Chicago and Memories of Marshall Field's

I got to tag along with Jim this week when he needed to be in Chicago on business. It's so great now that I'm "retired" to just pick up and go when I want to. We visit friends and family often in the suburbs, but that is not the same as actually staying downtown Chicago in a hotel. This time we booked a room in the newly remodeled Hotel Sax (formerly the House of Blues Hotel). It is located right next to House of Blues restaurant and concert hall and the Marina Towers on State Street.

About an hour after our arrival on Wednesday afternoon Jim needed to head out to a dinner meeting with colleagues, so I was left on my own right away. As an aside, I want to add that growing up I was definitely not the adventurous type - I was quiet, shy, and liked to follow the lead of others. Some of the things I've had to do since being married to Jim that I thought I would NEVER do include driving alone in New York City and hanging out by myself in places like Las Vegas and Chicago. I've learned, though, that you see things in a much different perspective when you do things by yourself. It is definitely a confidence builder, but you get to do so much more observation and discovery when you are on your own. It's so very interesting to sit in a coffee shop or restaurant and watch people. You see so much that you wouldn't notice if you were with someone else and engaged in conversation.

Back to this week's Chicago experience. So last night I walked to the Weber Grill restaurant (only four blocks from our hotel) and enjoyed a grilled chicken salad while successfully completing three Sudoku puzzles. It was interesting to observe the party of 12 seated next to me. I'm sure it was a work group celebrating some occasion or other. I always enjoy guessing what the bill will come to as I watch wine, cocktails, appetizers, entrees and desserts being served to so many people. Did someone say recession?? After my dinner I walked back to our room and watched Americal Idol until Jim got back a little after 8.

I was somewhat dismayed that this hotel does NOT provide coffee pots nor coffee in the guest rooms! But the lack of coffee got me up and out earlier than I may have this morning, and I walked a few blocks until I found a Corner Bakery where I was able to get delicious hazelnut coffee and a breakfast panini. Yum! I enjoyed looking around at lots of other solo people doing various things (cell phones, computers, earphones, etc). Soon I was off to my favorite part of the day - shopping at Marshall Fields!! Well, I know it is now called Macy's, but it will always be Marshall Field and Company to me. I love that even though Macy's bought all the Marshall Fields out a few years ago, they kept THE CLOCK and the Marshall Field and Company cornerstone that served as their landmark for so many years. That store provides many great memories of the past. I don't even know how many years we had the tradition of going to Field's at Christmas time to view the windows, but I first went with my mom and dad, and then we began the tradition with our kids when they were just babies. Field's always had this fabulous window display, following a theme and telling a story that seemed so magical. We would start at one corner of the building and follow each window along the block until we had seen and read the entire story. It was a challenge to find a spot in the crowd of people that would provide a good view, but that was part of the fun. Then we would go into the store to warm up and get in line for lunch in the Walnut Room under the giant Christmas tree. Sometimes we would be in line for up to two hours, but again, that was all part of the package. If you were lucky sometime during lunch the Sugar Plum Fairy would stop by your table to allow each child to make a wish as she sprinkled stardust over their heads. Our Christmas visits to Fields also included purchasing a box of Frango mints to enjoy on the train on the ride back to Wheaton.

Today I bought some Frango mint coffee, a treat we always enjoy. I was disappointed to see that Macy's has taken the liberty to really pare down the Frango department. There was only one tiny display of coffee, and no more need to make a choice between decaf, regular, whole bean, or ground; the only choice I needed to make was whether or not my bag of ground regular Frango mint coffee had a Chicago scene on the front or not. There still was a pretty good assortment of the mints, but I didn't see any Frango cakes, cookies, or gift baskets that used to so popular at Marshall Field's. A happy discovery was to find that I still had the option to enjoy a dish of chocolate Frango mint ice cream (or Frango mint pie) in the little Frango cafe on the 7th floor (which I did!).

I chose the package with the Chicago skyline.

Shopping at Macy's for bargains today was NOT a disappointment. I enjoyed finding lots of great deals - also reminiscent of past shopping experiences at Field's. Racks and racks of 80 percent off clothes were on every floor that I visited. Though I tried to limit myself, I did find several things that I know I will enjoy wearing! And did I mind being alone to shop??? Not at all. That's ONE thing I prefer to do alone. Now I'm back in our room at the Sax waiting for Jim to be done for the day. Tonight we will use our coupon for two free drinks in the bar here at the hotel, and then venture out to dinner at some fabulous restaurant. It has been a great day so far!!

Back Home

Me and my "big" sister, Ruth

We don't have much family left in the Chicago area anymore. With Jason and his family in Tanzania, and Jorie's family living just down the street from us now in Cedar Rapids, our trips back to Illinois are much less frequent. When the kids were there we would visit every other month or so, and then perhaps include a stop at Mom and Dad's or my sister's. Those weekend trips to see our kids rarely left any time to even think of getting together with friends in the Wheaton area. So now we can still take a weekend trip "back home" and are able to spend more time with my family and our friends. This past weekend we had planned to combine shopping trips at Trader Joe's and Chicago Premium Outlets with visits to my dad and my sister. We did our shopping Friday evening and then drove to Elgin to stay with my sister Ruth and her husband John. We had a great time with them on Saturday, including a nice visit to check up on my dad at Windsor Park Manor in Carol Stream. It was encouraging to see Dad in such good spirits following the loss of my mom last June. He spends a lot of time watching sports - football, basketball, tennis, and of course, the Cubs in the summer - on his new 40 inch plasma TV. He also enjoys taking advantage of reading books selected from Windsor's nice library. Dad is well-cared for at Windsor. He has so many friends there - fellow retired professors from Wheaton College and friends he's known for years from Wheaton Bible Church. He gets two nice meals each day from the dining room and eats a small lunch in his apartment each day. Dad also enjoys singing in the men's chorus there. I know he is lonely at times, missing Mom's company, but he is adjusting well to this stage of his life. Ruth and John are wonderful at checking in on him and helping with laundry and grocery shopping. After visiting Dad, the four of us went to see Slumdog Millionaire and enjoyed dinner at Houlihan's in Schaumburg. We all enjoyed the sunny fifty degree weather on Saturday. Jim and I felt like we had gone south for spring break. We hope to take another trip back home soon to spend time with some dear friends in Wheaton.

Trader Joe's

Only those who live in Iowa (or perhaps Idaho) can fully understand the excitement generated by a trip to Trader Joe's. The closest store that I know of is 4 hours away in Batavia, IL, but believe me, driving that far is definitely worth the trip. Once you've become accustomed to certain Trader Joe products, it's hard to live without them! Take Two Buck Chuck - it's awesome!! $2.99 for a bottle of quality wine!! We actually prefer TJ chardonnay to many other wines that are more than quadruple the price. And Jim and I love TJ's tomato basil marinara sauce. Yum! Jim won't eat spaghetti unless he can top it with that sauce. We stocked up more than a case of wine, several jars of marinara, salsa verde, blue corn tortilla chips, dark chocolate covered raisins, chocolate orange and raspberry sticks, raspberry fruit spread, and some yummy crackers. Other favorites are their whole wheat bagels, pita chips, hummus, fruit leathers, and several kinds of cookies; though we'll save those for our next visit. I don't understand why we can't get a Trader Joe's here in Iowa. I know TONS of people who would shop there! Oh well - it's always a good reason to take a day or weekend trip to Illinois.

Winter Blahs

So what's with all of the germs going around this winter?? Jim was sick with some sort of virus for a week or so right around Christmas, and has been sick again with a nasty virus for 13 days now. It started with body aches, massive headache, and fever for a couple of days followed by the nastiest of "colds" - congestion and cough that just won't stop; no voice for two days. He finally went to the doctor and got a Z pak. The doctor didn't even look at him - just listened and said that everyone is coming in with these symptoms. Whether the ailment is viral or bacterial, by the time he's done with the meds, he should feel better. Annie and Justin happened to be at our house for lunch the very day that Jim started feeling bad, and a couple of days later Annie came down with the body aches, headache, and fever. She was too weak to pick up Claire, so Justin stayed home for two days to take care of them. Poor guy - he even took Claire alone to her two month check up with the pediatrician! Annie started feeling better and came to CR for a family get-together last Saturday, but ended up going to the ER at St. Luke's and spending four hours there to be diagnosed with pneumonia. Her virus ended up in the lungs with bad pain, but no cough or other cold symptoms. She was told at the ER that with the Z pak that she was prescribed she wouldn't be able to breastfeed Claire for 7 days. Not too happy about that; but on Monday after speaking with her pediatrician, that decision was reversed, and she's now back to nursing. Yikes! I'm on pins and needles wondering if and when I may come down with this, but have been getting lots of rest, which I think is good. Snow, ice, arctic cold, and illness . . . I think we should all fly south for the winter like the birds.

Technical Tragedy

Well, it happens. Even though it can be prevented it happens. And it happened to me as 2008 drew to a close. I lost EVERYTHING on my computer. Christmas card address labels that I've kept updated for over 15 years, two files full of recipes, all of my photo albums from April 2007 until December 2008 (though two that I had uploaded to Kodak Gallery were saved), and numerous other files. I don't even know at this point what was lost - time will tell. When I got my laptop two years ago, we had Vista installed. It's been good, except that Jim was bothered by the sound quality - a crackling noise which was noticed mostly when watching videos, listening to music, or making a skype call. (Was this a problem for me? Not really). After working with Dell personnel twice in December -one 2 1/2 hour call trying to make several changes, and a house visit from a Dell technician who replaced the mother board - the problem was still there. They concluded that it was a problem with Vista and suggested that Vista be re-installed.

So the call came from the Dell person saying he was ready to walk Jim through the steps to do the re-install. He failed to mention that this would involve re-formatting the hard drive, and that all of my info could be lost. If we had known obviously we would have backed everything up. Jim remembers that the first time we did it (to update XP?? I don't really get all of this stuff . . . ) that it didn't affect anything. Who knows . . . anyway, I was left not only with Vista re-installed but a completely clean slate as well.

It took awhile to really hit me what the loss really was, and then of course I was not too thrilled with the whole thing. Anyway, I'm in the process now of trying to get back all of my email contacts. So if you are a reader of my blog and haven't received any emails from me for awhile, it could be because I don't have your contact. So send me an email, and I'll re-add you to my contact list. And don't forget to BACK UP your files!

Oh, and in case you're wondering . . . no, the problem still is not completely solved.

Christmas Happenings

Today is the first "normal" day that we have had for several weeks. Jim is back to work and I am home today taking advantage of a day not subbing and thinking about what needs to be done during the week ahead. It feels good to be able to be back to more of a schedule, take a deep breath, and go forward. Already Christmas 2008 is a memory, but many special ones were made for our family this year.

Jim's mom and dad (ages 95 and 93) successfully drove from their home in Milwaukee to visit us and be part of our celebration here in Cedar Rapids. The weather was touch and go, so we were thankful they made it here and back safely. It was a special time for them as they were able to meet their tenth great-grandchild, Claire Grace Schumacher. Little Silas, Claire's 2 1/2 year old cousin was just as taken with her as they were. I guess babies delight all of us, young and old.

Though they live only a half hour away in Iowa City, Justin and Annie opted to stay three nights in our home with little Claire, rather than haul oxygen tanks back and forth. It is always delightful to have an infant in our home - we all enjoyed cuddling her and admiring all of her little antics.

How we celebrataed: I prepared our traditional Swedish smorgasbord for our Christmas Eve dinner which includes Swedish fruit soup, Swedish meatballs, sour-cream mashed potatoes, festive cauliflower, green "star" jello, home-made crescent rolls, and a chocolate/peppermint ice cream dessert. The dessert was a new version this year with peppermint ice cream sandwiches as a base rather than the Oreo cookie crust I used to make. It was a hit, so that will be included as our dessert in years to come. (Jason and Roxanne - we hope you like it as much as we did!!) After dinner we opened gifts and enjoyed seeing everyone's creativity with the ornament exchange that has become part of our tradition in the last few years. We draw names for a gift and ornament, and everyone takes pride in choosing an ornament that would be significant for their person during the preceding year. Jorie gave me a beautiful cloisonne' golden apple to signify my retirement from teaching; and Jim received a darling wheelbarrow loaded with a little bush and garden tools to represent the many hours he spends working in our yard each year.

On Christmas morning we began with an hour long skype call toJason, Roxanne, and Annikah in Tanzania. It was wonderful to be able to watch each other open the gifts we had sent and received in the mail. It was the next best thing to actually being together for Christmas. After the call we enjoyed our traditional Christmas champagne brunch and just relaxed the rest of the day.

One disappointment was that Jorie, Mark, Joel, and Silas could not enjoy the activities with us as a family. Joel had been running a fever and was suffering from a virus, and since the doctor had warned Annie and Justin that Claire should not be around any illness, Jorie and Mark opted to come over to our house in alternate shifts, leaving the boys at home. By New Year's Day, though, everyone was well, so Jim and I along with Justin, Annie, and Claire all gathered at Jorie and Mark's house for New Year's Day brunch.

Here are a few more pictures I took that show more of our Christmas.

Dinner Club Christmas

For the past five or six years (girls, how long has it been??) some dear teacher friends and I have enjoyed cooking, sharing recipes, and eating the delicious creations we make at our Dinner Club. We all love to cook, enjoy being together, and the combination of the two makes for many fun times. Every year our Christmas gathering includes our hubbies (though not pictured here). We all missed sweet Sara and her husband, Alex, last night who were busy entertaining family from out of town; and also my hubby, Jim, who was feeling under the weather. At one time we all taught at the same school, and all taught first grade. That's when this club came about. Even though now only two of the girls are still employed teachers (Angela teaches third grade, and Julie teaches kindergarten) we have continued to meet every couple of months to catch up on the "news" and to enjoy a meal together. (I should add that we all continue to teach in one way or another, too. Adri homeschools Cole, her second grader, and Annika, her preschooler; I work as a sub and have "Grandma school" occasionally for Joel and Silas; and Sara is constantly teaching her darling little girls, Caroline (4) and Maddy (2) at home).

Left to right: Me, Angela, Adri, and Julie (Sara is missing!)

We take turns hosting. The hostess's job is to secure a date for the next dinner club, prepare an entre' and provide the beverages. We all enjoy creating a theme-decorated table at times and often include a "favor" for each of the gals, though that is not an expectation. The rest of us take turns opting to bring either an appetizer, a salad, a bread, or a dessert which rounds out a wonderful meal. Each of us bring copies of the recipes we prepared which we then add to our wonderful Dinner Club Cookbooks that Julie made for each of us a few Christmases ago.

Our cookbook

At one point, Sara had the idea to add a DC Journal, passed from hostess to hostess, who records the menu and special events of the night. Somewhere along the way (??) the journal may or may not have been completed, so at times is a somewhat sketchy account of our gatherings. All in all, our dinner club has been a successful and enjoyable adventure for us. Hmmm, let's see . . . who is supposed to be planning the next gathering?? (I think it might be me!)