A Fresh Coat of Paint

During these harsh Great Recession times, I have to find wise ways to spend my hard earned dollars. A hobby of mine, that I believe I inherited from my mother, is decorating. This little brain of mine has a multitude of ideas to make my house look simply amazing. In fact, my little brain most likely has ideas for your house too.  Alas, decorating is quite an expensive hobby. My house is nowhere near the vision in my head, but it will get there someday… or I’ll die trying. Besides my decorating hobby, my mom also passed down an eye for garage sale and thrift store finds. With a little inexpensive paint and polish, something old and dreary can look fantastic. My furniture transformation projects satisfy my hunger for new décor and go easy on my wallet.

When looking for a painting project I recommend you start at home. Look around and see what you have that has the potential to be something great. For example, when my husband and I got married we could not afford to simply go out and buy a new bedroom set. We took his headboard, which had good bones, and painted over the old flaking veneer wood with a cream color. I realize it isn't the greatest project in the world, but if you saw the headboard before you would think so.

Someday I will get my tufted headboard...
for now this will do


Another good place to look for painting projects is in your parents’ house. My mom had this great vintage caned chair repainted a few times. When I was little it was in my room and I requested it be painted hot pink. I think my mom cringed a little, but she did it anyways (or maybe it was my dad who did the painting...can't leave out my dear old dad). After I flew the nest, my mom painted it a calming yellow. Somehow I have ended up with the chair again. There may have been a little begging and sweet talking involved. Now the chair sits in my kitchen nook ready to seat an extra guest...or to just sit there looking cute.

From red to pink to yellow, this chair gets around
...color wise that is.

The next painting project was a doozy. This is an old dentist cabinet turned hutch. My mom found it at a garage sale…sense a pattern?  It sat in her garage for years. She had good intentions but the project was a bit much for her to take on. The cabinet had layers and layers of old teal paint on it. The color was actually very cute, but it did not go with my kitchen. I took on the project when we lived in our rental house and finished it just in time to make its grand entrance at our current home. It took longer than expected, but when I was done...it was marvelous. I get a lot of compliments on my dentist cabinet turned hutch. I painted the outside white, then painted the insides of the etched glass portions red. I also spray painted the faded knobs a shiny black.

Isn't it sweet?

What's black, white, and red all over?

My next painting project was one that I talked my mom into doing for me. I needed a stool for my vanity. At the time I was living at home with my parents and wanted it to reflect the pattern of my green curtains.  My mom did such a nice job on this garage sale stool, that I still use it while doing my makeup.







Funky Chic



Destressed edges are fun.



Notice the little "J" at the bottom?

The next project comes courtesy of my mother's garage as well. Before Danny and I got married, I decided we needed some hip matching nightstands. Naturally I went shopping in my mom's garage as it usually was full of garage sale finds. I found the perfect side tables; of course they needed a little renovation. The main problem with getting married is that in order to make your husband feel a little bit masculine in his own home, you can't paint everything with a girlish flair. So I came up with this homage to a classic black and white checkerboard design for the nightstands. It isn’t so cutesy that it makes Danny want to vomit although my floral lamp does.

My side...

Tayler enjoys the nightstand as well.

The next item was purchased already painted. This chair was a gift for getting good grades or perhaps it was a birthday present from whom else but my mother. Either way, I love it.

A touch of gold

This last project is my most recent. I came upon an old weathered garden bench and needed to re paint an extremely neglected table for a seating area by our pond. With a little sand paper and some fresh paint colors, my back yard went from depressing to cheery.

Isn't is sad looking?

Before







After!

Before you go to an overpriced furniture store, take a look around and see what you have. With a fresh coat of paint, you can make even the most hideous item look like a million bucks...or at least a hundred.

Chicago Part 2: Day 5: People, Places, Food, Home

Day five marked our return to sunny California. Our flight did not leave until the afternoon, so we still had time to explore Chicago. However like most non billionaires, we couldn’t do anything too expensive because we had spent all of our designated vacation money on things like ferris wheels and skyscrapers.

We started our day with another walk to breakfast. We went to the West Egg, which is located more east of Chicago than would warrant “West” in the name. Danny ordered a skillet with a side of pancakes. He enjoyed it, but believes the Bongo Room has better hash browns. I tried a bite of his pancakes, and thought they were heavenly. I ordered the “Blue Bayou” which is a skillet dish with bacon and blue cheese atop of eggs and tomatoes. It was pretty tasty. It’s very difficult for the words “yuck and bacon” to come out of my mouth at the same time.

A mural of breakfast related items was on the back wall. I enjoyed looking at it. The mural had a sort of cubist feel, echoing our earlier Matisse experience.

After breakfast we checked out of the hotel then walked around the city some more.

We had been walking quite a bit, and decided to get some coffee at Whispers Café. Whispers café is actually more of a cart than a café. All of the seating is outside in a park. The park had a wonderful water fountain and there were plenty of little birdies for me to watch. The buildings surrounding the park had a very French feel which made me even happier. Although the Blackhawk banners hanging over the balconies, kind of took away from my moment.

We then did more and more and more walking. We walked by an old church that had been foreclosed on. I suggested that we purchase it as a second home. There was a nice park across the street from the church. The park was filled with puppies, squirrels, and apparently pigeons. There were multiple signs warning us to not feed the pigeons. I kind of wish I fed them just to see what would have happened.

More and more walking occurred. We were basically wasting time until our last Chicago food opportunity.

We decided that we should probably try the original (or those who claim to be the original) makers of the deep dish Chicago style pizza. We headed to Pizzeria Uno and grabbed a prime seat outside. We split a small pizza that was filled with bell peppers, sausage, and onions. The pizza was delicious however; Danny and I both liked the crust at Giordano’s better. Please do not misunderstand me, the crust at Uno's was good, but it had a little more of a cornbread taste than I like for a crust. Also, I think Giordano’s used an extra stick of butter, which is always amazing.

Even though we had some more time, we wanted to hurry up and wait at the airport. We got a taxi and headed off to O’Hare. I usually hate taxi rides. I am a car safety aficionado. I hate the way taxi drivers cut in and out of lanes and in between cars. I hate the speeding. I hate how taxi cabs get so close to the cars in front of them that when they brake, I just know we are going to hit the car in front of us. I usually have my imaginary brake pedal out the whole time during taxi rides. This ride was different.

The taxi cab driver started up a conversation with Danny, as most people do, without knowing what they are getting into. I sat in the back prepared to take out my emergency brake pedal and listened. The taxi cab driver was from Transylvania. I quickly deducted that he was not a vampire, because he was still alive even though Danny and I were breathing our garlicky pizza breath in his taxi. He also was not sparkling in the sunlight nor was he melting. He drove pleasantly even though there was a lot of traffic.

He told us that with the downfall of the economy driving a taxi is horrible. Most people can’t afford to take a taxi. He works part time which in taxi world is 6 days a week with 14 hour shifts. Danny and I were very impressed with Chicago’s public transportation, but he said it was nothing compared to Europe. We passed by his neighborhood in Chicago. He pointed out where he lived and said it was a historic neighborhood. Many of the houses there were used during the slave trade. Some of them still have the hooks in the basement walls where slaves were chained to. He said people aren’t allowed to remove the hooks because they are considered historic. We discussed how compared to most places in Transylvania his Chicago neighborhood is not old at all. He told us his archaeologist friend helps him indentify ancient artifacts that he finds digging in his Transylvanian backyard. He told us how he missed his homeland. He also doesn’t like Chicago winters.

He came to America for the American dream but after ten years of living here, it is still that, just a dream. I wanted to offer some encouraging words, but couldn’t find the right thing to say. He definitely had a different perspective of Chicago than we saw. I guess there is always another side to a story. Mine might be filled with ferris wheels and baseball games, but for many this is not the case. The taxi cab driver shook Danny’s hand extra long and said that he enjoyed giving us a ride and having a conversation worth remembering. I hope that telling his story to someone who actually wanted to hear it helped him out. I hope that one day he finds his American or Transylvanian dream.

We were ridiculously early at the airport so I made sure to utilize the ladies room before we left. I was again excited about the automatic toilet seat covers. I must warn you that if you fly in through O’Hare and use the toilets with the automatic seat covers, it is only setting you up for disappointment. Out of all the restrooms I used in Chicago, O’Hare was the only place that even had seat covers. I found this odd. Maybe it’s a Chicagoan thing and O’Hare just has them because airports are more neutral territory anyways.

We enjoyed Chicago immensely. Although there were many things that we did not get to see or do, we tried to pack everything in that we could. Chicago is like any big city, full of life and excitement, it also has its share of problems. It is infamous for its corrupt politicians and gangsters, but also famous for people like Michael Jordan and Oprah. It has history. It has beauty. Chicago has amazing people, places, and food. I would recommend visiting it in a heartbeat.

Silly Stuff

This is an art piece, in our collection, that we like to call:

 Tayler, the Dragon Slayer.

Tayler, our little dog, is a model in his spare time.

(This painting is actually titled George and the Dragon, by John Meyers)

Chicago Part 2: Day 3: People, Places, Food

We woke up the next morning and my right big toe was aching. I considered the following as reasons for the pain: I have developed a mean case of gout or my pain was from walking approximately 6 miles around the treacherous terrain of Chicago while wearing flip flops. I decided on the latter and opted for more walking friendly shoes.

It was my turn to decide where to eat so I used Yelp. I found the Bongo Room which  is about half a mile away from our hotel, towards the South Loop area, which we hadn’t seen much of. The Bongo Room is situated under the historic Roosevelt Hotel. The interior of the Bongo Room has a nice modern contrast to the building's old brick exterior. The food was amazing. We both had make your own omelets. We decided protein was needed to muster up the energy for our touristy packed day. The omelets were great. The hash browns (more like country potatoes) were perfect. Danny said they were the best he ever had. Thinking back on the menu, I should have had something more creative like the red velvet pancakes. I saw a lady eating some incredibly sinful waffles that looked pretty good as well. Oh well, we planned to have deep dish pizza later in the day, so I needed to save room. Score one for Yelp, I totally recommend the Bongo Room.

We then walked back to the Congress Hotel and checked out. Then we dropped our bags off at the InterContinental in anticipation of some upgraded hotel goodness.

Matt and Janey had recommended the Architectural River Boat Tour, so we decided to hop on board the First Lady of Chicago. Chicago is known for its architecture. It is known more for its innovation than for the age of the buildings. After the fire of 1871, pretty much every building in Chicago was leveled. Chicago was a young hustling and bustling city prior to the fire and remained so after the fire. The fire, although tragic, provided the perfect opportunity to rebuild the city with innovation and energy.

The river cruise has a docent from the Chicago Architecture Foundation on board to tell you about all the wonderful buildings. I won’t go into detail about all the buildings, (although you know me, I could) but I will highlight a few of my favorites.

The Chicago Tribune Tower was right next to our hotel and conveniently next to the river. After the fire, the Chicago Tribune held a competition for its new building. The winner would be the architect who came up with the, “most beautiful and eye catching building in the world.” It may not be the most beautiful in the world, but it’s one of my favorites in Chicago. The docent said it was built in a French gothic sort of style. The American flag is soaring proudly above the building. On the bottom levels there are stones from other nationally and internationally famous buildings.

The next set of buildings that I enjoyed are the ‘60s mod corn cob buildings, called Marina City. They are called corn cob buildings because many people complained that they looked like corn cobs when they were first built. This is strange because Illinois and corn go hand in hand just like Ripon and almonds do. Anyway the architect, Bertrand Goldberg, created Marina City to get the dear residents of Chicago to live downtown. At the time living downtown by the river was something most people did not want to do because the river was dirty. The architect guessed that living downtown would become trendy and the river would soon become the heart of Chicago as they had plans to clean it up. He designed Marina City’s apartments to be triangular in shape so that all of them had balconies. He included parking in the lower levels and shops and grocery stores by the river. He even included a bowling alley. He developed some condos further to the south that also have interesting curved shapes and for the residents there are boat docks underneath. People may have thought his ideas were crazy at first, but now they pay a pretty penny to live in one of his buildings.

We also passed one of Montgomery Ward’s old buildings, which has now been made into a residential building. The building is done in an art deco style. An interesting fact about Ward is that his newer tower (not pictured)  had no corner windows, because he didn’t want to have to deal with the decision of which employees to give a coveted corner office. Montgomery Ward’s has since gone bankrupt, besides their new internet based business, but for a while the company sure knew what it was doing and was a big help in making downtown Chicago what it is today.

After the river boat tour, despite the little old lady’s advice, we headed to Millennium Park. Millennium Park is fairly new. It opened in 2004 and is situated next to all the other parks along Lake Michigan’s shore. The park has a huge outdoor amphitheater, where it holds concerts and plays during the summer months. There are various art pieces throughout the park; the most infamous one is called Cloud Gate, by Anish Kooper. Danny kept calling it the coffee bean, so that name sort of stuck with us Lehrs. Although it is just a reflective coffee bean shaped sculpture, many people were visiting it. We even got in on the action by taking some pictures of our reflection with the Chicago skyline in the background. Danny really wanted to do a handstand underneath it, but I was afraid he would hit someone as there was a crowd. I should have encouraged him rather than discouraged him. You don’t get a chance to do a handstand under a reflective coffee bean very often.

Lunch time called for Giordano’s pizza. It is not the original Chicago style pizza, but everyone said that we must try it. So we did. It was amazing. The crust is like that of a chicken pot pie, but probably has many more sticks of butter in it. I love butter. The inside is stuffed with cheese, sauce, peppers, onions, mushrooms, and sausage. Unlike regular pizza, the sauce is placed on top. I did miss the crispy cheesiness that regular pizza offers. One piece will fill you up, so of course I had two. The air conditioner was on full blast in the restaurant which was quite nice as us Californians are not used to the mugginess of Chicago.

Somewhere in between all of this walking around and stuffing ourselves, we became very sleepy and took a nap.

We then decided to check out the stores on the Magnificent Mile. The Magnificent Mile is a mile stretch of mostly high end shops along North Michigan Ave. Although I can afford to possibly buy one item in one of these stores, I have come to the point in my life where I don’t need a bag that is covered in a bunch of Cs to make me happy. However, if someone wishes to give me a C covered bag, I will take it.

The one store that I was excited to step into was the American Girl store. American Girl started out with four books about girls growing up during various decades in America. Dolls were soon made that looked like the main characters. I read the books when I was a child and enjoyed learning some American history this way. Now there are more books, more decades, and more dolls.

I had hoped to run into Oprah Winfrey in this store. I have seen the American Girl store featured on her show before. Danny would not allow us to visit her studio. Sometimes I enjoy a little guilty pleasure Oprah time, but I mostly wanted to go to win a new car or a makeover. Danny does not call her Oprah. He calls her, “Man Hater.” It turns out Oprah wasn’t filming that day anyway, so American Girl was my only hope. Unfortunately I did not see Oprah, nor did American Girl's employees offer to give me a free doll for being a fan.

We walked around a lot more, probably took another nap, and then headed to Howl at the Moon. We decided to skip dinner, because of our gluttonous move at Giordano’s. Howl at the Moon is a dueling piano bar. The pianists take requests from the crowd and sing fun rock and roll songs. The pianists are usually pretty funny and make some witty comments or get the crowd involved in a clever way. There are 11 Howl at the Moons nationwide. We visited one last year on our trip to San Antonio, Texas. We had a great time, so decided to go again.

As the band played a Tom Petty song, I looked around and noticed a few things. Game number six of the NBA finals was on and the Celtics were losing terribly. Have I ever mentioned that I hate the Lakers? I also noticed there were a lot of middle aged women there from Wells Fargo. They were letting their hair down so to speak. There were some middle aged men is suits, that did not have hair to let down. There was also a bachelorette party.

The young bachelorette wore a sash across her short dress, claiming that she was in fact the bachelorette. She and her entourage were dancing and drinking a lot. She definitely wanted the attention to be on her, as she got on the stage a few times when there is a no “getting on the stage” policy, unless you are invited. She then eyed the middle aged men in suits. She went and started flirting heavily with the men who were probably twice her age and started dancing with one. Her friends soon followed suit. I looked over at Danny told him, that I predicted a divorce in 2 years.

We drank our beers, enjoyed the music, and people watching some more then headed home. I anticipated a much better sleep because our new InterContinental bed was much more comfortable than the Congress Hotel bed. Sleep would be needed because the next day we were going to conquer the Navy Pier, Sears Tower, and a baseball game all in one day.

Chicago Part 2: Day 2: People, Places, Food

Day 2 of Chicago was probably the best day. I knew it was going to be great, because I was having a great hair day. My bangs had been cut too short by my hairdresser, but magically overnight they grew to the perfect length. To celebrate I wore my funky dress that has roses and airplanes all over it. Danny knew it was going to be a great day too. He visited Crossfit Atlas and surpassed his goal of deadlifting 450 lbs by 5 pounds. My husband is crazy strong. We were in such good moods we decided to take the long walk down Michigan Ave instead of taking a cab.


Remember our friends Matt and Janey? The ones we randomly met in line for breakfast in San Francisco? Well they happened to randomly be visiting Chicago during part of our visit. We had planned to meet for breakfast that day. We walked to their hotel, and then we all walked together to Eggsperience. Matt and Janey had brought along their sweet little girl Faith. We discussed our current life happenings and what we were all doing in Chicago. Then we got down to the business of food.


Prior to our Chicago visit I had been eating extremely strict Paleo which excludes things like sugar and anything sinful. So of course I had to have the caramel apple pecan French toast. Janey has good taste, so she ordered the same thing. Danny got a skillet of some sort. Matt ordered a chorizo omelet the size of a small child. No need to worry, it was made of egg whites. Janey, Danny and I had coffees. Matt had lemonade. I am using my poetic license when I say that the lemonade tasted like summer. Faith had Minnie Mouse pancakes. Good call Faith, good call. We all enjoyed our food and just like at Dottie’s we all shared our food. Janey and I agreed that the French toast was good, but nothing could compare to the French toast at Dottie’s.


Faith was being a little shy at first but she later warmed up to us and we compared injuries. I showed her my knee from my fall while hiking, and she showed me her head that she had bonked. It was so nice to see our friends again. Before we left we discussed our next city destination, which is possibly Philadelphia. They said they wanted to go there too. I think we are destined to be great friends, even if we only see them in far off cities.


After breakfast, we headed to the Art Institute of Chicago. I was told by multiple people that it was amazing. The art institute has over 300,000 works of art and in over 1 million square feet. I was not let down. On either side of the Art Institute are two bronze lions. They are the guardians of the museum. Apparently the lions are also Blackhawks fans. They were both wearing the champion’s helmets.


Entering the building, you immediately know it’s going to be something special. The building itself is a work of art. We started our art quest by visiting the restrooms that happened to be on the bottom floor by the children’s section. My mom taught me that you can learn a lot from children’s art as well as illustrations in children’s books. The use of color and imagination are unlimited by the adult world, which makes for truly unique art. The children’s art was great. I wish I would have mastered my camera at that point as there is a no flash policy, and I seem to always mess up without it. There were some interactive art exhibits for children and the kiddos seemed to be enjoying them immensely. I would have got in on the action, but I didn’t want any weird looks from the parents.


Next were the miniature rooms. I love miniature things. Take something really big make it tiny, and I will stare at it all day long. The Thorne Miniature rooms represent European rooms from the 13th century to the 1930s and American rooms from the 17th century to the 1930s. These interiors were designed by Mrs. Thorne and crafted by a nameless person from 1932 to 1940. The nameless person certainly needs some credit as the attention to detail was incredible. These little rooms were the dollhouses of my childhood dreams.


Upstairs we passed through the Asian and Indian areas. Some of the art pieces were thousands of years old. The craziest art piece, in my opinion, was the Chinese pillows. They were decorated stones. If the Chinese knew that their uncomfortable pillows would someday be considered art, they probably would have laughed. I certainly don’t want my pillow in a museum.


We then followed the big crowd to the Matisse exhibit. The Matisse exhibit concentrates on his work from 1913-1917. I am no artist, nor am I a Matisse expert, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Apparently Matisse’s art from 1913-1917 are amongst his most experimental years. Many of the paintings, sculptures, and prints were reworked numerous times. If you look closely you can see the multiple scrapings in the paintings. Matisse said that these years were called, “The method of modern construction.” He was influenced by the cubist movement and World War 1. Certainly by looking at his work you can see that the process of making his art was art itself. I would show you examples, but cameras were off limits in this area.


On our way to the impressionism and post impressionism section we passed some pretty famous painting like American Gothic and Nighthawks, that even my non arty husband recognized. That was fun. We also passed a group of children who all said bonjour to Danny and I. We decided they are either enrolled in French class or are French. Either way, I liked the little Frenchies.


Impressionism is my favorite style of art. I am probably swayed by my artistic mother, as this is one of her favorite styles too. Personally I think her art could be next to some of the greats. I am slightly biased though. Anyway, the art pieces in this section did not disappoint. From Van Gogh to Monet and Renoir to Degas, all my favorites were included. It is always easier to appreciate art pieces in person, especially impressionism. If you look closely you can see the individual brush strokes, but take a step back and these simple strokes create not an exact image but an idea of what the artist saw. That’s what I like the most, it’s like a small glimpse into the mind of a genius.

                                   Monet                                        

Linda Gross (Mom)

Of course there was plenty of more art to see, and we saw most of it, but my fingers will become just as tired as my tootsies were that day if I cover it all, so you will just have to go see it yourself. Besides this blog is already on the lengthy side.

After walking around the museum all day we built up an appetite. So we used our trusty iphones and yelped it up. We found a little sandwich shop called Fontano’s. We both ordered the “Big Al” which is an Italian sub with Italian meats, provolone, and Giardiniera on it. In Chicago Giardiniera is a big deal. It’s an Italian hot pepper relish that is delicious. After I took a bite into my sandwich which also had mayonnaise on it, I read the article on the wall that said true Chicagoans always hold the mayo. You can take the girl outta Ripon, but you can't take the mayo out of her sandwich. Across the street was DePaul University for law students. Fontano’s had a student discount. I thought to myself, if this is the way law students eat every day I might have to change careers.

We then went to the Field Museum. On our way we noticed a camera crew and lots of people standing around trying to get a peek of something. Naturally we joined in. We didn't know what we were trying to get a peak at until I decided to ask some teenage girls. They said Vince Vaughn was filming the movie Cheaters. As the girls were discussing how the hunky Channing Tatum was also in the movie and that if they saw him they would run across the street and declare their undying love, Vince came out of a camera shop, looked up, and waved. My thoughts about Vince Vaughn are as follows: He is tall. He likes the Bears. I know this because he was wearing a Bears hat. He is nice. Nice enough to wave that is. Although my brush with Hollywood was brief, I was grateful that I was having a good hair day. You never know when a talent scout is in the audience looking for the next great Hollywood starlet.

On the way to the Field Museum we wandered through the multiple lovely parks running along Lake Michigan’s shore. The Field Museum is another grand White House like building. It is situated near the Shedd Aquarium and the Planetarium in an area called Museum Campus. Unfortunately we did not have time to see the other two “iums.” The main attraction in the Field Museum is Sue. Sue is a Tyrannosaurus Rex. She is the most complete T Rex that has been discovered to date. This is her 10th anniversary, so the museum was definitely tooting that horn. Besides looking at a bunch of bones, we also looked at a bunch of dead stuffed animals. I enjoyed the bird part, because I enjoy birds, but the rest was rather repetitive. I think we would have been more excited if we hadn’t of recently gone to the California Academy of Science and saw a multitude of dead stuffed animals there.

Danny asked if I wanted to go to the gem display, which to his dismay I did. The gems were huge, but they were difficult to see, because of the crowd. We realized it was because Monday happens to be free admission day at the museum, which was why the line to the restroom was ridiculous. The restroom did not have any seat covers whatsoever. I was disappointed. I think to more fully enjoy a museum you shouldn’t go on free admission day. The crowds were crazy, and it was difficult to get a good look at any one display.


After the museum we walked back to the hotel and crossed picket lines. We rested, freshened up, and then decided where to eat. Danny really wanted to try this Brazilian steak place called Texas de Brazil. I had my doubts, but agreed because I won the gem war.


The walk to Texas de Brazil was fairly long, which was good because I didn't even have an appetite. According to our overly zealous waiter, Brazilian BBQ involves meat on large skewers that is roasted over an open flame. I believe somehow salt brine is used. Texas de Brazil works like this: There is a big salad bar with various "international items" such as, sushi, goat cheese, marinated artichokes, exotic looking grains, and ranch dressing. I will admit that the lobster bisque was delicious. While you are filling up on salad, various meat men come around with skewers of meat offerings. If you would like some they slide or slice, you off some meat. You are given a little card with a green side and a red side. If you need a meat break you turn your little card over to the red side. Red means stop. Green means go, just like I learned in first grade. As soon as that card is flipped to green watch out! You will soon be overwhelmed with meat. The overzealous waiter also brought us fried bananas that were rolled in sugar as a “palate cleanser." I'm not sure if it cleansed my palate, but they tasted good.


So what can be wrong about endless amounts of meat you may ask? Especially coming from me, a meatasaurus? Well for starters it was way too salty (although they did offer to cook some less salty meat), for seconds I don't think the meat was that good of quality. Endless amounts of meat may have once been my nirvana, but now I will take a quality steak over the meatarazzi any day.


I haven't figured out where the Texas in Texas de Brazil fits in. Maybe it's the buffet part. The meat on a sword part is supposed to be Brazilian. Or maybe it’s the garlic mashed potatoes. The waiter did tell me that in the bread basket were Brazilian cheese rolls. They were good, just like the ones you get at Red Lobster. Perhaps Red Lobster is owned by a Brazilian fisherman. All I know is Texas de Brazil is a mesh of American and possibly Brazilian foods, and the combination is not pretty. Of course, Danny loved it. Did I mention there was a wine lady who hung from a suspension line and did acrobatics to reach the wine bottles? They called her the wine artist. I'm serious.


After dinner we took a stroll by the river and visited the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial park. We always seem to come across a memorial park on our trips. For whatever reason we always end up sitting in the park staring at a list of names for a while in silence. Even in the silence I know Danny and I are thinking about the same thing.


When we were done paying homage to our veterans, we walked around the Loop area and planned our next day. My eyes were so tired from staring at things. We stared at paintings, dinosaurs, dead birds, celebrities, meats, and lists of names. It was time for bed, I don't think my eyes could take in any more information, and my brain was certainly filled to the brim.


By the way, so that your eyes won't tire out, I promise Day 3 of my Chicago trip blog won't be so long!

Coordinating Castle

At the ripe age of about 8, my mom and I decided it was time to redecorate my room. We picked a fabulously colorful quilt to decorate the room around. My new white furniture, (which I still have) came courtesy of my grandma’s discount for working at the late furniture store Breuners. When I actually kept my room clean, it looked amazing. The only thing it was missing was a tiny chandelier and a window seat. My mom, a wonderfully talented artist, decided to paint a castle picture to complete the décor.

My mother’s artistic skills are not limited to one medium. She can paint, draw, sculpt, collage, etc. She produces many fine art pieces, but also has some whimsical pieces. The castle painting definitely falls into the whimsy category.

The castle painting is a water color. What makes it so fantastic is the way she used the water colors with such precision. Water colors tend to bleed into each other, except when my mom works her magic. She can make water colors bleed where she wants and vice versa. The tiny bricks and stones are individually filled with vibrant colors that coordinate with my quilt.

When my imagination was at its fullest, I would picture myself living in the castle…wandering the gardens…and unlocking the swirly iron gate with an old skeleton key. I imagined behind the gate was a sort of Secret Garden: a movie/book that I loved when I was little.

As I got older and my tastes for girly things changed, I redecorated my room again. The castle was loaned to my brother’s best friend’s mom. It hung proudly over their fireplace during my teenage years. The castle was replaced with posters of my favorite band and bulletin boards overflowing with pictures of my friends.

Once again, my tastes changed. Danny and I got married at a young age. I needed inexpensive, better yet, free art to hang on the walls of my tiny apartment. The castle painting was back in my life. It hung over my old green hand-me-down couch that was gifted to me from my mother. All my college aged visitors asked me where I got my fabulous art from…once I told them it was free, they were even more envious. The castle painting always received a lot of praise, perhaps it opened up its admirer’s imaginations the way it did mine. The castle painting made the tiny apartment feel like home.

The castle painting is one of those pictures, that when looked at, you will find something new. After owning the painting again, I discovered that my mom forgot to paint one of the fence posts. All of them are brown except a single forgotten white post. The people tending to the garden are unrecognizable however, the lady bending over pruning the rose bushes happens to be Eleanor Roosevelt. My mom used a picture of her gardening in a magazine as inspiration. Recently I noticed the curtains in the blue building to the side of the towers are white with red polka dots. Perhaps this had an early influence on my polka dot obsessed self.

The castle painting now hangs proudly above my bed. I feel comforted when I look at the white fence post and Eleanor Roosevelt. I think of my crazy imagination when I look past the iron gate into the secret garden, and I smile when I think about my talented mother who lovingly created a lasting memory for me, all for sake of my new bedroom décor.