Happy Summery Friday everyone! The summer goodness just keeps on coming!
1. Our 1st Garden Strawberry
Yippee!! Our one little strawberry plant finally gave us our first strawberry!
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| Lulu wore her strawberry outfit in honor of our first strawberry! |
I say "finallly"....this gives you some indication of my inexperience with gardening in general & strawberries specifically....I am so impatient! Reason #654 that gardening is a good hobby for me - there is no such thing as instant gratification in a garden! Slow, steady, lots of waiting & work before the rewards come.
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| The only bummer about letting Lulu eat the 1st strawberry? |
As most people likely are, I am a work in progress - this is an area that I constantly work on - slowing down to appreciate what's right in front of me, rather than worrying about & rushing toward the next thing, whatever that may be.
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| I'm not sure how it tasted! |
2. Bounty & Beauty in the Edible Gardens
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| The sunflowers are getting so darn big! |
My 2 times per month volunteering in the Edible Gardens at the Lincoln Park Zoo is, in many ways, self serving.
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| One of our garden managers, David, shows off a freshly harvested head of garlic |
I get to work alongside professional gardeners, master gardeners & home gardeners too. There is so much for a garden newbie like me to learn - the Edible Gardens are a great place for me to do it!
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| The flowers are nearly as exciting as the edible plants |
The combination of time outside with time to myself is a good one. Obviously I'm surrounded by other volunteers, staff & zoo guests, but to exist as just me & not exclusively as Lulu's Mom, is necessary for me to feel like me. Almost essential really.
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| Yellow squash is almost ready to harvest |
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| Again with the flowers!!! |
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| Purple peppers never cease to amaze me |
3. Cousin Pool Time
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| Anne keeping Lulu in line during a safety break |
For all the same reasons that Chris & I don't see our friends enough, I feel like we don't see our family enough either! Life gets in the way, schedules are hectic, summer is busy, etc, etc. Which is why having some serious cousin pool time for Lulu on Monday was such a treat! My sister in law invited Lulu & me to join her & her 4 kiddos for a late afternoon dip. It was delightful & a welcome relief from the heat of the day! My nephews & niece love being with Lulu, I love being with my sister in law & our tiniest little niece who is only 7 weeks old. What a great afternoon we had!
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| Kane's face in this photo is simply amazing. The rest of the kiddos are adorable too :) Baby Mary was getting changed, so didn't make this photo op! |
4. WOW Walk
I host a weekly walk as part of Evanston's WOW program. I had no idea what to expect - I figured maybe I would meet some new people and at the very least, get outside with Lulu for an hour each week throughout the summer. As it turns out, the weekly walk has turned into a standing date with one of my friends from the Mom's Group I started! Emily is the only person who ever turned up for the walk (with her sweet daughter) and we have a lovey time enjoying the lakefront and catching up each week that we are in town.
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| Stuck in the "fish bowl" |
There was some police activity on the route we usually take (turned out to be a misunderstanding where someone mistook theater props as actual weapons in a parking garage) so we headed a different way. I love when lemons turn into lemonade - we stopped at a playground I'd never gone to before & the girls got to play a bit. We also carried Emily's stroller over a sandy hill in the hopes of continuing our walk - only to get caught in a fishbowl of boulders & more sand. Adventures
abounded!
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| At least we were stuck in a pretty place :) |
5. Bestie's New Home
So Chris & I have been in our home for over 2 years, but I continue to be delighted by the place we live. That said, I can remember the excitement of those first few days & weeks - so much positive energy & planning alongside the dreaded unpacking! It was perfectly wonderful to get a tour of my best friend's new condo that she & her boyfriend recently bought together. It is ridiculously beautiful. The building is immaculately maintained. The unit is GINORMOUS. So many interesting details and features that make it unique. I was incredibly impressed by how moved in they were after living in their home for only 1 week. I obsessed over their awesome private patio. I had so much fun talking through some ideas for re-purposing some of their furniture for their new space. Oh man. Just perfect. What a wonderful Sunday morning it was to see my best friend so truly happy.
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| Happiest best friend around! |
And then brunch. The new place is quite near this delightful neighborhood spot. It is tiny, it feels like you are being hosted in someone's home (a feeling fostered by its garden level location in an apartment/condo building combined with the cozy decor and tiny size). You are greeted by a florist shop type display of fresh flowers and the fun continues. The menu warns patrons to be patient as there is only one cook. The food was worth the wait FOR SURE. Delicious French press coffee, awesome iced coffee, baked goods looked great, though we forgot to get one to try! Can't wait to go back again soon.
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| Seriously. The flowers!!! |
6. Outdoor Concert in our Neighborhood
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| Fun to watch so many people dance! |
Summer is meant for outdoor music. It is just the best when the outdoor music is offered steps from our house!
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| Peekaboo! |
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| Lounging |
Several friends & neighbors also came to check out the free salsa concert - it was just great. Lulu made a giant mess of our picnic.........toddlers & picnics are a tough combo......her little feet just have a way of finding themselves into all of the food!! That being said, the night was pretty near perfect & I can't wait for the next Starlight Concert next week.
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| Pretty thrilled that it is summertime |
7. Blueberry Explosion
I may have purchased a 10 pound box of blueberries from a stranger on Facebook. She's in a mom's group I'm in.......she lives in my town...........what could go wrong? Nothing as it turns out. Everything could go right though!!
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| blueberry jam + 1st batch of blueberry muffins |
Emily (pictured above) was nice enough to pick up my box since I was too busy at cousin pool time to get them!
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| 10 pounds of beautiful blueberries! |
Lulu & I biked down to Emily's to pick them up & I've been eating them like crazy & cooking with them too! Yippee for a HUGE box of blueberries - like a fun game of choose your own adventure :)
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| Lulu wasn't so much into waiting to sample them :) |
8. Old Friends + Our Babies
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| Samson chillaxing in the pool with Lulu |
It is such a huge delight to introduce Lulu to my old friends and see her get to know them & their babies. We had Dasi (one of my college friends) & her little man, Samson, over for a pool party Friday morning. The two of them crack me up - Lulu was rocking some hilarious swimsuit issue style poses in the pool - the likes of which I had not seen before, nor have I seen since!
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| Look Tim! A choo choo train!! ~Lulu |
Then on Sunday evening we grilled out with high school friends Tim & Terry (& their beautiful brides Katie & Libby). Terry & Libby's Desmond is a "big kid" in Lulu's eyes and she really enjoyed watching the Metra trains roll by with him! It also made me happy that Lulu allowed Tim to pick her up to watch the trains for a minute. We continue to be in the thick of separation anxiety - so every time another adult can successfully hold Lulu, even if for a minute or two, it feels like a major win!
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| Granted you can't see her face - but she's NOT screaming or crying! Whoop! Major win! |
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