Jazzin' at the Shedd!

Tradition! We all attended Jazzin' at the Shedd (Aquarium), one of Chicago's many great museums. We've all attended in prior years, and I think this may become a yearly tradition.  Another new tradition - the selfie!
Genevieve, me, Hannah; Scott, Nick, Danny.

Hannah and Scott watching the Beluga whales.  See the water just beyond the ledge they are leaning on? The whales cruise right by - I even got sprayed!

Genevieve and Nick having fun.

So - why is it called "Jazzin' at the Shedd"?  The event occurs after hours - from 5-10 p.m. on a Wednesday evening, there is food and drink for purchase, and there is live jazz music being performed at two different locations in the museum.  A great way to have a museum  night!

Cheers! Nick, Genevieve, Hannah, Danny.

Besides the large whale, and dolphin, exhibition areas, and the MANY individual fish displays, there is a WHOLE CORAL REEF in the center of the museum!  I had fun watching (and photographing) the fascinating fish while taking a little break.

Gorgeous!

They are so unusual, and so beautiful, they don't look real - at least to this midwesterner's eyes! And you can't really tell, but this fish was also HUGE!

I know these photos don't do it justice - suffice it to say, if you're ever in Chicago, it's worth you time to visit the Shedd Aquarium.  Besides seeing their great exhibits, the facility also has fantastic skyline views of Chicago!

The end of a great evening!

Crazy for Lindsay

This is my daughter, Hannah, and her bestie, Lindsay Loretta Prerost after Lindsay's performance last night in "Crazy for You" at a great community theater group near here (in Palatine). 

Lindsay second from left.

 Lindsay is a wonderful singer, dancer, and actor, and she kept us entertained last night! Besides being funny, and so much fun to watch, she also tap danced her heart out! Starring in the show was another friend of Hannah's, Brett Baleskie, who was hilarious - and also tap danced like "crazy".  So fun!

Brett, center; Lindsay on far right.

Zigzag Quilt Decision; New Life; Best Garden Bargain Ever!

Finally getting somewhere on this project! I made a couple of changes, and I think I finally have something that both my daughter, Emily (the recipient) and I will like.  I added MORE fabrics (always a good choice, if you ask me), in warmer tones, and I also changed it to a scrappy, yet somewhat organized, layout. Someone told me once, when arranging flowers, you should always add yellow, to help the colors blend better. I think it holds true in quilting, too. Always add a little yellow.  And black.  And of course, lime green. Yay.

Someone new arrived this week! Meet Lena Mae, born to the lovely Kristin, who is the best friend of my daughter, Emily.  Kristin had told Emily about the birth right away, but swore her to secrecy until Kristin spread the news on facebook.  Well, Emily's excitement got the best of her, and she sent me an email yesterday, with the following subject line:  "Okay I cannot hold this in any longer".  (Don't worry, I didn't tell anyone else, and the news hit facebook later that same day) When I read what had happened, I burst into tears right there at my desk at work, happy tears. I have known Kristin for so long, and love her so.  Welcome, little Lena!

I just LOVE my newest hydrangeas! These three plants are all the "Bombshell" cultivar, somewhat similar to the "Incrediball", but smaller in stature.  Perfect size for the bed between my porch and the sidewalk.  I found the plants ON CLEARANCE at Lowe's late last year, for ....drum roll....$5.29 each!!!! I pounced on them!  Scott said, "how many do you want?" I got six!

Here's another Bombshell, by itself, in front of our bedroom window.  My window box has NEVER looked this good, the petunias are going to town! Geeves, the blue heron, is keeping watch.

Senior Recital, Golden Friends, White Sox Game

I am so proud of my piano student, Lydia! She performed a solo Senior Recital yesterday, for her family and friends, and I couldn't be prouder of her. 

Student and proud teacher! Looks like we both got the same memo about what to wear, too, ha!

"Make new friends, and keep the old...one is silver and the other's gold!"  We had the pleasure of meeting some golden friends for dinner last night.  We hadn't seen Deb Bisek and Tim Gerber for over 25 years! 

It's a beautiful day for a ball game - Chicago White Sox vx. Minnesota Twins - well, at least, it started that way!  It was sunny and hot when we got there, but then...

...we had multiple rain interruptions, and one actual rain delay.  Despite all that, we had lots of fun with Hannah and Danny.  Yummy cheese fries!

Cheers!

Zig Zag Options

Zig Zag Scrappy
Trying out different options with my zig zag quilt, after seeing another quilt on a friend's blog.  Above shows the scrappy style I had been working in.

Zig Zag Matchy

I played with the HST's and matched them into pairs.  I sort of like this.

Zig Zag, both options side by side.

I also tried one more variation last night, sorry no picture yet. But I made it even more "matchy", having each long zigzag all one color family. Work in progress!