Saturday Meanderings

It feels like ages since I wrote a Saturday Meanderings post! How nice to be back here with you. Life has been VERY busy with lots of travels. As you read this, I am currently in Connecticut visiting with family and friends and attending my 50th (gulp) high school reunion at Norwich Free Academy. I have SO much to share with you today and thank you so much for joining me for another edition of Saturday Meanderings, where we chat about all good things.

Graduation Activities

Our family (minus our youngest, Elisabeth who has work commitments) traveled to Chicago to share in the joy of our son’s graduation from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Benjamin receives his master’s degree with distinction at a lovely civilized ceremony on June 1st. We arrived a few days before to spectacular weather, only to be greeted with driving rains on commencement day.

The night before graduation, the college hosts a cocktail event at the Field Museum for students and their families. Since opening the museum in 1894,  the museum’s collection has grown to nearly 40 million artifacts and specimens. 

If you are ever in Chicago, I strongly recommend visiting this stunning museum overlooking Lake Michigan. The Field Museum is one of the few buildings left from the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and it is architecturally beautiful.

One of the highlights of the evening, is meeting Austin Coon, a Booth graduate and a contestant on the last season of Survivor. I’ve never watched this show before, but knowing Austin was Benjamin’s classmate, we quickly became Survivor fans (only this one season, however). Meeting Austin in person was fun and I tried not to act like a Survivor groupie!

As you know, Benjamin is an excellent cook (see @crozier_cooks on Instagram)and a foodie and he created our itinerary~ filled with meals at great restaurants. Thankfully, we also did a great deal of walking too! Managed to squeeze in a virtual 5K since I am going to be missing the annual Yarnell Memorial Run in Arizona.

Celebrating two graduations (our daughter, Julianna who just completed her master’s degree too), we are very proud parents of all three of our children.

Moving to a New Apartment

Now with two incomes, Benjamin (new job) and his girlfriend, Delaney upgrade to a new apartment. After spending two years on Michigan Avenue and doing all the fun things in downtown Chicago, they are ready to move to a quieter neighborhood in the city.

After everyone departs, I stay on for another 5 days to help with the packing and unpacking. Fortunately, professional movers are involved in moving the heavy stuff. Here is what the new living room/dining room look like before.

After the television installation and furniture in place, here is the living room after.

Finally, there is room to extend the dining room table to its full length.

Happiness at this age is having a large television and new outdoor grill. The move is a lot of work but they are excited about their new abode and next chapter in life.

Back Home for 48 hours

Arriving back in Phoenix, I have 48 hours before I leave on a plane again. Our sweet puppy, Finn, is now enormous at, I’m guessing, maybe 60 lbs. He has the sweetest disposition but his interests have shifted from shoes to baby birds….

The garden is bursting with ripe tomatoes, zucchini, arugula and Armenian cucumbers. Our 15 new chickens are laying so we have eggs galore. While picking tomatoes, a quail flew out from under a tomato plant and I discover this..

Now I quietly pick from the garden so I do not disturb the incubation process.

I love eating from the garden and make fresh tomato and cucumber salad. With so much arugula and zucchini, dinner is spiralized zucchini with an arugula pistachio pesto. Yummy and healthy!

Interesting Attire at the Airport

I guess I’m a bit old fashioned but I tend to dress a bit nicer when I fly. However, I thought you might find this photo interesting. Yes, these two gals were at the airport….obviously very comfortable…too funny!

Mary’s Must Haves

This week I only have one item that I want to share. Each morning I love a cup of coffee (or faux coffee)with steamed and frothed milk. Well, my sweet sister does not have a milk frother. A quick trip to Walmart and I find this 4 in 1 milk frother from Instant Pot. It makes cold foam, light warm foam, thick warm foam, and warming without foaming.

At home I have a Nespresso milk frother, but I must say, this one is fabulous! It’s easy to use and clean and you can control the thickness of your foam. You can find it on Amazon here for only $38.76 or if you prefer Walmart you can find it here for the same price.

If you missed my post this week on window boxes, you can see it here.

That’s a wrap! I will be flying home tomorrow and Happy Father’s Day to all those wonderful dads out there.