Apparently it is 74°F outside. However, it is a steamy 81°F inside my house. The 8 MPH south breeze sporadically floats inside and offers a temporary reprieve of these desperate conditions. Despite this suffering, I will not break down to the air conditioner. I do not like living disconnected from the outside world. I like having my windows open and I sleep much better with the outside noise acting like a white noise.
However, I can only handle so much heat. I prefer outside temperatures between 50°F and 65°F. My ability to deal with the heat decreases after this point. At 85°F, I need relief in the form of air conditioning. Humidity compounds this problem and makes me cantankerous.Right now, I am in the upper limit of my tolerance. I am in a confused, contradictory state of being because I am dealing with almost hot conditions inside while knowing that it is better outside. All I can really do is complain here and desire the relief that comes in October and November.
... AWESOME!
We hit the ground running on Thursday morning and didn't stop until our delayed flight got back to Boston Sunday Night... wait... make that early Monday morning.
Thursday, 7/17... Millennium Park. By far my favorite thing. I finally got to see Cloud Gate (a/k/a "the bean") and it totally made my day. The 93 hazy, hot and humid degrees didn't make a difference. The bean left Colleen, Dee and me awe struck. So freakin' cool!
We also checked out Crown Fountain... perfect for a hot day. All of Chicago must have thought so too, because this thing was PACKED!
Colleen and I decided to take our shoes off and test the water. Hey... when will I ever have another opportunity to be in Millennium Park on a hot summer day with an adventurous friend who indulges my crazy whims?
Then it was on to Archivers for some creative shopping... I know... I know. Couldn't be helped. They carry stuff you can't get here!
After a full day of sightseeing and shopping we (Dee, Colleen and I) checked into the Embassy Suites in Rosemont, cleaned up and headed over to the Wyndham Hotel for the Creative Imaginations Preview Party. Got to see Cheryl {hi Cheryl!} the uber talented Design Team Coordinator for Creative Imaginations. Go check out her stuff... you'll see what I mean.
Friday, 7/18... CHA Summer 2008 begins. Total and complete insanity, as usual. People everywhere. So much to see. It's crafting overload, but so worth the headache. Hero Arts... my first Mand-&-Take... so cute! That was the first booth I got to, and one of my favorites as usual. Went to dinner that night with the fabulous Jan (from Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L), her husband and two of her counterparts. Laughed a LOT that night. So much fun!
Saturday, 7/19... CHA day 2. Crazy, crazy, crazy. Saw so many amazing new things I can't even keep them straight in my head. Made another super cute Make-&-Take at Hero Arts and wore my Making Memories apron all day in hopes of coming home with a new Slice... no dice. I remain Slice free. Maybe next time. The girls and I spent another 8 hours scouring the show for the best and brightest to bring back to the store. We found some great stuff... Creative Imaginations, Pink Paislee, Scraponizer, Magic Mesh... the list goes on and on. After the show we made reservations at Morton's the Steakhouse. Y - U - M ! Caesar salad, Filet Oscar, mashed potatoes, green beans, lyonnaise potatoes (yes... 2 kinds of potatoes!) and finished off with the most decadent chocolate souffle with creme fraiche. Heaven.
Sunday, 7/20... CHA day 3. Jam packed day. We took in as much as we could in the short amount of time we had on Sunday. Definitely not as many attendees working the floor that day. We did find my absolute favorite new product thought... the Canon Selphy ES2. I am in LOVE!!
Truly hoping The Crop Shop will carry at least a couple of these so that I can get my hands on one!! I think every scrapbooker would be ecstatic to have one.
After checking out and jamming every last inch of space in my suitcase with stuff I never thought I'd be bringing home (a Scraponizer... seriously?! Woohoo!) we checked out and headed to O'Hare International Airport for our 6pm flight... which turned out to be delayed. Stupid Boston thunderstorms! We grabbed a bite to eat at the smallest and busiest Chili's I've ever seen and hunkered down for the long wait. Saw a gorgeous sunset while waiting for JetBlue flight 922.
Almost made the 3-1/2 hour delay worth it... almost!
Can't wait for Anahiem in 2009!
I just watched the PBS' Bill Moyers on Faith & Reason where Moyers interviewed author Margaret Atwood. You can watch the entire interview here.
Atwood is a fascinating person with interesting beliefs on religion. I tend to agree with her on much of what she said during this interview. Atwood is also a fellow Canadian.
I was in Seattle over the weekend. Beautiful city, but not for me. I just realized that...
I'm not an outdoors type.
I love physical activity, but hiking, kayaking, mountain biking just don't do it for me. Living in LA has made me too high maintenance. The guys are really cute though, but I'm afraid they'll make me go outdoors and I'd just end up being the whiny bitch.
Plus, I really missed pole dancing.
So, no dating in this new city. And I've never seen so many people drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon in my life.
So I am happily ensconced over at WordPress, which I love more and more every day, but I had a couple of requests to still post over here.
While I don't want to do a lot of cut-and-pasting (and it would kind of defeat the purpose of having a whole new blog), I thought I'd post links from the previous week and then people can take it upon themselves to read if they're so inclined.
July 12-20
boo, you whore!
the candy bombers
sum-sum-summertime
on the fringe of awesomeness
izzie stevens: persona annoya
a time to weep
kill me now
some men just want to watch the world burn
St Paul's is great. I love going for a coffee around this area just for the architecture and people watching.
Managed to get a double shot of someone lost and wearing purple. Snaps like these always give a little more satisfaction. I think my best combo this far has been three themes in one photo. :)
Mobile phones. The modern noise pollution...
I got couple great photos from this spot, but this was my favourite one.Very cool London indeed. ;)
This is one of my favourite spots to take photos in London, too. In all the years I've found a few backdrops where interesting photos always emerge. Really lovely layers and interesting mix of people walked into this one yesterday.
Time for the personal favourites... I really loved how these two men mirrored each other without even knowing.
What was that thing I said about modern noise pollution earlier? :D
Summer on the South Bank. The best place to be, in so many ways. :)
This is of course the opposite of this original.
A super lighting effect by the Sun! I love this bubble so much it's not right. :D
I also love how the woman at the bottom is lit up when the guy at the top is scratching his head, almost thinking "how'd she do that?" :D
And now that purple is complete I can start my holidays with a clear conscience. I'm off to Finland and Estonia for a bit with my cameras. I really have fallen in love with that Fuji 800Z colour film I've been shooting most of my 35mm Holga photos this summer. There is no comparison for it in colour saturation! So, I have some in my bags to take with me, and I hope to complete the blue set either during or just after my holidays. After all it's only five photos to go to complete the whole project. Scary! :)
Sean and Stefan celebrate today with this musical moment...
How can you not smile over the outlandish but good-hearted act that was Carmen Miranda! Enjoy!