what I have been doing

So I know the posts have been kind of scarce lately but here is what has been going on in my summer - got back from France after Memorial Day (you saw all those posts) -

then in June had an amazing dinner at 42 grams (has it's own posts) - a play at lookingglgass (also had its own post) - went to Cincinnati for a few days to see my family and celebrate my aunt's 80th birthday.

Then in the following two weeks I had three lunches with old business colleagues, dinner at Restaurant Michael with Ron & Mary, the CG Cyrano's dinner and day out at the Field Museum, a visit to Eataly Chicago, the (posted) A10 dinner with Mon & Beth, dinner with Neil, dinner with Sheila & Mary, dinner with Brian & Tina, dinner with Jeremy & Jenna- Phil had two concerts and also a four day folk festival in NY, we met with the financial planner and I fought with the awning people about getting my new awning installed...(more on that one later as it is ongoing at this point) and along the way I finished all the arrangements for our maritime provinces trip in August and I read a bunch of books-

here are the hardback ones-
took me a long time to finish this but it was worth it- a whole new appreciation for the man and his demons-

a fun beach kind of read-

an interesting account of a time past HKG in the 50s-

hilarious Buckley in the style of "thank you for smoking" black humor that hits the targets right in the bull's eye

a weepy (somewhat historical) romance that is quick and entertaining- the characters appeal and the story well written-

then I also read Johnny Carson by Henry Bushkin-- my thumbnail review of that one is "eye opening!"

right now I am in the middle of Between the Bridge and the River by Craig Ferguson (another really funny one)

Today is our 13th anniversary - so a celebration dinner tonight at goosefoot- then Friday dinner with John & Kathy and Saturday dinner with Steph & Emma... and that pretty much covers our June

when I ask where the time goes it is usually because we are so busy it just flies by- so sometimes it is good to stop and spend a moment acknowledging, reflecting, and savoring the events, rather just looking ever forward... which is of course so easy to do---

so Happy Anniversary - and a photo of us on one of our adventures together - the trip we took for our 10th anniversary-

afternoon and evening

we decided to visit the Field Museum to see the special exhibit on the Columbian Exposition of 1893 (the White City)

  

having a bit of spare time we went into the regular exhibits - which I always find bothersome- the animals that were destroyed especially the young cubs etc... really make me angry- the whole thing seem archaic to me- not unlike the zoos of the era where all they had were rectangular cages with bars and not even the attempt at reproducing the environment the animal might actually live in- truth be told I am not a fan of zoos despite knowing they do some good work- I would rather see the animals in sanctuaries instead of zoos and would prefer reserves rather than sanctuaries/preserves... let them live in their space and have people come to visit...

after the museum we had dinner with the Chicago Gourmets group at Cyrano's Farm Kitchen. We have been here before and had two outstanding meals - both very memorable in their own ways-

here are the posts from the prior meals-

where we have a great time drinking several bottles of our own wine while the host gets blotto and his wife leaves- LOL
http://semifreelife.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-two-bottles-of-wine.html

and the next - posting on the meal which was superb!
http://semifreelife.blogspot.com/2013/04/back-to-cyranos.html

tonight we enjoyed a fabulous menu - of traditional foods in the style of the Chef's youth- here are some things from the restaurant website- and the menu-

more details and photos below-

so - a wonderful evening and interesting day... coming tomorrow - A10 the new hot spot in Hyde Park (yes, you read that correctly- LOL) see you there!