, I'm barely 42, and Mr. Calm is a senile 43).  Food was diner food, but the brown gravy I had to dip my fries in was delicious.

Okay, what's not to love about brownstones??

Face-off!

After lunch and a bit of lounging/resting footsies at the hotel, we walked over the Museum of Contemporary Art.  This is me playing with the multiple exposure feature on my Hipstamatic app.  We ended up getting in for free (!!) since we got there thirty minutes before the museum closed, and I was even more surprised that you could take pictures inside the museum.  Wha-wha-WHAT?

We left Chicago around 8:30 Sunday morning.  Along the way back is Fair Oaks Farms, one of the largest dairy farms in the country.  We took the tour, which takes you around the farm and to the milking carousel.

This is inside the birthing barn.  She seems to be pregnant with twins, because she was twice as large as the cow behind her.  And yes, we got to see a baby calf being born!  I booked it over there as soon as I saw that it was happening, and it took about twenty, twenty-five minutes.  Not gross at all, either.  Toward the end, with the baby most of the way out, I was whispering, "Come on, momma!", although I also felt bad for her: when you've gone through labor, it's hard not to feel bad when you know how much pain they're in.  And maybe bewilderment, since this was her first calf.

Our last stop was Lynn's Paradise Cafe in Louisville, Kentucky.  I've been wanting to go there for years, and it didn't disappoint in the kitsch factor.  Ugly lamps, Formica tables and chairs, all kinds of retro knick knacks and doodads.  Unfortunately, the food really did disappoint me.  So, if you like kitsch, give it a try... but the food ain't worth a second trip.

Aaaand... that's our trip to Chicago!  Loved getting away to a new place with the love of my life. :)