Weekend organizing and fun!

Easily the weekend's highlight was attending a Chicago Symphony Orchestra concert!  It was a special treat, attending with daughters Emily and Hannah.   The entire program was fabulous, and the guest artist Lisa Batiashvili and guest conductor, James Gaffigan, were excellent!  My favorites were the Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah by Saint-Saens, and Night on Bald Mountain by Mussorgsky. 

Scott helped me out by installing my new pegboard (from IKEA) in my sewing studio. Work in progress in the background, more on that later.

It looks great!  

Before the CSO concert, we went out for dinner at Gia Mia.  Everything was delicious!  We had zucchini fries, meatballs with polenta, gnocchi, and pizza.  

Girls night!  We decided we definitely need to do this more often, next time with Genevieve too. 

Saturday I got to do a little fabric shopping/therapy and get a few boxes checked on my Shop Hop passport.  Most of the fabrics are Moda, except for the blue and green prints which are Northcott.  The two gray prints are for the backs of baby quilts, the dog prints are for dog bandanas, and the others are just for my stash.

Our lab, Dora, just LOVES being outside in the summertime.  That is her happy place, for sure!

We love being outside too, and have been eating most meals outside this summer.  I just noticed that you can see both dogs in this photo - Buddy is under the table.  This delicious dinner was mostly from IKEA, Swedish meatballs and mashed potatoes.  Yum!

 

December Fun!

Buddy the Christmas Elf!  Buddy is actually our daughter, Genevieve's dog, but he has become a permanent resident at HQ (what our daughers call our house) due to her boyfriend's dog allergy.  Buddy is a lot of fun to have around!

Our yearly St. Lucia breakfast at Tre Kronor in Chicago.  This charming Swedish bistro serves a delicious St. Lucia Day breakfast, and the servers double as singers, singing traditional Christmas carols.  Note the crown of lit candles!
We see the same people at this breakfast every year.  It's part of our Christmas tradition, and many others as well.

Another Christmas tradition - my piano students' Christmas "recital" and party.  The kids each play a Christmas song for each other (no parents are invited!), then we make a small craft and enjoy some cookies and juice.  They look forward to this every day, as so I.  Such nice kids!  I have a great job. 

Scott's Christmas gift was tickets to "Not So Silent Night", a jazz version of the Nutcracker, and other Christmas selections, performed by the Chicago Jazz Orchestra.  They really cooked!

Happy Holidays!

Nature's paintbox, Dora's party, Pink Month mug rug

Can't compete with the colors of nature, especially in the fall that we've been experiencing here in the Midwest.  Our bird ornament looks smashing next to the oakleaf hydrangea, no?

Yellow mum, nobby orange pumpkin, rustic bench - my fall display.

Dora let us dress her up for her 4th birthday party.  She is truly the most beautiful lab - people stop us when we go for walks all the time.  And she is just as sweet as she is pretty.

Buddy came to the party, so of course he needed a hat, too. Note his black bow tie for the occasion. :)

On another visit, he came all ready for trick or treating.  He sat like a good boy, but was not happy wearing the costume!

I made this "pink month" mug rug for a co-worker.  She is a survivor, and just about to turn 40.  She got cancer when she was in her 20's, and had 2 small children.  She inspires me every day with her cheerful demeanor and positive outlook.  

Bicycle Race, Zig Zag Progress

Our town hosted a big bicycle race this weekend.  It is a one-mile course on city streets, one of which is only 1/2 block from our house! Here they are whizzing by!

Enjoying the race, and the beautiful day: Nick (Gen's bf), their cute dog, Buddy, Gen, and Scott.

Buddy is a chihuahua-papillon mix, and he is so cute, and such a cuddler.  They have been staying with us for a week - I'll really miss them after they leave!

These garden shots are from my neighbor, Peg's, garden.  She is a Master Gardener!

The arching red blossoms are called Lucifer - Peg was very excited that they were blooming, as she planted them a year or two ago.

Zig zag quilt progress - I have made what seems like lots of HST's (half square triangles, in quilt-speak), but I'm sure I need at least half this many more.  

Another view - I'm liking the fabrics up close, but I wonder if I need more, busier prints? More variety? Must hit my stash - or the quilt store!