But wait, there's more! I forgot to mention the perfect addition hubby made to the backyard: a hammock!!  

I bought it a few weeks ago (at Smith & Hawkin - same time as the composter, which is going quite well actually, but more on that later). Anywho, I have always loved a good hammock. My parents have one at home. There was one at JackFest. We were at Gaston's earlier this summer and some guy was sitting on his roof in one drinking Coronas. I think that was what finally did if for me. 

So I bought it, but it's really big and obviously was going to require some expertise to hang. I pulled out all the stuff and attempted it myself but didn't get very far. Back into the garage it went. 

Yesterday I tried again and thankfully hubby jumped from his chair, pulled out the tools and threw it up for me straight away. 

It's on the second deck which is perfect because outside of the pig roast it sits literally unused all summer. Now my hammock is nestled in, stretched across, beautifully positioned and beckoning me to it all day long. Picture forthcoming. Glorious. 

I may call in sick to work tomorrow...

Another wonderful weekend of maximum fun within a limited parameter. We've noticed lately that we rarely leave the 10-block radius of our house. In many ways, there is really no need. New restaurants are opening almost weekly, new markets and shops too. This weekend was the Wicker Park street festival so live music, food, drinks and artists set up, all within walking distance. 

Brad and his friend are in town visiting so we headed up to check things out. It was a perfect afternoon, warm and sunny but not hot. Great people watching - our neighborhood has a unique mix of multi-colored mohawks, full-body tattoo "suits," LP-like prepsters, families wheeling strollers, everything you can imagine. All coming together to provide a great, scene. 

Hubby bought three T-shirts (street festivals provide the best selection of one-of-a-kinds), and likely to be his new favorite of all times "Super C," modeled after SuperMan. He stripped down and change into it right at the festival. Not joking. 

We came home for perhaps our first summer Wicker Park People Rock Band concert and then back out for some delicious Crust pizza. Yum. 

Today a few errands, a little work but mostly just enjoying a lazy summer day. Hooray. 

The garden harvest has officially begun and I fear I may already be behind!

Good problem to have I guess.

The tomatoes are all turning, cherries first and fastest. They are so delicious, I've been eating them like candy. They go from green to orange, never red. I learned by default when the first batch bursted at the seams before turning red. Still delicious.

Tonight I'm going in for the green beans. Stella has eaten all the leaves off along the fence, which is about the only thing she can do that makes me really mad. The beans seem no worse off.

I ate an eggplant from the garden this week and it was super. They are Japanese eggplant so long and skinny rather than plump.

The real extravaganza is the cucumbers. I need to begin researching canning as soon as I'm finished with this post. The cucumbers are totally going bonkers. They've tied and climbed up one of the tomato cages and actually pulled the whole thing down. They've woven around the sprinkler and immobilized it. They've crawled across the whole garden and may have designs on the deck soon.

And what, you may ask, is the problem here? There are flowers EVERYWHERE. And from flowers come cucumbers. Lots of cucumbers. I'm looking for recipients. Please send word if you'd like one. Or 10.

The apple tree is doing its thing. They are dropping from the sky as I type. I collect about 20 each day from the patio and dump into the composter. Very short cycle of life. Too tart for me and extremely cumbersome to make sauce (though I've done it). Apple crisp is good but doesn't require more than a few for that.

There are some losers too. I planted peppers and they don't look so hot (no pun intended). The zuccini leaves are enormous but only small signs of life below. Also, I don't actually love zuccini so please let this be a reminder to myself next year in the event that I'm tempted to plant it. It kind of takes over the entire garden and isn't really worth it to me. And the brussel sprouts are big and leafy but no signs of anything edible yet. I'm hoping they will arrival towards end of summer.

This is when I'm happiest, in my garden, picking the treasures out. We will have a big dinner on the porch Sunday and enjoy all our riches!

Did you know you can grow figs in the midwest? I did not. I picked up this little tree at the farmers market a couple weeks ago, along with a tutorial from my favorite farmstand guys. Apparently this will fruit a couple times a year if properly cared for. You leave them outside all summer long, and during the winter they either move indoors or fold into the ground. The trunk is quiet nimble and will go right down I guess. 

I love figs. The only place I can seem to find them is in CA and at Whole Foods. Since my WF was recently shut down due to rodents (ew), I'm setting all my hopes on my own fig tree.  

So you know we've got a pretty sweet garden going, right? I may have mentioned this at some point? I took a bunch of pictures tonight because I think there is something adorable about a baby cucumber. Baby anything is pretty cute but look at this little guy. 

There are a ton of them growing on the vine - cucs are pretty funny. They tie on to anything in reach, so this cucumber here is actually living with his tomato neighbors next door. Tonight I went to turn on the sprinkler and it wouldn't move. Cucumbers. Woven around the sprinkler. 

I'll include some other pics of the harvest in picture of the day. Toms are looking great already. 

On another note, hubby was recognized this weekend for his 10 years of volunteering at Children's Hospital. Can you believe it has been that long? Could you imagine doing it for more than one night? Pretty amazing that he has been visiting these little kids for as long as he has. Congrats on making a difference!

Well after 11 years of living without, tomorrow I will once again own a car. My second ever. Isn't that funny?

We were talking about it today, my first was a Toyota Corolla hatchback. It was used, though I forget the year. I was just thrilled to get my own wheels. I was in high school and it lasted me through all my college years, including several trips back and forth to Oxford.

It died the summer before I moved to Chicago and there just wasn't a reason to replace it. It's easy to get around in the city without one and I never could have afforded it back then anyway. I couldn't afford the bus!

For the last several years I've just used hubby's car on the weekends for groceries and errands. I've been hitching a ride with a friend and colleague to work each day, we both go to the same gym in the morning. Problem is she is about to pop (baby number one) which means I'll be back to my former bad addiction -- cabs.

As it turns out, someone from the dog park is moving to Thailand and looking to sell off everything he owns. His girlfriend has an old car she was selling for a song. We've been test driving cars, everything from convertibles to SUVs, for months but haven't pulled the trigger on anything. This offers the perfect interim solution.

The garage is almost clean. We're picking it up tomorrow. I'm more excited than I thought I'd be. I'm driving to work on Monday!

It has been a really fantastic week - personally and professionally!

Very long work week, but extremely productive. Fun night out with girls for dinner last night. Lots of happiness all around.

Tomorrow I start working from home on Fridays. I'm so excited I may not sleep tonight. I think this will have such a positive effect on my overall state of mind, I may actually get smarter (not possible, right?) And I'm going to get far more done in the quiet of my own home, I can't wait!

Pretty low key weekend ahead. We have a recognition dinner tomorrow night for hubby's service to Children's over the years. It should be lovely.

More to follow, had to get the root canal story off the top...

As mentioned, last Monday marked my final appointment following the root canal – applying the permanent crown.

Root canal’s have a terrible reputation, though having had two I’m not exactly sure why.
For one thing, getting a “root canal” isn’t a singular experience. It is a long, drawn out, series of appointments.

And while there was definitely one visit where the endodontist (dentists don’t actually do root canals?) removed the root, you’ll soon see this was the happiest visit of the whole experience.

I have a lovely dentist. She is very nice, attentive, funny. And while she knows of my extreme distaste (no pun intended) for dental appointments (I always have at least one cavity) she doesn’t take offense.

During a recent routine exam (visit #1), she identified a cracked cavity. Was I experiencing sensitivity? Yes, my teeth are always sensitive. She did a lot of work (visit #2 ); I will spare details b/c they make me queasy, surely you too. She put on a temporary crown and I was to wait a week or so to see if the pain subsided. If not, I’d likely need a root canal. This was the week before Memorial Day.

That Saturday we were at Lowes looking for stuff for Winona. I unwrapped a piece of gum (definitely on the ‘do not do’ list but I chew a lot of gum) and before I had taken two chews, my temporary crown was wadded up in my gum.

Interesting.

I was actually relatively calm. I didn’t even mention it to my hubby. I put the crown in my purse. We continued shopping. I noticed that when I breathed in through my mouth there was an odd sensation, not pain, just odd. Hum.

It didn’t take long to realize this was going to be a problem. I ate lunch (God forbid I miss a meal) and it didn’t go very well, even though I was only chewing on one side. Basically my nerve was exposed, so anything that went in my mouth, including air, was going to irritate it. I took some Advil.

Later that day I called her office in the off-chance they were open. They weren’t. I wrote down the emergency number, just in case.

In the end, I didn’t call. I took Advil (a lot of Advil). My first call Tuesday morning was to her office.

She was horrified. She actually took my call herself and was horrified. She couldn’t believe I’d been walking around without my crown on for four days. Didn’t I call the emergency number??

So that is the background. I go to the endodontist (visit #3) who does the root canal. At this point you may see why this would be glorious. First, he asked some questions – maybe this wasn’t really necessary? The root is exposed afterall, it should hurt.

“GET IT OUT,” I said.

He loads what seems like everything north of my shoulders with Novocain. I hate Novocain. I hate dental work but really hate Novocain – makes me feel like total crap. Heart rate goes up, I’m sweating, the whole thing just sucks.

Anyway, he does his thing. The root is extracted. I’ve never been happier. He wants to see me in a week. I go back (visit #4) thinking it is just an ‘open wide,’ everything looks good, on my merry way. Nope, more Novocain and another procedure I’m not going to explain. It was fine.

We part ways, hopefully not to see each other again for awhile.

Back to my lovely dentist (visit #5). She does some more work and makes a mold for my crown. She wants to use Novocain, I ask if we can skip it. She is shocked but obliges. It didn’t hurt.

At this point I’ve been chilling with my ‘nub’ as I call it - what is left of my rejected tooth – for weeks. It makes me feel like a homeless person. Not nice, but I’m horrified something will land me in the hospital and the doc will think I don’t have good oral hygiene (as if that would be my biggest concern if I actually were in the hospital). Ridiculous, but I’d be remiss to leave this part out since I talked about it for six weeks. When I left for my last appointment hubby said “don’t come back if that nub isn’t covered.”

Finally, last Monday I’m ready for my permanent crown to go in (visit #6). Easy as pie.

So back to the original question, what is so bad about the root canal? The procedure itself was actually a delight – painful root removed. Perhaps it is the inconvenience of all the appointments? That certainly was annoying. Or the hefty price tag of this little nub-cover? I’m still not really sure what all the hype is about.

Good news is I’m now six weeks closer to my next ‘routine’ visit :)

Independance Extravaganza

This year we marked the celebration of our great country by loading up our gas-guzzling SUV and hitting the road for a big Wisconsin adventure.

My bro-in-law and his wife bought a lake house way up north in Turtle Lake this winter. What better time to hit a state that sells fireworks at every rest stop than the 4th of July??

We took off Wednesday with plans to visit K&J at her parent’s lake house outside of Lake Geneva. They have a huge family (for many of my early Chicago years, they were my surrogate family), and everyone makes the trip in for the 4th. I love them all and rarely see the whole gang anymore.

We had lots of great quality time with Q who really is the cutest ever (see her enjoying her favorite thing in ‘picture of the day’). We swam in the lake (dogs), had a big cook out, enjoyed a night of euchre, and drank lots of wine – fantastic visit.

From there we traversed every lettered and numbered highway in the great cheese state to make our way to M&Js. Along the way, we had a fantastic pizza from Moosejaw – which was worth the extraordinary wait (lots of traffic and indecision in the Dells). Hubby picked up a growler (jug of beer) for him and J to enjoy later that evening.

We arrived at their place and were greeted by M and the kids at the end of the drive, welcoming us to their little piece of lake living. Actually, it’s a pretty big piece of lake living. They have a fantastic house, which sits on a huge piece of land. The previous owners had flower gardens and beds built all over with everything from asparagus to peonies growing like crazy (you know my weakness for gardens).

I took a big walk with my niece and Stella to check everything out. She is the cutest ever (apperently I have a weakness for little girls), all giggles and laughing. She talked during our entire walk, we were hunting for turtles. We talked about Dora and Diego and sang songs. We checked out the lake, hung out on the deck, commenced relaxing.

We hit “Spare Time” the local bowling alley for a great night of hitting pins, drinking beer and cheese curds. I love Wisconsin. The kids were awesome, made the whole night.

Friday marked the annual boat parade on Turtle Lake. Definitely a sight to been seen for a variety of reasons, I’ll share a few here: Locals adorn their pontoon boats (ever-present in WI) with streamers, balloons, and (this was a new one for me) patriotically-themed potted plants. American favorites blast from radios. We circled the lake with our fellow nautical neighbors, competing for first-place prize in the boat decorating contest.

While out there I learned locals actually really want the coveted SECOND place prize. The winner is responsible for making the flyer for next year (even though everyone knows the boat parade starts at 1:00 on Saturday) and getting to all the houses around the lake is a real pain :)
The high school kids at a neighboring house seemed to have the competition locked – could it have been all the teenagers in their red, white and blue bikinis? Or the beach balls they launched at the judging table? Nice touch.

Upon our return, hubby and I headed into town to pick up pizzas from Jane’s (he never, ever tires of pizza). He made friends with Jane herself, even calling later to let her know he appreciated the extra love she put into the ‘za – he could tell.

We had a great night at the house, watching an amazing fireworks display on the dock. Each family trying to outdo the other and us benefiting from the friendly competition.

We woke up this morning to tackle the aggressive project of clearing out a plot in the garden for a pumpkin patch. M and I cleared out an overwhelming amount of weeds, before inviting the kids to help. In the end, no one could resist. The boys shuttled in water, cut down huge thistles. The kids dug holes and plopped in the seeds, carefully covering them up. A great adventure, I hope the garden nets giant squash in time for Halloween.

And of course no outdoor adventure would be complete without a Stella story. My little pup actually swam. You’ve read much of our trials in the water. This weekend she amazed all (well pretty much just me but C feigned a huge level of excitement on my behalf), and swam on her own. We went through the traditional coaxing routine which involves a lot of time in the water for me and not much for her. Eventually I tug on her collar and lead her out there. This time, I threw a stick out as I led her out, and she actually SWAM AND RETRIEVED! And then again with no guidance from me. And then again. She is a glorious little swimmer. I am quite proud (see picture). I only wish her friends Connie and Zeke had seen.

Happy 4th of July!