Weekend in Madison!

We spent a wonderful weekend in Madison with several of our favorite people. We arrived earlier than expected on a sunny Friday and enjoyed a Madison fish fry at The Avenue with Dave and Molly B. The Damon's and Staple's joined us after dinner for drinks around a campfire at Dave's house. On Saturday morning, Andrew joined Dave, Molly B, Molly D and Meredith for the 8k Crazylegs race. The weather was not ideal for a run (thunderstorms with pouring rain and 47 degrees) and the group was drenched and freezing when we finally picked them up after the race. Reed, Carrie and I talked about how impressed we were by our runners over bloody mary's and chocolate croissants. We had a great mediterranean lunch at Bunky's Cafe with the racing group. We also visited Aunt Amy and Heidi at their beautiful newly remodeled lake home. It was so nice to spend time with them and see all of the work that they have done on their house. Saturday night was Molly D's 30th birthday party held at The Glass Nickel. It was an 80's prom theme party and was totally radical. We had a blast! On Sunday morning The Damon's cooked an enormous and impressive brunch that was the perfect ending to a really fun weekend. Thank you all for another fantastic Madison weekend!

Reed-O and birthday girl Molly

MBD and Molly B

slideshow

Molly D's 80's Prom Party

Leaps and Bounds

As parents, there are times when we are beyond frustrated and ask ourselves, "will she ever learn?". We repeat the same words, stories, commands over and over and nothing seems to be registering. And then there are times of complete amazement when we laugh and wonder "how did she do that?". This past week was one of those weeks where our daughter has learned so many new things and has left us completely amazed and impressed. For starters, she now answers questions with either "yeah", "okay", "sure" or "no". Is it time for lunch...yeah. Would you like a sandwich...sure. Will you please drink your milk...no. Will you please pick up your spoon...okay. She is also using full words where she only used sounds of words before. "Sh" has become "shoe". "Help" when she needs a hand. We get a full "Choo Chooooooooo" when she sees a train. She even told her Daddy "love you" before he left for work yesterday. Unbelievable. And are you ready to hear the icing on this delicious cake? She pooped in the big toilet this morning! She did her little sign language telling me that she had to go potty, I sat her on the toilet, and voila...like she's been doing it her whole life. We really feel that each month becomes even more fun and gratifying, and we love her more and more everyday. But this stage, right now, is magical.

Before and After

Last weekend in Graps Maize got what has become her biannual shearing while I had to get my haircut when we returned to Chicago because Ron the Barber was on vacation. Luckily I have found someone in Chicago who I can trust to give me the standard Bobby Jones Jr. 1930's part.

Make it work

I went to an event at my old kate spade store yesterday and met Tim Gunn. He is, among many things, the chief creative officer for Liz Claiborne Inc, which now owns kate spade. His most well known role is as design mentor on the reality televison show Project Runway. During the event, he spoke to the large crowd for almost an hour and styled a model with looks that represent different levels of casual/dressiness. I am really excited about the new direction that the company seems to be taking and was incredibly impressed by the Spring 09 collection. The colors and styles remind me of her early spring collections, but with the fabulous addition of RTW, especially the navy blazer with gold buttons and the striped dress that I have my eye on. Oh, not to mention the orange knit. And the daisy gold chain. Regardless of your passion (or lack of ) for fashion, Tim Gunn is a brilliant mind and a pleasure to meet.

Easter in Graps

We just returned home from a wonderful and family filled Easter weekend in EGR. We helped Dr. Dave celebrate his birthday on Friday night with dinner ("salmon is a delicacy"), gifts ("that is very nice"), and his favorite Arnie's cake ("chantily is the very best cake"). Saturday morning was spent at Nonna and Grandpa Walker's with a lovely brunch and an Easter egg hunt with the cousins. In the afternoon we drove to Rockford to visit Poppy and Yaya for more early Easter celebrations. We had a fabulous dinner with Jon, Laura and Ash at Republic and ran into many old highschool friends. The Easter bunny left a basket for Eloise on Sunday morning, after which we went to Grace Church, participated in another Easter egg hunt and finished the weekend with a beautiful meal at Kent Country Club. In addition to all of this family time, we managed to squeeze in an overdue grooming appointment for Miss Maize and a facial for me. We had a great weekend!

Easter Weekend 2009

Derek Trucks

This past Thursday night we went to see The Derek Trucks Band at the Park West on Armitage. The band sounded even better than the last time we went to see them (the vocals were louder and much stronger) and the venue was great. We had such a fun night with our friends!

Ashley, Olivia & Allyson's trip to Chicago

OliviaAllyson

The cousins

Ashley, Olivia and Allyson took the train to Chicago to spend the first half of their spring break with us. We had a wonderful time and filled the days with bouncing at Pump It Up, going to the zoo, the park, lunch at Minnies, and a sister's night out. Please come back soon!

Ashley, Olivia & Allyson in Chicago

Sunny Saturday

We spent the day strolling around downtown and had a picnic lunch on the lawn of the Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park.


A sculpture of one of my all time favorite paintings stands tall in front of the NBC tower on Michigan Avenue.

Mmmmmmm Blackberries...