2012 in review

It has been a great year--not something I can say often, and in no small part because I spent it with a wonderful boyfriend. I've never been afraid to be single, but after so very many years it's nice to finally connect with someone.

I also got two new nephews in 2012, one close to home here in Chicago! On a more bittersweet note, one of my dearest friends moved away, but it was for a terrific job, the kind of position that she'd been working toward for years. Best of all, it's in Boston, convenient for lots of visits as that is where my brother and his family live.

I set aside my freelance writing career for the most part and stopped blogging about fashion for a local publication because I felt I had nothing more to say about it. I also decided to stop working as a personal stylist. With my day job, plus a relationship, it just got to be too much (I need my relaxation time, y'all) and while I enjoyed it to a point--especially the feeling I got from helping people--I realized it didn't really make me happy. I still enjoy fashion and I still think it is an important part of life for many people, but it's not a really important part of my life anymore. I still dress like it is, but that's as far as it goes.

So this year, I made a conscious decision to just work at my regular job and enjoy my life as a regular working stiff without worrying what I am "meant" to do or fretting about how to become a rock-star writer or impressing others with my creative status and output. I need to develop the confidence and courage to tackle more personal writing. That is my goal for 2013.

Some photos from the last few months of the year.

Downtown Chicago at night from the lakefront.

Lobstah in Bahstahn.

Wall mural detail from the Boston Public Library.

Yes please. (In Boston, surprise.)

There they are. Slurp.

Cape Codding.

My Christmas tradition.

I got crabs. (Are you sensing a theme here?)

Wishing you and yours the very best for the New Year.

summer's over

There's not much happening around here. I did get an iPhone 5, but I can't fully use it until I upgrade my old Mac's operating system--d'oh!

Anyway, here are some random photos from the last few weeks of summer.

A sand castle on Montrose Beach.

Squash blossoms ready for stuffing and frying. These are from an accidental squash plant in the beau's backyard--"accidental" because he threw out some seeds last year for compost.

The Great Western Trail between Sycamore and Saint Charles, Illinois--built on an old railroad track. Great ride, except we weren't very smart about preparing. We left at 11 AM on what turned out to be a 90-degree day for a 30-mile ride. I started to get a headache and chills when we were almost home--beau went and got the car for me. I think he was a little worried he was going to find a limp corpse when he got back, but I was fine. It's always smart to listen to your body though!

Montrose Harbor at sunset.

 

Impulse purchase! It's a hunter green vintage Raleigh. It's beautiful but so heavy--not really practical for someone who likes to ride fast. Also it's got an old bike license on the back fender from my hometown, so I had to have it.

And how was YOUR summer?

seeing France in northwest Wisconsin

On the second of two trips to the beau's cabin way up in NW Wisconsin (think two hours east of Minneapolis), I started thinking that the environment was not unlike rural France. Lots of farms, rolling hills, cheese--OK, France has better cheese plus wine, good restaurants, and pretty chateaux, but a girl can dream.

Lots of cows of course. These either wanted snacks or help breaking out.

The local (still in use) mill.

The cabin. Beau stays there with his whole family sometimes, which must get pretty snug--only one bedroom. But he tends to sleep in a tent on the lawn when there's a crowd. We were on our own--very romantic.

View from the house in the early morning.

It was a little rainy one day, but that brought out this perfect, unbroken rainbow--a good omen on the beau's birthday, I think!

Un homme et son chat. This cat goes nuts when the beau takes him up there. Every day I made the beau clear the "killing field," aka the lawn, of dead mice and shrews before I went outside. (Poor things!)

Sailing with a beer in hand is tricky! I had never sailed a boat myself before. I got really into it--sailing is kind of like playing a game with the wind.

I was going to say "Here's one thing they don't have in France," but of course they do have turkeys there. But are they as jolie laide as this one at the county fair? I don't think so.

What's better than a guy who cooks?

A guy who also bakes! Pie, to be specific. Rhubarb pie, if you really want to know. Rhubarb grown in his very own yard.

I'm a lucky girl. Although maybe a little heavier than I was a few months ago.

the Illinois countryside

Truthfully, visiting the far western exurbs of Chicago was never on my bucket list, but when some very pleasant circumstances resulted in an invitation to the farmland, I was delighted to go, for reasons that included the chance to see some stars, go for a bike ride along traffic-free roads, and wake up to nothing but the sound of birds singing.

Empty cornfields were dotted with clusters of woods. The backyard of a friend's childhood house would have been a dream for this apartment-dweller growing up--hundreds of square feet of trees to hide behind, a pond that freezes over in winter for ice skating, a forest floor brimming with trillium and Jack-in-the-pulpit in spring and summer.

A tree-lined path from the back of the house led to this idyllic little oasis, which even boasts a half-finished log cabin. It would be the ideal place for a party or a wedding--if it weren't for the killer mosquitoes. But luckily for our visit, the freakishly warm early spring weather was three steps ahead of any many-legged beings, other than spiders, whose presence was signaled only by the errant strings we broke through as we walked the trail.

A wonderfully relaxing and refreshing interlude made sweeter by the company.

Of course it's not all romance out there.