Coffee Cup Perspectives: Let it Snow!

It started snowing on December 1, quite appropriately, and we have had pretty much solid cold weather since then. I'm not complaining at all, being a huge fan of winter. A thaw here and there reduced our actual inch-age of snow - in fact, it gave us a 1/2 inch ice instead (see below!) - but it was about 2 degrees this morning with a windchill of -30. I felt that and had no problem spending the afternoon in our warm and cheery livingroom..

Nonetheless, I've made it to Chicago and back twice this month, thanks to a week off dedicated to organizing life at home and enjoying good company...

My old roommate Sarah and I enjoyed the first weekend together - the Kristkindl Market, with purveyers from mostly from Austria, Germany and Poland, is one of the things I've most enjoyed about Chicago's Christmas traditions, so we made a long detour through the crowds there.

The craftsmanship is beautiful - thousands of ornaments, carvings, weaving, embroidery, pottery, intricate (and expensive!!) creches... There are also stands from Peru, Nepal, Bolivia, Palestine and Mexico, a true reflection of the cross-section of cultures found in the city.

And there's always a train set up with lights, towns, and soooo many evergreens - the scent of fir and pine mixed with the cinnamon and rich pastries from the baked goods huts, spiced wine from another corner - it makes the whole State Street Square smell fabulous! We resisted these temptations in favor of a pastry & coffee shop closer to Sarah's known as Lovely's. It lived up to its name quite effortlessly ~ warmth and atmosphere to thaw our toes and noses, well-worn antiques for furniture, excellent coffee and of course pastries...

After traversing the entire shoe district (successfully) for That Pair needed for our resident's holiday party the following day, we turned in for an evening of relaxing.

West Thomas Street, Chicago

I left early the following morning order to both escape traffic jams and make it back to St. Mark's in Peoria in time for choir practice. However, the dawn light on the street was so classic and irresistably picturesque I had to stop and take it in.

View of St. Stanislaus church from Thomas & Milwaukee, Chicago

The residents' Holiday Party, Dec. 7

Melissa, Lena, Chris, myself & Jane - oh and Tim in the back!

If there's a resident excursion, we can usually be found together

Wendy & Bridget at Laurel's

The rest of the week was also spent in good company, including an afternoon at Laurel's making salt dough ornaments. Little hands, big smiles - lots of entertainment!

Laurel with her nieces Cathering and Rosemary (the youngest), both of Bridget's younger sisters.

Laurel's own little lady was, by this time, in absentia napping

Jenny & Joey.... His sister Gianna was moving too fast to capture!

Rosemary got passed around quite a bit. :)

December 12, 2008

This week turned out more complicated than I expected. To those who have been more faithful visitor to my blog than I, I do owe an apology - I'm more of marathon blogger than a regular poster. For this sudden transformation and being nearly up-to-date you can thank a car accident last Wednesday which sent me into a pole and gave me a concussion. I've been sitting still for most of the previous four days, trying to figure out how long it takes to recover from such things. You would think I might know this a 1 1/2 years into residency, but no. Thankfully, I was the only one involved, the black eye and stitches are healing well, the head might take a little longer to normalize...

So here we are, two days into an ice storm - the sun came out despite the single digit temps! For a few hours I was feeling quite well and bundled up to take in the sparkling morning.

Hmmm - Kate, I know we've been busy, but maybe we should think about taking in the planters?