Mature Content

       

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I've been so busy--in all seriousness, I spent ALL of yesterday cleaning the house because I actually had time to realize how much it needed it--that I neglected to mention the most fun part of our summer!  At the tale end of July, my husband and I ran away to Chicago to enjoy close to a week of vacation and a bit of a second honeymoon.  His favorite UK football team, Tottenham Hotspur, played the Chicago Fire on the 26th, so we arrived the day before and stayed for several days after to catch everything we missed during our wedding visit last year. 

(FYI, if you have a bad habit and need a reason to quit, our trip was paid for by automatically depositing what had been Nicholas' cigarette money.  We'd had the tickets for the match since January, and when his March stroke surprised us and banned him from his pack-a-day habit, saving that money--which was already budgeted out--let us keep up with the medical expenses while also letting us keep the trip.  Having that to look forward to meant so much to both of us!)

We spent Friday through Tuesday in Chicago, where we walked through Millennium Park multiple times; spent an entire morning walking downtown before attending the soccer match that night; spent two days going over everything in the Art Institute from opening to close (I *finally* saw a Dante Gabriel Rossetti painting in person!); revisited the Oriental Institute where we were married; and yet the only picture I took is of Nicholas' face while watching his soccer team play in person for the first time. All of the above was truly memorable, but that look made the trip for me. I love this man.

But enough of me being moon-eyed for my husband...

Chicago proved a great time once again, and we're sure to find an excuse to go back.  The Art Institute has several new wings in the works in addition to their already impressive collection--seriously, the Pre-Raphaelite room was to die for (they rank among my first artistic loves).  As old movie fans, it was also a kick to stand before "A Picture of Dorian Gray" in the modern art gallery, which was commissioned for a 1945 movie of the same name (based on the Oscar Wilde story, of course).  "Nighthawks" hung right behind it, and was truly impressive in both size and vibrancy.  The Asian galleries were glorious... really, everything was.  We could have easily spent still another day, but we had hit sensory overload and then some!

Oh!  Should you visit the Art Institute multiple days in a row, keep your ticket stubs!  When we went back the second day, I said jokingly "Do we get a discount for coming here two days in a row?", to which the clerk replied, "Yes, it'll save you $12 if you still have your tickets from yesterday to prove it."  Happily, I had absentmindedly stuffed them in my purse, where they still were. Thus, the $24 a head price went down to $18 thanks to what I thought would be a throwaway remark.  Who knew?

Peace,
Arden