Ever Been On space Mountain?

I hated Space Mountain at Disney World. I hate rides so that really is no surprise. I really think that is the most terrified I have ever been. I thought for sure it was going to fly off the rails and I was going to die. I knew I would never go on that ride again, so I figured I would never be that terrified again and I have never been....until Sunday.

Irv and I walked around a lot during the marathon..just trying to get from point A to Point B. A couple of times Point A and Point B were way too far apart so we took a cab. One of the rides took us through city streets lined with cars....with quite a few bicycle riders. I'm thinking that cabbies don't like bicycle riders because this guy could NOT have come any closer to the bikers without running them over! I just kept thinking, "Please do not kill a biker with me in the cab!" He would come up right behind them doing about 40 miles an hour and then swerve around them. It was horrible. I just kept closing my eyes.

I thought that was the worst it could possibly get until later that day when we had to take another cab. This time we had the "pleasure" of flying down Lake Shore Drive.....a very, very winding, busy, crazy road.....doing 70 miles an hour (in a 40 mph zone mind you. It was lovely outside so the cabbie had all of the windows open. I was in the back seat and had to hold down my hair because it was whipping me in the face as we cruised down LSD. I'm looking at Irv and he doesn't seem the least bit bothered. I honestly felt like I was back on Space Mountain. I thought for sure we were going to either go flying off the road into the lake or just roll and smash into oncoming traffic and be killed. It was beyond terrifying.

When we were sitting around later chatting....I brought up the cab ride. Everyone just laughed. They thought it was great! Are you freaking kidding me? Great?

If I ever have to choose between walking a very, very, very long way or ride in a Chicago cab.....where are my gym shoes? I'm walking!

A Quick Hello

We got up early this morning only to realize we had no power. We got ready in the dark and headed to the city to meet Tresa and Chris for the Randolph Street Market. It was hotter than all get out, walking around on blacktop in 90 degree heat. We saw lots of awesome stuff, but sadly no reasonably priced china for me.

Tresa is doing well. Only a few months to go and our little boy will be here!

From there we went to a great little Mediterranean Restaurant and had a fantastic lunch. Then it was back to Tresa and Chris's condo for a little bit and then it was time to head to necessary exTRAVagance in Andersonville to drop off the stacked china lamp and the cup and saucer bird feeders and the hanging china plate bird feeders.....that I forgot to take pictures of before we left. :(

We left the shop and turned onto the expressway...joining thousands of other cars on the expressway and very, very slowly made our way home. We ran in the house, fed the dogs, let them out for a little bit, changed clothes and hustled back out the door for a graduation party we had said we would be at. It was nice to see everyone, but we only stayed a couple hours.

Now we are home and thank goodness, the power is back on. We were lost this morning with no blow dryer to do my hair and no coffee for Irv. The funny thing is...we had two lines of really nasty storms yesterday....one in the late afternoon and one in the early evening. The power was fine. It went out at 4:00 this morning when nothing was going on outside.

I am really beat. That sun really does me in. Tomorrow we have to do some grocery shopping, make some lists for vacation and then Michael and Bernadette are coming over for a Father's Day visit. Looking forward to a quiet day.

Hope all is well with you and that you are enjoying your weekend.

Off To The Windy City

Happy Weekend!! I am off to Chicago this morning....catching the 7:08 train. Tresa and I are going out for breakfast, then we are having manis and pedis and then if the rain stays away, we are hitting a sidewalk sale in one of the cute city neighborhoods. We will shop until she poops out on me! I'll try to remember to take some pictures.

I think I might have to take a short computer break this week as well. I have been allowing the things I am not making anymore to expire in my etsy shop, FourDogDay....and my shop is starting to look very empty. I have so many things that I want to make, but I just seem to have gotten really busy lately with....the rest of my life. I could probably spend some time in my workshop in the evening...if I leave the computer off.

I have some great little things that I'm going to be working on. I'll show you when I get some done.

Have a really awesome weekend and I'll post some "Day in the City" pictures soon. :)

Saturday

Heading out early this morning for Chicago. We are going out for breakfast with Tresa and Chris and then if the weather cooperates, we are going to the zoo!! It's actually suppose to be rather chilly and windy, so I'm thinking we might NOT be going to the zoo.

We are going to a little baby boutique. Tresa saw a cute little boy outfit and few weeks ago that she really wanted...and now that she knows she is having a little boy...she wants to go back and buy it.

After that I'll be taking the rest of the clocks to necessary exTRAVagance in Andersonville...then it will be home for some cleaning and laundry and all that good stuff.

Hopefully the weather will be better on Sunday so I can work in the yard for a little while...maybe. :) Make it an awesome day and do something really nice for yourself as well!

Being In Control

I am a person that likes to be in control. I like to do things myself. I like doing things my way. It isn't that I'm not cooperative when dealing with joint ventures....I am. I am also a team player when I need to be. I just prefer things that are mine....my project, my crafts, my room, my office....well I like to control those things.

That is why I wasn't sure if selling my crafts in a consignment store was going to be for me. I am use to my etsy shop FourDogDay...where I make, price, display and sell everything myself. With the consignment shop, I make and price but that's where it ends. Someone else will display my things, talk to customers about my things and hopefully sell my things. I thought I might have a problem with that.

Guess what? I'm not having a problem with it at all. In fact, I'm pretty darn excited. The consignment shop is giving me an opportunity to make things that I would not have made for etsy. The clocks were big to ship, cakestands were a nightmare and I would never even attempt to ship one of the lamps.

Now I feel as though I have the best of both worlds. I can make and sell my fabric things on etsy and I can make and sell big and fragile things at necessary exTRAVagance. How lucky can one person be?

Do you like to be in control or are you comfortable letting someone else run the show? Do you find it easier to turn certain things over to someone else than it is some other things? Please share....

The Excitement Mounts

What a fantastic day we had yesterday. We got up and headed to the grocery store. We even stayed within our budget for the first time in a few weeks!

Next we hopped in the car and headed to the consignment shop in Chicago. Since we didn't eat breakfast, we made a quick stop at Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts. No, those things are not on my diet...not even remotely close to being on my diet, but you know what.....I have done so well on my diet that I felt no guilt whatsoever.

We arrived in the Andersonville neighborhood and knocked on the door of necessary exTRAVagance. The Andersonville neighborhood is filled with wonderful restaurants and shops. It is clean and it is everything good about city living.

The shop was wonderful. They did a wonderful job painting and decorating and filling it with beautiful and exciting handcrafted items. We had the opportunity to meet Travis, one of the owners along with some family members that were there helping check in, price and display items. Even grandma was there sitting at the sewing machine putting the finishing touches on some pillows.

My clocks and cake stands will be right at home among some pretty amazing art. There were glass pieces, pillows, quilts, rugs, napkins, wine stoppers, some refurbished antiques, paintings, dishes and more. The more I looked around, the more excited I got.

I am a country girl and don't spend much time in the "big city". I really wasn't sure what fabrics to use for the clocks or what kind of cake stands people shopping there might like, but I think I made good choices and hopefully things will sell.

The one problem that I had was trying to figure out how to price my things. This particular shop has you price your items and then you split 50/50. I have a formula that I use when pricing my items for my etsy shop, Four Dog Day. There was no way that I could price my items the same as on etsy and give them half. I thought long and hard and tried a couple of different ideas, but each one ended up with me not making nearly enough for the time I put into my things. I finally figured out a formula I was comfortable with and went with it.

While we were walking around the shop, I looked at a lot of the prices and I knew I had done the right thing. My items fit right in at the prices I decided on. Now, we just have to hope they sell.

Tresa and Chris met us at the shop and the four of us took a walk around the neighborhood. We went in a couple of other awesome shops. If I were ever to move to the city....Andersonville would me my kind of neighborhood.

The shop opens on May 15th. I can't wait. Next Saturday we are headed to a big flea market and I will be in search of "things" to use to make more clocks and cake stands. Should be fun!

Opportunity Knocked

A couple of weeks ago I received a message through my etsy shop FourDogDay. It was from a couple that are opening a consignment home decor shop in Chicago in May. They said they liked my fabric clocks and asked if I might be interested in selling them in their new store when it opens.

I've received a number of similar requests through my etsy shop, but none of them really interested me...until this one.

We have been conversing back and forth a bit, and I've decided to give it a try. I'm really excited about having another option for selling some of my things. I am going to do the clocks and some cake stands.

I've never sold on consignment before and I know there are some crafters that won't do it. I think if I can price my items right, it could work out well. Their store is in the Andersonville Neighborhood. It's a wonderful area with a ton of foot traffic. The people that live in a lot of the neighborhoods in Chicago also shop in those neighborhoods.

The owners sound very laid back, but very organized. They have some wonderful merchandising consultants that will be helping them along the way. This isn't a shop where you rent a space and have to maintain it. They take care of everything. I received their contract yesterday and it was pretty straight forward and easy to understand.

If you are an artist or a crafts person, have you ever sold on consignment? What kind of experience did you have?

City Kitties

Sunday morning Irv and I were out the door at 7:00 and headed to Chicago. It's about an hour drive without traffic. We had to stop for gas and I decided to treat myself to a chai latte at Starbucks. I wanted to try it made with soy milk which would be a better option for me with my new bone building diet plan. The first few sips were yucka....the middle sips were acceptable....and the last sips were disgusting. I don't think that is going to be an option for me. Bummers!

Tresa and Chris are going to be putting their condo up for sale as soon as they make some minor improvements. They needed Irv's opinion on some things, so they asked us to come in. They treated us to a wonderful breakfast at a cute little cafe. I was wondering if it would be difficult to find something that fit in with my new diet....not at all! I had a wonderful egg white omelet with spinach, goat cheese and tomatoes! Man was it good!

We headed over to their condo and got to meet their newest kitty, Harley. They are always telling us what a bad, bad boy Harley is....and I think they are full of it. He is the cutest and sweetest little guy you would ever want to meet. He is charming and playful and just as happy as can be.

Their other kitty, Casey is such a pretty little Princess. She loves to just lay around, and only moves when she wants to move. She has a pretty normal kitty personality. :)

They have huge windows all along three sides of the condo and the view is awesome!

Irv went over a number of things with them and made some suggestions. They plan to purchase some things and we will head in again to give them a hand. Then it was back to the "country".

I managed to still find time to take the dogs for a nice little walk, do my yoga and walk for 25 minutes on the treadmill. I enjoy walking outside, but man was it nice to throw on some workout clothes, turn on some golf on the TV and walk! I think I am going to really enjoy it.

It was a busy day, but I had decided this morning that this would be one more day off from my etsy shop, FourDogDay. Instead of getting rattled because I didn't work in my shop all week, I told myself that I took a much deserved week off....that way there was no guilt, no stress and let me tell you....I had an awesome day today! Tomorrow I will be back in my workshop and I am so ready to start creating again!

Oh, and on a little side note...Michael and Bernadette have set March 6th for our next family get together. Michael said we are going bungee jumping...I wonder what we will REALLY be doing?

Girls Night Out

Well last night was Tresa's Girls Night Out. We had a wonderful time. We met at the greatest little restaurant called Think Cafe on Western Avenue in Chicago. The food and service were awesome. We passed on dessert at Think Cafe because we were headed to Webster's Wine Bar on Webstern. They have some fantastic desserts there. Bernadette and I had the bread pudding and it was unbelievable. Tresa had the flourless chocolate cake and it looked and smelled amazing! After everyone's fill of wine and dessert, Bern and I headed for home. I was the designated driver...in fact, I am always the designated driver because I don't drink! It was a wonderful evening.

The guys on the other hand started their party way too early and were already feeling it by 7:00. They went out for dinner and then to Second City. My understanding is that many of them crashed at Tresa and Chris's condo when they dragged themselves in at 5:30 this morning. Silly boys!



As long as I am on the wedding thing again today, I wanted to share another very old photo with you. This was taken at my oldest sister's first wedding :) back in about 1955. I love it because it is one of the only photos that include some of my aunts and uncles and cousins. My parents are on the left. Don't you love my mom's hat? Next to my mom is her mom and her mom's boyfriend of many, many years. The young man in the front row on the right is my brother, Jack and then my sister Karen is the junior bridesmaid on the right and that is yours truly on the left. Take a look at my feet! Think I was bored? My hair was not curly back then...my guess would be "spoolies". Remember those?

Have a wonderful afternoon everyone!

Memories

Tresa had reserved a small block of rooms at a really nice hotel in the city for the wedding in case anyone needed one. As it turned out, none of the out of town guests needed the rooms, so the only people that reserved rooms there was our immediate family.

Since Tresa made the arrangements, the hotel rates have actually come down...including the rates at a really old hotel that Tresa happens to like. Yesterday she e-mailed me and asked if we would mind if she switched our hotel to the Allerton on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. She said it would be cheaper than the original hotel. I said, "Whatever makes you happy. This is your day." It doesn't matter to me where we stay. All that matters is that her wedding is everything she wants it to be.

When she said the Allerton, the name stuck in my head and I immediately knew why. No, I didn't have a wild fling at the Allerton, but Irv and I did attend the Cary-Grove High School Senior Prom there almost 40 years ago in 1969!

The following is taken from the hotel's website:

"The Allerton's rich history began in the roaring twenties when it opened as a residential "club hotel." One of the first high-rises on Michigan Avenue, its beautiful Northern Italian Renaissance architecture stood in contrast to the existing Georgian and Tudor Revival cityscape.

By the 1940's, when the famous Tip Top Tap sign was first illuminated, the hotel was known around town as one of the most exciting social hot spots. It gained nationwide attention during the 1950's when Don McNeil broadcast a popular radio program from the 23rd floor lounge. Famous Hollywood legends like Bob Hope, Danny Kaye, Ginger Rogers, and James Stewart were featured guests.

In June of 1998 the City of Chicago designated The Allerton as an historic landmark and a $60 million renovation project was launched."

I don't remember a lot about our prom, but Irv and I had been dating for a little over a year by then. I remember shopping for my dress and thinking it was the most beautiful thing in the world. I got my shoes dyed and my hair done...top that off with some lovely white elbow length gloves and all I can say is.....geez where did we get those clothes?

The theme of the prom was "Camelot" and the decorations if I recall were all castle-like. I had my first taste of caviar that night and my last taste of caviar! That's about all I remember....heck, that was an eternity ago...I'm lucky I can remember what I had for breakfast this morning!

Did your school have a prom? Did you go? What was your dress like? Was it as stunning as mine?

Exhausted

I got up at 5:00 a.m. today and got ready to hop on the 7:08 train to the city. The train ride was uneventful except for the man in front of me that kept picking his teeth with his fingernail, the elderly gentleman next to me that kept blowing his nose and the guy in back of me that kept coughing on me! UGH!

Tresa picked me up at the station in the city and we went and had an awesome breakfast at a charming vegetarian restaurant called Victory's Banner. It was so cool to look at a menu with no meat on it! I had "Satisfaction-Promise", which was scrambled eggs with spinach, pesto, sundried tomatoes and feta cheese served with potatoes and the most delicious whole grain bread I think I have ever had! Yum!

From there we headed to The Paper Source to look for a couple of little things Tresa needed for the shower next week. Talk about a neat store! I could have spent hours in there! Then we headed to the reception venue to meet with the florist, the caterer and the photographer. The wedding ceremony and reception are being held at Prairie Productions in Chicago. It's a photo studio with amazing natural lighting. I wish I could take my etsy pictures there. Tresa's wedding is in the evening, so the light doesn't matter but the place is so cool. It has a warehouse look to it, but most of the inside is white, because we all know that white backgrounds make for lovely photos....don't we?

The florist brought some of his ideas with him and let me tell you I was blown away. Tresa is allergic to flowers except for orchids and tulips. He created some of the most unique and exciting arrangements I've ever seen using greenery and a few flowers! It is going to look gorgeous. He even made her a sample bouquet to see if she liked it. He's a really neat guy that has actually done some work for Oprah, so that's kind of fun.

The caterer is wonderful. Anything Tresa and Chris have asked for she tries to make happen for them. She really is working hard to make sure that their special day is just that. She works for Jewell Events Catering. If the food is anything close to what the service has been so far, it's going to be perfect!

The photographer is the owner of the studio. He is also really great. Everyone just walked around the studio and went over location of tables and bars, the DJ and ceremony set up. It all went really well.

Tresa and I headed to the mall then. We both needed a few things. She didn't have much luck, but I found some great jeans at the Gap (of course) and a darling sweater and cute top at Anthropologie. I love that store, but can only afford to shop in the sale room there! We made a couple of other stops and I even bought some L'Oreal lotion that gives you a little bit of a tan. I thought I would try it now and see how it works. If it turns me orange....I will be going to the wedding with white legs and oh well.

We got back to our house much later than we anticipated. Michael came by for a visit and we just ordered take out from Chilis. I definitely got my walking in today and all I want to do is eat, get in my jammies and chill out for the rest of the night!

Oh....it was 50 degrees here today! It's the middle of winter! We were all thinking how perfect a day this would have been for a wedding! We'll be keeping our fingers crossed that we are blessed with a day like this next month!

I Did It! I Found A Dress For The Wedding!

Tresa picked me up at the train and we stopped back at her condo for a few minutes before heading downtown. When we were getting ready to leave, I put my hat on and then I couldn't find my little knit gloves. We looked all over the condo and couldn't find them, so I assumed they were either in the car or I dropped them on the street when I got out of the car. Nope....neither. Where the heck were my gloves? Oh, that's right....when I took my hat and gloves off at the condo...I stuck my gloves in my hat so I wouldn't lose them. Yep! There they were, in my hat....ON TOP OF MY HEAD!

I thought...oh brother...if that's the kind of day it's going to be...I am in BIG trouble. This was the Dreaded Dress Shopping Day, and if I was ever going to find a dress to wear to my daughter's wedding I needed to be calm and things needed to go smoothly.

We actually had a good laugh at my expense, and headed on our way to the bus stop. Tresa decided we would try Macy's on Michigan Avenue first. She thought it might be less crowded than the State Street store. We rode the bus downtown and headed into the store. UGH, the dress selection was really poor and I started to sweat. My plan was to take all kinds of pictures of me trying on dresses, and there wasn't even a dress there that I wanted to try on!

Tresa decided we better head on over to the State Street store. On the way we stopped at a store called Filene's Basement. It isn't in a basement. In fact, we went up a very long escalator to get up to the store. I guess Filene's is suppose to have great prices, but it looked like a big garage sale to me. Definitely not my kind of store. I like things hanging neatly on racks in proper size order and maybe even color coordinated. I was not impressed. It isn't that I don't appreciate great prices, I just don't have the patience to search for things, especially that day. I was on a mission and I was not going home until I had a dress for the wedding.

We headed to State Street. It was still pretty quiet in the city and that was nice. No crowds yet. It was easy to get around. You just have to watch out for ice falling off the sides of the buildings...really!

The dress department at the State Street store was wonderful, and it was huge. I felt pretty confident that I would find something.

We both started going through the racks pulling out anything that was a "possibility". The sales clerk was great and put everything in a fitting room for us as we continued to look. Tresa and I don't really have the same taste in dresses, but she quickly figured out what I liked and our fitting room started to fill up quite nicely.

I had a vision of the dress I wanted when we started. I wanted brown for sure, and something comfortable and a little fitted. We are all doing cocktail length. We found some really cute brown dresses I liked, and also a couple in a neat gray. I passed up the bright colors thinking those might not be appropriate for the mother of the bride.

I started trying dresses on and figured out really fast that brown was not my color no matter how much I liked the dresses and the color. They did nothing for me. The gray ones were the same. Tresa went out to grab a couple in different sizes and came back with some really cute dresses in.....royal blue! I told her I didn't think that was a good color for the mother of the bride and she didn't agree.

So, I put on a royal blue dress. WOW! Royal blue was definitely my color, and a couple of the dresses were really cute. She went out and came back with others in blue. There was one that she loved that had more of a chiffon, full skirt in a darker blue that I nixed really fast. It was not "me". I felt like I was all "hip" in it and I don't mean "hip" as in "cool"....I mean "hip" as in "hippy"...not "hippie", but "hippy".....

Then I put on this dress.......this royal blue dress.....it was really cute, it was kind of fitted and it fit me really well. I was pretty excited! I was 99% sure that I had found THE dress! Now this is another place where Tresa and I differ. Tresa would have said, "Ok this is the one. Let's go". I said, let me try on the other cute ones one more time just to be sure. I got this look, and I knew she really didn't get it, because that isn't how she does things....but I did need to be sure. This is a really BIG deal, you know?

Well, of course I didn't change my mind, and I bought the really cute royal blue dress. I think it was a great decision. No, it didn't come off the clearance rack like I had hoped, and I didn't find it in the first store which was my other hope...but the price was reasonable, I had a $25 off coupon from the paper and we were out the door, dress in hand within two hours of starting.

I do need to get the straps taken up a little bit and still have to figure out shoes and find some kind of a wrap, but that is all minor. I'm thinking silver shoes.....what do you think?

We grabbed a cab and went and had a great lunch at a little corner restaurant and talked about the dress and the wedding and hair and shoes and all kinds of things, and then it was time to catch the train home. Traffic caused us to miss the train I was supposed to get on, so we sat and talked and chilled out in the car for an hour waiting for the next one.

What I have been calling the Dreaded Dress Shopping Day turned into an absolutely wonderful day with my little girl. I love you Tresa and thanks so much for helping me find my dress.

Dreaded Dress Shopping Day Has Arrived

It's here. The dreaded dress shopping day has arrived. If you aren't familiar with my dreaded dress shopping day, you can go back and read my post from November 13 .

Tomorrow morning I will board the 6:23 a.m. train for Chicago. My daughter, Tresa, will pick me up at the station, we will take her car back to her house and then hop on the bus to head downtown.

Tresa is familiar with the stores downtown, so I am letting her decide what stores we should try first. I have been online many, many times and have seen no dresses that I even remotely like, but that's what happens when you don't like dresses.

I told Tresa today that I was bringing my camera to take pictures of our day. I am envisioning this really funny blog post with lots of pictures of all of these hideous dresses and hopefully some nice ones. I see me making faces and just having the greatest time, and Tresa capturing it all on camera.

The only problem is that I really have no sense of humor and Tresa has even less!! After a few e-mails back and forth today I had her convinced that doing a dreaded dress shopping day photo documentary could be fun. Her response was, "I'll try."

So, I leave you tonight feeling hopeful that I will walk into that first store and this amazing kick butt dress in my size, will jump off the rack (maybe even the clearance rack) right at me...I will try it on...it will be the dress of my dreams (even though I only have nightmares about dresses, not dreams) it will fit perfect and it will be marked down to about $50!!

Now that would kick butt!!