Saturday Meanderings

Good morning! This may be a shortened version of Saturday Meanderings as we are in Chicago for my son’s graduation from University of Chicago Booth School of Business. With a full itinerary, it is a bit challenging to find time to write a blog post! The weather here is perfect and we are doing lots of walking, eating and sightseeing. Welcome to Saturday Meanderings, where we chat about all good things that happened this week.

Surprise trip to Connecticut

Every year my sister, Susie hosts a Memorial Day barbecue at her beach home on the Connecticut coast. Since we haven’t attended in years (too long), we decide to fly there for the holiday weekend and make a surprise appearance. It is so nice to reconnect with our east coast family and to see my sisters and my brother.

It is wonderful to get my ocean fix and the day is picture perfect. Also, my niece, Ali made her fabulous sugar cookies for this event. Isn’t she talented?

In spite of the fact it was a long flight for a short visit, spending time with family is certainly worth it!

Finn and Roses

Our rose garden is still producing beautiful blooms. Our puppy (now 4 1/2 months) loves to accompany me when I cut flowers. Often I find him smelling the roses and up to this point, I am pleased he likes gardening.

Minutes before we are getting ready to depart for the airport on Thursday, Finn decides to do this to my beautiful yellow rose bush.

He digs the entire plant out of the rose garden. Finn is nearly 60 lbs and is exhibiting all the puppy behavior. Sigh.

What’s In the Garden

Naturally, we are traveling during high production time for tomatoes, plums and figs. I am hoping some of these luscious beauties are still there when we get home.

The figs are huge this year and oh, so tasty!

It is year 2 for the Santa Rosa plum tree and it is full of fruit. Even though the plums are small, they are extremely flavorful. Why don’t grocery store plums taste like plums?

Zucchini, Armenian cucumbers and Japanese eggplants are producing too. With the higher temperatures while we are gone, who knows what I will find upon our return. What’s growing in your garden?

Fantasy Table Event 2024

We are getting ready to host another table for the Fantasy Table Event in June. This wonderful charitable event raises funds for scholarships for those who work at our country club in the mountains. Each host determines their table theme and decorates accordingly. Last year we did an Enchanted Forest (you can see it here) and in 2022 our table was Dinner in the Library (see it here).

This year, our theme is Out of Africa 1920~with the inspiration being the 1985 movie, Out of Africa with Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. Attire will be more khaki and white linen vs. leopard or cheetah print. I cannot wait to share everything with you as our table comes together.

Invitations are complete and in the mail~I am having such fun in trying to keep the vintage theme for our guests. More to come!

Cycle Bar

My son’s girlfriend, Delaney introduces us to Cycle Bar, a premium indoor cycling facility. She schedules us for a cycling class on our first morning in Chicago. Honestly, it has been years since I did a spin class, however, we are game and hoping not to embarrass ourselves as every other person in class is a good 40 years younger.

My husband and I go at our own pace and finish a hour later, sweaty and fulfilled. Not sure how I will feel later on, but glad to have accomplished it without a 911 call.

Fabulous AirBnB in Chicago

Unfortunately, many of the hotels have quadrupled their room rates with the pending graduations of the colleges around Chicago. We typically stay at the Cambria Hotel but their room rate was astronomical.

Fortunately, we found a fabulous 2 bedroom vacation rental apartment within walking distance of my son’s apartment for a fraction of the cost. This is the view this morning.

If you are planning a trip to Chicago, let me know and I will share this great AirBnB location, which is right across the street from Millennium Park (off Michigan Avenue).

Planning on traveling anywhere in the near future? If you missed my post this week, it is full of great tips on packing for airline travel. You can find it here.

Happy June! I will be staying on in Chicago for another week to help my son and girlfriend move to a new apartment. Not sure if I will be blogging this next week but we will reconnect soon. Have a fabulous weekend. Stay safe out there!