Updates, Updates, Updates!

I don't quite know where to start! I don't think I can go chronologically, since the most exciting part of our update doesn't come until tomorrow at 6 a.m.: Maya Emily Segar! Dan and Simona's newest edition is coming tomorrow, and we're thrilled to our toenails. She's the second of our seven babies, and I can promise that there will be a ton of pictures when she arrives (hopefully Simona and Maya will be resting comfortably by mid-morning).

Yesterday (Sunday), we took the train with Angi and Sean to meet Neill, Fran, Destiny, Fran's sisters, their kids, and Fran's dad at Arlington Park for a little gambling and horse watching. The afternoon was hot, but we had a nice shady table on the terrace and some frozen drinks to keep us cool.

(You can clearly see baby #7, a.k.a. "Poppyseed," a.k.a. "Girl Power" in this shot of Angi)

Saturday (the day before Sunday...looks like I'm going in reverse chronology), while Trevor toiled away at the gallery, I took a day trip to Madison. My college friend Anne and her husband, Matt came into town from New York, and some of the old gang was spending the weekend to see her.

Although I only came for the day, I think I made the best of it. I met everyone at Nick's around noon for Bloody Mary's, then we wandered State Street for a couple of hours, shopping, browsing, and getting sweaty (the early morning rain did little to dry out what felt like 139% humidity and 95 degrees).



One of my favorite new (new to me) Madison stores is Anthology, where I found a yellow onesie (for Maya, of course) that read, "Born to be a Librarian." I also got a gnome ring (yes, that's right) and a couple of greeting cards (you'll know what they say if you get one in the mail).

After shopping, we spent a few hours hanging out at the Terrace, drinking beer, eating ice cream, and just having a wonderful time.

And we stumbled upon an impromptu break-dancing competition on the Mall:

While everyone was freshening up for dinner, I stopped at my old shop, Paul's Book Store, and dropped a bit of cash on a sack full of books. Caryl, the owner, wasn't there (I think I'd just missed her), but hopefully I'll see her again soon. The shop was just as fantastic as it always is. I would have taken a picture, but I didn't want to freak out the guy working there.

It was so good to see everyone, but especially Anne and Matt, who I hadn't seen in about five years. I'm hoping that it won't be that long until the next time.

Last Thursday, Paula and I went to my grandma's place for a cake baking lesson. The cake baking was fun and successful, but the best part (aside from grandma's company) was the huge lunch of salad, mostacolli, meatballs, and garlic bread. We topped it off with spumoni ice cream and cookies. My Lord, Marie, you made our day.

(Although Grandma mixed, poured, and baked these babies, Paula and I frosted them. We worked so, so hard.)

Okay, I think I got us all up-to-date, but for more photos of everything, check this out.

I've got two weeks before classes start for the fall, but unfortunately I won't have too much time to do nothing (one of my favorite vacation activities). But what nothing I do, I'll be sure to document it and keep you all in the loop. Sleep well, all, especially you, Maya. It's your last night in the warm wombiness of Simona!

We saw the baay-beeeeee!

So, as I might have mentioned already, Trevor and I have seven friends and/or relatives who got pregnant around the same time last year (Sheena, Simona, Ann, Caren, Cat, and Jeanette [Angi Power came a little later, but I'm counting her, too]), and every time--every time--in the past nine months that I've thought of seeing "the baby" (any of the babies), I've thought of the Seinfeld episode where the gang goes to the Hamptons to "see the bayyyyybeeeee." It's also a great episode because of the shrinkage and lobster poaching that goes on. But in case you've forgotten the phrase (or have been living under a rock for the past two decades and didn't catch this particular episode), here it is (at least the first nine minutes--shrinkage doesn't occur until part 2).

Now, this says nothing at all about the babies we're expecting, because we know how fantastic looking (not to mention charismatic, brilliant, well mannered, fantastically coiffed...) our friends and family are. And just to prove this, here are some photos of the very first baby out of the seven: Michael Jameson Bux, my cousin Michael and his wife Sheena's darling little potato! He's only eighteen days old, so don't mind his tininess.

(Here's Auntie Carol [a.k.a. New Grandma Bux] with the little guy. I took this picture with my phone. The next four shots were taken by Erica and look much, much, much better. Look on.)

(Jameson)

(Erica and Jameson)

(Carly and Jameson)

(Me and Jameson)

He's pretty smushily fantastic. I really can't wait until Sheena and Mike need a night out so I can come over and smother him with smooches. Like I'm about to do in the picture above. I look like a stalking smoocheralla.

Now that I have aunt fever (although technically he's, like, my second cousin? I think?) I am quite looking forward to the next six babies. Simona is next (she's also two days past her due date. C'mon Maya, let's goooooooo already!) and hopefully she'll be ready soon. And then I think it goes Ann, Caren, Cat, Jeanette, Angi. Or something like that. Pictures of all babies will follow in abundance once they arrive.

Also, my friend Angie sent me this picture from the fabric and folk art fair we went to a few weeks ago, and although I already wrote about it, I had to show you all how I fared against that old lady with this gigantic knitting needles:

Hopefully I'll have all student stories graded and grades turned in to the records department (one lady named Noreen) by tomorrow afternoon. Then it's back home for Bunco! I'll let you know if I win. Or if I get the boobie prize. Or if I do neither and just have fun, which always happens, so I'll let you know something for sure.

Good Night!

It's Officially Summer

Summer School ended Thursday, and although my students are turning in their final stories next Tuesday, we're finished with class. Here they are!

They were a small group, but a great group. We're missing one student who's in Door County for the week (we're heading up there ourselves Labor Day weekend...yahoo!), but I told her I'd photoshop her face in there.

Last weekend I went to the Cubs/Reds game with my friend Angie and her parents who were in town visiting from Ohio. We ate hotdogs, nachos, and drank beer. It was great.

And that's about it. I finished a few books this week--one that I really enjoyed (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and one that was mediocre but that I got for free from Goodreads and took me less than 24 hours to read (Fear the Worst). Last night I finally finished a book that I'd started months ago (Things I Learned From Women Who've Dumped Me) and was really only worth reading because of the Stephen Colbert, Larry Wilmore, and Tom McCarthy entries. But that's only three out of forty-six, which probably tells you something. So today I have to figure out what to start reading for my three weeks of "summer vacation" (which will actually be filled with meetings and fall semester prep). I have stacks of books to choose from, so I'll let you know what I decide.

Yesterday I spent part of the afternoon sunning myself on our roof deck, but today is pretty cloudy, am I'm considering going to see a horror movie that T won't possibly be interested in. He's at work, so I can get away with such things. The tip that it was a little too windy for me to sit outside on the 7th floor was this:

This tent landed in the parking lot from, I'm assuming, one of the private roof decks. Unless it fell from the heavens...I'm just glad that it didn't land on our car. No one has come to retrieve it, so they might not be aware that it escaped. Hopefully they realize before it starts raining or before the car it's blocking needs to run errands.

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend so far. Tomorrow we're going to visit the new Bux baby, so I'll have lots of pictures for you all!

This is fun for me

A couple of weeks ago, Mom and I went to the Container Store (it's so nice to have them in the city--we popped over to North and Clybourn for breakfast and then a bit of organizational shopping, and neither of us had to brave the highway!). Both of us got these plastic earring holders, and that evening, this is what I did:

I found that I had earrings I hadn't thought about in years! I re-discovered the first real pair of earrings my parents got for me (those little gold hearts on the top left), and I saw that I had more than enough yellow earrings, and that the blue feather earrings I got a couple of years ago aren't as spazzy-gaudy as I thought (or are they? I, of course, still probably have a biased view), and I might actually wear them in a non-costume sense. This took me about an hour, and after seeing Mom that week, she told me that she'd done the exact same thing with her organizer. Two peas in a pod, I tell ya'.

I forgot to blog last time about two very important things:

1. Mom and Dad Bork are now city dwellers!

I'm sure you got that from the statement I made earlier, but as I typed it I realized that I'd completely forgot to show you pictures from Moving Day (July 1). So here are a few that don't really showcase their new digs, but do show Mom putting the first things in her cupboards. Which is very exciting.

That last one is a little blurry, but blurry is just how we felt seven hours of unpacking and breaking down boxes. As I said, these photos don't do the space justice; the boxes are all gone now and you can enjoy the beautiful floors, windows, furniture, and view. More pictures will come next time I remember.

2. Two Fridays ago, my cousin Erica came down from Park Ridge to join me at Edelman Gallery's opening (T's new gallery, and if you haven't checked out their website, check it out! Now!). After snooping around their terrific new show and some other openings in the 'hood, Erica and I had dinner at Oggi and then I showed her our roof deck before escorting her home. Here are some shots from the roof:

Of course the second one is blurry because I'm not good at taking self-portraits, especially when there's someone else to focus on. But isn't she cute??!! Yes.

That's about it from our camp. Thursday is my last class for the summer semester, and I just have to read some revised student stories and then turn in their grades by next Friday. I've been busy the past couple of weeks getting together a mailing we're doing for Faculty Development to announce the faculty workshop in August. But that's going out (finally) this week, so now I can concentrate on other things. Like the next workshop in January! Ha!

I'll have about a week off in early August with little to do but read, watch horror movies, and hang out with Henry. I'm really looking forward to it, and will update you on my laziness with relish.

Until then...

BORK POWER!

Life is a bowl of cherries.

And a nice glass of wine, of course.

This posting will be light on text because I must get to sleep or I will fall over. But last weekend my friend Angie and I went to the Midwest Fabric and Folk Arts Fair. Yes, it sounds like a nerdfest. But it was fantastic. And this is what we did:

There will be a lengthier posting to come this weekend, but I'd like to leave you with this image of the boys:

Sleep well, everyone!

Surprise Presents!

My office-mate, Katrine, saw this apron over the weekend and thought of me. It's pretty fantastic. I wore it tonight to serve me and Trevor up some pizza slices (Henry looks distressed because he was not offered any pizza. I think he's considering eating my toes in retaliation.). Next time I'm having people over, I'll throw it on over something pretty (prettier than jeans) and french looking.

What's funny is that around the time Katrine was getting me this awesome apron, I was at P.O.S.H. (one of the greatest places to buy...anything in Chicago!), saw this little trinket hanging on the wall, and thought of her! She likes religious iconography, so this carved wooden cross covered in Mexican milagro charms is perfect for her (there are a couple of cats on this one, which is why she got it).

So we did a spontaneous gift exchange, which turned out to be fitting because she'll be moving into a single office down the hall at the end of the month (July, not June). They're sort of "good-bye for now, it's been nice rooming with you," presents. Either great minds think alike or eleven months is the time when the brains of two people who spend a lot of time in the same small space start to meld. Meeellldd. I guess it's best that she's getting out before we start dressing in identical sweater-sets.

Tomorrow morning, the elder Borks are FINALLY MOVING DOWNTOWN! Just as a reminder, this is what their condo looked like last July. I'll have pictures tomorrow afternoon of the "final" product. Though I doubt Mom will let me take too many until they've unpacked. They've been living in that fantastic hotel in the A.H. for three whole months, and I think it's safe to say that they're anxious to do a few things in their new home (make a pot of coffee, sit in a comfortable chair, use an oven, not have to eat a continental breakfast with 87 Alabaman tourists...). We'll let you know how they settle in.

It was a lovely weekend

The weather was finally cooperating with us, so we thoroughly enjoyed the weekend: a low-key Friday night, dinner with the Neenans and Fratinis on Saturday night before Jeremy N.'s (Julie Papadia's fiance) birthday party, Simona's Sunday afternoon baby shower (see photos below), pizza with Brenda and Derek who were visiting from Fargo for the AFSP Overnight walk (they had a great time and walked 20 miles like champs), then lunch with them this afternoon between laundry, homework, and Facebook futzing. Tonight I plan on sleeping like a log while the breezy evening flutters around outside our window. And I plan on falling to sleep while mentally putting together tomorrow's outfit. I'll let you know what I come up with...

Suburban Oddities

On Thursday evening I had dinner with my friend Jen in downtown Crystal Lake. I was a little early, and since I had never really explored the CL downtown area, I wandered a bit before going to the restaurant. And this is what I saw:

Weird, right? This shop was closed, but it looked like a thrift store/regular clothing store/fabric shop/junk shop. I really wanted to go in (morbid curiosity), so I might come back when I have an early afternoon sometime this summer.

My dinner with Jen was fantastic and we were so caught up with chatting that I had to run for my nine o'clock train (the next one wasn't until midnight). Thank goodness I was wearing sensible (but sequined) shoes, and I made it with seconds to spare.

The weather, as I'm sure you all have noticed, has been grotesquely hot this week. But on Wednesday I sat on the roof deck for about an hour (without melting, thank you very much!) and graded papers.

I managed to burn only one small portion of my body: my knees. Strange, right? I had doused myself in 45 strength sunblock, but I was using a clipboard as a hard surface for my papers, and I'm guessing the metal clip reflected the light directly onto my knees. So I had saucer-sized red spots on the center of each of my knees for about three days. They're gone, now. Just in time for me to go back on the roof!

We've got a really pleasant weekend planned. Tonight is dinner at West Town Tavern with friends and then a birthday party at the Five Star bar up the street. Sunday afternoon is Simona's baby shower (I went overboard yesterday with presents...) and then in the evening we get to have dinner with Brenda and Derek, who are in town for the AFSP Overnight walk. We haven't seen them in months, and I can't wait.

Don and Danielle Prabish are also walking tonight (20 miles through Chicago), so I'll be thinking of them and everyone else who is doing this for such a good cause. Part of me wishes I'd gotten myself together to do the walk again this year, but another (more convincing) part of me is happy to just donate, think good thoughts, and then snore the night away.

Have a good weekend, all. Enjoy the weather because it might be snowing on the Fourth of July!

Touristing

I've lately felt as though Trevor and I have been acting like tourists in our own city, and it's been pretty nice. Last weekend the two of us went to the MCA to see the Olafur Eliasson and Buckminster Fuller exhibits. They complimented each other perfectly and we could see Fuller's influence on Ellasson's time, light, and spacial experiments. Among so many of the cool pieces (a black room with a sprintzing misting rainbow of water, a hall of yellow light that turned everything black/gray and white, photographs, sculptures...) was this wall-o'-moss that's actually living and will change color slightly as the exhibit lives in the museum:

You can sort of see the colors already. Up close it looked like millions of millions of dried out dandelions. Really cool. (And no, we were not supposed to take this picture.)

We left the museum and got picked up and whisked down to Summit by Dan and Simona to eat at their favorite Lithuanian restaurant, Grand Duke's. I've never seen so many potatoes on one restaurant's menu before, and I've never put so many delicious potatoes into my belly. It was so good, and we were in a spud-stupor for the rest of the day. After dinner we went over to the deli portion of the restaurant and got some treats: cookies, Lithuanian thyme tea, beer, and Trevor got sprats. He hasn't tried them yet, though he says he will soon and he sounds excited about them. I have a feeling that they will sit in our cupboard until the next millennium.

We were supposed to go to Madison to say bon voyage to Kate (she's moving to North Carolina. Well, she's moved already, actually) before she left, but Henry decided to barfy, so we had to cut out the trip. But, I just look at it as an excellent opportunity to visit a state I've never been to before in the very near future. It's supposed to be pretty there, and since Kate's arrived, I'm sure it's even better looking.

This weekend was Fathers' Day, and we first went out to Yorkville Saturday night to hang with the Power clan. Almost the whole gang was there (missing our Floridians of course, who were apparently swimming in the ocean this weekend, those little sprats), sans Destiny who was then headed down for her summer mission trip to New Orleans. We ate good food, had good conversation, and then played many rounds of Catch Phrase, which was fantastically fun even though our team sunk like a brick.

On Sunday we went to the City Bork's for ribs and fixin's from Smoque, one of the joints visited this past winter by my Rib Supper Club (where my friend Angie said the brisket was the best she's had to-date). Greg and Paula got plates and plates of ribs, cornbread, mac-and-cheese, and corn-on-the-cob. There was cake and pie for dessert and then a nice Smoque-stupor for the rest of the day (we're quite fond of food-induced stupors). The girls were also in rare form, and Trevor was good enough to capture them:

And then when he was finished snapping, he got to pose:

When we got home, Henry was beside himself with confusion as to why he hadn't been invited to the party, especially since he'd gotten to hang out with Greg at the house on Thursday night when I kicked the boys out for my Bunco group to come over. But, he'll get over it, I'm sure, and hopefully he'll get to see Pepper very soon.

Today I finished up being a tourist by heading up to the Prime Outlet malls near Kenosha to meet my friends Kate and Jim and their fantastic kids for some shopping and lunch. I, of course, found many good things and bought most of them. Kate and Ella did very well, too, though Jim and Keenan spent a good portion of the shopping time walking around so Keenan could nap. It was, as usual, great to see them. And now you can, too!

And now, full of dinner and procrastinating reading student papers, I am blogging, doing laundry, and sipping the coldest water I could get out of the tap (I tried not to mention the weather until now. What happened to those beautiful days of early summer? Of 75 degree days with light breezes? Instead it's WHAP! right into August humidity.). But I'll go with the promise to report back here soon. Stay cool!

A Bittersweet Week

Our week began with the highest of anticipation and expectation. The Champions League game starring our Manchester United and Barcelona (also sort of our Barça) was on Wednesday, and, sadly, United did not win. However, if someone had to beat us, we're okay that it was them. They were certainly the better team on Wednesday and they absolutely deserved the title. We played bumpy the entire match and just never really pulled it together. Such is life. Hopefully we'll reclaim the title next season. As spectators, though, we did have a great time. Neill came in to join us, we picked up Dan and Mona, and we got prime bar real estate at the Globe for lunch, pints, and ninety minutes of tension.

On the 'sweet' end of it, Trevor and I went shopping on Thursday to get him some new work gear, and we were hugely successful. A great pair of boots, five pairs of pants, three new shirts, and socks (that I made T. buy because they're labeled with the days of the week. Just in case he forgets. Also they're super cute.). 

We trained out to the 'burbs that night for one of the last times to have dinner with Mom and Dad Bork at La Tasca. The food and wine were delicious, and the company was better. They're counting down the days, now, until they're in the new place. We're hoping by the mid-June we'll have some new photos of the big move-in.

We spent a chunk of the weekend zipping around on the bike, and thankfully so since the weather is supposed to be crumby tomorrow and Tuesday. We had drinks and snacks with the Segars last night at a new place, Rootstock, and we're certainly making plans to go back for more wine and cheeeeeeese. They have an entire six-cheese plate on the menu, but since Trevor and I had eaten just before meeting up with Dan and Simona, we weren't hungry for too much. Although the tiny samples of cheese we did have were terrific (served with prunes cooked in Earl Grey tea--the tastiest thing I had all night), the flatbread was mushroomy heaven, and the wine was refreshing. And the pièce de résistance was bacon-bit toffee. Yes, you heard me right. They had a "dessert" of chunks of toffee with bits of real bacon inside. Weird. I've yet to make up my mind about it. The toffee was soft--perhaps because of the extra fat in the bacon?--and I like my toffee crunchy. But it was sweet, and the salty bacon surprises were strangely tasty. Or just strange. I'm still thinking about it and will probably have to try it again next time, just to be sure. 

Today we drove down to Pilsen for lunch at Simone's, saw Dan, Russ, and Desiree, had a good meal, and then took the long way home to enjoy the weather. When we got home, we farted around for a while reading, and then I had to finally start the laundry (boo). We also watched Valkyrie this evening after dinner, and it wasn't as bad as I was anticipating it to be. Actually, it was quite interesting. After the movie, both Trevor and I said we'd sort of hoped that they would have changed the outcome so that the coup had been successful and history was changed. What a feel-good movie that would have been, right? Hitler assassinated by Tom Cruise! Wha-hoooo! Alas, they were true to basic principals of history and we got a pretty decent movie, if not a still feel bad history of Nazi Germany. But Tom Cruise wasn't overly Cruisian, which helped. And Eddie Izzard was in it, though not in drag.

And that's where we are now: about to turn in for the night. One more day before Trevor starts his new job, and we'll fill you in on that later in the week. Happy Monday, everyone!  

Summer Vacation for the Whole Family

Because we all know that Henry really needs a vacation, what with all of his playing, walking, napping, eating, and sleep-running (a pretty hilarious sight to see. If we had a video camera, you would all be watching him pant, whine, and "run" in his sleep right now. But since we don't, please just imagine it.). 

Trevor and I, though, are certainly enjoying the time off from work. I finished the semester at the end of the first week of May and don't start summer school until June 8th, but I was on campus a few days last week for a job search committee I'd volunteered to be a part of. We were interviewing for a new English Department faculty, and we found a super duper shining star. I hope she accepts the job, but we won't know that until mid-June. Trevor actually came with me to school on Thursday to put together a table we'd got at Ikea. I have the idea to rearrange my office because my officemate, Kat, will be moving into a single at the end of the summer. I'll be getting the new faculty hire as a new officemate, but it's a perfect opportunity to make the office a bit more efficient before she moves in. Trevor had to talk some sense into me, though; I wanted to rearrange immediately (you know when you get the yen to do something--get a haircut, alphabetize your books, redo your filing system--you've got to do it now, you know?), but he explained to me that moving big heavy bookcases and filing cabinets while they were, um, full, would be a lot harder to do than to wait and move them when they're empty. So, logic wins and I'll be waiting for Kat to clear out her clutter before I shift the room. Bah, logic.

Trevor found out last week that he starts his new job June 2nd, which means he still has one more full week of "vacation," although it's much nicer to be on vacation when you know that you're starting a new job in a week. So this week, after I go to work tomorrow for a few hours (meeting, schmeeting), we've got the whole week to frolic. And frolic we will. 

Wednesday is the Champions League Game, and our lads are playing against Barcelona. It's going to be an excellent game, though hard for us to watch since we do really like Barca (it is, after all, where we spent our honeymoon...). United is our team forever, but it'll be difficult to root against Barcelona--not nearly as much fun as it was rooting against Chelsea last year for the game (booooo Chelsea. You stink like rotten fish.). But it will be a great time because both John and Neill Power are coming into the city on Wednesday morning, and then the four of us are going up to the Globe to watch the game among the fans. Trevor and I had tried to watch last year's match there, but we didn't anticipate the crowds and got to the bar a bit late. We're making no such error this year, and we're going to be waiting on the sidewalk for them to open the doors. I'm so excited, and it'll be even more fun to watch it with more fellow Powers. Now if only Sean could get the day off, it would be perfect. (Hint: Sean, if you or Angi are reading this, take the day off.)

We've also got to take some time this week for clothes shopping (you don't need to twist my arm). Trevor's new gallery requires that he wear a step up from jeans and tee-shirts, which is fine (fun, actually!), but it means that we've got to get his wardrobe into shape. We'll most likely go on Thursday morning when the shops won't be too crowded. I'll make sure that we've eaten a nice breakfast, are wearing appropriate shopping shoes, and take time throughout the day to hydrate and snack to keep up our energy. And if he gets too tired, I'll send him home and continue on my own. These are the sacrifices I am willing to make for my husband.

On Thursday night, we'll go out to the suburbs to meet up with Mom and Dad Bork for some tapas dinner. They won't need to be in the 'burbs for much longer; they got word last week that their new crib will be ready in a couple weeks. Mom saw it and said that the tiles are up and the powder room is finished, and that the painters told her that it's their favorite unit in the building. I'm certainly not surprised, but it makes me even more excited to see it! 

Although we're not doing much on this rainy Memorial Day, we were able to see our friend Kate yesterday for the morning and afternoon. In three weeks, she's moving to North Carolina (from Madison, WI), so we won't get the chance to see her for a while. We had a tasty brunch with her, her friends Bari, Meg, and Ross, and then Trevor, Kate, Bari, and I headed down to Pilsen to visit Dan

and drink some bloody mary's, and this delicious melon drink he fixed up for me:

Yes, that is a Dum-Dum lollipop in that drink. It was delicious and I'll have to remember it for the next sunny afternoon we spend hanging around.

Because of the nice weather, Trevor was able to spend most of the weekend on his bike, and I was along for the ride. We went from Belmont and Elston, down to 18th street (not all in the same trip), and it felt so nice to be breezing around the city. Hopefully this week will afford us more good riding weather. Though the current picture from the window doesn't look too promising. 

But we'll keep you up to date. Hope you are all having a nice Memorial Day and thinking about all of your veterans (thank you Grandpas Bork and Bosco and Madel!).