Yay long weekends!

We had a very busy Memorial Day weekend. Despite the fact the it's currently 44 degrees here in the city, the weekend was actually seasonably warm and sunny and we were out and about quite a bit. We saw the new Indiana Jones movie on Friday night, and weren't disappointed (although the plot was somewhat less plausible than the previous films, which is saying something!). Yes, Harrison Ford is still hot. On Saturday, we broke above 50 degrees again (just in time for the weekend!). We decided that it was time for us to do some Chicago-oriented touristy things, since we've somehow avoided almost all Chicago activities since we've moved here. We spent about 4 hours walking around Grant and Millennium parks (see pix below). It clouded up later in the day, but it was nice to get outside. The rest of the weekend we did a bunch of furniture shopping, for pieces that we've been noodling over for the last 6 months. We ended up finishing up our bedroom and most of our office/library furniture needs, plus we bought a new TV cabinet (which replaces the now well-loved one I inherited from Gretchen). This buying spree activated Andrew's cheap gene, but luckily most of the furniture was found at Ikea, or else we used gift certificates from Christmas (thanks Boy/Amy!). So, we spent most of yesterday assembling our new stuff, and rearranging the living room to accommodate our swank new TV stand. It's very cozy now. I'll post pix later when it's all put together.

FYI, here's a place to find more info on Grant Park
http://www.aviewoncities.com/chicago/grantpark.htm
I didn't know that the park was basically formed by pushing the debris from the Great Fire into the Lake.

Here's Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park (apparently modeled after a fountain at Versailles) with some of the key bits of modern Chicago architecture behind it. If you've seen "Stranger than Fiction", that red building will look familiar.


This is the Lurie Garden, which is technically in Millennium Park. It's 2.5 acres of flowers in the middle of the city! Right now it's full of pretty native prairie flowers.

Here's an artsy shot of part of the Cloud Gate sculpture. It's supposed to look like a blob of liquid Mercury, and it does a great job of reflecting the cityscape. I think it looks like a giant Mercury coated jelly bean. Yum.

Family and Flowers

We were in St. Louis this weekend for my Grandpa's 80th birthday party on Saturday (which was also my brother's birthday and parent's anniversary! Conservation of holidays). The whole Meyer clan was there, in true Meyer form and fashion. On Sunday, we had a chance to stop by the Missouri Botanical Garden, one of my favorite places. It happened to be Chinese Culture day there, so the place was pretty packed. But I think it would've been anyway because it's actually spring in St. Louis and the weather was fabulous. It was nice to get outside and soak up some sun for a change!


Here's my Grandpa with his cake. That's my youngest (first) cousin, Lydia, who was helping.

Rew at the garden.

My Dad looking svelte. The garden occasionally showcases sculpture, and currently they're having a big Niki de Saint Phalle exhibit (which was in Chicago over the fall but we missed it). It's pretty cool because the garden doubles as a sculpture park. Dad's sitting on one of the chair sculptures (yes, it's allowed).
The irises were SO nice. They have a huge bed, and it was just a sea of color (and people)!

Here's a close-up of some of the irises. I like the fluffy ones.

This is part of the big reflecting pond in the middle of the garden. The palm house in the background was built by the same guy who built the one we had our wedding reception in. On the pond, you can see some of Dale Chihuly's artwork which is from a display that was there last year (I guess they purchased some of it). Chihuly is one of my favoritest ever artists. Some of his work is displayed in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and in Vegas. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Chihuly.

Here's one of Saint Phalle's big pieces outside. It was one of several totum poles.

While creepy, I liked this one too. It's actually open on the side and kiddies can crawl through it.

Possible answers...

OK, so some possible answers to the plant mysteries. GBB thinks my shrub is a lilac bush, and given that I found this pic on http://www.gardenersnet.com/lilac.htm, I'm inclined to agree with her. That would be super sweet! What a nice surprise in our yard!

I Googled "native IL flowering shrub" and found these pix on http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/69517/. These are a dead-ringer for the flowers and autumn leaves of the plant from outside our building at UIC that I'm looking for. It's called Witch Alder, apparently. Now I can rest easier ;)

Name that plant...

Hi all! Does anyone know what these plants (shrubs) are?

This one is in our backyard. I like it, but don't know what it is (and I have an unreasonable need to know the names of plants in my yard). My totally uneducated guess is that it's a lilac bush because it's purple and it smells heavenly. And also I like the idea of having a lilac bush!

Here's a close-up of the flowers on the plant above.

Ok, this one's at work outside our building. It's a little shrub with white flowers that look like little pom-poms (they smell sweet like honeysuckle). Last fall, the leaves were a beautiful pumpkin orange color. This one I'm really curious about because it's showy in both fall and spring and I want one!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to our mothers, sisters, and friends! Also, most everyone knows already but next year I get to do Mother's Day too! Woohoo. The scans below are old-ish, we're due in early November.


In this one, the baby's face is pointing towards us. Two eyes, good news.

Yay! Woohoo!

Yesterday was a big day. It was my Mum's birthday (woohoo). Also our friend Kristin defended her thesis (yay!). Congratulations Dr. Lawrence!!!

The best cat toy ever

So J&K sent us a lovely and nifty housewarming gift. We love it, but Mouse isn't impressed. She's far more interested in the packaging that it came in, which it turns out is the best toy ever. She's taken to nesting in it. Here's a few pix and a video (I warn you, it's rather silly).

There's a cat in here somewhere...

ah, there's the camo kitty!

What's in the box?