Last weekend I jetted down to lovely C-A-L-I to visit my bestie, Jaime. She’s subletting a sweet piece of house, perched over the estuary that runs through Alameda. It was like staying on a houseboat, only the houseboat was attached.

I didn’t get the sunshiney Valhalla I’d expected since it rained 90% of the time I was there, but that was fine. I caught some sunshine my first morning there as we drank boozy coffee on the huge porch. When it did rain, it was often in big, gusty sheets; watching the rain pound the water outside the window was fun, but seeing the poor birdies trying to fly against the wind wasn’t so great. Poor seagulls.

We had some excellent meals, including a lunch at the new branch of Burma Superstar which was just blocks from Jaime’s place! We also had some heavenly burritos and some ridiculously delicious french macaroons.

We watched two scary movies: Orphan and Paranormal Activity. We watched Orphan because it featured our mutual movie boyfriend Peter Sarsgaard. The plot to this one was fun and creative and I enjoyed that they took the time to build up a good story with interesting characters. Paranormal Activity wasn’t half as scary as I’d set it up to be, but it did give me the willies in a few spots. We also watched Up in the Air. I found it kinda depressing, but there were some interesting moments.

The last night I was there we stopped by the house of a friend of Jaime’s: we had some lovely wine (okay a lot of lovely wine) and hung out with the couple and their 9-year-old son who RULED. So often kids are left at home when parents go to visit or put down to sleep in a bedroom when company is over, but this family had their son hanging out with us for most of the evening. It was so fun – we played Spongebob SORRY! and drew pictures and giggled and played hide and seek. Seeing a well adjusted kid enjoying time with his parents yet letting them be adults and have conversations was pretty awesome.

We had plans to visit San Francisco and maybe drop in on some friends, but Monday morning we both woke with awful hangovers. I guess we aren’t 23 anymore. The storm was raging outside so we ordered pizza delivery and sat around chatting. We never left the 94501 zip code and I’m not one bit sorry. It felt like old times when we both lived in the city – back then we didn’t spend our time jetting from place to place trying to mark things off of a list. We just talked. Slept in. Read books together.

I came home, feeling a bit lonely but happy to see Sky. Then I was in Jury Duty for 2 days and got the worst haircut of my life. Both those things will have to wait for another post…

So the crappy thing is that effing cancer did not go away. It is still there. Hanging out. Making her sick. I hate it and wish I knew magic. Sky is doing okay; he’s very brave and taking care of himself. I’m trying to support him the best I can.

That gotten out of the way, ONWARD (or backward) to Chicago!

Sometime in my life I heard the phrase “You put the chicken in the car and the car won’t go – that’s how you say ‘Chicago’!” I repeated this to anyone who would listen in the weeks leading up to our trip. I also said it a lot in Chicago. It never got old (to me).

1/2 of MONDAY & ALL OF TUESDAY
We left Seattle after work on Monday evening — had a nice dinner and then hopped on the new lightrail that took us most of the way to the airport. We got to the airport around 10:30 and waltzed through the shortest security line, ever. We napped a bit on the 3 hour flight to St. Paul, Minnesota, then had questionable vegan carrot muffins once we landed. A couple of minutes later we boarded a second plane and landed in Chicago around 8:30am. It was fun sitting on the el, all bleary eyed and sleepless while watching commuters drinking their coffee and reading their clever little daily paper. I loved watching the spindly little backporches speed by our windows. I haven’t been to Chicago since I was very, very small – I was suprised by how European much of it appeared.

We napped at our hotel, under cozy heavy down comforters. After 3 hours we were ready to rumble so we took a walk to see what we could see. We saw a crazy looking Baroque-y building down the block – you could see the roof from so far away! We got closer, and Sky thought it was and old building, while I disagreed and thought it was new. I was right, though, it was brand spanking new(ish)! We realized it was the library and giddily went inside. We went up to the top floor to look out at the city and met a super fun clerk named Markus. Markus showed us all of the differences betweem neighborhoods and communities in Chicago, recommended places to eat, and chatted with me about libraries and unions. It was an awesome bit of patron interaction and it was fun to be on the other side.

We got caught in a big super rainstorm! Then we saw the bean (okay, okay, “Cloud Gate“). And the fountain. We sought refuge in the John Hancock building. We had drinks on the 17th floor. It was very surreal because we were socked in by clouds most of the time. Your body knew you were really high up (the building sways), but you couldn’t see anything. For about 5 minutes, right toward the end of my boozy hot chocolate, we could see all of Lakeshore Drive spread out before us. Then it went away again.

We wandered the streets looking for good food, and finally asked a nice looking tattooed girl where to get some good pizza. She pointed us around the corner to a cozy place that was packed to the gills. We were happy to be inside and warm and reading menus. We got the butter crust (tattooed girl insisted on it). Delicious. We sloshed back to our hotel and prompty crashed.

WEDNESDAY

We took the el down to IIT (Illinois Institute of Technology) to see some Mies van der Rohe buildings. He designed much of the campus while working as a professor there. Crown Hall was beautiful. We happened upon the Archictecture School’s library and met our second Wonderful Librarian in Chicago, Matt Cook. He’s the head of the library and we had fun chatting about both libraries and archictecture. We had lunch in the new Rem Koolhaas building on campus. It made me sick. I had some weird vertigo/stuffed ear thing happening and something about the lines in the building (and all of the textures) made it launch into hyperdrive. I can now say that Rem Koolhaas made me ill.

After IIT we felt like another acronym, so we treked to the MCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) and enjoyed an interesting and varied exhibit of Italian works. There was a really fantastic dark room full of white strings the moved, a bizarre video about embroidery (set to an 80s pop song), and set of photographs of butts and chairs.

On our way back to the hotel to grab our stuff, we happened upon Christkindlemarket: a crazy German marketplace in the middle of Daley plaza. We went to see the Picasso, we stayed to eat potato pancakes and gingerbread. And how. We also snuck past the guards of the Rookery building to see the second floor. Okay, I didn’t. Sky did. I hate breaking rules like that. Sky said it was amazing.

Once we were all full of art we met up with Jimmy and Diane (Sky’s dad and stepmom) and had some very tasty Indian food. We enjoyed a chilly walk back to our abode: an empty, very shiny modern house on Lakeshore Drive. Our hosts had just moved to a new apartment and their house was for sale, so the four of us had the place all to ourselves. Sleeping in an immense empty house is very surreal.

THURSDAY (THANKSGIVING)

We met up with some familiy and had a nice brunch ni the Lincoln Park neighborhood. Everyone agreed to go see “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” – I loved it. It seemed as if it had been made by Roald Dahl himself in the 1950s. Now that there was room in our tummies, we headed to the new apartment for the spectacular main event. This particular arm of Sky’s family are serious art collectors, so walking through their apartment was like visiting a museum; there was a Picasso sketch above the toilet in the bathroom. I had a great time meeting everyone and am happy to say I felt very welcome and cozy sitting side by side with my new people.

FRIDAY
Jimmy, Sky, and Sky’s half-brother Tyler walked over the zoo to visit some animals. We saw some roaring lions (you could hear them throughout the zoo) and a depressed polar bear. It was fun to hang out with the brothers and Jimmy. Being in an uncrowded zoo on a cold day was very charming.

We had leftovers for lunch (Thai sweet potatoes!) and then headed to meet the rest of the family at the Art Institute. I was pleased to see the Thorne Miniature Rooms (68 miniature rooms and settings) – I remember visiting those rooms with my grandmother when I was little. We also took in the Victorian Ladies Collage exhibit. Also loved that day: Phillip Gustons all packed in a room, and a fascinating little painting by Georg Baselitz (never heard of him before, but I liked that painting an awful lot). I also grabbed a 2 second peek at a great de Kooning I’d never seen, as we dashed for the exit. We had drinks with Sky’s cousin Rachel who had just started her own nonprofit when I first met her 3 years ago. We caught up and had dreamy talks about San Francisco. Next was dinner at a cozy American restaurant (4 kinds of macaroni and cheese!) where I sat with a different group of the family than at Thanksgiving. Sky’s uncle Dan regaled me with stories of celebrities and general LA weirdness (he’s a dentist to the STARS, dear) and I had a good time talking to aunt Deb about art and our life here in Seattle. How much did I luck out with Sky? Not only is he all matchy-perfect for me, but his family is also incredibly interesting and neat. All of ‘em.

SATURDAY

Ah, Saturday. The end of the road. Sky and I broke off by ourselves to revisit the Art Institute since we didn’t see nearly enough the day before. We wandered the Impressionist rooms and had a Ferris Bueller moment in front of Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. We found the Surrealists, which made me happy. I saw a bunch of Max Ernst stuff I’d only seen in books or not at all: they had a metric ton of his stuff. Not that I am complaining. I’m a big Ernst fan. He’s my favorite Surrealist and that’s saying a lot. Next we met up with Tyler and bussed down to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House. That. house. was. amazing. Modern before modern existed. Built in 1910, but with crazy cantilevered concrete flat rooflines. I loved it. The interior was pretty great, too.

After a quick bite of leftovers, it was back to the el to get to the airport to get on the plane to get on the lightrail to get oh wait, we wimped out and took a cab home. To get home to warm cats and warm bed. The End.

I got badass medications for my ailments, which is good. Thank you, codeine cough syrup, for allowing me to sleep through (most of) the night. Thank you, azithromiacin, for making me feel close to perky for the first time in weeks. Thank you, Easter Bunny, for … no Easter Bunny.

My parents are visiting this weekend, and in true parent style they told me on Sunday. And they need a hotel. My friend Shu who I have not seen in 2393892 years is also visiting this weekend. And I need to buy cat food. And I need to weed the Manga at this branch. And there’s a pumpkin sitting on my counter that needs to be made into pie within a day or two or it’s a goner. Loose ends writhing around in the wind like this make me antsy, but I’m making lists and figuring it out and everything is going to be just fine.*

* This reminds me of a movie in which things are not fine, A Serious Man. I was going to write a review for this fine, not fine film, but haven’t had a chance to do so just yet. Believe me, it’s good. Go see it. Bring a hanky because you might just laugh so hard you cry.

I love Fall. Autumn. Whatever you call it. I always called it “autumn” when I was younger, because no one else used that word and I wanted to sound different. I also called my aunt “ohnt” which drove her bonkers. Now when I hear people use the word “autumn” I think it sounds kind of snooty; except when people use the word “autumnal” – I like that.

Our new little place is very cozy. Have I mentioned that yet? Cozy, cozy cozy! I get home in the evening and the radiators are popping and the cats are purring and I make some tea on our awesome-fast-gas range. I settle in with a book or maybe take a bath. The world is my oyster. Sky loves it in the mornings because he has something to watch (traffic, clouds, birds) while he drinks his morning coffee and it’s not cold and dark at all in the morning. The lights are cheery and the floor is warm.

I’ve been in touch with my sister a lot more than usual after our little sister vacation. That makes me happy. It always takes me a bit of time to get reacclimated to people I haven’t seen for awhile, including, sadly my family sometimes. So it’s been nice to keep in contact – easier to talk about small things and have a rapport. I’ve also been talking to Jaime more – or she’s been good at hassling me so that happens. I still fall too easily into being hermity, sometimes. I’m lucky to have a bestie who doesn’t let that happen too often.

We’re going to Chicago for Thanksgiving and I can’t wait! The last time I visited I was about 12 years old, so I don’t remember much of anything. This weekend my mom recalled how when she was little, they would drive up to Michigan for Thanksgiving, and on their way home they would always be sure to hit Chicago in the late evening. That way they could drive along State Street with little to no traffic and check out all of the pretty sparkly Christmas lights and store displays. I promised my mom I’d take a walk there and give her a report. I hope it snows (but only in the middle of the week so it doesn’t affect our flights).

Sky’s taking his first licensing exam today – it’s 4 hours long! Wish him good thoughts and a clear mind, okay?

I haven’t gotten photos off of my own camera yet, so here’s a lovely photo someone else took of Kalaloch. My sister and I visited this weekend for a short sisterly getaway. We often camped there as kids.

We didn’t realize it was so close to TWILIGHT OMG FORKS, WASHINGTON! This made for some fun times at the gift shop and grocery store. Weirdest Twilight themed thing: sandwiches at the deli, named the Edward, Jacob and Bella. I think Edward was roast beef but I can’t remember what the other two were.