No Place.....Like Home!

Oh My Goodness! I can't believe I couldn't find even a single moment in the past week to post! But let me tell you, there just wasn't! And you know, enjoying my time away from the computer meant that I shouldn't be running TO the computer to record every spare moment! I didn't even take as many pictures in Shipshewana as I was thinking I would, because we spent a lot of time just working at our sewing machines! I needed some down time, some me time, and I got it!

My adventure begins last Tuesday, Oct 19th.......It was a fairly normal morning! My flight wasn't until almost noon, so I got up, and finished my packing, and quilted a 65"X65" quilt for Lisa's Djembe project (these are turning out so NICE! I hope she will feature a story about them on her blog) while I was puttering around in the quilting room. Yes, I love my Compu Quilter, even if I haven't much moved past pantographs since I got it installed last December. I'm not ashamed of this. There will be time to do more, but for right now....it does what I need on the quilts I've needed to quilt! (I do dream of having time off to take some classes and really learn this thing...)

My flight was terrific.....it's only an hour and 45 mins to Chicago, which is barely time really to get settled, start sewing some hexagons, wait for the flight attendant to bring a beverage...and by then they start cleaning it all up again, and I continue to sew, listening to my ipod all the way and before I know it we are going down to land!

I had a couple of hours to wait for Randy's arrival from San Francisco, so I found an empty gate, (The best seat in the house is the one next to the wall plug!) Recharged my phone, listened to more music, stitching hexies away! And we were off on our Chicago-Indiana adventure!

The pic you see above was my first glimpse at the city through the 52nd story windows where we were staying....I always wondered what it would feel like to LIVE in a big city, and I think I got a big dose of it those couple days we stayed in Chicago!

We walked EVERYWHERE! We found the best little Italian restaurant, Quartinos, for dinner, and the eggplant Parmesan was to die for! Randy's son Ben joined us, and it was great to see mother and son together again. It makes me feel like part of her family too :c)

A brisk walk back to our lodgings and this was the view:



Is that not a spectacular night time sight? It was breath taking! I just couldn't take my eyes off the view from that window.

The next morning....Wednesday....I awoke to this as the sun was just rising and hitting the buildings:



I love sights like this one! Old theaters with great signs....



And although we window shopped...A LOT....I didn't buy much, but I did take advantage of the Garmin store (Like an Apple Store, but for Garmins..) that was close by where we were staying. I had just bought a Garmin 405 gps watch to track my miles when I power walk in strange places (on trips! Not that every place is strange...lol!) and I tell you what, you need to be an astronaut to figure this thing out. So....I went in and had this gal show me basics. JUST BASICS. And she was flipping this, and clicking that, and talking about all the functions and my head was spinning. SERIOUS. All I really want is something that will track miles, heart rate (It comes with a monitor for at the gym)and calories burned. Just basic GIRL fitness stuff, you know? Let's just say this thing is basically man-sized-over-kill. But. I have it. So I will use it.

This is my pic in front of the Garmin store:


In fact we used it so much that we clocked in over 7.5 miles on that day we were all over Chicago! Shops, restaurants, walking along the shore of Lake Michigan, The art institute to see the Van Goghs and the Renoirs....(Ooooohh I love the Renoirs!) Walking really adds up that fast! Of course we needed to walk that much with all the good food we found. And yes, I know you will agree with me. I am pants challenged. I just have the hardest time finding pants that are long enough that fit me right and feel good, I often go around looking like I'm expecting a flood to happen :c/ If I buy "TALL" pants they need to be hemmed. If I buy "REGULAR" pants...they are too short. Quilters DO NOT HEM. Therefore...I wear pants that look funny. Nuff said!

Our Wednesday evening walk along lake Michigan:



Wednesday night we met up with Ben again near his neighborhood and ate in a wonderful Costa Rican place. TALK ABOUT AMAZING. I honestly think that was our best meal the whole trip...It was a lay down on the floor and unbutton the jeans so you can breathe kind of good meal! LOL

I also had the wonderful opportunity to meet up with a friend from high school....Scott and I go all the way back to 4th grade, and the last time I saw him was at high school graduation in 1980 in San Jose, California. We've both come a long way, baby....and he and his family live in Chicago! We were all able to meet for a bit on Wednesday evening and catch up and visit.....Giants game over one shoulder, Blackhawks game over the other shoulder, and talk about the past 30 years and where our lives are now. He still has the same smile! The same eyes! The same red hair....the same Scott I remember standing in the back row of our class picture at Henderson Elementary (Tall ones always in the back!) and here we were 30 years later. It was amazing....Thank You, Facebook, for putting me back in touch with people who have grown up along with me....all of us together...it's an amazing tool! Thank You, Scott for taking the time (And a cab) down to where we were staying and spending your evening catching up! It was priceless!

After all the evening's excitement, it was back to our apartment so we could get some good shut eye...we were being picked up by Darlynn and Andrea so we could head out to Shipshewana early Thursday morning....and I'll continue that story in the next post! I've got tons of stuff to do these next two weeks..YES! I'm home for two weeks!